Spike woke up groggy and exhausted as the sun’s rays entered his window and glared into his eyes. He sat up in bed, his hands rubbing his temples as he let out a groan. He and Twilight had spent the night organizing and then reorganizing her library for what seemed like the fifth time that month. He was usually the one moving the books into their respective piles by genre or author but then at the last moment, Twilight would shake her head and say that it was no good and use her magic to move all the books that he had taken the time to carry from one end of the room to the other. It would have been faster if she had just organized them with her own magic, but Twilight had insisted that she had to study her own abilities in the time that the whole library was being taken apart, mentioning that the more time she wastes not studying, the farther behind she would become. The farther behind she would become would then lead to a number of overdramatic scenarios that included Princess Celestia banishing her to the outskirts of the Everfree forest. Spike would listen to her rant and just shake his head as he carried the books to their new pile. That would happen about every time they worked on the library. This time Spike spent most of the night running back and forth as usual, but Twilight made him do it all over again at least three more times. He literally collapsed into bed after Twilight had finally let him go to bed.

“Spike! Get up! We have to go to Rarity’s for my dress fitting!” Twilight’s nagging voice rang through his room as he stood up about to get some breakfast. Shit, I almost forgot about going to Rarity’s today. I gotta get going! thought the draconic teen, his sudden tiredness completely wiped away replaced by anticipation and excitement. Spike quickly changed his clothes and brushed his stark white teeth while trying to gel his hair into his signature spikey Mohawk. He managed to get himself ready in less than five minutes, running down the stairs to see Twilight with her bag and her hand on her hip. She rose her eyebrow slightly as he ran towards the door.

“Why can’t you get ready that fast any other morning, Spike?” Twilight asked him as she approached the door, pulling out her keys to lock the door behind them. She turned to him and gave a smirk and he instantly knew what she was going to say to him. “Oh right, it’s because of Rarity isn’t it Spike?” Twilight laughed but he knew it was all in good fun. Twilight had known about his crush for Rarity for a long time now even though he never actually directly told her anything about it. When Spike looked back on how he reacted around Rarity when he was younger, he now realized how obvious he was. What Twilight didn’t know was that his simple crush for Rarity had only grown far beyond that. He knew it was love. It was love that he knew was unrequited but he didn’t care; he loved Rarity for everything she was. She was beautiful, smart, generous and gentle. Everything that he wasn’t. Or at least everything that other people saw him. She was blessed with blood of the Unicorn, a beautiful, gentle and majestic creature such as she was. He was cursed with the blood of the Dragon, a dark, greedy and terrifying monster that he saw himself to be, along with others who saw him and could see his damn wings. His wings on his back were not like that of a Pegasus’s which were smooth and graceful and feathered. His wings were jagged, clawed and ugly and he had no way of hiding them. Everyone could see what a monster he was. He wasn’t exactly ashamed of his bloodline, but he was ashamed of what their reputation had become. Most of the people who weren’t draconic would only see bloodlust and greet in them. It made Spike sick.

“Che,” Spike replied to Twilight, his hands deep in his pockets and his head looking down towards the ground watching his feet. “Hey Twi,” he suddenly looked up at his friend, “you think Rarity would say yes to me if I asked her out?” he asked tentatively, nervous for the answer.

“Spike…” she said as she sighed a little, knowing that the question was to come up at some point in the day. “You and I both know the answer to that. She’s too old for you,” and she was right. Rarity was 22. He was 17. All the more reason that he loved her. She was a woman and he was just a kid. “You should find someone your age Spike. I know that you’ve had this crush on her for a while but I’m worried for you. Having a crush on Rarity this long could get… Unhealthy…”she ended lamely.

Spike growled a bit. He knew what she meant by unhealthy. She thought he would get possessive of Rarity. Twilight had good reason to think this though, draconic people are known for being possessive and greedy… just like a dragon. He made no comment after that and continued walking to Rarity’s, his hands shoved down into his pockets again.

They reached to doors of Rarity’s shop and Spike knocked a few times. He heard the distant sound of Rarity’s voice calling down from behind the door that she was coming, followed by quick footsteps. She opened the door and Spike smiled at what he saw. She wasn’t dressed any differently than before but he still was stunned at her beauty. She was wearing a simple white collared button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up between her wrists and elbow. She wore a simple black skirt that went just above the knees of her long legs which sported simple black flats. Spike looked at her face and continued to feel his heart race. Rarity still had her signature blue eye shadow with subtle pink lipstick. Her blue eyes were joined by her half-moon red glasses placed slightly askew upon her nose. She was holding a few papers in one hand and a tape measure in the other. She smiled brightly as she spotted Spike.

“Oh good, Twilight you’re here. And with Spike too? Come in, we have much to get done,” Rarity smiled as she beckoned them both inside. Spike’s nostrils were suddenly filled with a pleasant scent. Rarity’s scent. Lavender with the slightest hint of vanilla. It wasn’t overpowering but he could smell it clearly. He was surrounded by mannequins dressed in all sorts of different styles of clothing from casual every day wear to elegant gowns. He was amazed at how she could whip these creations up in her mind and then bring them to life.

“Alright Twilight, I’ll have you stand right there while I grab my clipboard,” Rarity said to Twilight, pointing to a spot on a sort of podium in the middle of the store. Spike simply sat and watched as Rarity used her magic to grab the clipboard from the other side of the room. He loved watching Rarity perform magic. The aura that came from her was a clear blue that seemed to sparkle just as the gems that she loved. That they both loved. He loved gems as much as she did but for different reasons. She loved them for their individual beauty and pureness. He loved them because they tasted good, but also because Rarity loved them. He watched the clipboard hover in space while surrounded by the misty blue aura that was Rarity’s magic. The tape measure was also being controlled by her magic, measuring Twilight as Rarity recorded the various numbers on her clipboard. She hummed while doing so, talking to herself. Spike noticed that she had those odd little quirks when she was concentrating and found them absolutely adorable. The way she would furrow her brow if she knew something was wrong, the way she tapped the end of her pen when she was looking for the right word to use when describing a certain fashion or stitch. He loved each one of them because they were so… Rarity.

“Hmm… Twilight, I understand you want to have a dress that is suitable for the Princess… so something formal…” Rarity asked Twilight as she continued to multi-task.

“Yes, I need it for the Gala that’s-” Twilight started to answer her question but was interrupted by a clunk followed by a loud gasp made by Rarity. Spike instantly stood up, ready to help Rarity if she were in mortal peril. She wasn’t.

“You don’t mean The Grand Galloping Gala now would you, Twilight? Is it really that time of year again?” Rarity asked, suddenly inches away from Twilight. Rarity’s magic had ceased, causing the objects that were being held by it to fall to the ground. Rarity had been to the Gala several times with Twilight along with the rest of their friends.

Twilight flinched as she realized how close her friend was. She took a step back and nodded to Rarity. “I agree Rarity, it seems time flies doesn’t it? The one you made me a few years ago for the Gala is a little too small so now I am here-“ she was cut off again by Rarity and Twilight rolled her eyes but smiled, knowing that Rarity would have this reaction when Twilight would tell her the reason for her commission.

“This changes everything about the design Twilight! You should have told me it was for the Gala,” Rarity exclaimed as she vigorously scratched out her notes about the dress and began to make new ones, muttering about different stitching and fabrics. “And we’ll need plenty of gems,” Rarity looked over to Spike who sat up a bit straighter when he heard the word ‘gem’. “That mean’s I’ll have to borrow you for a few days, Spikey-Wikey darling” Rarity gave a big smile and continued to write more ideas for Twilight’s new dress. He simply nodded and tried to hide his excitement

It was at these moments where Spike didn’t curse his Dragon blood. He could find the gems and jewels that Rarity needed for her dressmaking easily, seeing that he was a gem eating Dragon Blood. Along with her gem hunting magic and his keen sense, together they could find cart loads of gems for her. It also meant that he could spend his time with her alone, something he couldn’t do as often while being next to Twilight all the time. Spending time with Rarity was something he treasured more than those jewels. Rarity was a jewel herself in his eyes, one that he vowed to take care of as long as he could breath.

“And that should do it for today, Twilight dear. I might as well make all of the girl’s new dresses for the Gala,” Rarity said, nodding more to herself than Twilight or Spike. “Ooh it will be so much fun!” she squealed and grinned at the thought.

“Just don’t push yourself too hard, Rarity. I’ll help you out any way I can, ok?” Spike said, knowing how determined she could get with her work. She could spend a good week working on a new line of clothing while insisting that sleep would only slow her down, which only reminded him of Twilight. He understood why she pushed herself so hard; she loved making dresses. Rarity was known especially for her beautiful dresses because of the passion and hard work she put into each one. He admired her more for her unwavering determination but also was concerned with her health.

“Aww Spike darling, you’re always such a gentleman. I’ll be having your help, so you can keep an eye on me incase anything happens. I trust you, Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity glowed as she led them to the door. “Now tomorrow morning I want you to be here at 6:30 am sharp, ready to use those gem hunting skills of yours, Spike. I’ll inform you of more details when you arrive.”

“’Course, I’ll be there right on time and you can count on it, Rarity.” Spike grinned as he felt his stomach fill with butterflies.

“Thank you so much, now you two must be busy the rest of the day, right Twilight?” Rarity asked her, not that she was trying to get them to leave but she could see the growing irritation in her friend. Spike frowned slightly at the thought of leaving Rarity’s presence so soon.

“Yes in fact we do, Spike. I need you to take a few notes for the Princess about my studies about enchanted carnivorous plants and their behavior when confronted with small woodland mammals.” Twilight affirmed, reaching out to grab Spike by the wrist and pull him away from the entrance of the boutique. He turned around slightly to look back at Rarity one last time and waved and he saw her wave back enthusiastically.

After coming back to the Library and spending about an hour writing down Twilight’s notes on her plants, Spike found himself on the balcony of his room that overlooked Ponyville. He remembered coming there for the first time with Twilight, being sent there with her all the way from Canterlot by Princess Celestia. That’s when he met everyone. He got to meet Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and most importantly, Rarity. He knew the second he laid eyes on her that she was the most beautiful creature in the universe, even more so than Princess Celestia herself (though he could never say that out loud in the presence of her most faithful student Twilight Sparkle). From that day, he had sought her out, even though at the time he was still only 11. But it was six years into the future now. He had grown up into a teen and she had grown to be a beautiful adult woman who was way out of his league. But he was more than ready to try now. Spike was determined to tell her that he wanted her to be by his side. He would do it tomorrow.
~~~

Author's Note

Hey there. This is my first time posting on this site and my first Pony fiction. I hope I didn't screw anything up.
I have written Fan Fiction before on FF.net but never on here. I decided it was time to do so.
I love this pairing and I can say that it won't go too fast. I have a good idea of how the story will go.
I'll answer any questions or comments or constructive criticism.