It was odd when Spike woke up the next morning to go to Rarity’s. He woke exactly three minutes before his alarm went off at 5:45. He could barely get to sleep the night before, his mind racing with all the different scenarios that could happen. He wanted to confess to her the right way. Not just like some little kid would do. He wanted her to remember it forever. He finally dragged himself out of bed and took a nice cold shower; something that the fire-breathing dragon loved. He got himself ready and was out the door with a piece of toast in between his teeth courtesy of Twilight. Spike made a mental note to thank her when he came back later that evening.

His walk to Rarity’s boutique wasn’t that far from the Library, but this cool summer morning made it feel like miles upon miles. His head buzzed with words that he wanted to say to her when telling her his true feelings. Each step felt like he had lead tied to both feet, but his stomach was filled with light fluttery butterflies. He looked up finally after what seemed to be too long for his liking and saw that Rarity was outside already, waiting for him with a smile. Man he had missed that smile, even though he saw it plenty of times yesterday.

“Morning Spike darling!” her cheerful voice reached his ears. It had no sign of tiredness or irritation of being up so early. He liked that. “I’m so glad that you agreed to come and help me out Spike,” she said as he waved back towards her, giving her a similar smile.

“Like I said Rarity, I’m always happy to help you out,” Spike chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. He secretly loved to be praised by her which was part of why he loved helping her out. She was always so gracious for his help and he loved helping her (and being close to her and alone).

“Oh Spike, Twilight is lucky to have you as her assistant. I wish I could have an assistant as wonderful as you are, Spikey,” Rarity’s eyes did that thing again as she said that. They sort of mist over while she looks at an imaginary image, a small smile on her face. It was adorable to Spike. Hell, everything that she did was adorable, even when she was on the brink of strangling Sweetie Belle for making a flag out of very expensive fabrics that were imported from Saddle Arabia. Even then, she was still quite adorable, even if he were on the receiving end of her rage. He could put up with it because it was Rarity.

“So Rarity,” Spike began, trying to get her out of her day dream, “what exactly do you have planned for me today?”

“Oh my, I almost forgot what you were here for!” Rarity snapped back to attention as she used her magic to haul out two rather large mining carts towards them and Spike had a pretty good idea of what he was going to be doing while they ventured to the mountain where they would begin mining. He didn’t wait for Rarity to explain what his task was and grabbed both carts and looked back towards her.

“Shall we head out then?” he asked her, a small smile gracing his lips as he started to walk forward. She simply nodded and walked next to him while they ventured out of Ponyville.

The walk towards the mountain wasn’t too bad, in fact Spike enjoyed taking morning walks. With Rarity of course. Without Rarity, he could sleep in and not care if he missed a morning walk. They talked about various things such as her business and how she had been asked to make a new line of dresses just after Twilight and he left. Spike adored the sound of her voice. It was so proper and silky with a hint of attitude laced into it. She was so lady like and beautiful that she seemed so perfect, almost too perfect to be real, but he knew that the Unicorn Blood walking next to him, laughing lightly at the jokes he made (that in reality were not very funny) was very real. And he was really happy.

He was lucky that she even talked to him. Outside of Ponyville, to those who didn’t know him, they saw a blood thirsty Dragon Blood. He used to walk down the streets of Canterlot and watch as Unicorn Blooded and Pegasus Blooded stared and whispered about him. He had grown to ignore it now, knowing that it was impossible to avoid. His wings and bright green hair and fangs gave it away. He would watch as mothers would pull their children to the other side of them when he walked by or how they would suddenly tighten their grip on their bags. Some men even had gone to farther measures, ones that put his life in danger. They would spit at the ground, hiss at him, even throw rocks or anything blunt they could find. He was healed quickly by the Princess herself when things had gotten out of hand. He had once asked the Princess why he was treated as such, why other people would stare and give him disgusting looks. She explained why; because Dragon Blooded people are thought to be savage and demonic creatures, looking only to steal and cause trouble. He wanted to prove her wrong since that day. Rarity knew of the troubles he went through when going to Canterlot. It happened often when they had gone together along with Twilight and the rest of their friends had gone for the Gala or were summoned by the Princess. It was only recent that the Princess had given Twilight a spell to conceal his wings for one day so he wouldn’t be subjected to that kind of torture while in her city. He couldn’t have thanked the Princess enough that day.

Spike could see the mountain where he knew they were going to stop while he walked down a dirt path with Rarity still briskly walking with him, telling him of her ideas for her dresses that she would be making for her friends. He listened intently, amazed at how detailed she was with each garment, describing everything down to the size of each stitch she would make.

“And of course I’ll be making a suit for you, Spike,” she said and his ears perked up. He didn’t ask for one, but that was why he loved her. She was generous and kind and the list could go on for miles.

“A suit for me? Didn’t you just make one for me a few years ago, Rarity?” he asked her, tilting his head to the side while he looked at her, still pushing both carts in front of him.

“Oh Spike, I’m almost positive that thing doesn’t fit you anymore. You’ve grown much taller since then and you’d probably rip out the seams if you tried to put it on,” Rarity waved her hand nonchalantly and laughed softly. Spike made a face mixed with a frown and a questioning look. Rarity noticed and suddenly knew what he was about to say. “Oh don’t worry Spike, it’s no trouble. I’m happy to make you another suit.”

“You don’t have to Rarity,” he said, knowing that adding another commission to her list would only stress her out. “You’re doing so much for the rest of our friends. You’re going to go insane with all of these projects that you set yourself up for.”

“Spike, you’re so sweet to think about me, but I love doing these kinds of things for my friends, even if I do spend most my nights working on them. I don’t want you to worry about me. What you need to worry about is finding me those gems.” Rarity again brushed his comment off and Spike still didn’t feel relieved. He knew that by the time all of the dresses were done, she would be a tired mess and he didn’t want to see his Rarity in such a condition. She deserved better than to be exhausted from wanting to do her friends such a service.

The pair reached their destination at the base of the mountain. He was glad that they were only going into a cave to look for gems, rather than going up to the top of the rather large mountain. They made their way to the first cave with Rarity leading him. “Damn… her butt looks perfectly shaped in that skirt… hugging her hips nicely… man what I wouldn’t give to feel her thighs and ass…” Spike thought to himself as he watched her hips sway back and forth while she walked, almost as if she were teasing him with the way her hips moved. He instantly blushed at his thought and shook his head trying to rid himself of the dirty thought. He generally was not a very perverted guy. He preferred to be a gentleman and keep such things to himself. But even then, he still didn’t like to think those kinds of things because it made him feel like a sleazy jerk who only wanted women for their bodies. But it was hard to keep those thoughts away when he was with Rarity. Not only was she beautiful, but damn right sexy. The only time he really saw her in a sexual way was in his dreams. As he grew up, he started to have more and more dreams about Rarity in ways that made him blush when he thought about them. It usually was just the two of them in a romantic setting, Rarity finally confessing her love for him and Spike would whisk her off her feet and the rest would just snowball from there. In his dreams, he would be the perfect lover that he had read about in some of Twilight’s Romance novels that he had read in his spare time. He would make her crave him and cause her to make beautiful sounds from her mouth while he made love to her. She would call his name and praise him for the way he would touch her or kiss her, and this would only drive Spike over the edge. But each time he woke up in the morning from one such dream, it only solidified his doubts about the likelihood of them ever even sharing a simple kiss. It all came back down to the two problems that he couldn’t control; his blood and his age. Spike wanted her to be his anyway though he knew this thought was selfish. He was destined to be a selfish creature in nature, and he knew that his feelings for Rarity wouldn’t change. He was a greedy and stingy Dragon Blood.

They entered the cave and continued to walk down until Rarity stopped in her tracks. She turned to him and nodded. “This should be a good spot to start Spike,” she said to him, using her magic to open her bag up and pull out a very sparkly blue notebook. It looked like something Rarity would have; everything that Rarity owned sparkled in some way. “Alright Spike, let’s get to work” Rarity stated, holding the notebook in her hands now, using the pencil to write down a few notes guided by her magic.

“What exactly are we looking for, Rarity?” he asked as he pulled on a pair of leather gloves, indicating that he was ready to get started.

“Well now, let’s see darling…” she turned a few pages back in her note book and nodded, “Ah here it is. For Twilight, I’m thinking amethyst… and…” Rarity skimmed over her notes, her brow furrowing again in the same way it always did. “For Pinkie Pie I think… yes Pink Sapphire would suit her perfectly… then Sky Blue Topaz for Rainbow… Ruby for Applejack… Fluttershy needs Aquamarine… Diamond for me and lastly…” she looked up at Spike with a smile, “Emerald for Spike.”

Spike smiled wide, making sure that he turned away from her gaze, embarrassed of his toothy smile that revealed his fangs. Green was his favorite color and he was happy that Rarity had put in some consideration for him. Spike closed his eyes and let him be consumed by his natural instinct for finding gems. He let all of the greed and possessive emotions that he held in wash over him. If it weren’t for the fact that Rarity wanted him to help her, he would never do this. He hated the way his Dragon Blood made him feel, but this was the only way to find the treasures that his own treasure requested for. He could feel in his fangs growing much longer to the point where he couldn’t keep them hidden behind his lips. He could feel his skin slowly becoming flaked with purple scales all over his body. His physical strength had increased radically, his usually lanky arms now filling out with muscle, his chest rising from his newly gained muscled body. His ears pointed and tinted a light green. Spike fought the feeling of his wings wanting to expand and take flight and he managed to stop them. Spike opened his eyes, his usually rounded pupils now slits. The transition was always an unpleasant one. It was uncomfortable and made him want to fly away, but he knew he couldn’t do that. Not when he was with Rarity. This form made him feel like the monster he was. He didn’t want Rarity to see this side of him ever. It was the evil that was inside of him manifested into the physical world. He avoided eye contact with Rarity and went straight to finding what she needed.

Spike could smell it. All of the different kinds of stones that occupied the cave. His sense of smell was heightened in this form. Each stone smelled different as they had different flavors to them. His mouth watered some as he inhaled deeply through his nose. He smelled his favorite gem first; diamond. It was like when it had just stopped raining, cool and refreshing. He followed the scent of the diamonds, keeping low to the ground as he did so. He could clearly smell them and began to remove rubble and rock from the ground, finding his haul. There lied his hoard of diamonds which he sifted through quickly. He found one that he liked which had a blue tint to it and put it into his pocket, noting that he would give it to his own gem at a later a date. Spike grabbed a handful of the gems and raced back to the mining cart to lay the stones inside and only to sniff out another precious stone that Rarity had requested for. While Spike was finding each stone for her, Rarity was writing notes about each stone he had uncovered and how many there were. She would have been overwhelmed with the amount of stones that he brought her if it weren’t for her magic.

Spike spent the day searching for bulks of jewels, stopping occasionally to ask Rarity if she needed more of anything and all she would say was more of everything. Spike was happy to oblige. He never did look at Rarity in the eye when he spoke to her. He couldn’t look at her while looking how he did.

Rarity finally told him that they were done for the day and he couldn’t have been happier. He returned to his human form before looking at Rarity. The carts were filled to the brim with different colored jewels, each one individually recorded by Rarity. He pushed them out of the cave, exhausted from digging in the cave. The sun was low in the sky while they walked back to the boutique.

“Spike, I can’t thank you enough for this, darling,” Rarity said as they walked down the dirt path, “Without you, I simply couldn’t imagine finishing all the dresses on time!”

“It’s no problem Rarity,” Spike said smiling, blushing at her compliment. He was glad that he was looking down while pushing the carts; he never liked how he looked when he blushed. It clashed with his hair and eyes, or at least that was what Rarity said when he wore red. Spike enjoyed feeling like he was important to her even if it was just digging up precious rocks.

“Oh but I have to pay you back in some way, darling. Even with this new suit I’m making you, I still have to pay you back for being so helpful,” Rarity exclaimed, becoming flustered almost instantly. Spike tried to convince her otherwise for the entirety of their walk home, but she insisted that she would pay him back in full whether he liked it or not. Secretly, he loved the idea of being paid back in full, especially when it was Rarity who owed him.

They reached the boutique just as the sun was barely over the horizon. Spike helped Rarity carry the gemstones to her workshop. Spike had smiled wide while Rarity continued her onslaught of thank yous. He stepped towards the door, waving to Rarity.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Rarity,” he smiled and was just about to close the door when he heard Rarity from behind him.

“Spike, wait!” she said, prying open the door with a smile, “I still have to pay you back for today,” Rarity pulled him into a hug which he happily accepted. He pulled back and was amazed once again by her beauty. Without really realizing what was happening, he felt a light feathery touch on his cheek and realized that Rarity had gone to her tip-toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. Spike watched dumbfounded as she pulled back with a small smile upon her lips. “Goodnight, Spikey.”

“Goodnight… Rarity” Spike replied after she had shut the door, leaving him outside in the cool night. Spike could easily argue that he was the luckiest Dragon Blood in the world at that moment.

~~~

Author's Note

Woo! Chapter 2. I can't believe how many people have seen this story. I feel so important!
Yup. If you have anything you wanna tell me, just do so. I actually have a plan for this story now. I worked by butt off to get this done. Mostly because I liked it.