Desparity

Spike stood there in the morning sunshine. “We said we would go gem hunting this morning at 10, and it’s 10” and Spike pointe dover to the clocktower.

“Okay then?” Rarity replied in a most confused manner and she just stood there in shock. She had not expected to see Spike for a while and her mind was already muddled after the events of the previous day.

Spike tapped a foot on the ground impatiently “So, you ready?”

“Are you sure you're ready to help me today?” Rarity asked with warmth and a hint of concern, although still with overriding confusion. Spike’s tone was very sharp and his body language screamed indifference when speaking to her. But the dragon also looked slightly different. He hadn't physically grown like during his greed growth spurt, but his scales looked a deeper shade of purple and had more defined edges. Rarity assumed that they had somehow gotten thicker.

“I said I would help you, and unlike some people I mean the things I say” Spike replied, shooting a rather disdainful look at the unicorn.

Rarity winced at the hostility on display from a friend which had for years only ever spoken and acted towards her with affection “I’m...I’m not sure I’ll go out today.” she stammered.

“You still need the gems don't you?”

“Well, yes but…”

“And I doubt that you are going to be able to dig and carry them all by yourself?”

“I’m not incapable!” Rarity snorted back, Spike’s brashness starting to rub off on her "I did it for years before you moved to Ponyville!"

“Sure you could, if you want to take about twenty times longer, ruin your hooficure and end up with a much smaller haul.”

“Well maybe I do!” Rarity pouted.

Spike shrugged his shoulders “Meh, doesn’t really bother me too much. I’ve put the day aside to do this so it’s only your only cutting your own muzzle to spite your face if you don’t want to take advantage of these.” Spike flashed his talons "I've got a whole bunch of comics I could be reading instead".

Rarity slightly shuddered as the dragons sharp claws glistened in the sunlight. Despite what some ponies would like to believe, especially the so called nobles, it is a commonly accepted scientific fact that ponies are animals like all the others in Equestria and beyond. And like any other animals, ponies have a built in flight or fight instinct.

Earth ponies mostly tended towards fight, their strength and stamina helping to protect them.

Pegasi mostly resorted to flight, hence its name, as in the air no creature could match their speed and agility.

Unicorns depended if they were good with defensive or offensive magic; some like the Sparkle family could fight, others could not.

Rarity was not known for her defensive magic, and so when she saw the glistening claws, a part of her told her to flee. She took a step back and managed to regain control just before turning to actually run. The rational part of her brain knew Spike would never harm anypony, but her primal instinct was giving her a constant reminder that the creature that currently seemed to hate her could easily hurt her if he wanted to.

"Rarity?" Spike asked, a bit taken back by the pony looking a little scared.

Rarity snapped back to reality hearing her name, although she needed a moment to think. “Erm...just give me a few minutes to finish up and we’ll head out” the unicorn stuttered before returning inside. She immediately rushed to the bathroom and sprinkled some water on her face Calm down Rarity, Spike would never hurt you. He’s just a little mad right now, I'm sure it’ll pass. He did come to help you afterall? Now that was a nice surprise.

Having started to control her thoughts, the primal part kicked in again Are you sure you want to go off, alone, to a remote part of the country with a dragon? You can't fight him off if he decides to attack you. Besides, something has changed about him, can you really trust him? The image of the claws and the thicker scales re-entered her mind, and it made her nervous.

No! The rational part argued back Spike is a proper gentledrake, even when he went on a rampage he protected me. He's just hurting right now.

Yes, but you hurt him.

Rarity winced even though it was her own mind talking to itself Maybe, but I don't think he would have come just to deceive me so he could hurt me! Dragons don't do tactics when it comes to fighting, he would have just burnt down my home with me inside if he wanted to!

Rarity shook that last thought out of her mind, and quickly gathered up some items in her saddle bags. She returned outside via the backdoor to the garden. where Spike was waiting having already hooked himself up to one of the carts they used after being given them by the diamond dogs.

“You know I’m very thankful for your help...” Rarity started to speak as she opened the gate,

“Whatever” Spike interrupted dismissively in reply and started walking off. Rarity sighed and followed, an uncomfortable silence falling over the pair. She wanted to speak to the dragon, for her own benefit if not his, but clearly Spike was not in the mood.

The walk to the mountains south of Ponyville with the richest gem deposits took a couple of hours over tough terrain. Despite this, it was usually a pleasant journey where the two friends would usually chat about Pinkie's most recent party, or Rainbow Dash's latest stunt. But as they approached their halfway rest stop, Rarity's mind was in overdrive. Spike hadn't spoken to her since the start of the journey, and the longer the silence remained the worst it felt. Sometimes she thought that she had seen Spike take a glancing look at her, but there was no real interaction between them for the whole journey.

Reaching the clearing, Spike let the cart come to a stop and unhooked himself from it. Rarity pulled a cup out of her saddlebag and levitated it over to the fresh river to fill it. However, she was slightly distracted as she noticed Spike suddenly cannonball dive into the river, causing a big splash that just missed hitting her perfectly styled mane. Rarity stood in shock at the sudden change as the dragon enjoyed cooling himself off in the river.

“Sorry, am I being a bit uncouth for you?” Spike called out as he backstroked past where Rarity was paused for thought.

The sarcasm in his voice snapped Rarity back to attention, and she dipped the cup into the river to fill it “No, not at, it’s just you surprised me as you haven’t gone swimming before.”

“Well, after pulling that heavy cart I could do with a cooling down, even in autumn.”

Rarity watched as the dragon froliked about in the water I wonder just how much Spike changed his behaviour for me. Sweet Celestia, could I be any more of a bad friend!

“Sorry that you felt you couldn’t do this before” Rarity called out.

“It was my choice, nothing to do with you!” Spike snapped back.

Rarity could tell Spike was still smarting and decided to leave him in peace. She took her drink and sat down under the shade of a nearby tree, waiting for her dragon companion to be ready. But it just gave her time to think.

Everypony knew dragons were dangerous creatures, and kept well away from them. However, Rarity and her friends had much more knowledge than most, having witnessed first hand young dragon behaviour. They were despicable creatures that would kill young phoenixs just for fun - they had no redeeming features.

But Ponyvilles resident dragon, her little Spikey Wikey, was nothing like those mean dragons. Rarity reflected that he displayed the five base elements of harmony as much as anypony else:

• His loyalty to Twilight was evident, but the dragon was just as loyal to her when she needed his help.
  
• He would always try cheer everypony up, even going as far as that dangerous trip to the castle to get that book for her.
  
• Despite his basic instinct, his generosity in time and any possessions he had was only second to her own.
  
• The actions with the phoenix baby; saving it, raising it and eventually letting it go, proved his kindness.
  
• Even when it came to honesty, he had even be truthful of his feelings in a way she had not.

But she was worried just how easy it would be for him to turn towards his dragon nature, to become greedy, selfish and violent. Of course having a pony like Twilight as a mother figure would be useful in preventing this, in particular now she was a strong leader who could keep anypony in check.

But it had been Spikes feelings for her, and the fact she would not give up the Heartgem, that had turned him back to normal when his greed had taken over. And when she was taken over by the Nightmare, he had done everything he could to rescue her. This was despite the evil tempting him with false visions of them being together, offering him everything his dragon greed desired. Would Spike be able to stay on the good path now he hated her? Visions of an out of control Spike tearing Equestria part entered her mind...

“Hello, Equestria to Rarity?” Spike called out, snapping the unicorn back to reality where the dragon had already strapped himself into the carts harness “Sorry to interrupt your daydreaming but some of us will have work to do later, so lets get moving.”

Rarity stood up, packed away her things, and followed the cart. The break may have given Spike a chance to refresh his muscles, but all it had done was depress her further. She vowed to herself that when the day was over, she would lay on her favorite couch and eat all the ice cream she could find.

Unbeknownst to the unicorn, Spike was equally having a harder then expected time. It was not solely because of his dragon code that he decided to do the gem hunting today. Spike had wanted to prove to himself that he could be around Rarity without resorting to his usual feelings of attraction. But even with the freshness of the pain, and the night spent softly weeping, he was often finding himself ready to break down and apologise to Rarity, despite having decided there was nothing he needed to apologise for.