As Hard as Diamond
Spike tossed and turned in his tiny bed next to Twilight's. Although he was beginning to get too large for that bed, that wasn't the reason for his sleep deprivation. No, he had something else on his mind. Somepony else, to be more precise.
It has been years since Twilight and he had come to Ponyville and Twilight was assigned to stay here to "study the magic of Friendship" by Princess Celestia. Within his first hours of being in the town, he saw her, the most beautiful creature to ever take form in this world, right before his eyes. Before he even knew her name, he knew he was in love with this pony. Now, years and years later, here he was, lying awake in his bed, thinking about her.
Spike easily placed his feet flat on the ground and stood himself up. Twilight, still awake and reading in her bed, took notice to Spike's. Spike began to walk out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Twilight took a quick once over at Spike, then back at his bed.
"Going on another one of your late night walks, again?"
"Yeah. I'll be back soon."
"Oh. Okay then. Don't come back too late, now."
"I won't."
Twilight noticed her dragon's short, tired sentences. She closed her book and set it on the nightstand next to her bed. She rolled over to face Spike's bed.
"It has to be something more than his small bed...it just has to be..." Twilight said to herself with a sigh, unsure of how to handle Spike's recent emotions.
Twilight thought to herself that this was just part of him growing up and maturing, and with that, she set herself to sleep, still worried about her once always bright and cheery assistant.
Meanwhile, Spike was only a short distance down the road from the library. He began kicking a small rock along as he walked through the town. He just couldn't understand why Rarity didn't love him. Sure, they were both of different species, but was Rarity that superficial? Spike practically devoted his life to this pony, and she still didn't love him. He must be doing something wrong, he thought. There's no way that Rarity could be so low as to not have any affection for him simply because he was a dragon.
Spike was soon in front of Carousel Boutique. He could see Rarity in the window, reading by the faint light of a small, fashionable lamp. He placed his hand on the window, looked down at the ground, and walked away from the building, sitting down facing away from it. He just wanted to know what he was doing wrong, why Rarity didn't love him, and what he could do so she would.
Rarity closed her book and sat it beside her. As she turned to put out her light, she noticed the dragon sitting in front of her home. She opened the front door and began to walk out toward him.
"What's my little Spikey-Wikey doing here so late?" She said as she approached him.
"Oh, hi, Rarity. I was just...going for a walk..." Spike said as he noticed the pony who was right next to him.
Rarity sat beside him and focused on the same point in the distance that Spike was looking at. There was a silence for a moment, until Rarity spoke up.
"Does Twilight know you're here?"
"Yeah."
"Anything you'd like to talk about, deary?"
Spike shook his head, not wanting to directly say why he was feeling this way. Instead, he rested his head on Rarity's shoulder. She began to stroke the larger scales on his head with her hoof, trying to sooth him. This however, did the exact opposite, as Spike began to cry at this gesture of Rarity's compassion. His tears landed on her white, angelic coat, and ran down her chest. She then held him with her other hoof, in an attempt to calm him down once more.
"What's wrong, Spikey?" She said to him in a hushed tone.
"It's...just...I..."
Rarity had no intention of rushing him or trying to coax the truth out of Spike, as it may only further upset him.
"...I love you Rarity..."
"I love you too, Spike."
"Wha...what...?"
"Mhmm. I love you, Twilight loves, you, Fluttershy loves you, Appleja--"
"Oh...I thought...thought you meant...something...else..."
"Like what, darling?"
"Like...like the way I love you..."
"Oh..."
Rarity didn't know how to respond to this, really. She may have just broken the heart of the kindest dragon in Equestria, a creature known to have a heart as hard as diamond. She's known for quite some time now how much Spike cared about her, and every day it would hurt just to see him like this. Spike loved Rarity, and she didn't have mutual feelings.
"Spike, there's something you should know."
"Yeah...?"
"The reason why we can't be, is because, well, we just aren't right for each other. One day I'll meet someone absolutely perfect for me, and one day, you'll meet someone absolutely perfect for you. Don't dedicate your life to the first pretty pony you meet, give her some time to show you that she's the one for you. I promise you'll find someone some day, and you'll think she's even more perfect than you think I am. I promise."
Rarity stood up and helped Spike to get to his feet. She yawned, and turned to make her way back to her home for bed. She stopped, and turned back to Spike. "Good night, my little Spikey-Wikey." She said, as she leaned in to kiss him. But this was no ordinary kiss on the cheek Spike would normally receive from the pony. Rarity leaned in closer and kissed him on the lips, like she was giving him something to remember her by when he did meet the perfect one for him.
He smiled, turned around, and started home, with something he would cherish for the rest of his life. His eyes began to water as he relived the kiss in his mind over and over, it being the most momentous event of his life. He looked up to the bright moon, and imagined Rarity's beautiful white face in it. His imagination was interrupted by a shadow flying fast through her face. Spike thought about what Rarity had said to him, about meeting someone even more perfect than her.
"Well, if you say so, Rarity..." He said as he smiled, trying to picture a more perfect being than her.
"If you say so..."
