Monday…
“Spike!” Twilight called out, trotting into their home’s living area. “You got a letter in the mail!”
Spike trudged down the stairs to the room and took a small purple envelope from Twilight’s magical grasp. He didn’t even have to read the address information to know it was from Rarity. Every week since she moved away he had received a letter in the same envelope detailing how wonderful her life in Stalliongrad was. And every week it hurt just as much as the week before to think about her.
“Thanks, Twi,” Spike said with a weak smile. He turned back up the stairs to his room leaving behind a concerned Twilight.
“Aren’t you happy to hear from Rarity?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, definitely. I just miss her is all,” Spike replied before resuming his march up to his room.
“Oh, well, okay. I understand, Spike. Just let me know if you need to talk.”
Spike nodded and dashed the rest of the way to his room and collapsed onto the bed. With a quick slice of a claw, the envelope opened up, revealing a intricately decorated piece of paper with a neatly written message on it.
“Alright, Rarity, let’s see how you are doing.”
Dear Spike,
Hello, dear! Things are still going lovely over here. Business has been positively booming! Who knew that fashion could be such a lucrative business in an area that stays cold almost all year? I’ve almost completed my contract with Fashion Plus, which means I’ll soon have the means to come for a lengthy visit to see you all...
The idea of Rarity being able to visit caused his mind to take a pause and a smile threatened to make its way across his face.
...Now, in my last letter I told you I may have some exciting news to share, and I do!
I met the most handsome stallion several weeks ago at a photography shoot and we’ve really been hitting it off! But, it gets better. Four days ago, while on a date, he officially asked if I wanted to move in with him! I’m so excited! Not only will it reduce my own living costs, but maybe this relationship could turn into something permanent in the near future!
Any good feelings that Spike had been developing had all left and were replaced by a dark pit that his heart was rapidly sinking into.
...Anyway, aside from that not much has changed. I do miss you so my little Spikey! Please write back as soon as possible with an update on your life. I want to hear every last detail! Understood?
That’s all for this letter, dear. Tell everypony I said hi and do keep an eye on Sweetie Belle for me. Celestia knows how the colts act at this age toward the fillies, so please watch out for her. Please and thank you!
Love,
Rarity
Spike could feel his stomach churning.
He knew it was none of his business, and he knew Rarity had every right to be happy, but the idea of her sharing a house, sharing a bed with a stallion like this just made him feel sick.
Spike shook his head and tossed the now crumbled up letter across the room and into the garbage can. He needed something to get his mind off of things.
Spike wandered downstairs and into the kitchen to drown his sorrow in a bowl of Cocoa ‘Splosion cereal. He opened the fridge and retrieved the necessary items and proceeded to make his meal. His first bite, however, was interrupted.
“Spike, there you are!” Twilight said, trotting into the dining area. “I have to go talk to Mayor Mare for a bit so if you could listen for the telephone in the main room, I’d really appreciate it!”
Spike let out a lengthy sigh. “I still don’t understand why you had to get a telephone. I’m still your main form of long-distance communication.”
“We need one because I’m a princess now, and not everypony that I need to talk to can use magic. It saves a lot of time.”
“Alright, I’ll listen,” Spike said, returning back to the cereal in front of him.
“Thank you! I’ll be back in a few hours.” Twilight beamed a bright smile and made her way out of the room.
After hearing the front door shut, Spike relocated his meal to the living room, just in case somepony felt the need to actually call them.
More importantly, however, Spike made himself comfortable at the desk where the phone was located and he happily drew in another bite of cereal.
*ring! ring! ring!*
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Spike thought aloud, slapping his palm to his face. “After that letter, taking messages from annoying dignitaries is the last thing I need.”
*ring! ring! ring!*
Spike let out another deep sigh and took a final bite of cereal before picking up the dreaded phone.
“Uh, hello?” Spike said into the device.
“Uh, hi. Is, um, is Pop Tart there?” a strongly accented, feminine voice replied.
“Um, no, I think you have the wrong number,” Spike said, scratching his head.
“No, it can’t be… It can’t!”
Spike was about to hang up but the sound intense sobbing from the other end of the line made him pause.
“Wait, don’t cry! Is,uh, is something wrong?” he asked.
“It’s just, just…” the voice said, trying to speak. “He’s gone. I guess he’s actually gone!”
“Who’s gone?”
“Pop Tart, my coltfriend!”
Spike opened his mouth to respond, but couldn’t think of anything to say. He had to assess the situation, first.
Alright, Spike, here’s the deal. You’ve got a heartbroken mare randomly calling you, and she’s obviously in need of some support. You can either hang up the phone and forget it happened, or try and help.
The choice was obvious by this point. Spike was no stranger to heartbreak and he would never be able to forgive himself if he ignored someone in need.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Spike said, returning his attention to the phone. “But, if I may ask, how do you know he actually left you? Did something bad happen.”
After a few sniffles the voice responded back. “Thank you. I know he left me, though, because he left me a note saying he needed to get away for awhile, and this is the number he left me to contact him. I guess he actually just wanted to get away from me!”
“Ouch. I know how that feels,” Spike replied.
“You do? What do you mean?”
“Well, the mare I really loved moved away recently and just today told me she’s in a serious new relationship.”
“Oh, well, I’m sorry to hear that,” the voice replied, calming down.
“Yeah, thanks. Just, the worst part is that I should’ve seen it coming. I mean, she usually seemed to rebuff my affections anyway. Actually, she even went as far as actually using me at times.”
“Oh, that’s not nice. She sounds kind of like a bitch,” she said, before quickly changing to a worried tone. “Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to insult her.”
“It’s alright,” Spike said with a chuckle. “Letting go just hasn’t been as easy as I hoped it would.”
“I understand exactly what you mean.”
An air of silence took over before the two of them broke out in a small fit of laughter.
“Oh, goodness,” the accented voice said. “Here I am just chatting my life story away with somepony I called by accident. You must think I’m a tad mental.”
“Maybe, but it’s not like I have any room to talk after I told you my personal love life woes,” Spike said with the first real smile he’d been able to muster that day.
“Well, perhaps we could stop being strangers then so things will be less strange?” the voice asked.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Excellent!” the voice said. “My name is Misty. What’s yours?”
“I’m Spike. Nice to meet you, Misty. Well... kind of meet you,” Spike said with a sheepish laugh.
“Hehe, nice to meet you as well, Spike.”
*****
Twilight slowly plodded her way through the front door. Being a Princess had many benefits, but having to rewrite outdated laws and enforcing policies on cupcake taxes were not among them.
She made her way to the living room and crawled onto the couch, relishing in the comfort it brought to her pulsating head.
“Ahh, just what the doctor ordered. A nice evening of peace and qui-”
“Twilight!”
She could feel the warm atmosphere around her shatter into a thousand pieces as Spike leapt onto the couch next to her, a huge smile on his face.
“Spike?” Twilight said, slowly turning her gaze to him. “Please tell me this is important. I’ve got a massive headache and really need to relax.”
“Oh, it is, trust me!” he said with a giddy nod.
“Alright, what is it?” Twilight said with a weak smile, ready to go back to resting as soon as possible.
“I’ve got a new marefriend!”
Twilight’s brain instantly froze, unable to process anything but a single, unhindered question.
“You what?!”
*****
Twilight slurped down her coffee, trying to recharge her brain into comprehending the situation before her.
“But yeah, Twi, she’s amazing! And we’re so similar, it’s crazy!”
“I don’t know, Spike. I’m not really sold on this whole thing. I mean, you don’t even know, um, whatsername.”
“Misty.”
“Yeah, Misty, whatever. The point it is you need to be careful with how close you get to people you don’t know.”
“But Twilight, I do know her. I mean, I already know her name, I know she’s eighteen, and I know she lives in Cumbraya, so she has the cutest accent ever!” Spike leapt in the air with a huge smile.
Twilight just rolled her eyes and sipped down the rest of her coffee. “Look, Spike, I understand that you hit it off with this mare, but you need to be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt. Besides, Cumbraya is halfway across the world.”
“Look, Twilight, I understand, and I’ll be careful. But we talked for two hours and, well, I’m really excited to talk to her again.”
“Did you get her number?”
“Well… no. I forgot to ask. But, she said we could talk again tomorrow, so I’m going to need to stay by the phone to make sure I don’t miss her call, alright?”
Twilight facehoofed and rolled her eyes.
Why do I have a nagging feeling that this isn’t going to end well?
*****
Wednesday…
“Oh, thank you so much for coming over, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, closing the front door behind her friend. “Owlowiscious refuses to eat the medicine I got him and I really need you help.”
“Oh it’s no problem at all, Twilight. I’m always happy to help.” Fluttershy smiled sweetly and walked into the main room.
Spike was seated at the desk, a huge smile plastered on his face as he was once again talking with his new friend.
“Hey, just one second Misty, I gotta say hi to someone,” Spike said, placing the phone down. “Hey Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy smiled and waved a hoof at him. “Oh, hello Spike. You sure seem to be in a good mood today.”
“Oh yeah, I am. Any time I get to talk to Misty is a good day.” Spike gestured to the phone, leaving a look of confusion on Fluttershy’s face.
“Misty?”
“Ugh, I’ll explain,” Twilight said, leading Fluttershy up the stairs to her room.
“Um, okay. It was nice seeing you Spike. Tell um, Misty, it was nice um, to learn of her existence.”
Spike shrugged and returned to his phone call.
“Sorry about that. Our pet owl is sick and one of my friends is here to help.”
“No worries,” Misty replied with a cute laugh. “And a pet owl you said? That’s pretty cool. I just have a pet snake.”
“Wait a sec, you have a snake? That’s so cool!”
“Yeah, he’s a sweetheart, to be sure. His name is Monty.”
“He sounds cool. I’ve always wanted to have a pet like that.”
“Well,” Misty said, a slight crack of nervousness in her voice, “when you come visit me over here, we’ll make sure to spend some time at my place so you can see him.”
Spike immediately had a goofy grin decorating his face. “Yeah, I totally can’t wait.”
“Me neither. You just need to grow those dragon wings of yours already and then you can visit whenever you wish.”
“Hey, according to the textbooks I’ve read they should be coming in any day now,” Spike said. “So don’t be too surprised if I randomly show up at your doorstep one day soon.”
“Oh, surprised wouldn’t even begin to describe it. What with you flashing those wings and fangs and all.”
“What can I say? It helps to be a naturally sexy creature.” Spike and Misty both shared what had to be their hundredth chuckle of the conversation.
“You know Spike, I’ve never really met somepony so genuine like you. And easy to talk to. You’re much better than that arsehole, Poptart.”
Spike blushed and he could feel his heart rate quickening by the second. “Hehe, thanks. Same here. I really like talking to you.”
“Same here,” Misty replied, letting out a soft sigh laced a hint of contentment. “Really, our conversations the past few days have been the brightest spot in my life recently.”
Spike smiled and closed his eyes. “I know exactly what you mean.”
*****
“So, you see why I’m worried Fluttershy?” Twilight asked her friend who was gently petting a sleeping pet owl.
“I suppose so, but I honestly think it’s kind of cute,” Fluttershy said with a light blush. “The whole long distance thing, plus the fact that it all happened by random chance. It’s really sweet.”
“Yeah, I will admit it’s cute watching Spike’s eyes light up every time he hears the phone ring. Most of the time it’s just business calls, but he still answers every time.”
“Hehe, at least he’s loyal, if nothing else,” Fluttershy said with a giggle.
Twilight let out a deep sigh. “Honestly, I haven’t seen him this happy since Rarity left. But that’s what worries me. If this whole ship sinks and she tosses him away or something it’s going to break his heart even more than before.”
“Oh, you’re right,” Fluttershy replied with a frown. “Have you tried talking to him about it?”
“Yes, but it’s not like he really listens. Nopony listens to reason when they’re in love. All he can talk about is how pretty she probably is, how she wants to go an aviation college, how much she makes him smile. And this is just after three days of talking! He pretty much lives by the phone now.”
“Well, Twilight, there’s really only one thing you can do.”
“What’s that?”
“Support him and do your best to keep that smile on his face. You’re his closest friend, so it’s your job.”
Twilight turned her eyes to the ground and let out a sigh. “You’re right, Fluttershy. I just really hope things turn out for the better.”
Fluttershy smiled and gently placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Twilight. I’m sure they will. Especially if Spike has his best friend to count on.”
*****
Saturday...
Twilight walked through the front door of her castle home after a full morning of ordinance approving at town hall, and instantly decided a nap was in order.
She walked up to her room and was about to make a dash for her bed, but she noticed something odd on the way there. When passing by Spike’s room, she noticed him just sitting on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Normally, this wouldn’t be a strange sight, but this past week he had spent every ounce of free time he had by the phone, waiting for his beloved phone call.
“Hey, Spike,” Twilight said, entering his room.
“Oh, hey Twi,” Spike replied, lightly nodding and sending a wave her way.
“I expected you to be talking to Misty today. Is something wrong?”
“Oh, nah, she just couldn’t talk today. She told me yesterday she went out to interview for some prestigious university or something today and would be gone for awhile. It’s a pretty big deal to her, so she’s gonna call me tomorrow with all the details of how it went.”
“Oh, well that’s exciting,” Twilight said with a smile. “She sounds like a really smart mare.”
“Yeah, she is,” Spike replied with a goofy grin. “She’s also sweet, and caring, loyal and from what she’s described, really pretty.”
“Oh really?” Twilight said with a wink. “What does she look like?”
“Well, apparently she’s got the whole ‘elegant’ kind of beautiful look, kinda like Octavia from the music shop, but she also has an action-ish kind of way about her like Rainbow. So, yeah, I can only imagine how lovely she actually is in real life.”
“She definitely sounds lovely,” Twilight said. “So, um, do you two have any plans to meet someday?”
“Yeah, we’re working on it. It’s just hard considering how far it is. Not to mention she’ll probably not have very much time anymore if she gets accepted to this school. But we’ll figure something out I’m sure.”
“Well, Spike, I certainly hope for the best. If you ever need to talk or anything just let me know, okay.”
Spike smiled and gently hugged her. “Definitely. Thanks Twi. I really appreciate it.”
Twilight smiled and hugged him back. “No problem, Spike. She obviously makes you happy.”
“Yeah, she really does.”
*****
Sunday...
“Spike… what are you doing?”
Spike was shifting uncontrollably in the desk chair by the phone, and he had been for several minutes now.
“I really, really have to go to the bathroom,” he stuttered.
Twilight rolled her eyes and brought her hoof to her face. “Then why don’t you just go?”
“Because… because Misty is gonna call any second now and I have to be here to answer the phone.”
“Spike, taking a couple minutes to use the restroom will not negatively impact your chances of talking with Misty today.”
“Sorry, Twi, but it’s not worth the chance,” he said with a straight face.
Twilight let out a deep sigh. “Look, I’ll watch the phone for you while you’re gone. Okay?”
“You will? Like, you promise you’ll answer it?”
“Yes, I promise. Now go before you make yourself sick.”
“Thanks, Twi, you’re the best!” Spike said.
He raced off to the restroom leaving Twilight shaking her head.
“Oh, Spike. He gets so worked up over absolutely noth-”
*ring ring*
Twilight perked her ears up as her mouth dropped in disbelief.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Twilight walked over to the phone and picked it up.
“Uh, hello?”
“Oh, hello! Is Spike there? This is Misty, his friend from across the pond.”
“Oh, um, sorry, he’s a bit tied up at the moment. Can I take a message for him?”
“Yeah, I have great news. Poptart, my coltfriend finally came back home and apologised for leaving. Flowers, chocolate, the whole shebang! I’m so happy! So if you could just tell him that for me, it’d be much appreciated.”
Twilight’s eyes widened at what she just heard. “Um, well, shouldn’t that be something you tell him yourself?”
“No, it’s okay. I’d hate to hurt his feelings or anything, and besides, things probably wouldn’t have been able to work out between us anyway, what with circumstances and all. Anyway, I just needed to let him know about that and thank him for keeping me company this past week. I really have to go now, though, so please do tell him what happened. Thanks again!”
The click on the line signified the call was over, and Twilight was still reeling from what she heard.
Oh my gosh, how can I tell Spike? This is just what I thought might happen. But, that won’t really mean anything if his heart breaks all the same. Ergh, this will not be easy.
Twilight turned away from the phone just in time to see Spike approaching her with a look of relief on his face.
“Woah, I really needed that,” he said with a chuckle. “So, did she call?!”
“Um, yeah, she did,” Twilight responded, unable to look at him.
“Well, what did she say? Did she say anything about me?”
“Yeah, she asked me to tell you something important, actually.”
“Really? What is it?”
Twilight looked at her long time partner and best friend. His huge smile and wide eyes… he really didn’t deserve what happened. He deserved so much better.
“She, uh, she said that the interview went great. So great, actually, she was assigned a boarding room right away! But, unfortunately, she won’t have access to a phone or anything while she’s there, so she needed me to tell you that you guys won’t be able to talk anymore.”
Spike’s smile immediately deflated and he turned his gaze to the floor. “Oh… okay.”
Twilight could feel her heart breaking just by looking at him. “But… she also wanted me to thank you for giving her one of the happiest weeks of her life.”
Spike let out a deep sigh and formed a small smile on his face. “Well, that was my goal, I guess. And I’m actually glad she got accepted into that school. It was really big deal for her.”
“Well, how do you feel about it, Spike? Are you gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. She’s happy, so I’m happy. That’s the point of caring about someone, right?”
Twilight smiled and brought him in for a hug. “Definitely.”
“Now, come on, Twi,” Spike said, taking her hoof and leading her to the door. “I’m gonna buy you some hay fries and a veggie burger at that place you like.”
Twilight looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “How come? I didn’t do anything.”
Spike looked back at her with a warm smile. “Because you’re my best friend and I love you. Do I need another reason?”
Twilight could feel a few tears start from around her eyes and she couldn’t help but smile. “I guess not. I love you, too, Spike.”
Author's Note
This story marks the first appearance of my OC Poptart. Also, thanks to Jayesixx for letting me use her OC, Misty.
