//------------------------------// MARKED// by Hillbe//------------------------------//

"The Superior Court of Equestria has come to it's decision.

You Spike the Dragon is hearby ordered to pay for the damages of Poneyville property
and loss of business from your rampage on or about the times and date listed.

The court also recognizes your services to Equestria in it's time of need.

All other charges are suspended and removed from the record.

Mr. The Dragon will not be remanded into custody and he has forty-five days to pay the debt off unless

other arrangements can be made with the Superior Court Clerk.

The superior Court of Equestria is recessed next case please. "

...

Out on the court house steps Spike waddled along looking at the bill for the damages.

"How in Celestia can I get enough bits to pay this off?"

AJ looked at the bottom line and rambled "Yep, sure a heap of bits there"

Rainbow put a hoof to her head "Maybe the Wonderbolts could do a benefit show?"

Twilight peeked at the parchment "Don't think so, The order states he has forty-five days to pay,
You can't even organize your closet let alone a benefit show"

Dashie hovered replying only with a silent stink eye.

Fluttershy squeaked "Perhaps a silent auction, If you don't mind, If it's not too much?"
As her voice faded to that of a butterfly.

...

Rarity sang out "We could dig for gems, It's not like we can't deal with the dirt in a too fashionable way"

Twilight calculated "If we work together we will take five and a half days to find that amount needed to
pay off the debt and then some"

They all let out a collective nod on agreement.

Rainbow crossed her hooves "That's all good for you earth ponies digging, But what about us flyers?"

Twilight smiled as gears in her head started to spin to life.

"We all have our parts to do, Rainbow & Fluttershy can fly in supplies and fly out the trash.
Pinkie, myself and Spike will dig while Rarity hunts for the gems."

Twilight whips out a book. 'A Gem hunters guide to untold riches '

"Follow this and we'll work together more efficiently." Twilight lectured on and on , I'll set up the schedules.

Plan on meeting up at sun rise day after tomorrow. North side of town, Mare Belle street."

...

Lone figures walked the streets in the cool of the morning, The sun just peeking over the hills of Canterlot.

They gathered at the edge of Ponyville and headed for the gem fields. The big hunt begins.

Rarity had her deluxe fold-a-mansion 'camping set', Ordered from an old Mares and Robucks catalog.

AJ ,Twilight and Spike had simple ruck sacks and bed rolls.
Rainbow with Fluttershy had their clouds.

Pinkie pie bounded along pulling her wagon with balloons and streamers flowing in the wind.
One hoof after another they clopped and trotted along the trails and paths.

...

After a few hours and some horse play they arrived at the gem fields,

A barren area of stones ,dirt ,scrub brush ,edged by a few rolling hills on the edge of nowhere special.

Twilight called to Rainbow "Check out the area for any diamond dogs,
We don't need to be wasting any time with them"

Rainbow snapped a salute and launched into the blue "We had enough drama the last time we were here!"

Glowing eyes watched from afar as AJ, Twilight and the rest set up camp.

Spike laid out the fire ring, stones of different sizes forming a pit filled with sticks and wood,

Around the ring were the bed rolls , ruck sacks ,a wagon and opposite of the rustic camping gear
was Raritys mini palace so large and fabulous it brought it's own zip code.

...

AJ snickered "Gosh darned castle has plumbing and an indoor tub with a shower.

Spike huffed a small emerald flame and the camp fire came to life.

Spike looked up at the group of Equestrias best and cleared his throat.

"I'ed like to thank you all for helping me in my hour of need "Spike paused "It really means a lot to me"

AJ smiled " No sweat Spike I know you would do the same for me"

"Not a problem Spike "Twilight mused " You've helped all us girls from one time to another, Apple Jack at her farm,
Pinkie at Sugar Cube Corner and don't forget all those long hours at Raritys Boutique"

AJ winked and slyly said "We all know about those countless late night hours Spike spends at Raritys."

Rarity let out a gasp "Apple Jack How dare you..."

"Where's the grub!" Yelled Rainbow as she zoomed in for landing.

Dashie trotted up to Twilight "Didn't see anything during the patrol" The minutes dragged along.

Spike and AJ cooked over the fire as Twilight explained the details of her plan,
They settled in afterwards to beans, biscuits, hay hash ,grits and mud black coffee,

...

Rarity was aghast of the rustic field rations and hard tack listed as this mornings menu.

"Spikey dear, Can you please bring me some of my private stock if you may?"

Laughter erupted as they enjoyed their evening meals and fancy feasts.
The fire glowed as the campers secured for the night, Cook gear put away, bed rolls laid out

and an escort to her palace by the neighborhood drake. The roll call of good nights echoed under the stars.

"Good night, MiLady"

"Good night, My Spikey Wikey"

"Good night, Ya' all"

"Good night, AJ, Rariry, Rainbow, Pinkie , Spike get over here!"

"Good night, We have an awesome day tomorrow!"

"Good night, TwilightRaritySpikeAppleJackRainbowGummyLuna And Maud Where ever you are!"

"Good night, everyone."

The night was quiet and sleep came easy. The eyes from afar still watched and waited.

...
"Git up everypony!" AJ bellowed "Biscuits, Coffee, Hay browns and WE'RE BURNIN DAYLIGHT!"

They all opened their eyes to the new day. Rainbow squinted from her cloud above.

"Raise and shine!" AJ roared. Dashie grumbled in reply "You rise You shine!"

Pinkie popped into Rainbows view "Potato chips?" Her manic face smiled "Breakfast of champions".

Rarity raised her sleep mask from her eyes to find a daisy resting on her pillow.

They all prepared for the day, Ate some ash and grit encrusted breakfast and carried out Twilights instructions.

Raritys gem spell worked wonders .

Spikes claws dug along with Pinkies combat spade and Twilights shovel.

Rarity marked places to dig as the others dug out jewels like the Equstrian Corps of Engineers.

...

Mark after mark, hole after hole. They worked "Twilight my dear, We need to talk about Spike".

Twilight giggled "I know where this is going" Rarity marked several other finds "You do?"

Twilight popped the dirt out with the magic from her horn.

"I saw him put that daisy on your pillow" Twilight said. Rarity looked at Twi "Why a daisy?"

Twi continued "He improvised, You don't see any roses growing anyplace close do you?
You're worried about his little crush going too far?" Twilight felt she was in a pickle of a spot.

Raritys horns magic faded "He's such a dear" She looked at the cold earth at her hooves.
"and yet it's so difficult for..."

Twilight put a hoof on her side "Give it time I'm sure he'll grow out of it"

Rarity bit her lower lip and sighed "think so?"

Twilight shrugged her withers and continued digging.

...

By lunch time they had piled a small hoard of gems by the camp site. Twilight lectured as they ate lunch.

"At this pace we'll be adding another two days, So I'm going to be pairing up everypony differently,
Rainbow fly back to Ponyville and get some extra hooves. Spike and Rarity hunt and pre-dig the holes,

I'll use a gem finding spell with AJ and Pinkey digging. When we get the extra hooves they can collect

the jewels from the holes it might save a little time, Pinkie less bouncing and a little more shoveling"

Pinkie spun her hooves raising a dust cloud and rolling her eyes "Okey dokie, smoking holies!"

They resumed the hunt ,The field was now an enormous pock marked territory almost the size of Ponyville.
Pinkie. AJ and Twilight were finding ,marking and digging and enjoying a little gossip talk.

"You're tellin me after all this time he still takes out her garbage as well?" AJ looked at Twilight "Ya let him?"

Pinkie swung her combat spade and sighed "Can't be as bad as having him model her new line of infant ware"
She giggled "Poor Spikey has it bad and that's good isn't it?"

Spike and Rarity were finding, marking and digging. Well he was doing the digging anyway.

Raritys horn sparked , sputtered and pulled the mare along in a cloud of dirt and dust.

"Wow, Rarity you've got something big!"

Spike set off after the out of control Hay puff marsh mellow mare.

...

Her horn lead them to a small path high above a river on the edge of nowhere,
Rarity marked the spot with an X with her hoof. Stepping back she sat on her haunches.

As Spike dug Rarity softly spoke "Ah Spikey ,I've been thinking about your ah em..."

Spike continued digging launching clods of dirt and sod over his head.

"Well Spike it's about us..."Raritys voice trailed off.

Spike piped up "Twilight knows about the daisy,
I just wanted to let you have something nice to wake up to"

He dug his hole deeper and deeper.

An astonished Rarity looked at the digging drake and started to rip him a new one by announcing
"It's not proper to enter a ladys room, Even to leave such a gift and what I need to say to you is...".

"JACK POT!" Yelled Spike.

Rarity looked down at the gems as Spike Excavated the hole even further.
Spike looked up his eyes met hers all he could say was "Wow What a haul" and he mused ' She's so dazzling!'

...

Rarity used her horns magic to pull the gems from the hole. Stacking them ever so neatly.
Spike scampered up to the edge of the trail and plopped himself down. Wiping off the dirt and debris.

Spike and Rarity looked at each other , A shared blush ignited across their cheeks like a growing wild fire,

They said together "We need to talk" Their eyes blinking shyly ,Beads of sweat forming in the cool air.

That pregnant pause before the tempest slowly grew. He leaned in .in a little more, A small bit more. . .

'CRACKEL' The sound of splitting branches and falling dirt caught them by surprise,
Spike fell backwards sliding down the far side of the path,

Rarity gasped and charged her horn. She raised up off her cutie marked flank.

But Spike tumbled and rolled too far out of range, "Spikey!" She called out.

....

'Thud, thud, Thump! splash' A dirt covered Spike tumbled in the river that went to no place special.

"You can do this! Swim" He told himself. and he thought 'Dog paddle ! Pony paddle ! Dragon paddle !'

He looked up to see Rarity on the path above running after him, "Spikey" She called out,

"I'm OK Rarity!" Spike spat out.

Gasping for breath And splashing his claws he continued down stream.

"Spikey" She screamed as the mare continued to run above the river following the path after him.

Spike crawled to shore ,wet, cold. Covered in mud bugs. Moving on all fours he made it up the river bank.

Then 'whomp' Everything faded to black. The last word he heard was "Spikey"

...

Rarity looked down at the river where she last saw Spike, Down stream was open water. The river banks
sparsely covered in scrub brush left few places to hide, Her eyes searched the muddy edges for a speck of purple and green.

The dragon was nowhere to be seen. Her fire quenched. But the storm in her grew.

She called her drakes name, With no answer she felt a frozen hole where her heart was.

" Spikey where did you go?" Rarity whimpered , anxiously prancing in place.

The mare paused pondering on her next course of action when a brown form grabbed her from the flank.
The pressure on her neck caused everything to go gray, Unable to breath, unable to think.

She stumbled to her knees and as the gray turned to black she heard voices.

"I smell her fear"

"She's been marked"

Another said "Let's take her..."

Author's Note

This is a first