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                     The Ruby of Shame                     
                     -by AmtrakBrony-                      
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                    What's in the Box?                     
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What's in the Box?
Another great, heroic tale of the Power Ponies ended as Spike closed his latest comic book. He hadn’t been able to catch up on his reading recently because Twilight had been requesting his assistance quite frequently throughout the week, and now that the alicorn had given him some time off, the little dragon was excited at the prospect of finding out what would happen next to his favorite fictional heroes.
Spike lay lazily in his bed with his comic book lying on his chest. He was still exhausted from working all week, and not even the comic could help him wind down. Next to Spike was a large bowl of gems that was almost completely empty. He reached in to the bowl and pulled out a small, red gem, which immediately made him think of the fire ruby that he never got to enjoy. There was a part of him that really wanted to taste one after all this time, but he knew that what he did was probably the nicest thing he had ever done in his life, and it had certainly made a certain unicorn very happy.
Spike slowly munched on the small gem, but nearly choked as he swallowed it due to a sudden knock on his door. “Spike!” Twilight said from behind the door.
After coughing a few times, Spike turned around and stood up, facing the door. “Yeah, Twilight?”
“Can I come in? I have something for you!”
“Sure!” the dragon replied. Immediately, Twilight Sparkle walked in, carrying a small cardboard box in her magic.
“Spike, you got a package in the mail today!” she said as she lowered it in front of Spike.
The young dragon looked at the package with curious eyes, and upon closer inspection, saw that the return address was that of the Carousel Boutique. Spike’s heart fluttered as he realized that this package was from Rarity.
“I’ll be downstairs if you need anything, Spike,” Twilight finished as she turned around and headed for Spike’s bedroom door.
“Okay. Thanks, Twilight!” Spike replied as the princess left his room and closed the door behind her. He then eyed the package once again. “What could Rarity want to give me?” he thought to himself, “My birthday’s months away.” Nevertheless, Spike was eager to see what was inside.
His claws immediately tore the tape off the box, and then he opened the flaps. At first, all he could see were white packing peanuts. After pushing multiple small pieces of styrofoam aside, the young dragon’s eyes went wide. Inside the small box was a red, heart-shaped object, and it shone brightly thanks to the light coming in from the nearby window. Spike stood there and trembled slightly, his mind in disbelief that there was actually a fire ruby in the box. Eventually, he lifted the large gem out of the cardboard container and looked it over carefully. It was indeed a fire ruby.
Spike had only seen one of these in his life, and that was the one he had given to Rarity. Of course, he had no intention of giving it to anyone initially, but Spike adored Rarity with all his heart and wanted her to be happy, and he knew that she would enjoy having it more than he would. Now, seeing what he was holding in front of him, Spike came to an unfortunate and devastating conclusion.
…
Twilight sat in her new castle library, reading away at yet another book of spells she had never been able to get her hooves on until now. Though her true destiny was to master friendship, the young alicorn could never abandon her lifelong hobby of studying magic and trying new spells. As she finished reading about a spell that would allow her to turn water into apple cider, Twilight looked over at her clock and noticed that it had been two hours since she had last spoken to Spike. She hadn’t heard a peep from him since she went downstairs, and she decided that it would be a good idea to check on him.
Twilight ascended the stairs that led to hers and Spike’s separate bedroom chambers, and as she reached the top step, she could hear soft crying coming from behind a door on her right, the door that led to Spike’s room. As she moved closer, it was becoming clear that the dragon was beside himself, so Twilight gently eased the door open with a hoof. There was Spike, curled up into a ball and crying hysterically on his bed, the fire ruby on the floor next to him.
Instinctively, Twilight quickly trotted over to Spike and sat down next to his bed. “Spike, what’s wrong?” she asked, sounding very concerned.
Spike could barely muster any words, but he managed to get a somewhat coherent sentence out of his mouth. “HHHH…What does it look like?!?” he exclaimed, lifting his head to the alicorn, tears running like white water rapids down the sides of his face.
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked again, confused by what the dragon had told her.
“Look!” Spike replied, gesturing to the fire ruby beside his bed, “Rarity…HHHH…doesn’t like me anymore!” His words were followed by more crying noises, making Twilight's heart break.
“Spike, that’s absurd! You and Rarity are the best of friends!”
“Not anymore!...HHHH…Why else would she give me the fire ruby back?!?”
“Spike, please! Stop jumping to conclusions! This is like Owlowiscious moving in all over again!”
“Twilight, I don’t think you know how much I love Rarity!”
“Trust me, Spike, I do,” the alicorn continued while laying a hoof on Spike. It didn’t do anything to stop him from crying. “Don’t you want to talk to her?”
“Why would I want to talk to her if she hates me?!?”
“Spike, she doesn’t hate you!” Twilight exclaimed in a stern tone, “I think this is all a big misunderstanding. You two are going to speak to each other one way or another.”
Spike didn’t respond. He just kept crying. Many thoughts were running through Twilight’s mind. For one, she knew it would be better if she had Spike cease his crying and just talk to Rarity, but at the same time, mentally, she couldn’t bear to see her assistant/brother/son crying anymore.
With a reluctant sigh, Twilight said, “Spike, wait here for me. I’m going to get Rarity. Right now, I want you to just let it out. I think you’ll feel better once you’ve cried enough.” Twilight knew that statement had a slight bit of darkness to it, but after seeing what Rainbow Dash went through over having to accept that Tank would be hibernating, she knew it was the appropriate thing to say.
Again, Spike didn’t respond, but Twilight got up anyway and went for the door. Before exiting the dragon’s bedroom, Twilight looked back at Spike one more time. He was still crying exactly how he was crying when she’d entered. She sighed again and left his room, closing the door behind her.
…
Twilight knocked on the door of the Carousel Boutique. While she was sure that Spike was coming to an incorrect conclusion, she couldn’t completely dismiss the possibility that what he had said was true.
After about five seconds, the door opened. “Twilight, dear!” Rarity greeted the alicorn enthusiastically, “What a surprise! Please, come in!”
“Ummm…thanks, Rarity,” Twilight responded as she walked in, but no more than a few steps.
The alabaster unicorn was quick to notice that Twilight didn’t seem well. “Are you alright, darling?” she asked.
“Well, I’m okay, but Spike’s not.”
“Oh, my poor little Spikey Wikey…” Rarity responded in a sympathetic tone, “What’s wrong?”
“He’s crying over the fire ruby you sent him. He thinks you don’t like him anymore.”
Rarity gasped. “What?!? Why in Equestria would he come to that conclusion??”
“Your guess is as good as mine, Rarity. I was hoping you could come over to the castle and talk with him.”
“Oh, of course, Twilight,” Rarity finished, “Just let me go get one thing, darling.” Immediately, the unicorn went upstairs and came back down less than a minute later with her saddlebags laid over her back. She then went over to the open/closed sign and flipped it to closed, and then she and Twilight made their way to the castle. It was a longer walk than it was to the library, as Twilight’s castle was situated on the far north end of town while the Golden Oaks Library used to stand just outside the town square.
After about seven minutes, Twilight and Rarity entered the castle and went upstairs. Twilight soon opened the door to Spike’s bedroom. “Spike?” she asked. The baby dragon was still crying. “Can we talk?” She and Rarity then entered the room.
There was no response from Spike, prompting Rarity to take action. “Spike,” the unicorn began, “Please don’t cry.”
Spike stopped crying, but when he looked up at Rarity, he didn’t smile. “Oh, so now you like me again??” he asked sarcastically in a displeased tone.
“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed sharply, “Don’t be rude!”
“Ughh…sorry,” Spike said while rubbing his head. He then looked back up to Rarity, a few tears still in his eyes as he had become slightly angry with her over this situation. “Rarity…hh…why’d you give me back the fire ruby? I thought you loved it.” His tone suggested that he was about to continue crying.
“Spike,” Rarity responded, “I do love it, and I didn’t give you back the fire ruby.”
“Well…how do you explain this??” Spike said loudly as he held his new fire ruby in front of her. Rarity didn’t respond. Instead, her horn lit up, and she lifted something up out of her left saddlebag. It was her golden necklace that contained the fire ruby that Spike had given her. As she fastened it around her neck, Spike’s eyes went wide. “Wait…what? Is that the…?”
“Yes, it is, Spike,” Rarity continued.
“S-So, th-this is, m-mine?” he asked, referring to the gem in his claws.
“Yes, Spikey dear. You see, I was out gem hunting recently, and for some reason, I stumbled upon that fire ruby. I then remembered how generous you were in giving me this one, and all I could think of doing was giving that one to you. When I looked at it, it was perfectly ripe, so I knew I couldn’t wait until Hearth’s Warming morning or your next birthday to give it to you. I wanted to show you just how much I care about you, just like you did with me.”
Spike was stunned. He couldn’t believe that once again there was a fire ruby in his possession. This time, however, it was all his. “W-Wow, th-thanks, Rarity,” Spike continued, “This means a whole lot to me. I guess I assumed you gave me that one back because these are so rare. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions like I always do. But now, I feel great that we each have our own!” Spike then turned to face Twilight. “And, Twilight, I’m sorry if I made you feel bad. You know, with me crying and all.”
“It’s okay, Spike,” the alicorn responded, “I’m perfectly fine.”
Spike then looked at his new fire ruby, then back up at Rarity, who was giving him a warm, loving smile. All the young dragon could do to show his affection was to reach up and hug the unicorn. Rarity immediately planted a soft, sweet kiss on Spike’s right cheek before hugging him back. Spike immediately went googly-eyed upon feeling her lips on his cheek.
The baby dragon then took one more look at the fire ruby in his left claw. He thought back to how much he was looking forward to eating the one he had subsequently given to Rarity, and now that he had another one, his mouth was watering furiously. However, Spike was able to shake himself out of the temporary trance as he remembered that this was a gift from the unicorn he loved so much. “Uhhh, Twilight,” Spike said, turning to face the alicorn next to him, “Could you, maybe, find a really strong, glass case to put this thing in, one that I won’t be able to open? I don’t wanna be tempted to eat this.”
Twilight laughed cheerfully at his comment. “Sure, Spike,” she said, continuing her chuckling as she joined him in the embrace he and Rarity were in, the other two giggling along playfully with her.
THE END