No Two Flakes

By Mist

Chapter IV

Spike grumbled as he failed to roll a pie dough to perfection for the third time in a row. He always hated making pie crust, but after what happened to him earlier, he couldn’t even keep his mind on it, thus increasing the amount of screw ups. He had already had to throw away two other items today due to being too distracted to make them properly. To his good fortune, Pinkie was understanding and let it slide.

Finally getting it right, he let out a sigh of relief while he threw the dough into the pie tin and molded it to the correct shape. The silence was cut by a familiar country voice that had caught up with him finally. “Hey!” Applebloom said as she huffed. She had ran as fast as she could to check up in him.

Catching her breath, she held herself upright on the counter. “Sorry I bailed. I couldn’t be late to picking up something, but I ran here as fast as I could to make sure you were alright.”

Spike merely shrugged, still clearly a bit annoyed at the situation that unfolded before him earlier that day. “It’s fine…” He grumbled.

“So what happened? Did he give it to ya’ hard? Suspension? Week of detention?” Applebloom leaned in curiously.

“Nope.” Spike replied, finally finishing with his pie crust.

“He let you off the hook? That ain’t like Principle Doodle…” Applebloom put her hand upon her chin as she pondered.

“He didn’t let me off the hook… I had to pay for the damages to his car or he was going to expel me… He’d have made me go back home the moment Twilight found out… So I just shelled out $600 to fix his stupid Mazda…” Spike growled, he wanted to punch the pie he had just prepared, but contained himself realizing he needed to try and stay calm at work.

“Naturally, he didn’t believe your story about Snips and Snails?” Applebloom questioned.

Spike shook his head again. The principle would sooner believe that aliens abducted half of the school than something a troublemaker like Spike said, even if it was the legitimate truth. He just had too many incidents on his record for his word to be taken seriously without photographic proof.

“So there goes my Christmas plans for Rarity…” He sighed.

Applebloom grew a determined expression. “Maybe there’s another way for you to make the money?”

“I am already picking up as many extra shifts as I can here, and I can’t work too many extra hours while I’m in school. State laws and whatnot…” Spike made a ridiculous hand gesture clearly intended to be his impression of a politician. This was accompanied with a strange voice for added effect.

“Damn, he really has your dice in a vice, huh?” Applebloom commented, partially in a joking manner to lighten the mood.

“Language.” Came the voice of Pinkie, whom had just snuck around the corner. She placed her hand upon Spike’s head and ruffled up his styled hair. He grumbled and swatted her away. “Though, I agree; his dice do seem to be in quite a vice.” She giggled.

“Great… Now Twilight is going to find out…” Spike groaned.

“Nonsense, I have no reason to tell her, so long as you keep doing your job.” Pinkie winked.

As much as she annoyed and perplexed him, Spike was thankful for Pinkie’s relaxed attitude. She often avoided getting involved in things that were not her business, and for that, he could almost kiss her, if he was that kind guy that is, which he wasn’t.

“I wish I could give you more hours, little Spike, but it’s as you said, labor laws and all of that. I’ll do what I can though to help you get your present for Miss Belle.” Pinkie stuck her finger into a tub of peanut butter on the counter and licked it off of her finger with a grin. “Though I think you should just tell her how you feel.” She added.

“Jeez… I kind of wanted to keep that a secret…” Spike admitted, blushing a bit at the mention of his crush on Rarity.

“Then I shall not tell a soul.” Pinkie giggled.

Sprawled out on her colorful bed, Rainbow stared to the opposite wall at the gay pride flag she had hanging there. Her mind was racing with different thoughts of school, the team, Twilight and most importantly what had happened the other day. Rarity was getting all bent out of shape about nothing, right? It never occurred to Rainbow that she may have actually saved Rarity’s life. For her, what they had endured was routine, not out of the ordinary, and really just a bunch of ignorance as she puts it sometimes.

She recalled when she first came to the city, how strange it was to her. As a child, her family left their little neighborhood to visit Canterlot City once. She only had vague memories of it, but always remembered how much bigger the world seemed after being there. She had thought that she would be trapped in that small little circle of hell forever.

Her eyes fell to her feet which were naked at the moment. She had taken off her socks to take a nap, and she just found herself staring at her slightly dark skinned feet. She couldn’t believe she had gotten here because of those two feet. If she hadn’t have picked up soccer in high school, she might have still been back home right now, just trying to get by. She was fortunate that the college took such good care of her. She was even given a living budget due to her circumstances.

Rarity didn’t know all of that though. It had never really occurred to her that Rarity had come from a life where everything was handed to her. So for Rarity, that situation was probably ten times more frightening than it was for Rainbow who knew only how to fight and earn everything she had. Where Rainbow came from, it wasn’t uncommon for others to try and take what you had away from you.

Still though, it wasn’t that big of a deal. That guy probably didn’t have the balls to do anything anyways, she thought.

She heard her phone begin to chime near her head. Reaching off the edge of the bed, she grabbed it from the nightstand and placed it to her ear lazily. She didn’t even hold it; she just let it lay there rested against her head as she answered pathetically. “Hello?” She grumbled.

“Dashie, it’s me.” The voice said.

Rainbow instantly recognized her old friend. “Oh, hey CJ. What’s good, homie?”

“Dashie, I found the guy.” He didn’t even bother answering her question.

“All business, huh? What guy?” She rolled her eyes.

His voice got really quiet. “The mother fucker I said I’d find for years.”

Rainbow sat up so fast, she almost got dizzy. She fumbled to pick her phone back up and brought it back to her face. “You’re sure? Like for real?”

“Yeah, his name is Ice. Runs probably the biggest crew out here, but I’m positive he’s the one.” CJ responded.

“I’m coming over, now. Gimme like 2 hours, I gotta catch a bus. Don’t you dare fucking do anything without me there. We have to discuss this in person, you got that?” Rainbow commanded.

He laughed a bit, “Relax homegirl, I ain’t gonna do shit without you here. After all, you’re family. Let’s do what’s good, man.”

“Alright, cool.” She turned her phone off and began gathering something appropriate to wear outside. It was starting to get colder out and it was already starting to snow. She took her favorite Tupac hoodie, some random socks she just retrieved out of the hamper (probably dirty) and started slipping them on.

The doorbell rang as she was trying to slip on the hoodie that was a size too big for her. Struggling to get her arms through the sleeves, she fumbled over to the door and found her eyes at waist level to a familiar peacoat. Rainbow adjusted and stood upright, looking a bit up to see Rarity there in her doorway. “Oh, hey.” Rainbow commented.

Rarity bowed slightly and smiled. “Miss, Dash…” She began.

“I’m gonna stop you right there.” Rainbow placed her hand on top of Rarities mouth. “For starters, I’m not in the mood for more of that pleasantly shit. Call me Miss Dash again and we’re going to have problems. Second of all, I have somewhere I have to be.”

Rarity nodded and let Rainbow remove her hand. She took note of her attire. “Where are you going? I’ll accompany you. We can talk more on the way.”

Rainbow let out a hearty laugh. “No way. You wouldn’t last two minutes there.” The thought of Rarity in the hood almost put a smile on Rainbow’s face. Rarity wouldn’t even know how to ask where the bus stop is there. There was little doubt in Rainbow’s mind that Rarity would get mugged ten times over.

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m going back to the hood to discuss something with my homeboy CJ. It’s too dangerous for you.” Rainbow explained.

Upon hearing that, Rarity perked up and grew an aggressive stance, blocking Rainbow’s attempts to get around her. “Then I shall go with you. If it’s dangerous, I am not letting you go alone.”

“I can handle it, I grew up there. You didn’t, now out of the way!” Rainbow tried to push her aside with little luck. Rarity was holding her position quite adamantly.

“You saved my life, let me at least show my gratitude by helping you!” Rarity demanded.

Rainbow took a step back and blinked before eyeing her up and down. Her stance was determined and decisive. Rainbow had never heard Rarity yell before, as she always said it was unladylike to do so. That must have meant she was serious about going with her, and that little to nothing was going to stop her from doing so. Never had anyone seen Rarity so determined to do something until now. She was always such a quiet and private person, so it was rare to find out what she was passionate about besides fashion.

Giving in, Rainbow nodded before brushing some of her wild hair out of her face. “Fine… You can tag along… But you do exactly as I say and don’t ask too many questions. The last thing I need is to have to save your ass again.”

Rarity nodded and bowed a bit again. “Thank you, I look forward to seeing your old neighborhood with you.” She had a hint of a smile upon her face.

The former thug shook her head and stepped closer. “Let’s get something straight, All I’m really doing here is babysitting you. So don’t make me regret taking you anymore than I already do.”

“You won’t even know I’m here.” Rarity promised.

Rainbow sighed, “Yeah I will…”

Fluttershy took a deep breath and adjusted her sweater. The neck was rather large so that it sat rather loosely on her, her left shoulder often exposed. Due to the size of her chest, she often found it difficult to find shirts that didn’t fit her awkwardly, one of the drawbacks of having larger breasts. With her mind set on the task at hand, she took another few breaths while she leaned up against the wall.

She was standing just around the corner from her last class and there right around the same corner was the boy she was hoping to intercept, Soarin. She tried to remember everything that Rainbow had taught her about confidence and being ready for anything. Though she still wasn’t sure what she would do when things got “physical” between them. She kept telling herself that she would be able to handle it, but she was almost certain she’d choke up at that moment. She really liked Soarin, and despite having no sexual history of her own to speak of, she knew she wouldn’t impress him unless she was willing and prepared to go “all the way” as Rainbow put it. Could she really though?

“Okay… Just go over there and talk to him…” Fluttershy thought out loud.

Her hands were sweating so badly, she could feel her sleeves that she was gripping begin to get wet. She needed to act before she psyched herself out, and she knew that.

With one more inhale and exhale, she finally whipped around the corner, trying to move quickly before she lost her nerve. Her logic was that if she got herself in position before she could back down, she’d have no choice but to persevere.

Within a few seconds she found herself staring Soarin in the face, standing next to his friend, Spitfire.

“H-hey, Soarin…” She managed to squeak out. After all of that preparation, she was a bit disappointed in herself for only being able to squeeze out such a pathetic and weak opener.

“Oh, hey Fluttershy.” He smiled.

Her heart was thumping faster and faster, it felt like her chest would explode. His smile had set her over the edge, her nerve was slowly escaping her, and she was grasping at it to keep going.

“S-so… What are you doing this weekend?” She continued.

It wasn’t the smoothest transition, but it appeared to have worked.

“Oh… Umm… Nothing really… Why what’s up?” He responded.

Spitfire grew a look of suspicion upon her face as she observed, but she remained silent, apparently trying to see how this would all play out.

“Well, I was wondering if um… you wanted to hang out this weekend?” She was almost kicking herself at how stupid that sounded.

He blinked and took a quick glance at Spitfire before looking back at the nerve-wracked Fluttershy. “Oh… Umm… Yeah… Sure. Meet me at my place? You remember which room is mine, right?” He said.

She nodded. “Yes. I’ll be there… Say… 7?”

“Yeah, that’s cool.” Soarin smiled. He approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll see you there.”

“Y-yeah… See you then…” She said.

Rainbow and Rarity found themselves seated on a city bus heading out of the city. Rarity had never gone this far away from her apartment since she moved to this country, so for her this was a far bigger adventure than it was for Rainbow. Rainbow had made this journey so many times before, and she’d probably make it a thousand times more before she was done with school completely. Thoughts of how she used to get to middle school and high school began to run through her head. She recalled having to run to the other side of town as the crack of dawn so she could make it to the bus stop. It was worth it though so that she didn’t have to go to the same shitty school that her brother had gone to. There was never anything good said about the ghetto schools and for good reason too.

The dynamic (incredibly so) duo remained silent for most of the ride, until Rarity broke the silence (much against the ground rules that Rainbow had already set of not asking questions). “So, what are we going to be doing there?”

Rainbow decided it might be best to keep Rarity as informed as possible given the situation. If there really was danger involved, she wanted Rarity to have the chance to back out early.

“We’re meeting a guy I used to hold up with, his name’s CJ. Me and his kid brother used to play together for a while. We haven’t really said much to each other since his brother got taken to the joint and I went off to school.” Rainbow explained. She turned to Rarity with a gentle smile to reassure her, “Don’t worry though, CJ and me are cool. CJ is like the dad that I never had kind of; unless you count my brother.”

Rarity did her best to ignore Rainbow’s grammar issues and continue the conversation. “So, why’d he ask you to go see him in person? Something come up?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out. He found this guy named Ice… He may be… Well… Let’s just say he’s an old friend we’ve been trying to find for a long time and we may have just found the little fuck…” Rainbow’s tone suggested to Rarity that the “friend” part may not be so true.

“So why would CJ call you about that?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow leaned back in her seat. “That’s what we’re going to find out. Knowing CJ, this should be good. He doesn’t ask me to go out of my way to see him in person very often unless shit is about to get interesting. You’ll find that CJ doesn’t like wasting time, so keep your questions short with him.”

Rarity nodded and relaxed in her seat as she adjusted her purse.

“Fortunate for you, we’re not going to the very bad part of town. So long as you stay close to me, you should be okay. Just for the love of God… Don’t do anything stupid or say anything to anyone that you shouldn’t.” Rainbow instructed.

“I understand completely…” Rarity cocked a brow. She really wasn’t sure what the big deal was, after all, how bad could it possibly be?

“Rainbow is a pretty smart girl, but she has such terrible focus issues…” Twilight complained to her friend, Applejack whom had been visiting her again. The two often met at Twilight’s apartment as the brainiac very rarely went out and about. The only times that the group really saw her was when she was running errands, holding an event for them, or they came to visit her. Twilight was almost the textbook definition of a recluse.

“I mean, when I get her to pay attention, she’s great, but she gets distracted by just about everything…” Twilight continued.

Applejack rolled her eyes and tossed Twilight a soda from the refrigerator. “Forget about that. What the hell am ‘Ah gonna do about Cloudchaser?”

Twilight sighed after just barely catching the drink. Her hand eye coordination wasn’t exactly the best, and her glassed being crooked certainly didn’t help. She found herself always needing to adjust them, which annoyed her.

She popped the top open only after tapping the drink to make sure it didn’t fizz over. “I really don’t understand why this is so difficult for you; just ignore her.”

“Cloudchaser an’ me have been doin’ this back and forth for awhile now… It’s not so easy to just forget about her an’ move on. The girls got a strange hold over me…” AJ spoke between sips.

“It sounds like you still have feelings for her.” That sentence made the whole room fall silent.

Twilight had spoken the words that Applejack was afraid to hear, but knew were true. She had thought that maybe if she didn’t hear them out loud she could avoid them and they would cease being fact if enough time passed. However she now didn’t have that luxury.

“Well… Uh…” AJ stammered.

Author's Note

Spike being in love with Rarity was something I wanted to do from the start, but how it played out went through many revisions. In the original version Spike was more of a try-hard gentleman, but that was scrapped because it came off as really fake. Ultimately I went with the adopted, troubled teenager character for him and it worked really well not only with his pursuit of Rarity, but his relationship with Applebloom.