“Problems, problems!” Spike called out flatly to passing ponies. “Anypony have a problem that needs solving? Anypony?”
“This is weird,” Pinkie Pie said, walking alongside him. “We’ve been looking all day and we still haven’t found a single problem!”
Spike sighed and turned toward the sun in the sky, which was hanging very low at this point. It would only be a matter of hours before night would fall. “I don’t get it! Why would the map send us to Phillydelphia if there isn’t a friendship problem to solve? The day’s almost over!”
Pinkie put a hoof on top of Spike’s head and ruffled his scales. “Aw, don’t give up now, Spike! I’m sure the map had a really good reason sending us here. Come on, we just have to look harder. We’ll find something.”
Spike looked up at his pink friend and small hints of a smile threatened to spread across his face. She was just as tired as he was, he could tell, but the similarity ended there. Pinkie stood up straight and tall, and her head was held high. Her eyes burned with determination, and her pearly whites gleamed as she grinned.
With the fading sunlight casting shadows on her body, Pinkie looked nothing short of a warrior. Maybe a warrior of hope or optimism, if such a title existed.
Spike shook his head slightly and cleared his throat. “Yeah, you’re right, Pinkie. We’ll keep looking. If Twilight trusts the map, then so do I.”
“That’s the spirit! You look a little tired though, Spike…” Pinkie turned to the side and lowered herself. “Wanna hop on so we can keep going?”
Spike frowned at the odd feeling in his stomach. A pony ride was always fantastic, but the thought of getting onto Pinkie’s back felt...how could he put it…weird? But how could it be? He’s ridden on Pinkie Pie’s back plenty of times. He must be tired. “Sure!” He climbed onto Pinkie’s back, and she rose up to her full height. “Thanks, Pinkie Pie.”
“Don’t mention it!” she chirped, resuming her trot. The town they were sent to wasn’t particularly interesting, but it was pleasant to look at. Shops had been set up on either side of them, and a fair number of ponies milled about, purchasing items or settling down on benches. The shopkeepers started illuminating their lamps, bathing the place in a soft golden light.
“Care t’ purchase a necklace?” said scratchy voice to their left. A stout shopkeeper glanced at Spike and held up a string of pearls. “Somethin’ nice for your lovely caretaker ‘ere?”
“She’s not my caretaker!” Spike exclaimed, hastily jumping off Pinkie’s back.
“Ah! For your Marefriend then!”
Spike’s eyebrows knitted together. “That was oddly forward and presumptuous.”
Pinkie giggled, her shoulders bouncing. “I’m not his Marefriend! I’m just his plain old regular friend. Say, you don’t happen to have any problems, do you?”
“M’ throat’s been sore for two weeks,” the shopkeeper shrugged.
“Oh, that’s easy to fix. Just warm up a cup of tea and sprinkle in some clover leaves. But for really fast results, you should consider squeezing at least two or three lemons. It’s sour, but your sore throat will disappear like that!”
The shopkeeper rubbed at his throat. “Y’ really think it’ll work?”
“Trust me. It works wonders!” Pinkie winked. “Take it from a foalsitter.”
“Alright, I’ll try it! Thanks, Miss!”
Spike smiled as they resumed walking. Good old Pinkie, always helping everypony out. So smart…and kind…and pret—prett-y good at remedies! That’s what I was thinking! Pretty gosh darn good at remedies!
“Glad you think so, Spike!”
Spike’s eyes widened. “D-Did I say that out loud!?”
“Flowers! Get your flowers!” A unicorn paced with a bouquet of roses encased in her aura. She grinned as they passed by her flower stand. “All flowers are half price,” she told them. “Perhaps a bouquet for the lovely mademoiselle?”
“Some fragrance?” another pony said, spritzing from a small bottle. “The smell of lemongrass and sage is very in this year! Maybe a lovely mare such as yourself might want to sample it?”
“Gee,” Pinkie said. “I never knew I was that lovely!”
“They’re just trying to sell to us, Pinkie,” Spike said, taking her hoof and pulling her away. “N-Not that you’re not lovely! You’re very lovely!” He gulped at the burning sensation in his cheeks. What was wrong with him today? “Y-You know what? This town’s starting to give me the creeps.”
“Really? How come?” a pony with a violin passed behind Pinkie, playing a soft, dreamy tune.
“…Don’t you think this place feels a little…”
“A little…what?”
A mare across from them squealed as her coltfriend knelt in front of her with a ring in his hooves. “A little what?” Pinkie repeated as the crowd around the couple started cheering.
“Uh…never mind.” He glanced down at his claw and immediately dropped her hoof. “Gyah!”
Pinkie gave him a strange look but shrugged. “Well, no luck around here so far. Oh, Spike, look over there!”
Spike followed Pinkie’s hoof and saw a long boardwalk leading out to the lake. A pony sat in a boat at the end of a dock with a red ribbon tied around his hat. “He doesn’t seem to be getting any customers,” Pinkie observed. “That might be our problem to solve! What say we go on a boat ride, Spike?”
“B-B-B-Boat ride?” Spike stammered, eyeing the intimate setting nervously.
“Yeah, it’ll be super fun and productive! Come on!” Pinkie grabbed his arm and pulled him straight down the boardwalk, passing numerous couples as they made out.
“Oh, man…”
Spike held up a claw to hide his face as his oblivious friend dragged him towards what was possibly the most romantic cliche they could have run across. He probably would have felt less embarrassed if he ended up buying Pinkie one of those perfumes. It wasn’t like hiding his face would do any good anyways, since he’s pretty much the only dragon that ever hangs out with Pinkie. That, and he didn’t think any of the other couples were paying any attention to anything more than three inches away from them, anyways.
He saw the owner of the small gondola look up at them, and smile widely as Pinkie practically threw Spike into his seat before excitedly pouncing into her own place. The boat rocked violently as the poor drake tried desperately to steady himself, but a quick hoof from the operator steadied the vessel against the dock.
“Monsieur Amour at your service, Madame.” The Prench pony peddled proudly, flipping his straw hat with a theatrically elegant bow as Spike rolled his eyes. “And where shall I have ze pleasure of taking ze lovely couple zis most enchanting of evenings?”
Spike started to object to his phrasing as he raised a claw, but he was silenced by a quick hoof placed over his mouth.
“Well, right now we’re looking for ponies with a friendship problem, and we figured we could take a quick break for a boat ride. Do you know anypony who’s arguing with each other a lot?” Pinkie asked innocently, carefully making her way towards the seat opposite of Spike’s. The operator smiled, and scratched his chin.
“Not off ze top of my head, Mademoiselle.” Amour tittered, gently shoving off the dock with his oar. Pinkie shrugged, and turned around to sit across from Spike. “Now then, how about we get you two alone on the water?” He winked slyly, his smooth rowing barely disturbing the pristine sea.
Spike opened his mouth to protest again, a little heat slowly rising in his cheeks at their chauffeur's tone, but Pinkie cut him off again. “Sweet! Might be nice to enjoy the scenery while we try and figure this out.”
The stallion merely nodded, and turned south. Spike remained silent, merely staring curiously at Pinkie as she searched the shore, presumably looking for any signs of their mission before they were too far into the water to see.
‘I know Pinkie can be kind of... oblivious,’ he thought to himself, ‘but how is she not noticing how this all might look? A dragon like me, alone with a pretty mare like her, in a boat at sunset…’ He froze, surprised by his own thoughts. ‘Crap, it’s happening again. What’s going on? Why am I suddenly acting so… weird? Why am I thinking like this?’
Spike grit his teeth, and grabbed his head with both claws. ’Rarity,’ he repeated to himself silently, making doubly sure he wasn’t saying anything out loud. ’you like Rarity, Spike. Not Pinkie. Rarity. Rarity. Ra--‘
A loud splash sounded, and Spike was startled from his thoughts when a wave of water crashed into him. Stunned, he shook it off, and glanced back up to Pinkie, who was giving him one of her trademarked innocent smiles. Mssr. Amour quickly looked away as soon as Spike looked up, barely allowing the dragon to see a clear glint of concern in his eyes.
“P-Pinkie?!” Spike stuttered incredulously, wiping off what little water remained on his scales. “What was that about?”
Pinkie giggled. “A friendly surprise always helps to chase stress away!”
Spike was about to insist that wasn’t how that worked, but with the pure look in her eyes, he didn’t have the heart to tell her she was wrong. He wasn’t even sure that she was wrong, since he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t successfully distracted. He let out a quiet chuckle, and dipped his hand slowly into the waves.
“Pinkie?” He started, a smirk growing on his lips.
“Yeeeeeeeeeesss~?” Pinkie beamed, before letting out a squealing giggle as Spike’s retaliatory attack washed over her. She was barely given time to attempt block with her hooves before she was drenched at the dragon’s hands.
Spike let out a victorious laugh, and pumped his fist in the air. Soon, a full-on splash war was being waged as Mssr. Amour rolled his eyes with a knowing smirk.
“Ah, ze sight of young love is a beautiful thing.” He lamented just quiet enough to evade the dragon’s ears, gracefully rowing the boat further along the shoreline.
The childish laughter of the two friends lasted longer than the battle itself, and it wasn’t long before the both of them were almost falling on their backs with their hysterics as the sun began to sink even closer to the sea. With an undetected swing of his oar, Amour turned the gondola to face the sunset, looked behind him, and ducked as Spike wiped a merry tear away from his face.
And then the young drake opened his eyes, and the world slowed to a crawl for him.
Sitting across from him was Pinkie Pie, her mane now flowing loosely behind her as she threw her head back in laughter. He watched with entranced eyes as each strand curled up again, flinging every last droplet of water in every direction around her head. Slowly, he saw her infectious smile turn towards him. And when her own eyes opened, time froze.
There she was, framed against Celestia’s sunset as the last light cast a warm, welcoming contrast of shadow and light around her. The mist thrown from her mane shone and twinkled in every color imaginable, and her eyes glittered like only the finest of diamonds.
Ba-bump
Spike was absolutely motionless as he felt heat rise to his cheeks, stricken dumb.
Ba-bump
She looked… she was...
Ba-bump
”Beautiful…”
Pinkie tilted her head at Spike, and gave him a weird look before glancing behind her.
“OoooOOOOoooh! You’re right! The sunset is beautiful tonight!” She chirped, turning around completely. Spike shook himself out of his trance, and immediately slapped himself.
“Right, yes, the sunset, totally!” He blundered, standing up to get a better view of the sea. He ignored a grumbled ‘oh, sacre bleu’ from Amour, and clambered up onto Pinkie’s shoulders as they watched the sunset.
After the last rays of light had faded, it wasn’t too long before Amour dipped his oar into the water a final time and pushed them back to the doc. “Zat iz the end of our tour,” he announced as they pulled to a stop. He set aside his oar and tied the gondola to the doc with expert efficiency.
He stood and tipped his hat to the two of them as they started to climb out. “Madame. Monsieur. It’s been a pleasure.”
The gondola rocked a bit as Pinkie Pie stepped off, but the rope held it steady. “Thanks for the ride!” she chirped, giving her half-wet mane a shake. Spike gulped and shifted his eyes elsewhere.
“I hope you enjoyed it,” Monsieur Amour grinned. He looked at Spike and waggled his eyebrows.
Spike burned red and turned to the side. “Yeah. Sure. Loved it,” he muttered, clearing his throat. “Thanks.”
As they turned away, Amour muttered something else, but in the language of Prench. “Ah, le pauvre jeune dragon est aveugle. L'amour est dans l'air avec ces deux-là!”
Pinkie didn’t react, but Spike’s mouth went dry.
Due to Twilight’s thirst for knowledge and her constant interactions with country leaders, Spike had been able to pick up on a few Prench words and phrases over the years, mostly in hopes of impressing Rarity.
Spike had understood every word the operator had said, and he slowly began to die inside.
“Spike! Spike!” A pink hoof waved in front of his eyes. “Weren’t you listening? What’s wrong?”
Spike jumped and searched around for an excuse. “I, um…uh…look, the sun’s gone down! We still haven’t found out what the friendship problem is.”
A fresh smile graced her features. “Ohh. Well, don’t worry…” She put a hoof around his shoulder as they walked across the boardwalk. The couples from before had vanished, leaving just the two of them in the pale blue light. “We could always keep looking…but you look kinda tired. We could always come back tomorrow.”
Spike looked unsure. “We could, but…what if it’s an emergency? What if somepony really needed our help today?”
“Hmm…” Pinkie rubbed her chin. “Maybe. But I don’t want Twilight to worry…okay. We’ll walk around some more. If we still can’t find anypony with a problem, we’ll just come back and try again tomorrow.”
“Deal.”
So, the two friends wandered along the lake, resuming their search. Ponies still roamed about, sitting with one another or coming and going from the shops nearby. The two of them kept an eye on every single citizen, scanning the area for arguments or even the slightest hint of a frown.
Still, there was no such luck.
As the first few stars appeared in the sky, the temperature dropped, and the air grew colder. An icy wind blew by, causing Spike and Pinkie Pie to shudder. The droplets of water still trickling and dripping down their bodies made them more vulnerable to the cold. Teeth chattering, Spike wrapped his arms around himself. “M-Maybe all that s-splashing wasn’t s-such a g-good idea after all.”
“T-t-t-tell me about it.” Spike looked up at Pinkie, who was shivering violently from head to hoof. Though, remarkably, her smile remained, unforced and unprovoked.
Without much thought, he took her trembling hoof and rubbed it furiously between his claws. Careful not to set Pinkie’s hoof on fire, he blew hot air into the space between. Pinkie giggled at the tingly sensation. “Hee hee hee! S-stop, Spike, it tickles!”
“It’s also keeping you warm, hopefully,” Spike smirked between blows. “Maybe we should start heading back. You could catch a cold!”
“Oh, just a little bit longer.” She stifled a small yawn, and her half-lidded eyes flickered over the city. “Like you said, it could be an emergency…oh, look! There’s a park over there! We haven’t been there before. If we still can’t find anypony , we’ll go home, okay?”
Spike looked doubtful, but once again, he couldn’t bring himself to say no to the spark of hope in her eyes. “Well, alright. For a little while.”
Pinkie grinned, and the two of them sauntered over. Still, ponies there betrayed no signs of distress or aggravation. A group of fillies and colts seemed to be getting along nicely in their game of tag, though a few started to break away from the pack as soon as fireflies started appearing.
Spike could tell that Pinkie was tempted to join them, but they had a mission to complete.
The moon eventually rose, and Spike’s feet started to drag. Behind him, he could hear light sniffling, and he quickly realized it was Pinkie. “Oh man,” he breathed, reaching back and taking her hoof. His eyes frantically searched the park until he spotted what he was looking for.
A bonfire lay not too far from the lake, and Spike hurriedly ushered Pinkie to sit by it.
Pinkie wrapped her hooves around her body, and Spike released a burst of flame. In seconds, a decent-sized fire rose in front of Pinkie, and her eyes snapped back open. “Ooh,” she marveled, uncurling herself and scooting closer.
Spike tapped his claws together with a curious smile. “Do you feel better now?”
“Boy, do I!” Pinkie said, her voice starting to gain back its usual effervescence. She held her hooves in front of the fire, but she still twitched in the breeze. A light breath of fog escaped his lips as Spike looked around, wondering what else he could do to keep Pinkie warm.
“Blankets!” a pony shouted from a nearby stand. “Nice warm blankets to keep the chill off!”
Spike’s mouth opened and closed, but ultimately, he shrugged his shoulders. “Why fight it now?”
“Spike, wait! Aren’t you cold?” Pinkie called as he started jogging away.
“I’ll be right back!”
The salespony smiled as Spike neared and dug into his pocket. “One blanket, please.”
“For the lovely Mademoiselle?” the pony said slyly.
Spike made a sound that crossed between disbelief and annoyance and threw up his hands. “Yes! For the lovely Mademoiselle!”
“Heh heh heh.” The pony accepted the two bits Spike held out, and gave him a folded, soft pink blanket. “Good evening, Monsieur,” he said with the tip of his hat.
Rolling his eyes, Spike waved his hand in a flouncy fashion as he walked away. “Sheesh, the ponies in this town!”
His expression softened, however, as he neared Pinkie Pie. “Here,” he said, unfolding the blanket and draping it around her shoulders.
Pinkie’s eyes grew into the size of dinner plates at the sensation. “Spike! You bought something!”
“Something useful,” he laughed, adjusting the blanket. He let out a yelp as Pinkie pulled him forward.
“Get in here, you!” Pinkie opened her blanket and pulled him against her. He froze as she re-wrapped the blanket around the two of them. “There. Doesn’t that feel better?”
Spike knew he should probably say something, but his lips couldn’t form the words. He couldn’t speak at all, not with Pinkie Pie’s hooves wrapping around him!
Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think of Rarity. Rarity, the elegant and refined fashion designer with her rich purple mane and tail. Rarity, a successful business mare with a heart of gold, always making time for her friends. Rarity, with her refined smile and a voice like pure, sweet velvet.
Yes, Rarity was the true gatekeeper to his heart. Definitely not Pinkie Pie, buddy ol’ pal.
Pinkie Pie... she didn’t have much compared to the rest of her friends. But she was rich in so many ways that most ponies could only dream about. Her boundless cheer, her lifelong friends…the amount of contentment she had with her life. Pinkie never was afraid to be herself and always followed her instincts, no matter how outlandish.
And she wasn’t what ponies would describe as a classic beauty, but her radiant smile made her more gorgeous than all the models in Manehattan.
Why am I thinking this way? Spike thought, fidgeting nervously. And why am I thinking it now?
He kept his eyes closed, furrowing his brow with internalized frustration as he called the image of Rarity to his mind once more. But to his confusion, nothing happened. His heart wasn’t beating any faster like he usually noticed it would, his mind was still clear enough to be distracted easily by a firefly that passed a little too close to his ear, and his face remained the same still temperature as always. Spike barely felt his limbs slack as his eyes fell open, and he found himself staring emptily at the bonfire.
What… what happened?! He panicked inwardly. I love Rarity, right? She’s always caught my eye! But… then... why…?
He heard a soft sigh, and felt Pinkie’s chest rise and fall behind him as she held him a little closer. She rested her chin on the top of his head, and he could feel her contented smile as they both gazed into the fire, and the thought of it all began to comfort and relax him...
That’s when it happened.
Spike realized that his cheeks were heating up, and his heart had begun to race. A small part of him wanted to protest against the way her chin flattened the spines on his head, but the rest of him didn’t want her to move an inch. There was a brief burning sensation in his chest, soon replaced with the dull humming feeling that he could only since describe as a soporific soothing. In direct contradiction, his head began to swirl with confusing emotions as the truth finally dawned on him.
He was gone.
He, Spike, had fallen in love with Pinkie Pie. He didn’t have any doubts about it, only worries.
Was this too sudden? Was this too short a time for his heart’s direction to change so drastically? Was something wrong with him? He tried his best to think of every little detail of his friendships with the two mares from every possible perspective he could consider, desperately looking for an answer he could accept. There must be something wrong with him! There has to be... there needs to be...
Spike almost jumped when the clear, quiet voice seemed to come out of nowhere. It hummed an old tune he knew very well, but the tone of it now was slower and more tender than how he knew it, as impossible as it felt to him.
Spike’s mind carried him back to the first time he ever heard the melody. The memory was blurry, but he could see the white silhouette of his old crib. He remembered the feeling of tears sticking to his cheeks, and the sight of a very young, studious unicorn foal concentrating on the paper held aloft by her own magic, and carefully setting down her newly made music box as it played a ditty she’d worked hard to write herself.
His nerves calmed when he realized he could feel Pinkie’s throat buzzing in sync with the melody that danced in his ears, and his mind cleared a little. She was singing him a lullaby she couldn’t possibly know, and he smiled in spite of himself. He didn’t know how she knew the song Twilight wrote for him when he was only an infant, nor did he really to care. The whole situation was working to repose him.
But before he was placed too deep in a trance, Spike’s felt himself lift off of Pinkie’s lap, and her hooves carefully spun him around to look at her.
”Spike, you’ve been stressed whenever you’re around me all day... all week, actually. It’s no fun to see you like this.” She stated, a pang of concern clear in her eyes as they locked onto his. ”Please, can you tell me what’s wrong? Did I do something? Did I say something?”
Something clicked inside of Spike’s mind at Pinkie’s inquiry, and his eyes went wide as an impossible truth hit him like a truck.
“Pinkie...” He swallowed, “I think... I think I found our friendship problem...”
PInkie cocked her head, and blinked. Her unsure expression made it clear that she thought he was avoiding her query, until comprehension flew through her features. They weren’t here to console other ponies... they were here for each other, and themselves. And they needed to talk.
Which meant Spike needed to tell her.
But he’d be banished before he didn’t at least try and do it right.
“Spike..?” Pinkie tried again as the little dragon scooted off of her lap, and sat beside her. She turned to face him as he did the same, and there they sat. The fire casting shadows that danced across their faces, and Fireflies that silently floated closer around them. And once again, Spike found himself lost in Pinkie’s eyes.
Silence rang through the night, and it was heavier and more intense than any thundercrack that could have sounded. Pinkie looked deep into the dragon’s eyes, searching for the reason behind his apprehensive behaviour, and then she found what she was looking for.
Her expression went blank. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional pop from the woodfire beside them. If any other sound was present, they couldn’t hear it.
The sudden emptiness behind her eyes caused Spike to snap out of his daze, and he began to worry again. He knew exactly what she saw. He combed her features, looking for something, anything to tell him of what her reaction would be. Rejection, acceptance, joy, sadness, anger, whatever it was going to be, he didn’t care. He just needed to know if she really saw what he was feeling.
The pause may have only lasted less than a minute, but it felt like it might as well have been weeks for Spike before he saw Pinkie’s reaction finally pushed through to her face. She didn’t say anything, and she only held up a hoof to silence Spike before he could speak himself. Slowly, a gentle smile appeared on her lips. That sort of smile that sent Spike’s heart racing as she, once again, pulled him in close. But this time, she hugged him tighter than ever before.
“Me too, Spike.” Pinkie hummed happily as she held him close. “Me too,”
There was a flash of magic hidden by the blanket as her cutie mark started to glow, and Spike’s scales followed suit. They both noticed the signal, but they couldn’t care less. They could stay here a little longer.
Author's Note
Well, this was fun! Nice to get back to the ol' keyboard to write an actual story every once in a while.
A huge thank you to Summer Dancer for teaming up with me on this! She's really talented, so go check her stuff out if you haven't already!
As always: please leave any comments detailing your opinions, leave a like or a dislike, and don't forget to tip your cab driver.
Until Next Time, God Bless You!
~Amethyst Dawn
