But First!! Here are Some Doubts....

Chapter 4

Gather round dear Bronys, for I have just stoked the fire and put a stew on.

Read this fresh new chapter while I get the crackers

          The sun radiated through cracks in the blinds, falling upon still sleeping eyes. The mare mumbled something in her sleep, entertaining guests even in her dreams, as she rolled away from the offending lights. Hours earlier, Rarity had given in to the call of sleep and abandoned her broomstick for her couch. Sleep fell upon her in seconds as she flopped down on the soft red cushions. Her mane, as if sensing that the world would be still for those precious few hours, had relaxed it's curls and cascaded over the side of the couch.

          Spike had to exercise every ounce of self control he had not to touch the violet waterfall, frozen for for an unseen camera while it's owner dreamed. The morning chill had awoken him that morning, the robe still clutched in his tiny claws. It had only taken a few seconds for excitement to wash over him as he recognized that he had not woken up in his basket back home, and that Rarity was somewhere downstairs hard at work.

          However what his eyes took in as he raced down the stairs stopped him in his tracks, his excitement turning to admiration of the goddess sleeping in Celestia's rays. He willed his feet to be silent as he crept down the remaining stairs, afraid that he would disturb her sleep. His mind had thrown out all the ideas he had gathered up as he had raced down the hallway moments before, now perfectly content with thinking "She's gorgeous" on repeat.

          And so Spike the Dragon spent the first half hour of his day laying on his back on Carousel Boutiques plush carpets, thinking how wonderful it would be to run a brush through all of that beautiful hair. Thoughts of combs and brushes danced around in his head until reason found it an appropriate time to crash the party; he couldn't help but feel just a bit creepy.

          After all, the dragon did snoop around in her room just last night, cuddled with her garments, and was now watching her sleep. Perhaps now was a good time to nip the serial killer act in the bud.

          Spike stood up with a quiet sigh, knowing that his conscience wasn't steering him wrong and turned away from the fashionista. Now the dragon was never an overly-sensitive sort of chap, neither was he prone to whining. But today he sure felt small, and the reasoning stared back at him with bright green eyes behind the glass walls he just so happened to turn to look upon.

          He tiptoed closer to the studio mirror, his figure becoming more clear and depressing with each step. Not even an inch had he grown since the night before. Not his spines, not his teeth, not even the claws on his toes. He put his claw over the reflections face and lowered his head, only to find yesterday's culprit curled at his feet. And no, that culprit -still- wouldn't be able to wrap around Rarity's tail.

          He couldn't help but wonder why he couldn't be a big, strong pony like Big Macintosh. The apple farmer never said more than two words to him at a time but that didn't stop Spike from idolizing him. Being strong, being tall, - heck being handsome- all of these were things Spike wished he had. Or at least some biceps for pity's sake!

          He'd definitely have to ask Twilight if he could have a weight set in the library basement.

          After a few moments of inspecting his muscles (or the lack of them) in the studio mirror, Spike gave a frustrated sigh and made a resolution to do at least thirty pushups before he went to sleep again. He let his arms drop and turned around, nearly jumping out of his skin upon seeing Rarity sitting up and staring at him.

          "Well well, trying to build some muscles are we?" Rarity asked with a cheeky grin, a lock of her mane covering a side of her face.

           "I should be, I mean some of the books Twilight has are huge. And don't get me started on how many times I reshelve them in a single day," Spike replied, the memory pushing away his embarrassment with annoyance.

          "Yes, I suppose she can be a bit......mm...," Rarity bit her lip, looking for a polite word, "....I suppose over-enthusiastic might be right.  She sighed as she stood up, stretching out her sore legs.

          "I take it the couch wasn't all that comfortable," The dragon felt an apology bubbling up in his mind, knowing the unicorn probably would be feeling the aches for the rest of day. However, Rarity just waved a hoof at him and walked across the room to the stairs, hearing her vanity mirror call to her.

          "Oh nonsense darling, I just need a second to warm up is all. Be a dear and see if Derpy left me anything in the mailbox while I go freshen up, we'll get breakfast over at Applejack's,"

           "O-kay!" Spike yelled enthusiastically, feeling excited that he would get to see AJ and Big Mac soon. And perhaps Big Mac could tell him how he got so tall if he asked politely.

          The dragon watched the unicorn's tail disappear over the last step before he turned on his heels and marched to the door. What awaited him beyond the door would have surprised anypony had they never lived in Ponyville. And sure enough surprise was not the first thing that registered in Spike's head upon seeing a grey mare wave at him from inside Rarity's  mailbox.

          "Oh jeez, Derpy are you okay?" Spike asked as he ran to the side of the mailbox that her head was poking through.

            "Nope!" the mare ironically gave him a bright smile, one eye focusing on Spike and another watching the blue sky overhead.

            Spike closed his mouth and took a moment to take in Derpy's answer and smile, logic telling him that the resident mail-mare was anything BUT logical. So instead of asking her how she had ended up in Rarity's mailbox that day, Spike walked around her taking in the damage.

          Judging by the bent support beam, and her neat compaction inside the box, she had probably flown straight into it. Her flank hung out the front of the mailbox, her legs kicking playfully. The damage to the box itself was bad but the mare -seemed- to be fine.

          "Does anything hurt, like your wings or anything?" Spike asked, circling back to face her.

          She brought a hoof to her chin, her tongue poking out as she wiggled her limbs.

           "Everything's okay!" she answered a moment later,  saluting with a smile.

          "But you just said you weren't okay," Spike said, confusion working its way into his head.

          "Yeah, because I'm late on my rounds, and I have two special deliveries I've still got," she held out her hoofs, worry crumbling her earlier smile, "and I'm supposed to help the Doctor find the kelpies later!"

            "Wait wha-," Spike cut himself off, waving the claw that wasn't pinching the corners of his eyes' " nevermind, did you have anything for Rarity today?"

            "Oh!" Excitement sprang back onto Derpy's face as she pointed at a tan bag lying on the ground, "could you hand me that please?"

           Spike bent down her handed her the requested item, noting its weight--she probably had a few more houses to go. He watched her rummage through the bag, both eyes now focused as she searched. She picked through the letters for a few more seconds before producing a single, rose tinted envelope and handed it to Spike.

          "Okeedoke, that's makes only 16 more stops," she said cheerfully as she scribbled something down on a clipboard she had pulled from the bag. Spike looked at her, then back at the envelope, then back at the mail-mare. He sighed deeply as she smiled back at him, completely oblivious to her own situation once again.

          Turning in the direction of Carrot Top's garden, he called "Hey Carrot top, would you mind calling Water Drop....," he pointed over his shoulder with a thumb at the waving mare still caught in the mailbox.

          The orange maned pony's jaw went slack, dropping her hose to the ground before she turned and sprinted down the road. Spike yelled out his thanks and bid Derpy a polite goodbye, making his way back to the door.

            He looked down at the envelope in his claw, turning it over and over. He noted that there wasn't a return address, and the writing directing it to Carousel Boutique was printed with bold quill-strokes. But the oddest thing was the scent the envelope was giving off, as if someone had sprayed a perfume across it. Spike ran it under his nose as he stood in the doorway of the boutique, noting that it was definitely not a scent a mare would use. As a matter of fact........it smelled like a brand of cologne he might consider using.

          He closed the door of the boutique, completely oblivious to the fact that Derpy had just made another delivery to a very confused pony on his way to the market.

          Rarity sighed happily as she wrapped up her wet mane in a towel. A good half hour in the shower loosened her aching neck, which was GREATLY needed. She'd really have to consider buying a new couch if it insisted on being so uncomfortable. After all, nothing's more inhospitable than a couch you would regret falling asleep on.

          The mare continued pondering the fate of the red sofa in the silence of her bedroom, where she was currently checking her features in the vanity mirror. 'Oh lovely, another wrinkle,' she thought bitterly as her eyes locked on to the perpetrator, 'I'll fix you all right'. Her hoof rummaged blindly for a cream upon her table, her eyes never leaving the blemish lest she lose sight of it. Upon finding the desired tube, Rarity only managed to get the cap off before she noticed what was wrong.

          Why wasn't her stuff in that horrible pile from yesterday?

          Her eyes widened upon inspecting the table. Not only was everything neat, but each product was organized into groups on each side of the table. If this was Spike's idea of being babysat, perhaps she should have offered a long time ago.

         The unicorn sat back in her chair, a smile forming on her lips as one item checked itself off of her mental to-do list; there would be no cleaning of one's own room today! She stood up, scanning around the room for anything that might make her have to backtrack on that last note, and sure enough she found one. An ear of the comforter stood askew from its place on the bad, tickling her perfectionist instinct into pushing it back down. However, as she ran her hoof along the bed to smooth out the wrinkles, she felt an odd lump bunched up against the pillow under the comforter. Curiosity getting the better of her, she pulled the comforter back out and rummaged under the pillows for the lump.

          What she fished out from the bed turned out to be her bathrobe (the very bathrobe she had been looking for about ten minutes ago). Apparently she had missed hanging it up and left it crumpled in her bed from two nights ago. And Spike had not moved it. In fact......it would seem that the little dragon had slept right next to it.

          "Well if that's not the most darling thing, I simply don't know what is," the unicorn said aloud. How could she have made Spike sleep all by his lonesome in this dark unfamiliar room? Spikey-Wikey had obviously gotten frightened in the middle of the night, and being the little dear he was he hadn't woken her up. He had probably found the robe in the bed and clung to it like a security blanket. Oh the poor dear, he and Twilight SHARED a room, so he had probably never had to fall asleep alone.

          The mare was nearly half way across the room, intent on asking Spike if he'd like Rarity to make a pallet for him in the living room with her, when a knock from the bedroom door stopped her in her tracks.

          "u-uh, Rarity? I heard the water stop a few minutes ago and I figured you'd want your mail now."

          She opened the door to the little dragon holding out a pinkish letter for her to take. Fighting the urge to scoop him up into a hug, she politely accepted the letter and invited him in. She walked back to her vanity set while Spike took his place on the edge of the bed.

          The mare turned the envelope over in her hoof as she sat down in her chair. Oddly enough, the sender had forgotten to put his or her return address on the front. She stared at the bold, blocky handwriting, wondering who it could possibly be when the scent hit her. The envelope smelled of expensive champagne. Thunderlane.

          Her stomach filled with butterflies as she tore open the flap of the envelope, being careful not to harm the note inside. Whatever it might say, she knew it would be romantic. Goodness that colt was sweet when he set his mind to it.

The note fell open upon her desk, the writing in cursive this time rather than the blocky print of the envelope.

Dearest Rarity,

I can't stop thinking about you. Your mane, your

eyes, your smile. All of these things have been

making me want to hold you in my arms, and

I can't keep away any longer. I wanna take

you out on a date tonight, I'll show up around

this afternoon. The reason I'm springing

this on you so suddenly is because I need

you. Right now. And if you're too busy to go

anywhere then I'll be content with just seeing

you from the doorstep.

                                Love, your loving coltfriend,

                                             Thunderlane

           Rarity squealed, pulling the letter flush against her chest. Spike jumped a bit in fright, as he had been just about dozing by the time Rarity had finally finished reading.....and smelling.....the letter. He bounced to her side wondering if she had won the lottery or something similar.

           "I take it another singer wants you to make her a dress."

           "Oh uh....well that would be lovely of course dear.....but no, it's Thunderlane!" Rarity jumped as she said his name.

           Spike cocked his head to the side and asked "Isn't that the electric watermill thing in Canterlot?"

          "No no no darling, he's a stallion! My coltfriend!"

*Why yes, that is does in fact suck for our #1 dragon.

As always, keep me updated on any grammar errors and constructive criticisms (I am, after all, writing on an IPad and it's got a pretty notorious reputation for word processing...)