Youthful Expression

by Closer-To-The-Sun

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Romance
Length: 11559

Twilight is forcing Spike to attend school like the rest of the fillies and colts. The Cutie Mark Crusaders do notice he does not want to be there, and decided to help him out. However, will something happen that will break up the Crusaders?

“And we're changing our ways, taking different roads./Then love, love will tear us apart again.” –Joy Division, ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’

Twilight is making Spike start school, against the dragon's wishes, and sends him off with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But noticing that Spike is down, Applebloom wants to cheer him up. Thus begins a number events that throw the young dragon and fillies into a journey of friendship, jealousy, love, adolescence, and self-discovery.

Image created by DespisedAndBeloved on deviantArt.

Published 2012-08-14 20:04:03 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-14 20:04:03 UTC

Ch. 1 Morning Bell

Chapter 1: Morning Bell

Celestia's sun had risen over Equestria and shined bright rays of light down onto Ponyville. Inside the town's library, a purple unicorn was preparing herself for the day she had planned ahead. Placing a few books, parchment, quills, and snacks into her saddleback, she used her magic to place it upon her back. She gave a small smile to her finished work until she turned to noticed that her assistant dragon, Spike, had yet to get up. Trotting to his bed, she used her magic to remove his blanket.

"Time to get up, Spike." Twilight Sparkle said with a motherly tone.

"Huh?" Spike was beginning to wake up, "Why do I have to get up? You said you don't need me to help you out today with your studying."

The unicorn used her magic to levitate Spike out of his bed, "That's right, I don't need your help, but today you are going to be doing something else."

Twilight tried to place Spike on the floor, standing on his feet, to which he lost balance and fell on his bottom, "Something else?"

"Yes, for today, you are going to school," Twilight stated with a hint of pride in her voice.

This statement got Spike to wake up, "School? But I'm just a baby dragon!"

"It's never too early to learn! Besides, I think you'll have fun because I honestly don't know what you do when you are left home alone."

"Hey! I find plenty of things to do when you're away!" Spike tried to defend himself.

"Like what?"

The young dragon didn't have a response ready, "Uhh….like….umm…."

Twilight smiled and giggled a little, "I think that answers that, Spike. Could you just try it please?"

"Alright, I guess," the dragon finally agreed.

"Excellent," the mare said as the doorbell rang, "and that would be your accompaniment now."

"My what now?"

Twilight walked to the door and opened it to an excited, yellow filly with a pink bow in her crimson hair, "Howdy, Miss Twilight! Is Spike ready fer school?"

"He just about is, Applebloom," Twilight replied as she urged Spike to the door. She used her magic to hand him a packed bag for him. "Now," Twilight began, "I've taken the liberty of packing your bag. You'll find writing utensils, parchment, and the book you'll be using today. I also packed a lunch for you, your favorite gems with an apple. Do not eat it until lunchtime. Oh goodness, look at the time! All of us need to get going!" Twilight Sparkle pushed the two youngsters out the door before she stepped outside and closed the door. "Be good, both of you!" she called out as she dashed off in the opposite direction of their school.

Spike and Applebloom were frozen for a brief moment before they realized what had just happened. Finally, Applebloom spoke, "Well, let's get a move on then!"

"Alright," the dragon said with a bit of distaste as the two started walking.

"What's got you in such a sour mood?" Applebloom asked curiously.

Spike yawned before he replied, "Well, I just don't see why Twilight wants me to go to school. Waking me up to go to school with a bunch of ponies I don't really know."

"Oh, come now, Spike, ya know me. An' Sweetie Belle will be there, an' so will Scootaloo!" Applebloom replied.

"Still, I'm the only dragon there," Spike pointed out, "I just feel a bit out of place."

Applebloom felt she should say something, but she didn't know exactly what.

"Well, I might as well make the best of today, specially since I got gems for lunch," the dragon mused as he thought about his food.

The two youths met up with Sweetie Belle, and then Scootaloo as they walked to the schoolhouse. The entire way there, Spike told Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo the story of why he was attending school. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo listened and made a few jokes to which they all shared a laugh. However, in Applebloom's mind, she thought about what the purple and green dragon said about being the only dragon and feeling out of place.

'Ah really should do somethin' for Spike. Ah really want him t' feel welcome an' all,' Applebloom thought as the day in the classroom began, 'Ah would say that he could be an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader, bu' he will neva get one….wait, ah think ah got it! Ah got an idea to make Spike feel more welcome! Bu' it will have t' wait 'til after school.' Applebloom looked up at the clock above the chalkboard seeing how it read a quarter past eight. She hit her head on the desk, realizing it was going to be a long time before she could hatch her plan, 'Aw, horseapples.'

Ch. 2 One Tree Hill

Chapter 2: One Tree Hill

The long school day was finally drawing to a close for all the students in Cheerilee's class. All the ponies (and Spike) went outside and began to chat amongst themselves before leaving. Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were talking and laughing as among themselves as two prissy fillies showed themselves.

"Well, well, it looks like the blank flanks got themselves a pet," one of them said.

The four turned to see two ponies, one pink and the other gray. It was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"Oh dear, not them," Sweetie Belle thought aloud.

"Don't you two have somepony else to annoy?" Scootaloo had a large amount of distaste in her voice.

"Nope, just your's. Aren't you lucky?" Silver Spoon said with a hint of sass in her voice.

"So, is this dragon belong to you girls or did you have to steal him?" Diamond Tiara trotted up to Spike, looking at him with interest. Spike gave her an odd look as he was eating a gem he had saved for the walk home.

"He's not a pet! He's our friend!" Applebloom shouted defensively.

Silver Spoon got close to Applebloom, "Oh, so he's your coltfriend?"

Those words really struck at Applebloom, causing her to blush heavily. Scootaloo stepped in for the rebuttal, "He's all of our friend!" she spoke incorrectly.

"Ooo!" Diamond Tiara and Sliver Spoon taunted in unison.

Spike, who was busy chewing the part of the gem he had in his mouth, finally spoke with an empty mouth, "Come on, these two aren't worth it," He herded the crusaders away from the two ponies, "besides, they have some serious issues if bugging us is the highlight of their day."

As Spike led the girls away, the four of them heard Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara trying to defend themselves by calling them names. With a huff, the two prissy ponies turned their noses up and began to walk in the other direction.

Spike looked over his shoulder and told the girls to watch quietly. With the remaining part of the gem he had yet to finish, he threw the gem up in the air with all his strength. The jewel soared in the air and landed, hitting Silver Spoon on the head and bouncing of her on to Diamond Tiara.

"Oww! Meanie!" one of the shouted at Spike.

"Run!" Spike said to the crusaders with a huge smile on his face. The girls did just that, laughing as well.

The four youngsters stopped running when they felt they were far enough away from the schoolhouse. All four began to laugh more as they thought again about Spike throwing the gem at them.

"Haha! That was so classic, Spike!" Scootaloo said, rolling on the ground laughing.

"I only wish I could have thought of something like that!" Sweetie Belle spoke between laughter, holding her sides.

Applebloom wiped a tear of laughter away from her eye, "Thanks for doin' that, Spike. Ah think those two fancy ponies won't bother us for sometime now."

Spike was on the ground, still laughing. He finally caught his breath and replied, "Well, I just think they got what they deserved."

"They certainly did!" the white unicorn added.

The four continued to laugh and relive the experience. As time went on, they laid their backs to look up at the sky and imagine what the clouds looked like. Every so often, they would see a rainbow streak in the sky, to which Scootaloo would ramble about Rainbow Dash and how awesome the orange peagsus thought she was.

Sweetie Belle was the first to get up, "I should get back home. Rarity said she could use my help with a few dresses today. She said it was a big order."

"I'll walk with ya, Sweetie Belle, I have to get a few items from the market anyway," the orange pegasus pony said, "Take it easy, you two!"

Applebloom and Spike waved good-bye to their friends and looked back toward the sky. After a few more minutes of sky-gazing, Applebloom remembered the plan she had worked out in her head earlier that day.

"Say Spike, wanna see some place really cool?" she asked, rolling in the grass to get back on her hooves.

Spike stood up and stretched his arms out and replied, "Sure, why not." He grabbed his bag and helped Applebloom with getting her saddlebags back on.

"Ah can get it on by mah self!" Applebloom was defensive, "but thanks, now follow me!" she added with a warm smile.

Applebloom led the way for the dragon through a number of dense brush and bushes. As they walked, Spike was noticing that it was taking them quite some time to get wherever it was that Applebloom had in mind. On the filly's face, it seemed with the confident smile on her face like she knew exactly what she was doing and where she was going.

"Are we getting close at all?" Spike finally asked after what felt like a half an hour.

"We're almost there, ah promise!" the yellow filly's voice sounded confident.

"Alright," Spike said with a bit of uncertainty.

Finally, Applebloom spoke, "Here we are!"

Spike noticed they were still in the brush, "Where is here?" he asked to Applebloom.

Applebloom giggled, "Jus' follow me," she said as she exited the brush.

Spike followed and saw that they were on top of a hill with a lone tree. The hill over looked all of Ponyville with the view being able to see Cloudsdale, Canterlot, and a small part of Manehattan in the distance.

"Whoa…." the purple dragon was speechless.

Applebloom sat underneath the tree, "What do ya think, Spike? Pretty cool, huh?"

"It really is, how did you guys find this place?" he asked as he sat down right next to the pony.

Applebloom laughed a little, "Well, it started when the crusaders and ah got lost quite some time ago…."

The yellow pony went on to tell the story of how she, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle got lost one day. They argued a lot and figured that they needed to get to higher ground to find their way back. They found the hill and decided to make it their second fort, as they called it their "fort away from our fort". She even mentioned that Scootaloo wanted to call the fort "Fort Rainbow Dash" and that Sweetie Belle quickly objected to the idea. They continue to chat for the long time in the shade of the tree, sitting side by side.

"So, whenever we jus' want t' get away, we come up here to our special fort!" Applebloom spoke with a bit of pride.

"You mean like when Applejack gets annoyed at you girls?" Spike turned his head to Applebloom, giving a smirk.

Applebloom froze for a bit, "Yup, like then!" The two laughed shared a laugh and turned back toward the horizon.

The filly turned her head to the dragon, "We also bring food up here, too. Ya know, t' watch the sunset and all."

"That does sound really cool. Having this place to yourself and all." Spike said.

Applebloom turned her head to speak, but was caught off guard by Spike who also turned his head toward her. The two youngsters were shocked to come to the realization that their lips had met.

The purple dragon and the yellow pony were both experiencing their first kiss.

Ch. 3 Linger

Chapter 3: Linger

Spike and Applebloom stared at each other as their lips were connected. When the two realized what exactly was happening, both of them broke the kiss quickly and moved away from each other. Both the pony and dragon were spitting and trying to rid the evidence of the kiss from them.

"Eww! Dragon germs!" Applebloom was the first to speak.

"Dragon germs?" Spike spat to the side the taste of apple, which he hoped was from his lunch, "How do you know you're not the one with germs?" he retorted back to the pony.

"Because, ladies don't have germs," she said with her nose turned up to move to the other side of the tree to sit down, "only colts an' other boys have germs!"

Spike moved to the opposite side of the tree and leaned his back against the tree, "Well, you're starting to sound like those prissy ponies from earlier."

"Ya mean, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?"

"Yeah, them."

"Well, ah don't really want to be like them. So ah'm sorry for sayin' that to ya, Spike."

"Eh, no big deal. I know all girls have some sort of view on boys like that. I remember when Twilight had that view about colts her age. I don't remember much about that, but she sure like to stay in her room and read than go outside and play with them."

Applebloom giggled, "Really? Miss Twilight was like that?"

"I know, you wouldn't think that from her," Spike laughed as well, "I swear, she was just like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, except her muzzle was buried into a book and not mocking other ponies."

"Huh," was all Applebloom could say to that. After a pause, she spoke up again, "Hey, Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"Ah neva got t' say thanks."

"Thanks? For what?"

"Standin' up t' those two ponies back at the schoolyard for me….an' Sweetie Belle an' Scootaloo, too," she quickly added her friend's names.

"It was nothing," Spike said with a bit of pride in his voice.

"But ah'm still mad at you."

"Huh?" Applebloom's added comment surprised Spike, "Why?"

Grabbing her tail with her hooves, she fiddled with the hair fibers as she continued to speak in a hushed tone, "Because….ya took mah first kiss…."

"Oh...." Spike slummed his head a little when he heard what she said, "well, if it makes ya feel any better, it was mine too."

Applebloom's cheeks turned red and her ears perked up as she heard Spike's words, "R-Really?"

"Yeah, never really got close to any girl dragons back in Canterlot, or anypony for that matter."

"What about Rarity?"

Spike laughed, "What about her? She's out of my league, I know that. I guess you can say the chances of me and Rarity are slim to none. And I can live with it, there's always tomorrow."

Applebloom paused and spoke, "So, should we jus' pretend that the kiss neva happened?"

"Huh?"

"So we can both say that we didn't jus' have our first kiss."

Spike thought about it for a second and replied, "Sure, we can do that. I mean, what kind of first kiss was that?" He laughed a little at his own question.

Applebloom joined with the laughter, "Yeah, ah mean, if ya want a really bad first kiss, that's probably the best of the worst!"

Spike popped his head from the side of the tree so he could see Applebloom, "Totally! I mean, our faces literally bummed into each other!"

The yellow filly turned and popped her head out like Spike, moving a bit closer to him, "And on top of that, neither of us wanted it!" she giggled more.

Spike got a little closer to Applebloom, and soon the two were sitting back next to each other, looking back at the view on the hill. The two laughed a little more before they settled down and watched the sun slowly set.

"Speakin' of such, what would ya think yer first kiss would be like? Ya know, since that didn't count." Applebloom asked with a pink tint in her cheeks as she was looking forward, hoping that Spike wouldn't see.

Spike's cheeks turned a rosy red at the question, "W-Well, I really don't know….honestly I have no idea of what a real loving kiss is like. What d-do you think?"

Applebloom was surprised by his answer and his turning of the question right back to her, "A-Ah don't know either…."

"Well, what do you want it to be like?"

Applebloom took a deep breath to calm herself, "Well, ah honestly imagined mah first kiss to be something special with somepony special. Somepony that ah can honestly say that ah will love forever, no matter what happens. That way, it'll be much more magical," the filly's cheeks were red as she spoke candidly about how she wanted her first kiss. She then turned to Spike, not caring her cheeks were burning red or that her mouth was smiling from speaking, "What about you, Spike?"

Spike blushed as Applebloom returned the question, "Well, I always imagined that I would mess it up big time," the dragon admitted.

"Now why would ya say somethin' like that?"

"Cause I seem to have that kind of luck?"

Applebloom gave a small glare to Spike, "That's not really thinkin' highly of yerself there, Spike. Fer all you know, it would be simply wonderful."

"Well, I really haven't put as much thought into it."

Applebloom eased up her glare and rephrased the question, "Well, what would ya like it t' be?"

Spike took a breath of fresh air and turned to face Applebloom, "To be honest, what you said sounds quite nice…."

Applebloom turned to see that the purple dragon as looking at her. She shyly looked away, but her eyes went right back to his, "Y-Yeah, it really does…."

As if they had told each other what to do, both Spike and Applebloom both closed their eyes and slowly leaned toward each other. As their lips connected, it was just as Applebloom said it would be. To both Spike and Applebloom, it was magical. Neither of them knew the right words to describe the kiss, nor the emotions they felt inside each other. Slowly, the dragon moved his lips away from the filly and both looked to the other. Both of their faces were a deep crimson, almost the shade of Applebloom's mane.

Neither wanted to say a word, but Applebloom broke the silence, "H-How was that, Spike?"

"I-I really d-don't know the right words…."

"M-Me neither…."

The two sat in silence before Spike spoke again, "W-Would you….um….would y-you like to….uh….if you want that is…to try it….a-"

Spike was cut off by Applebloom pinning him to the ground to kiss him. The two spent the remainder of the sunset kissing. The sensation they were experiencing was new and exciting to them and they did not want the feeling to end.

Finally, the Luna's moon was beginning to rise as Celestia's sun was completely gone from the horizon. The two stood up and realized they completely lost track of time entirely.

"We really should get back to Ponyville. Everypony is probably is worried sick about us." Spike said, grabbing his bag and placing Applebloom's bag on her back.

"You're right," Applebloom shifted her saddlebags a little so it fitted more comfortably on her back, "though it was fun," she added with a shy smile to Spike.

Spike blushed back and nodded, "Come on, I'll walk you back home."

As the two started down the hill, Applebloom asked a question, "Does this mean we're coltfriend and marefriend?"

Spike thought about it before asking back, "I don't know, do you want to be?"

"Ah asked you first."

"And I asked you back."

"Well, ah would like t' be."

"And I would like to be, too."

Ch. 5 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Chapter 5: Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

The Saturday sun rose into the sky to wake Ponyville and its inhabitants for a brand new day. In the library, Spike was helping Twilight organize the library as they did every weekend. While his hands were busy putting books back up on shelves, Spike's mind was elsewhere. He was thinking of a certain yellow filly that had fully fallen head over hooves for. Lost in his daydreaming, he didn't hear the knock at the door.

Annoyed, Twilight walked to the door to answer it, "Oh, it's okay Spike, I'll get the door. It wasn't like I wasn't busy moving tables and desks with my magic. Nope, not at all," the purple mare said with an extreme sarcastic tone. She opened the door to a white unicorn with a deep purple mane, styled into perfect curls. "Oh, hello Rarity. What brings you here today?"

Rarity smiled to her fellow unicorn, "Oh Twilight, I was wondering if I could possibly borrow Spike from you for the day."

"Borrow Spike?" Twilight asked. Spike slowly made his way to the door when he heard his name mentioned.

"Yes, if you don't mind. You see….oh this is so embarrassing….I'm behind on this order for a client and I could use the extra help," Rarity seemed to be very frazzled about being behind, "I'm sure if Sweetie Belle and Spike help me, the dresses will be done just in time."

Twilight thought for a second and replied with a nod, "Sure, I'm pretty sure Spike will be happy to help you out, Rarity. We're basically done with our cleaning for the day," she noticed Spike standing nearby and looked to her assistant, "Do you mind helping Rarity out, Spike?"

"Not at all! I'll be more than happy to!" Spike smiled, he did like being helpful to anypony that needed it.

"Oh, thank you Spike! You really are such a great helper around my shop!" Rarity mused as she guided the dragon back to the Carousel Boutique.

Twilight closed the door behind Rarity and Spike and turned back to her task at hand: moving furniture with magic. "Okay, Twilight Sparkle, you can move these….no problem. Your magic can do this," she said to herself. Moments later, a window in the library was broken by a small table flying out.

Elsewhere, at the Carousel Boutique, Spike and Rarity went upstairs to her workroom where Sweetie Belle was. The unicorn filly was physically moving rolls of fabric aside and out of the way of Rarity's worktable.

Rarity saw that her sister was done, "Oh, thank you, Sweetie Belle for cleaning up my work area!"

Sweetie Belle smiled happily as her sister praised her work. The filly then saw Spike standing in the doorframe, "Oh, hi there Spike!" Her voice was cheerful, but she still remembered what she had saw the day before at the farm. She masked her sadness and gloom very well. Her sister didn't even notice anything when she returned yesterday, grief-stricken.

Rarity walked to her three ponyquins with dresses on them, one with a blue gown and the other two with a deep purple color, similar to Rarity's mane. "Now," she began to speak, "what I need you to do, Spike, is to help Sweetie Belle here to put the gems on the dresses. You place them on the marked areas like so." She placed a few on using her magic to demonstrate, "Can you do that for me, dear?"

"Of course! No problem!" Spike grabbed one of the gems and placed it on the fabric in one of the places.

"Oh, marvelous, dahling! Thank you ever so much!"

For about an hour, Spike and the two unicorns worked on the dresses. Every so often, Sweetie Belle would hum a song on the spot to liven up the atmosphere, which would also liven up Rarity and Spike as they worked. The only time that there was an interruption was when the doorbell rang.

"Oh goodness, I wonder who that could be. I'll be right back, dears." Rarity said as she trotted down the stairs.

Sweetie Belle stopped applying gems to the dress she was working on to peer down the stairwell. She saw that her sister was helping a new client, a green unicorn with a cream colored pony with a pink and blue mane. Sweetie Belle knew it was going to take a while talking with them, so she hatched an idea. She re-entered Rarity's workroom and started back to work and waited before she made her move.

"Hey Spike," she started innocently, "I've been meaning to ask you something."

Spike kept his hands busy working on the dress as he replied, "What is it?"

Sweetie Belle continued working too when she saw she was almost done with her dress, "I've been wanting to ask somepony this, and I'm sure Rarity doesn't want me to ask her so I was wondering if you could tell me about something," the white filly wanted to beat around the bush before she really asked him.

"Well, what is that something?" Spike peered over the ponyquin.

"What is it like to be in love?"

Spike's face turned pale. He had no idea how to answer that. He just really felt the emotion a few days before and he still didn't have a vague grasp on the idea. And to top that off, he couldn't tell Sweetie Belle about him and Applebloom. "I-I don't actually know…." he was finally about to speak, trying to hide behind the ponyquin.

"Really? Well, don't you love somepony?" Sweetie Belle kept an innocent and childlike appearance about her as she asked the dragon.

"N-Nah, not at all…." Spike really wanted to disappear or just change the topic.

"What about my sister? I thought you loved her?" Sweetie Belle slowly walked over to Spike who still was trying to hide.

"Well, th-that was just a small crush…."

"So you don't really love her?"

"I do, but….I mean she's out of my league and all…." Spike tried to laugh at his own statement but found it difficult.

"So, you don't love anypony?"

"N-Nope!"

"Well, what about Applebloom?"

Ch. 6 White Lips Kissed

Chapter 6: White Lips Kissed

"Wha-! Wha-What about Applebloom?" Spike nervously shook as he heard Sweetie Belle ask him.

"Well, do you love her?"

Spike was quick to rebuttal, "She's my friend, of course I love her!" He felt safe by saving that.

Sweetie Belle shook her head, inching closer to Spike, which caused the purple dragon to back up slowly, "Not like that, Spike. I mean do you love Applebloom like a mare and a colt do?"

Spike had noticed that there was a bit loathing in her eyes, "Well….uh…." Words failed the dragon.

"'Cause I saw you and Applebloom yesterday on the farm," Sweetie Belle jolted her head forward at Spike, whose back was now against the wall.

"You what?"

"I said that I saw you two on the farm! I saw you k-, k-, kiss her!" the unicorn filly really struggled to just say the verb. A her eyes became a little moist as she looked to the speechless Spike, "I saw the two of you kiss!"

"I….well….we were…." Spike tried to find a statement to say to the unicorn, and yet he could not complete a sentence.

"What is it about her that you like, huh?" her voice was becoming more full of sorrow as she spoke.

Finally, Spike returned a complete sentence, "What in Equestria are you talking about, Sweetie Belle?"

"I love you, Spike. I have for quite a long time now," she admitted looking away, her cheeks burning read.

Her statement caused the dragon's face to turn red as well, "Wh-What?"

A tear began to roll down Sweetie Belle's face, "I just said it….I really love you."

Spike was puzzled as well as flustered, "But you just said you didn't know about l-"

"I do! I know about love!" Sweetie Belle interjected loudly, "I know what it means to be in love and all of that! I've read a lot of my sister's books about love!" Little did Sweetie Belle know that she was reading romance novels that Rarity read to unwind after a long day, "So I know about love, Spike! More than Applebloom does, I'm sure!"

"But Sweetie Bel-" the dragon was cut off.

Sweetie Belle placed her hooves on Spike's shoulders, pinning him to the wall. Her face was a deep red as she was visibly nervous about what she wanted to do. Before Spike could object and before she knew what she was doing, Sweetie Belle pressed her lips to Spike's. Her eyes were closed, but a few tears still were rolling down her cheeks. Spike's face was one of shock. He felt two different sensations, the first being the same emotion he felt when he kissed Applebloom, and the second was the emotion of guilt. The mixture of both caused the dragon to hate himself, 'I'm sorry, Applebloom,' he thought to himself.

Sweetie Belle made the kiss last a considerable about of time before she broke it to gasp for air. She looked at the dragon, her cheeks blazing a cherry red and with evidence of tears that had dried up. Spike's face, on the other hand, had lost all color and emotion to it.

"Sp-Spike?" Sweetie Belle asked to the dragon in a shy tone, still in a bit of shock of what she had just did.

Spike stared off to in space, his feet sliding forward from beneath him to which caused him to fall on his bottom with his back to the wall. While he was only blinking and breathing on the outside, inside Spike was having a battle of emotions with in his head. It was struggling to make head or tails of what exactly he was feeling.

"Uh….Spike? Are you okay?" Sweetie Belle spoke as she heard hoovesteps coming up the stairs. Rarity was coming back.

The purple maned mare reentered her workroom to see Spike and Sweetie Belle in the near the wall, "Good heavens! Spike, are you okay? You look as pale as the snow!"

Spike finally came back to reality after staring off into space, "Oh, yeah, I guess I'm not feeling so well right now…."

"Oh dear. Well, nothing to worry about, darling, Sweetie Belle and I can take it from here. You should really get back home and get some bed rest. I'm sure you'll feel right as rain afterwards," Rarity went over to the dragon and used her magic to help him stand up on his two feet.

"Alright then," Spike's voice sounded detached, "I'm sorry about all of this."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Spike! You were a world of help to us," Rarity said as she and Sweetie Belle helped Spike down the stairs, "Do feel better soon."

Spike left the Carousel Boutique and slowly made his way back to the library. When he entered, he didn't see Twilight anywhere, but he didn't think much of it. He closed the door behind him and walked right to his bed. Pulling the blanket over his head, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

"What the hay is going on around me?" he whispered quietly as he drifted off into slumber.

Ch. 7 Love Will Tear Us Apart

Chapter 7: Love Will Tear Us Apart

Spike awoke the around midday to Twilight Sparkle looking him over. The purple unicorn had a worried look upon her face, it was her mother-like instincts taking over.

"How are you feeling today, Spike?" she asked concerned, "Rarity told you weren't feeling good yesterday and you came home to get some bed rest."

The purple dragon rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to wake up, "Yeah….I'm doing better now. Guess it was just something that just past through me or something," he wasn't going to mention anything about Sweetie Belle.

Twilight gave a warm smile, "Well, thank Celestia you are feeling better. And I'm sure the crusaders will be happy to see you doing well, too."

Spike's heart skipped a beat when he heard the mare mention the group of fillies, "T-The crusaders?"

Twilight nodded as she went to get a one of the books on her bed to place back on the upstairs shelves, "Yeah, Applebloom came by earlier today asking if you could come out and play on the farm. She seemed to be really worried when I told her that you were under the weather."

The dragon gulped when Twilight wasn't looking and remained quiet.

"You know," Twilight continued, "I think you should go out and play with them. Getting out of bed and getting some exercise will help you body feel better."

Spike remained quiet but thought in return, 'It's not my body that's feeling bad, it's my head with all of this stuff going on.'

"So what do you say?" the unicorn turned around after placing the remaining books on the shelves.

Spike carefully got out of bed and twiddled the digits on his claws. He wanted to come up with some excuse, any excuse, to not go outside and see the crusaders. He just knew something bad was going to happen if he did. However, he could not think of a lie that would sound plausible, "Sure, that would be good for me," he replied half-heartedly.

Twilight smiled and started toward the stairs, "Excellent! I've taken the liberty in making a few treats for the girls since I felt bad for Applebloom when I told her you weren't feeling well. I made enough for each of you." Twilight levitated a small box of muffins from the table into Spike's claws.

In his mind, Spike really wanted to make a comment about how motherly Twilight was acting, but he just didn't feel it inside him to make the joke, "Thanks, Twilight," was his only reply until he saw that one of the windows was missing it's glass, "Hey, wasn't there a window there?" he pointed with one claw.

Twilight nervously looked back before turning back to her assistant, "Oh, heh, would you look at the time! You really should get to those Cutie Mark Crusaders! I'm sure they are really worried about you!" The purple mare pushed Spike toward the door and closed it behind him when he was outside.

Spike sighed when he was outside. Before he could take a step, he saw that there was a gray pegasus pony with a blonde mane looking at him with her tongue sticking out of her smiling mouth. One of her eyes was fixed on the box while the other seemed to be staring up at the sun. Spike had seen her around before and knew exactly what she wanted.

Opening the box, he took one of the muffins out and handed it to her, "Here, I don't have much of an appetite, anyway," he mumbled as he slowly started walking to the original Cutie Mark Crusader's fort. He figured they would be there. The pegasus gasped with joy as she was given the muffin.

When Spike arrived to the fort, he saw the crusaders playing some games, most likely ones they just made up and created the rules as they went along. Taking a deep breath, he walked toward them.

"Hey, girls," he said quietly as he got close.

"Spike!" all three said in unison, happy to see their dragon comrade.

"What's in the box, Spike?" Scootaloo asked.

Placing the box on the ground, he opened the box up to three blueberry muffins. The three fillies were filled with excitement as they each grabbed one and began to eat.

"Aw, thanks Spike!" Applebloom said enjoying her muffin.

"Whaff's tha occashion?" Sweetie Belle spoke with her mouth full, spitting a few bits of food out by accident.

"Oh, Twilight just made them earlier and had some extra after breakfast is all," the dragon spoke, sitting down on the grass, trying to not think what might happen.

Finishing her muffin before the other fillies, the orange pegasus asked the dragon, "So Spike, what exactly happened to ya? When Applebloom went over, Twilight said you weren't doing so well,"

"Oh, well, uh…." the dragon started, "I just wasn't feeling well after helping Rarity and Sweetie Belle yesterday, that's all."

"You went t' Sweetie Belle's?" Applebloom asked, titling her head to one side.

"Yeah, I was helping out Rarity with some of her dresses," the dragon said.

"Well, do ya know what it was that caused ya to feel out of it?" Scootaloo poked at the issue.

Spike looked to the unicorn filly who seemed to be giving a bit of an odd glare as she was still chewing on her muffin, "I don't remember," he lied.

"Come on now, really? Ya don't remember, Spike?" the yellow earth pony asked.

"N-No."

"Come on, think hard! We'll get to the bottom of this! It might get us our cutie marks!" Scootaloo edged on.

"He said he doesn't remember!" Sweetie Belle blurted out angrily, quickly covering her mouth after she realized what she had just said.

The other three looked to the unicorn.

"Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom was confused, just like the rest.

"I was there, and I can tell you that nothing weird happened!" the unicorn's voice was bitter.

"Doesn't sound like nothing," the pegasus spoke.

"It was nothing!" the unicorn snapped back to Scootaloo.

"It wasn't nothing," the male voice spoke.

All three fillies looked to Spike.

"Sweetie Belle….kissed me," he managed to utter.

Applebloom's expression turned to one of horror and disbelief, "No!"

Sweetie Belle sighed, "Okay, yes, fine, we did."

The yellow pony turned to the unicorn, "How could ya?" her voice was full of sorrow as a few tears began to form in her eyes.

"Because….I don't know!" Sweetie Belle blurted out, "Why can't I kiss him? I like him too!"

"How did ya know that I liked-"

"Because I saw you two on the farm after school on Friday!"

Scootaloo was completely lost in this conversation.

"Can't I say something about this?" Spike tried to edge his way into the conversation.

"No!" both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle said in unison.

The two continued arguing until Sweetie Belle came up with an idea, "I know, how about we let Spike decide?"

"Huh?" Applebloom and Spike were confused about the idea.

"Let's have him pick who he likes more, you or me. Simple as that," Sweetie Belle said acting as if she already knew she was going to win.

Applebloom was a bit reluctant but she agreed, "Alright then."

The two fillies then turned to the dragon, "Alright, Spike, who do you like more? Me, or Applebloom?" Sweetie Belle asked the purple dragon.

Spike felt awful. As he looked at the two fillies, his head said that he wanted Applebloom, simple as that. But at the same time, he did feel something when Sweetie Belle forced a kiss to his lips. And on top of it all, he didn't want to hurt either's feelings. They were still his friends.

"Come on, Spike, pick one of us!" Sweetie Belle grew impatient.

"Spike, what's takin' ya so long?" Applebloom's voice was filled with sadness.

"I pick…."

Both fillies leaded forward for the answer while Scootaloo was just bored with what as going on, showing no interest.

"I pick…." Spike took a deep breath and quickly thought to himself, 'Oh Celestia, please don't hate me….'

"Yes?" the unicorn was waiting.

"Scootaloo!" he said in a panic.

Ch. 8 Sæglópur (Lost At Sea)

Ch. 8 Sæglópur (Lost At Sea)

"Huh?!" all three fillies were shocked by his answer.

Spike was afraid of what chaos he just might have set in motion. 'Dear Celestia, forgive my stupidity….' he thought to himself while the girls were still processing his statement.

"Sp-Spike….?" Applebloom's voice was slightly distorted as she was having trouble speaking. Tears gathered into her eyes and slowly rolled down her eyes. She tried to speak something else, but she was unable to. At that, she turned and ran off from the group. She couldn't bear to be around them right then.

As she watched the yellow filly run off, Sweetie Belle kept her calm. "Well, I see how it really is now, Spike…." her voice sounded the same save a small hint of distress, "I'll see myself away now." Standing up off the ground, Sweetie Belle walked off in the same direction as Applebloom before pausing and trotting back the opposite direction, "Forgot….my home is this way," she admitted before continued snobbishly walking.

A moment of silence past before Scootaloo finally said anything, "Okay, what the hay was that, lover boy?" Anypony could tell she was upset.

"I don't know, okay? I panicked. Not exactly proud of myself right now," Spike admitted hitting his head with the empty cardboard box.

"Really, I never would of guess," Scootaloo commented sarcastically as she watched him hit himself repeatedly, "Fill me in what's going on, will ya?"

Spike and Scootaloo laid on their backs and looked up at the scarcely clouded sky as the dragon began the tale that started on Thursday with him and Applebloom. He tried to explain to her the feelings he was feeling for both of them, but he failed multiple times. Scootaloo listened intently to his ramblings. While her eyes were fixed on the few clouds moving by, her ears were aiding the pegasus in piecing the story in her mind. The daylight quickly died and the Luna's time took hold of Equestria by the time Spike neared the end of his talking.

"And, then I just panicked as you saw and picked you, I guess." Spike finished speaking as he looked up at the stars.

"Uh huh," Scootaloo commented as she stared up into the heavens as well.

Spike rolled from on his back and turned to the orange pegasus, "So what should I do? I mean, both of them are my friends, and I really don't want to hurt them. But it just seems I would really screw up no matter what."

"You can't please everypony, Spike," Scootaloo said with her hooves cushioning her head as she crossed her legs to have more comfort.

"I know, but I can try, can't I?"

"If you do that, no pony is happy. And even if they are, you won't be."

"Huh, seems like you've had some experience with that."

Scootaloo didn't reply about the comment, instead she kept going, "You know the tale about Nightmare Moon, right?"

"Of course, everypony knows that story."

"Well, think about it, Spike. Luna wanted ponies to be happy at night, but not everypony stayed out after dark. She got sad, then jealous, and eventually angry with everypony. In return, they were fearful of her. And the jealousy became so great, that even after she and her sister Celestia stopped Discord, Celestia then had to stop Luna from turning into something like Discord was."

"A chimera?" Spike interrupted as he turned back up to the night sky.

"No, you mule, a monster," Scootaloo was annoyed with his answer, "Think about it for a second, Luna wanted to make ponies happy with her gift to Equestria so much, she was willing to over throw her sister to do it. And everypony knows what happened next."

"Yeah, Celestia and Luna battled and Luna was sent to the moon for a thousand years."

"Mhm, and that time on the moon turned Luna into more of a monster. Celestia didn't want to send her sister there, and it really crushed her soul to do so. In the aftermath of it all, no pony was happy. Luna was alone and afraid, and Celestia was heartbroken and had to fill in for her sister."

"Yeah….you're right about that….guh, why was I so stupid…."

Scootaloo turned her head to look at the dragon, "Hey, stop talking like that. That's the mule inside of you, and no pony likes a mule, either."

"I know, I know, but grrr!" Spike was frustrated, "Why is this just all happening so fast! I mean, just a few do days ago my only concern was wondering what to do when Twilight was away doing something and she didn't need me to tag along somewhere. Now I have to choose a filly's heart to break. And to top it off, the relationship to whoever might not even last that long and they will end up hating me too."

Scootaloo thought for a second and replied, "Remember how you said Applebloom wanted her first kiss to be with somepony who she could love, no matter what happened?"

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there. But still, this is just a big mess," Spike's eyes were fixed upon the night sky as more stars began to shine.

"Well, step back from all of your problems and look at them."

"Huh?"

"Close your eyes."

"Okay."

"Are they closed?"

"Yes, they're closed," the dragon finally did as he was told.

"Now, picture that you are not you. Take a step back from your life mentally, and see what exactly your physical life is in."

"What?"

"Just do it," Scootaloo seemed confident in what she was saying.

Spike closed his eyes and tried to do what the pegasus filly said, "Well, I see me-"

"No, don't see yourself. You see Spike."

"Okay….I see Spike in a bizarre love triangle between a filly who he really cares about and another filly who he has emotions for, yet he can't place them anywhere."

"Alright, now how does Spike look?"

"He looks stressed, very stressed for a baby dragon. He looks like he's lost at sea, trying to find some sort of help. To find somepony to aid him in anyway."

"Now, open your eyes." Scootaloo said.

Spike opened his eyes to see the night sky with Luna's moon hanging above them.

"So, did you learn something from that? Did you see something you didn't before?"

"Y-Yeah….I actually did," the dragon was quite amazed that what Scootaloo said actually helped, "How did you know something like that would work?"

Scootaloo ignored the question, "Doesn't matter right now, what matters is that you have two friends who are in need of being picked up from their sadness."

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" Spike had completely forgotten that he was the one with the problem. He stood up and asked, "Do you think they will listen?"

Scootaloo got up onto her hooves, "You leave that to me, I'll get Sweetie Belle and Applebloom to the schoolyard tomorrow around noon. You just figure out what you are going to do, alright?"

Spike nodded, "Got it. Thanks so much, Scootaloo. In all honesty, I never thought you knew anything like that."

"Please, I'm not as obsessed with Rainbow Dash as everypony things I am," she laughed, "Now get going, you have to make get ready to patch things up with two ponies who were brave enough to say that they loved ya."

Spike nodded again, "Alright! Thanks again!" The dragon ran off to the library, waving to Scootaloo.

The pegasus smiled to herself as the dragon ran off into the distance, "Yeah, two ponies who were brave enough to say that they loved ya, Spike. Not me. I'm just too much of a chicken to admit my feelings to ya."

Ch. 9 I've Been Trying

Chapter 9: I've Been Trying

Celestia's sun was getting closer to indicating high noon in Ponyville. The purple dragon was about to leave the library for the schoolyard. He was worried of what might happen with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, due to the incident just the day before. He decided that he should bake cookies for them for at least listening to his plead, and with his small box of cookies ready, he headed out the door to meet with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Spike was nervous with every step he took. The fight played repeatedly in his mind. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom shouting at each other, Applebloom's tears, and Sweetie Belle's tone. All of the details plagued him as he started to walk faster to the school.

At the school, the crusaders were there, but anypony could tell they were not as unified as they normally were. On opposite ends of the yard, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were turned away from each other with their hooves crossed, refusing to even acknowledge the other's existence. Scootaloo was pleading with the two to just relax, but her words fell on deaf hears.

"Come on, girls, can we just play a game already?" Scootaloo spoke out to her two friends.

"Ah don't know, can Sweetie Belle be fair an' not cheat or steal?" Applebloom turned her head and shouted the last part of her statement.

"I'll be more than happy to play Scootaloo, as soon as Applebloom grows up!" Sweetie Belle turned her head and did the same as the earth filly did.

"Ah'm older than you!" Applebloom shouted to the unicorn.

"No you're not!" the white filly objected

"Am too!"

"Are not times infinity!"

The two girls continued arguing, causing Scootaloo to facehoof herself until she saw Spike coming up on the road, 'Oh, thank Celestia, Luna, and Discord!' she thought.

Spike heard the two fighting a while down the road, which made him worry only more.

"H-Hey, girls," the dragon spoke softly and nervously with the box in hand.

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom turned when they heard the familiar voice. While both were happy to see him, they were both still extremely sore from what he had said yesterday.

"What do you want, Spike?" Sweetie Belle gave a glare to accompany her sour tone.

"I came to say some things….and to give you all something if you allow me to…." Spike said as he placed the box down and opened up the box to reveal triple chocolate cookies.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle quickly trotted to look at the box and gazed at the chocolate cookies. It was obvious that they wouldn't mind enjoying those cookies.

"Well, ah think we can let him talk, what do ya think, Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom asked to the unicorn.

"Agreed," Sweetie Belle agreed and the two sat on their flanks and began eating the treats.

Spike gave a small smile as he saw the two fillies, which were just at ends with one another, share cookies together. "Well, I guess I should just say sorry to the both of you for all the sorrow I caused ya. I honestly didn't mean anything by it, but it seemed like if I picked one of you, I would hurt the other's feelings, and I really did not want to do that. You girls are my best friends, all of you," as Spike spoke, it almost looked like he had a tear in his eye. He quickly moved his claw up to wipe it away, hoping the girls were too busy with the cookies to notice.

Behind the two fillies and the box of cookies, Scootaloo was sitting down and looked at Spike. She gave a reassuring smile and nod, her way of saying that he was doing just fine.

"So…." Applebloom looked up to Spike with bits of chocolate on her face as well as melted chocolate on her hooves, "who are ya choosin'?" Her voice was filled with both hope and distress.

"I have really thought about it, and I am have decided to not pick anypony."

"Huh?" all three fillies had a look of surprise on their face by his choice.

Sweetie Belle spoke first with chocolate stains on her white coat, "Why is that?"

"Well, for starters," Spike began, "you are all my friends. You guys are the only ponies my age, and on top of that, the greatest ponies I have in my life. I love all of you and I really don't want to hurt or lose any of you guys."

What he said caused a few tears to collect into each filly's eyes.

Sweetie Belle tried to not sound like she was about to cry, "E-Even me, after I pushed you up against the wall and….k-kissed you?"

The dragon nodded, "Yup."

A few tears of happiness rolled down Sweetie Belle's cheeks as she smiled.

"Also," Spike continued, "I'm just a baby dragon still. No matter who I look at it, I still have sometime ahead of me to fully be mature and all. A long ways to go and a lot learn to say the very least. And lastly, I was a foal myself for trying to make everypony happy. It was what I've been trying to do, and honestly I was simply dumb to think that I could do that. And even if I could do that, I would not be happy myself and that would lead to everypony ending up the same. I realize that now. I'm very sorry, girls. Can you guys forgive me and my stupidity?"

Spike was staring at the ground when he finished talking. He looked up when he didn't hear a response right away. To his surprise, all three of the crusaders got up and hugged the dragon, which caused him to panic a bit.

"Oh, Spike, we can't hate ya in the least! Ya said it yerself, we're all friends!" Applebloom said happily with a few tears of joy, kissing the dragon on his cheek.

"And we were just as dumb for letting something like that get in the way of what was important: our friendship!" Sweetie Belle clinged on to the dragon, hugging him tightly.

"And besides, this did bring us all closer together!" Scootaloo hugged Spike from behind, also hugging the other two fillies.

"Uh, girls? I'm beginning to lose my balance with all of you hug-!" Spike fell down to the ground and took the ponies with him. The all let go of each other and laughed at what had happened.

"So, are we all good?" Spike asked for anypony to answer.

"Do you want another group hug to prove it?" Sweetie Belle offered.

"I don't know about you ponies, but I'll pass on that mushy stuff. One is enough!" the orange pegasus laughed, "Now can we start having some fun?"

"Sure! But ah think we all need to clean ourselves up after that hug," Applebloom pointed out to the rest of the group, who just noticed they were all coated with chocolate from the cookies. They all laughed and went to clean themselves up before they spent the rest of the day playing.

Later that evening, Spike walked with all the girls to their respective homes before going back home to the library. As he entered, he saw Twilight Sparkle reading a book and taking notes. As he went up stairs to sit in his bed, he grabbed a quill and some parchment and started writing as he sat down.

Dear Princess Celestia,

This is Spike writing to you, Twilight Sparkle's assistant. I know I normally only send you her letters on friendship, but over the past five days, I have learned a great deal about the topic myself. Not just about friendship and love, but also about the connection between all creatures. I am aware that I am just a baby dragon, and that I have a lot to learn about everything this life has to offer, but I think I learned one of the best lessons I ever will learn. I discovered that I am blessed to know three wonderful fillies who have changed my life forever and that the bond we share as friends is strong enough to last through whatever tough trials we go through together. I do hope to learn more from these three remarkable ponies; Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom.

Your faithful student's dragon assistant and your servant,
Spike.

END

Epilogue: Home

Epilogue: Home

"Spike! Hurry up!" Twilight Sparkle's motherly tone echoed throughout the library, "You're date will be here any minute!"

"I'm hurrin'!" the purple dragon shouted back with a hint of anxiety in his voice, "You try putting clothing on with small wings, then we'll talk!" Spike was trying to put a black jacket on, but his newly grown wings made Spike look like he had a hunchback with the coat on.

"Never mind about the coat, Spike, it won't get cold tonight," the purple mare informed him as she walked up the stairs to see her assistant struggle with the article of clothing. She used her magic to pull the jacket away from Spike, "Besides, you haven't been able to wear that coat for a while and since you are in the middle of your growth-spurt, you are going to grow more."

"Ugh, more than just pesky wings?" Spike looked at himself in a nearby mirror, moving the wings on his back slowly.

"Oh, very much so!," Twilight mused, "Soon you will grow at least twice your current size almost overnight. Then your body will become more sturdy, your neck will become longer, and so will your tail. Of course, your wings will be next to follow. Your wingspan will stretch to about 3 meters in length with the ability to-"

Spike cut off the mare with a slightly annoyed manner, "Okay, okay, I get it, Twilight. Now can you just help me get ready befor-"

There was a knock at the door.

"Oh, dear Celestia, she's already here!" the dragon panicked, "Quick! Stall her!"

The unicorn was confused, "What?"

"Just go downstairs and stall her for a bit! I'm almost ready!"

"Alright, alright! Calm down, and please do hurry," Twilight spoke as she went downstairs to welcome the guest into the main room of the library.

Spike quickly grabbed the dark green necktie he had set aside and tied it around his neck. He quietly spoke to himself, "The mole crosses the field, burrows underground, pops it's head out to see the sun and goes back down to hide. There we go." Taking a deep breath and exhaling as he looked at himself in the mirror, he spoke one last time to himself, "Alright, here goes my first date."

Slowly descending the stairs, Spike saw a familiar filly. Though her flank was still blank, her face was smiling brightly as she saw the dragon. She wore a simple dress, nothing fancy in the least. Her mane was just as it always haven been, pink bow included. In the dragon's eyes, Applebloom looked amazingly beautiful.

"Hiya, Spike!" the yellow filly greeted the dragon cheerifully.

"H-Hey," Spike replied, still a bit in shock of how Applebloom looked.

Twilight, who was off to the side, softly chuckled to herself. She found the two of them as a couple very adorable. "Well then," she began, "what is the plan for tonight for the two of you?"

Applebloom spoke with a smile, "We're gunna go ta Sugarcube Corner an' then go on a walk fer a bit." The filly had the evening planned.

Twilight smiled, "Well, have fun, you two!"

Spike and Applebloom exited the library into the early evening in Ponyville. The night sky was lit up by the millions of stars and by Princess Luna's moon. The two began walking toward the bakery. Spike was really nervous as they walked. While he knew Applebloom was excited and happy that Spike had asked her on the date, it still didn't relax him. He had always been tense about the thought of a date since what had happened a few years before. Finally, the dragon broke the silence.

"H-Hey Applebloom, thanks for going on this d-date with me…." Spike blushed heavily.

Applebloom smiled warmly, "Of course, Spike! Ah'm really glad ya asked me. Ah was actually surprised ya asked me ta be honest."

Spike gave a small laugh, "Well, I think we all were surprised when Sweetie Belle admitted that she liked Snips after he asked her out for a date."

The filly giggled, "Ah know! She once told me before that that she thought Snips was the worst colt in class. And now the two are datin' like it's nothin'!" The two shared a laugh together before Applebloom looked toward him and continued, "But if ah could ask, Spike, why did ya pick me?"

Spike looked forward as they walked and smiled, "Because you are just an amazing filly. You are energetic, fun to be around, very awesome….and of course, very cute," he turned his head toward the yellow pony to speak the last part of his statement, his cheeks a tint of pink.

Applebloom blushed red and smiled shyly, "Aww, well thank ya kindly, Spike." She planted a quick kiss on his cheek, causing both to turn more red on their faces, "Ah think you're quite cute yerself."

Spike's face was a deep crimson from Applebloom's words. He felt since he was already so red in the face, he might as well say one more thing that was on his mind, "I love you, Applebloom."

"Ah love ya too, Spike."

Spike lightly pecked Applebloom on the cheek as they continued their walk and as they began their first date together.

END

Ch. 4 Hey Jealousy

Chapter 4: Hey Jealousy

The next morning, Spike woke up earlier than he normally would. He crawled out of his bed and walked down the stairs of the library and saw Twilight Sparkle packing her bag again. The purple unicorn looked up and saw that her assistant was awake.

"Oh, good morning Spike. I wasn't going to wake you up for quite some time," she greeted her dragon.

With a yawn, Spike replied, "Yeah, well, I thought I might as well get ready for the day as soon as I woke up, ya know?" He walked over to his bag and began to load it up with items for school such as parchment and quills.

"Boy, you seem so grown up about going to school today," Twilight gave an impressed look to the baby dragon.

"What can I say, I gave it a shot like I promised, and it wasn't that bad in the least," Spike loaded the textbook into his bag, careful not to crush the parchment and render it useless.

Twilight gave a sly smile, "Is it because you found a filly that tickles your fancy?"

Spike's scales stood on end, "N-No! Twilight! Honestly, what kind of question is that?"

The mare gave a small laugh, "Oh Spike, you know I'm only teasing you."

Spike still gave a nervous glare at Twilight as he was packing his lunch for the day, gems, an apple and plain cupcake for dessert, "S-Still, I'm not like that you know."

Twilight just laughed a little more as she readied her saddlebag for the day, "Well, just don't stay out with the crusaders as late like last night please. I am happy they did give you a small party to make you feel welcome."

"Yeah, I was too," Spike replied to what he knew was a lie he told to Twilight the night before. The dragon knew she would ask a lot of questions if she knew it was just Applebloom he was spent time with last night.

As Twilight used her magic to place the saddlebag on her back, she heard a knock at the door, "Oh, that must be Applebloom, come on in!"

The door was opened by a small yellow filly with a familiar pink bow in her red mane, "Hiya Miss Twilight!"

"Good morning, Applebloom. I think Spike is almost ready," she said as she turned to see her dragon assistant hurry to the door to meet up with the ponies, "Well, guess he is! I'll be seeing you two later then!" Twilight made sure both of the youngsters were outside before she closed the door and head on her way.

Spike and Applebloom gave each other warm smiles and slowly made their way to school.

"How are ya t'day, Spike?" the little filly asked with a affectionate smile.

The smile alone was enough to make the dragon blush, "I'm doing really good, and how about you Applebloom? Was your family upset about you arriving late last night?"

She shook her head, "Eenope!" she giggled at her reply before continuing, "Applejack was gone for most of the day and Big Mac seemed to fine with me being with ya."

Spike was a little worried at her words, "You didn't tell him we….ya know…."

"Nope!" she joyfully exclaimed, "Ah jus' said we were playin' around the schoolyard until it got late. An' don't worry, our secret is safe," her last words were accompanied with a wink, causing Spike's cheeks to turn red again. "Ya know, you're cute when ya blush like that."

Spike replied with nervous laugh, "You know that you saying that is not helping, right?"

"Ah know!"

The two youngsters were able to stop their flirting and agreed to keep it quiet for the rest of the day. The last thing they wanted was to have somepony find out and deal with their respected families about the issue of dating and all that. The two met up with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo on their way to school.

Sweetie Belle was carefully observing Spike. She noticed that something was different about him from yesterday. 'Why does Spike seem so different today? He's completely different. Like yesterday, he was dragging himself to school. Now he seems to be really happy and just full of life,' she thought to herself as they walked to the schoolhouse. She saw the dragon laugh with Applebloom as Scootaloo was retelling the events from yesterday, 'Could it be Applebloom? What did they do when Scootaloo and I left? I got it! I should follow them after school today.' Sweetie Belle had the plan it was not leaving her mind, she was going to follow Spike and Applebloom after school that day.

The white unicorn had trouble focusing on the lessons for that day. Her mind was focused on the yellow earth pony and the purple dragon. She saw them pass notes back and forth in class and share lunches (but in Spike's defense, he did split the cupcake three ways for the girls as his way of saying thank you for welcoming). Finally, the end of the day came and school was over. Sweetie Belle waited patiently for her moment to leave and secretly follow them. As Scootaloo parted ways, Sweetie Belle waited for her turn to make her 'leave'.

"Uh, well, I should probably get back home to help Rarity out with that order of dresses," Sweetie Belle randomly said as the three were walking toward the Town Square.

"Aww, really? Ah was hoping the three of us could play a bit down on the farm," Applebloom pleaded with Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah, you don't have to help her out do ya?" Spike asked.

Sweetie Belle had to admit it sounded fun, but she was not going to just let her plan go to waste, she had to find out if something was happening, "I'm sorry, she needs help with getting those gems on the dresses," she lied.

"Alright then, we'll see ya tomorrow right?" Spike asked, remembering tomorrow was Saturday.

"Yeah, I'm sure we will, bye-bye!" Sweetie Belle said as she trotted away.

The dragon and Applebloom started to make their way down toward the farm together. However, they didn't know that they were being followed by Sweetie Belle. She wasn't as dumb as others might take her for. She kept her distance far enough just so she could just barely see them. She followed the two down to Sweet Apple Acres.

As Applebloom and Spike reached the farm, they left their bags on the front porch of the house before they headed into the grove of trees. Sweetie Belle saw them dash off into the trees, so she entered the grove, still keeping her distance. The last thing she need was to get caught.

She saw the two chase each other around for a while when Spike took Applebloom's bow. The two began to wrestle for about ten minutes, neither giving up. While Sweetie Belle couldn't hear what they were saying, she did notice that Applebloom certainly was annoyed that Spike took her bow. However, when she finally had pinned Spike to the ground, Sweetie Belle was horrified to see Applebloom kiss Spike. The two laughed and Spike got up and gave Applebloom her bow back and the two continued to play.

Sweetie Belle, who saw this play out in front of her, could not believe it, she took a few steps back and swore under her breath. She turned around and ran as fast as she could back to her home.

"No….just no…." she quietly said to herself as she galloped faster, tears forming in her eyes, "it can't be, it just can't…."

The weight of her saddlebag was beginning to hurt Sweetie Belle as she ran faster, but she didn't care, she just wanted to get away from the farm as fast as possible.