Secrets and Realizations

"Spikey, would you be a deary and grab that Black-Jackal Yaktalian Leather. I need it to make this coat for tomorrow." Rarity asked.

"Sure, just one sec. What, why are you making a coat?" He questioned.

"Well, tomorrow I'm going back to the Crystal Empire, to promote my new line of Winter Wear. And, hopefully, I'll meet some "potential investors" if you know what I mean." She air quoted.

"..." Spike said nothing, turning himself away from Rarity.

"Uh, Spikey, the Leather."

"Really? That nonsense again," he said, making the mare pause.

"Excuse me." She said.

"You heard my rarity. I don't get why you're doing that again." he finished.

"Doing what?"

"Selling yourself out like that."
(gasp)
"How dare you insinuate that I SELL myself. I am a lady-"

"Who deserves better than some idiot who can't see your worth." He said cutting her off. The mare was slightly taken back by his words.

"Look spike, just-just hand me the leather. We can talk about-"

"NO"

"Oh Celestia, what now. What has gotten into you? You're not acting like yourself." She finished. She's never seen spike act out like he was currently.

"I'm done for now. Get the leather yourself. Or, better yet. Have your future "potential investor" get it for you." He ended, facing away from rarity.

"Spikey, I was just making a joke."

"A joke that wasn't funny," he commented.

Rarity, now annoyed by Spike's newfound attitude walked into his line of sight.

"What has gotten into you? I make one small, harmless little joke and you start acting like a foul who didn't get his way. If I said something to offend you, I'm sorry."

Rarity said crossing her arms.
Spike shrugged off her apology and tossed his head away from her.

"You can keep it," he said coldly.

Rarity's annoyance faded hearing those words. The tension in the room only grew as the silence continued. She feared that spike would start resenting her if this continued. Growing concerned about him, she offered to make them some tea so they could calm down and talk. After a moment that felt like hours, he nodded. Much to her relief, they walked to her kitchen with spike grabbing two cups. Rarity turned to her Refrigerator and grabbed the door handle.

"You know Spike. I really meant what I said just now. You know that I would never-" Suddenly rarity felt a hand on her own. She looked up to see spike's face looking down at her.

"You what?" He asked sarcastically. Startled, she slid away from Spike and leaned over to her dining table.

"You would never mean to hurt me. Well if you did you would've stopped looking for some random guy and looked at the person who's had your back since the day he met you," he said.

"Spike, are you...mad at me?" she asked.

"I'm not mad. I just gotta get something off my chest. What am I to you? I mean, I'm the guy who acted as a pin cushion for you. Who studied the art of fashion and color patterns just to lighten your load every day when he came by. Who helped you spread your brand all over Equestria with earnestly and not status power. Rarity, I'm the guy who fell in love with you."

Rarity's eyes and mouth widen at that last remark. "you what?" she whimpered.

As spike spoke he walked over slowly to rarity. Making the mare slide back on her table with her face slowly growing full of red.

"The moment I laid eyes on you, I felt like every single pleasure I had since I was a kid, was nothing (he waved his free hand) compared to just looking at you. I can never stop thinking about you. No gem in Equestria can hold a sparkle compared to your eyes. No silk as soft as your touch. No flower as fragrant as your scent." he continued.

She slowly wrapped her arms around spikes neck.

"Do you really mean that?" She asked.

"I honestly thought you would have read me by now. I thought you were just trying to be nice and spare my feelings." he gave a small chuckle and smile. Warming the mare's heart.

"I think I always knew too. I didn't give it too much thought thou. I didn't want to ruin what we had. Maybe, I should have acted sooner. I'm sorry I kept you waiting. My Spikey-wikey." She rubbed his cheek.

Spike said nothing else and pressed his lips onto Rarity's, the ladder instantly falling under the dragon's spell. She ran her soft hands gently down spikes head, feeling his every spine and scale. In response, he stretched his tongue down her throat making her quiver. He slowly wrapped his arms around her torso and used his hands to massage her lower back and grope at her luscious ass. She moaned out in delight by spike foreplay, breaking the kiss. Spike locked eyes with a now panting rarity. His eye spoke to her, almost as if asking for approval to continue. She nodded and soon found herself lightly forced over her dining table while spikes maw ravages her neck, leaving small bite marks. He striped Rarity of all her clothing, using only his teeth. Seeing spike-like this excited the mare. Now starring at her womanhood, he tasted his long-awaited prize making her moan out in ecstasy. He stretched his 10-inch tongue all the way inside her, eagerly searching for her weak spot. She has never had any of her former partners reach her so far with just their tongue alone.

"S-S-Spikey. Please...Don't stop...Don't Ever Stop." Rarity was getting close from his mastery of skill. She reached down to spikes head and started to slightly down on him. Rarity would never get to that Bliss, however.

Back in Reality.

Morning has arrived for the people of Canterlot and all the main 6 are currently waiting on rarity to head out into town to do some site seeing and shopping.

"Now what in tarnation is taking that girl so long? We all agreed at 11 o'clock so we could head out together." Twilight said messing with her hair while holding a clipboard, popping her pen in the other hand.

"Why are so eager to go shopping? And, since when did you start speaken like me?" AJ asked.

"Cause, I had our whole day planned out. According to my list, we were going to be able to hit every single new place they added since the last time we came to Canterlot together. As for the accent, spur of the moment. It felt right." Twilight said checking her list.

"She probably just wanted to sleep in, I mean we did have a pretty big party last night. Then a smaller one right after." Fluttershy stated.

"We did? I don't remember that." Rainbow said holding a breakfast burrito.

"I can see and smell why little miss wasted," AJ remarked

"I'll go wake her-" AJ stopped rainbow in her track before she could runoff.

"No, you need to go brush your teeth. Spike, here can go wake up little miss "I'm a Lady."

"I don't think spike should," Fluttershy said to AJ.

"What, why?"

Before Flutter could give her an answer, a loud scream came from rarity's room accompanied by the sound of a(n) equally loud air horn. They all knew what had just happened. After about 10 minutes of waiting, a hopping Pinkie and Grumpy Rarity made their way to the group.

"Well, it's about time. We were waiting on you so we could all go out together."Twilight said.

"Well, I'm up now, so let's get going already." Rarity said before rubbing her eyes.

"Weren't you the most excited to go out today," Rainbow asked.

"I was excited, but now I feel like you and just wanna sleep all day."

(Group Gasp)
"Are you OK, Did you not sleep well, or maybe you had a nightmare and you're trying to get back some sleep," Fluttershy asked.

"Well, actually I was having the most amazing dream of my entire life...before pinkie woke me up. It was magical." Rarity said clasping her hand together.

"Really. That good huh, Who's the lucky guy." Rainbow said making the girls laugh while annoying Spike in the process. She glared at Rainbow and noticed some white on her lips.

"Really Rainbow, I should be asking you that question." Rarity said pointing at her own lips to signal rainbows. The girls notice and glanced at Rainbow before laughing. Quickly whipping her mouth, she looked at spike and then back a Rarity.

"Now I know you were dreaming about some hot stud. You never make dirty jokes. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a "certain assistant" that popped up in your head last night." Rainbow grinned, making the dragon turn his head.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT." She shouted. Not wanting to potentially reveal her newly found yet, confusing feelings about spike She shouted.

This made them all go silent with their eyes on her now, spike giving off a scared/depressing look. Her brain rushed for words.

"Let's...just get going OK. I don't want to have this conversation any longer." she managed.

They nodded and followed Rarity outside, all but spike.

"Spike, aren't you coming?" said Fluttershy.

"Actually, I just remembered that I-uh n-need to clean out my room. I'll hang out with you guys later. Promise." spike said.
As soon as he was out of eyeshot his walk turned into a sprint. He ran as fast as he could to his room, pushing servants out of the way, all while fighting back tears. As soon as he walked in he broke down and jumped on his bed.

He thought to himself. (maybe she was right. I shouldn't have dumped her. I-I need to call Gabby.)

......Back with the girls......

"Hey y'all, I didn't wanna say anything inside the castle but, I think spike lied to us just now," Aj said.

"What? Why? He..he even promised us." Pinkie said, her hair starting to go from fluffy to straight.

"Settle down Sugarpie, I think he lied about cleaning his room, not hanging out later. But, I don't think he's gonna come hang with us today. I'm sure he's gotta reason. We can talk to him when we get back." She said back to pinkie.

"AJ's right, let's just try and enjoy our day. Let's go get lunch. It's on Rainbow" Twilight said.

"Yeah, it-wait WHAT. Why am I paying." She said now flying over her head.

"Cause you embarrassed us yesterday while you were drunk," Twilight said, snapping back at her.

"I---ya ok, that far, but I get to pick the place."

"Deal," Twilight said as they shook on it.

Meanwhile back at the Castle

Spike after calming down and washing his face picked up his phone and Called Gabby.

Hey, Spike what's up.
Hey Gabby, you got a min.
Oh boy, I recognize that tone, lay it on me.
U sure. It's a little bit of a story
I got an hour-long lunch. Fire away.

And so spike told the story of how he was nominated to give the speech at the academy. How he teleport- ---ed to his mother's Castle and how he was basically Friend-zoned again. In front of his mother this time and finally, how rarity lashed out at the thought of her being with him just now.

Wow. Now that's a lot to deal with. What, you can use magic...Never mind, How are you holding up?
I feel like shit.
It must be serious if you're using curses.
I'm sorry, I really am. (sigh) Maybe I should just...forget about Rarity.
Hey, don't go saying that crap.
I'm serious, It's been years now. And she's still bent on finding the perfect man. "Her Prince."
Aren't you technically a prince?
I know right! Like, I try to not let it go to my head. That's literally the reason why my mother made me go with Twilight to ponyville. So I don't end up like BlueBlood. That and she needed an assistant.
She made the right call if you ask me. Well, I don't have to work for another 20 min, anything else.
No, I just needed someone to talk to.
Anytime spike. I'm here for you.
END CALL

(Sigh) She's right. I shouldn't through in the towel. Come on spike, get yourself together. Deep breaths.
(inhales)
And exha-
(Stomach grumbles)
Oh No.
(Burbs up scroll)
"A letter", he said aloud, opening the scroll. As he scrolled through the message, his mind transitioned from calming down to anxiety. His eyes could only tear up as he read the sender of the letter. The person being 'The only other living being he felt romantic love for. His EX.
Meanwhile back in with the Main 6

I think I've enough cake to last a lifetime. Pinkie, how do you do it." Twilight said with a sigh of fulfillment.

"Easy, I'm Pinkie," she said hugging her 6th milkshake.

"I'm not even going to argue with you," Twilight said finishing the rest of her ice coffee. "Now, back to spike. Why do you think he lied?

"Maybe he had something important to do now that he's back in Canterlot." Rarity said

"Like what, stay with "mama Celestia" all day. Rainbow said.

"Maybe he's seeing somebody else? Like a Pen-pal or (Big Gasp) WHAT IF HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND HE'S HIDING FROM US BECAUSE HE'S ASHAMED OF US. Pinkie said shouting, making Rarity spit out her tea.

"Pinkie, I can promise you that that's not the-

"HE BETTER NOT BE." Rarity said standing up and shouting.
(awkward silence)
"ashamed of Us-I mean. He's shouldn't be scared to introduce us if he does have a girlfriend. Yes, that's what I meant nothing more."

"As I was saying...I don't think that spike's seeing someone. I think he's just down in the dumps and wants to be left alone for now." Twilight finally managed to say.

"And how do you know that he's not. I'm not agreeing with pinkie here, But it's still possible that he's seeing someone." AJ said.

"I just know, I can Pinkie promise that," she said.

"But, the best thing to do is just let spike be for a little bit. If he's in a bad mood, we don't want to potentially worsen it by staying around him too much and questioning him." Twilight replied.

"Poor Spikey..." Rarity said staring up at the sky while thinking about Spike. She thought back to what she and Celestia talked about. About how the person she was looking for was also wanting to be noticed by her, and that they were someone she most likely knew.

"Girls, I have an idea. Why don't we all go shopping and get something for Spikey? Let's face it, Spike would only lie to us if something was really troubling him. Let's go out a(n) get him some gifts. We can make it a game if you want. The winner is decided by who makes spike the happiest. It'll be fun."

"That's...actually a Great Idea. We should split up into teams then. Twilight suggested.

"Now, wait just a darn minute, Why do we have to split up." AJ protested.

"No offense AJ, but if I go shopping with you and all you look at is things involving apples and farming again, I'm going to be sick." Rarity remarked.

"Well, u ain't perfect either. If it isn't some fancy-schmancy bag or something covered in gemstones, you never stay too long." AJ's remark-making rarity scoff in anger.

"Well, I'm not shopping for myself this time, Now am I. " She said slightly raising her voice.

"Girls, Girls, Remember why we're doing this", Flutter said reminding everyone that spike is the one hurting so they shouldn't hurt themselves in the process.

They settled down and the groups went their separate ways. While the girls shopped for gifts, Twilight took the chance to question rarity last night. Rarity told twilight what she talked about with Celestia and twilight apologized for thinking so wrongly of her. As they shopped, Rarity spoke to Twilight again asking her what she was planning to get spike.

"Please don't tell me you were getting him a book?" Rarity pleaded.

"Relax, I wasn't getting him a book...I was gonna get him a comic book. Big difference." Twilight replied.

"What about you? We know spike the most out of our friends, (me more than you, but that doesn't matter.) What do you think we should get him?" she asked.

"Got it." Rarity said as her phone dinged.

"U got it, got what exactly?" Twilight questioned.

"This", she said showing twilight her phone, showing a picture of fire a Sapphire covered with emeralds in the form of an S.

"Awww, Rarity, it's beautiful." She said.

"Really, I didn't notice." said sarcastically.

"We better hurry before the shops close. I'll check for the gem and you go look for the comic book." She quickly looked around and noticed a nice cafe shop with Luna's Cutie mark as the logo and pointed her phone at it. She texted the picture and address to the girls, telling them to meet up here when there.

Time passed and countless shops visited, all of them gathered at the cafe.

"Ok, so how did it go for everybody? I trust we all got something that spike will love. Me the most of course." Rarity said muttering that last part under her breath.

"Don't out us just yet Rares. We got Spike, them best darn gift, he's ever gonna get. And, before you ask, no, it doesn't involve apples." AJ remarked with a grin.

"Me and flutter got something Really good too. This contest is in the bag." Rainbow said.

"Well, it doesn't matter who wins, as long as spike feels better." Fluttershy inquired. Suddenly, a scroll appeared in front of them. Curious, twilight opened the letter.

"Who's it from," Pinkie asked.

"It's from Celestia, She wants us to return to the castle."

"What's going on?" Rarity asked.

"I don't know, it just says that she wants us back at the castle. I'll teleport us there. Grab your gifts." Twilight said as the girls rushed to grab their things. A purple flash appeared and they were gone.

Now, back inside the castle, the party started looking for spike while Twilight went to go speak to Celestia. What they didn't realize while they were gone, however, would shock all of them.