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                    In The Dark Caverns                    
                      -by KittyBells-                      
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                   Chapter 1: The Letter                   
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Chapter 1: The Letter
"I'll meet you back in about 30 minutes, Spike, stay here!" Those were Twilight Sparkle's parting words as she closed the door. She was heading to the the park to babysit her cousins. "It shouldn't be that hard," Twilight said as she had gotten the invitation from her Aunt. But as Spike did notice, Twilight had stayed up the previous night reading about babysitting.
Now he sat in his basket-bed, reading a book, which was not something Spike usually did. But he was bored, and didn't want to make Twilight mad by leaving the house. He turned the page yet to be greeted by lines of words streaming across the paper. He opened his mouth to groan, and suddenly a blast of hot air erupted from his throat, escaping his mouth as bright green flames. It felt like a hot burp, which was what it sounded like. It smelled like a dragon's breath, which isn't the most pleasant scent, not even for the dragon. Spike got up from his basket-bed and opened the window. Once the smoke from the sudden fiery outburst had cleared, the remains were of a rolled up scroll of paper, tied with a red ribbon. This bow is so pretty, Spike thought as he observed the simple knot. I'd hate to ruin it, but... His thoughts trailed off as a simple tug from his claws released the tie and the scroll unrolled itself. Spike picked it up and started to read.
Dear Twilight Sparkle and friends,
I, Princess Celestia, personally welcomes you to the Royal Canterlot Ball, which will be taking place two weeks from now, on the night of the full moon. I do hope you can attend, as I need you to invite your friends in Ponyville! We hope to get a high attendance level. Bring a date, but you don't have to stress yourself over it! In fact, it's fine if you come in groups...just as long as you come. Your preasence will be treasured!
Royally,
Princess Celestia
Spikes eyes widened as he read the word "date". He re-rolled the paper and tied it up in a not-so-perfect knot, and left the scroll on Twilight's bed. He sped down the wooden stairs of the giant tree house library and went out the door, completely forgetting Twilight's orders.
Spike ran through Ponyville, every step taking him down as he slowed in a mess of sweat and tiredness. He wasn't the fit type to run, but he took big breaths and slowly jogged, thinking about his goal.
I'm going to ask Rarity to the dance.
~~~
Twilight came home in no time, and she thought she saw a small figure heading towards Rarity's fashion boutique that almost resembled Spike. No, it can't be, Twilight thought to herself as she entered her library-tree house. I told him to stay home... She walked in and felt the immediate emptiness of the house. She walked all through the place, upstairs, downstairs, in rooms, out rooms, and called out Spike's name several times. After about 5 minutes of no luck, the feeling of emptiness left her, and was instantly replaced by frustration. "He could've at least left a note or SOMETHING..." Twilight muttered to herself. That's when she saw the scroll on her bed, as she was investigating upstairs, and it glowed pink with her horn as she levitated it to her. The lavender pony undid the messy knot and immediately began to read. With a loss of patience from Spike's disappearance, she more of scanned the letter, even if it was from Celestia. As she read, the word "bring a date" caught her attention. "Of course!" She said out loud, not caring for who heard her. "Spike probably went to go ask Rarity to the dance! Which is why he was headed for her boutique," She paused, almost admiring her own logical thinking. But that moment was short lived as it was replaced by a bit of anger. "...But I told him to stay!" She dropped the letter and ran down the stairs, out the door. The letter picked up some wind, from the force of Twilight's sudden dash downstairs, and the wind coming from the open window. With little effort it was blown out and away, going no place in general, flying freely with the wind.
~~~
Spike knocked on the fancy door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
He waited.
And waited.
And...WHOOSH.
Spike fell over from the sudden sweep of wind. What had just happened? Soon enough Spike would find out, and he would hate the results. The door was now mysteriously open, the smell of roses in the air. Spike loved that smell, the scent of roses. More importantly, the scent of the inside of the boutique. He took time to get up, trying to look cool, just in case anyone was watching him, Big mistake. About five minutes later he walked in, and saw a dark blue pegasus talking to Rarity.
His Rarity.
The sight of it was enough to make him shoot flames at this mysterious intruder, but he may have just been one of Rarity's customers. And he was so bulky, the sight almost reminded him of Big Macintosh...except he had wings. And his mane. His mane patterns almost resembled a zebra's, as it was black and white in a blown-back way, almost like Spitfire's. His tail wasn't short, but it wasn't long and flowing either. Since Spike was observing him from a back view, he did not get to get a glimpse of his eyes, but the longer he and Rarity talked, the more Spike suspected this wasn't just a friendly customer conversation. Rarity almost seemed to be making goo-goo eyes at this pegasus, and swooned as she talked. Finally she said something Spike could hear. "Yes, of course I'll go with you darling,"  Rarity then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. The dark blue pegasus turned, with a smug look on his face. He met Spike's eyes, and gave a nod and a smile, almost in a mocking way, and walked out the Fashion Boutique. "Isn't he dreamy?" Rarity gushed. Spike's wide eyes became a squint as he asked Rarity what was going on. "Oh, you know, the usual," She said with her elegant voice, the voice as smooth as silk. "Except today," she paused a little to giggle, "Finnick Lightfire asked me to the Royal Canterlot Ball!"
~~~
It had all happened so quickly. Spike walked in, saw them talk, he left, Spike saw, Rarity told...Spike left. Running out of the boutique in an hurry after I'd told him the big news, Rarity would've told you, if you had asked. But Spike had a reason. He was devastated. Crushed. All his hopes, flown into the sky, only to plummet down, shattering to pieces, stomped on by this "Finnick Lightfire." It was enough to make Spike hurl, the way Finnick had haughtily walked out the door, and their eyes met...Eyes...his eyes were blood red. Spike noticed. He stopped by a bush and threw up, all from what he saw. While his mouth spewed chunks from an empty stomach, his brain began to work, thinking about the incident. How could this "Finnick" have known about the Canterlot Ball? I was the only one the get that letter! And the first one too...I think. Ugh! I hate myself. It was stupid to think that I could ever had gone the the royal ball with Rarity anyway...
~~~
That was not entirely true. If Spike had not left that window open, if he had stayed put like Twilight had told him, things may have been different. When the letter had flown out the window, Finnick happened to be making his usual runs in the sky, stretching his wings, showing off for the swooning female earth ponies below. The letter just happened to fly in his path, and on instinct, he tackled it down. He and the piece of paper tumbled through the air, and crash landed into someone, or something, he didn't quite recall the memory... Finnick recovered in an instant and quickly read the letter. As he finished, he noticed he had landed near Rarity's Fashion Boutique. His next choice wasn't hard to make as he galloped to her door, just as she conveniently opened it.
"Why hello Finnick! Such a delight to see you here," Rarity had said, blinking her long lashes. Finnick nodded, and spoke with such coolness in his voice, Rarity nearly fainted. It was so smooth and elegant, so deep... He asked to come inside and talk to her. "So Rarity," he had began smoothly, "I don't know if you've heard, but there is a dance in Canterlot coming up..."
"Oh, really?" Rarity gushed. At this time, Spike had gotten up and walked in, watching them talk. Rarity barely noticed him as she stared into Finnick's blood red eyes. "Your eyes are beautiful, Rarity..." Finnick said. "And your mane is just gorgeous today. Are you trying something new?" Finnick spoke with such passion, Rarity believed. Of course, those were empty words... Rarity blushed. "You were saying...about the dance?"
"Oh, right, of course. Sorry, the amazing sight of you causes me to lose focus. As I was saying," Finnick cleared his throat, "Will you, Rarity, do the honor of going to the Royal Canterlot Ball with me?"
"Yes, of course I'll go with you, darling," After Rarity accepted, she leaned over and planted a kiss onto his cheek.
And as it went, Spike confronted Rarity, and after discovering the truth, ran out her Boutique in a mess of a broken heart.
~~~
End of chapter 1