For the past few weeks in the basement of the Golden Oaks Library, a secret project had been underway. With heavy grunts and pants of effort, Spike the dragon, Twilight Sparkle's number one assistant and little brother from another mother, had been working to complete something before a certain date.
Twilight's private lab and experimentation room had been closed off with special permission by the unicorn herself for his own use, to make sure that he could work in utter secrecy. It took the highest level of expert and erudite negotiation ("Please, Twilight! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!") but somehow he had managed to persuade her. Of course, there were going to be certain terms involved. First of all, Spike would need to indulge in Twilight's organization sprees without a word of complaint. Done. Second of all, Spike would learn to take a bath without needing to be told to do so. He'd make no promises, but after some intense bargaining the baby dragon agreed. It's not like he wanted to see broccoli and other assorted vegetables with his gems, anyway. Yuck. Third and finally, while he worked on whatever it was that needed the basement, scaffolding, a thirty foot slab of marble, and a set of chisel tools, Spike would above all else even if it delayed him a bit, stay safe. Deal.
Of course even with the terms having been laid down there was just one last thing.
"It's not that I don't trust you, Twilight, but no matter what you hear," he said after she agreed to give him the space, "don't come downstairs. It's probably going to be messy."
"Fine, Spike! Just let me use the bathroom in peace!"
And so he got to work.
After a particularly laborious number of final touches and necessary details, Spike wiped his brow as he inspected his hard work. What had once been a single slab of three simple dimensions had become a masterpiece (at least to his eyes). Short of matching the giftee's own stunning elegance, what stood before him under the various magical lights was a sight to behold. "Haha! It's perfect!" He touched his chalk-covered claw onto the side of the statue, feeling his smile stretch from ear fin to ear fin.
The smooth, sleek lines and fine curves were only possible through the hours and days and near-weeks of endless toiling and mistakes.
Without any doubts at all, Spike declared, "She's going to love it!"
The Carousel Boutique was abuzz with music and laughter as the girls celebrated Rarity's birthday.
Pinkie was the first to arrive, of course. In fact, she had arrived even before Rarity woke up that morning, to set up the party decorations. While the unicorn, dressed only in her bathrobe and her mane a mess, shrieked in surprise, Pinkie shrieked with bubbly laughter and leaped at her friend to give her a big ol' birthday hug. Luckily the bags of clothing material and accessories under Rarity's magical control at the time were set onto the table before coming under the earth pony's eye-popping embrace. The fashion designer had been so lost in her current project last night that she brought all of her work with her to bed and she practically used her dreams to continue formulating ideas and additions. That would have to wait of course, if only to stop Pinkie Pie from "helping" to finish the project before the party was to start.
Soon enough the others arrived and the party was underway. The music had begun to play (thanks to Pinkie Pie) and food and drinks were put out onto the table (again, Pinkie Pie).
"Girls, I love all of your presents oh so much! You spoil me, you really do." Rarity was all smiles in her specially made birthday outfit she design just for today's occasion. The white dress with black polka dots and a pink back lace was but the first in a whole line she had planned for each of her friends' own celebrations this coming year. Of course, while she always found it wonderful to give others something, Rarity wasn't one to look a pony's gift to her. Applejack had definitely surprised her with a hoof-woven quilt she made with Granny Smith's help, and Fluttershy was always in the know with the newest and trendiest manecare products. Rainbow Dash, being ever a dear, had bought her a new sewing machine. Nothing brand name like Whinnyley, but the thought really did count. Twilight Sparkle had offered her help in a fashion show just the other day but still decided to give her a book about Gryphon fashion.
And then last but not least, "Pinkie Pie, you've done so much for me already!" With several pairs of eyes trained their way, Rarity chuckled as politely as she could at the...thing...currently held aloft in front of her with her magic. The ropey light brown, green, red and white loop of material was simply beyond her understanding at the moment. "Thank you for this, um...sandwich bracelet?"
"It's not a bracelet, silly, it's a hat!" Pinkie giggled nasally.
Rarity looked at the sandwich thing again with plain, unhidden puzzlement. As though to answer this, Pinkie leaped forward and grabbed the strange garment in one hoof and Opalescence (while it rested atop Rarity's back) in the other. She was so quick in fact that the fluffy white cat had barely reacted before Pinkie plopped the garment onto its head and presented her to her master.
"It's a hat!" Pinkie announced in her always bubbly manner.
Rarity's eyes grew wider and wider and wider still. "Oh, dear..." she whispered at first. The corners of her lips moved upwards, causing her cheeks to dimple in sheer enjoyment of the sight in front of her. "Oh...my goodness, that's so...adorable!" Taking her precious Opal in her magical hold, Rarity spun (slowly and gently, of course) her precious pet for all to see and giggled in a foal-like manner. There was just something that made the salon owner want to prance about from seeing her cat looking so cute.
"I'm really glad you like it, Rarity!"
"I really do, Pinkie. I like...no...love all of your presents, girls. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"
Placing Opal back to the floor where it ripped the sandwich hat off its head and tore it to pieces, Rarity and the other ponies moved to embrace in a warm and loving group hug, full of smiles for everyone. After the hug ended and everypony dispersed to get more food or restart the record player, with a moderated concern Rarity looked about as though searching for something. "Rarity?" Twilight noticed from her spot next to the punch bowl in mid-pour. Without looking, her magic automatically filled her cup until it was full and the ladle was returned to the bowl. "Something the matter?"
"Well I was just wondering, Twilight. Where's Spike? He isn't with you?"
"He'll be coming along in a bit, Rarity. He needs to lug his present over here.
"Oh? Spike got me a present? Why, I'm still very happy with the help he put into my big show like you did. Not to mention the Fire Ruby that he gave me on his own birthday a few years ago. Whatever would make him think I ever needed anything more?"
"Haven't the foggiest." Twilight shook her head and wore a wry smile which Rarity didn't seem to notice.
"Well, you said that he had to 'lug it here.'" The other unicorn repeated her friend's comment. "Do you know what Spike's present is, Twilight?"
"Hmmm..." She thought over it for a moment and then shrugged. "Not a clue." The purple unicorn decided to play ignorant in order to help keep the feeling of surprise for the dragon's reveal.
Three more party songs played until there was a knock on the door. With a bit of excitement in her gait Rarity hurried to the door just as she opened it with her light-blue magic.
"Moving services!" A large brownish-tan stallion greeted her, rather than a certain purple dragon.
Lucky that she hadn't exclaimed in joy for what she thought would be Spike's arrival like she planned, Rarity noted the raggy baseball cap that was emblazoned with a logo atop the stallion's head. "Moving services? Huh. I think you may have the wrong address!"
From under his cap a light green glow picked up a clipboard tucked into his saddlebag to float next to his face. "Am I talkin' to a, uh...Rarity?"
"Why, yes you are."
"Yup. This is for you." The stallion said as the clipboard returned to his saddlebag. "From Spike the dragon."
As if on cue, a group of pegasi wearing vests detailed in the same logo as the stallion's flew in from out of sight above the doorway and to the center of the boutique floor space, where the lowered a large sheeted object to the ground. All of the activity had garnered the girls' attention just as the fluttering group of pegasi stallions flew out and the hat-wearing unicorn nodded his head and turned to leave.
"Thanks a lot, guys!" Spike cheerfully called out just as the unicorn passed him by.
"Hey, no prob, little guy!" The stubble-faced stallion said with a nod to him and left.
As they headed off, Spike received hellos and greetings from the girls who were curious as to what was under the sheet. "Hiya, Rarity." Spike said in greeting, "Happy birthday!" Without waiting, Spike turned to the others and walked over to the center of the room as Rarity followed behind him. "I hope I'm not late!"
"No, you're just on time, Spike." Twilight said, affectionately hugging the dragon (and brushed back his spines in a most doting and embarrassing manner).
"Whatever could this be?" Rarity asked with a hint of excitement in her voice as she stood at Spike's side while looking at the sheeted object. "Is this...?"
"Why yes it is!" Spike said in a very proud manner. Reaching to one of the sheet covers, Spike looked at Rarity as she was tantalized by the object hidden from her view. "Without further ado, my birthday present for you is..." With a flourish he threw off the sheet and under it was a marble statue of Rarity's likeness.
Its pose was very dynamic; her front hoof raised to touch against her chin in a dainty way while her eyes greeted its audience with slightly narrowed, inviting look. A radiating smile completed the facade while the details of her main and tail were lifelike despite their pale color which matched the rest of the statue.
Gasps were heard from everypony and Pinkie and Fluttershy went so far as to applaud.
While Rainbow Dash and Applejack each copied the statue's pose to their enjoyment.
"Spike," Twilight started with a giggle, "Rarity doesn't have wings." She pointed her hoof at the statue and the half-folded wings on its back that looked as though they were in mid-tuck.
"I know." Spike replied with a shrug, "But I just feel that it was important to show how much seeing Rarity makes me uplifted." He said this much louder than usual, inviting wide stares from the girls from the most straightforward comment they've ever heard Spike say toward his "secret" crush in all the years they knew him.
Rarity in the meantime was captivated by the statute itself, apparently ignorant to how the dragon had just waxed poetic. "Oh, Spike! It's wonderful! Amazing, actually! Did you do all of this by your little self?"
"Yeah, of course!" Jumped forward, not at all concerned that she hadn't noticed.
Rarity glanced over to Twilight and saw her nod her head in confirmation, ensuring the white unicorn's genuine awe toward the baby dragon.
"I don't wanna bore you with all of the details, but let's just say it was a lot of work. But it was all worth it for you, Rarity." Again, the girls gasped, whispering quietly amongst themselves.
"In any case I simply love it, Spike." Rarity said in sincere appreciation. "You're such a good friend." She looked again at the statue, admiring very much how the dragon artiste standing next to her captured such a lifelike resemblance of her. "And I know just where to put it, too." The unicorn trotted gaily to the left side of the boutique, near two of the bay windows, then stopped when she realized that Spike hadn't walked along with her. She turned and cocked her head, looking at him as he suddenly turned quiet. "Spike? Is something the matter?"
Forcing his emotionless face to smile, Spike blinked a few times and looked over to Rarity. "Huh? Oh...n-no...it's nothing...just tired, is all." Rubbing his eyes with his hands, Spike hadn't realized that Rarity returned to standing next to him before he felt her hoof rest on his shoulder. Looking ahead, a pair blue eyes greeted him in all their shimmering, resplendent glory.
"Really, Spike." Rarity said softly, "Thank you." Leaning in the pony offered him a kiss on his cheek before leaning away and smiling warmly to him. Stepping back, Rarity turned and called out to Twilight and walked over to the other ponies. "Could you be a dear and help me move Spike's wonderful present near the window? Actually, all of you can help me out!"
Even with that pleasant feeling on his cheek, which may have lingered a second or two longer than it ever had before, Spike couldn't help but feel the cold sting of disappointment.
--
Later that night, Spike was on the library's balcony, looking up at the sheet of darkness dotted by innumerable twinkling stars. Twilight had already gone to sleep while the young dragon was too filled with anxiety about the day's events to go to sleep just yet. While he was old enough now to stay up longer than he used to, Spike was still a growing dragon and figured to go to sleep soon after looking out at the night sky.
With his chin resting on his upturned palms while leaning on the railing, the dragon somberly counted up to a few dozen or so stars before deciding to move in when movement caught his eye.
High above a long silvery light stretched across the sky and Spike was for a moment distracted from his thoughts. Its wispy bright tail arced what to him seemed only a few feet. But from what he learned through reading some of the library's astronomy books (out of boredom) and Twilight's lectures to him, he knew that the sheer distance between where he stood and where the stars resided played a trick on his eyes. That the speed of falling stars and comets allowed them to cross huge spaces in a manner of moments.
Turning his thoughts away from the scientific to the magical, Spike recalled another fact about shooting starts that he had learned over the years. "I just wish that Rarity would see me as more than just a friend..." He sighed to himself. Yawning, he headed inside and went to bed.
--
At the Carousel Boutique, while Rarity got her beauty sleep, a star raced across the sky, and through the boutique windows it cast the statue of a winged unicorn under its light.
Slowly, it began to move.
--
"Spike..." A dreamy voice called out to the dragon as he rolled over in his bed, which once upon a time used to be reserved for guests. He had since grown out of sleeping in his basket next to Twilight's bed and oftentimes had very strange dreams. "Spike."
Tonight's dream was no exception. Within a dense fog, a beautiful maiden continued to beckon him. It sounded like Rarity's, but...there was something different about it. Something...lustful. "Spike...Spike..."
With a twitch of his leg, Spike sat up and opened his groggy eyes. Waking up to find a pair of blue eyes looking at him nearly made him scream, but biting his tongue and clasping his hands over his mouth, Spike stumbled off of his bed and head first into his old basket, which he kept on the floor nearby. Tumbling forward. Spike found himself on his hands and knees looking at an amused white unicorn hopping closer to him.
"Rarity?" He gasped out in a hushed voice, "What are you doing he-..." Spike stopped himself as his eyes adjusted to the night's scant illumination. He noticed something wrong not just this situation but the pony standing before him.
Its alabaster coat, luxurious indigo mane, stunning blue eyes were all the same as Rarity's, however, he realized that she had wings.
He blinked as his brain tried to process what he saw and what his brain was immediately able to process. Before saying further Spike grabbed the pony's hoof in his hand and took the two of them down the stairs from the bedroom loft, to the main part of the library, down to the basement. With only a single light bulb for illumination, he turned once more to the winged Rarity that still had its hoof in his grasp. She frowned a bit when he let go but remained attentive nonetheless for him to speak first. "How...how is this possible...?" He began to stutter, "Am I dreaming?"
"No, Spike." The pony replied in a soothing voice. Her silky, comforting voice. "This is not a dream. This is very. Very. Real."
"But...you're a statue...you shouldn't be moving..."
She smiled. Smirked, really, and took a step forward. "Spike. You put so much work into creating me. So much that your very devotion and love for Rarity has given me the spark of life. I'm here to make your wish come true.
"My...wish...?" He asked, perplexed. "I don't know what you're talking about." Spike tried to say to persuade himself just as much as her, and gulped.
"You can't make somepony fall in love with you," the pony continued, ignoring his comment and taking another step closer, "but at the very least...I...can..."
She drew close to him yet again. Close enough to place her hooves onto his shoulders and lean in...
"That was...wow..." Spike finally managed to say while sprawled out on the floor of the basement.
Hours had passed since their passionate lovemaking and the young dragon was looking up at the ceiling, still in the embrace of the pony lying next to him. The adrenaline, the endorphins, the... 'Wow, Spike thought, 'never thought that all of Twilight's brainy vocabulary would come out like that.' He didn't even know what those words meant but somehow he knew that they were...appropriate?
Shifting his glance away from the ceiling to the blue-eyed beauty next to him, a rush of excitement filled his cheeks with a bright red flush and made his heart pump and thump as though he had just run from Ponyville to Canterlot and back again. "Words can't describe how happy I am..." He said, unable to ignore the elation he felt. The fact that finally, Rarity had...but no, in fact...Rarity hadn't reciprocated his feelings. A deep regret soon trickled into his mood. The knowledge that despite having the same face and mane and eyes and smile as Rarity...that this was just a complete farce of what he earnestly wanted to happen.
But she did not take notice to his turn toward a more somber mood. "Mmm, I'm happy that you're happy, Spike." The winged Rarity said with a rapturous smile. She nuzzled and giggled softly, twisting the knife ever more so for the steadily guilt-heavy dragon.
"Listen...uh..." He began to say, propping himself up on his arm and slowly withdrawing himself from her somewhat eager grasp. Hearing a crash, however, Spike hurriedly sat up and looked toward the stairs to see Rarity standing there.
"Spike?" The pony said in astonishment. Walking closer to the banister, she was confused and afraid at seeing a living, breathing winged copy of herself just below. To think this was what she'd find when she decided to ask Spike if he knew what happened to her statue.
"Rarity!" Spike gasped out, rising to his feet from his seated position. About to ask why she was here in the middle of the night, the dragon realized that after all that had happened that the sun must already have risen. He burst out in a run, scampering up the stairs on his hands and feet to reach where Rarity was standing. With haggard breath he desperately tried to explain, "It's...it's not what it looks like!" With gentle ease the winged Rarity swooped in and landed gracefully next to him, looking at her creator's muse with her own eyes for the first time in her short life.
"Oh?" The Rarity raised an eyebrow and looked between the two standing before her. She leaned back then said in a skeptical tone, "Then please, explain to me what's going on here."
He very much knew that tone. That simple, unmistakable calm that signaled a seething anger just before it exploded. Twilight had on a number of times taken to this tone when he had done something particularly bad, such as accidentally setting a favorite book of hers on fire. He would have to choose his words carefully. "Well..." Spike began in a quiet voice, "...you see..."
"Oh, Spike." Rarity shuddered a gasp, her face taken in regret. She tucked her eyes against her foreleg, careful not to mess up her mascara any more than the tears already had. "I'm so sorry for not appreciating you, sooner."
"That's ok, Rarity. It's not like I made it so you can have it. I just...really wanted to let you know just how much I care for you."
"Ohh! Spikey-wikey!" Rarity exclaimed and galloped the few feet to where Spike stood to embrace him in a deep and loving hug. His confession was so beautiful and so full of love. There was no way Rarity could deny the feelings that she held for the purple dragon anymore. After nuzzling for a short moment they broke their embrace.
Feeling ecstatic and revived, Rarity looked at her winged doppelganger. "Well, what are we going to do about this?"
"What do you mean?" Spike asked.
"Well, I mean..." Rarity twirled her purple mane around her hoof in a playful sort of way, "this sort of situation requires you to make a choice, doesn't it?" Her eyes narrowed at the winged Rarity and her rival did the same.
Spike immediately scrambled to stand between the two mares with his hands raised up to keep them apart. "But...I love you both." He stammered. "Let's all be together."
Silence.
The two ponies looked at each other for a moment.
Silence remained.
And then Rarity finally said, "Sure."
"That's fine with me." The living statute nodded in agreement.
Author's Note
"And then sex happened" (Derpibooru link) taken from toonbat's "Pinkie vs Changeling" comic
"Twelve seconds later" time card taken from the SpongeBob SquarePants wikia
