Romantic Disastersby AlbinoThunderChaptersMorning GloryDream A Little DreamPride and PrejudiceIt Had To Be YouAfter the NightAlong For The RideMorning GloryCelestia’s morning sun’s rays seeped through Twilight's bedroom window. Twilight blinked her eyes repeatedly before fully opening them, taking in the sunshine. It looked like another beautiful day and Twilight couldn’t be happier. She got up and looked at her calendar that was nailed to the wall. The day, March 25, was circled in red marker with the words “re-shelving day” written in the center. Twilight’s smile grew across her face. Spike sighed happily as he rolled over on his side and continued to sleep. Twilight went over and started shaking Spike with her front hooves. Spike groaned and covered himself in his blanket, defending himself from Twilight and the day’s future events. “Come on, Spike!” Twilight moaned. “It’s time to get up!” A purple aura formed around Twilight’s horn while another formed around Spike. The purple aura levitated Spike his basket, his blanket slowly sliding down his body before falling flat on the basket. The purple aura put Spike down, his eyes still half-open. He rubbed his eyes with his small hands as the purple aura disappeared. “Good. Now that that’s settled, let’s go get some breakfast.” Twilight seemed extra chipper today and Spike groaned again once he figured out why. “Re-shelving Day again? Do we have to do this EVERY month?” he complained as he followed Twilight down the stairs. “Yes! It’s very important that this library is kept in perfect shape. Now, come on!” Twilight went into the kitchen and activated the stove using her magic. She levitated a pan over it and started to add some pancake mix. Spike sat down at the dining table, rubbing his head after his rude awakening. “Hey, um, Twilight?” Spike asked. Twilight turned her attention towards Spike as the pan continued to move on its own. “What day is it?” “Well, it’s March 25th…” she stopped, her eyes widening in excitement. “OH MY GOSH!” she yelled. Spike jumped at Twilight’s sudden exclamation. “Spike! You forgot to tell me that it was today!” “W-What? What’s today? I thought you already knew it was re-shelving day!” Spike stammered confusingly. “It’s not just re-shelving day, Spike!” Rapid knocking was heard on Twilight’s door. Twilight put the pan down causing it to fall off of the stove and onto the floor. Spike looked at the mess she caused and sighed in irritation. He went to the side and grabbed the broom leaning against the wall. Twilight hurried towards the door and opened it to reveal Rarity hopping up and down in sheer excitement. “Did you get it yet?” Rarity asked anxiously. Spike peeked out of the kitchen to catch a glimpse of the two overly-happy mares. “Not yet. Don’t tell me you already got it.” Rarity nodded her head quickly. Twilight got even happier than before. “Quickly!” Rarity said. “Go see if you have it!” Twilight galloped over to her mailbox in front of the library and opened it. She pulled out a small package in brown packaging and giggled profusely along with Rarity. Spike went out the front door and watched as Twilight tore the packaging up as fast as she could and held out a book. Their squealing could have been heard from all over Ponyville. Spike approached the two as they continued to revel in their excitement. “What the hay’s going on? It’s just a book,” said Spike. “Spike!” the two mares were appalled and offended by Spike’s statement. “This is NOT just a book. It’s THE book.” Rarity held out her copy and showed it to Spike. The cover it had was light blue and had the silhouettes of two ponies, one stallion and one mare, in front of a large heart; it’s title was written cursively in black with the author’s name placed at the very bottom. “It’s the new Tears and Smiles book by Cursive Writer; A Stallion’s Desire!” Twilight exclaimed. “It’s supposed to be the last installment of the trilogy!” Spike scratched his head in puzzlement. “Cursive Writer? Who’s that?” Rarity gasped. “You’ve never heard of Cursive Writer? He’s only the greatest romance novelist who ever lived! His stories speak to you from the heart. The story is so engaging, you hang on every word that’s written!” Spike blushed and kicked the dirt at his feet. “What are you blushing about?” Twilight asked. Spike suddenly shook his head. “Oh, it’s nothing,” he stammered. “Whatever. Just don’t get all that mushy stuff on me.” Rarity scoffed. “Hmph. You just wouldn’t understand.” “Oh. I see you already have it.” Everyone turned to see Fluttershy standing behind them with the same book in her saddlebags. “Fluttershy! You got it too!” Twilight exclaimed. Fluttershy’s shy expression turned into adorable happiness. “Oh, but of course. Every mare in Ponyville has it.” “We should go visit the others and see if they got their copy as well,” Twilight suggested. Spike spoke up. “Can I, uh, come too? I need to, uh, pick something up at Sugarcube Corner.” “Sure. Just make sure you cover your ears. Wouldn’t want all that mushy stuff on you,” Twilight said jokingly. Spike hopped up on her back as they made their way to Ponyville. “Ooh, what do you think will happen this time, Twilight?” Rarity asked. “I think Brawny Boulder might actually stay with Marshmallow Surprise. They’re the perfect couple!” “Really?” Fluttershy asked. “I think Winter might return and take Marshmallow back.” “Fluttershy, Winter died. There’s no way he’d come back.” Rarity corrected. “Anyway, I’m hoping that Marshmallow moves away from that dreadful father of hers. She’s an independent pony and she should be treated as such.” As the three continued chatting, Spike looked around as they went through the streets of the town. He learned that Fluttershy was actually right. Every single mare seemed to manage to get their hooves on the book, reading it intensely as if it were almost mandatory. Spike quickly gave a sly smile and turned back towards Twilight. “So, who is this Cursive Writer, exactly?” he asked. “No one really knows,” Rarity told him. “He doesn’t show his picture and he leaves very little about him in his biography.” “But Rarity…,” Fluttershy interrupted. “How do you know the pony’s a he?” “A mare can dream, can’t she? Anyway, as I was saying, nopony can tell who Cursive is. But one thing’s for sure. He’s not just writer. He’s an artist.” She sighed contently as she looked up at the sky. “Wow, Rarity.” Twilight said. “You seem to like this pony a lot.” “I’m only his number one fan. I would give anything to even be with him.” As Rarity said that, Spike tried a little harder to hide his blushing this time. They soon stopped by the familiar sugar coated building known as Sugarcube Corner. “Here’s your stop, Spike.” Spike snapped back to reality. “Wait, what?” “You said you needed to pick something up at Sugarcube Corner, didn’t you?” “Oh, yeah!” Spike got up and started to get off of Twilight. “I’ll meet you back at the library,” said Twilight. "Ok!" Spike waved at the three mares as he watched them head for what seemed to be Sweet Apple Acres. Spike kept watching until they were out of his sight then ran for the nearest bookstore as fast as his little feet could. Once he made it, he stopped to catch his breath. He looked up to notice the bookstore right in front. There was huge line of ponies that stretched all the way to the other side of the street, all waiting to get the book. Spike managed to cram his way inside. The entire bookstore was cramped with ponies. Some were talking about their favorite scenes, their favorite characters, even a rumor about a movie adaptation in the works. As Spike continued to squeeze through, he made to the stand containing a few copies of the book left. He took a copy from the stand and began to skim through the numerous pages, chockfull of words, similes, metaphors and the works. He continued to quickly skim through the book, his eyes frantically moving left to right as they followed the words until the very last page. The last page had the author’s name in big, black, bold letters with just a few sentences that depicted the numerous awards that the pony won. He turned to the back which held all the highly positive reviews the book had received. “Cursive Writer continues to excel in the field of writing.” –Canterlot Times “Another fantastic installment in a marvelous trilogy that will leave you wanting more.” –Equestrian Book Club “10 out of 10. I will definitely be reading this again and again for years to come.” –Good Read. Good Read. The most sophisticated book reviewer that ever lived. Spike was left speechless on how the book had received a perfect score from HIM of all people. Perfect scores were completely rare for somepony like Good Read to just give out. You had to earn it. Spike fist pumped the air and flipped through the book again until he was interrupted by a filly’s voice behind him. “Spike? What’re you doing?” Spike yelped as he turned around to notice a yellow filly with red hair and a pink bow looking at him puzzled. “Oh! Apple Bloom! I was looking for the…uh…,” Spike looked around desperately for something he could use as an excuse. “Oh, there are the comics! They were over here the whole time!” Spike ran to the nearest bookshelf and pulled out a comic book with the cover that depicted a robot flying through space. He flipped through it quickly and laughed nervously, hoping that Apple Bloom wouldn’t catch on. “Why were you over there looking at that girly book?” she asked. “I, uh, needed to, uh, see just how good it was. It’s not. It really isn’t,” he stammered. “Really? ‘Cause Applejack’s always telling me how good it was this morning.” Spike glanced at Apple Bloom’s saddlebags. “Hey, what’s in the bags?” he asked. “Oh, just some coloring books," Apple Bloom replied. "Scootaloo thought it would be a good idea to get our cutie marks for artistic vision. I told her we needed to start somewhere, so I went ahead and picked these up. What're you even doing here?" Spike stammered again as he tried to find the right words to use. "Uh, Twilight needs a, uh, new spell book." "But she owns a library. I thought she had every spell book out there." Spike looked at his wrist. “Oh, hey! Look at the time! I better get going!” He put the comic back as he started to make his way to the exit. Apple Bloom became more confused than before. “But it’s 12:30.” “Oh, you know Twilight. Always getting onto me for being out this long. Gotta go! I’ll see ya later!” He squeezed through the numerous ponies as fast as he could through the exit. He looked behind him to make sure he wasn't followed. Spike decided that it actually was a good time to head back to the library. The streets seemed busier than this morning. He figured it was probably because of the book's release. When he made it to the front door, he could hear excessive giggling and squealing coming from inside. He opened the door to find all 6 ponies sitting around in a circle, reading their own copy of the book. “What’s going on?” he asked. “SHHHH!” They all said in unison, and then turned back to their books. Pinkie left the circle and approached Spike. “We’re having a special book release party,” the pink pony whispered. “But, I don’t think you’d be interested.” "Hey, Twilight?" he asked. "Does this mean Re-Shelving Day is cancelled? "Yeah, sure." Twilight said impatiently, still focused on her book. Another purple aura materialized and pushed Spike back out the door. After it had closed behind him, Spike ran to the side and climbed up a tree stump next to the library. He peeked through the side window and saw Pinkie Pie returning to the circle and continuing to read along with the others. “So, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “Ah didn’t think you’d be interested in books like these.” “I am not!” The cyan pegasus denied. “I’m just here because you guys dragged me here.” She went back to reading her own copy with much intensity. “Hey, Rarity,” Twilight asked. “Do you think Sweetie Belle’s had a chance to read this yet?” “Oh, heavens no! This book is way too…mature for someone her age to be reading. Now, be quiet. Something’s happening on page 83.” “Well, don’t tell us!” The other five yelled in unison. Twilight looked around and noticed Spike’s face watching from behind the window. The curtains suddenly closed on him, denying him any future viewings. He got down from the tree stump he was standing on and went to a nearby park bench. He placed both his hands firmly, hopped up onto the bench, took his seat, and began to lie down, watching the clouds as they drifted on by in the beautiful blue sky. A satisfied smile grew across his face. “All in a day’s work.” Dream A Little DreamA month had passed since A Stallion's Desire had been released and all the excitement in Ponyville had seemed to die down, if only by a little. Everypony had already finished reading the book and went back to their usual ways. However, that didn't stop a few ponies from still talking about it. There were still a few interviews here and there with some of the publishers, but, no matter how hard every newspaper tried, they still couldn't get one single interview with the author, Cursive Writer. The library went back to its peaceful ways as well. Twilight packed her saddlebags while Spike was finishing up sweeping the floors. "Spike, I'm heading out for a while," she called out. "Just finish sweeping and you can have the rest of the day off, okay?" "Alright then," Spike replied. "Where are you going?" "I'm just going out and picking up a few things for our annual evening picnic tonight. Then, I have to help out Applejack with something down at the farm. I should be back at around 5-ish." Twilight opened the door and began to head out. "Have fun." Spike said sarcastically Twilight couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "I'll try." The door closed behind her as she left to take care of her errands. Spike ran up to the window beside it to make sure she was a safe distance away from the library. He rushed back to the broom to finish sweeping up as fast as he could, hoping he had enough time for what he had planned next. Once he finished, he set the broom aside as he ran to Twilight's writing desk. Owlicious flew up with him and perched himself on top of the desk. Spike pulled out a parchment from behind a bookshelf next to him and took a nearby quill, its tip coated in black ink. He placed a stool before the desk high enough so that he could see what he was doing and sat down. He put the parchment onto the table and crossed out "Finish Tears and Smiles trilogy." off his story list. He continued to read over all his other story ideas he had planned. Stories about knights of honor, wandering travelers, and down-on-their-luck musicians. Even though they all sounded different, each of his stories had one thing in common: love. It seemed to be Spike's forte, considering his crush with Rarity. But that's what made his stories work. One characteristic about her was enough inspiration for a main character. One character would be based on her elegance, another would be based on her generosity. Thankfully, she was none the wiser and he meant to keep it that way. He loved her without a shadow of a doubt but he could never be able to find the courage to tell her his true feelings. He tried once when they almost fell to their deaths. Even though she cut him off mid-sentence, she knew about his crush. But that was only his crush. She didn't know about how he truly felt about her and how much he really wanted to be with her. He would daydream about her constantly whenever he had the chance. Most of them, surprisingly, weren't about him being some sort of superhero or a secret agent sent to rescue her. They would mostly be about them being together, having a house, spending quality time with each other. He wasn't proud of it since he was a guy and, in his words, guys don't think about girly stuff like that. But it was all he could ever think about. This was Rarity, for Celestia's sake. The embodiment of poise and grace. Not some cheap, average mare from Stirrup Street. Spike continued to stare out the window, thinking about the love of his life, until he blinked, bringing him back to the real world. He looked at his paper which he hadn't even touched and noticed a few ink spots on the corner of his paper. He didn't want to even think about how long he was dreaming this time. Spike got himself focused and got ready to write down some more ideas, but froze once he got his quill ready. He couldn't think of anything. Not one single thing. There was no way he could have used up all of his ideas. He tried his hardest to think about something new, but no matter how hard he tried, not one thing was written down on his list. He sighed and put the quill back in its bottle. Owlicious was still perched on the desk, looking at him as he sat there disappointed. A knock was heard on the door. "Hoo," he hooted. "I don't know," replied Spike. "I'm gonna go check." He hooted again "I told you, I don't know." Spike ran down to the door. The door knocked again. "I'm coming, I'm coming." When he opened it, Rarity stood in the doorway with her saddlebags packed, practically shining in front of the sun. Spike stood completely still with butterflies starting to form in his stomach. He stammered trying to pick the right words to say to her. "Oh! My apologies, Spike. Is Twilight home?" she asked in her sophisticated accent. "Um, no. She went to do something with Applejack." said Spike, the butterflies in his stomach were getting worse. "Is there something you need?" "Why, yes. I need to borrow that book on historical fashion again. I may have missed a few details when making my new creation." She walked in and looked through the shelves searching for what she was looking for. "I was also wondering if that book by Page Turner had come in yet." Spike became confused. Page Turner? Who in Equestria was that? Spike needed to know. "Page Turner? Is she a new librarian or something?" "She's this new author that the town's been buzzing about lately. Rumor is that she was born in Ponyville." "I thought you liked Cursive Writer." Rarity continued to scan the bookshelves. "While I do adore Cursive Writer's work, Twilight's been telling me that I should try one of her books. So, I figured, why not?" As Rarity continued looking for the books she needed, Spike's muscles tensed up as he noticed his story ideas still sitting on the desk nearby. He walked at a brisk pace, trying not to gain Rarity's attention, and grabbed the piece of paper. He quickly looked around hoping to find a place where he could quickly hide the paper. "Spike? What are you doing over there?" Spike froze. He had to think quickly about this one. He stuffed the paper in his mouth and turned towards her. "Oh, um, just having a snack," he said, his voice muffled by the wad of paper in his mouth. "Well, close your mouth while you chew, okay darling?" Darling. The word alone was enough to make his heart soar to the heavens. If only he had the courage to tell her... Rarity looked at the bookshelf nearby. "Ah! Here it is!" She levitated the book by Page Turner from the top shelf. She took a look at it and read the back cover to herself. "The Bird With No Wings? Hmm, this does sound interesting." She placed the book in her saddlebags and gave the room a final look. "I can't seem to find the other book, though." She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well." As she made her way to the exit, she turned back towards Spike. "Tell Twilight that I'll be borrowing this for a while. I'll see you at the picnic tonight, darling!...and for heaven's sake, please swallow." Spike watched as the mare of his dreams closed the door behind her and went on her way. He spit the paper back out into his hand. All his ideas had been crumpled up and covered in saliva. He sighed and threw it in the trash. He sat back on the desk and laid his head. Page Turner. Somepony he's never heard before. A new author, perhaps? Spike tossed the thought aside. He thought that there was no need to worry about something like that right now. He looked at a clock that was posted on the wall. 2:30. He figured he could go kill some time and shop around Ponyville for a while, but he remembered that he donated all the profits he made from his books to charity just so Twilight and the others wouldn't get suspicious about huge bags of bits lying around. Plus, he thought that it was the right thing to do. He went upstairs to his basket and decided he had enough time for a well earned nap. *** Twilight rushed home as quickly as she could. It was way past the time that she said she'd be back and needed to hurry. She ran inside and slammed the door behind her. She got all the plates and silverware into her saddlebags and placed them upon her back. She looked around desperately searching for her assistant. Snoring could be heard from upstairs. She saw the blankets moved up and down in a breathing motion. "Are you kidding me?" she scoffed. She teleported up the stairs in front of the basket. "Spike! Don't tell me you went back to sleep again!" She shook Spike violently, trying to wake him up. He unwrapped himself and sat up with his eyes half open, like a mummy waking up from his tomb. "Eh, what time is it?" he asked groggily "It's 5:45. Now come on! We're already late enough as it is," Twilight placed her saddlebags around her as she went for the door. Spike followed her, albeit a bit slow, and hopped on her back. "Oh yeah!" Spike said as he snapped his fingers. "Rarity came in a while ago and took a book by someone named Page Turner, I think." "Oh did she?" The purple unicorn asked. "Well, I'm glad she's reading a book by someone other than Cursive Writer this time." They closed the door behind them and made for the outskirts of town. The blue sky turned orange as the sun began to set. The town began to light up as the streetlights began to flicker on one by one and the buildings illuminated through the windows. "Honestly, Spike," she said, giving a crooked smile. "I don't know how you can still find the time to sleep." "I'm a dragon." he said. "It's in our nature." The two reached a hill with a lone tree where everypony else was. A large, red and black plaid blanket had been placed on the ground as the others sat around waiting for what Twilight had in store. "Uh, Twilight? Where's the food?" asked a puzzled Rainbow Dash. "Yeah," said Applejack. "Apparently, Ah thought Ah was gonna bring my famous apple cobbler." "Calm down, everyone," Twilight said. "This is something I want to try." Plates levitated out of Twilight's saddlebags and were placed on the linen. Twilight's horn began to light up as magic hovered over the picnic blanket. Suddenly, a large amount of food materialized and landed perfectly on the plates. Everyone stood in shock and awe as they looked at all the food that was made. Of course, it wasn't anything new, considering Twilight, but it was still amazing at what she could do. "And for the dragon..." A medium-sized bowl of assorted gems and rubies appeared in front of Spike. His eyes sparkled at what he saw and began to dig in. Everyone picked out what they wanted and began to dine on their feast. The sky was now pitch black with the stars scattered about, shining brightly in the night, the moon in the center of it all, glowing at its brightest. Everypony talked and laughed, recalling the events of their day. Their annual evening picnic was the most enjoyable thing the mane 6 ever thought up. A chance to get together and just relax, no shenanigans or crazy situations to get in their way. "So, I started reading that book you told me about, Twilight," said Rarity after she wiped her mouth with her napkin. "And how is it?" Twilight asked. "I must say, it's rather interesting," Rarity pulled the book out from her bags and placed it at the center where everyone could see it. "It's well written, thought out, and highly entertaining to say the least." "Oh, I think I've heard about her before." said Fluttershy. "She's been getting a lot of attention recently." Spike stopped before he took another bite of his gem and looked at the rest of the gang with uncertainty. "She's okay, I guess." Rainbow said before she resumed eating. "Okay? She's awesome!" Pinkie Pie shouted at the top of her lungs. "Ah heard she was coming to town tomorrow for some Q and A." "Do you think she might surpass Cursive Writer?" Twilight asked. Rarity shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, probably." The more Spike heard, the more angry he became despite his quiet façade. He softly threw his half eaten gem back to the bowl and pushed it aside. "Hey Twilight? Is it okay if I go back home?" he asked. Twilight was confused. "Um, sure. Why?" "I'm, uh, not feeling well. I think I may need to lie down a bit, if that's okay with you." "I guess the little guy's had too much." Rainbow Dash laughed teasingly. "Not now, Rainbow." Twilight became worried for her little assistant. "Do you want me to take you?" "No, no. It's okay. I can walk home. It's not very far away." Spike got up and left the group to themselves. The others became just as concerned as Twilight. "Is it just me, or has Spike seemed odd lately?" Rainbow asked. "Ah know what you mean. He hasn't been himself lately. He might be up to somethin'." Twilight laughed off her friends' suspicions. "Come on, guys. Spike wouldn't lie to us. He's too good for that." She looked off into the distance in the direction that Spike had went. "At least, I hope he is." Spike walked back to the library, twiddling his fingers along the way. "Page Turner? She can't be that great," he muttered to himself. "She just can't be." He started to walk in circles under a streetlight, his worrying thoughts racing through his mind. "Or maybe she is! Is my career over? Do they not like my books anymore?" He gave himself a slap on the forehead. "Come on, Spike. You're an author. Authors don't just die out whenever there's a new one." Spike stopped in his tracks and gave out a sigh. "There's no need to be jealous. Maybe this'll all blow over and everything can get back to normal." He continued on his way home, but he still couldn't stop thinking that maybe his time was up. He's been doing this for a while now, two years in fact, that maybe he should just give up the name of Cursive Writer, at least for a while. He opened the door slowly and made inside the library. Owlicious hooted, welcoming the little draconian back home. "It's just me, Owlicious." Spike said as went up and scratched the owl's head. Owlicious cooed under Spike's sharp claws, yet soft scratch. He went upstairs to his basket and plopped down, laying there with his eyes wide open. "If she's as great as they say she is, then how can I compete with her?" "Hoo." The owl said "Someone named Page Turner. She's supposed to be this really popular author." Owlicious hooted once more. "I don't know. But, she's coming to town tomorrow to answer some questions," He got up and became determined again. "..and I'm gonna find out who this pony really is." Author's Note Was really nervous about releasing this one, but I think I did my best. Just bear with me, guys. Chapter 3's going to get the plot going. Pride and PrejudiceThe next day was as bright as always. Rainbow had been three for three for perfect weather lately. Birds sang their songs as dandelions were blown and danced with the wind. Ponyville was no different from any other days. Ponies walked around attending to their usual business without a care in the world. Twilight and Spike were riding around gathering a few groceries from their local markets. Twilight was at peace, happy with her life here as she had always been. As for Spike, he couldn't seem to get over what everyone was talking about yesterday. He rode on Twilight's back, as usual, but kept to himself most of the time. He looked down angrily. Page Turner. A new rival, perhaps? No. He couldn't lose himself to jealousy. That wouldn't be gentlemanly of him in Rarity's eyes. But no matter how much he adored the mare, he couldn't help but feel like his fifteen minutes were up, that his alter ego was beginning to fade out all thanks to this one new author. He admits that he may be overreacting just a tad, but... "Spike? Are you okay? You've been quiet this whole trip." Spike looked back up quickly and found Twilight staring at him with worrying eyes. "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine," he stuttered. "I'm just thinking about something." "Well, what are you thinking about?" she asked. "Oh you know, stuff." "You were thinking about Rarity, weren't you?" "N-No!" Twilight giggled a bit. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But still, I'm worried about you, Spike. You haven't talked to any one of us since last night. Some of the others actually think you might be up to something." They were on to him. He knew it. His eyes started shifting left to right as he bit his lower lip. "You're not up to anything, are you?" Twilight started getting suspicious and raised an eyebrow. Spike sighed and remained cool. "Relax, Twilight. Everything's fine. You need to stop worrying so much." Twilight relaxed as she gave a faint smile. "Alright, Spike. I'm trusting you." She faced the other way to see where she was going. Spike gave a sigh of relief knowing he was in the clear. For now. The others were getting suspicious. He needed to be careful. Now more than ever. "Now where is it?" Twilight asked. She started to look around the entire area for something. Spike couldn't tell what though. "Where's what?" he asked. "We already got the things we needed at the grocery store. What is there left to do? "I'm looking for the stage." "Stage? What stage?" "Applejack said she would meet me at the stage where Page Turner was going to be today." Spike's eyes suddenly shot wide open as he recalled more of the conversation at the picnic last night. "That Q&A thing was today?!" he shouted. Twilight took her hoof and rubbed her ear after Spike's sudden outburst. "Yeah, why do you ask?" "Oh, uh, nothing. Just needed to vent something out, you know?" Before Twilight could say anything, an orange mare in a cowboy hat waved frantically to get Twilight's attention. She turned to notice Applejack beckoning her to get over to where she was. A crowd began to form in front of a stage that was almost similar to Trixie's minus the fireworks and decorations. Everypony started chatting with one another wondering what was in store for them. Twilight trotted up to Applejack and saw Rarity standing right next to her. "Oh good! You're here!" Rarity said. "I was wondering if you were going to show up." "Where are the others?" Twilight asked. "I thought they would be here too." "Rainbow's got some weather-y things to attend to." replied Applejack in her recognizable accent. "As for Fluttershy and Pinkie, Ah have no idea. But Ah'm pretty sure they'll be here soon." Everyone turned they're heads as the mayor stepped up on stage. She tapped a microphone that was standing at the center of attention. Ringing emitted as everyone groaned and covered their ears. "Eh, sorry about that." The Mayor laughed slightly. "Now, then. Please welcome the acclaimed author of "The Bird with No Wings", Page Turner!" The crowd stomped their hooves together as a dark blue pony with green hair appeared on stage. She raised her hoof up to quiet the crowd before her. The stomping got softer and softer until it came to a full stop. Now everyone was waiting for what this pony had to say. "Hello, everypony. If some of you don't know already, my name is Page Turner. I'm the author of "The Bird With No Wings"..." The crowd started stomping again. They whistled and cheered loudly until Page Turner raised her hoof again. "...and for the next..." She looked at the mayor, "...two?..." The mayor nodded back to her. "...two hours, I'll be answering any questions you may have for me." Everypony started throwing their hooves into the air, hoping that they would be picked. She squinted and started to pick out a few ponies at a time. "Is it true you're from Ponyville?" one pony asked. "Why, yes, it is! and I don't regret a single thing!" Spike rolled his eyes as he watched her. She was happy. Overjoyed to be on that stage. And he didn't like it one bit. "How did you come up with the idea for 'The Bird With No Wings'?" another pony asked. "Ooh, that's a good one. Um, let me think..." She put her hoof up to her chin and started to think. "I guess I could say it just came to me one day. The ideas that can come into your head sometimes amazes me." Spike gave another look. That's it? It just popped up in her head? That's not true inspiration, That was just making something up! "Now, let's see... who's next?" Rarity put her hoof up into the air as well. Page pointed to the elegant mare. "Yes, you." she stated. "What was your inspiration to become an author?" Rarity asked. Page sighed with a smile. "I have to say, it's always been Cursive Writer." Spike stopped and looked back up. "His words were so fascinating and the stories were always so intense. I wanted to be just like him." She went on and on about how much she adored the mysterious writer. "I hope, I just hope, I get to meet him one day." Spike watched, astonished by what she said. He actually inspired someone to do what she wanted. He felt terrible about his feelings before. Was he so quick to judge? He watched as Rarity paid full attention to what Page was saying. He knew that she still adored him. She was still his number one fan, no matter what. As he watched her, he thought about the one story idea he still had left in his creative mind. The one he couldn't do. It was a story about a lost dragon finding hope and love in one simple mare. The reason he wouldn't publish something like that is because it would have been too obvious. It would have easily given away his deepest secret. All that trust with Twilight and the others would have been broken. And what would Rarity think? She'd probably consider him as some sort of creepy stalker and not say a word to him again, and he couldn't even bear that thought. He always feared the worst if his secret ever got out. So he kept the idea to himself, never bothering to put it on paper. He later moved on to other ideas, with the Tears and Smiles trilogy being his best one yet. But, he always looked back. He always looked back on his forbidden idea, hoping that one day that he could write it. He shook his head to snap himself out of his daydreaming. Page Turner had finished speaking as everyone stamped and cheered once more. He looked down again, sighing. He got off Twilight's back as he turned around and headed home. The purple unicorn turned and saw him leave. "Spike! Where are you going?" She shouted amongst the cheering. She went and followed him as close as she could but lost him in the crowd. She searched desperately for the dragon, cursing Celestia for him being so small. Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Is something wrong, Twilight?" she asked. Twilight sighed. "It's Spike. He took off again, this time without even saying anything. I don't know what's gotten into him lately." "He's definitely up to something. Ah'm sure of it." Twilight glanced at her. She had to admit, the cowgirl was a bit to quick to judge. But she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe Applejack was right this time. "But I still don't understand," Rarity responded. "What is there for him to hide?" "I don't know, but I'm gonna go find out. I'll meet up with you guys later." Twilight pushed through the immense crowd and made her way home. *** Spike slammed the door behind him as he entered the library. His bones felt weak, and his legs started to get heavy. He leaned against the wall and slid down slowly, sitting there for just a few moments. For a minute, he thought that maybe it was time. Maybe it was time to tell everyone about what he's been up to for the past 2 years. But, he shook his head and thought that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. There were times before when he wanted to tell them, though. He had been feeling a bit unappreciated in the past, which was one of the reasons he started writing in the first place. He looked at the table and noticed the book Rarity had borrowed yesterday. He got up and approached the book slowly. A note lay on top of the cover. He picked it up and read it. Dear Twilight, I became bored the other day with nothing better to do and thought I would give this book a read. Turns out, funny enough, that I read the whole thing in one sitting. It's silly, really, what boredom can make you do sometimes. Anyway, while I can honestly say it's not on par with Cursive Writer's work, it is certainly worth a read. So I recommend that you do check it out when you have the chance. Hope to meet with you again soon. -R Spike gave the note another read then stared at the book. She did say it wasn't on par with his work after all. He took it up and opened it. He read every single word quickly, flipping through the pages as he skimmed along. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't bad. It wasn't ok, either. It was...beautiful. It wasn't not on par with his work at all. It was almost above his level of expertise. He was left speechless and continued to skim, every sentence more perfectly written than the last. It was fantastic, although he would rather not admit it. He put the amazingly written book down and sighed once more. It was far more better than he expected it to be. He began to feel awful about himself again. He was completely and utterly jealous of Page Turner, yet he, himself, inspired her to write something as brilliant as The Bird With No Wings. He couldn't hate her for that. Besides, what would Rarity think? Rarity. He repeated the word over and over again in his head, each time sounding more beautiful than the last. No matter how hard he even tried, everything led back to her. Gems? He loved gems. So does Rarity. Twilight? Twilight's kind and thoughtful. Twilight's a unicorn. So is Rarity. Books? Spike wrote books, even though nobody knew about it. Everyone loved his books. Even Rarity. Spike moaned. His crush was Rarity was getting out of hand, ridiculous even. He gave up. There was absolutely nothing he could do. He put his arm on the table and leaned his head against his hand. He thought about what he would do next. What was there to do? Page Turner was getting all the fame now. All he could do was write another book. That's it. Write another book. Spike got up, ecstatic about his new idea. But then he remembered his writer's block. Nothing new came into his head. Spike got back in his previous position and continued to think. Although...there was that one idea. "No, no. I can't do that. It's too risky." He returned to thinking. His previous thoughts throughout the past 2 days came back to him Maybe his fifteen minutes was up. ...hoping that one day he could write it. Then it all clicked. He would do it. This would be his next story. It would also be his last. This was it. It was time for him to let Page Turner take the reigns, but not before doing one last story. Something he's been wanting to do ever since he started out as a newcomer. His plan became more clearer in his mind. He would publish this final story, then tell everyone his secret. Hopefully, things would turn better than he hoped. He decided that it was for the best. He ran to the writing desk as Owlicious flew in through the window and perched himself on his spot on the desk, almost as if he knew that Spike was going to start writing again. Spike pulled open one of the drawers to reveal a stack of paper and plopped it on to the desk. He took the quill and placed on top of the first page. He thought to himself once more. What could be the best possible title for his final entry? "Ah! That's a good one!" He started to write out. My Heart in Flames: A Dragon's Tale By Cursive Writer He stared at what he had wrote. It was perfect. His magnum opus was just beginning. He took the first page and placed it off to the side and started fresh on a new piece of paper. Through the woods of a great forest, a dragon walked alone... It all started to come together. His progress was albeit slow, but it was still progress none the less. His quill danced among the paper as Spike continued to write. The words came out in cursive in black ink as all his other books did. He became more at peace with himself. He had forgotten all about Page Turner and what he thought of her as he just kept on writing and writing. He became happy again. That is until Twilight opened the door. "Spike! Where are you?" Spike stopped completely in his tracks. He was frozen not knowing what to do. He looked around, searching for a place to hide the papers, but it was too late. Twilight had already appeared behind him. He yelped as he turned around, covering the pages with his back as Twilight stared at him menacingly. "You ARE hiding something, aren't you?" She interrogated. Spike was in quite the predicament now. "W-W-What? N-No! I'm not! What gave you that idea?" he lied. He laughed nervously but Twilight was already on to him. "You've been acting strange lately, it's not like you. What have you been doing here? And are those my papers?" Spike's pupils shrank. He had been secretly using Twilight's papers as a resource for his novels. He was in real trouble now. Sweat started to trickle down his face as he was left speechless. He had to think of something and quick. "What exactly have you been doing here, Spike?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "N-Nothing! Nothing at all!" he stammered "Spike, quit lying to me!" "I'm not lying!" "Ugh!" Twilight became irritated and levitated him off to the side. "Twilight, please! I-I can explain!" He pleaded. Twilight went up to the desk and saw the stack of papers placed above it. Owlicious quickly flew out of the window and, soon, out of sight. She started reading out the first page to herself quietly. Spike shut his eyes, clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth, waiting for what was going to happen next. "Spike? What...IS this?" Her voice was a bit calmer than before. Spike opened one of his eyes to see that Twilight was levitating the page in front of him. He bit his lower lip then sighed in defeat. "Twilight. If I tell you, you need to promise me two things." Twilight simply nodded. Spike breathed in and out, calming himself but was still shaking. "One: That you don't think any differently of me. And Two: You don't tell anyone else." "Spike, just tell me what's going on." "Do you promise?" She sighed. "Fine, I promise." "The thing is, Twilight..." He stopped and breathed through his nose again before he could continue. "I'm Cursive Writer." Author's Note A Valentine's Day gift from me to you. Apologies to anyone who thought Page Turner was going to be somebody else. It Had To Be You"You're WHAT?!" Twilight shouted. She found herself dumbfounded as she staggered back a step, refusing to believe her own ears. She attempted her little breathing gesture that Princess Cadence taught her, but kept breathing too fast. It was still too much for her. Her own assistant, Spike, the clumsy little dragon, was the most famous author in Equestria. It seemed like some sort of fantasy to her. It sounded completely ridiculous. Too ridiculous to even believe. She started to walk in circles as she repeated Spike's sentence in her mind. 'I'm Cursive Writer,' she thought over and over again, still trying hard to make sense of what was happening. How did she not see the signs before? How could Spike keep such a secret such as being Cursive Writer of all ponies? Heck, how could Spike keep a secret at all? Spike still stood there in front of her, twiddling his thumbs and giving a fake smile. But as Twilight continued to pace around the floor, he dropped the innocent look and started to grow a bit worried. "You're not mad, are you? L-Look, I said I could explain!" he pleaded. But Twilight continued to pace back and forth. After a few moments, she turned her back on him, causing him to fear the worst. This was it. The moment of truth. Was she angry at him? He cursed himself for not telling her before hand, or hoof for this matter. "How long has this been going on?" She asked impassively. Spike looked at the ground with sadness in his eyes. He knew that there was no point in lying now. That would only get him into more trouble than ever. He sighed in defeat and gave in. "Two years..." She turned almost immediately at him in surprise. "Two years? You've done so much and kept it a secret for two years?" He started to rub his elbow. "Well, yeah..." Twilight turned back around, shifting her eyes. "This...That's...just so..." Spike began to get on his knees and begged for Twilight's forgiveness. "Oh, Celestia, I'm sorry, Twilight. I would have told you sooner but I-" "AMAZING!" "I know I shouldn't have-" Spike stopped in his tracks and looked back at Twilight in shock. Her face was practically beaming with joy and excitement. It wasn't really the reaction he thought he'd get. The words "Wait, what?" were all that could come out of his mouth at the moment. He got back up on his feet, still looking at Twilight with his eyes wide open. "You mean, you're not mad?" "Spike, you're Cursive Writer. One of the most renowned authors in all of Equestria is my own little assistant. I'm...Well, honestly, I don't know how to feel, really..," she said, laughing a bit to ease the tension. "Wait, you believe me? You actually believe me?" "Spike, we've known each other for Celestia knows how long. Of course, I believe you. But, I don't get it. You're huge here. How did you even manage to keep it a secret?" Spike went and pulled up a stool about Twilight's height. He climbed up and sat himself comfortably down on it. If he was going to tell her everything, it was going to be a while. "Well, I just made sure I didn't make a public appearance. No interviews, no book signings," he chuckled a bit. "...and definitely no Q&A's." Twilight plopped herself down as she begun to listen to Spike. As he continued on about how he kept anyone from learning his secret, She started to become rather impressed by him. The profits that went to charity, the mature writing in each of his books. After hearing all of those things, she couldn't help but feel as though her little draconian had grown up. Matured since the days they moved into Ponyville. She smiled as the thoughts passed through her mind. Then, she stopped. She couldn't be getting feelings for him, could she? No, she couldn't be. She always saw herself as a motherly figure towards Spike and she knew he felt the same way too. So, why? What made her start feeling differently about him? She didn't want to say that it was because of his alter ego, but it was the most likely reason. "Eh, Twilight? Are you okay?" Spike gave her a concerned look. She blinked, bringing her back into the real world and stared back at Spike. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm fine," she replied with another one of her kind, gentle smiles. But the thought still wouldn't escape her mind no matter how hard she tried to focus on something else. "So, you promise not to tell anyone?" "I promise." "And you promise not to think of me differently?" Twilight couldn't help but giggle at Spike's adorable innocence. She went up to him and wrapped him up in one great hug. "Spike, no matter what you do, you'll always be my little assistant." Spike returned the hug as they both cherished the moment for a pretty long while. "Thanks, Twilight." Then, a knock was heard on the door. Applejack's voice could be heard from the other side. "Twilight, you in there?" she asked. Twilight and Spike turned towards each other, each giving them worried looks. "I'll answer the door, you hide the papers in the drawer," Twilight ordered. Spike nodded and ran to the writing desk. He took the stack of papers that still laid there and carried them in his arms for they were far too heavy for just his meager hands. He managed to open the bottom left drawer with his foot and stuffed them inside, then slammed the drawer closed. Meanwhile, Twilight galloped over to the door and opened it with haste. Applejack and Rarity stood in the doorway, surprised by Twilight's sudden appearance. "Uh, Twilight, are you okay?" Rarity asked. "Oh, yeah. Everything's fine here," said Twilight. "Well, we just came to see how you and Spike were doing," Applejack voiced her concern. She poked her head in and found Spike leaning his back against the writing desk, smiling as if he had something to hide. Applejack only gave him a smile and small wave before turning her attention back to Twilight. "We're doing alright, great actually," Twilight said hastily. It wasn't like her to act like this, but then again, she did promise Spike she wouldn't tell anyone. She just wasn't the best at coming up with lies or excuses. But, she had to keep it up. For Spike's sake. "Is everything alright, darling? You seem...rushed," Rarity suggested. "No, we're good," She nodded her head a little bit too much. She gave a little nervous smile. Applejack wasn't buying it, but wasn't going to show it in front of the others. In her mind, she already began to hatch up a plan. Applejack put a hoof in front of Rarity which caused her to step back a bit. "Well, okay, then. It's gettin' late so we best be off," the apple farmer said. All three of them turned and went their separate ways. Twilight closed the door behind her and exhaled a sigh of relief. "Are they gone?" Spike asked cautiously. "Hold on, let me check." Twilight went up to the window and paid close attention as Applejack and Rarity continued to walk away from the library and towards the sunset. "Yeah, they're gone." "Oh, thank Celestia." Spike turned back towards the desk and pulled the drawer open. His work in progress was, thankfully, still there in a nice, neat stack. He took the stack of papers back in his arms as he set them back where they once were; on the writing desk. "So, what do we do now?" Twilight asked. "Well, I guess we get back to what we normally do. We just try to keep this as much of a secret as possible until I can get this book finished.." "And how long will that take?" Twilight asked. "I dunno," he shrugged. "It takes me a long while before I can actually finish a book. But with this one, who knows how long it'll take." "Oh, okay then." Spike grabbed the stool from near by and placed it in front of the desk. He climbed up, got himself in a comfortable sitting position, and got the quill from the inkwell. Twilight began to tap her hooves together, trying hard not to blush. "Um, Spike? Is it okay if I..." Spike turned back around, noticing how Twilight was hiding her face. "If you what?" he asked. "Is it okay if...I watched you write?" Spike sat there looking at her dumbstruck. Why would she want to watch him write, he wondered. It was rather a very peculiar thing, even for Twilight. She's never asked something like this before during his days writing letters for her. "Uh, yeah, sure. Why not?" he shrugged. "But, don't get too close, okay? 'Cause that'd be kind of creepy." "Oh, yeah. Of course." Twilight walked up to him and watched as he worked his writing magic. The way he wrote was almost beautiful. The black ink came out in nice, cursive, lettering. She figured that writing all those letters for her had really paid off now. Before she knew it, she was mesmerized by his handiwork. More mesmerized than when she read his books, unaware of who he truly was. Then, the feelings started to come back. She bit her lower lip watching as the words continued to pour out onto paper. She luckily stopped herself when she noticed her head was right next to his. Spike turned towards her, moving his head away to give himself at least some space. "Twilight? Everything alright?" She hook her head violently, trying her hardest to bring herself back to her senses. "I'm okay. I'm okay." She returned to viewing his writing, this time at a proper distance. "So, what's this one about?" "Well, it's about a dragon who visits this town and falls in...love..." He stopped himself before he went any further. He figured that since he told Twilight everything, it was safe to let his guard down around her. Boy, was he ever wrong. He had completely forgotten that he still didn't tell her about his secret idea. He looked at her, hoping she hadn't caught on. She wore a grin on her face with a raised eyebrow as she chuckled mischievously. Much to Spike's chagrin, she caught on. "Oh, I get it..." she started. Spike shifted his eyes left and right, laughing nervously. "G-Get what?" he stammered. "This is your idea of wooing Rarity, isn't it?" Spike motioned his hands in front of her. "N-No! It's not what you think!" However, Twilight wouldn't stop giving Spike a flurry of questions, pressurizing him to tell the truth. "You were going to tell her, weren't you? Instead, you got me, huh?" Spike groaned. He knew she wasn't going to let him off that easily. "Well...it wasn't my intentional plan..." "Then what was your intentional plan, Mr. Hotshot?" "Truth is, Twilight, I was going to tell you. All of you. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, the others. My plan is: once I finish this book, I'm telling everyone in Equestria who I really am." Twilight's grin began to fade from her mouth. She learned that this did not become a laughing matter. Spike seemed serious about this. Perhaps, too serious. "Spike, what are you talking about?" "This is the last book I write." Twilight's eyes grew and her jaw opened wide . It was the second time today in a row that she had received such shocking news. First, he's Cursive Writer. Now, he's finishing his career? It was absurd. At least, that's what Twilight was hoping for. But, no. Spike's eyes said it all. He was intent on doing this and going through with his plan. "But, I don't get it. Why?" she asked. Spike put the quill down and exhaled. "Well, when you guys were talking about Page Turner, I got kind of jealous. But, then when we went to that Q&A thing, she said that I was the one that inspired her. I felt terrible after that. Being angry at someone I inspired. I read part of the book she wrote and, well, it was great. It was as good as my own writing. So that's why. I'm letting her take the spotlight now." "Wow, Spike. That's really thoughtful of you," Twilight said with admiration. "But you don't have to stop writing just because another author is becoming as popular as you." "I know but..." Spike stuttered trying to find the right words to say. "I didn't really want to keep lying forever, you know?" Twilight put a hoof on Spike's shoulder. "I understand." They both gave each other another heart-warming hug. Earlier... Applejack and Rarity turned around and had begun to leave as Twilight closed the door behind them rather quickly. They started to walk down back to Rarity's boutique, but not without thinking about what had happened. "I do say, Twilight's behavior has,all of a sudden, become most bemusing..." Rarity said in her trademark sophisticated accent. "You don't get it, do you? Spike's clearly up to somethin', and now Twilight's in on it too. We need to get to the bottom of this." "Well, what can we do?" Rarity asked. "We can't just barge in there and demand them to tell us what's going on." "Well..." Rarity stopped walking along with Applejack. She cocked an eyebrow at the farmer. "Well, what?" Applejack turned towards her. "We could just, you know, sneak in." "Applejack!" Rarity said, appalled by her suggestion. "You're not suggesting we go snooping around in Twilight's library, are you?" "Now look, I ain't one for breakin' and enterin' but they're hiding something and I wanna know." "Applejack, dear. Don't you think you might be over-thinking about this?" "I ain't over-thinking nothin'. I know lying when I see it." "Well, do whatever you want. But, I will have no part in it," Rarity huffed. She walked ahead back to the boutique. "Goodbye, Applejack, and good luck with your so-called 'plan'." Applejack only responded by rolling her eyes. She headed back to the farm as the sun began to set. She was right though. She wasn't proud of breaking and entering at all, especially doing it in a friend's house such as Twilight's. But she couldn't help but shake off her curiosity and suspicion. They were both hiding something now and Applejack had the craving to find out exactly what it was. *** Later that night, the moon shined brightly on the quiet little town. The streetlights were shining brightly, leading ponies the way home. "Spike! Come on, it's time for bed." Spike put the quill back into the inkwell and hopped off his stool. He stretched his arms and legs, and popped his knuckles after a long session of writing. He opened the drawer and placed the stack of pages inside, where they would sit until the very next day. Twilight closed her book and levitated it back into the bookshelf where it once was. She got off her pillow and began to head upstairs, followed by Spike. "So, how much did you get done today?" she asked. "Eh, not much. Only about two pages or so," he answered. "Really? Only two? Keeping this a secret is going to be harder than I thought." "Well, writing takes a lot of time for me, okay?" Twilight let out another one of her adorable giggles. "Alright, alright. I didn't mean to offend you." She turned out the lights down stairs and lit up a candle. She put it on the counter next to her bed as she got up and began to bundle herself up with her blankets. Spike did the same in his little basket. "Spike?" Twilight said softly. "Yeah?" She wanted to say something about how great it was knowing that he was Cursive Writer. However, she didn't, she couldn't, due to her fear of having those feelings come back to her. She began to bite her lower lip again. This was Spike after all. She never really saw him as anything else but a good friend. But, seeing him as something else entirely really began to make her question how she felt about him. Something she thought she would never be doing. "N-Never mind. Goodnight, Spike," she managed to utter. "Goodnight, Twilight." Spike rolled around in his small bed, trying to get into a comfortable position before closing his eyes. Twilight blew out the candle next to her and began to drift off onto sleep. An hour later, a pair of eyes looked through the window downstairs. Applejack scanned the inside of the area, making sure that the coast was clear. She pushed the window open quietly as to not disturb anyone and managed to slip inside. She closed the window behind her and pulled out the flashlight from her saddlebags. She turned it on and held it in her mouth. The light it emitted was dim, but it was still manageable to see. Every urge in Applejack's body begged her to think of another plan. Something other than sneaking around her friend's house. But, her brain couldn't think of any other way. This was the only plan that she had seemed to guarantee any success. "Twilight, please forgive me," she whispered before moving on. She began looking through and behind the bookshelves, making sure she kept as quiet as possible so she wouldn't disturb the two upstairs. She had pulled out nearly every book from each shelf, looking for anything that could have been useful. Nothing. She continued her search through the kitchen and bathroom, looking through every nook and cranny. Again, nothing. She had decided to leave no stone un-turned. She tip-toed up the stairs and crept through Spike and Twilight's bedroom. She looked through the shelves and drawers and still found absolutely nothing that was of use to her. As she quietly sneaked back down the stairs, one of her steps caused one of the floorboards to creak. She froze immediately and remained there for a few seconds like a statue. She looked behind her to see if one of them had woken up. Thankfully, Spike and Twilight still slept soundly. She quietly gave a sigh of relief. Spike snored at an average volume, not too loudly. But, Twilight was tossing and turning in her sleep. Once she had stopped after a few moments, she mumbled something. "...mmm, Spike..." It was all that Applejack could make out through Twilight's smothered talking. 'Spike? What in Equestria could she be dreaming about?' she thought. She moved on downstairs and decided to head out back through the window empty-handed. Maybe Rarity was right after all. Maybe she was just over-thinking it. But before she could make it outside, she stopped as she recalled that she didn't check the writing desk in the far corner. She instantly remembered Spike leaning his back against it looking nervously. Bingo. Somewhere in that desk had to be what they were hiding from her. She walked quietly to the desk and searched through the drawers. She opened the bottom left drawer that revealed a stack of papers that caught her eye. She held them up with her hooves while holding the flashlight with her teeth. What she saw struck her like a bolt of lightning. My Heart in Flames: A Dragon's Tale By Cursive Writer It was unbelievable what she saw. She blinked repeatedly, hoping that the words were some trick of the light. But, it was still there in big, black, bold letters. Cursive Writer. THE Cursive Writer. She started to connect the dots. Spike's been hiding this the whole time? She more she deduced, the more it shocked her. Then, finally, it all came together. Spike was Cursive Writer. It made perfect sense, yet no sense at all. That small, meek dragon was the best writer Equestria has ever had? She started to tremble and shake was she read through the first page. It was him all right, no doubt about it. The way each word was used was almost undeniable. But before Applejack had the chance to continue reading, she heard rustling from above. She looked up and noticed Spike's silhouette getting up from his basket. Applejack needed to think of something, and fast. With no time to lose, she switched off the flashlight and ran towards the window while carrying the pages with her. She quickly fumbled getting out of the window and shut it closed. Spike went downstairs groggily, his eyes halfway open. He went into the kitchen, turned on the light, and pulled himself a glass from the cupboard. He filled it up almost to the brim with water from the sink's faucet and began to glug it down almost instantly. He put the glass back into the sink and turned off the light, heading back to bed. But then, he saw the drawer from the writing desk left open. He was too tired to think and went to close it with his foot. He then returned to bed and drifted off into dream land once more. The next morning was as bright as always, with birds singing their usual songs. Twilight got up and smiled as she looked out the window to greet another beautiful day. She felt fresh and ready to take on the new day as she leaped from her bed. She went downstairs and found Spike running around in a panicked state. He was going through each bookshelf, throwing each book on the ground and searching everywhere. After gratuitous searching, he continued to scavenge another room of the library. Twilight looked nearby and noticed the desk's drawers left open and completely empty. "Spike, what's wrong?" she asked. "The pages! My book!" He yelled in return. "What about them?" "They're gone!" Her pupils shrank. She wasn't feeling ready to take on the day anymore. After the NightRainbow flew across the sky, enjoying every possible minute of it. Sure she's done this a million times before, but each time felt more special than the last. She could never give up something more special than this. Finally, after a few minutes of drifting amongst the soft, white clouds, she had finally reached Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow thought up of yet another super mega awesome daredevil trick but she needed some rope. A lot of rope. She flew down the barn and stuck the landing perfectly. "Another perfect landing by the fantastic Rainbow Dash! Give it up, fillies and gentlecolts!" She made little sounds with her mouth, imitating an audience and stomped her hooves on the ground. She then looked around to see if anypony had noticed. Luckily, nopony was around to care. She went around and found the entrance to the barn, but the door was left ajar. "Applejack? You in here? Yo, Applejack!" She opened the barn door even further revealing nothing but empty space. All there was was hay and other assorted farm things. Rainbow wasn't really much for hard work, much like Applejack, so she basically never bothered to even learn the tools' names. She trotted around silently in search of her friend. "Applejack! I need a favor from you!" She shouted, but no response. 'Maybe she's just off doing some apple bucking again. I'll come back later.' Rainbow turned around and was about to head out her way out of the barn until something caught her eye. Bits of white seeped out from a random pile of hay off in the corner. She went over and pressed the hay lightly with hoof, without any knowledge of what it could be. Some new type of animal? Another threat wishing harm against the citizens of Equestria? Strangely, what she heard was none of those things as it seemed to be the sound of...'Paper?' *** Twilight and Spike searched through the entire library, desperate to find the missing pages. All the books were thrown off the shelves and laid scattered on the floor. But, no matter how hard the two looked, the pages were never found. Twilight continued her search in the kitchen as she opened and closed all cabinets and scanned behind the fridge and oven. Spike, meanwhile, was in the main room, biting his fingernails in sheer, unadulterated fear. Twilight came out of the kitchen and took notice of Spike. "Spike, calm down. I'm sure they're somewhere," she said. However, her attempts to calm Spike had no effect. "We've already looked everywhere, Twilight!" he shouted. "Where else could they possibly be?" "Well, where do you usually put them?" Twilight asked. "I told you. I put them over there in the bottom left drawer," he said pointing to the writing desk where every drawer had been opened and completely ravaged."Aw, man. What are we going to do?" Spike's fear grew until it became it almost unbearable. The thought of someone in possession of his book made him worry even more. What if it was one of Twilight's friends? What if it was Rarity? He shook his head. It couldn't be her. Rarity would never break into Twilight's house. It was too unladylike of her. Still, the idea was enough for him to almost hyperventilate as his heart raced faster. "I don't know what we'll do, but we'll think of something," said Twilight. She put her hoof on Spike's shoulder. He was still shaking uncontrollably but seemed to calm down a bit. "Just trust me, okay?" Spike started to nod. "O-okay." Twilight began to use her magic and set everything back to the way they were. In a flash of light, the books appeared back in their original positions before they started their search. The library was clean again, which relieved Spike, knowing that he wouldn't have to clean up the mess manually. "Now then. What did you do with the pages before you went to bed?" Twilight interrogated. Spike never really gave it any thought before answering her question. "Nothing, really. I just put them in the drawer over there." He pointed to the writing desk. Twilight put a hoof to her chin and started to ponder on the possibilities. "And since the culprit only stole those pages," she deduced. "There can only be one solution..." "What?" Spike asked in anticipation. "Somepony knows." "What?" he shouted in disbelief. "But, that's impossible! We haven't even told anypony!" "You're right, we haven't. But, looking back at it now, we were acting kinda suspicious yesterday. So, in conclusion, there are two ponies I can think of as suspects..." Twilight continued to think. "Who? Applejack and Rarity? Why would they...?" "That's what we're going to find out. You talk to Rarity and see what you can find out. I'll go and see Applejack." Spike started to tremble as sweat trickled down his face. "Y-Y-You want ME to t-t-talk to R-R-Rarity?" he stuttered. His legs were shaking. He couldn't bare the thought of having to talk to her. Especially during a time like this. Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. This whole mess was giving her one heck of a headache. "Alright, fine. We'll go ask Applejack together. Then, Rarity, okay?" Spike simply nodded as he breathed in and out a great deal of air to calm him down. He looked back at Twilight, who was heading for the door. "Well?" she asked. "Are you coming?" "Oh! Yeah." Spike made haste as he quickly followed Twilight out of the library and towards Sweet Apple Acres. *** Rainbow Dash popped her head out from the window and observed the skies for any other pegasi that might have been flying by. So far, no one seemed to follow her ever since she took the pages from Applejack's farm and flew back to her home in the sky as fast as she could. She placed her head back and laid on her bed. She took another look at the pages. She couldn't believe what she was holding. The first draft for Cursive Writer's newest story. It felt like a dream. Was it a dream? She bit a little bit of her hoof to make sure. "Ow!" she whispered as she winced in pain. Nope. It certainly wasn't a dream. This was the real deal. Part of her couldn't help but helplessly giggle at the fact of what she just found, at what she had just read. But why? Why was this hidden at Applejack's farm? Unless... *** Twilight carried Spike on her back as usual as they left Ponyville and followed the road that led to Sweet Apple Acres. "So, what made you want to write romance novels anyway, Spike?" Twilight asked. "Well, I usually write a lot and I don't really have anything to do during my spare time..." "Yeah, that's true. But, why romance novels?" Spike had never really thought about it before, to be honest. He'd always wake up at night and read one of Twilight's books. However, it wasn't action or science fiction novels that colts would like, but instead it was romance that Spike read. There was something about them that drew Spike's attention, yet he couldn't tell what. He tried to answer Twilight's question the best he could. "Well, I guess it's because...I just like writing them. Y'know, they're nice." "You mean you don't know?" Twilight asked. "Well,..." Spike gave up trying to defend himself. "No, not really. Well, I mean, I do, I just don't know what yet." "Huh. Okay, I think I might understand that." Spike raised his eyebrow. "Everything alright, Twilight? You're so passive with me all of a sudden." Twilight didn't want to admit it, but she knew there was something about Spike that she didn't see before. Something about him made her feel...something. Could it have been love? Whatever it was, she didn't want to mention it to Spike. "No, no. Everything's fine. Just...the fact that you're Cursive Writer is still settling in, you know?" "Right, right. I understand." As soon as Twilight reached the barn, she saw Big Mac carrying a cart full of apples heading towards town. Luckily, she managed to stop him before he left. "Big Mac!" she called out. Macintosh turned his head towards Twilight, raising an eyebrow. "Have you seen Applejack?" "Eeyup." He replied. "Where is she?" Macintosh pointed his hoof towards the trees where Applejack was doing her usual thing. Bucking at trees, dropping apples into two baskets. "Okay, thanks!" Twilight trotted over to the tree where Applejack was. Spike's heart began racing again as he clutched onto Twilight. "Spike, calm down. Everything's gonna be fine." Spike listened and tried his best, but couldn't stop his little dragon heart from pounding. "Applejack. Can I talk to you?" Applejack turned and noticed Twilight and Spike standing behind her. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Follow me," she said as she picked up the baskets full of apples with her teeth and headed to the barn. Twilight thought she might get some answers. Spike thought that this was the end. Applejack knew the jig was up. Twilight didn't know yet, and didn't want Applejack to know that she was a suspect of last night's robbery. "Applejack, something was taken from the house the other day. Something belonging to Spike. We were wondering if you had noticed any-" "I took the pages." 'Well, that was quick' Twilight thought. She was taken aback from Applejack's sudden interruption while Spike pretty much died on the spot. Metaphorically, of course. Twilight set down Spike so he could calm down a bit as she took a step forward. "Why? You of all ponies!" "Ah know, ah know! Ah didn't want to, but I just couldn't help but feel y'all were hiding somethin'. Y'all were acting mighty suspicious." Twilight sighed. So far, it's been a pretty eventful week. "What else do you know?" "Well, Ah also know Spike's Cursive Writer." Spike, meanwhile, was gasping for air at this point. The anxiety was just too much to bear for the dragon. "Twi, Ah'm really sorry! Really!" AJ was on the verge of tears, begging for forgiveness. Being the good friend that she was, Twilight put a hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "It's alright, AJ. I forgive you." Suddenly, Applejack pulled in Twilight for the tightest hug she could have ever gotten as the farmer just sobbed. *** Rainbow Dash couldn't take it anymore. She had to confront Applejack about this. After a few good minutes of thinking, which really hurt her head, she couldn't stand deducing anymore. She had to tell Applejack what she found out. She grabbed the pages and put them into her saddlebag and flew out her window, straight for Sweet Apple Acres. 'It's the only possible explanation,' She thought. *** After a good minute of two of hugging and sobbing, Applejack got a hold of herself and let go of Twilight. "Just...don't tell Granny Smith. Celestia knows what she could do to me. Heck, even Big Mac is scared of her." Twilight smiled. "I won't." Applejack then turned towards Spike, who managed to survive his little anxiety attack. "And Spike, Ah...Ah had no idea you could write like that. Ah just wanted to say that...your work is really...beautiful..." Applejack couldn't help but blush as she smiled. Spike got off the ground and dusted off some hay of him. He looked at the expression Applejack had on her face and rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-Yeah, thanks, I guess." "Can you believe this, Applejack? Spike! Him! Of all ponies! He's Cursive Writer!" Spike chuckled nervously. "Okay, you guys, you don't have to-" "Ah don't believe it either! Ah mean, this is amazin'!" "Uh, guys-" "How did we not notice this?" "Guys, do you think we could-" "Ah don't know! We've gotta tell everypony!" "NO!" Twilight and Spike both shouted, covering their hoof and hand over AJ's mouth. "Mmh mmf?" AJ mumbled through her blocked mouth. Twilight spoke up. "I know this news is the greatest, but we can't let anypony know. For Spike's sake, I promised him that I wouldn't tell a soul." Applejack stepped back a bit letting Twilight's hoof and Spike's hand off of her mouth. "Uh, Twilight. You do know that I'm the element of honesty, right? I can't lie, remember?" "Please, Applejack." Spike pleaded on his knees. "We're begging you here." "I'm sorry, but it's in my nature." Twilight walked up to her. "Please, AJ. This means a lot to him." Applejack looked back down at Spike, still on his knees, and simply sighed at her friends' request. "Alright, fine. I'll try my best." Twilight and Spike let out their relief with a sigh. "Thanks, Applejack." "No problem, Twi." Spike felt extremely calmer now that this whole mess was dealt with. He had hoped that this was the only shenanigan he would get into today and wouldn't delay any of his further plans to finish his story. "So, where are the pages?" He asked. "Oh, yeah!" Applejack exclaimed. "Ah actually hid them inside this hay pile." She then dug through the hay to notice something completely off. "That's weird." "What?" Twilight and Spike asked. "They're not here!" "Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!" Spike shouted. Just then, a cyan blur blew past the doors and landed just by Applejack, the pages thankfully still in her saddlebag. She looked around. Applejack was here. Perfect. She never really expected Twilight and Spike to be here either, though. But, she shrugged off the thought. This couldn't wait any longer. "You guys are not gonna believe this!" She announced. "But, I just found out that Applejack is Cursive Writer!" Author's Note Short, I know, but I got caught up with a lot of stuff. But, finally! Here you go! Now, to work on my newest story, which should hopefully be out very soon!. Along For The Ride“Twilight! I’m heading out!” said Spike, standing next to the opened front door with a bag strapped to his back. Twilight stood over the balcony. “Where are you-Oh!” she exclaimed, the answer finally dawning on her. “I almost forgot. The Canterlot Library has that book I need.” Spike simply nodded and smiled back at her. The unicorn’s face grew into a worried expression. “Oh, I wish Princess Celestia wasn’t sick. Otherwise, the royal guards could just bring it to us. They wouldn't have to tend to her, and you wouldn't have to-" “Twilight, I’ll be fine,” Spike reassured. “Trust me.” “You’re sure you don’t want me to go with you?” “Well, I do need time to myself once in a while.” “Er, yeah sure. But, I mean, it could be dangerous out there by yourself and…” “Twi,” Spike said sternly. Twilight sighed and let her worry fade away. She looked back at Spike, this time with a smile. “Thank you, Spike. I appreciate it.” She wrapped her hoof around Spike and pulled him into a heartwarming hug. Spike willingly accepted this and hugged her back before he left out the door. “Please be safe.” *** The barn was filled with absolute silence. Awkward silence, at that. Rainbow and Applejack just stared at each other while Twilight and Spike were just left speechless. It was hard to tell if tension had settled in, then again it’s hard to tell whenever Rainbow was angry or excited about all this. “It’s right here!” She showed the pages held between her teeth. Spike gulped as his eyes twitched. Part of him wanted to just grab those pages and run like a bat out of Tartarus, but he knew better than that. Twilight, however, just kept her mouth shut, trying her best to not get roped up into any more of this. All she wanted was to go home with Spike and leave this whole mess behind her. Meanwhile, Rainbow held a smile that claimed that she was totally right about everything. She looked around in hopes of the others backing up her claims. All she got in return were blank stares and a shaking Spike. Rainbow's attention was more focused on Spike than anyone else in the room. “You’re looking pretty tense there, Spike," she said, with a raised eyebrow. "You okay?" Spike clenched his fists and stared hard at the ground while Rainbow went off on how she believed Applejack was the acclaimed author. His mind fumbled around on what to do next as he started shaking uncontrollably. Nobody, let alone Spike, could have predicted how this situation could have gotten so out of hand so quickly. He suddenly decided to give in to his desire. His desire to run. It wasn't the best plan to do, but he couldn't have thought of any other way. Things were deteriorating fast and he had to act quickly. With very little of his courage mustered, he ran up to Rainbow and snatched the papers from her and dashed out the barn door. "Spike!" Twilight yelled, but he didn't stop. He just kept on running as far as his tiny dragon legs could. Rainbow Dash turned back toward the other mares. "Jeez, what the heck was his problem?" Her eyes suddenly widened as she looked onto Twilight with shock. "Wait, don't tell me-" "Rainbow, now's not a good time," stated Applejack. "Well, Twilight?" She said, her worried eyes looking over to Twilight as well. "Aren't we gonna go after him?" Twilight shook her head as she started to head out. "What?" Rainbow said. "Why not?" "Because I promised Spike that I'd keep this a secret for as long as he needed and, well, look where that got us." She started looking down at the hay under her feet. "I just can't help but feel that I let him down." Twilight was suddenly interrupted by Applejack's hoof wrapped around her. "Now, don't you worry your little head about it," she said softly in a comforting tone. "This is my fault too, you know." "Yeah, since you kinda broke into her house..." "Rainbow!" "I know, I know. I guess I had a part to play in this too." Said Dash, rubbing the back of her neck. A smile started to grow on Twilight's face, causing the others to smile in return. "Right, then," said Applejack. "Let's go find Spike and see if we can't explain ourselves." "Yeah, but where do we find him?" Rainbow asked. Twilight rose her head. "I think I might know where." *** Around Noon, Spike was ready to leave Canterlot's greatest library with Twilight's book under his arm, but was stopped by an overwhelming sensation of nostalgia. He fondly remembered his and Twilight's frequent visits and extremely long stays. It was rather hard to believe it had been years since they left. He could still remember where everything was, every nook and cranny, like the back of his hand. He started to head for the door, until his attention forced him to stop once more. Over yonder, a book, a lone book, lying there on the floor. No one had bothered to pick it up, and he knew he couldn't just let it sit there. Perhaps a little bit of Twilight had rubbed off on him. He picked up the book and took a look at it's cover. From The Bottom Of My Heart by Ancient Typewriter. Spike immediately knew what this was. It was one of those icky romance books Twilight would always read and swoon over. He had no interest in this, none in the slightest. But he didn't put it back on the shelf. In fact, he just sat there, looking at it. On the back, a monochrome picture of a rather old stallion, with a long beard and round eyeglasses. It was rather hard for him to believe that a stallion could write something this mushy. But, he still sat there, looking at it. Something kept pulling his interest in more and more. He thought that maybe he was a bit too prejudiced by this sort of thing. Perhaps, he could learn a thing or two and get a marefriend of his own. He opened it up and started reading. By the time he had stopped, the moon was already up long enough. Spike grabbed his book along with the one Twilight wanted and began to head off. But he felt something. It didn't feel like hunger, even though he hasn't eaten. He didn't want to say it was sadness either. Some sort of warmth he had gotten from reading that book had gotten to him. He may had even let a tear escape from his eye. Spike hated to admit it, but he felt touched. Other books he read got him pumped up with excitement and cheer. This one made him feel more down to earth, calm, and collected. He started to hit the road, but ran into a sickly looking Princess Celestia. "Uh, y-your majesty!" he stammered as he bowed. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" "Oh, no. *achoo* *sniff*" said Celestia. Her voice was rather hoarse and low. "I thought I'd just *achoo* *sniff* get some fresh air. Luna can make some excellent nights." Her eyes veered towards Spike's books. "Oh, I see that you're here for Twilight's new book!" "Oh, uh, yeah," He said, attempting to hide the other book behind him. "I got it. Right here." he smiled nervously. "Well, I'll *achoo* *sniff* let you be on your *achoo* *sniff* way." "Right, thanks. Uh, get better!" He waved as the both of them started on their separate ways. "Oh and Spike?" Celestia spoke. Spike immediately turned around, again hiding the other book behind his back. "Y-Yeah?" "You know, *achoo* *sniff* you do have a very excellent talent in writing..." she winked as she headed off. Spike stood there, a little confused by what she meant. He then walked home, staring at Ancient Typewriter's book. An idea started to form in his head. *** Spike sat on the edge of the Ponyville bridge. The same bridge where he had earned Rarity's second kiss. He skimmed through the papers in his hand, realizing he had only gotten ten pages done. The sun had began to set as he started writing more, adding in annotations to what he thought should be revised later. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but let his mind wander. He continuously thought about how he was going to explain this one to the two mares that recently found his story. "Spike?" His head perked up and turned to his left. It was Twilight, with a very worried look on her face. Spike got back up on his own two feet and jumped back down on to the bridge. "Twilight? What are you doing here?" Twilight giggled for a bit. "Oh, Spike. You always came here whenever you were troubled about something. Remember? And then-" "And then, you would always find me and take me home. Yeah, I know." She sighed as she got closer to him. "Spike, I realize how much this means to you. I thought I could help keep this a secret, but obviously I couldn't." Spike couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Heh, yeah, well, not from a lack of trying though." "Spike, listen. I'd understand if you needed a more quieter place to work. I could get you a hotel room and-" "Twilight, that's...not really necessary." "Why not?" "Because as much as I love writing, I love writing at home. With you and everyone else." Twilight comforted Spike with a hug, more genuine than the ones before. "You still wanna keep this a secret?" she asked. "Yeah, but let's try to keep the whole town from knowing before I even finish the first draft, alright?" "Agreed!" Spike heard two more voices in unison. He turned to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash walking up behind Twilight. He was left a bit confused by their sudden entrance. "We'd just like to apologize too," Applejack explained. "Y'know, for-" "For breaking into our house?" Spike added. "Okay, can we not bring that up?!" Applejack's voice rose. "That was stupid, Ah know." Rainbow put her hoof on Spike's shoulder. "Don't worry, little guy. We'll do our best to keep your secret a...well, a secret." "C'mon, guys," said Twilight. "It's getting late. We should start heading home." "Right, catch you guys tomorrow!" Rainbow blasted off and soared through the air. "Yeah, Ah suppose ah should get going too." Applejack opened her mouth but then paused. "Er, never mind." She then left in quite a hurry. "What was that all about?" Spike wondered. "Eh, who knows. Come on, let's get going." Spike let a sigh of relief escape him. He was rather glad that this mess was finally over. He could finally sleep and let the present become the past. *** A few days after Spike's journey to and from the library, the clock struck midnight. Twilight slept on her bed peacefully, unknowingly. Spike sat at Twilight's desk, quill in hand and a sheet of paper in front of him. All that was left was where to start. He had a million ideas for a story in his head, but didn't know which one to start with. But he needed a name. He couldn't let the others know. Not now, anyway. He had to think of something good. Something that sounded pony-like. He looked at the bookshelves with dozens of pony names. Ancient Typewriter. Final Draft. Something along those lines. Ink Writer. Cursive Words. Something popped. It was perfect. He started to write furiously. Tears and Smiles: Beloved Misery by Cursive Writer It was perfect. *** The next day, a knock heard on the door was enough to awake Spike. His eyes opened groggily as he checked the clock hanging on the wall. 11:30. A bit later than the time Spike usually woke up but it wasn't enough to delay his duties as assistant. The knock was heard again, this time a bit harder. "Spike!" Twilight yelled. "Could you get the door, please? I'm kinda busy!" "Yeah, yeah," he said as he got up from his basket slowly. "I'm on it." He rubbed his eyes on his way downstairs. By the time he reached the ground floor, he was awake enough to start the day. He opened the door to reveal Applejack. "Oh, hey, Applejack. What's up?" "Oh, uh, Spike! Um, nothing much, y'know. Ah was, uh, just wondering..." She bit her lower lip as her eyes darted from one thing to the other. She rubbed her forehoof quite often at a slow pace as she stuttered and fumbled with her words. "Ah just, Ah still felt kinda bad for what Ah did the other day, and Ah've been meaning to ask ya yesterday, but Ah...kinda panicked..." "Okay...?" Spike said, wondering what could possibly be on her mind. "And Ah was just wondering...if...Ah could..." She paused for a good couple of seconds. "If you could what?" "Ah was just wondering if Ah could...take ya out to dinner?" Author's Note TEN THOUUUUSSAANND YEARS ...can give you such a crick in the neck. Yes, I open up a long awaited update with an Aladdin reference. What, you wanna fight about it? Holy crap, this took longer than it should have. I was gonna have it done by October, but College. Then I was gonna have it done in December, but College. Then by the end of January, but...y'know. But finally, here it is. And just in time for Valentine's Day. How about that. I can't promise that I won't let a hiatus this long happen again, but I'll try my best to keep the story going. But for some good news, the story isn't dead. I have some more chapters planned out and am currently trying to figure out the ending. So, rejoice! Also, there may or may not be some rewrites of some past chapters. I'll just have to wait and see on that one. That's all for now! Catch you guys soon! Oh, and happy 1 year anniversary of this story, guys.
Morning GloryCelestia’s morning sun’s rays seeped through Twilight's bedroom window. Twilight blinked her eyes repeatedly before fully opening them, taking in the sunshine. It looked like another beautiful day and Twilight couldn’t be happier. She got up and looked at her calendar that was nailed to the wall. The day, March 25, was circled in red marker with the words “re-shelving day” written in the center. Twilight’s smile grew across her face. Spike sighed happily as he rolled over on his side and continued to sleep. Twilight went over and started shaking Spike with her front hooves. Spike groaned and covered himself in his blanket, defending himself from Twilight and the day’s future events. “Come on, Spike!” Twilight moaned. “It’s time to get up!” A purple aura formed around Twilight’s horn while another formed around Spike. The purple aura levitated Spike his basket, his blanket slowly sliding down his body before falling flat on the basket. The purple aura put Spike down, his eyes still half-open. He rubbed his eyes with his small hands as the purple aura disappeared. “Good. Now that that’s settled, let’s go get some breakfast.” Twilight seemed extra chipper today and Spike groaned again once he figured out why. “Re-shelving Day again? Do we have to do this EVERY month?” he complained as he followed Twilight down the stairs. “Yes! It’s very important that this library is kept in perfect shape. Now, come on!” Twilight went into the kitchen and activated the stove using her magic. She levitated a pan over it and started to add some pancake mix. Spike sat down at the dining table, rubbing his head after his rude awakening. “Hey, um, Twilight?” Spike asked. Twilight turned her attention towards Spike as the pan continued to move on its own. “What day is it?” “Well, it’s March 25th…” she stopped, her eyes widening in excitement. “OH MY GOSH!” she yelled. Spike jumped at Twilight’s sudden exclamation. “Spike! You forgot to tell me that it was today!” “W-What? What’s today? I thought you already knew it was re-shelving day!” Spike stammered confusingly. “It’s not just re-shelving day, Spike!” Rapid knocking was heard on Twilight’s door. Twilight put the pan down causing it to fall off of the stove and onto the floor. Spike looked at the mess she caused and sighed in irritation. He went to the side and grabbed the broom leaning against the wall. Twilight hurried towards the door and opened it to reveal Rarity hopping up and down in sheer excitement. “Did you get it yet?” Rarity asked anxiously. Spike peeked out of the kitchen to catch a glimpse of the two overly-happy mares. “Not yet. Don’t tell me you already got it.” Rarity nodded her head quickly. Twilight got even happier than before. “Quickly!” Rarity said. “Go see if you have it!” Twilight galloped over to her mailbox in front of the library and opened it. She pulled out a small package in brown packaging and giggled profusely along with Rarity. Spike went out the front door and watched as Twilight tore the packaging up as fast as she could and held out a book. Their squealing could have been heard from all over Ponyville. Spike approached the two as they continued to revel in their excitement. “What the hay’s going on? It’s just a book,” said Spike. “Spike!” the two mares were appalled and offended by Spike’s statement. “This is NOT just a book. It’s THE book.” Rarity held out her copy and showed it to Spike. The cover it had was light blue and had the silhouettes of two ponies, one stallion and one mare, in front of a large heart; it’s title was written cursively in black with the author’s name placed at the very bottom. “It’s the new Tears and Smiles book by Cursive Writer; A Stallion’s Desire!” Twilight exclaimed. “It’s supposed to be the last installment of the trilogy!” Spike scratched his head in puzzlement. “Cursive Writer? Who’s that?” Rarity gasped. “You’ve never heard of Cursive Writer? He’s only the greatest romance novelist who ever lived! His stories speak to you from the heart. The story is so engaging, you hang on every word that’s written!” Spike blushed and kicked the dirt at his feet. “What are you blushing about?” Twilight asked. Spike suddenly shook his head. “Oh, it’s nothing,” he stammered. “Whatever. Just don’t get all that mushy stuff on me.” Rarity scoffed. “Hmph. You just wouldn’t understand.” “Oh. I see you already have it.” Everyone turned to see Fluttershy standing behind them with the same book in her saddlebags. “Fluttershy! You got it too!” Twilight exclaimed. Fluttershy’s shy expression turned into adorable happiness. “Oh, but of course. Every mare in Ponyville has it.” “We should go visit the others and see if they got their copy as well,” Twilight suggested. Spike spoke up. “Can I, uh, come too? I need to, uh, pick something up at Sugarcube Corner.” “Sure. Just make sure you cover your ears. Wouldn’t want all that mushy stuff on you,” Twilight said jokingly. Spike hopped up on her back as they made their way to Ponyville. “Ooh, what do you think will happen this time, Twilight?” Rarity asked. “I think Brawny Boulder might actually stay with Marshmallow Surprise. They’re the perfect couple!” “Really?” Fluttershy asked. “I think Winter might return and take Marshmallow back.” “Fluttershy, Winter died. There’s no way he’d come back.” Rarity corrected. “Anyway, I’m hoping that Marshmallow moves away from that dreadful father of hers. She’s an independent pony and she should be treated as such.” As the three continued chatting, Spike looked around as they went through the streets of the town. He learned that Fluttershy was actually right. Every single mare seemed to manage to get their hooves on the book, reading it intensely as if it were almost mandatory. Spike quickly gave a sly smile and turned back towards Twilight. “So, who is this Cursive Writer, exactly?” he asked. “No one really knows,” Rarity told him. “He doesn’t show his picture and he leaves very little about him in his biography.” “But Rarity…,” Fluttershy interrupted. “How do you know the pony’s a he?” “A mare can dream, can’t she? Anyway, as I was saying, nopony can tell who Cursive is. But one thing’s for sure. He’s not just writer. He’s an artist.” She sighed contently as she looked up at the sky. “Wow, Rarity.” Twilight said. “You seem to like this pony a lot.” “I’m only his number one fan. I would give anything to even be with him.” As Rarity said that, Spike tried a little harder to hide his blushing this time. They soon stopped by the familiar sugar coated building known as Sugarcube Corner. “Here’s your stop, Spike.” Spike snapped back to reality. “Wait, what?” “You said you needed to pick something up at Sugarcube Corner, didn’t you?” “Oh, yeah!” Spike got up and started to get off of Twilight. “I’ll meet you back at the library,” said Twilight. "Ok!" Spike waved at the three mares as he watched them head for what seemed to be Sweet Apple Acres. Spike kept watching until they were out of his sight then ran for the nearest bookstore as fast as his little feet could. Once he made it, he stopped to catch his breath. He looked up to notice the bookstore right in front. There was huge line of ponies that stretched all the way to the other side of the street, all waiting to get the book. Spike managed to cram his way inside. The entire bookstore was cramped with ponies. Some were talking about their favorite scenes, their favorite characters, even a rumor about a movie adaptation in the works. As Spike continued to squeeze through, he made to the stand containing a few copies of the book left. He took a copy from the stand and began to skim through the numerous pages, chockfull of words, similes, metaphors and the works. He continued to quickly skim through the book, his eyes frantically moving left to right as they followed the words until the very last page. The last page had the author’s name in big, black, bold letters with just a few sentences that depicted the numerous awards that the pony won. He turned to the back which held all the highly positive reviews the book had received. “Cursive Writer continues to excel in the field of writing.” –Canterlot Times “Another fantastic installment in a marvelous trilogy that will leave you wanting more.” –Equestrian Book Club “10 out of 10. I will definitely be reading this again and again for years to come.” –Good Read. Good Read. The most sophisticated book reviewer that ever lived. Spike was left speechless on how the book had received a perfect score from HIM of all people. Perfect scores were completely rare for somepony like Good Read to just give out. You had to earn it. Spike fist pumped the air and flipped through the book again until he was interrupted by a filly’s voice behind him. “Spike? What’re you doing?” Spike yelped as he turned around to notice a yellow filly with red hair and a pink bow looking at him puzzled. “Oh! Apple Bloom! I was looking for the…uh…,” Spike looked around desperately for something he could use as an excuse. “Oh, there are the comics! They were over here the whole time!” Spike ran to the nearest bookshelf and pulled out a comic book with the cover that depicted a robot flying through space. He flipped through it quickly and laughed nervously, hoping that Apple Bloom wouldn’t catch on. “Why were you over there looking at that girly book?” she asked. “I, uh, needed to, uh, see just how good it was. It’s not. It really isn’t,” he stammered. “Really? ‘Cause Applejack’s always telling me how good it was this morning.” Spike glanced at Apple Bloom’s saddlebags. “Hey, what’s in the bags?” he asked. “Oh, just some coloring books," Apple Bloom replied. "Scootaloo thought it would be a good idea to get our cutie marks for artistic vision. I told her we needed to start somewhere, so I went ahead and picked these up. What're you even doing here?" Spike stammered again as he tried to find the right words to use. "Uh, Twilight needs a, uh, new spell book." "But she owns a library. I thought she had every spell book out there." Spike looked at his wrist. “Oh, hey! Look at the time! I better get going!” He put the comic back as he started to make his way to the exit. Apple Bloom became more confused than before. “But it’s 12:30.” “Oh, you know Twilight. Always getting onto me for being out this long. Gotta go! I’ll see ya later!” He squeezed through the numerous ponies as fast as he could through the exit. He looked behind him to make sure he wasn't followed. Spike decided that it actually was a good time to head back to the library. The streets seemed busier than this morning. He figured it was probably because of the book's release. When he made it to the front door, he could hear excessive giggling and squealing coming from inside. He opened the door to find all 6 ponies sitting around in a circle, reading their own copy of the book. “What’s going on?” he asked. “SHHHH!” They all said in unison, and then turned back to their books. Pinkie left the circle and approached Spike. “We’re having a special book release party,” the pink pony whispered. “But, I don’t think you’d be interested.” "Hey, Twilight?" he asked. "Does this mean Re-Shelving Day is cancelled? "Yeah, sure." Twilight said impatiently, still focused on her book. Another purple aura materialized and pushed Spike back out the door. After it had closed behind him, Spike ran to the side and climbed up a tree stump next to the library. He peeked through the side window and saw Pinkie Pie returning to the circle and continuing to read along with the others. “So, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “Ah didn’t think you’d be interested in books like these.” “I am not!” The cyan pegasus denied. “I’m just here because you guys dragged me here.” She went back to reading her own copy with much intensity. “Hey, Rarity,” Twilight asked. “Do you think Sweetie Belle’s had a chance to read this yet?” “Oh, heavens no! This book is way too…mature for someone her age to be reading. Now, be quiet. Something’s happening on page 83.” “Well, don’t tell us!” The other five yelled in unison. Twilight looked around and noticed Spike’s face watching from behind the window. The curtains suddenly closed on him, denying him any future viewings. He got down from the tree stump he was standing on and went to a nearby park bench. He placed both his hands firmly, hopped up onto the bench, took his seat, and began to lie down, watching the clouds as they drifted on by in the beautiful blue sky. A satisfied smile grew across his face. “All in a day’s work.”
Dream A Little DreamA month had passed since A Stallion's Desire had been released and all the excitement in Ponyville had seemed to die down, if only by a little. Everypony had already finished reading the book and went back to their usual ways. However, that didn't stop a few ponies from still talking about it. There were still a few interviews here and there with some of the publishers, but, no matter how hard every newspaper tried, they still couldn't get one single interview with the author, Cursive Writer. The library went back to its peaceful ways as well. Twilight packed her saddlebags while Spike was finishing up sweeping the floors. "Spike, I'm heading out for a while," she called out. "Just finish sweeping and you can have the rest of the day off, okay?" "Alright then," Spike replied. "Where are you going?" "I'm just going out and picking up a few things for our annual evening picnic tonight. Then, I have to help out Applejack with something down at the farm. I should be back at around 5-ish." Twilight opened the door and began to head out. "Have fun." Spike said sarcastically Twilight couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "I'll try." The door closed behind her as she left to take care of her errands. Spike ran up to the window beside it to make sure she was a safe distance away from the library. He rushed back to the broom to finish sweeping up as fast as he could, hoping he had enough time for what he had planned next. Once he finished, he set the broom aside as he ran to Twilight's writing desk. Owlicious flew up with him and perched himself on top of the desk. Spike pulled out a parchment from behind a bookshelf next to him and took a nearby quill, its tip coated in black ink. He placed a stool before the desk high enough so that he could see what he was doing and sat down. He put the parchment onto the table and crossed out "Finish Tears and Smiles trilogy." off his story list. He continued to read over all his other story ideas he had planned. Stories about knights of honor, wandering travelers, and down-on-their-luck musicians. Even though they all sounded different, each of his stories had one thing in common: love. It seemed to be Spike's forte, considering his crush with Rarity. But that's what made his stories work. One characteristic about her was enough inspiration for a main character. One character would be based on her elegance, another would be based on her generosity. Thankfully, she was none the wiser and he meant to keep it that way. He loved her without a shadow of a doubt but he could never be able to find the courage to tell her his true feelings. He tried once when they almost fell to their deaths. Even though she cut him off mid-sentence, she knew about his crush. But that was only his crush. She didn't know about how he truly felt about her and how much he really wanted to be with her. He would daydream about her constantly whenever he had the chance. Most of them, surprisingly, weren't about him being some sort of superhero or a secret agent sent to rescue her. They would mostly be about them being together, having a house, spending quality time with each other. He wasn't proud of it since he was a guy and, in his words, guys don't think about girly stuff like that. But it was all he could ever think about. This was Rarity, for Celestia's sake. The embodiment of poise and grace. Not some cheap, average mare from Stirrup Street. Spike continued to stare out the window, thinking about the love of his life, until he blinked, bringing him back to the real world. He looked at his paper which he hadn't even touched and noticed a few ink spots on the corner of his paper. He didn't want to even think about how long he was dreaming this time. Spike got himself focused and got ready to write down some more ideas, but froze once he got his quill ready. He couldn't think of anything. Not one single thing. There was no way he could have used up all of his ideas. He tried his hardest to think about something new, but no matter how hard he tried, not one thing was written down on his list. He sighed and put the quill back in its bottle. Owlicious was still perched on the desk, looking at him as he sat there disappointed. A knock was heard on the door. "Hoo," he hooted. "I don't know," replied Spike. "I'm gonna go check." He hooted again "I told you, I don't know." Spike ran down to the door. The door knocked again. "I'm coming, I'm coming." When he opened it, Rarity stood in the doorway with her saddlebags packed, practically shining in front of the sun. Spike stood completely still with butterflies starting to form in his stomach. He stammered trying to pick the right words to say to her. "Oh! My apologies, Spike. Is Twilight home?" she asked in her sophisticated accent. "Um, no. She went to do something with Applejack." said Spike, the butterflies in his stomach were getting worse. "Is there something you need?" "Why, yes. I need to borrow that book on historical fashion again. I may have missed a few details when making my new creation." She walked in and looked through the shelves searching for what she was looking for. "I was also wondering if that book by Page Turner had come in yet." Spike became confused. Page Turner? Who in Equestria was that? Spike needed to know. "Page Turner? Is she a new librarian or something?" "She's this new author that the town's been buzzing about lately. Rumor is that she was born in Ponyville." "I thought you liked Cursive Writer." Rarity continued to scan the bookshelves. "While I do adore Cursive Writer's work, Twilight's been telling me that I should try one of her books. So, I figured, why not?" As Rarity continued looking for the books she needed, Spike's muscles tensed up as he noticed his story ideas still sitting on the desk nearby. He walked at a brisk pace, trying not to gain Rarity's attention, and grabbed the piece of paper. He quickly looked around hoping to find a place where he could quickly hide the paper. "Spike? What are you doing over there?" Spike froze. He had to think quickly about this one. He stuffed the paper in his mouth and turned towards her. "Oh, um, just having a snack," he said, his voice muffled by the wad of paper in his mouth. "Well, close your mouth while you chew, okay darling?" Darling. The word alone was enough to make his heart soar to the heavens. If only he had the courage to tell her... Rarity looked at the bookshelf nearby. "Ah! Here it is!" She levitated the book by Page Turner from the top shelf. She took a look at it and read the back cover to herself. "The Bird With No Wings? Hmm, this does sound interesting." She placed the book in her saddlebags and gave the room a final look. "I can't seem to find the other book, though." She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well." As she made her way to the exit, she turned back towards Spike. "Tell Twilight that I'll be borrowing this for a while. I'll see you at the picnic tonight, darling!...and for heaven's sake, please swallow." Spike watched as the mare of his dreams closed the door behind her and went on her way. He spit the paper back out into his hand. All his ideas had been crumpled up and covered in saliva. He sighed and threw it in the trash. He sat back on the desk and laid his head. Page Turner. Somepony he's never heard before. A new author, perhaps? Spike tossed the thought aside. He thought that there was no need to worry about something like that right now. He looked at a clock that was posted on the wall. 2:30. He figured he could go kill some time and shop around Ponyville for a while, but he remembered that he donated all the profits he made from his books to charity just so Twilight and the others wouldn't get suspicious about huge bags of bits lying around. Plus, he thought that it was the right thing to do. He went upstairs to his basket and decided he had enough time for a well earned nap. *** Twilight rushed home as quickly as she could. It was way past the time that she said she'd be back and needed to hurry. She ran inside and slammed the door behind her. She got all the plates and silverware into her saddlebags and placed them upon her back. She looked around desperately searching for her assistant. Snoring could be heard from upstairs. She saw the blankets moved up and down in a breathing motion. "Are you kidding me?" she scoffed. She teleported up the stairs in front of the basket. "Spike! Don't tell me you went back to sleep again!" She shook Spike violently, trying to wake him up. He unwrapped himself and sat up with his eyes half open, like a mummy waking up from his tomb. "Eh, what time is it?" he asked groggily "It's 5:45. Now come on! We're already late enough as it is," Twilight placed her saddlebags around her as she went for the door. Spike followed her, albeit a bit slow, and hopped on her back. "Oh yeah!" Spike said as he snapped his fingers. "Rarity came in a while ago and took a book by someone named Page Turner, I think." "Oh did she?" The purple unicorn asked. "Well, I'm glad she's reading a book by someone other than Cursive Writer this time." They closed the door behind them and made for the outskirts of town. The blue sky turned orange as the sun began to set. The town began to light up as the streetlights began to flicker on one by one and the buildings illuminated through the windows. "Honestly, Spike," she said, giving a crooked smile. "I don't know how you can still find the time to sleep." "I'm a dragon." he said. "It's in our nature." The two reached a hill with a lone tree where everypony else was. A large, red and black plaid blanket had been placed on the ground as the others sat around waiting for what Twilight had in store. "Uh, Twilight? Where's the food?" asked a puzzled Rainbow Dash. "Yeah," said Applejack. "Apparently, Ah thought Ah was gonna bring my famous apple cobbler." "Calm down, everyone," Twilight said. "This is something I want to try." Plates levitated out of Twilight's saddlebags and were placed on the linen. Twilight's horn began to light up as magic hovered over the picnic blanket. Suddenly, a large amount of food materialized and landed perfectly on the plates. Everyone stood in shock and awe as they looked at all the food that was made. Of course, it wasn't anything new, considering Twilight, but it was still amazing at what she could do. "And for the dragon..." A medium-sized bowl of assorted gems and rubies appeared in front of Spike. His eyes sparkled at what he saw and began to dig in. Everyone picked out what they wanted and began to dine on their feast. The sky was now pitch black with the stars scattered about, shining brightly in the night, the moon in the center of it all, glowing at its brightest. Everypony talked and laughed, recalling the events of their day. Their annual evening picnic was the most enjoyable thing the mane 6 ever thought up. A chance to get together and just relax, no shenanigans or crazy situations to get in their way. "So, I started reading that book you told me about, Twilight," said Rarity after she wiped her mouth with her napkin. "And how is it?" Twilight asked. "I must say, it's rather interesting," Rarity pulled the book out from her bags and placed it at the center where everyone could see it. "It's well written, thought out, and highly entertaining to say the least." "Oh, I think I've heard about her before." said Fluttershy. "She's been getting a lot of attention recently." Spike stopped before he took another bite of his gem and looked at the rest of the gang with uncertainty. "She's okay, I guess." Rainbow said before she resumed eating. "Okay? She's awesome!" Pinkie Pie shouted at the top of her lungs. "Ah heard she was coming to town tomorrow for some Q and A." "Do you think she might surpass Cursive Writer?" Twilight asked. Rarity shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, probably." The more Spike heard, the more angry he became despite his quiet façade. He softly threw his half eaten gem back to the bowl and pushed it aside. "Hey Twilight? Is it okay if I go back home?" he asked. Twilight was confused. "Um, sure. Why?" "I'm, uh, not feeling well. I think I may need to lie down a bit, if that's okay with you." "I guess the little guy's had too much." Rainbow Dash laughed teasingly. "Not now, Rainbow." Twilight became worried for her little assistant. "Do you want me to take you?" "No, no. It's okay. I can walk home. It's not very far away." Spike got up and left the group to themselves. The others became just as concerned as Twilight. "Is it just me, or has Spike seemed odd lately?" Rainbow asked. "Ah know what you mean. He hasn't been himself lately. He might be up to somethin'." Twilight laughed off her friends' suspicions. "Come on, guys. Spike wouldn't lie to us. He's too good for that." She looked off into the distance in the direction that Spike had went. "At least, I hope he is." Spike walked back to the library, twiddling his fingers along the way. "Page Turner? She can't be that great," he muttered to himself. "She just can't be." He started to walk in circles under a streetlight, his worrying thoughts racing through his mind. "Or maybe she is! Is my career over? Do they not like my books anymore?" He gave himself a slap on the forehead. "Come on, Spike. You're an author. Authors don't just die out whenever there's a new one." Spike stopped in his tracks and gave out a sigh. "There's no need to be jealous. Maybe this'll all blow over and everything can get back to normal." He continued on his way home, but he still couldn't stop thinking that maybe his time was up. He's been doing this for a while now, two years in fact, that maybe he should just give up the name of Cursive Writer, at least for a while. He opened the door slowly and made inside the library. Owlicious hooted, welcoming the little draconian back home. "It's just me, Owlicious." Spike said as went up and scratched the owl's head. Owlicious cooed under Spike's sharp claws, yet soft scratch. He went upstairs to his basket and plopped down, laying there with his eyes wide open. "If she's as great as they say she is, then how can I compete with her?" "Hoo." The owl said "Someone named Page Turner. She's supposed to be this really popular author." Owlicious hooted once more. "I don't know. But, she's coming to town tomorrow to answer some questions," He got up and became determined again. "..and I'm gonna find out who this pony really is." Author's Note Was really nervous about releasing this one, but I think I did my best. Just bear with me, guys. Chapter 3's going to get the plot going.
Pride and PrejudiceThe next day was as bright as always. Rainbow had been three for three for perfect weather lately. Birds sang their songs as dandelions were blown and danced with the wind. Ponyville was no different from any other days. Ponies walked around attending to their usual business without a care in the world. Twilight and Spike were riding around gathering a few groceries from their local markets. Twilight was at peace, happy with her life here as she had always been. As for Spike, he couldn't seem to get over what everyone was talking about yesterday. He rode on Twilight's back, as usual, but kept to himself most of the time. He looked down angrily. Page Turner. A new rival, perhaps? No. He couldn't lose himself to jealousy. That wouldn't be gentlemanly of him in Rarity's eyes. But no matter how much he adored the mare, he couldn't help but feel like his fifteen minutes were up, that his alter ego was beginning to fade out all thanks to this one new author. He admits that he may be overreacting just a tad, but... "Spike? Are you okay? You've been quiet this whole trip." Spike looked back up quickly and found Twilight staring at him with worrying eyes. "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine," he stuttered. "I'm just thinking about something." "Well, what are you thinking about?" she asked. "Oh you know, stuff." "You were thinking about Rarity, weren't you?" "N-No!" Twilight giggled a bit. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But still, I'm worried about you, Spike. You haven't talked to any one of us since last night. Some of the others actually think you might be up to something." They were on to him. He knew it. His eyes started shifting left to right as he bit his lower lip. "You're not up to anything, are you?" Twilight started getting suspicious and raised an eyebrow. Spike sighed and remained cool. "Relax, Twilight. Everything's fine. You need to stop worrying so much." Twilight relaxed as she gave a faint smile. "Alright, Spike. I'm trusting you." She faced the other way to see where she was going. Spike gave a sigh of relief knowing he was in the clear. For now. The others were getting suspicious. He needed to be careful. Now more than ever. "Now where is it?" Twilight asked. She started to look around the entire area for something. Spike couldn't tell what though. "Where's what?" he asked. "We already got the things we needed at the grocery store. What is there left to do? "I'm looking for the stage." "Stage? What stage?" "Applejack said she would meet me at the stage where Page Turner was going to be today." Spike's eyes suddenly shot wide open as he recalled more of the conversation at the picnic last night. "That Q&A thing was today?!" he shouted. Twilight took her hoof and rubbed her ear after Spike's sudden outburst. "Yeah, why do you ask?" "Oh, uh, nothing. Just needed to vent something out, you know?" Before Twilight could say anything, an orange mare in a cowboy hat waved frantically to get Twilight's attention. She turned to notice Applejack beckoning her to get over to where she was. A crowd began to form in front of a stage that was almost similar to Trixie's minus the fireworks and decorations. Everypony started chatting with one another wondering what was in store for them. Twilight trotted up to Applejack and saw Rarity standing right next to her. "Oh good! You're here!" Rarity said. "I was wondering if you were going to show up." "Where are the others?" Twilight asked. "I thought they would be here too." "Rainbow's got some weather-y things to attend to." replied Applejack in her recognizable accent. "As for Fluttershy and Pinkie, Ah have no idea. But Ah'm pretty sure they'll be here soon." Everyone turned they're heads as the mayor stepped up on stage. She tapped a microphone that was standing at the center of attention. Ringing emitted as everyone groaned and covered their ears. "Eh, sorry about that." The Mayor laughed slightly. "Now, then. Please welcome the acclaimed author of "The Bird with No Wings", Page Turner!" The crowd stomped their hooves together as a dark blue pony with green hair appeared on stage. She raised her hoof up to quiet the crowd before her. The stomping got softer and softer until it came to a full stop. Now everyone was waiting for what this pony had to say. "Hello, everypony. If some of you don't know already, my name is Page Turner. I'm the author of "The Bird With No Wings"..." The crowd started stomping again. They whistled and cheered loudly until Page Turner raised her hoof again. "...and for the next..." She looked at the mayor, "...two?..." The mayor nodded back to her. "...two hours, I'll be answering any questions you may have for me." Everypony started throwing their hooves into the air, hoping that they would be picked. She squinted and started to pick out a few ponies at a time. "Is it true you're from Ponyville?" one pony asked. "Why, yes, it is! and I don't regret a single thing!" Spike rolled his eyes as he watched her. She was happy. Overjoyed to be on that stage. And he didn't like it one bit. "How did you come up with the idea for 'The Bird With No Wings'?" another pony asked. "Ooh, that's a good one. Um, let me think..." She put her hoof up to her chin and started to think. "I guess I could say it just came to me one day. The ideas that can come into your head sometimes amazes me." Spike gave another look. That's it? It just popped up in her head? That's not true inspiration, That was just making something up! "Now, let's see... who's next?" Rarity put her hoof up into the air as well. Page pointed to the elegant mare. "Yes, you." she stated. "What was your inspiration to become an author?" Rarity asked. Page sighed with a smile. "I have to say, it's always been Cursive Writer." Spike stopped and looked back up. "His words were so fascinating and the stories were always so intense. I wanted to be just like him." She went on and on about how much she adored the mysterious writer. "I hope, I just hope, I get to meet him one day." Spike watched, astonished by what she said. He actually inspired someone to do what she wanted. He felt terrible about his feelings before. Was he so quick to judge? He watched as Rarity paid full attention to what Page was saying. He knew that she still adored him. She was still his number one fan, no matter what. As he watched her, he thought about the one story idea he still had left in his creative mind. The one he couldn't do. It was a story about a lost dragon finding hope and love in one simple mare. The reason he wouldn't publish something like that is because it would have been too obvious. It would have easily given away his deepest secret. All that trust with Twilight and the others would have been broken. And what would Rarity think? She'd probably consider him as some sort of creepy stalker and not say a word to him again, and he couldn't even bear that thought. He always feared the worst if his secret ever got out. So he kept the idea to himself, never bothering to put it on paper. He later moved on to other ideas, with the Tears and Smiles trilogy being his best one yet. But, he always looked back. He always looked back on his forbidden idea, hoping that one day that he could write it. He shook his head to snap himself out of his daydreaming. Page Turner had finished speaking as everyone stamped and cheered once more. He looked down again, sighing. He got off Twilight's back as he turned around and headed home. The purple unicorn turned and saw him leave. "Spike! Where are you going?" She shouted amongst the cheering. She went and followed him as close as she could but lost him in the crowd. She searched desperately for the dragon, cursing Celestia for him being so small. Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Is something wrong, Twilight?" she asked. Twilight sighed. "It's Spike. He took off again, this time without even saying anything. I don't know what's gotten into him lately." "He's definitely up to something. Ah'm sure of it." Twilight glanced at her. She had to admit, the cowgirl was a bit to quick to judge. But she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe Applejack was right this time. "But I still don't understand," Rarity responded. "What is there for him to hide?" "I don't know, but I'm gonna go find out. I'll meet up with you guys later." Twilight pushed through the immense crowd and made her way home. *** Spike slammed the door behind him as he entered the library. His bones felt weak, and his legs started to get heavy. He leaned against the wall and slid down slowly, sitting there for just a few moments. For a minute, he thought that maybe it was time. Maybe it was time to tell everyone about what he's been up to for the past 2 years. But, he shook his head and thought that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. There were times before when he wanted to tell them, though. He had been feeling a bit unappreciated in the past, which was one of the reasons he started writing in the first place. He looked at the table and noticed the book Rarity had borrowed yesterday. He got up and approached the book slowly. A note lay on top of the cover. He picked it up and read it. Dear Twilight, I became bored the other day with nothing better to do and thought I would give this book a read. Turns out, funny enough, that I read the whole thing in one sitting. It's silly, really, what boredom can make you do sometimes. Anyway, while I can honestly say it's not on par with Cursive Writer's work, it is certainly worth a read. So I recommend that you do check it out when you have the chance. Hope to meet with you again soon. -R Spike gave the note another read then stared at the book. She did say it wasn't on par with his work after all. He took it up and opened it. He read every single word quickly, flipping through the pages as he skimmed along. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't bad. It wasn't ok, either. It was...beautiful. It wasn't not on par with his work at all. It was almost above his level of expertise. He was left speechless and continued to skim, every sentence more perfectly written than the last. It was fantastic, although he would rather not admit it. He put the amazingly written book down and sighed once more. It was far more better than he expected it to be. He began to feel awful about himself again. He was completely and utterly jealous of Page Turner, yet he, himself, inspired her to write something as brilliant as The Bird With No Wings. He couldn't hate her for that. Besides, what would Rarity think? Rarity. He repeated the word over and over again in his head, each time sounding more beautiful than the last. No matter how hard he even tried, everything led back to her. Gems? He loved gems. So does Rarity. Twilight? Twilight's kind and thoughtful. Twilight's a unicorn. So is Rarity. Books? Spike wrote books, even though nobody knew about it. Everyone loved his books. Even Rarity. Spike moaned. His crush was Rarity was getting out of hand, ridiculous even. He gave up. There was absolutely nothing he could do. He put his arm on the table and leaned his head against his hand. He thought about what he would do next. What was there to do? Page Turner was getting all the fame now. All he could do was write another book. That's it. Write another book. Spike got up, ecstatic about his new idea. But then he remembered his writer's block. Nothing new came into his head. Spike got back in his previous position and continued to think. Although...there was that one idea. "No, no. I can't do that. It's too risky." He returned to thinking. His previous thoughts throughout the past 2 days came back to him Maybe his fifteen minutes was up. ...hoping that one day he could write it. Then it all clicked. He would do it. This would be his next story. It would also be his last. This was it. It was time for him to let Page Turner take the reigns, but not before doing one last story. Something he's been wanting to do ever since he started out as a newcomer. His plan became more clearer in his mind. He would publish this final story, then tell everyone his secret. Hopefully, things would turn better than he hoped. He decided that it was for the best. He ran to the writing desk as Owlicious flew in through the window and perched himself on his spot on the desk, almost as if he knew that Spike was going to start writing again. Spike pulled open one of the drawers to reveal a stack of paper and plopped it on to the desk. He took the quill and placed on top of the first page. He thought to himself once more. What could be the best possible title for his final entry? "Ah! That's a good one!" He started to write out. My Heart in Flames: A Dragon's Tale By Cursive Writer He stared at what he had wrote. It was perfect. His magnum opus was just beginning. He took the first page and placed it off to the side and started fresh on a new piece of paper. Through the woods of a great forest, a dragon walked alone... It all started to come together. His progress was albeit slow, but it was still progress none the less. His quill danced among the paper as Spike continued to write. The words came out in cursive in black ink as all his other books did. He became more at peace with himself. He had forgotten all about Page Turner and what he thought of her as he just kept on writing and writing. He became happy again. That is until Twilight opened the door. "Spike! Where are you?" Spike stopped completely in his tracks. He was frozen not knowing what to do. He looked around, searching for a place to hide the papers, but it was too late. Twilight had already appeared behind him. He yelped as he turned around, covering the pages with his back as Twilight stared at him menacingly. "You ARE hiding something, aren't you?" She interrogated. Spike was in quite the predicament now. "W-W-What? N-No! I'm not! What gave you that idea?" he lied. He laughed nervously but Twilight was already on to him. "You've been acting strange lately, it's not like you. What have you been doing here? And are those my papers?" Spike's pupils shrank. He had been secretly using Twilight's papers as a resource for his novels. He was in real trouble now. Sweat started to trickle down his face as he was left speechless. He had to think of something and quick. "What exactly have you been doing here, Spike?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "N-Nothing! Nothing at all!" he stammered "Spike, quit lying to me!" "I'm not lying!" "Ugh!" Twilight became irritated and levitated him off to the side. "Twilight, please! I-I can explain!" He pleaded. Twilight went up to the desk and saw the stack of papers placed above it. Owlicious quickly flew out of the window and, soon, out of sight. She started reading out the first page to herself quietly. Spike shut his eyes, clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth, waiting for what was going to happen next. "Spike? What...IS this?" Her voice was a bit calmer than before. Spike opened one of his eyes to see that Twilight was levitating the page in front of him. He bit his lower lip then sighed in defeat. "Twilight. If I tell you, you need to promise me two things." Twilight simply nodded. Spike breathed in and out, calming himself but was still shaking. "One: That you don't think any differently of me. And Two: You don't tell anyone else." "Spike, just tell me what's going on." "Do you promise?" She sighed. "Fine, I promise." "The thing is, Twilight..." He stopped and breathed through his nose again before he could continue. "I'm Cursive Writer." Author's Note A Valentine's Day gift from me to you. Apologies to anyone who thought Page Turner was going to be somebody else.
It Had To Be You"You're WHAT?!" Twilight shouted. She found herself dumbfounded as she staggered back a step, refusing to believe her own ears. She attempted her little breathing gesture that Princess Cadence taught her, but kept breathing too fast. It was still too much for her. Her own assistant, Spike, the clumsy little dragon, was the most famous author in Equestria. It seemed like some sort of fantasy to her. It sounded completely ridiculous. Too ridiculous to even believe. She started to walk in circles as she repeated Spike's sentence in her mind. 'I'm Cursive Writer,' she thought over and over again, still trying hard to make sense of what was happening. How did she not see the signs before? How could Spike keep such a secret such as being Cursive Writer of all ponies? Heck, how could Spike keep a secret at all? Spike still stood there in front of her, twiddling his thumbs and giving a fake smile. But as Twilight continued to pace around the floor, he dropped the innocent look and started to grow a bit worried. "You're not mad, are you? L-Look, I said I could explain!" he pleaded. But Twilight continued to pace back and forth. After a few moments, she turned her back on him, causing him to fear the worst. This was it. The moment of truth. Was she angry at him? He cursed himself for not telling her before hand, or hoof for this matter. "How long has this been going on?" She asked impassively. Spike looked at the ground with sadness in his eyes. He knew that there was no point in lying now. That would only get him into more trouble than ever. He sighed in defeat and gave in. "Two years..." She turned almost immediately at him in surprise. "Two years? You've done so much and kept it a secret for two years?" He started to rub his elbow. "Well, yeah..." Twilight turned back around, shifting her eyes. "This...That's...just so..." Spike began to get on his knees and begged for Twilight's forgiveness. "Oh, Celestia, I'm sorry, Twilight. I would have told you sooner but I-" "AMAZING!" "I know I shouldn't have-" Spike stopped in his tracks and looked back at Twilight in shock. Her face was practically beaming with joy and excitement. It wasn't really the reaction he thought he'd get. The words "Wait, what?" were all that could come out of his mouth at the moment. He got back up on his feet, still looking at Twilight with his eyes wide open. "You mean, you're not mad?" "Spike, you're Cursive Writer. One of the most renowned authors in all of Equestria is my own little assistant. I'm...Well, honestly, I don't know how to feel, really..," she said, laughing a bit to ease the tension. "Wait, you believe me? You actually believe me?" "Spike, we've known each other for Celestia knows how long. Of course, I believe you. But, I don't get it. You're huge here. How did you even manage to keep it a secret?" Spike went and pulled up a stool about Twilight's height. He climbed up and sat himself comfortably down on it. If he was going to tell her everything, it was going to be a while. "Well, I just made sure I didn't make a public appearance. No interviews, no book signings," he chuckled a bit. "...and definitely no Q&A's." Twilight plopped herself down as she begun to listen to Spike. As he continued on about how he kept anyone from learning his secret, She started to become rather impressed by him. The profits that went to charity, the mature writing in each of his books. After hearing all of those things, she couldn't help but feel as though her little draconian had grown up. Matured since the days they moved into Ponyville. She smiled as the thoughts passed through her mind. Then, she stopped. She couldn't be getting feelings for him, could she? No, she couldn't be. She always saw herself as a motherly figure towards Spike and she knew he felt the same way too. So, why? What made her start feeling differently about him? She didn't want to say that it was because of his alter ego, but it was the most likely reason. "Eh, Twilight? Are you okay?" Spike gave her a concerned look. She blinked, bringing her back into the real world and stared back at Spike. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm fine," she replied with another one of her kind, gentle smiles. But the thought still wouldn't escape her mind no matter how hard she tried to focus on something else. "So, you promise not to tell anyone?" "I promise." "And you promise not to think of me differently?" Twilight couldn't help but giggle at Spike's adorable innocence. She went up to him and wrapped him up in one great hug. "Spike, no matter what you do, you'll always be my little assistant." Spike returned the hug as they both cherished the moment for a pretty long while. "Thanks, Twilight." Then, a knock was heard on the door. Applejack's voice could be heard from the other side. "Twilight, you in there?" she asked. Twilight and Spike turned towards each other, each giving them worried looks. "I'll answer the door, you hide the papers in the drawer," Twilight ordered. Spike nodded and ran to the writing desk. He took the stack of papers that still laid there and carried them in his arms for they were far too heavy for just his meager hands. He managed to open the bottom left drawer with his foot and stuffed them inside, then slammed the drawer closed. Meanwhile, Twilight galloped over to the door and opened it with haste. Applejack and Rarity stood in the doorway, surprised by Twilight's sudden appearance. "Uh, Twilight, are you okay?" Rarity asked. "Oh, yeah. Everything's fine here," said Twilight. "Well, we just came to see how you and Spike were doing," Applejack voiced her concern. She poked her head in and found Spike leaning his back against the writing desk, smiling as if he had something to hide. Applejack only gave him a smile and small wave before turning her attention back to Twilight. "We're doing alright, great actually," Twilight said hastily. It wasn't like her to act like this, but then again, she did promise Spike she wouldn't tell anyone. She just wasn't the best at coming up with lies or excuses. But, she had to keep it up. For Spike's sake. "Is everything alright, darling? You seem...rushed," Rarity suggested. "No, we're good," She nodded her head a little bit too much. She gave a little nervous smile. Applejack wasn't buying it, but wasn't going to show it in front of the others. In her mind, she already began to hatch up a plan. Applejack put a hoof in front of Rarity which caused her to step back a bit. "Well, okay, then. It's gettin' late so we best be off," the apple farmer said. All three of them turned and went their separate ways. Twilight closed the door behind her and exhaled a sigh of relief. "Are they gone?" Spike asked cautiously. "Hold on, let me check." Twilight went up to the window and paid close attention as Applejack and Rarity continued to walk away from the library and towards the sunset. "Yeah, they're gone." "Oh, thank Celestia." Spike turned back towards the desk and pulled the drawer open. His work in progress was, thankfully, still there in a nice, neat stack. He took the stack of papers back in his arms as he set them back where they once were; on the writing desk. "So, what do we do now?" Twilight asked. "Well, I guess we get back to what we normally do. We just try to keep this as much of a secret as possible until I can get this book finished.." "And how long will that take?" Twilight asked. "I dunno," he shrugged. "It takes me a long while before I can actually finish a book. But with this one, who knows how long it'll take." "Oh, okay then." Spike grabbed the stool from near by and placed it in front of the desk. He climbed up, got himself in a comfortable sitting position, and got the quill from the inkwell. Twilight began to tap her hooves together, trying hard not to blush. "Um, Spike? Is it okay if I..." Spike turned back around, noticing how Twilight was hiding her face. "If you what?" he asked. "Is it okay if...I watched you write?" Spike sat there looking at her dumbstruck. Why would she want to watch him write, he wondered. It was rather a very peculiar thing, even for Twilight. She's never asked something like this before during his days writing letters for her. "Uh, yeah, sure. Why not?" he shrugged. "But, don't get too close, okay? 'Cause that'd be kind of creepy." "Oh, yeah. Of course." Twilight walked up to him and watched as he worked his writing magic. The way he wrote was almost beautiful. The black ink came out in nice, cursive, lettering. She figured that writing all those letters for her had really paid off now. Before she knew it, she was mesmerized by his handiwork. More mesmerized than when she read his books, unaware of who he truly was. Then, the feelings started to come back. She bit her lower lip watching as the words continued to pour out onto paper. She luckily stopped herself when she noticed her head was right next to his. Spike turned towards her, moving his head away to give himself at least some space. "Twilight? Everything alright?" She hook her head violently, trying her hardest to bring herself back to her senses. "I'm okay. I'm okay." She returned to viewing his writing, this time at a proper distance. "So, what's this one about?" "Well, it's about a dragon who visits this town and falls in...love..." He stopped himself before he went any further. He figured that since he told Twilight everything, it was safe to let his guard down around her. Boy, was he ever wrong. He had completely forgotten that he still didn't tell her about his secret idea. He looked at her, hoping she hadn't caught on. She wore a grin on her face with a raised eyebrow as she chuckled mischievously. Much to Spike's chagrin, she caught on. "Oh, I get it..." she started. Spike shifted his eyes left and right, laughing nervously. "G-Get what?" he stammered. "This is your idea of wooing Rarity, isn't it?" Spike motioned his hands in front of her. "N-No! It's not what you think!" However, Twilight wouldn't stop giving Spike a flurry of questions, pressurizing him to tell the truth. "You were going to tell her, weren't you? Instead, you got me, huh?" Spike groaned. He knew she wasn't going to let him off that easily. "Well...it wasn't my intentional plan..." "Then what was your intentional plan, Mr. Hotshot?" "Truth is, Twilight, I was going to tell you. All of you. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, the others. My plan is: once I finish this book, I'm telling everyone in Equestria who I really am." Twilight's grin began to fade from her mouth. She learned that this did not become a laughing matter. Spike seemed serious about this. Perhaps, too serious. "Spike, what are you talking about?" "This is the last book I write." Twilight's eyes grew and her jaw opened wide . It was the second time today in a row that she had received such shocking news. First, he's Cursive Writer. Now, he's finishing his career? It was absurd. At least, that's what Twilight was hoping for. But, no. Spike's eyes said it all. He was intent on doing this and going through with his plan. "But, I don't get it. Why?" she asked. Spike put the quill down and exhaled. "Well, when you guys were talking about Page Turner, I got kind of jealous. But, then when we went to that Q&A thing, she said that I was the one that inspired her. I felt terrible after that. Being angry at someone I inspired. I read part of the book she wrote and, well, it was great. It was as good as my own writing. So that's why. I'm letting her take the spotlight now." "Wow, Spike. That's really thoughtful of you," Twilight said with admiration. "But you don't have to stop writing just because another author is becoming as popular as you." "I know but..." Spike stuttered trying to find the right words to say. "I didn't really want to keep lying forever, you know?" Twilight put a hoof on Spike's shoulder. "I understand." They both gave each other another heart-warming hug. Earlier... Applejack and Rarity turned around and had begun to leave as Twilight closed the door behind them rather quickly. They started to walk down back to Rarity's boutique, but not without thinking about what had happened. "I do say, Twilight's behavior has,all of a sudden, become most bemusing..." Rarity said in her trademark sophisticated accent. "You don't get it, do you? Spike's clearly up to somethin', and now Twilight's in on it too. We need to get to the bottom of this." "Well, what can we do?" Rarity asked. "We can't just barge in there and demand them to tell us what's going on." "Well..." Rarity stopped walking along with Applejack. She cocked an eyebrow at the farmer. "Well, what?" Applejack turned towards her. "We could just, you know, sneak in." "Applejack!" Rarity said, appalled by her suggestion. "You're not suggesting we go snooping around in Twilight's library, are you?" "Now look, I ain't one for breakin' and enterin' but they're hiding something and I wanna know." "Applejack, dear. Don't you think you might be over-thinking about this?" "I ain't over-thinking nothin'. I know lying when I see it." "Well, do whatever you want. But, I will have no part in it," Rarity huffed. She walked ahead back to the boutique. "Goodbye, Applejack, and good luck with your so-called 'plan'." Applejack only responded by rolling her eyes. She headed back to the farm as the sun began to set. She was right though. She wasn't proud of breaking and entering at all, especially doing it in a friend's house such as Twilight's. But she couldn't help but shake off her curiosity and suspicion. They were both hiding something now and Applejack had the craving to find out exactly what it was. *** Later that night, the moon shined brightly on the quiet little town. The streetlights were shining brightly, leading ponies the way home. "Spike! Come on, it's time for bed." Spike put the quill back into the inkwell and hopped off his stool. He stretched his arms and legs, and popped his knuckles after a long session of writing. He opened the drawer and placed the stack of pages inside, where they would sit until the very next day. Twilight closed her book and levitated it back into the bookshelf where it once was. She got off her pillow and began to head upstairs, followed by Spike. "So, how much did you get done today?" she asked. "Eh, not much. Only about two pages or so," he answered. "Really? Only two? Keeping this a secret is going to be harder than I thought." "Well, writing takes a lot of time for me, okay?" Twilight let out another one of her adorable giggles. "Alright, alright. I didn't mean to offend you." She turned out the lights down stairs and lit up a candle. She put it on the counter next to her bed as she got up and began to bundle herself up with her blankets. Spike did the same in his little basket. "Spike?" Twilight said softly. "Yeah?" She wanted to say something about how great it was knowing that he was Cursive Writer. However, she didn't, she couldn't, due to her fear of having those feelings come back to her. She began to bite her lower lip again. This was Spike after all. She never really saw him as anything else but a good friend. But, seeing him as something else entirely really began to make her question how she felt about him. Something she thought she would never be doing. "N-Never mind. Goodnight, Spike," she managed to utter. "Goodnight, Twilight." Spike rolled around in his small bed, trying to get into a comfortable position before closing his eyes. Twilight blew out the candle next to her and began to drift off onto sleep. An hour later, a pair of eyes looked through the window downstairs. Applejack scanned the inside of the area, making sure that the coast was clear. She pushed the window open quietly as to not disturb anyone and managed to slip inside. She closed the window behind her and pulled out the flashlight from her saddlebags. She turned it on and held it in her mouth. The light it emitted was dim, but it was still manageable to see. Every urge in Applejack's body begged her to think of another plan. Something other than sneaking around her friend's house. But, her brain couldn't think of any other way. This was the only plan that she had seemed to guarantee any success. "Twilight, please forgive me," she whispered before moving on. She began looking through and behind the bookshelves, making sure she kept as quiet as possible so she wouldn't disturb the two upstairs. She had pulled out nearly every book from each shelf, looking for anything that could have been useful. Nothing. She continued her search through the kitchen and bathroom, looking through every nook and cranny. Again, nothing. She had decided to leave no stone un-turned. She tip-toed up the stairs and crept through Spike and Twilight's bedroom. She looked through the shelves and drawers and still found absolutely nothing that was of use to her. As she quietly sneaked back down the stairs, one of her steps caused one of the floorboards to creak. She froze immediately and remained there for a few seconds like a statue. She looked behind her to see if one of them had woken up. Thankfully, Spike and Twilight still slept soundly. She quietly gave a sigh of relief. Spike snored at an average volume, not too loudly. But, Twilight was tossing and turning in her sleep. Once she had stopped after a few moments, she mumbled something. "...mmm, Spike..." It was all that Applejack could make out through Twilight's smothered talking. 'Spike? What in Equestria could she be dreaming about?' she thought. She moved on downstairs and decided to head out back through the window empty-handed. Maybe Rarity was right after all. Maybe she was just over-thinking it. But before she could make it outside, she stopped as she recalled that she didn't check the writing desk in the far corner. She instantly remembered Spike leaning his back against it looking nervously. Bingo. Somewhere in that desk had to be what they were hiding from her. She walked quietly to the desk and searched through the drawers. She opened the bottom left drawer that revealed a stack of papers that caught her eye. She held them up with her hooves while holding the flashlight with her teeth. What she saw struck her like a bolt of lightning. My Heart in Flames: A Dragon's Tale By Cursive Writer It was unbelievable what she saw. She blinked repeatedly, hoping that the words were some trick of the light. But, it was still there in big, black, bold letters. Cursive Writer. THE Cursive Writer. She started to connect the dots. Spike's been hiding this the whole time? She more she deduced, the more it shocked her. Then, finally, it all came together. Spike was Cursive Writer. It made perfect sense, yet no sense at all. That small, meek dragon was the best writer Equestria has ever had? She started to tremble and shake was she read through the first page. It was him all right, no doubt about it. The way each word was used was almost undeniable. But before Applejack had the chance to continue reading, she heard rustling from above. She looked up and noticed Spike's silhouette getting up from his basket. Applejack needed to think of something, and fast. With no time to lose, she switched off the flashlight and ran towards the window while carrying the pages with her. She quickly fumbled getting out of the window and shut it closed. Spike went downstairs groggily, his eyes halfway open. He went into the kitchen, turned on the light, and pulled himself a glass from the cupboard. He filled it up almost to the brim with water from the sink's faucet and began to glug it down almost instantly. He put the glass back into the sink and turned off the light, heading back to bed. But then, he saw the drawer from the writing desk left open. He was too tired to think and went to close it with his foot. He then returned to bed and drifted off into dream land once more. The next morning was as bright as always, with birds singing their usual songs. Twilight got up and smiled as she looked out the window to greet another beautiful day. She felt fresh and ready to take on the new day as she leaped from her bed. She went downstairs and found Spike running around in a panicked state. He was going through each bookshelf, throwing each book on the ground and searching everywhere. After gratuitous searching, he continued to scavenge another room of the library. Twilight looked nearby and noticed the desk's drawers left open and completely empty. "Spike, what's wrong?" she asked. "The pages! My book!" He yelled in return. "What about them?" "They're gone!" Her pupils shrank. She wasn't feeling ready to take on the day anymore.
After the NightRainbow flew across the sky, enjoying every possible minute of it. Sure she's done this a million times before, but each time felt more special than the last. She could never give up something more special than this. Finally, after a few minutes of drifting amongst the soft, white clouds, she had finally reached Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow thought up of yet another super mega awesome daredevil trick but she needed some rope. A lot of rope. She flew down the barn and stuck the landing perfectly. "Another perfect landing by the fantastic Rainbow Dash! Give it up, fillies and gentlecolts!" She made little sounds with her mouth, imitating an audience and stomped her hooves on the ground. She then looked around to see if anypony had noticed. Luckily, nopony was around to care. She went around and found the entrance to the barn, but the door was left ajar. "Applejack? You in here? Yo, Applejack!" She opened the barn door even further revealing nothing but empty space. All there was was hay and other assorted farm things. Rainbow wasn't really much for hard work, much like Applejack, so she basically never bothered to even learn the tools' names. She trotted around silently in search of her friend. "Applejack! I need a favor from you!" She shouted, but no response. 'Maybe she's just off doing some apple bucking again. I'll come back later.' Rainbow turned around and was about to head out her way out of the barn until something caught her eye. Bits of white seeped out from a random pile of hay off in the corner. She went over and pressed the hay lightly with hoof, without any knowledge of what it could be. Some new type of animal? Another threat wishing harm against the citizens of Equestria? Strangely, what she heard was none of those things as it seemed to be the sound of...'Paper?' *** Twilight and Spike searched through the entire library, desperate to find the missing pages. All the books were thrown off the shelves and laid scattered on the floor. But, no matter how hard the two looked, the pages were never found. Twilight continued her search in the kitchen as she opened and closed all cabinets and scanned behind the fridge and oven. Spike, meanwhile, was in the main room, biting his fingernails in sheer, unadulterated fear. Twilight came out of the kitchen and took notice of Spike. "Spike, calm down. I'm sure they're somewhere," she said. However, her attempts to calm Spike had no effect. "We've already looked everywhere, Twilight!" he shouted. "Where else could they possibly be?" "Well, where do you usually put them?" Twilight asked. "I told you. I put them over there in the bottom left drawer," he said pointing to the writing desk where every drawer had been opened and completely ravaged."Aw, man. What are we going to do?" Spike's fear grew until it became it almost unbearable. The thought of someone in possession of his book made him worry even more. What if it was one of Twilight's friends? What if it was Rarity? He shook his head. It couldn't be her. Rarity would never break into Twilight's house. It was too unladylike of her. Still, the idea was enough for him to almost hyperventilate as his heart raced faster. "I don't know what we'll do, but we'll think of something," said Twilight. She put her hoof on Spike's shoulder. He was still shaking uncontrollably but seemed to calm down a bit. "Just trust me, okay?" Spike started to nod. "O-okay." Twilight began to use her magic and set everything back to the way they were. In a flash of light, the books appeared back in their original positions before they started their search. The library was clean again, which relieved Spike, knowing that he wouldn't have to clean up the mess manually. "Now then. What did you do with the pages before you went to bed?" Twilight interrogated. Spike never really gave it any thought before answering her question. "Nothing, really. I just put them in the drawer over there." He pointed to the writing desk. Twilight put a hoof to her chin and started to ponder on the possibilities. "And since the culprit only stole those pages," she deduced. "There can only be one solution..." "What?" Spike asked in anticipation. "Somepony knows." "What?" he shouted in disbelief. "But, that's impossible! We haven't even told anypony!" "You're right, we haven't. But, looking back at it now, we were acting kinda suspicious yesterday. So, in conclusion, there are two ponies I can think of as suspects..." Twilight continued to think. "Who? Applejack and Rarity? Why would they...?" "That's what we're going to find out. You talk to Rarity and see what you can find out. I'll go and see Applejack." Spike started to tremble as sweat trickled down his face. "Y-Y-You want ME to t-t-talk to R-R-Rarity?" he stuttered. His legs were shaking. He couldn't bare the thought of having to talk to her. Especially during a time like this. Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. This whole mess was giving her one heck of a headache. "Alright, fine. We'll go ask Applejack together. Then, Rarity, okay?" Spike simply nodded as he breathed in and out a great deal of air to calm him down. He looked back at Twilight, who was heading for the door. "Well?" she asked. "Are you coming?" "Oh! Yeah." Spike made haste as he quickly followed Twilight out of the library and towards Sweet Apple Acres. *** Rainbow Dash popped her head out from the window and observed the skies for any other pegasi that might have been flying by. So far, no one seemed to follow her ever since she took the pages from Applejack's farm and flew back to her home in the sky as fast as she could. She placed her head back and laid on her bed. She took another look at the pages. She couldn't believe what she was holding. The first draft for Cursive Writer's newest story. It felt like a dream. Was it a dream? She bit a little bit of her hoof to make sure. "Ow!" she whispered as she winced in pain. Nope. It certainly wasn't a dream. This was the real deal. Part of her couldn't help but helplessly giggle at the fact of what she just found, at what she had just read. But why? Why was this hidden at Applejack's farm? Unless... *** Twilight carried Spike on her back as usual as they left Ponyville and followed the road that led to Sweet Apple Acres. "So, what made you want to write romance novels anyway, Spike?" Twilight asked. "Well, I usually write a lot and I don't really have anything to do during my spare time..." "Yeah, that's true. But, why romance novels?" Spike had never really thought about it before, to be honest. He'd always wake up at night and read one of Twilight's books. However, it wasn't action or science fiction novels that colts would like, but instead it was romance that Spike read. There was something about them that drew Spike's attention, yet he couldn't tell what. He tried to answer Twilight's question the best he could. "Well, I guess it's because...I just like writing them. Y'know, they're nice." "You mean you don't know?" Twilight asked. "Well,..." Spike gave up trying to defend himself. "No, not really. Well, I mean, I do, I just don't know what yet." "Huh. Okay, I think I might understand that." Spike raised his eyebrow. "Everything alright, Twilight? You're so passive with me all of a sudden." Twilight didn't want to admit it, but she knew there was something about Spike that she didn't see before. Something about him made her feel...something. Could it have been love? Whatever it was, she didn't want to mention it to Spike. "No, no. Everything's fine. Just...the fact that you're Cursive Writer is still settling in, you know?" "Right, right. I understand." As soon as Twilight reached the barn, she saw Big Mac carrying a cart full of apples heading towards town. Luckily, she managed to stop him before he left. "Big Mac!" she called out. Macintosh turned his head towards Twilight, raising an eyebrow. "Have you seen Applejack?" "Eeyup." He replied. "Where is she?" Macintosh pointed his hoof towards the trees where Applejack was doing her usual thing. Bucking at trees, dropping apples into two baskets. "Okay, thanks!" Twilight trotted over to the tree where Applejack was. Spike's heart began racing again as he clutched onto Twilight. "Spike, calm down. Everything's gonna be fine." Spike listened and tried his best, but couldn't stop his little dragon heart from pounding. "Applejack. Can I talk to you?" Applejack turned and noticed Twilight and Spike standing behind her. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Follow me," she said as she picked up the baskets full of apples with her teeth and headed to the barn. Twilight thought she might get some answers. Spike thought that this was the end. Applejack knew the jig was up. Twilight didn't know yet, and didn't want Applejack to know that she was a suspect of last night's robbery. "Applejack, something was taken from the house the other day. Something belonging to Spike. We were wondering if you had noticed any-" "I took the pages." 'Well, that was quick' Twilight thought. She was taken aback from Applejack's sudden interruption while Spike pretty much died on the spot. Metaphorically, of course. Twilight set down Spike so he could calm down a bit as she took a step forward. "Why? You of all ponies!" "Ah know, ah know! Ah didn't want to, but I just couldn't help but feel y'all were hiding somethin'. Y'all were acting mighty suspicious." Twilight sighed. So far, it's been a pretty eventful week. "What else do you know?" "Well, Ah also know Spike's Cursive Writer." Spike, meanwhile, was gasping for air at this point. The anxiety was just too much to bear for the dragon. "Twi, Ah'm really sorry! Really!" AJ was on the verge of tears, begging for forgiveness. Being the good friend that she was, Twilight put a hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "It's alright, AJ. I forgive you." Suddenly, Applejack pulled in Twilight for the tightest hug she could have ever gotten as the farmer just sobbed. *** Rainbow Dash couldn't take it anymore. She had to confront Applejack about this. After a few good minutes of thinking, which really hurt her head, she couldn't stand deducing anymore. She had to tell Applejack what she found out. She grabbed the pages and put them into her saddlebag and flew out her window, straight for Sweet Apple Acres. 'It's the only possible explanation,' She thought. *** After a good minute of two of hugging and sobbing, Applejack got a hold of herself and let go of Twilight. "Just...don't tell Granny Smith. Celestia knows what she could do to me. Heck, even Big Mac is scared of her." Twilight smiled. "I won't." Applejack then turned towards Spike, who managed to survive his little anxiety attack. "And Spike, Ah...Ah had no idea you could write like that. Ah just wanted to say that...your work is really...beautiful..." Applejack couldn't help but blush as she smiled. Spike got off the ground and dusted off some hay of him. He looked at the expression Applejack had on her face and rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-Yeah, thanks, I guess." "Can you believe this, Applejack? Spike! Him! Of all ponies! He's Cursive Writer!" Spike chuckled nervously. "Okay, you guys, you don't have to-" "Ah don't believe it either! Ah mean, this is amazin'!" "Uh, guys-" "How did we not notice this?" "Guys, do you think we could-" "Ah don't know! We've gotta tell everypony!" "NO!" Twilight and Spike both shouted, covering their hoof and hand over AJ's mouth. "Mmh mmf?" AJ mumbled through her blocked mouth. Twilight spoke up. "I know this news is the greatest, but we can't let anypony know. For Spike's sake, I promised him that I wouldn't tell a soul." Applejack stepped back a bit letting Twilight's hoof and Spike's hand off of her mouth. "Uh, Twilight. You do know that I'm the element of honesty, right? I can't lie, remember?" "Please, Applejack." Spike pleaded on his knees. "We're begging you here." "I'm sorry, but it's in my nature." Twilight walked up to her. "Please, AJ. This means a lot to him." Applejack looked back down at Spike, still on his knees, and simply sighed at her friends' request. "Alright, fine. I'll try my best." Twilight and Spike let out their relief with a sigh. "Thanks, Applejack." "No problem, Twi." Spike felt extremely calmer now that this whole mess was dealt with. He had hoped that this was the only shenanigan he would get into today and wouldn't delay any of his further plans to finish his story. "So, where are the pages?" He asked. "Oh, yeah!" Applejack exclaimed. "Ah actually hid them inside this hay pile." She then dug through the hay to notice something completely off. "That's weird." "What?" Twilight and Spike asked. "They're not here!" "Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!" Spike shouted. Just then, a cyan blur blew past the doors and landed just by Applejack, the pages thankfully still in her saddlebag. She looked around. Applejack was here. Perfect. She never really expected Twilight and Spike to be here either, though. But, she shrugged off the thought. This couldn't wait any longer. "You guys are not gonna believe this!" She announced. "But, I just found out that Applejack is Cursive Writer!" Author's Note Short, I know, but I got caught up with a lot of stuff. But, finally! Here you go! Now, to work on my newest story, which should hopefully be out very soon!.
Along For The Ride“Twilight! I’m heading out!” said Spike, standing next to the opened front door with a bag strapped to his back. Twilight stood over the balcony. “Where are you-Oh!” she exclaimed, the answer finally dawning on her. “I almost forgot. The Canterlot Library has that book I need.” Spike simply nodded and smiled back at her. The unicorn’s face grew into a worried expression. “Oh, I wish Princess Celestia wasn’t sick. Otherwise, the royal guards could just bring it to us. They wouldn't have to tend to her, and you wouldn't have to-" “Twilight, I’ll be fine,” Spike reassured. “Trust me.” “You’re sure you don’t want me to go with you?” “Well, I do need time to myself once in a while.” “Er, yeah sure. But, I mean, it could be dangerous out there by yourself and…” “Twi,” Spike said sternly. Twilight sighed and let her worry fade away. She looked back at Spike, this time with a smile. “Thank you, Spike. I appreciate it.” She wrapped her hoof around Spike and pulled him into a heartwarming hug. Spike willingly accepted this and hugged her back before he left out the door. “Please be safe.” *** The barn was filled with absolute silence. Awkward silence, at that. Rainbow and Applejack just stared at each other while Twilight and Spike were just left speechless. It was hard to tell if tension had settled in, then again it’s hard to tell whenever Rainbow was angry or excited about all this. “It’s right here!” She showed the pages held between her teeth. Spike gulped as his eyes twitched. Part of him wanted to just grab those pages and run like a bat out of Tartarus, but he knew better than that. Twilight, however, just kept her mouth shut, trying her best to not get roped up into any more of this. All she wanted was to go home with Spike and leave this whole mess behind her. Meanwhile, Rainbow held a smile that claimed that she was totally right about everything. She looked around in hopes of the others backing up her claims. All she got in return were blank stares and a shaking Spike. Rainbow's attention was more focused on Spike than anyone else in the room. “You’re looking pretty tense there, Spike," she said, with a raised eyebrow. "You okay?" Spike clenched his fists and stared hard at the ground while Rainbow went off on how she believed Applejack was the acclaimed author. His mind fumbled around on what to do next as he started shaking uncontrollably. Nobody, let alone Spike, could have predicted how this situation could have gotten so out of hand so quickly. He suddenly decided to give in to his desire. His desire to run. It wasn't the best plan to do, but he couldn't have thought of any other way. Things were deteriorating fast and he had to act quickly. With very little of his courage mustered, he ran up to Rainbow and snatched the papers from her and dashed out the barn door. "Spike!" Twilight yelled, but he didn't stop. He just kept on running as far as his tiny dragon legs could. Rainbow Dash turned back toward the other mares. "Jeez, what the heck was his problem?" Her eyes suddenly widened as she looked onto Twilight with shock. "Wait, don't tell me-" "Rainbow, now's not a good time," stated Applejack. "Well, Twilight?" She said, her worried eyes looking over to Twilight as well. "Aren't we gonna go after him?" Twilight shook her head as she started to head out. "What?" Rainbow said. "Why not?" "Because I promised Spike that I'd keep this a secret for as long as he needed and, well, look where that got us." She started looking down at the hay under her feet. "I just can't help but feel that I let him down." Twilight was suddenly interrupted by Applejack's hoof wrapped around her. "Now, don't you worry your little head about it," she said softly in a comforting tone. "This is my fault too, you know." "Yeah, since you kinda broke into her house..." "Rainbow!" "I know, I know. I guess I had a part to play in this too." Said Dash, rubbing the back of her neck. A smile started to grow on Twilight's face, causing the others to smile in return. "Right, then," said Applejack. "Let's go find Spike and see if we can't explain ourselves." "Yeah, but where do we find him?" Rainbow asked. Twilight rose her head. "I think I might know where." *** Around Noon, Spike was ready to leave Canterlot's greatest library with Twilight's book under his arm, but was stopped by an overwhelming sensation of nostalgia. He fondly remembered his and Twilight's frequent visits and extremely long stays. It was rather hard to believe it had been years since they left. He could still remember where everything was, every nook and cranny, like the back of his hand. He started to head for the door, until his attention forced him to stop once more. Over yonder, a book, a lone book, lying there on the floor. No one had bothered to pick it up, and he knew he couldn't just let it sit there. Perhaps a little bit of Twilight had rubbed off on him. He picked up the book and took a look at it's cover. From The Bottom Of My Heart by Ancient Typewriter. Spike immediately knew what this was. It was one of those icky romance books Twilight would always read and swoon over. He had no interest in this, none in the slightest. But he didn't put it back on the shelf. In fact, he just sat there, looking at it. On the back, a monochrome picture of a rather old stallion, with a long beard and round eyeglasses. It was rather hard for him to believe that a stallion could write something this mushy. But, he still sat there, looking at it. Something kept pulling his interest in more and more. He thought that maybe he was a bit too prejudiced by this sort of thing. Perhaps, he could learn a thing or two and get a marefriend of his own. He opened it up and started reading. By the time he had stopped, the moon was already up long enough. Spike grabbed his book along with the one Twilight wanted and began to head off. But he felt something. It didn't feel like hunger, even though he hasn't eaten. He didn't want to say it was sadness either. Some sort of warmth he had gotten from reading that book had gotten to him. He may had even let a tear escape from his eye. Spike hated to admit it, but he felt touched. Other books he read got him pumped up with excitement and cheer. This one made him feel more down to earth, calm, and collected. He started to hit the road, but ran into a sickly looking Princess Celestia. "Uh, y-your majesty!" he stammered as he bowed. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" "Oh, no. *achoo* *sniff*" said Celestia. Her voice was rather hoarse and low. "I thought I'd just *achoo* *sniff* get some fresh air. Luna can make some excellent nights." Her eyes veered towards Spike's books. "Oh, I see that you're here for Twilight's new book!" "Oh, uh, yeah," He said, attempting to hide the other book behind him. "I got it. Right here." he smiled nervously. "Well, I'll *achoo* *sniff* let you be on your *achoo* *sniff* way." "Right, thanks. Uh, get better!" He waved as the both of them started on their separate ways. "Oh and Spike?" Celestia spoke. Spike immediately turned around, again hiding the other book behind his back. "Y-Yeah?" "You know, *achoo* *sniff* you do have a very excellent talent in writing..." she winked as she headed off. Spike stood there, a little confused by what she meant. He then walked home, staring at Ancient Typewriter's book. An idea started to form in his head. *** Spike sat on the edge of the Ponyville bridge. The same bridge where he had earned Rarity's second kiss. He skimmed through the papers in his hand, realizing he had only gotten ten pages done. The sun had began to set as he started writing more, adding in annotations to what he thought should be revised later. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but let his mind wander. He continuously thought about how he was going to explain this one to the two mares that recently found his story. "Spike?" His head perked up and turned to his left. It was Twilight, with a very worried look on her face. Spike got back up on his own two feet and jumped back down on to the bridge. "Twilight? What are you doing here?" Twilight giggled for a bit. "Oh, Spike. You always came here whenever you were troubled about something. Remember? And then-" "And then, you would always find me and take me home. Yeah, I know." She sighed as she got closer to him. "Spike, I realize how much this means to you. I thought I could help keep this a secret, but obviously I couldn't." Spike couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Heh, yeah, well, not from a lack of trying though." "Spike, listen. I'd understand if you needed a more quieter place to work. I could get you a hotel room and-" "Twilight, that's...not really necessary." "Why not?" "Because as much as I love writing, I love writing at home. With you and everyone else." Twilight comforted Spike with a hug, more genuine than the ones before. "You still wanna keep this a secret?" she asked. "Yeah, but let's try to keep the whole town from knowing before I even finish the first draft, alright?" "Agreed!" Spike heard two more voices in unison. He turned to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash walking up behind Twilight. He was left a bit confused by their sudden entrance. "We'd just like to apologize too," Applejack explained. "Y'know, for-" "For breaking into our house?" Spike added. "Okay, can we not bring that up?!" Applejack's voice rose. "That was stupid, Ah know." Rainbow put her hoof on Spike's shoulder. "Don't worry, little guy. We'll do our best to keep your secret a...well, a secret." "C'mon, guys," said Twilight. "It's getting late. We should start heading home." "Right, catch you guys tomorrow!" Rainbow blasted off and soared through the air. "Yeah, Ah suppose ah should get going too." Applejack opened her mouth but then paused. "Er, never mind." She then left in quite a hurry. "What was that all about?" Spike wondered. "Eh, who knows. Come on, let's get going." Spike let a sigh of relief escape him. He was rather glad that this mess was finally over. He could finally sleep and let the present become the past. *** A few days after Spike's journey to and from the library, the clock struck midnight. Twilight slept on her bed peacefully, unknowingly. Spike sat at Twilight's desk, quill in hand and a sheet of paper in front of him. All that was left was where to start. He had a million ideas for a story in his head, but didn't know which one to start with. But he needed a name. He couldn't let the others know. Not now, anyway. He had to think of something good. Something that sounded pony-like. He looked at the bookshelves with dozens of pony names. Ancient Typewriter. Final Draft. Something along those lines. Ink Writer. Cursive Words. Something popped. It was perfect. He started to write furiously. Tears and Smiles: Beloved Misery by Cursive Writer It was perfect. *** The next day, a knock heard on the door was enough to awake Spike. His eyes opened groggily as he checked the clock hanging on the wall. 11:30. A bit later than the time Spike usually woke up but it wasn't enough to delay his duties as assistant. The knock was heard again, this time a bit harder. "Spike!" Twilight yelled. "Could you get the door, please? I'm kinda busy!" "Yeah, yeah," he said as he got up from his basket slowly. "I'm on it." He rubbed his eyes on his way downstairs. By the time he reached the ground floor, he was awake enough to start the day. He opened the door to reveal Applejack. "Oh, hey, Applejack. What's up?" "Oh, uh, Spike! Um, nothing much, y'know. Ah was, uh, just wondering..." She bit her lower lip as her eyes darted from one thing to the other. She rubbed her forehoof quite often at a slow pace as she stuttered and fumbled with her words. "Ah just, Ah still felt kinda bad for what Ah did the other day, and Ah've been meaning to ask ya yesterday, but Ah...kinda panicked..." "Okay...?" Spike said, wondering what could possibly be on her mind. "And Ah was just wondering...if...Ah could..." She paused for a good couple of seconds. "If you could what?" "Ah was just wondering if Ah could...take ya out to dinner?" Author's Note TEN THOUUUUSSAANND YEARS ...can give you such a crick in the neck. Yes, I open up a long awaited update with an Aladdin reference. What, you wanna fight about it? Holy crap, this took longer than it should have. I was gonna have it done by October, but College. Then I was gonna have it done in December, but College. Then by the end of January, but...y'know. But finally, here it is. And just in time for Valentine's Day. How about that. I can't promise that I won't let a hiatus this long happen again, but I'll try my best to keep the story going. But for some good news, the story isn't dead. I have some more chapters planned out and am currently trying to figure out the ending. So, rejoice! Also, there may or may not be some rewrites of some past chapters. I'll just have to wait and see on that one. That's all for now! Catch you guys soon! Oh, and happy 1 year anniversary of this story, guys.
