A 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.