Twilight's number one assistant. Spike was always keen on that title, ready to assist his purple unicorn buddy whenever she needed help. Today, however, he was starting to regret that decision.
"C'mon, Twi... You know I'm always going to be there for you, but is this really necessary?"
The purple unicorn flicked her ears and glanced up from the page she was writing on. "Of course, Spike! I've been working on this spell for weeks, but nopony has wanted to help me test it! I tried to avoid asking you after what happened last time, but it seems my efforts to do so were futile."
Spike frowned. "Why do you even have use for this spell in the first place? Isn't there a love potion you could just use instead?"
Twilight sighed. "It's not a potion, Spike. It's a poison that renders both ponies completely incapable of doing their jobs. I want to create a spell that will help ponies become friends easier without needing to fall in love."
"What's the need for that...?" Spike frowned.
"Well... I'm not sure, actually. It'd probably be more of an emergency spell than anything else. I wouldn't necessarily consider it "manipulation", but the spell does mess with a ponies' mind a bit." The purple unicorn smiled as she turned around to face her assistant. "Are you ready?"
"...No."
"Oh, come on, Spike! It won't hurt, you have to trust me on this! I've done all the calculations ready for the spell. All that's left is to set your mind to the pony I want you to become friends with!"
"Who would that be...?"
The purple unicorn put a hoof to her muzzle and thought for a moment. "Hmm... How about Rainbow Dash? You don't talk to her as much as our other friends."
"Uh... All right. I'm trusting you on this, Twilight. Please, don't mess anything up."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle! I always find a way to fix my mistakes!" Twilight replied as she rolled her eyes.
Rainbow Dash sighed happily as she landed on a fluffy white cloud. "After a long day of work, it sure is nice to relax..."
The rainbowed-maned Pegasus laid down to bask in the sun for a bit, completely oblivious to the world around her. She let out a small yawn as the sun's warmth began to cause her to become drowsy. She laid her head down on the cloud and yawned again. "Mmm... One nap couldn't hurt..." she murmured as she closed her magenta eyes.
"Rainbow Dash!" a voice yelled at her from below.
The Pegasus jolted upwards and sighed. "Is that Pinkie Pie...?" she grunted as she rolled over to the edge of the cloud. She peered below to see a purple and green baby dragon giving her a ridiculous grin. "Spike...?"
"Hey! Rainbow!" he hollered again as he waved a claw at her.
Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrows as she hopped off of the cloud and gently floated down to the ground. She titled her head in confusion as she landed in front of her friend. "Uh, hey Spike."
"Rainbow Dash! I got you something!" the dragon replied, the smile never leaving his face. It was at that moment Rainbow had noticed that one of Spike's claws had been hidden behind his back.
"What is it?" she asked, slightly excited to be receiving a gift. On any other circumstance, she would have been ecstatic to be getting something, but the rainbow-maned pony had felt that something was off about her friend.
Spike whipped the claw that was hiding behind his back and presented the mare with a small, blue box wrapped with a red ribbon. Rainbow Dash blinked at it for a few moments, before grabbing it with her hooves. She untied the ribbon with her mouth and flipped open the box with the tip of her nose. Her eyes went wide when she saw what was in the box. It was a pin, roughly the size of a bit. The pin was shaped like a lightning bolt, and had all seven colors of the rainbow on it.
"Whoa, Spike... This looks... expensive." The Pegasus frowned as she picked up the pin, noticing how it sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. "...Really expensive."
"Yeah, you could say that." he replied. "Nothing is too expensive for friendship, though!"
"Yeah, but..." Rainbow continued to stare at it. The Pegasus had only ever seen Spike buy these kind of things for Rarity, and even that was exceptionally rare. It took Spike months of saving to buy something like this, so why would he choose to spend it on her? Granted, Rainbow loved the gift. It represented everything about her, and it had her favorite colors on it. But... Why her? Spike barely talked to her, and Rainbow knew Rarity would be head-over-hooves for a gift like this.
"...Why would you buy me something like this? I thought... I thought you said you were going to buy Rarity a purple diamond pin."
"Well... she's a good friend and all, but not as good as you..."
Rainbow Dash thought she saw Spike blush, but decided to ignore it. "Uh... That's awfully nice of you, Spike... But we don't really talk to each other that much, y'know? I feel like you could've spent your bits on somepony you talk to more, like Rarity or Fluttershy."
"I would, but... I only have so many bits, Dash. I wanted to get something for you," Spike replied with a small smile.
"But...why?" Rainbow Dash asked again. Forming words wasn't exactly easy for her at the moment, and the fact that she managed to say something to respond to what Spike was saying truly was a miracle.
"Because..." Spike closed his eyes and swallowed, a slight blush appearing on his face. "...Because I love you."
The Pegasus' eyes widened as she gave him a dumbfounded look, unsure if she had actually heard him clearly. "...What?"
"I... like you, Dashie..."
Rainbow Dash gasped as she took a few steps away from her friend. What did he just say? Was she hearing things, or did he seriously just confess his feelings to her? "Uh... I think you've got the wrong mare, Spike... Did you hit your head or s-something? I... I remember you had the biggest crush on Rarity yesterday."
"Yeah, but... We both know she'd never love me back. I just had a crush on her to fill the void in my life. I... felt like something was missing from my life, so I put Rarity there in hopes I wouldn't feel as lonely. But... I knew I was wrong. The thing I was looking for was right in front of me this entire time! I can't believe I ignored you for so long, Dash... The moment I realized this was the moment I realized I had to tell you..." he scratched the back of his head and blushed.
"I... uh... haha... W-when did you realize this?" Rainbow managed to stutter out. The Pegasus was never one to be flustered, but this... This was just ridiculous, even by her standards. Spike wasn't one to exactly change over night, unless it involved hoarding a bunch of stuff from everypony in town.
"Well... it was sometime this morning. I was helping Twilight with something, when it finally hit me! I quickly ran out of the library and hopped on the next train to Canterlot to get you that gift." he smiled proudly at her, like his thoughts were some kind of accomplishment.
Rainbow Dash didn't understand. Why would Spike suddenly - Wait a minute. "...Did you say you were helping Twilight with something?"
Spike nodded. "Yeah, but I can't remember what. My thoughts got clouded with images of you."
"...That's... sweet...?" she choked out. Something told her Twilight was behind Spike's behavior. She needed to find her, and quickly. Spike was starting to get creepier by the moment, and Rainbow started to feel more uncomfortable with every passing minute.
"...Do you like me?"
Rainbow Dash blinked at Spike as his emerald eyes bore into her. He wanted her to answer at that very moment. She backed away a few more feet, before she flapped her wings and took off in the opposite direction. She knew the town was the other way, but her first goal was getting away from Spike, whatever means necessary.
"Rainbow Dash!" Spike cried out as he started running after her.
The Pegasus glanced back in panic when she heard him call her name. "Oh great..." she muttered. All her rational thoughts went out the window. Something felt seriously wrong with her. It was almost as if she wanted to go back to Spike... She shook her head as she flapped her wings harder to try to get some distance from the dragon. "Why... Why I have the urge to go back?"
"Give me a chance! Please!" she heard Spike cry out behind her.
It took all she had, but she managed out a "No!"
"Please? Just one kiss?!"
"Spike! Don't make me punch you!" she yelled back at him. The Pegasus swiveled her head back so she could see where she was going, and she saw Sweet Apple Acres in the distance. She made a sharp turn, and headed towards the farm, hoping to lose her pursuer there.
Applejack tipped her hat at her older brother and smiled. "Well, it took some effort, but ah think we got Applebuck season wrapped up!"
Big McIntosh nodded solemnly. "Eeyup."
The orange earth pony whipped her head towards the southern orchards and frowned. The trees started to shake violently by some sort of strange wind coming from that direction. "What in tarnation?"
Her hat flew off of her head as a speedy blue Pegasus landed near them. She blinked in confusion, before taking a step towards her the intruder. "Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?"
"Spike... gift... loves me... chasing... help." she panted.
"Ah'm sorry... What did ya say?" Applejack asked. She glanced at her brother, who simply shrugged at the situation. The orange mare suddenly heard a voice call the Pegasus' name off in the distance, and in response, Rainbow Dash quickly shot back up into the sky.
"Leave me alone!" she cried as she flew off. Applejack rubbed the back of her head as a purple blur went past her eyesight.
"...What just happened?"
Twilight Sparkle frowned as she paced around the library. Where was Spike? He had suddenly left as soon as she had casted the spell, but that was hours ago. Did she perform the spell incorrectly? Had she put both Spike and Rainbow Dash in danger? She honestly didn't know, because the one creature in Equestria that could tell her wasn't there.
She heard shouting outside, but simply decided to ignore it. Ponyville could become rather noisy with Pinkie Pie being a resident, so it was better not to question those kinds of things. She opened one of the books she had been studying, when something crashed into her door. Loudly. After getting over her initial shock, she ran towards the door and opened it, to see a disheveled Rainbow Dash on the other side.
"Twilight... you gotta help me!" Rainbow Dash cried as she grabbed the purple unicorn's shoulders with her hooves.
Twilight gently pushed Rainbow Dash off of her and gave her worried friend a slight frown. "What's wrong, Rainbow...?
"...It's Spike! He's... horrible!" she shouted.
Twilight covered her ears for a moment, before opening her eyes again to look at her friend. "What did he do to you?"
"He bought me this really cool gift, right? Then he said he loved me, and started to act really weird! And then, for some reason, I started to love him so I flew away! What's wrong with him, Twilight? What's wrong with me?! Why would I love Spike for no reason? That doesn't make any sense! I barely talk to him! You don't love someone you barely talk to, it doesn't work like that!"
"Whoa, Rainbow! Calm down..." Twilight frowned. "...I think I know what the problem is."
"So, it took me a while, but I finally figured out how to reverse this problem," Twilight said as she glanced at Rainbow Dash.
The Pegasus smiled and fluttered her wings. "That's great! The sooner you can fix our minds, the better..." she glanced over to Spike, who had been tied to a chair. "...Good call tying him up, by the way."
"Well, that was the best solution at the time. I don't usually like to resolve things with force like this, though." she sighed dejectedly. "Spike is never going to want to help me with a spell again after we get this sorted out."
"Well, I wouldn't say that... Everything seems to be in place, and he doesn't have any injuries on him. The only loss he's going to have is all those bits he spent trying to win my affections..." Rainbow Dash frowned. "I think I'm going to return, it though. It'd be unfair on my part if I kept it when he bought it unwillingly."
"It seems I left out a few things from the spell, and it transferred all his emotions directly towards you. Instead of wanting to be better friends with you, he wanted to go out on a date with you..." The unicorn frowned. "Apparently, the spell also has an effect on the pony in mind when the pony under the spell's influence gets near them. That's the only explanation I can get from you suddenly having feelings for Spike for no reason."
Rainbow Dash rubbed her front-left hoof against her front-right hoof with a slight blush. "C-could you just get these thoughts out of my head? They're starting to embarrass me..."
"Sure. Just hold still for a moment so I can cast the reverse spell correctly."
The Pegasus nodded as her gaze fell over to Spike, who was still struggling to get loose from the ropes that bound him to the chair. Twilight closed her purple eyes in concentration, as a magenta glow enveloped her horn. Rainbow Dash glanced down at her hooves as the glow began to encase her and Spike, completely blinding her to what Twilight was doing. A white flash appeared in front of her eyes, before it faded away. She blinked her eyes multiple times as the library came back into her vision.
She took a deep breath and smiled, relieved that her thoughts had returned back to normal.
"Uh... guys? Why am I tied up?" Spike asked. Both girls turned their heads towards Spike and giggled, before Twilight used her magic to untie him. Spike hopped off of the chair and rubbed his wrists, before he walked up to Twilight with a frown.
"...Something happened, didn't it?"
"Things didn't go as planned, Spike... You fell head-over-heels in love with Rainbow Dash..." Twilight rubbed her forehead with a single hoof. "So much, in fact, that you started chasing her when she ran away..."
"...I... what?" Spike found his face beginning to heat up, before he looked at his Pegasus friend worriedly. "Oh gosh, Rainbow! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Rainbow put a hoof on Spike's shoulder and grinned. "Hey, it's no problem! It's actually Twilight's fault, not yours!"
Twilight flattened her ears against her head as her friends laughed. "Aha... I'm really sorry, Spike... I just... I really wanted the spell to work correctly. You trusted me, and I let you down."
Spike rolled his eyes. "You don't remember what I said, do you? I said I trusted you not to hurt me. I never said anything about making me fall in love with somepony."
"Does that mean you're not mad at me...?"
"Nah. If Rainbow Dash is cool with it, then so am I." he flashed both of the mares a smile.
Rainbow Dash flew over Ponyville, in search of a certain dragon. In her hooves she carried a powder blue box - the very same box Spike had given her a few days ago. She had been hesitant to return it to him, but she figured she'd had to tell him before he figured it out for himself.
Her magenta eyes were quick, looking in every spot they could find in Ponyville. Something in the corner of her eyes caught her attention, and she quickly turned her head to see what it was. There was Spike, taking a stroll through the town while carrying what looked to be a scroll. The Pegasus quickly flew down behind him and took a deep breath. "...Hey Spike."
The baby dragon stopped dead in his tracks as he turned around to see who the pony behind him was. "Oh, Rainbow! You startled me. For a moment, I thought you were somepony else." he chuckled. "What's up?"
She landed on the ground and sighed. "...I'm here to return this to you."
Spike raised his eyebrows in confusion as she hoofed over the small box. "Err... what's this?"
"You bought it for me when you were... in love with me." she frowned. "I'm giving it back to you because I shouldn't keep it. You didn't even know you bought it until now."
Spike opened the box and glanced at the pin in it with a small frown. "..Huh."
Rainbow Dash stood there awkwardly as Spike stared at the fancy pin inside the box. She averted her gaze to anything that wasn't Spike as she tried to ignore the silence that had befallen between them.
Finally, after a few minutes, Spike spoke up. "Keep it."
Rainbow Dash's head turned towards Spike again, her eyes wide with shock. "...What?"
Spike closed his eyes and sighed. "You can keep it, Rainbow."
"B-but why? Wouldn't you rather use the bits to get something for somepony else?"
Spike shook his head and smiled as he placed the box back into the hooves of the cyan Pegasus. "That's the thing, Dash. I've bought gifts for all of my friends. Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy... But never you. Isn't that kind of selfish that everypony else gets something but you? You are my friend, after all, and I think it's fair that you get something for being awesome."
"I..." the Pegasus continued to stare at him.
"I know I said I was saving up to buy something expensive for Rarity, but, after all that's happened, I think Rarity would want you to have it, too."
"Spike... thank you." Rainbow Dash smiled at her friend.
He moved his claw away from the box and nodded. "Anyway, I gotta go. Twilight will have a fit if I don't return with this scroll before nightfall."
The Pegasus nodded with an understanding smile as she hugged the tiny box to her torso. "I know how Twilight can be. Good luck."
"Bye Dash!" the dragon hollered as he began to run towards the library.
Rainbow Dash saluted Spike, before flapping her wings and flying off towards her home.