Gem Girls
Chapter 1
Spike sighed as he made his way home. He had just spent one of the few days off that Twilight gave him helping Rarity dig up gems. After a long day of back breaking labor, all his trouble had earned was a compliment and a couple of measly gems. He looked at the bag of gems in his hands with disappointment. Spike was hoping for something more as he worked his butt off to uncover the gems Rarity needed. This wasn't the first time either. He had been working extra hard lately in order to impress the unicorn and found all his efforts were met with no meaningful progress towards making Rarity see him as anything more than a friend.
"I should just face facts. Rarity's just not interested in me. I could work until my entire body was sore and it'd be all for nothing." Spike said kicking the ground as walked.
"You're such a gentleman, Spike." He said mockingly. Those were the words she sent Spike home with that day. It was what she always said when Spike did something nice for her. He remembered being so happy when she said those words a long time ago. Now they just reminded him that he was no closer to Rarity when he first came to Ponyville. He looked up and spotted a small rock on the ground. He walked quickly up to the rock and unloaded his frustration by giving a good kick sending his target flying into the air. He smiled as he watched the rock sail through the sky. His pride quickly dissipated as he realized his rock was headed straight for the back of some innocent pony's head.
"Watch out!" he cried in vain, but it was too late as the rock hit her in the back of the head.
"Ow!" Apple Bloom shouted. She turned around angrily and saw Spike running up to apologize.
"I'm sorry, Apple Bloom. I didn't mean to hit anyone." Spike said apologetically, but the earth pony wasn't about to let him off that easy.
"Well you did! Why in the hay are you throwing rocks for anyway?" Apple Bloom said angrily.
Spike looked around for something to appease the angry pony in front of him. He looked at his hand and realized he could probably give her one of his gems. He hurriedly reached into the bag and pulled out a brilliant amber gem.
"Here take this as an apology." He said handing it to Apple Bloom who was entranced by the gem's beauty.
"I can't take that, Spike. It's too much." Apple Bloom said pushing the gem away.
" Please, I insist. Take it. Besides it looks like it was made for you." Spike said trying to convince her to take it.
"What do you mean?" Apple Bloom asked curiously.
"It kind of matches your eyes." Spike said. He was internally gagging at how cheesy the line was, but it seemed to work as Apple Bloom took the gem from the dragon and smiled.
"I don't know what to say, Spike." She said blushing as she held the gem in her hooves. Spike didn't notice this as he decided now was an excellent time to make his escape.
"Don't mention it." Spike said nonchalantly as he continued on his way. He wiped his brow as he made his way back to the library. He hated to admit it but Rarity's gems saved from what could have been a complete disaster. He had walked for awhile when he decided to see how many he had left. He looked inside the bag and realized that there were only two gems left. He looked up from his task to find himself on a collision course with another pony. Spike walked straight into the pony knocking her to the ground as he managed to catch himself.
"Hey, watch where you going!" Scootaloo said scolding the dragon for his carelessness.
"Sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. Here I'll help you up." Spike offered his hand helping the orange pegasus off the ground. He noticed an old white headband resting on the ground next to her.
"Oh no! Where is it?" Scootaloo said searching frantically.
"You mean this thing?" Spike said. As he picked up the headband, Scootaloo swiped it out of his hand cradling it like it was a baby.
"Don't touch it! You already ruined it by getting it dirty." Scootaloo shouted at Spike.
"It's not that big of a deal. It's just a headband. You can wash it when you get home." Spike said not understanding her outburst.
"It is a big deal! Rainbow Dash gave it to me. I wanted to preserve it just the way she gave it to me. It's really special to me and you ruined it!" She shouted even louder causing other ponies to look at the developing scene. Spike couldn't believe his luck today. Everything seemed to be going wrong for the little dragon.
"Listen, I'm really sorry about your headband, ok? Here take this." Spike said grabbing a gem out of the bag. It was a shining purple gem that seem to glow in the setting sun.
"Spike, it's so cool. Are you sure you want to give it to me?" She asked in awe of the precious stone.
"I couldn't think of giving it to anypony else. Take it as an apology for ruining your headband. Ok?" Spike said hoping she'd accept the gift without trouble.
"Oh Spike, I'll treasure it forever." She said taking the gem from Spike holding it to her chest.
"That's great so I guess I'll see you later." Spike said making his way home. He only had one gem left and he wasn't going to lose it because he bumped into the wrong pony.
Spike was almost home just a few more steps and he could enjoy his one gem and put this awful day behind him. Just as he was reaching for the door he heard a soft whimpering noise coming from somewhere around the library. He tried to ignore it. He knew nothing good could come of checking on this mystery noise and he didn't need anymore negativity today. Spike reached for the door handle but couldn't bring himself to leave the noise alone as he turned around to check on the source of the disturbance.
He walked away from the door a little further down the street to find a little white unicorn sitting on a bench crying softly to herself.
"Sweetie Belle? What's wrong?" Spike asked reluctantly.
"I dropped my special one of a kind box of chocolate that Rarity gave me. I was really looking forward to eating them" She said wiping her eyes.
"I bet they meant a lot to you and there's no way you'll get over it if we talk to you about it." Spike said flatly. He knew what he had to do to make this right. He didn't want to do it, but he reached into his bag and pulled out his last gem. It was a gleaming green jewel. Spike looked at it and realized that it was the last reward he had from what was absolutely terrible day. He didn't want to give it away, but he couldn't sleep if he just left without trying to cheer up Sweetie Belle.
"Oooh, it's so pretty." Sweetie Belle said hypnotized by the gem. Spike sighed.
"Do you want it?" Spike said already knowing the answer.
"You mean I can have this beautiful gem?" Sweetie Belle asked innocently.
"That's what I said." Spike said pushing the gem on Sweetie Belle.
"Wow! Spike, you've made me the happiest girl in the world." She said bouncing up and down.
"Yeah, I'm really tired so I'm going to go home. Bye." Spike said yawning as he made his way home clutching an empty bag.
He walked into the library and threw the empty bag on the table as he walked past Twilight. She looked up from her studies to see the young dragon walking up the stairs.
"Hey, Spike. How was your day with Rarity?" Twilight said cheerfully.
"I actually learned something very important, Twilight." Spike said holding his chest out.
"What's that?" Twilight said eager to hear what her assistant had to say.
"Love is for chumps." Spike said sitting on the steps and crossing his arms.
"I take it things with Rarity didn't go well." Twilight said.
"You were right all along, Twi. I've been wasting my time going after Rarity. All that time wasted chasing after something I could never have." Spike said looking down.
"Just because things didn't work out with Rarity doesn't mean you should give up on love. There maybe someone out there for you right under your nose." Twilight said trying to cheer Spike up.
"Yeah, I guess." Spike said unenthusiastically as he got up and walked to his basket.
"You'll see, Spike. I am absolut/ely positive there's a girl out there just waiting for a guy like you." She shouted up the staircase.
"Whatever. I'm done with love. It's nothing but trouble." Spike said under his breath as he crawled into his basket and fell asleep. The young dragon tried to purge his mind of the white unicorn who had once captured his heart as he slept that night.
Spike managed to pull himself out of bed the next morning. He was determined to move on with his life as he made his way downstairs to start breakfast. Twilight didn't wake up before him so that meant she had pulled another all night study session which meant he had to prepare breakfast for the both of them. Spike was starting to prepare breakfast when he heard someone knocking at the door.
Spike put on a few pieces of toast before he ran to the door. It was probably Applejack making her weekly delivery of apples to the library. The knocking grew a little impatient as Spike walked to the door and reached the handle.
"Geez, I'm coming already." Spike said opening the door getting a hoof to the nose for his trouble.
"I'm sorry, Spike. Are you okay?" Apple Bloom said trying to alleviate the situation.
"Besides the fact you knocked on my face, I'm fine." Spike said holding his nose.
"Sit down and I'll take a look at it." Apple Bloom said following Spike inside the library. The dragon sat down at the kitchen table. He noticed that the filly was carrying saddlebags full of apples on her back. She laid them on the table and proceeded to sit across from Spike moving in close to get a good look at his nose.
"Is Applejack sick or something?" Spike asked holding his head up high.
"No, I just thought I'd bring the apples for once." Apple Bloom said closely examining Spike's nose for any damage. She couldn't help but blush as his face was inches away from hers.
"That's weird. Isn't kind of early for you to be up? Applejack says you're usually sleep around this time." Spike said as Apple Bloom seem to take her time looking at his face.
"I just felt like coming here is all." Apple Bloom said nervously.
"So how is it?" Spike asked.
"How's what?" She asked blanking out for a moment.
"My nose. You hit it, remember?" Spike said puzzled by her odd behavior.
"Oh, yeah, it looks okay." Apple Bloom said.
"You don't have to keep looking at my face like that." Spike said starting to feel a little nervous.
"I-I'm sorry. I guess I got carried away." Apple Bloom said awkwardly.
"You got carried away looking at my face." Spike said making Apple Bloom turning completely red.
"Th-That's not what I-" Apple Bloom was interrupted by Spike who seemed to be sniffing the air.
"Do you smell something burning?" Spike asked. He suddenly remembered that the toast had been on way too long. He hopped out of the chair to check on the toast. "Completely burnt and there's no more bread. That's just great." Spike said as he carefully placed the ruined bread in the trash.
"Can't you just cook something else?" Apple Bloom asked.
"We don't have anymore food. I was going to get groceries after breakfast but it doesn't look like that'll happen. Twilight told to me to make groceries earlier and now she's going to blame me for this mess." Spike said sitting back at the table and resting his head on the hard wood surface.
"I might be able to whip something up." Apple Bloom said volunteering her services.
"Go ahead, but we don't have much of anything." Spike said warning her.
"Nonsense! As long as you got apples, you always got a meal. That's what Applejack says anyway. Show me what you got left. I'll show you how the Apple family makes breakfast." The filly said as the two started to cook.
Moments later
Twilight was aroused from her slumber as the smell of fresh baked apples made its way through the library. She walked downstairs anxious to find the source of the delicious treats. She stopped as she heard Spike talking animatedly downstairs. She quietly crept downstairs to find Applebloom and Spike sitting at the kitchen table in front of a loaf of warm apple bread. They seemed to be engaged in playful conversation.
"I thought you said you knew how to cook." Spike said. Despite Apple Bloom's confident attitude, it was clear that she wasn't as experienced in the kitchen as she made herself out to be.
"Quit complaining. It came out alright." Apple Bloom said pointing to the fresh baked pastry.
"If it weren't for me, you would have burned the library down. You had the oven up way too high." Spike pointed out as he cut a warm slice of bread and placed it on Apple Bloom's plate.
"I just thought it would cook faster with a little more heat." Apple Bloom explained before she started to eat.
"You don't cook that often, do you?" Spike guessed as he cut a slice for himself.
"I cooked a few times with Applejack and Pinkie Pie, but I always seemed to mess it up." Apple Bloom said laughing.
"You could have warned me before we started cooking." Spike said as the two laughed. As the laughter faded, Apple Bloom decided to take advantage of the cheery atmosphere.
"Hey, Spike. I was wondering if you're not busy. Would you want to hang out later?" She asked quietly looking down at what was left of her bread.
"Sure, I finish helping Twilight later this afternoon. I guess I could hang out with you around then." Spike said nonchalantly.
"That's great! I'll stop by after school, ok?" Apple Bloom said excitedly.
"Ok, I'll see you later," Spike said as Apple Bloom left the library.
"Bye, Spike." Apple Bloom said. As she finished her bread and prepared to leave, she gave the dragon a quick hug and made her way to school.
Twilight, who had been spying for sometime, finally decided to reveal herself as she entered the kitchen and sat down at the table. She couldn't help but smile at her assistant.
"Hey, Twilight. What are you so happy about?" Spike asked as he noticed the weird smile on Twilight's face.
"Because one of my friends is going on a date." Twilight said as she took a slice of apple bread.
"Really? Who?" Spike asked.
"Oh come on, Spike. You don't have to hide it from me. I saw everything so just admit it." She said playfully. Spike just looked more confused.
"What are you talking about, Twilight?" Spike asked. Twilight's expression changed from happy to annoyed then back to happy.
"I get it now. You're too embarrassed to admit I was right about love and now you're pretending you don't have a date with Apple Bloom. Honestly, you don't have to be so stubborn about this whole love thing?" Twilight said only to find Spike more confused than ever.
"I don't have a date with Apple Bloom. We're just hanging out later as friends." Spike said.
"Really, Spike. Its so obvious that there's something between you two." Twilight said hoping Spike would stop this charade. Spike looked at Twilight like she was crazy.
"Twilight, are you feeling okay? I think you might be a bit feverish. There's nothing between me and Apple Bloom." Spike laughed at the thought. Twilight's smile dropped as she realized Spike honestly didn't know that he agreed to go on a date with Apple Bloom.
"Spike, you know that Apple Bloom was asking you out, right?" Twilight asked seriously.
"She asked me if I wanted to hang out. It's totally different from a date, Twilight." Spike said waving the whole thing away.
"And what if she thinks it's a date?" Twilight asked completely focused on Spike.
"That's impossible, Twilight. There's nothing between me and Apple Bloom. We're just friends." Spike said.
"Spike, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you just agreed to go on a date with Apple Bloom." Twilight said without a hint of humor in her voice.
"Twilight, you're making a big deal out of nothing. It's not a date." Spike said becoming slightly annoyed with her constant pushing of this dating nonsense. He had put all that stuff behind him and the fact that she was bringing it up again didn't sit right with him.
"Listen to me, Spike. Have you done or said anything that might make Apple Bloom think you might be interested in her?" Twilight asked. She had to get Spike to realize that Apple Bloom might have romantic feelings for him. It was obvious to her that Spike didn't see the signs that Apple Bloom had a crush on him. She had to get Spike to see that or else he might end up hurting Apple Bloom.
"I kicked a rock into the back of her head by accident. I was angry after leaving Rarity that day and I kicked this rock to let off some steam. I didn't think it would hit anyone though. I apologized but she was still mad so I gave her one of my gems. It was one of the good ones too. It looked so delicious." Spike said starting to drool. Twilight ignored this as her mind set to work trying to recall something similar she read on this very subject.
"Spike, I think you did more than just apologize when you gave her that gem. She might have taken the gem as a sign of love. I remember reading something recently about this somewhere. Give me a second to find the book." Twilight said jumping from the table to go after the book.
"Twilight, can we just drop this whole thing? It's all so stupid. I really don't like talking about this love stuff. I don't need you making up some imaginary pairing between me and Apple Bloom in your head." Spike said trying to get Twilight to stop pestering him. It didn't work as Twilight came back levitating open book in front of her face.
"See its right here. This is a book of local legends and customs pertaining to Ponyville. I was reading this a couple of days ago. It has an old legend about an earth pony named Rock Smash who spent his entire life searching for the perfect gem at the gem mines outside of town which used to be a mountain at the time." Twilight said.
"A mountain? There's nothing but a dirt field out there. How could an entire mountain disappear?" Spike asked.
"It didn't disappear. It was destroyed by Rock Smash. In order to find the perfect gem, he destroyed it piece by piece trying to find it. Ironically Rock Smash's special talent was smashing rocks. Shortly after finding out, he dedicated himself to finding the perfect gem by mining the mountain eventually reducing the entire thing to dust." Twilight read aloud.
"That's pretty impressive, so why was he trying to find the perfect gem?" Spike said.
"Apparently, he was trying to impress the girl of his dreams." Twilight said nervously. Spike's expression turned sour. The last thing he wanted to hear was a story about some guy wasting his time trying to impress a pony.
"So what does this have to do with me and Apple Bloom?" Spike said making his displeasure clear.
"I was getting to that actually. Rock succeeded after years of searching and proposed to his beloved who accepted. Ever since then it's been a custom in Ponyville for someone to give a gem to their beloved as a sign of love and devotion. Do you get it now, Spike? When you gave Apple Bloom that gem, she probably thought you were doing more than just apologizing." Twilight explained.
"So just because some guy gave a girl he liked a gem a long time ago. There must be something between me and Apple Bloom because I did the exact same thing. Come on, Twilight Sparkle. Let's just drop this already." Spike said mockingly.
"You need to take this serious, Spike. If you're not careful, you could end up hurting Apple Bloom." Twilight Sparkle argued.
"This is so stupid." Spike grumbled as he walked away.
"Where are you going?" Twilight shouted.
"I'm going to get groceries. We're almost out of food." Spike said angrily. As he reached for the door, he felt Twilight's magic holding him in place.
"Spike, I know this is a touchy subject, but-"
"But what, Twilight Sparkle! You're going to give me more advice about love. I guess you would know what its like to be in love considering all the experience you don't have. Why don't you just do me a favor and for once stop talking about something you don't know anything about." Spike said harshly. He felt the magic holding him in place slip away.
"Fine, I guess you should go make groceries then." Twilight said quietly. She watched as Spike let out a sigh and left the library without looking back.