Day Seven Spwinkity

"You're just nervous is all." said Fluttershy. "Just think. What are you going to do about Spike?"

"Well…" said Rarity. "I could ask him if he wanted to go out again."

"No!" Said Fluttershy, starting to lose her patience. "You have to decide right now! Do you really like Spike? Not just as a friend, but more than that!"

"I suppose." said Rarity to her hooves.

"That's not good enough!" Said Fluttershy.

"I do! I do!" Said Rarity.

"Well than, why don't you go to him right now and ask him if he would like to go out on a couple of dates and then if he–"

"But I can't!" Said Rarity, and as she said it out loud she felt her spirits sink still further.

"Why not?" Asked Fluttershy.

"Because what would the others say?"

"Do you really think that Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie or I would get mad at you for simply liking a boy?" Asked Fluttershy, smiling.

"What if it interfered with Twilight's research? What if somepony else likes Spike? What if… what if…" And then Rarity said the real problem that had scared her most, the real reason she was stalling. "What if it ruins our friendship? What if we broke up on bad terms and couldn't stand to look at each other? What if we forbid our friends from seeing the other one and it broke are group up?" There was a very silent, very long pause. "And it's not just that. It's Spike! He's not just some boy! He's our friend. He's always there for us. He's always there to help us with errands or to clean up. I don't think we could live without him!" she said. "I don't think I could live without him." She looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy was silent for a few minutes. But just when Rarity was starting to feel a little embarrassed and thought she wouldn't answer, she did.

"Well in all my life I've never heard such excuses!"

"What? Excuses?" Spluttered Rarity affronted.

"Yes excuses! Nothing you've told me even comes close to a reason to not ask out Spike! No one is going to judge you if you ask out Spike! I'm sure Owlowiscious will help Twilight if Spike has to leave for the day to spend time with you! When has Twilight Sparkle ever been unreasonable? If you were to break up on bad terms and don't want your friends seeing the other than we would slap the sense back in you until you two started to forgive each other! And if somepony else liked Spike than they're too late because you like him and he likes you even if you aren't going to admit it to yourself!"

A stunned silence followed the outburst. Fluttershy was breathing heavily. Rarity was pondering silently.

"Do you… do you… really think he likes me?" Rarity asked slowly. Fluttershy slapped her hoof to her face. "I mean I know he likes me!" Said Rarity quickly, scared of another outburst. "But does he really like me enough to want to be in a relationship?"

"Well the only dragon who could answer that is Spike. So why not go ask him?" Said Fluttershy gently. Rarity open her mouth, closed it, and smiled.

"Thanks Fluttershy."

"You're welcome." said Fluttershy softly. They hugged, then Rarity turned and left the cottage.

Rarity began to make her way back to town.

I knew I could count on Fluttershy to set me straight.

She had awoken that morning with a rock in her stomach at the thought of what had happen the previous night. She hated herself for having to crush Spike like that but had felt it was the only way she could save their friendship. She had been so down that she had almost forgotten she had promised Fluttershy that she would pop up to her cottage and give her an update on how Opal was doing. She dragged herself wearily to the cottage and forced a smile. She had told Fluttershy everything and assured her that there was nothing to worry about. But Fluttershy didn't get her cutiemark in caring for nothing. She could tell when someone was holding something back. She asked if anything was wrong. Rarity made it halfway through the third word when she broke down. She told Fluttershy everything. Fluttershy had listened patiently and did not pass any judgement.

Well, until the end anyway. But I deserved it. How am I going to make this right?

Spike got out of bed with a moan. He felt worse than he could ever remember feeling in his life. Again. He wanted to burrow under Twilight's library and never see or be seen by anyone ever again. After about ten minutes of struggling he managed to bring himself to a sitting position. After a little more coaxing he dragged himself to the stairs and made his way down. He saw that Twilight was busy writing on a piece of paper. She looked up and to Spike's surprise she was smiling. Not crazy, twitching, smiling. Just smiling. Her mane was combed, her horn wasn't sparking, and her eyes weren't bloodshot.

"Did you...sleep?" Asked Spike.

"Yes, which is more than I can say for you." Said Twilight with her eyebrows raised, looking Spike up and down. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing." Said Spike.

"That's a lot of bags under your eyes for nothing." Said Twilight.

"I said nothing happened and I meant it okay?" Said Spike angrily. His nostrils flared, and a column of smoke shot out at Twilight. Twilight ducked and the fire only just missed her. She looked at Spike. Spike was taken aback. She looked nervous, even fearful. Spike shook his head and forced himself to calm down. "Sorry." He said. She nodded slowly and got back up on her hooves. "Something did happen last night." He said quietly.

"Tell me Spike."

"I had a picnic with Rarity." He said. Twilight smiled knowingly but didn't say anything. "We had a great time, but at the end we decided that we should just be friends." He said. Twilight's smile faltered.

"But I thought you said you both had a great time. That doesn't make any sense."

"You're telling me." said Spike as he sat sadly on the floor. "Speaking of not making sense I see you're doing better. Find the goblin yet?"

Twilight gave him an annoyed look. "Very funny Spike. For your information I found out that there was no imp."

"No kidding." Said Spike grumpily.