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Ruby Hearts

Spike is determined to always be there for Rarity through the unexpected twists and turns of life. A collection of Sparity tales of varying subjects.

Star-crossed - Part 1: Prologue

'How could he do this?' The unicorn mare gasped for air as she pushed her hooves to carry her faster through the maze of streets of Canterlot. 'I can't leave him.' Her heart raced, pounding against her chest even faster than the sounds of her hooves on the street. The night was dark and desolate with Princess Luna occupied with the emergency along with her sister, Princess Celestia. A cold wind blew, chilling the white unicorn mare to the bone as her echoing steps led her to the gates of the castle.

"Halt! Who goes there?" The armored unicorn guards called, not recognizing the mare in the darkness. The moon was but a barely visible line of light low in the horizon and there were no stars. Celestia had just lowered the sun when the disaster struck and Luna had no time to place the moon in its proper location in the center of the night sky.

The white unicorn backed away in fright. How could she possibly begin to explain the purpose of her intrusion on royal grounds at that hour, at that frightful moment? Not that words could reach these guards anyway. The flapping of wings from above caught her attention as a pegasus arrived on the scene. "Go!" The pegasus urged.

With a gasp caught in her throat, the white unicorn dashed past the guards. They tried to stop her of course, as her behavior was quite strange to them, but the pegasus stood in their way. The clash of metal against metal rung out in the unicorn's ears as she closed her eyes tightly and dashed deep into the castle, while the pegasus provided a distraction.

"Halt! Who goes there?" Another guard bearing the shape of an earth pony covered in steel spotted the unicorn who ran madly through the deserted castle's long elegant hallways.

"I'm sorry!" The unicorn gasped as her horn glowed menacingly bright and trapped the guard in her psychic hold. She tossed him aside down adjacent stairs and scrambled to turn a corner. Her tail swung as she turned and knocked over a decorative vase. The vase shattered when it hit the marble floor, its red roses and water spilling all over the hallway. The shattering sound of glass mixed with the cling and clang of the guard that rolled down the stairs and the even more frightening sound of approaching hooves.

The hallway was blocked. The unicorn reached a screeching halt and stared at the guards in fear. Two earth ponies, a pegasus and a unicorn, with a particularly long and sharp horn, stared her down. She stepped back, but more metal clad hooves sounded off behind her. The guards' eyes glowed red, like anger, like blood, like fire. She was trapped from both sides. Tears streamed down her face, but she had not noticed when they started or even that they were there. Her chest heaved and her hooves trembled. She gritted her teeth and glared, determined not to go down without a fight as her horn glowed.

From the window, her pegasus friend entered, looking very bruised and beaten, but still able to move, if only by flying clumsily on damaged wings. The front and back legs of the pegasus were twisted at odd angles, "go!" The pegasus rammed into the guards with the unicorn following, using her magic to add force to the ramming assault of the pegasus. A spear was thrown, the pegasus took the hit.

The unicorn couldn't look back at her fallen ally. "I'll save you!" She called out desperately. "I'll save you and him; I'll make it all better!" The mindless drones that were the castle guards throttled behind her, but her destination was in sight. Her horn glowed defiantly as she prepared to break apart the seal on the door by force, yet the seal was already broken and suddenly she felt she should have known. She shut the doors behind her and tossed tables, chairs and bookshelves at them to keep the guards at bay, if only for a few short moments.

The intruder who had broken the seal was apparently no longer there. The white unicorn knew what she needed and she prayed that it had not been taken away, but where could it be? She had no time to look for it. "Celestia! Luna! Help me!" Her horn glowed as she tried to make her plea be heard, her magic causing ripples in the air around the castle.

A cry like that of a majestic bird was heard as a phoenix entered the room via the window. "Philomena!" The unicorn gasped. "Please, royal phoenix, help me find the Tome of Time."

The majestic phoenix stretched her wings and flapped them menacingly with sparks of fire threatening to burn the unicorn.

"No, please! Trust me! I want to make it better!" The unicorn pleaded. "I have to go, I must go back in time and-"

The guards broke through the barricade at the door, tossing splintered wood, books and broken furniture aside violently. The ancient phoenix used her strong flames to keep the guards out, melting their metal armor into their bodies with sickening screeches of pain.

The unicorn cringed and tried to recall that those guards were only animated dolls and not real ponies, even if they looked so very real. "Philomena, I will warn her, I will warn the princess of this danger! I'm one of the few who wasn't captured. I want to save the others!" The unicorn pleaded with the phoenix.

'The Tome of Time...' A powerful voice echoed in the unicorn's mind so strongly it made her head hurt. 'Was burned by my flame to ensure its safety. Go and warn Celestia!'

As the phoenix glowed, something unexpected happened. The pegasus that had been aiding the unicorn half crawled and half flew in a broken state, eyes glowing red, and launched at the phoenix. The great bird's extraordinary focus was broken and in a flash the spell was sloppily completed, cracking and breaking violently.

Two points of light flew over the Ponyville of the past, one towards the Crystal Empire and the other towards the Everfree Forest where they each respectively crashed.

To be Continued

xoxox xox xoxox

Star-crossed - Part 2: Date

"How do I-"

Before the dragon could finish his question, the unicorn sighed and replied, "for the millionth time, you look fine, Spike."

Spike frowned as he examined his reflection in the full length mirror in a corner of the library. He sighed hopelessly and ran his purple claws over his green spikes as if that would do anything to change their shape into something, as Rainbow Dash would say, 'about twenty percent cooler.' Letting out another deep breath, the young dragon grumbled. "That's the problem, Twilight. I don't want to look fine, I want to look handsome and dashing and I don't know how!" He looked at the purple unicorn with pleading eyes. "Will you reconsider about the mustache?"

"No," Twilight replied firmly. Her voice softened as she placed a hoof on Spike's shoulder, waiting for his downcast face to look at her before she continued. "Listen, Spike, as I have been saying all along, all you need to do is be yourself. That's who Rarity wants to see, Spike, not Spike pretending to be someone else. Besides, I don't see why you're so nervous. You've visited Rarity many times before without making such a fuss."

"But this is different!" Spike insisted with great emphasis. "This time I'm not just randomly going to show up to help Rarity with whatever she needs. This time she asked me to come and when I asked her if she needed help with a dress or something, she said no. She said she only wanted my company this evening!"

"That's all the more reason why you shouldn't be so nervous. She wants to see you, you already have that in your favor," Twilight tried to assure him. A knock on the door interrupted the purple unicorn, who magically opened it to find Rarity standing there.

"Rarity!" Spike dashed over to his beloved unicorn, greeting her with a smile. "Come in, come in, how are you? Looking forward to our..." Was it really a date? Was he allowed to call it as such?

"Date?" Rarity completed the sentence for him. "I was, and I was hoping you were too, but you are running rather late. I found it odd, as you're usually early when I call you over to help me work on my projects."

Spike's jaw dropped. "Late?" Oh, the disaster! "I'm late? Twilight, what time is it? Why didn't you remind me it was time to leave?" The hyper dragon ran around in circles around the purple unicorn as he frantically ran his claws over his spikes trying to 'fix them' somehow.

"Because you never told me at what time you were supposed to leave," Twilight replied. She picked up Spike with her levitation magic and set him down again, facing Rarity.

The young dragon bowed deeply. "I'm so, so sorry I made you wait!" His nose was nearly touching the floor.

Rarity laughed. "Alright, I'll forgive you, but don't you be late again, now, shall we go?" She glanced at Twilight with a smile, already guessing that Spike's reply would be an inevitable affirmative. "I'll try not to keep him out too late."

Twilight laughed lightly. "Take your time and have fun."

Rendered speechless by the excitement of going out on a date with Rarity, Spike followed her out of the library.

xoxox xox xoxox

Spike and Rarity walked back to the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity had a nice dinner set out. Spike acted out all that he could remember a gentlecolt should do, such as pulling out Rarity's chair and complementing her plentifully. Noting how nervous he was, Rarity smiled and reached across the table to place her hoof on his shaking claw. "Spiky, relax." Seeing Rarity's gentle sweet face made all of Spike's nervous worries melt away. "That's better, now let's enjoy our dinner, shall we?"

"Gladly!" Spike lifted the silver dome lid off his plate and found a beautifully arranged assortment of gems of many colors. "Wow, this looks amazing!"

"I found them and refined them just for you," Rarity's meal was, of course, something more suited for a pony to eat. "I hope you like them."

Making an effort to mind his manners, Spike sampled the delicious jewels, savoring each one. "This is delicious! Thank you so much, Rarity! Oh!" Spike suddenly gasped.

"What's wrong?" Rarity wondered if one of the gems was pointy or something and had hurt his mouth. She had thought she cut and smoothed them all nicely.

"I got you a bouquet of flowers, but I forgot it at the library," Spike confessed.

"Ah, it's alright," Rarity smiled. "You can give it to me later. I was thinking that after dinner we could go for a walk. It's such a beautiful and calm evening and the temperature is just perfect."

The thought of a romantic stroll through Ponyville with Rarity was very appealing to Spike. "Do you think we'll see some shooting stars, like last week?"

"I don't know, but I hope so, they were quite inspiring," Rarity blushed at the memory. Spike had come over to help her on her latest project and they sat at the balcony drinking some refreshments afterwards. Luna's night was beautiful and across the clear skies, there flew two shooting stars that seemed to appear out of nowhere. One of them flew in the direction of the Everfree Forest and the other towards the Crystal Empire. Rarity had quietly commented on their beauty, only to find that the tired Spike leaning on her had fallen asleep. She snuggled closer, enjoying his warmth and noted how he had grown. He was a little bigger than her now, enough for his longer arms to fit comfortably around her in a subconscious protective embrace. She realized then how deep her affections for him went, much deeper than she thought, and decided that she had kept him waiting long enough.

"Rare?" Spike's voice woke Rarity from her thoughts. She smiled somewhat guiltily, silently confessing that she had not heard him. Spike shifted in his chair and asked his question again, as if it wasn't hard enough to ask it just once. "Does this mean you're my official marefriend?"

His emerald eyes focused on her sapphire orbs. It was true that he was a dragon, but he was also the sweetest creature she had ever met and he obviously loved her. He would do anything for her and he had made that clear in more than one occasion. This was just like the dreams Rarity had when she was a little filly, except with a dragon rather than a stallion, but still quite similar. She wanted somepony that would treat her special and shower her with love and attention. Somepony who saw only her, somepony sweet, kind and brave, somepony just like Spike. "Yes."

xoxox xox xoxox

After dinner, Spike and Rarity went for a walk around Ponyville. Night had fallen by then and everything was at peace as they talked quietly and cheerfully. They lost track of time and ended up heading to the library later than expected. "Aren't I supposed to walk you home?" Spike protested. "I'm not so young anymore..."

"I know," Rarity giggled and nuzzled him affectionately. "But a modern independent mare such as myself bends tradition every now and then. Besides, I was promised flowers."

"Oh, right, the flowers!" Spike recalled. "I don't know how I could have forgotten them again. It's just that when I see you I can't think of anything or anypony else." The way it was spoken so spontaneously as a matter of fact, made the compliment all the most honest and sweet to Rarity's ears.

"That's why you're my Spiky-wikey, you're so sweet," unable to resist, she gave him a small peck on the cheek.

Spike blushed at the unexpected, but very welcomed, kiss, and realized that he would be getting, and giving, more of those from now on. He didn't even know what he said to make Rarity think he was sweet, he wasn't even trying to come up with a compliment at the time, they were just talking.

Before they knew it, they arrived at the library and Spike produced his spare key with his flame, quietly opening the door to the dark interior. It was late and Twilight was already asleep. Peewee's soft chirp-like snores where heard near a pair of glowing eyes. The eyes moved in the darkness to light a candle, then their owner returned to his perch.

"Thanks, Owlicious," Spike nodded at the owl, then went over to the vase in the corner where he had put the flowers he meant to give Rarity. A note lay next to it in Twilight's hoof writing, which Spike curiously read. "I realized after you left that you had forgotten to give Rarity the flowers you got for her. I suggest making a checklist next time you're getting ready to go on a date."

"That's our Twilight," Rarity laughed.

"PS," Spike continued, "I'll be going to Sweet Apple Acres for breakfast tomorrow. Mac always starts his work with the rising of the sun, so I will be leaving before then. You can join us if you feel like getting up early." Spike turned the paper over and looked around for a quill, then wrote in his reply. "No thanks, I think I'll sleep in, have fun on your date." He underlined the word date to give the note a teasing tone. Rarity giggled as he watched over his shoulder. Spike took the red roses and gave them to her. "For you, my lady."

"Why thank you, kind sir." The elegant unicorn smelled the sweet scent of the roses, savoring the moment. "I had fun tonight, but it is rather late so I should be getting home."

"It's my turn to walk you next time," Spike offered.

Rarity smiled as they headed for the library door, "fair enough," she agreed.

Spike hesitated and opened his mouth to speak. Rarity looked at him and waited for what he needed to say, but then he closed his mouth again without actually saying anything. He had something to ask, but felt silly asking it. It's not like Rarity asked for permission to kiss him, though it was pretty obvious that she had all the permission in the world.

Seeing that Spike remained silent, Rarity spoke her goodnight and turned to leave. She considered giving him a kiss goodnight and not just on the cheek, but decided against it. She would let Spike be the one to take that step when he was ready.

"Um..." Spike made a soft mutter of a sound before closing his eyes and leaning over to give Rarity a kiss on the cheek. At that moment, she heard him and turned to look at him, causing his mouth to find her lips instead of her face. Spike noticed that the feeling on his lips was of another mouth, rather than a cheek and shyly parted from Rarity for a mere inch. Yet as if pulled towards her by an inexplicable magnetism, he kissed her again, this time knowing exactly where he was aiming.

After getting over her surprise, Rarity leaned into Spike and savored their kiss, wrapping her frontlegs over his shoulders as his arms held her by the waist, standing on her hindlegs, leaning against his warmth.

The loud crash of breaking glass made them jump in a startle, automatically holding each other closer. A wave of shyness suddenly overtook them, combined with the bliss of their first intimate kiss. "Sounds like someone dropped something..." Rarity breathe.

"Yeah, they did..." Spike agreed, wishing that whoever broke whatever that was, had been more careful. The night was very quiet and practically everypony was asleep at that hour, thus every tiny sound echoed as if it was a loud bang.

"See you later..." Rarity whispered.

With a goofy smile still plastered on his face, Spike nodded, "yeah, later."

A bit embarrassed, Rarity picked up the flowers that had fallen out of her psychic hold when Spike took her by surprise, then with joy washing away any trace of a doubt, she galloped home with a cheerful pace.

Spike stood at the doorway smiling happily, "I'm in love," he sighed.

Owlicious flew over and perched himself on the dragon's head, "who."

"Me," Spike automatically replied.

"Who," Owlicious repeated.

"With Rarity..." Spike sighed happily.

"Who," the owl responded again with the same sound.

Spike was about to reply again, but stopped. "Very funny," he closed the door and started up the stairs. "I don't think I'll be able to get any sleep tonight." He was too happy to stop his heart from racing long enough to fall asleep. "Want to hang out at Twilight's balcony for a while, Owlicious? Maybe the night breeze will make me sleepy."

"Who."

"I'll take that as a yes."

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own My Little Pony.