Spike is my favorite character.

I don’t know whether anyone ever knew that, but yes he is. Not only is he my favorite character, but I also have a Spike plushie, a Spike pillow, a Spike onesie-style hoodie, and I want to cosplay as Spike at the BUCK convention this year. What’s more is I’m a shipper, and I enjoy shipping Spike.

But, as with any shipper, you’re bound to run into problems. Problems that disrupt your reader’s experience. Problems that cause you to get stuck on how to go about executing the ship. The problem with Spike’s ship is obvious, and it crops up in almost every shipfic I’ve read about him. It’s slowly becoming more and more irritating as I realize how it’s getting more and more inescapable.

No matter how you portray Spike and his special somepony to-be, this issue always has to be addressed. After all, it’d be awkward if you didn’t address it, and your reader would be wondering why you didn’t.

The issue is, of course, Rarity.

What? Spike’s age? Pff, that’s a minor hurdle when compared to the element of generosity herself. The issue here is that Spike has a crush on Rarity, and, for whatever reason, Rarity isn’t reciprocating these feelings.

No matter what the ship is, as soon as you start the fic, the reader is asking the question, “Hey, whatever happened to Spike’s crush on Rarity?”, and then the fic inevitably answers this with either, “Spike realized it was a childish crush,” or “Spike asked Rarity, and she rejected him,”.

Both excuses are... fine... I guess? But they’re so overused that they’ve lost any feeling or weight. Indeed, the issue with Spike shipping is that Spike’s crush needs to be addressed, but is rarely done so with sufficient justifying and convincing. I want to see a fic that addresses the problem in a fresh and interesting way.

In fact I did find a fic that addressed the problem in an interesting way - it blatantly brushed it off, and that just completely sums up this entire post, yet it does it in such a tongue-in-cheek way that it adds to the comedic value, and made it quite enjoyable. It plainly stated that dealing with Spike's crush was old and stale. I think I only continued reading because of that one line, and the fact that it is a SpikeDash. The fic in question is JUST in case, so go give that one read if you have the time. While it’s not top quality, the narration is fresh and interesting - something I’m sure you’ve now realized I value highly. What’s more is that not only does this fic have an amusing introduction, but it also has a pretty awesome cover art!

But that’s just Spike shipped with other ponies. What about the legendary, dramatic marshmallow, herself? Indeed, Sparity shippers: you’re definitely not off the hook. If anything, you’ve got the biggest problem of them all: explaining what the hell is going through Rarity’s head every time she treats Spike like a footstool. If a relationship is to work, the couple need to consider each other as equals. If one considers the other little more than a glorified slave then that just can’t ever be a healthy relationship (Yeah, don’t even bring up TwiSpike).

Indeed, Sparity is one of the easiest ships to pull off, but it is one of the hardest ships to pull off well.

For a shipping to be pulled off well, you need to justify why those characters are interested in each other, and since the show itself does a very shabby job of justifying Spike’s infatuation (beyond it’s original plot device design), you, as a writer, needs to do this for yourself. And I think that’s something that a lot of Sparity writers neglect to do.

Unfortunately, I can only provide the problem, I don’t actually have any solutions. How else can you go about convincing Spike to move on from Rarity without the cliché? How do you justify Rarity’s blatant lack of interest in Spike? How do you convince everyone to stop treating Spike like a kid?

Why, you age him up, of course. Because all of this can be explained by the fact that Spike is younger than everyone else.

Problem solved(?)

1008666
It's simple. After her date with Prince Blueblood, Rarity realized she was gay.

She likes Spike, like a little brother, but she'd never get involved with him, or any male for that matter.

1008730

Interestingly enough, I've not read a fic where Spike confesses his crush to Rarity, and she says she's already in a relationship with another mare.

That could be an interesting story, though.

Well, a fic I'm writing (an infuriating thing that I can't seem to get fixed) has a different take. Rarity is feeling it, she was just playing it cool and enjoying the benefits, ostensibly with an eye towards eventually reciprocating . . .

. . . a strategy that backfires in my fic because by the time she tries, he's already started dating another dragon about his age. Cue lots of and with the girls about how 'perfect little Spikey-Wikey' is now taken.

Of course, it's a fic about Unsavory Things, so her eventual response is a bit, ah, disproportionate.

1008751 Reminds me of this fic

I simply pretend there never was an attraction in the first place. Far easier on everyone that way.

1008759
"Threesome?"
"Threesome."

1008666 Here's an idea of how to deal with it, have the rest of the mane 6 see that Spike is obviously in love, but also that Rarity isn't interested. So, the mane 6 convince Rarity to introduce Spike to some other mares that he might like.

Alternatively, you could have Spike become a bit more aggressive in his advances, which convinces the mane six to seek some wise council on krogan dragon physiology, leading to a moment like this:
[youtube=mM_irhYqff8]

1009080

Funny you should say that, because, um, yeah. (Although technically it's more like 'drunken attempt at sexual assault turns into drunken drugged threesome'.)

I'm still working on it.

1008666

The answer is obvious good sir:

Kill off Rarity and Spike seeks comfort in another mare, the rest just flows on from there

Plus no offense but Rarity is actually my least favourite mane6, I don't dislike her, shes just my least favourite

1009866

Drama Queen getting in your way? Then kill the bitch!

Problem solved.

1009882

Dammit stop giving me Fanfic ideas, I still have 3 I'm meant to be doing

1009891

I was going to say it's not a very good idea...

Until I thought about what if another one of the main six sought to eliminate Rarity from the picture in order to capture Spike's heart? It doesn't have be Rarity's death per se... maybe just convincing her to go to move to Canterlot.

1009899

Oh wow, is it weird I was thinking of a similar thing? though that slightly reminds me of Deathnote Equestria... Only REALLY slightly though because it's not over Spike

Now i bid thee farewell for now as it is off to English for me, have a nice day and see you around 4 (+12gmt)

1008751>>1008730

Scratch that, I have read a story with that particular concept in.

Also it seems your comment has been subject to much silent debate, Bronystories.

1008751
Check out All That Glitters By Comet Burst

Spike is shipped with Diamond Tiara and Rarity has rejected him in this story. It even tells you! Vexy, I suggest you read it!

1010899

Ooh thank you for linking me that. It's already in my Read Later list, but I'll definitely give it a read at your recommendation!

1010919

Your welcome! But to warn you, it's not complete!

1010927

There'd be no fun if it was complete.

1010936
Your absolutely right! Moustaches to you good sir!