Another Hearts and Hooves Day. Another lonely night. Not that Spike wasn't used to being alone in the library from time-to-time, but tonight was different, peculiar. The desire of Spike's heart, Rarity, was on a date with Thunderlane of all ponies, and Twilight had a date with Time Turner.
Wait a second, that last part bears repetition. Twilight -the eggheaded princess of magic- had a date, with Time Turner.
And so Spike was all alone in the library, with not even Owlowiscious to keep him company. Normally on night such as this, the little dragon would shrug it off, go to bed early, and think about what to prepare for breakfast in the morning. But tonight wasn't one of those nights. Instead, Spike was upset. Everypony in Ponyville seemed to have a special somepony except for him. Hay, everypony in all of Equestria seemed to have a special somepony except for him, it was just unfair.
The Number One Assistant to Princess Twilight sulked and paced, sulked and paced, sulked and paced, for hours on end. He wasn't tired, and no amount of physical work would make him tired. It was almost as if he wanted to punish himself for apparently being so...whatever it was that kept him from being loved, at least in that special way. Eventually, Spike took a seat at the bottom of the carved oak steps of the library.
"I hate Hearts and Hooves Day," Spike lamented, tears beginning to come to the corners of his eyes.
The dragon's wet display of loneliness was interrupted by a puff of white smoke in the middle of the building. It was not the same as Twilight's purple spark of magical teleportation, but more like the kind of faux magic used by The Great and Powerful Trixie. Spike quickly looked up as he noticed the smoke. Soon, he could make out the silhouette of the most mixed-up amalgamation of animal parts made his presence known. It was indeed the only living Draconeques in Equestria: Discord.
"Hey, Spikey-Wikey," the very embodiment of chaos called to the little reptile, "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day!"
Spike jumped up out of his seat, more angry at Discord's use of Rarity's pet name for him than for the holiday greeting.
"Discord, what in the name of harmony are you doing here," the dragon roared.
"I'm here on official business. The business of one lonely, heart-broken man to cheer up the soul of another lonely, heart-broken man."
"I don't trust you, especially when you're implying you're trying to do something nice for somepony."
"It saddens me that you don't think I'm trustworthy," Discord said glumly, slinking himself down on the floor, "do you think I've learned nothing from Fluttershy?"
"Not as much as she thinks you have."
"Tsk, tsk, Spike, I am being completely sincere here. It's Hearts and Hooves days, the day when everypony and their special somepony gets together to remind each other how much they love one another."
"Not...helping...Discord."
"Hear me out. Everypony and their mother knows you have the biggest crush on that little gem of a pony. But you've known her for, what, five years or so? Guess how long I've been pining over my love?"
"Even though the thought of you being in love is a little sickening, let's see...how long have you known Fluttershy?"
"It's not Fluttershy. We are simply platonic pals. No, this is somepony that has had my heart captured in a sealed vase for over a thousand years."
"A thousand years!? You can't possibly talking about...," Spike looked around and then dropped his voice to a whisper, as if there were other ponies around who might hear him, "Princess Celestia?"
"Ding, ding, ding, give the dragon a diamond," with that, a diamond of respectable size magically appeared in Spike's claws. Upon seeing the gemstone, he promptly ate it in one bite.
"Wasn't expecting that," the reptile admitted after swallowing the gem, "So you've been in love with Princess Celestia for over a millennium?"
"You got it," Discord moped, taking a seat on the stairway next to where Spike had been sitting previously. Spike returned to his earlier place, "I mean, how could I not. We're so different, and it is true that opposites attract. Ever since I first saw that beautiful, flowing, mane of hers I was smitten, and I've been smitten for the last millennium, through being turned to stone, through causing all my chaos."
"Is that part of the reason you agreed to go straight," Spike interrogated.
"Yes. I couldn't stand to be petrified for another thousand years or so. I had to do everything in my power to be at her disposal as much as possible. Every time I've helped you all out, I've done it not for you, or for Fluttershy, or even for Equestria, but for her. To get her to see that I too have good traits and that I can be the love she deserves, the immortal love that she so desires," Discord was on the verge of tears, not phony boo-hoo tears, but real, blubbering tears.
This sight moved Spike greatly. For Discord to disclose to him something that probably no other pony knew was an amazing act of giving on Discord's part. He's had these very emotions bottled up for so long, to finally tell somepony, anypony, about his true feelings for the princess of the sun took a great deal of bravery and courage.
"I understand just how you feel," Spike replied, standing and placing one of his hands on Discord's back, "I do favors for Rarity all the time, I've dug up gems for her, I've modeled her outfits, I've done her shopping, I've carried her luggage. All in attempt to show her that I can be the supportive, caring, special somepony that she deserves. And every time I hear about how she went on some bad date or had some awful time with somepony like Prince Blueblood, I wonder how much longer I'll have to wait until she sees me for what I really am, not a dragon, but as just another living being. I'm not like other dragons, I was raised by ponies. I let my greed get the best of me once, and that's never going to happen again, but she still doesn't treat me like any other pony." Spike was now allowing his tears to slip down his cheeks, just like Discord, who had become more emotional during Spike's speech.
"I wish, I wish we could help each other," Discord finally said after a moment or two of silence between them, "You know Celestia very well, I'm sure she would listen to you or Twilight. And I can do very great shows of magic, just like I can perform greats feats of chaos. But it wouldn't be fair to either of our beloveds to trick them like that. They have to figure it out for themselves. At least you can tell yours about your feelings without the possibility of being petrified, or sent to the moon, or disembodied."
"But we are alike in another way," Spike pointed out, "we are both going to be around for a long time. You are immortal, and dragons live for hundreds, if not thousands, of years."
"You're right about that one, little friend."
"You know what. We can help each other with our love lives. Maybe not directly. But whenever we see each other from now on, we can give each other updates and encouragement. We'll both be happy in the end, Discord, one way or another, I'm determined now more than ever."
"You, my little dragon friend, have a deal."
The two creatures shook claws, sealing their friendship pact. They spent the rest of the night, or at least as long as it took Twilight to finally come home that night talking about new plans for getting their very special someponies. By the time Discord had to depart the library, the two of them were certain of one thing: even if nopony else thought they had a snowpony's chance in Tartarus, they would believe in each other.
