"I'm really glad you were able to make it, Spike," said Shining Armor as he took a seat beside the young, purple dragon.
"I'm honored that the princess would see me fit to help you understand thiose things I imagine you may feel make little, or no, sense," he stated.
Spike looked down at the stream below from his perch upon the bridge.
"I once asked Twilight about who I was and who I was supposed to be," he said. He then looked at his reflection in the water, sighed, and stated, "I though I knew after I joined the Dragon Migration. However, right now, I feel more confused than ever."
"That's what growing up is all about," stated Shining Armor. "If you didn't question who and what you are, you wouldn't have any aspirations to make better of yourself."
Spike sighed and asked, "What if your aspirations are unrealistic?"
"What do you mean?" asked Shining Armor.
Spike looked back down at his reflection in the water.
"I think I'm in love with Rarity," he said bashfulloy.
"Oh," said Shining Armor. "I think I know what you are trying to say."
"You do?" asked Spike.
Shining Armor put a hoof around Spike's back.
"You're afraid she'd never be interested in you, because you're a dragon and she's a pony, he stated.
Spike sighed and closed his eyes as he replied, "Yeah,"
"Mind if I share something?" asked Shining Armor.
"Go ahead," said Spike as he continued to look down upon his reflection.
"I always had a crush on Cadence," he stated. "I'd look forward to the days when she'd come over to foal sit Twilight. Her mane, the look in her eye, her voice, everything about her made me wish I could stay home with her instead of attend all those school events I was involved in."
Spike said nothing as he put his hands to his cheeks.
"Once Twilight was old enough to not need a foal sitter, I asked Cadence if she might want to get together sometime for some ice cream," he stated. "I was so nervous I nearly felt my heart burst out from my chest!"
"What did she say?" asked Spike as he faced shining Armor.
"She said 'Thanks but no thanks.' and walked out the door without ever looking back," he replied
"Cadence said no?" asked Spike.
"She sure did," replied Shining Armor. "I was never more bummed out in my whole life."
"So what did you do?" asked Spike.
"I did what any stallion in love would do," he stated. "I made it my goal to prove to Cadence why I was the stallion for her!"
"How did you do that?" asked Spike.
"Alicorns like Cadence, Celestia, and Luna are very rare and highly revered," he said. "So, I knew if I was going to get her attention, I needed to become just as revered as she was."
"And that's why you became Captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard?" asked Spike.
"That's right!" he said with pride. "And that's also when I got my cutie mark!"
"Really?" asked Spike.
"I had such a burning passion to protect Princess Cadence that I knew it was what I was meant to do," he stated. "I was telling my parents about how I wanted to be one of Celestia's guards and, as I did, my cutie mark appeared!"
"That's amazing!" awed Spike.
"Yeah!" agreed Shining Armor. "There was no way my parents could say no after seeing as protecting ponies was my super, special talent."
"So how did you finally get Cadence to notice you?" asked Spike.
Shining Armor laughed as he smiled wide.
"That's the interesting part," he said. "As I rose in rank within the Royal Canterlot Guard, I got more-and-more opportunities to serve as bodyguard for both Celestia and Cadence. Serving alongside Celestia was an honor in itself. However, I most impressed to see that Cadence remembered me when I was first assigned to protect her."
"Really?" asked Spike.
Shining Armor looked to the sky as he recalled the moment.
"I was surprised, too," he stated. "Her first words to me were, 'You're the brother of that filly I used to foal sit for. The one who asked me out. Well, it looks like you're getting that opportunity right now.'."
"The fact that she remembered me was amazing," he said. "She then told me how she had felt bad for turning down my offer. However, being a princess, she was unsure of my intentions were."
"Huh…" said Spike as he thought on all that he had done with regard to Rarity. Perhaps, like Shining Armor, he needed to further show his "True Intentions" to her? Show her how he was "Generous" and dedicated to her and appreciated her enough to do whatever it took to prove his love for her.
"Celestia must've caught on that Cadence and I were growing close," stated Shining Armor. "I was being assigned to guard Cadence on almost every outing she had. This, of course, gave us lots of time to talk about ourselves beyond her being a princess and me being a guard."
He blushed.
"It was like the most coincidental of timing when Twilight and you got sent to Ponyville," he said. "I was told directly by Celestia to not let Cadence out of my sight until she returned. I didn't understand why until that whole thing with Nightmare Moon went down and Twilight and her friends returned Princess Luna to her true self.
Spike sighed.
"I wish I could've been there to see that," he said.
He sighed again.
"I always seem to miss out on all the exciting stuff."
"You know, Spike," said Shining Armor. "You and I both wish we could've been there for Twilight and the princess."
Spike looked to Shining Armor for a better explanation. After all, he was protecting Princess Cadence. All he did was sleep through the whole thing.
"When Nightmare Moon returned," Shining Armor stated firmly. "I knew I had to work harder at improving my protection magic. I spent days on end reading up on healing, purifying, and defensive magics. I practiced them day-and-night. And, when I made progress, I shared it with Cadence. She was very impressed with my dedication to the safety of Equestria. Actually, she's the reason I got the job of Captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard."
"How's that?" asked Spike.
"When Pure Heart retired as Captain, Princess Celestia held interviews within the Royal canterlot Guard to find his replacement," he said. "Cadence recommended I try out and said she felt I was the best choice for the job. So, I gave it all I got and was hired on the spot."
"I was so proud," he said. "Being Captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard meant I was in prime position to protect Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence."
He sighed.
"I just feel bad that I wasn't able to keep you and twilight in the loop on how close Cadence and I got after her encouragement earned me such a prominent title. She was just so proud and our respective duties made it so we didn't have much free time. The free time we did have we spent together talking about everything under Celestia's sun until, one day, I gathered the courage to propose to her."
"That's amazing!" exclaimed Spike. The story Shining Armor was sharing with him made him feel even more determined to do whatever was necessary to show Rarity that he would do anything for her. Even if it meant using the Amulet of Love's True Form to turn himself into a pony.
"Love can make you do many things you never thought possible," stated Shining Armor. "However, when it's true love, you know what you do is worth it so that you can be with that special some pony forever-and-ever."
Spike stood up and faced Shining Armor.
"Thank you," he said. "I'm really thankful we had this chance to talk."
"Same here," replied Shining Armor. "However, our Guy's Day is far from over and I know the best place in the entire Crystal Empire for food, fun, and games!"
"Sounds awesome!" cried Spike.
The two then headed away from the stream and back into the town to enjoy more, fun, guy time.
Author's Note
Figured I'd try coming back and sharing a story I wrote based on some good advice I got from two, friendly Bronies regarding how to make my writing better.
This story was written to ensure the promised events of "Spike's Little Dragon" took place before I began ending the Sparity series I started. It's quite clean and more focused on character / story building than anything else.
The first two parts of the finale can be found on my FA account at
