A Winter Romance

How Does Your Dragon Grow

Spike busied himself with picking up the rest of the books that had fallen off the bookshelf from the ruckus with Rarity earlier. He had only managed to previously pick up a few here and there before being interrupted by Twilight, but now a tower of books rested on his shoulders. The tower stood a dozen books high and wobbled a bit at the top, but Spike couldn't help but marvel at his newfound strength. His heart still fluttered with pride from his earlier feat of lifting Rarity's item chest. He stood up just as he grabbed the last book, stumbling slightly under the new addition. As he teetered about to the left and right, a bead of sweat formed on his brow as he suddenly wondered if he had taken on too much too soon. He swiftly moved towards the bookcase, trying his best to keep the stack of books steady. In a blur of motion he never knew was in him, he tossed books at the bookcase in rapid succession, if only to relieve himself of their collective weight. Remarkably, they all landed in their places, upright and arranged correctly.

The dragon let a proud whistle fly from his lips. After he had finished admiring his handiwork, he craned his neck around to search for Twilight.

"Hey Twilight. Did you see...? Twilight?"

Spike spotted a splash of purple peeking out from behind the study desk. He smiled and proudly strolled over, a beaming smile on his face as he called over.

"Twilight! What are you doing hiding under there? You completely missed it when..."

The dragon heard some paper shuffling briefly before Twilight exclaimed in alarm.

"Ah! Don't come over here, Spike! Not yet!"

He never got a chance to bother Twilight about her unusual words. The next thing he heard was a familiar popping sound followed by the faint smell burnt candles. When he peaked around the other side of the desk, no pony sat there.

All Spike was left with was an empty room.

"Huh? Why'd you teleport?"

The young dragon heard a thump coming from above him, and he smiled a little.

Not wanting to miss a chance to gloat, he sought out his unicorn friend. He made his way upstairs, where he discovered their bedroom door closed. As he approached the door, he paused from grabbing the handle when he heard the sounds of sniffling through the door. Concerned, the young dragon pulled his right claw up to his mouth, his lips parting slightly. For several moments that seemed to stretch out to minutes, Spike stood outside the bedroom door, doing nothing but staring. After some time, it seemed to be silent, so he reached out for the handle again, only to hear the sniffling again.

He slowly pushed the door open. It creaked as he stuck his head in.

Ahead of him lay the smaller study that was situated just beneath Twilight's bed, which was nestled on top of a wooden terrace built into the side of the room. This study had several smaller bookcases, one of which was actually inside the wall beneath the bed chamber, than the main study downstairs. These bookcases held Twilight's personal collection of fictional stories and her most favorite books. Across the room and on the opposite side of where he peeked in was the smaller stairway that curved slightly around and led towards the opening into Twilight's bed area. The low height of the terrace made the stairs seem almost pointless. Spike sometimes witnessed Twilight forego their use and simply jump down from the bedroom area and into the study.

Spike heard the creaking of one of the bed's springs. There was also some muttering that he couldn't quite make out. As he got closer, though, the muttering stopped.

"Is that you, Spike?" Twilight finally said out loud.

He spotted Twilight sitting on her bed, her back towards him and her head facing the octogonal window which overlooked her sleeping area.

"Um... It's me, Twilight. I guess you heard me walk in. Were you crying in here or did you catch a cold?"

There was a slight moment of silence.

"I wasn't crying, Spike," came Twilight's response. "And I'm not sick."

"Oh." Spike swallowed once, a little uncertain on whether to believe her tale. "You should've seen me with the books down there. I was all like pow pow pow! Books flying everywhere. I didn't even know I could move that fast. I'm getting pretty awesome." He gave himself a moment to grab at one of his biceps as a smug grin parted his lips. "Anyway. The books are done," he then said as he looked back up at Twilight. "What's next on the agenda?"

"That's good to hear, Spike. Sounds like you're getting..." Twilight muttered, a certain rawness in her voice.

The silence that followed as her words fell away was heavier than the previous one.

Spike lifted up a claw, even though he knew her back was turned. "Uh. Twi...?"

"Yes! Next on the agenda! We need to get some more writing paper!"

Twilight swiftly turned around in her bed, staring at Spike and bearing a plastered smile. The sudden shift in the tone of Twilight's voice and change in topic made Spike feel uneasy and sent his thoughts off kilter.

"Uh... What?" Spike asked, blinking a couple times. "Where did that come from? What were you saying before?"

"It doesn't matter, Spike." Twilight hopped down from her bed and then into the study.

The young dragon followed behind Twilight as she made her way towards the bedroom door.

"But..." Spike interjected.

"Spike! Not another word! We've got work to do!"

Spike slowly sighed but nodded just the same. Twilight then headed downstairs, and he followed for a bit. However, just as Twilight walked through the door, Spiked paused and gave a glance backwards. Twilight didn't see that Spike had stopped behind her, and she kept on walking. Spike took the opportunity to backtrack towards the bedroom.

"Now. What's gotten Twilight so upset?" Spike mused to himself as he poked and prodded around.

He started with the study, pulling books and checking behind them but taking care to put everything back in its place. He then moved on to the bedroom area. He dreaded the thought of undoing Twilight's carefully made bed, but his curiosity outweighed his fear. He pulled up her pillow, dumped it out of the pillowcase, checked inside the pillowcase, and upended sheets and comforters. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. After everything had been done, he realized the only thing that was there was his own mess. He pursed his lips as a moment of guilt came to him, his cheeks burning. He decided he should remake Twilight's bed but wanted to check one other location first.

Spike took a step backwards, lifted the sheets up from the near side of the bed, and bent over, looking underneath the bed frame. He spotted something that looked like a shoe box. His interest piqued, he got down on the floor and scooted in closer to try and grab it. However, a sudden shout from outside sent him on a trip towards a world of pain as he lifted his head and banged it against the edge of the bed.

"Hey y'all! Twilaht! Are ya in there?!" came a call from outside that sounded like it belonged to Applejack.

Spike stood up and grabbed the top of his head. His spines felt like they were on fire, but he sucked in a quick breath, blinked away the tears, and fought through the pain to fix up the bed as close as possible to what Twilight had. He then headed to the balcony and stared over the railing. Directly below him was the front door, and he could hear Twilight's voice through the space where it was situated. A familiar, flaxen-haired orange earth pony stood in the pathway leading up to the library. Next to her was another earth pony, one who was nowhere near as smoothly calm as her orange friend but instead bounced up and down in a vibrant display of giddy energy that almost reminded Spike of a sugar high.

"Hello there, Applejack. Pinkie Pie. What brings you here?" Twilight asked.

Applejack gave a warm smile and crossed her front legs as she tended to do. "Pinkie Pie and ah were wonderin' if ya had any books on traditional crystal pony cuisine. Ya see, it would seem that the crystal ponies had uh bit of good luck with their crystal berry harvest, so much so that they don't know what ta do with it all. Princess Celestia asked us to travel to th' Crystal Empire so that ah can show them how ta do a proper banquet and maybe even help build a storage building for their berries. An' Pinkie Pie here made a friend last time we were over there, an' she thought she could come along and catch up."

The pink earth pony with the mane like cotton candy never stopped bouncing up and down. "Ooh! Twilight Twilight Twilight! Earlier today when we were over at Rarity's house to pick up some scarves and winter coats for the trip to the Crystal Empire, she told us all about this winter resort that she was getting ready to head to. She asked the both of us to come along because she had extra tickets, but we both told her that we couldn't because we were going to the Crystal Empire, and oh my goodness, Twilight, you should've seen her. I mean she was SO heartbroken. She said we were her last hope for finding ponies to go with her. I mean Rainbow Dash can't go. Fluttershy doesn't want to go. But we had to let her down, which wasn't any fun because I hate letting ponies other ponies down, and it sounded like such a super super fun thing to go to, and..."

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed, her patience thoroughly shot.

Pinkie Pie ceased her bouncing, giving Twilight a perky smile and a wide-eyed gaze.

"Can you get to the point? Or more importantly, can we get back to the original point?" said Twilight.

Twilight's bubbly earth pony friend smiled. "Oh! Ha! Silly me! The point! I mean you should so totally go with Rarity to the winter resort! Spike too! I mean how could you NOT go? You might get to do so many way fun activities! Maybe ice skating! Or skiing! Or even just riding up and down those funny looking cable car things! Or fall in love! Or have a dragon fall on you!"

Applejack cocked her head sideways and gave Pinkie Pie a glare as Twilight leveled her own.

"What?!" Applejack and Twilight exclaimed in unison.

"What?" Pinkie Pie answered back, disturbingly nonchalantly. "OH! Speaking of which! Twitchy tail!"

Applejack and Twilight angled their heads towards Pinkie Pie's backside. Sure enough, her puffy, cotton candy-like tail was twitching.

"Twitchy tail!" she repeated.

Spike, high above them on the balcony, scratched his head. "Twitchy tail?"

The dragon's eyes widened in horror as he heard a cracking sound and felt the railing in front of him, where he had rested one of his arms, suddenly give way. "Whoa!"

Spike saw Twilight look up as he fell to the ground below, her eyes meeting his. Fortunately, she had learned from her previous experiences with Pinkie Pie's twitchy tail warnings and had teleported out of the way. Twilight then tapped into what little energy she had and turned the ground beneath Spike into a small pile of hay. The dragon gratefully accepted the relatively rough and prickly landing of the hay pile over the bone-jarring landing of hitting the ground. He met the pile belly first.

"Heavens to Betsy!" Applejack exclaimed, her eyes going wide. "Rarity was certainly tellin' the truth when she was goin' on about Spahk's new size. What have ya been feedin' him?"

Twilight ignored Applejack. Her only concern was her dragon. "Oh my goodness, Spike. Are you okay?" Twilight asked as she approached from the side.

Spike coughed out a couple straws and nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay. Urp!"

The dragon's cheeks puffed up as he reached out and tried to clamp his mouth shut, but the dragon flame forced itself through with an unglamorous burp. A rolled up parchment, tied with a bright red string and sealed in wax, materialized in front of Twilight.

"A letter from Princess Celestia?" Twilight muttered.

Spike stood up and grabbed the parchment before hopping down from the hay pile. He unrolled it and started reading.

"My dearest, most faithful student Twilight Sparkle. Your last letter was certainly very, ah, unusual." Spike gave Twilight a glance and blushed momentarily before continuing the letter. "I am fully aware that you missed the deadline for the written part of your spell and am more than willing to offer an extension. My immediate concern is your health. It sounds like you are working yourself too hard, and I think a short vacation might do you some good. Therefore, I am asking that you and Spike should join Rarity on her trip to the winter resort. Who knows? Maybe you might find the answers you seek over there, to several of your pressing questions. Always your teacher, Princess Celestia."

Spike clasped the letter to his chest as he jumped up and down for joy. Twilight, however, sighed.

"Fine," Twilight said flatly.

"Well then," Applejack bellowed happily as she clapped Twilight on the shoulder. "Sounds like ya've got yerselves a vaycay! But, uh... We still need that book."

"Oh! Right! Fortunately for the both of us, that kindly crystal librarian gave me a couple books on the Crystal Empire, including traditional cooking. Otherwise, my library would've been completely empty on the subject of their lands, seeing as how nopony knew anything about them until recently." Twilight then turned her attention back towards Spike, who was jumping up and down in time with Pinkie Pie. "Hey, Spike! Go and find Rarity and tell her that we will be coming along after all. I'm going to get a book for Applejack and then pack for the trip."

Spike turned around to face Twilight and smiled, giving a cheerful salute. "Okie Dokie!" He started to bound away, a cheerful spring in his step. He then stopped halfway up the walkway and turned around. "Oh Twilight! Could you please remember to pack Rarity's gift to me?"

Twilight turned from where she had been conversing with Applejack and Pinkie Pie. "What? Oh! Okay, Spike. Will do. Now go on and grab Rarity!"

Spike cheerfully nodded, a smile on his face, and continued on his way.

* * *

The corners of Rarity's brows peaked upwards, forming lines of worry on her forehead as she watched Spike.

The dragon knocked back his second glass of water, slugging the drink with such speed that it alarmed Rarity. She brought her right front hoof to her chest and regarded Spike as he slammed the glass on the circular table.

"Goodness, Spike. Just how thirsty are you? I hope you don't have a problem with bedwetting." She then saw the expression on Spike's face and waved her hoof as if to divert attention from the awkward situation. "Not that that's anything to be embarrassed about. Why I remember the first time Sweetie Belle... Well that's not really a topic for discussion right now. So what do you think?"

Spike traced circles around the rim of the glass, working his incisor teeth into his lower lip as he regarded Rarity. He dared not speak what had been on his mind at the moment. He also dared not mention the reasons why he had been crossing his legs like a filly and trying to be discreet about his nervous demeanor as he rocked back and forth in his stool.

A suave stallion with a slicked back mane approached from the side. Spike stopped his rocking and looked up, immediately spotting a muzzle bearing the sharpest pencil moustache he had ever seen.

"Would monsieur like another glass of our FREE water?"

Spike couldn't help but notice the agitation forced into the waiter's voice.

'No,' said his mind.

"YES!" his mouth exclaimed.

The waiter nodded and disappeared.

Spike wasn't the least bit thirsty. Rather, he found that ever since he had been alone with Rarity, he started feeling a slowly growing heat in different parts of his body. Being a dragon, he normally wasn't alarmed by heat. Heat was his element.

This heat was different. It sort of crawled and tingled. It buzzed in his brain and swirled in his heart. There was also the perplexing feeling of his veins expanding in size and a growing embarrassment. It almost felt like his body was talking to him, without the use of words and in ways he had never felt before.

It didn't help when Rarity had wrapped him in the biggest, most affectionate hug he had ever received from her. He remembered she had also squealed with delight when he told her the news that both he and Twilight were coming after all.

Now the fashion pony sat next to him at the restaurant table, gazing at him expectantly with those eyes of icy blue that turned his heart in knots. She batted her eyes a few times and leaned forward, propping up her chin with her hooves. The new pose only served to accentuate Rarity's curves, and Spike found his eyes wandering over every perfect line, from the nape of her neck, following her dainty spine, and moving on down to the half circle of her posterior.

The heat built up even more.

His mind fixated on her beauty, he didn't notice his water being served or Rarity moving her face into his field of vision.

"Spike. Eyes up here."

"Huh? Oh sorry," Spike said as he shook his head. "What's happening to me?" he thought to himself. Then aloud, "What do I think? I think it's quite unlike Twilight to fail in finishing an assignment. I think she may be hiding something."

Rarity pulled back slightly and furrowed her brows, looking somewhat perturbed. "What? No no! I was asking you what you thought of my new outfit!"

Spike went back to inspecting her physique. Rarity wore an odd coat and ensemble. It was bright red, almost the same shade of red as Applejack's barn, but trimmed with a soft, white fuzzy material around the trunk and the two short sleeves. She also wore a floppy red cap that came to a point at a small, fuzzy ball, which was also white. What attracted Spike's attention the most was the skirt.

Actually it was a miniskirt.

Actually it was two circles of the same plush fuzzy trim, one slightly larger, spaced very, VERY close together with fabric in between. It was bright red just like the rest of the outfit.

It was at that moment that, as his gaze wandered from her skirt back to the perfect curvature of Rarity's bottom, Spike spotted another strip of fabric peeking out from underneath the splayed tube of the skirt, gently caressing her backside in a fashion that was not too tight or too loose.

Spike swallowed a lump and then mustered his voice. "Wha... What are you wearing on your b..." He found his concentration kept returning to the brink of fading everytime his eyes wandered back there, and he tried his level best to snap his gaze back to Rarity's face.

Rarity leaned forward even more. Spike knew it was just a trick of the sunlight, but he swore that the blue in Rarity's eyes had gotten deeper at that moment.

"My what, Spike?"

"What are you wearing on your, your down there?"

Rarity arched her back and turned her head to glance down the length of her spine. Using her magic, she hiked up one corner of her skirt. "My behind? I'm not sure what to call it just yet, but I made this in a flash of inspiration. It came to me after our first trip to the frozen north to save the Crystal Empire. There are simply not enough words to describe that kind of cold, and while I DO love my winter coats, there is nothing most ponies wear that could protect against the cold and the wind for my... my backside. So I crocheted this thing out of llama wool and viola. It's very warm and soft and oh so cuddly." Rarity released a girlish squeak as she wrapped herself in a hug. Then, spotting Spike's curious tilt of his head, she cleared her throat and continued. "Well it fits the silkiness of the jacket and skirt very well. They're made of plush and velvet. So? What do you think?"

Spike crossed his legs even tighter as the heat built up to an almost intolerable level. He also started to regret drinking so much water as another urge suddenly hit him. He raised a shaky index claw as he slowly and carefully stood up from his stool.

"I uh... What I think is... I really need to use the little boy dragon's room."

Rarity blinked and jerked her head back as she brought a hoof to her chest, taken slightly by surprise with the rather mildly crass declaration. She was only momentarily flustered, though, and eventually managed to find her words. "I uh well okay. I'll wait for you here then."

"No no. That's okay. Go check to see if Twilight is done," Spike muttered through gritted teeth as he stood up from his chair and hobbled forward in a rather awkward way.

Before Rarity could reply, he darted for the main building of the restaurant, where an outhouse awaited around the back.

Rarity's lips fell into a pout as she watched Spike disappear. She turned to the side and almost came to the decision to pull off her outfit and stash it away until she gave the restaurant a second look and saw the fleeting image of Spike's tail waggling to and fro as he ran. It amused her to the point that her bad mood disappeared, and she forgot all about stowing her outfit.

She turned her head to the road just a few dozen feet from the outside table she sat at. She spotted her cart full of her things.

"Well it's still a few hours until our train, but I suppose checking on Twilight won't be out of order."

An uncomfortable sigh distracted Rarity, and she turned her head to the other side to spot the waiter, now in a state of gloominess.

"Is there anypony going to spend some bits?" he muttered.

"I'll take a lemonade. Thank you."

* * *

Spike wasn't sure what it was called, but he was sure it was something that he couldn't possibly begin to ask Twilight about. It was just but one thing in a series of embarrassing changes his body had been going through since he grew slightly in size.

It had been coming for the past five minutes or so, starting as a growing heat in various parts of his body and building toward something like a mix of a throbbing in his groin and feeling an increase in blood flow to his face.

His backside was planted firmly over the opening of the toilet, his tail tucked neatly away to the side. Ponyville toilets weren't designed with the stiffness of dragon tails in mind, but he had gotten used to it over the years while living with Twilight. Now that Rarity and her outfit and especially her backside were fully on his mind, he seemed to have grown a second stiff tail out of the front of his body. His little boy dragon part had grown out of its sheath, just like he would do whenever he answered the call of his kidneys, but this time it was standing at attention. He gazed at it, almost admiring it, like it was some monument to dragonhood.

The heat in his body caused the deeper parts of his brain to buzz different ideas, urges and thoughts to the more cognitive parts. Most of these thoughts involved Rarity somehow.

His bladder also called, or more like complained, from all the water he drank, and Spike felt conflicted. He supposed he had better answer the more pressing concern first, for fear of bursting, but found setting about to the task much harder than it should've been, with his member at an angle not proper for the business.

He first thought of doing it standing up. This brought back memories of when he was six weeks, two days, ten hours, fifteen minutes and thirty eight seconds old, and he had wanted to show Twilight his new trick, which apparently involved him showing her his new ability to take off his diaper by himself. It had ended badly for Twilight when a jet of yellow liquid knocked a rather expensive vase off a shelf and onto Twilight's young head.

He decided against it and tried lying cross ways and face down on the toilet bowl, with his member pointing into the hole, but he found his balance to be slightly wonky like this. His tail kept thumping on the side of the outhouse, and with his back legs swinging slightly off the ground, he had to keep touching the floor in front of him with his claw tips every now and then to keep balance.

Doing it just sitting and having his boy part stand straight up was out of the question. He couldn't even imagine how angry the restaurant owners would be if he had made a mess that way.

He settled on a good position that involved sitting on the seat but leaning forward like he was going to hug his knees. It allowed for his member to remain relatively close to the bowl while still keeping his balance. He reached in with one hand and pushed down on his member to ensure his aim. It didn't hurt too much.

Satisfied, Spike relaxed his bladder and heard the splashes of liquid on liquid. It started off as a trickle and then escalated into a stream. After he had finished, he sat up and grabbed a square of toilet paper and used it to dab the end of his dragonhood.

He was relieved that one problem had been solved, but he was still left with the much bigger problem of his upright boy part. He wasn't even sure what to make of it. It wasn't a subject Twilight had educated him on. Something about Rarity brought this unusual change in him, far beyond the playful puppy love he used to feel. He didn't have the foggiest idea about mare parts, but he had an inkling about the mechanics.

The buzzing in his brain grew more frantic. He had to answer his urge. It couldn't be resisted any longer. The image of Rarity and her skirt that just barely covered her posterior entered his mind again as he gazed down at his member. His lips parted slightly and a flush came to his cheeks as he reached out and touched the tip. The head of the shaft became engorged, and he pulled his index claw away to find a strand of some kind of sticky liquid clinging to it. He pulled his hand closer to his nostrils and gave the liquid a sniff but smelled nothing. Intrigued by the gooey property of this new liquid escaping from his boy part, he determined that it wasn't pee and rubbed his claws back and forth, smearing the liquid on the other digits of his hand.

He felt his member throb and tingle. He touched the main shaft and sucked in a quick breath when he felt a jolt of pleasure. It was so sensitive. The buzzing in his brain became matched by the tingling in his dragonhood by intensity. His whole body felt like it had turned to fire and that he needed to push this sensation down into himself so that it could release outward all at once.

Acting on instinct, he wrapped his whole right hand around the fullness of his member. Every single claw embraced a piece of it, one digit after the other. The tingling intensified around the outside edges of his digits, but he was far from done. He sucked in another quick breath of pleasure as pushed down. The liquid he had smeared on his claws provided a small bit of lubrication, allowing him motion without much friction. His lips parted even further, his tongue barely passed the end of his teeth, and he panted as he reversed direction and worked his hand up and towards the tip, increasing pressure on his grip on the way.

He thought of every part of Rarity. Her wonderful smile. Her coy way of winking. Then his mind moved on towards other territory. He found himself almost half embarrassed to be thinking them. He still saw Rarity as a friend, and his thoughts were something he was too shy and felt too dirty over to risk something ruined by opening up about private thoughts. However, with his mind swimming with this newfound sensation, he felt no desire to inhibit himself and let his thoughts and body run with only the barest amount of control.

The image of Rarity winking at him came again, but he imagined her standing slightly sideways, looking over her shoulder at him and giving him a view of her backside. Her mane hung more loosely than usual, with the coils not as close to each other as she usual kept them. It covered one eye and the other eye she kept half closed in a rather seductive fashion. He saw her carefully styled tail cascade down past her backside like a small waterfall. She lifted her front right hoof and cocked it in a playful pose as she lifted her tail slightly and gave her rump a small wiggle.

"Hunh. Ah," Spike groaned as he worked up and down.

The pleasure and tingling and heat grew and grew inside him as he rubbed. As his hand became slicker and his thoughts became more ravenous, he picked up speed and intensity of the pressure. It wasn't long before he imagined himself close to Rarity at her backside as she brought her front end close to the ground and angled her rump upwards. He imagined himself tenderly grasping her backside as he rubbed up against her. He followed his thoughts by using his hips to thrust up against his hand with each rub in the opposite direction. Faster and faster he worked. Rubbing. Squeezing. Thrusting. His tail slapped the side of the toilet. His eyes were squeezed shut and his mouth opened wide with his body sensations flooding his brain. His tongue hung loose as he panted. He became lost to the pleasure. He turned his rocking and bucking motions loose onto almost automatic.

"Unnngh. Ha. Nuh. Uh! Oh! OH! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Spike felt something open up deep inside him, followed by a rushing sensation. He arched his back as the pleasurable tingling hit full tilt and sped from his toes up to the tip of his snout, and he gasped as he became taken by surprise from a rhythmic throbbing that seized his member, squeezing the base of the shaft with involuntary spasms and defying the grip of his hand. He curled his toe claws as a white, sticky liquid shot out of his boy part, despite his hand wrapped tightly around the girth.

The first glob hit the ceiling of the outhouse, rocketing out of his dragonhood with a power that almost scared Spike. The second glob shot past his head and landed on his spines. The third got him square in the face. Squirt after squirt. Shot after shot. It came and came and poured and poured. Most after the third squirt landed on his chest, but Spike accidentally shifted positions, and a couple globs shot past the toilet and landed on the outhouse floor. He clasped his hands to the front of his member in an attempt to get it to stop but only succeeded in getting the substance all over his hands and claws. Finally it slowed to a trickle before stopping by itself. He gave one final gasp of pleasure, marvelling at what he had experienced as his member shrank away back into its sheath.

After a quick pause to regain his presence of mind, he glanced down at himself and all around and smirked, immediately feeling a different kind of burn--the burn of shame. He had made an extremely big mess. White goo covered his chest, and he felt some on the top of his head and on his face. A small puddle of the substance was on the floor in front of the toilet.

A loud knock at the door of the outhouse made the shame burn even hotter. He felt his heart thump louder and a dry lump leap into his throat.

"Um. Still occupied!" Spike exclaimed, panicking.

Running short on ideas, he started grabbing toilet paper like there was no tomorrow. After a sizable wad of paper was in his claws, he started wiping and dabbing, first his head, then his face, then his chest and finally the floor. When he had made sure everything was nice and clean, he tossed the paper into the toilet and flushed, hoping against hope that it would all go down. He breathed a sigh of relief when, strangely enough, it did.

Glancing up at the ceiling, he spotted a moist spot in the grain of the wood where his first glob had hit. There wasn't anything he could do about it. He blushed at the thought that he had just created a new unique feature in the outhouse through an act of indecency.

Another knock came at the door, more insistent than before, startling him.

"I'm done! I'm done!" he shouted as he opened the door.

A stallion strolled past him as Spike hustled out of the bathroom. The stallion glared at him with a scowl on his face.

* * *

Twilight slowly sighed as she gazed at the bassinet that served as Spike's place to sleep. It still lay in its usual spot, which was on the floor directly at the foot of her bed. She gave a hard swallow.

"Should I buy a bigger bassinet?" She then paused. "A bed? A small pile of gold?" Her words then died away to just above a whisper. "Find a cave somewhere? Oh Spike."

Twilight felt like her heart had grown twice as heavy inside her chest. She regarded the cushion in the bassinet that made up the bulk of the bedding area. She noticed the indentation had become slightly larger than she last remembered, a sign of her assistant's new size.

"How much had he grown? Six inches? A foot?" she mused.

Over to her left, down near the study level, she spotted her saddle bags and a couple smaller suitcases, all lying open. Most of the saddle bags were nearly full, save for a few spots for a couple odd items that Twilight could probably think to pack. The suitcases only showed a few items.

"I suppose I should pack some things to keep track of Spike's growth, but..." Her mouth curled into a sour frown when she realized her situation. "I'm all out of writing material. Oh wait! I know!"

Twilight kneeled down and glanced underneath her bed, spotting a small, brown box. Snagging it with her magic, she dragged it out and popped the lid off. Inside were a couple items and various odds and ends. Her attention was drawn to a small book that was several inches thick and about nine inches tall. She lifted it out of the box with her magic and turned the book over several times. It wasn't very ornately decorated, which suited Twilight's love of simplicity, but her name was etched in silver thread on the front, cursive letters carving shallow paths into the plush velvet binding. The simple contrasts of the two colors and the textures of rough thread on soft plush brought Twilight a small sense of delight. The words had small flourishes here and there that weren't too elegant, making Twilight feel like the book still had a personalized touch that was balanced enough to satisfy her tastes.

She delicately opened up the small book, the binding creaking slightly and the paper softly rustling. Inside were various scrawls of her thoughts and feelings, all dated in a journal fashion and going back farther than she could remember herself. There were also scraps of paper hanging past the edges of the book, like they were loose notes taped into the book's pages, and also a few photographs peaking out as well. A tiny corner of the image on one photograph caught her attention, and she turned to the page containing it. A fine veil of tears came to her eyes. It was a photo of her and Spike when they were much younger. The two of them stood in front of the remaining shard of the egg that had held Spike as a hatchling. Twilight looked into the camera, all smiles and with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes. Spike merely sucked on his tail. As Twilight regarded the photo, one corner of her mouth pulled upwards slightly in a bittersweet smile, but the tears started to flow freely.

"He always did have the cutest eyes, and he still has that winning smile. When it's not stuffed with gems," she said with a mild chuckle.

She quickly turned past the page and headed towards the back of the book, pausing briefly to browse a part towards the middle that seemed stuffed with various smaller loose leaf papers and notes glued to the pages, causing that part of the journal to bulge slightly. She wrinkled her nose when she read a few lines and noted that they were not things she wanted repeated to her friends. She then continued flipping pages until she came to a section near the back with blank sheets. Satisfied, she nodded to herself and then closed the book, only to nearly drop it from her levitation field when she became startled by the sound of Rarity's voice filtering up from downstairs.

"Yoohoo! Twilight! Are you done packing? It's almost time for us to leave for our train. I've got our vacation packages all ready."

"Um... Not yet!" Twilight called as she hurried over to her saddle bags, her journal in tow.

She frantically searched about in her bags for a place to pack her journal. She pushed and prodded the book into various spaces, but she found no luck as her bags were packed to nearly full. She then heard her bedroom door open. Turning her head, she spotted a smiling Rarity trot on in, sporting a bright red outfit Twilight had never seen before and levitating a half-empty glass of lemonade next to her.

"Let me help you!" Rarity exclaimed.

Rarity placed her lemonade on a side table before eagerly approaching closer to Twilight. Twilight promptly placed her journal on the floor and sat on it. Rarity browsed the saddle bags, making mental notes of what Twilight had already packed.

"It looks like you're almost done," Rarity said. "I mean you've got a couple warm things to wear in here. You've also got... Twilight!" She whirled around and gave her friend a stern gaze. "Did you pack some things for experiments in here? This vacation is so you could relax!"

Twilight shifted about uneasily. The book felt really uncomfortable to sit on.

"It's just a few gadgets! Nothing more!" Twilight said as she nervously waved at Rarity.

"You should bring something to entertain yourself. And don't forget poor Spike as well! Like maybe a book like the one you're sitting on. Is that book for Spike? May I see it?"

"No!" Twilight held out a hoof as Rarity approached to satisfy her curiosity. "This book isn't for anypony! There's absolutely nothing in it for you or Spike or anypony else!"

Rarity paused and gave a tilt of her head, looking somewhat perplexed. "It's not like you not to share a book with your friends. What is that?"

She trotted over uncomfortably closer and craned her neck downwards, tilting her head this way and that in the hope that she could see underneath Twilight's posterior. Twilight shifted around as she sat on top of the book to keep Rarity from taking a peak.

"It's nothing!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Is that your diary?" Rarity cooed in a sing song fashion.

Twilight reached out with her magic, grabbing the brim of Rarity's bright red hat and pulling it tightly down over the eyes. With Rarity suitably distracted, Twilight quickly levitated the book back to one of her saddle bags and crammed it underneath one of her coats.

"Now that that's out of the way, help me pack for Spike," Twilight urged.

Twilight headed back up to the level where her bed and nightstand were situated. Rarity looked around Twilight's bookshelves.

"Are you going to bring along a book for Spike? I might borrow one of your books myself to unwind and relax at the end of each day. Visiting all the shops and spas isn't exactly easy business."

Twilight briefly looked up from her doings and rolled her eyes at Rarity's ideas of hard work. "I've already formulated a plan on how to keep Spike busy so that I can go about the things I need to do. I just need to get it on paper. Er." Twilight glanced down and saw the furrow in Rarity's brows. "I might also pack some puzzles and coloring books in his suitcase." She then went back to levitating some knick knacks out of her nightstand and browsing some more.

"Kiddie stuff? Honestly, Twilight. What about...?" Rarity furrowed her brows once more as she examined one of Twilight's private bookcases, spotting a book that seemed to stand apart from the rest and levitating it out. "Unstrapping the Saddle and Strapping the Stallion? Oh Twilight! I know this novel! This is..." Her bright, excited tone of voice suddenly fell slightly hushed. "This is... obviously not for Spike."

"Gwwaaaaaaaaah!"

Rarity looked up just in time to see Twilight in a heap at the bottom of the stairs leading away from her bed.

"By the living daylights, how many times am I going to fall down stairs today?" Twilight then got up and levitated the book away from Rarity. "I didn't mean for you to see that. That's... I don't even read that... all that much." Twilight then chuckled nervously.

Rarity snatched the book back. "Oh Twilight. Having a saucy romance novel isn't anything to be ashamed about. If you're not reading it, then please let me borrow it."

Twilight bit her lower lip as she eyed the book floating in Rarity's magic. "Are you sure I can't ply you with something else? Like maybe, um..."

She scanned the bookshelf. Her entire collection of Daring Do novels had been borrowed by Rainbow Dash. Most of the other books were nonfiction pieces of very technical topics that Twilight surmised wouldn't interest Rarity. Then Twilight spotted a book and pulled it out.

"What about this book on ice skating?"

"Well that's very thoughtful of you, Twilight, but I already know how to ice skate. It sounds like a book that you should probably take along to this winter resort."

Twilight flipped the book around so that she could look at the cover. The image of a cheerful snowbound wonderland and a happy couple skating on a frozen pond greeted her.

"Hmm. Well maybe you've got a point. Perhaps Spike would like to learn as well."

Rarity smiled broadly. "There you go! So may I borrow this one?"

Twilight nervously furrowed her brows as she rubbed the back of her head. Then she slowly nodded. Rarity squealed with delight while Twilight levitated the ice skating book and the various knick knacks she had pulled out of her nightstand over to the suitcases, packing them away. She then slid her saddle bags on her back while Rarity took the suitcases.

"Have you got everything?" Rarity asked as she gave the bedroom a quick scan. "If you want to pack some more things, you could always make use of my cart."

Twilight couldn't help but smile at this thought. "I think I'm good."