A Winter Romance

Crush

Rarity and Twilight left the library to head back to the restaurant and found quite a scene in the form of a line of grumbling, anxious stallions waiting near the boys room.

"What in the world?" Twilight exclaimed, standing in the road with her mouth agape.

Rarity headed to her cart and placed Spike's suitcases inside. She then looked around. "Where's Spikey Wikey? Is he still in that bathroom?"

"I'm done! I'm done!" the two of them heard a familiar voice call.

A small purple dragon darted out of the outhouse, looking somewhat red in the face as an angry stallion hurriedly muscled past him and headed in.

"H-hey guys. Are we all ready to go?" Spike muttered as he approached, still half out of breath.

The young dragon pasted on a plastic smile that Twilight raised an eyebrow at.

"What have you been doing, Spike?" Twilight asked.

The dragon clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels. "Doing? I haven't been doing anything. Just, uh, just using the bathroom."

Twilight tilted her head and wrinkled her nose, wondering on whether to accept his explanation. "From the looks of that line, you were in there quite longer than usual."

Spike's defenses seemed to falter, and he stuttered and tried to find the right words. "Um... Well I was, uh... When Rarity..."

Rarity's high-pitched call distracted Spike from his embarrassment.

"Come on, dears! We're going to be late for our train! Spike. Would you be a dear and help me with this cart?"

Spike wasted no time in eagerly bounding towards Rarity, his flustered frown replaced by a toothy grin. In a few energetic steps, he was over by Rarity's cart in a flash and grabbed the harness, slipping his arms through. Rarity smiled and laughed as she saw how clumsy Spike looked, flailing his arms and twisting his body this way and that as he struggled to fit his two-legged self through the loop of straps designed for a four-legged pony. Then, in a huff, he gave up and reached to the sides to grab the two wooden beams projecting from the cart's base. Leaning forward, he strained against the cart's weight, his back legs sliding a few time until he finally won the battle against momentum and felt the wheels turn.

Twilight and Spike followed Rarity over to the train station, where Rarity pulled out their vacation packets and produced the travel tickets part of their packet. Twilight glanced back from her place on the boarding platform and saw her young dragon friend heave and place the last few lumbering steps until the cart was secure on the wooden structure. With a weeze, he dropped the twin arms of the cart and fell forward on his belly to nurse his spent energy. From his viewpoint on the ground, he could see through the forest of pony legs the massive cylinder of iron that was the train, hissing steam like a dragon would weeze out smoke while snoring. As he lazed on the platform floor, deciding upong whether to muster up the strength to stand up, he also saw Rarity ahead of him, dealing with the business of giving the train tickets to the conductor. Her back was turned to him, and as he craned his neck up, he found his eyes becoming drawn to her bottom once more. He didn't get to dwell on his view of her rear for too long, as Twilight entered his field of vision, bending down slightly and offering a helping hoof.

"Come on, Spike. Stand up," Twilight urged.

Spike accepted Twilight's hoof and allowed her to help him to get to his feet. He then pulled the cart a bit closer to the train, and that was when he noticed that Rarity seemed to be arguing with the conductor.

"Madam. I'm afraid that you can't bring that cart onto this train. It is much too large for any car on this train, and we have a weight limit. Even if you managed to separate all your items, which I doubt you'd be able to do in time, registering and stowing all those bags will probably cost you more than a hundred bits. Your limit is five bags. Please choose or leave the cart here."

Rarity's steely glare looked like it could take the conductor's head off at the neck. "Don't even talk to me about 'too large'. If Pinkie Pie can fit a three layer cake into the dining car and Applejack can fit a tree of all things into the caboose, then I can fit my cart full of my things."

A bead of sweat formed at the corner of the conductor's brow as he weathered Rarity's demands, trying to keep his composure and his sense of customer service. "I... I'm not aware of those events. I wasn't the conductor for that train. B-but I'm afraid... Uh..." The conductor swallowed hard as Rarity got closer and her stare intensified. "I have a schedule to keep. Please madam."

Rarity backed off, puffed her cheeks into a pout and stomped a hoof. Spike walked a little closer.

"Um. Rarity?" Spike piped up. "I've only got two suitcases. I could take a couple of your bags and maybe your large trunk and then you could take five of your own bags."

She tenderly rubbed the top of Spike's head. "Oh what a gentlecolt you are, Spike. But..." She gave her cart a glance. "There are so many bags, and I'd still have to choose." She then gave a short whine.

Shortly afterwards, a blue unicorn stallion with a flowing black mane muscled his way in between Twilight and Spike, shoving them to the side as he made his way to Rarity. "That won't be necessary, my good lady," the stranger said.

Spike's jaw dropped, but he couldn't be sure whether it was from his intrusion or how slick and deep his voice was. Rarity looked up and seemed to become lost in the stallion's eyes. Her eyes narrowed in a manner somewhere between sultry and shy. Spike had seen it before when Rarity first described "him", or Prince Blueblood before Rarity discovered what a jerk he was, to Twilight.

"Oh my. Hello there," Rarity squeaked. She bounced her locks once in one of her front hooves.

"Who's this joker?" Spike muttered.

"Let's skip the formalities. My name's Sky Sparks."

Rarity's voice exuded a subdued smoothness. "I am..."

"That's great. Conductor! You can fit her cart in the utility car behind my private compartment. I'll pay the weight fee."

Rarity's eyes widened with excitement and her smile became broader. "You have a private car?"

The stranger flashed a big smile full of straight, flawless teeth. "I had it reserved weeks ahead of time. It's for passengers who desire to be alone during the trip. Although I don't have to be alone now. Are you doing anything later this evening?"

Rarity's mouth dropped, and she elicted a gasp. "Well I..."

"You are now. Join me for dinner in my private compartment at six."

"I... I..."

"That's great." Sky Sparks then turned his head towards the conductor, who stood gobsmacked. "Conductor!"

The conductor snapped out of his stupor and then realized Sky Sparks' demands. He made his way over to the porters, but Spike didn't see what had happened after that.

"Twilight. Can you believe this...? Twilight?" Spike had turned his head to talk to Twilight, only to find she was no longer standing next to him. "Where are you?"

Spike headed down the length of the train towards the other end of the boarding platform, moving his head this way and that to scan the bustling crowd.

"Over here, Spike," came Twilight's voice.

The dragon looked in one direction and spotted Twilight standing in front of one of the loading doors. She turned her head towards him.

"What's up?" Twilight asked.

Spike furrowed his brows. "Why did you come all the way over here?"

The bookworm glanced down the length of the boarding platform back towards where her friend Rarity stood. She saw the fashion unicorn still chatting it up with the newcomer. Against her better side, Twilight started to bristle, but she quickly regained her composure to avoid Spike seeing her that way. To satisfy Spike's question, she opted to tell him the more mundane version of her story.

"I like the air better over here," she said.

It hadn't been a complete lie. The engine was in the opposite direction.

"So what's got you all upset, Spike?" Twilight continued.

"Huh? Oh! Him! Well that jerk over there..." Spike turned around and started to point but dropped his claw soon afterwards. "What is he...? Hey! I'll bite his head off!"

The impulsive dragon darted forward, his longer legs propelling him almost out of reach of Twilight's magic, catching her slightly off guard. Twilight gasped as she stumbled back slightly but then quickly reached out and snagged Spike by the tail in a levitation field. The dragon had his arms outstretched, as he were trying to catch something, and he continued dragging claws on the floor and going nowhere. Twilight would've found it more amusing if Spike's anger didn't irritate her.

"Whoa-ho there, tiger. Cool your heels. Don't go starting trouble. Come on. Let's go meet up with Rarity and see what's what before we board the train. Did he say what his name was?"

Spike slowly calmed down when he realized Twilight had him restrained. Twilight released him when he dropped his arms and stopped pedalling. The two of them then started walking back towards Rarity's location.

"He said his name was... Sky something. Skyquake? No that's not right."

Twilight cast an incredulous eye at Spike as she walked beside him. As they approached Rarity, Spike noticed that the interloper had gone and that Rarity walked towards them. A cheerful smile parted her lips, and her eyes possessed a dreamy, far away kind of look.

"Oh Twilight!" Rarity crooned. "Sky Sparks is magnificent! He offered to keep my cart safe and paid the extra weight fee. Isn't that wonderful?"

Her eyes moved to Spike, who looked slightly away. She then looked Twilight.

"Uh... That sounds very generous. What else is he like?"

Rarity's smile faded slightly. "You sound a little..."

"Well it's just that this stallion just sort of dropped in out of the blue, and you don't know him from anywhere, and NOW you're trusting him with your cart, which might I add, contains some of Spike's things?"

The white unicorn opposite Twilight drew her head back, eyes wide and her right front hoof pressed to her chest. "Twilight!" she squeaked. "I would've thought by now you trusted my judgment of character. I'm surprised at you!"

Twilight's lips parted slightly, the slight beration catching her by surprise. She could see the indignation and hurt in Rarity's eyes. She then wondered to herself if she was slipping in her lessons on friendship but kept her thoughts to herself. She opened her mouth to offer an apology, but a retort from Spike pierced the air first.

"Like Prince Blueblood?"

Rarity released a pained gasp, and her jaw hung like the following silence. Twilight cast a wide-eyed glance at Spike. The only sound that passed between them was a loud zip as the young dragon found himself with his mouth tightly secured.

"I am SO sorry, Rarity. Spike didn't mean that. Let's board our train, and I'll make it up to you. Would you join me for dinner later and allow me to pay for it?"

Rarity watched as Twilight struggled with Spike, but Rarity's mind was elsewhere. She seemed rather surprised at what Twilight felt was an ordinary prospect.

"Dinner? But..." Rarity started. She then glanced back at the crowned private car in the rear of the first class section.

"Is that not convenient for you?" Twilight asked, her words punctuated by grunts as she fought to keep Spike in place.

Rarity looked back at her friends and gave an awkward smile. "Sure! I'd love that from a good friend such as you. I'll join you in a few hours in the dining car. Let's say five?"

"Good! Come on, Spike. Let's go..."

"Actually, Spike!" Rarity piped up, interrupting Twilight. "I know most of my things are packed away on my cart, but how would you like to help me put away and organize my personal effects?"

The dragon's eyes went wide with excitement, and he pulled away from Twilight's grip to reach up and undo the magic zipper keeping his lips restrained.

"Absolutely!"

It was Twilight's turn to seem indignant. "Spike!"

Spike turned back towards Twilight and gave a sly grin and a casual shrug. The three friends then heard the shriek of the train's whistle pierce the air.

"All aboard!" the conductor bellowed.

"Quick! Let's get on the train!" Twilight exclaimed.

The conductor waved the three friends into the train as they hurried through one of the loading doors of a passenger car. Twilight headed towards a seating section and found a bench to sit down on. As she stowed away her saddle bags and got herself settled, the train lurched forward once and then slowly built up speed. Soon she heard the huffing and chugging of the train's powerful engine as it pulled away from the station. Several seconds later, Spike passed by her and waved as he gaily followed Rarity towards a sleeper compartment. They quickly moved by her, keeping her from getting a word in. She lightly sighed when she heard the door close behind them. Left all alone, she decided to reach down into her saddle bag and retrieve her book on ice skating.

The cover gave her a warm if somewhat bittersweet feeling. A romantic winter setting, rendered in a somewhat soft, impressionistic fashion, graced the cover of the book. Twilight's eyes drew towards the focus of the wintery scene, a young pony couple who skated side by side. Their bodies drew close to each other, neither seeming like that pony would drift from the other's side. Their legs kicked out in perfect unison as they seemed to glide across the ice, the picture suggesting a graceful, fluid dance. Though their bodies were painted with light pastel colors and brushed with an airy stroke, Twilight could still make out happy, loving smiles on the ponies' faces. She played out a couple scenes in her head as she regarded the book, one of which was that the ponies must've been a loving couple. Then she suddenly thought of the couple as being her and Spike, skating side by side in graceful poetic motion and having a good time, and this brought a slight blush to her cheeks.

"What am I doing?" she muttered to herself. "I'm supposed to be working on my spells with Spike. Oh Spike." She gave half a sigh after breathing his name and turned the front cover back.

The first few pages talked about the technical parts of an ice skate, such as how to lace up and parts like the toe pick. She flipped past these and read a part on gaining confidence near the skating rink wall and feeling the outer edge of the skate's blade.

"Well that seems easy enough but we'll probably be doing our skating on a pond or a lake."

She flipped some more pages before giving a glance up from the book and out the window next to her seat. A serene autumn scene unfolded before her as the train steamed away from the familiar, bustling town life of Ponyville. The landscape returned spots of red, brown and gold that were the season's vibrant palette. Snow hadn't fallen yet, but Twilight surmised there would be plenty of wintery activities at her destination to keep Spike and herself occupied.

"Oh that reminds me!" Twilight exclaimed as a thought came upon her. "I should probably get some more information on this winter resort from Rarity so that I can formulate a plan of events for Spike and me. I hope she won't mind me dropping in on her while she's busy. Maybe I can give Spike's gift while I'm over there. I just need to find it in this saddle bag somewhere."

Twilight shifted in placed and leaned over to retrieve her saddle bag. She wrapped the straps around her hooves, lifted it up from where it rested under her bench and opened up the flaps. After shuffling around a couple items a few times, she found the gift and retrieved it. It looked as shiny and extravagant as ever, its wrapping paper glimmering with a metallic luster in the sunlight streaming through the window. It's golden bow displayed perfect symmetry. Not a single loop was larger than its neighbor, and the bands crossed each other over the box's perfect center. Upon closer inspection, Twilight also noticed that the wrapping paper seemed to be embedded with a fine powder of blue crystals that she hadn't noticed before. The microscopic facets of the coating of gems scattered the light in a dazzling hue, enhancing the metallic sheen of the paper and going well with the purple and gold.

The unicorn pondered that it must've been something for Spike to wear when she remembered how Rarity had been going on about the gift. Yet Rarity could've given him any warm coat from her boutique, and Twilight herself packed scarves and coats. Twilight felt Rarity didn't need to trouble herself with giving a gift just for Spike to have something to wear.

"Well it must be something super neat. Like maybe a hat or a scarf with some kind of design? Or even a warm woolen vest? But... this box is too nice for anything like that. Rarity gives away things like that all the time, but this gift is so extravagant. I hope Rarity didn't have to work too hard on it. I wonder what it is."

Like a little filly on Hearth's Warming Eve, Twilight did the one thing all fillies did with gifts. She gave a it small shake. She heard several muffled thuds but nothing to indicate that anything hard was inside.

"What are you doing, Twilight?" she chided herself. "Friends don't snoop around the gifts given to other friends." She sat back down on the seat, kicking her thoughts down a flight of stairs she had constructed in her head. "But on the other hand it's not exactly a special occasion. I guess one little peek couldn't hurt."

Her thoughts crawled back up the mental staircase.

"Oh wait!" she exclaimed as she stood up again. "I don't even have to open it! I know a sight spell! It'll let me see inside the box! Ha ha! Perfect!"

She levitated the gift in front of her then glanced to the side. She spotted a couple incredulous stares from some of the passengers in the other seats. Twilight merely flashed a brief, toothy smile before turning her attention back towards the gift. She closed her eyes and pointed her horn at the gift as it levitated in front of her, a warm pinkish purple aura of light wrapping around her horn and the gift. As she tapped into more magic, the light intensified, and she squinted her eyes tighter in concentration. Finally the spell resolved itself, and glittering sparkles danced across Twilight's shut eyelids. She opened them up and looked at the gift again. Her jaw went slack and a gasped escaped her mouth when she saw the image that materialized.

"Why... but... this is..." Twilight stammered.

An assortment of extravagant and gorgeous clothes displayed themselves before her in a glowing image bubble centered on the box.

"I can see some kind of dark dinner jacket, possibly grosgrain. High Canterlot wool for the fabric. A poplin weave cotton shirt. A silk dress scarf with her logo on it. No cumberbund or neck ruffles. Well she did promise it wouldn't be too frilly. I do see a top hat, though. There's also a warm winter sweater in here. Seems to be also made of wool but of a coarser texture. And is that...?" Twilight gasped and ran the tip of her tongue across the end of her palate. "Is that a deep ocean sapphire in that tie? Why they're one of the rarest sapphires around and rumored to act as magic energy charges. This is so... so..." Twilight released her magic and let the gift drop unceremoniously onto the bench. "This isn't fair."

As the gift soundly plopped onto the seat, a retangular piece of paper became jostled out of its hiding spot and started peaking out from behind the bow.

"Hmm. What's this? An envelope?" She snatched the new item in her levitation and examined it closer. "I'd better not open this."

Inspecting the envelope revealed that it was just an ordinary, decidedly unfancy post office envelope, of a small size perfect for taping onto gifts. Twilight gave a couple quick sniffs and detected the faint presence of Rarity's favorite perfume. When she turned it to the other side, Twilight spotted writing in a flowery, elegant, flowing cursive, written in an azure ink.

"To the most gracious of gentlecolts, my dearest heart of ember, Spikey Wikey," Twilight read to herself. "Rarity's calligraphy. No doubt that letter is filled with gushy gooey romantic fluff that Spike will adore." She tucked the letter back underneath the ribbon. She then turned around and proceeded to stare out of the window again. A faded image of her reflection stared back. "Twilight. You are j... je... You are... No that's ridiculous!" Twilight shook her head vigorously and whirled back around to look at the gift.

It seemed to sparkle even more radiantly than before.

"I think... I think I should put this away for now."

* * *

Spike dreamily followed Rarity around with his gaze as she milled about her sleeping compartment, arranging her smaller items that she didn't leave in her cart. With each new item placed, Spike half-mindedly reached into the saddle bag at his feet and pulled another item for her to take. He felt on top of the world, knowing he was doing something, however small, to assist Rarity. However as he gave her more and more items from her saddle bags, he started wishing he could be even more helpful.

"Rarity?" Spike asked slowly, cautiously.

He felt half afraid that he would interrupt Rarity's creativity, and it seemed a shame for her flow to be cut short or for her to rearrange a misplaced item. However, she remained as graceful as ever, and her rhythm stopped for nary a word.

"Yes?" she asked, not giving Spike a second look as she took another item from him with her levitation and found a place for it.

"Well. I know you're doing such a great job, and you're so graceful at the way you organize."

"Oh thank you, Spike."

"Yes, but uh..." He tapped his index claws together. "When you asked me to help you organize your things, I assumed that, you know, I would actually help you do the organizing."

The final thing Rarity put away was an elegant, transparent camisole that she hung up in a small closet set aside for passengers. She then finally spared a glance at Spike. His tender, doe-eyed look returned the gaze. She felt a familiar pitter-pat in her chest.

"That's very kind of you, Spike, but you're not exactly the most careful or meticulous dragon, and uh..." She faltered when she saw Spike's eyes start to look sorrowful. "And I'm quite done anyway! So it's not a problem. Thank you!" she said hastily.

"Are you sure there's nothing else?" Spike asked, starting to sound frantic.

"Well..." Rarity started, rubbing the back of her head as she glanced from Spike back towards her items. Her eyes then wandered over to where she had kept a few of her gowns that were folded up and stowed away. "Oh my stars! Is that a hole?!" she exclaimed as her eyes went wide. "Several holes?!"

"What? What happened?" Spike asked, growing a bit frantic.

Spike then suddenly felt his cheeks being grabbed, and he found himself looking into the icy blue orbs that entranced him so. His fears slowly started to melt away from the sight of the eyes he adored.

"Spike listen to me. I have to do a couple patch jobs, but I need to grab some materials from my wagon. Do you think you could keep an eye on my articles while I'm gone like a good little gentlecolt?"

The dragon raised a cautious claw, all the while never taking his eyes off of Rarity's face. "Uh. But aren't your things in..."

"Yes I know where they are, Spike. Could you do this for me, please? Pretty pretty please, my darling sweet dragon knight in purple armor?"

Spike's heart melted like so many campfire smores. "I will do it for you."

"Oh thank you thank you thank you!"

Rarity drew Spike in closer for a big hug, and she gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek. When Rarity released her grip, Spike weaved and wobbled about in love sickness, feeling like the very heavens were dancing in his sight.

"Find something to keep yourself occupied if you get bored while I'm gone!" Rarity said as she headed for the door of the sleeping compartment.

As the dragon regained his composure and shook the love sickness from his daydreaming mind, he nodded and sat on the bed. "Okay, Rarity. Just remember that we have a..."

The door slammed closed. Rarity had exited.

"Dinner date with Twilight later," he finished.

Spike sighed. The high he experienced a few minutes earlier had evaporated, replaced with quiet but unorganized thoughts since Rarity was no longer in the room. His eyes meandered around the room, gazing at every article of clothing and item that Rarity had stowed away to keep them safe from the movement of the train. He was quite content to take his job literally, thinking it would please Rarity if he really did "keep an eye" on her things. He imagined himself as some kind of sentry, guarding the precious crown jewels of a beloved royal princess.

"Our love is forbidden, my darling Rarity, but I will find a way to make it not so, and then I will come for you. I will sweep you off your feet and take you away from this mad palace world. I will gather all the stars in the sky and fashion a glorious cloak of star dust for you." He then dropped his character moment and sighed, looking down at his feet as they dangled from the edge of the bed. "Yeah right, Spike. You haven't told Rarity your real feelings yet, and you're in here playing make believe. I mean does she even know? You always chicken out when you find the opportunity. What do you think, Miss Pillowcase?"

Spike turned to the head of the bed, a rather economically-sized model meant to conserve space in the sleeper car, where one of Rarity's plush, feather soft pillows she had brought along with her. The pillow presented an image of Rarity's head printed on the case. It smiled back at him but said no words.

"Not helping," Spike exclaimed as he picked up the pillow and hurled it to the other side of the bunk room.

The pillow hit a cubby hole built into the compartment's wall. Spike drew in a sharp breath when he saw it hit. The netting of the cubby hole flexed with the impact of the pillow, and single item fell out. He winced and averted his gaze, but when he heard a loud thud, he opened his eyes and sighed in relief when all that had fallen was a book.

"Guess I'd better pick things up," he mused.

He got up and quickly grabbed the pillow, setting it in its proper place on Rarity's bed. Then, whirling around, he spotted the book laying on its back cover on the floor. It didn't seem to be the kind of book that Rarity would normally have. It had no pastel colors. There were new gems adorning the outside, nor any frills. It also didn't seem to be either a catalog or a book on fashion, not that Rarity required the second. However, the book intrigued him. He stepped closer and regarded the cover. He spotted the image of a beautiful young mare enticing a strapping, muscular stallion with a provocative pose. The mare lay on an expansive bed, her unkempt mane cascading down her shoulders, her sultry eyes gazing through her let down hair at her powerful companion, who stood smiling at the foot of the bed, seemingly ready to climb in himself. Spike then read the title of the book and started wondering.

"What a strange looking book. I wonder what kind of story this is."

Spike sat down on Rarity's bed and started flipping through the pages to find out.

* * *

Twilight stifled a cough as the chill fall air whipped past her body, sped on to an even icier briskness by the forward chugging of the train. Up in the sky behind her loomed the towering cumulus city of Cloudsdale, its snow factory puffing away full steam for the onset of winter just around the corner. Twilight paid no mind to the prospect of the coming season or the pegasi hard at work. She remained lost in her thoughts as she gazed over the railing of the train's caboose, watching the town of Ponyville become even smaller in the distance and the rolling hills wizzing by.

The caboose provided a place for the crew to keep their gear and other belongings but also had a handy lookout point for those who wanted to gaze at the sights or even take in some fresh air. Twilight propped her body up against the barrier, leaning forward and staring solemnly out, but the fresh air and collecting her thoughts together provided no ease. In fact she felt as if the conductor had been eyeballing her suspiciously, even though he had said nothing more menacing than muttering to himself as he double checked the supplies and went over the time table to himself.

Rarity's gift to Spike levitated next to her. The wilderness seemed wide and lonely. It would be such an easy place for a certain small object to get lost in. For a few brief moments, as Twilight watched the trees and fields speed past her, she thought of the gift floating next to her with envy and turned a few malicious ideas in her head. She then gasped and made a few cautious steps away from the lookout when she found the place her thoughts had been in seemed too scary for her.

"Get a grip, Twilight," she muttered to herself after shaking her head. "You came here to collect your thoughts." She stared back out into the hills. "Okay. So you almost tossed your best friend's gift to your other best friend. Inside is something very beautiful and most assuredly very special. Spike will most likely adore it, and you should be happy that he would be happy when he gets it." Twilight gave herself a hollow, half-hearted laugh, almost as if to chase away some kind of fear and render it as nonsense. Then when the laugh died in an echo, she muttered, "Why am I feeling these things? What should I do?"

The hills returned no answer.

The unicorn caught another cough as she turned to her side where her saddle bag lay open. She pulled out a small book and a pencil and brought the graphite to the surface of a blank page. She started to mentally prepare herself to jot down some words when the sounds of speaking startled her out of her thoughts.

"Are you not cold, miss?" exclaimed someone behind her.

"Waaaaaaaaaaah!" Twilight said, almost dropping her book and the gift. She whirled around and spotted the conductor. "Don't do that!"

"Quite terribly sorry," the conductor said as he touched the tip of his hat. "I merely asked if you were not cold."

Twilight whipped both her book and the gift around to behind her back and fixed a firm and disapproving gaze on the conductor. "No I am not. I am quite fine."

The conductor nodded politely but didn't move from his spot.

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she regarded the conductor. When it seemed to her that he wouldn't leave any time soon, she cleared her throat, putting as much of her annoyance into the act as possible.

"Ahem!" she said.

The stallion raised an eyebrow, lines of concern on his brow. "Are you sure you're okay out here? That seems like quite the nasty sore throat you've got there."

Twilight started to feel exasperated. Although the conductor had every right to utilize the caboose, Twilight desired some privacy, and it seemed the indirect method wasn't going to work. She briefly lowered her head and grunted out an icy cloud of her breath. She tried her best to calm down before speaking again, to avoid saying anything premature towards the conductor.

"Conductor. I'm trying to find a moment of quiet reflection over here, and before you interrupted me, I was in the middle of writing something, uh, a little private. Hint hint."

The conductor met her gaze with a glimmer in his eyes. A broad smile parted his lips, a kind of knowing smile that made Twilight feel uneasy.

The stallion opened his mouth and proceeded to start his tale. "Oh. You've got yourself a little journal, do you? Why I remember my first journal. It was forty some odd years ago, I believe. I got it for my birthday. Would you believe my first entry was about a filly? I think her name was..."

As the conductor prattled away, Twilight blanched at the thought of hearing some more.

"Ugh! Nevermind!" she exclaimed gruffly before teleporting away.

When Twilight materialized, she found herself inside relative darkness. Scant beams of sunlight came in through small square windows. Upon casting her horn's light spell and looking around, she noticed that she must've been in one of the baggage cars. However, it seemed to be a little bit smaller than the train's other baggage cars. As she turned her head to survey her surroundings, she spotted a familiar cart.

"That looks like Rarity's cart. What's it doing here? I know Rarity said her new friend offered to pay the excess fee to store her cart, but this doesn't look anything like the regular baggage carts." Twilight turned her gaze up, following the huge mound of Rarity's belongings, and spotted where the last of her items barely brushed against the train car's ceiling. "And such a reckless way of storing her things. Why there's barely enough room in here." She then sat down and propped her back up against one of the cart's wheels. "But it is pretty quiet in here. Actually..."

A thought crossed Twilight's mind, and she looked around on the floor. She spotted Rarity's gift and levitated it up to her eye level.

"Hmm." She gave a hard swallow when she caught the dazzling shimmers of the wrapping. "I don't know what to feel about this. I can't bring myself to give this to Spike, even though I should. Rarity will be expecting me to, or she'll ask for it eventually. And yet this gift... it's so..." She screwed her eyes shut and swallowed the rest of her words. "But if I take it to my compartment or leave it in my saddle bags, Spike or Rarity would probably stumble upon it. This place actually looks like it would be good to hide the gift for a while until I can sort myself out."

She looked up and scanned the baggage car left and right, using her horn's light for guidance. She found what seemed like a pair of long but narrow rectangular boxes and a green sack tucked back in the far corner of the train car. With a casual whistle, she levitated the gift over to this collection of items and slowly slipped it behind them, shoving the gift cleanly out of sight.

"Oops," Twilight muttered, slightly mischievously.

She then looked around after she had done the deed, almost worried that some pony might have seen her, but she was the only soul around. Then, picking up her journal, which she spotted on the floor in front of her, she got up and headed towards the baggage car's exit. However, she paused just before she reached the door and gave a glance backwards, her brows steepled with sadness. She only gave the feeling just a moment before she finally willed herself to leave.

* * *

Spike placed the book to his side on the bed. He had been passing the time waiting for Rarity to come back by reading a strange romance novel he found among Rarity's belongings. Rarity was still away, but he found he could no longer keep reading the book after a couple chapters. There were feelings he couldn't describe welling up inside him, words he wanted to know the meanings of, and pages knitting out scenes of desire and love that caused his brain to buzz and his body to grow warm. Through it all, though, with the words he had read before bringing himself to stop, they mostly grew a sadness within him. He wiped his eyes profusely from time to time and sniffled, but the mist of tears still came, never really falling down his cheeks but never really going away either.

"That poor stallion," Spike said with a sniffle as he recounted the parts he read. "He'll never get to see the love of his life anymore. Why would his step sister do that? Why would she lock him away in a far away place?"

After a time, his tears dried, and he gave the book another glance. Slowly he reached out to pick it up again. Part of him wanted to continue reading or even to skip towards the ending. Instead, he walked it back over to the cubby hole he found it in. Before he could slide the book back inside, however, Rarity burst through the compartment door, startling Spike into dropping the book on the floor.

"Waah!" Spike exclaimed, as Rarity threw the door open and hurried past him.

"I am SO terribly sorry for taking this long, Spike. Thank you once again for being a dear and watching my things for me. Now I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

As Spike calmed down from his startle, he noticed that Rarity had towed in her levitation bubble a box of sewing tools, a pair of scissors, several squares of fabric, and some ribbon for good measure. It seemed she hadn't noticed he had taken her book and had just then dropped it on the floor, for she had walked right past him and turned her attention on her materials, which she had placed on her bed.

"I... uh. What?" Spike stammered. "What took you so long?"

Rarity made a dismissive gesture with her front hoof. "Well, it's... you know." She gave a hollow chuckle and then turned around, her tone becoming serious. "Spike? Have you been crying?"

The young dragon took a quick step backwards, almost tripping on the book. He tried his best to feign a casually cool expression but in reality felt awkward and helpless. "What? No way. What made you think that?"

It was his turn to laugh nervously.

"Your eyes are puffy and red," Rarity said, bringing a hoof up to point at her own eyes as an example. "I would fix you up, of course. It's just that I really need some privacy to concentrate, and I can't very well just leave my blouses in that state they're in. So if it so pleases you, could you leave me be?"

A character moment took a hold of Spike, and he gave a low bow. "It doth please me, milady," he spoke in an eloquent manner.

When he lifted his head while still keeping his torso lowered, he saw that Rarity had her back turned towards him and was fussing with her items.

"What was that, Spike?"

Spike sighed and then straightened up. "Nothing, Rarity. I'll go now."

Before he departed, he quickly turned around and scooped up the book on the floor. He backed towards the door and paused briefly enough to look up at Rarity. She still seemed preoccupied, so Spike gave the book in his claws a glance. He swallowed hard. He knew the right thing to do was to return it, as it belonged to Rarity, but something about the book called to him to read some more, to take it for even just a little while.

Spike clutched the book to his chest and kept an eye on Rarity as he slowly reached behind his back and opened the sleeping compartment's door before stepping back outside.

* * *

Twilight put her pencil down and gazed at the wall behind her compartment's bed. Her lower lips quivered underneath her teeth as she pondered her feelings and the process of putting them into words by putting graphite to paper. She then grasped her pencil again, and on tenterhooks moved it over to the surface of her journal's open page. Twice more she pulled it away before jotting anything down, when it seemed the emotions that sprang forth would overwhelm her. She tried to a chart a path through her mind, to pick out words that might cause the least damage to her bruised heart, but the task proved elusive. Finally, when she became fed up with her indecisions, she brought the pencil up to the small book that lay before her, its blank white page on the right taunting her into filling it with scrupulous words and making it more like the page on the left.

Scritch scratch went the rough carbon tip on the page's grain, leaving gray traces. Slowly the words formed as Twilight poured all her thoughts into it.

"Dear journal. Well where do I begin? Let's start with the whole snooping into my best friend's gift to my dear... to Spike. Why did I even want to look? It feels like such an invasion, now that I think about it. Well I mean it wasn't like I physically opened the gift, but even still... I guess something about how extravagant and shiny it looked just taunted me. I mean sure. Rarity gives gifts all the time. Thoughtful gifts. Because that's exactly how she is, and I like that about her. However they're often gifts to other ponies. With Spike, she'd often just give something cute like a bow or maybe even a hat with her face on it. You know. Child..."

Twilight stopped and gazed at the last word she wrote. Frowning, she flipped her pencil over to the other end and started erasing.

"Kiddie..."

Erase.

"Baby. Oh good gravy, Twilight."

She erased the word one final time and closed the journal. Her lower lips quivered as she sat in silence, nursing her frustrations by staring at the wall across from her bed, pretending to burn holes into it. Her mind felt jumbled, like a jigsaw puzzle that had been scrambled. The guilt of her recent actions brought a numbness to her mind that made it hard to think. Her hunger also didn't help things either. A sharp growl emanated from her stomach.

"Oh shut up," Twilight told her gut. She then snatched up the pencil one more time and opened up her journal. "Something befitting Spike's young age."

The pencil dropped unceremoniously from her magic field to the plush covers once more. Twilight continued verbalizing her thoughts to herself but didn't write them down.

"Why couldn't I say it? Childish. Or is it childlike? It's such a simple word. After all, Spike is a..." Her voice trailed away. "Isn't he?" She flipped to the page containing the photo from their younger days. She bit her lip and sniffled once but somehow managed to keep her composure long enough to write some more. "Dear journal," Twilight started, dictating to herself a bit louder than she had intended. "Rarity's gift made me start to question whether Spike really is still a child. It was exactly the kind of gift she would give a grown gentlecolt. This brings me to my new confusing feelings about Spike. I have always viewed Spike as sort of like my little brother and have always attempted to raise him like a brother and shelter him from the... less innocent things in life, such as Spike's often unrequited attempts at romancing his way into Rarity's heart. In the past, I would've written off such forays as Spike just being a bit goofy and Rarity being a tease but meaning well. However recent events have led me to worry over Spike and how soon he will wind up with a broken heart. I will have to face facts. Spike is growing up and will eventually have to deal with grown up pains." Twilight paused momentarily and gave a hard swallow. "In many ways, Spike is still much like a child. He does goofy things like find joy in new ways to stack books but still complains about the dust. Still, every now and then, he'll do something completely sweet and thoughtful like..."

There came another heavy pause, and she continued without putting new thoughts into her book.

"Like fix me breakfast when I am feeling down," she added to herself.

A fresh stream of unwelcome tears sprang to her eyes. She reached up and wiped her eyes before curling herself closer towards the welcoming softness of her bed's top covers. It provided a small bit of comfort for her anguish, but she still gave a throaty sob.

"I've done something terrible," Twilight said with a sniffle. "I should be happy that Rarity has given Spike such a beautiful gift. If I give it to Spike like I promised, he is almost certain to fall in love with it, and fall in love with the mare who gave it to him." She pressed her teary eyes into her front hooves, burying her face into them to let them catch the teardrops as they started falling even more profusely. "Yet I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Spike just couldn't handle being teased by Rarity just to be let down. But if I leave the gift where it is, they might not ever talk to me again."

Twilight lifted her head and tried to find the clock on the wall through the mist of her tears. When the blurs cleared away, she saw that the time drew close to her dinner date. She vigorously wiped her face and quickly snatched her pencil up in her levitation field again.

"I must figure out how to keep Spike occupied with activities during our excursion at the winter resort," she said as she wrote. "Even if it comes down to finally giving the gift to him, with any luck he'll be so busy that he won't have time to fall for Rarity's charms, and I might be able to get closer to him." Twilight paused and shoved the eraser end of her pencil underneath one of her teeth, gently gnawing on it as she pondered the rest of her words. "To study his growth, of course. Unfortunately, this requires that I approach Rarity sometime and ask her for information about the winter resort. I hope she doesn't grow suspicious of the gift."

She concluded her writing and gingerly closed her journal. She then gave the clock a hard glare.

"I might get my chance at dinner, but do I risk being late to go back for the gift?"

The clock on the wall hit the top of the hour.

"Aww crumbs. Nevermind."

She tucked her journal into her saddle bag and bolted from the sleeping compartment.

* * *

Twilight sighed in a melancholy way as she stared blankly at her uneaten salad. The dining car bustled with the energy of many ponies, but she heard nothing beyond her own thoughts. The clock on the wall ticked past five forty-five, and she kicked a cherry tomato back and forth on her plate with her right hoof with each second that audibly ticked away. A passing Canterlot elite glared down her nose at Twilight as she made her way past, causing the waiter to take a clumsy sidestep. The tray of food in his levitation field wobbled as he negotiated the aisles. A gasp escaped his lips, and Twilight could see a bead of sweat pool on his forehead as he milled about with ungraceful trots. Twilight reached out with her own magic and helped the poor waiter steady it again.

"Thank you, miss. That was much appreciated," the waiter exclaimed, a growing smile on his face. "I don't think that upper crust pony enjoyed seeing you toying with your food."

Hearing him point out her discrepancy in eating etiquette caused her to look down briefly and blush.

"Is there something wrong with your food? Should I take it away?" he finally continued.

"Huh? Oh no! Um. Forgive me. It's just that I was expecting a dinner date with a couple friends since five o'clock, and they haven't shown up yet." Twilight waved a hoof dismissively and allowed a small smile to momentarily peek through her gloom. "Oh don't let me trouble you with my burdens. I'm quite fine. Thank you," she added with a forced chuckle in her voice and a rigid squareness in her jaw.

The waiter cocked his head and regarded her for a few moments, looking uncertain but finally nodded and carried on with his job, taking food to passengers and cleaning tables.

Another minute ticked by, bringing the clock closer to six o'clock, and Twilight sighed. Then she perked up her head when she saw the door of the dining car open. Spike walked in and made his way over to Twilight's table, giving a half-hearted wave on the way.

"Spike! You're here!" Twilight exclaimed as he sat down. "But where's Rarity?"

The young dragon shuffled over to the table and took a seat opposite Twilight. His eyes were kept low, and he avoided looking up at her, preferring instead to look at the table cloth.

Twilight tilted her head down slightly, trying to get a glimpse of Spike's face and coax him into giving her eye contact. "Spike? What's wrong? Is Rarity coming or not?"

"I... I don't know," he started, his voice a bit subdued. "Last I saw of her, she was in her compartment. She spotted a couple holes in her dresses and became somewhat distressed. She went to grab some things to fix them up and then told me to leave her room." Spike then leaned forward and started twirling circles in the linen with his index claw.

Twilight furrowed her brows and went from looking at Spike to craning her neck over him and towards the door again. "Sounds like she could be running late. I hope she shows. But is there something bothering you?"

Spike finally looked up at her. "Well..." He gave a pause. "No not really."

"Are you sure?"

He bit his lip and looked away again. "What do you make of that Sky Sparks character?" Spike finally said at length.

Twilight took a moment to collect her thoughts but after a time, merely ended up shrugging. "I can't rightly form an opinion of him, good or bad. If Rarity sees something in him and wants to associate with him, then that's her prerogative. Why do you ask?"

He continued twirling circles in the linen, so much so that his claw had started wearing a whole in the fabric. His mouth sported a grimly serious line, and he made no effort to reply.

Twilight reached out with a hoof and gently touched Spike's left arm. "Spike. If there's something on your mind..."

"Rarity took a long time coming back from getting her materials to fix up her dresses," Spike said at last, cutting her off. "I mean... Well I don't think she's going to show. If she's not still fixing her dresses, then she's probably at her other dinner date with that... what's his face."

Twilight's face seemed to fall into disappointment. She pursed her lips before giving her salad another absent stare. "Oh. I didn't know she had made other plans," she muttered, her words dry and weak. "Shall we cancel this dinner and just retire to bed?"

"Uh? N-no. I'm fine. I want to have this dinner with you."

"Really?" Twilight glanced up and met Spike's eyes with hers. "Thank you, Spike. That makes me feel so much better after everything earlier."

Spike barely noticed when the waiter approached him and offered him a menu, and he absent-mindedly grabbed it and flipped it open before looking back towards Twilight. "What was that? Everything earlier? Why's that, Twilight?"

Twilight fidgeted slightly and brought a hoof up to her mouth, as if to keep herself from saying anything more. "Um. Nothing, Spike. Figure out what you want so that I can finally dig in."

The dragon turned his attention back towards the menu and glanced from one side to the other before casually giving a gesturing wave to Twilight. "Oh you go ahead and start eating. There's no reason to wait for me."

Twilight shrugged and then lit up her horn to grab a fork from within a folded up napkin. She held the pointed end above a piece of lettuce. A satisfying crispness rewarded her ears when she secured it with her utensil. With a quick sniff, she took in the tantalizing aroma of the sweetness of the lettuce combined with the tangy hint of the salad dressing that coated the leaf in a thin, blue and white speckled sheen. Lifting the green up closer to her mouth, she spotted not a hint of wilting or browning. Upon taking a bite, she felt her spirits lift up and knew she had to hand it to the chefs of the train. The salad really hit the spot for Twilight and slowly improved her mood.

"Say Spike?" Twilight called while she still enjoyed her bite. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean... I'm glad we're having this dinner together, but..." She finally swallowed. "It seems like you're upset with me or something. Is it something I did wrong?"

Spike pointed towards the menu item he wanted to order when the waiter came back around before glancing back up at Twilight. He pursed his lips somewhat and hesitated but then finally shook his head. "Uh... no, Twilight. It's fine." Then after a pause, he tossed his head back and pointed with a claw, giving a healthy chuckle. "Boy, Twilight. It's good to know your Canterlot manners haven't rubbed off."

She gave Spike a blank stare. "Huh?"

"You have a tiny bit of lettuce and ranch dressing on your chin."

Twilight blushed and levitated a napkin to her face. She dabbed away vigorously at her chin until the offending bit of food finally came off.

"Did I get it all?" Twilight asked after she lowered the napkin to the table.

Spike looked up when the waiter approached and lowered a plate of hay fries. Then he looked back at Twilight and squinted his eyes. "Yeah. You got it all."

"Thank you, Spike. I'll be sure to eat like a proper lady from now on," Twilight joked, putting on a false upper crust accent in the middle of her phrase.

Spike laughed as Twilight did, but then after a few chuckles, his laughter died away, until he became grimly silent. He reached out and grabbed a hay fry and stared at it for a few moments. As he sat there with his thoughts, he found that the hunger pangs which had earlier caused rumbles inside his stomach were slowly diminishing.

"Hmm. It's just not the same without Rarity here," he said as he twirled the fry in his claws, looking at each of its four sides.

Twilight placed her fork down and looked up from her salad, her mouth hanging slightly open. "Spike?" she said at length.

"I'm suddenly not hungry anymore. I can't possibly eat knowing that Rarity promised to dine with us and she's missing out." Spike then banged the table surface with a fist. "I have a good mind to go find Rarity and tell her that she should come dine with us."

"Spike. Don't go causing trouble," Twilight cautioned, reaching out with a hoof to stop Spike from getting out of his seat.

"But Twilight!" Spike exclaimed.

Twilight narrowed her eyes and made a motion with her right front hoof. "You sit down, mister," she said brusquely.

Spike took his place back on his chair, but he had puffed his cheeks out and pulled his lips into a pout. He poked a claw at one corner of his pile of hay fries, pushing the small bits around to work out his disappointment. After a couple prods, one side shifted enough to cause the pile to flatten.

"Spike. Quit playing with your food."

The young dragon ceased his poking and immediately brought his hands to his lap. He fidgeted back and forth a few times as he looked at Twilight, but he was silent otherwise. His lips were pulled into a tight, wiggly line and the corners of his brows were steepled up in sadness.

Twilight took another bite but then let the food piece fall back to the plate when she saw Spike's expression. She leaned in closer.

"Spike? What's wrong?" she asked, her words breaking a bit.

He maintained his silence for a bit, but then before Twilight could interject, he finally spoke.

"Twilight. What does Rarity think of me?"

Twilight's jaw fell open in a quiet gasp. Her mouth hung that way as she mulled over Spike's question and pondered her response. "Um... Well Spike." She swallowed a dry lump. "I imagine that Rarity is quite fond of you as a friend, but uh..." Twilight looked around nervously, trying to think of ways to deviate the conversation from the uncomfortable territory she had found herself in. She suddenly wished she knew of ways to talk about her salad.

"But that's all she sees me as? A friend?"

"I didn't say that. It's just..."

"I mean I've done so many things for her. I've helped her find gems when she asked me to assist her, and she even gave me a kiss when I gave her that heart-shaped fire ruby as a gift. What more could I possibly do? What can a simple guy like me do to win the heart of such an elegant mare like Rarity?"

As Spike talked to Twilight, he started getting louder and more frantic, and it almost looked like tears were starting to well to his eyes. Twilight grew concerned and pursed her lips but felt uncomfortable with Spike's prying. She charted her words among the emotional storm she found herself in but found nothing she wanted to say to be a good fit.

"Spike. Um..." Twilight muttered, stalling.

"Tell me, Twilight!"

Twilight flinched and looked over her shoulder before drawing her head lower and closer to her plate. "Spike. Keep it down. You're drawing attention."

"But Twilight!"

Another glower came from Twilight, and the young dragon relented, finally slumping in his chair as he quieted himself by shoving hay fries into his mouth. He picked up the pace as he ate until Spike reached a speed of eating that terrified Twilight. Her jaw dropped slightly as she watched the dragon grab food like a conveyor belt, worried that he might start choking.

"Spike. Slow down. You might..."

Spike gave a swallow, causing an obscene amount of hay fries to vanish down his throat. He then squinted his eyes, as if in some discomfort, and gave a short hiccup.

"Oh. Are you okay, Spike?"

Wetness shimmered around the corners of his still closed eyes, and his hiccups slowly turned to sobs.

Twilight remained silent as he cried, unsure of how to comfort him but furiously gnawing on her lower lip with her teeth.

"I'm sorry, Twilight," Spike said after a time, finally calming himself down from his quiet crying. "I've made a fool of myself and a mess of this dinner date."

"Oh Spike," Twilight muttered, half-subdued with sorrow.

"Why him, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Why can't it be me? Doesn't Rarity like me?"

Spike finally looked up at Twilight, a pained expression in his eyes.

Before Twilight sat the innocent child she knew so well, not the confident dragon with the mask of bravado he had built up over the past few days.

"Spike," Twilight started. "I honestly don't know what to say. I'm not really comfortable talking about how Rarity feels about you, and I certainly don't know about her dating habits and the kinds of ponies she wants to see."

Twilight's voice was low but still possessed the firmness of a motherly tone.

"I just need to know if I stand a chance!" Spike wailed.

By then, Twilight had forgotten all about her hunger and the salad she was going to eat, as she was starting to get annoyed with him.

"Spike! I think you're making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be!" she exclaimed.

The young dragon bit his lower lip as his eyes flitted back and forth a few times, thoughts seemingly turning in his mind. Then he suddenly seemed to perk up a bit, his eyes opening a bit wider and taking on an optmistic light. "Well what about that list I made back at the library, Twilight? Rarity did something nice for me. She gave me that gift, so I should do something nice for her, something that only I can do but that nopony else can. You still have my list, right Twilight?"

Twilight fidgeted in her chair. She didn't want to be reminded about the gift.

"I didn't forget your list, Spike."

"Well perfect!" he bellowed. "I can spend time with Rarity once we're at the resort and get an idea of the kinds of things that she likes and put them down in my list. Then maybe you can take me shopping one day, and..."

"Spike! Honestly, I don't think that's going to be a good idea."

Spike's mouth fell open, a renewed expression of sorrow on his face.

"Why not?!" he wailed.

Twilight scrunched the end of her nose, her face an intense mask of concentration. "Well..." 'Be careful, Twilight. Don't hurt his feelings,' she thought to herself. "What I mean is that we'll only have a few days at the resort, and we'll be a bit busy with our own activities. We'll have fun, just you and I."

By then Spike had picked up a napkin and proceeded to wring it into tatters. The frown on Spike's face was all Twilight needed to know that she had not succeeded in sparing his feelings.

"So what are you saying, Twilight?" he huffed, a slightly belligerent edge in his voice. "Are you saying we won't spend any time with Rarity? We wouldn't even BE at this resort if it wasn't for her!"

"And she's made it perfectly clear that she's quite fine heading off to do her own things."

The napkin in Spike's claws finally ripped in half. Twilight heard murmurs coming from a table somewhere behind her, and she felt as if everypony on the train had turned their attention turned towards her. She blushed a deep red, her eyes darting about a few times, before she finally looked back towards Spike. Spike glowered as he huffed, the muscles in his face pulled tight in anger, the frown wrinkles in his forehead deepening into even more and more ridges. In all the years she had known Spike, she had never seen him this angry. Twilight felt an ache in her heart for making him so upset, and she suddenly wished the conversation had remained on the topic of food. Even when not outright saying what she felt about Spike chasing after Rarity's affections, she had still managed to touch a nerve within him and made a mess of things.

Then, as quick as Spike's anger came, it melted back into sadness just as quickly.

"No!" Spike exclaimed as he stood up. He pointed a claw at Twilight. "You're wrong! Rarity does want my company! And I will get her something nice! You'll see!"

Then with that, the young dragon stormed from the dining car, tears streaming from his eyes. Twilight was left all alone with her plate of half-eaten salad and her confused thoughts bouncing around her head. Suddenly, the waiter walked up next to her. He gave her a look and raised an eyebrow.

"Is everything okay there, miss?"

Twilight sighed and hung her head low, slowly giving it a shake. "No. No everything is not okay." She gave a sniff and then raised her head to look back at the waiter. "I'm sorry about your napkin," she said.

The stallion held out a hoof. "Oh don't trouble yourself. Would you like some dessert?"

Twilight glanced towards the door through which Spike had stormed in his upset state. Her mind was full, but her heart felt as empty as her stomach. It didn't feel right to her to start dessert without her number one assistant, but at that moment, she felt like doing something selfish, even if for just a little while, if only for the sake of easing her pain. Twilight looked back at the waiter and slowly nodded.

"Yes. I would love some dessert."