The Next Morning

The early morning rays of Celestia's sun peeked through the kitchen window, reflecting slightly off the coffee pot as Twilight poured herself a cup. Unfortunately, the bitter liquid did little to soothe her warring thoughts. Thankfully, the library was closed today so she'd have plenty of time to figure out a solution.

Spike had intended to just go to bed last night but she managed to coax him into eating at least a bit of dinner (if you can actually count a claw-full of amethysts dinner), though he did go soon after.

Ever since then, she'd been in a bit of a quandary; on one side was the urge to march straight down to the Carousel Boutique and give that mare a piece of her mind! Granted, she knew they weren't truly together, and she had the right to date other stallions... but she could've still heard him out first, at least! And then just forgetting about him!? And she has the nerve to call OTHERS 'uncouth'!?

On another side, was her Big Sister Urge; the desire to stay by his side and help him work through this less than pleasant part of his life. After seven years of pining for someone, just quitting cold turnips like that wasn't something good to do alone for him; or anyone, for that matter.

Before she could really get lost in thought, the sound of claws clicking on the floor brought her back to reality. She looked over her shoulder to notice Spike come in, wearing the sweatpants he often used as PJs.

"Hey." She smiled softly at him, "Um, how you feeling?"

"A little better." He replied, getting a leftover gem donut from the fridge, "Heh, you know, I probably should feel more torn up about this but..I don't"

She gave him a curious look, "How so?"

"In a way, I always had a feeling I'd never really get anywhere with Rarity, that she was out of my league, and it just wouldn't work. But, I kept at it at the cost of a lot: chances to hang out with others, to experience new things. I basically put my own life on the sidelines; all so I could get her attention. Starting to wonder if it wasn't more than just some obsessive infatuation." Spike leaned up against the counter. "Now..it's hard to explain, but it's like.." He frowned, trying to find the right words.

"Like load of unnecessary weight's been taken off or stress that's finally eased away?" She offered.

He nodded almost instantly, "Yeah."

"Well..to be honest, Spike, you DID put a lot of needless pressure on yourself, almost constantly worrying about whether she'd like something you did or had, or even how she'd react to the way it was presented do."

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Yeah..not something I'm exactly proud of, looking back.." He was interrupted when Twilight wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

"I'm just glad you aren't letting this get to you." She said, her voice muffled slightly from where she was.

"Thanks...and Twi?"

"Hm?" She tensed a bit, then quickly relaxed when she felt a pair of muscular, scaly arms suddenly wrapped around her, engulfing the lilac unicorn in a familiar-and surprisingly welcome-warmth.

"Thanks for hearing me out last night. Thought I was going to lose it and just scream before I ever got home."

"Mm-hm." It was a known fact that dragons had a significantly higher body temp than other creatures, but she never really noticed how nice it felt and nuzzled him slightly.

"Twilight.."

She also caught a whiff of his scent. Warm and spicy; a little like the special cider the Apples made for Hearth's Warming Eve. She smiled, though he couldn't see it, and inhaled deeply.

"Twilight??"

Without thinking, she closed her eyes and began snuggling in, whispering in a barely audible tone, "If anyone's out of their league, you're out of hers."

"Twilight!"

"Hmm?"

"Um..as enjoyable as this is, I probably better go ahead and start getting ready. I got work today at the farm, remember?"

It was then that three things promptly registered in Twilight Sparkle's intelligent mind:

1: She was currently embracing a guy who she saw as a brother in all but blood in a somewhat intimate manner.

2: Both cheeks flared when she remembered she was still in her own pajamas; a set she had gotten from Cadence as a birthday present, which were little more than a pair of rose colored satin shorts and belly shirt.

3: In short, they were both basically half-naked...and she was enjoying it.

Twilight squeaked as she jumped away, her cheeks burning and heart pounding in her chest, "Right! R-Right, yeah...I-I forgot. Um, you should probably go get a shower."

"You ok? You look a little flushed. If you're coming down with something, I can call to let them know I might not be able to make it."

"I'm fine, don't worry." She forced a laugh, "That coffee was probably just a little stronger than I thought."

"All right." He said hesitantly. Giving her one last look beforheading up to the bathroom.

The moment he was out of sight, Twilight began tugging her shirt, trying to fan herself from the surge of heat inn her face. "By Celestia's mane! What possessed you to act like that, Twilight!?" She chided herself, panting slightly, "All you did was hug him..then he hugged back.." She faded into silence, the blush holding strong.

It wasn't until Spike had returned, dressed in worn jeans and a sun-bleached flannel shirt, that she'd managed to regain her composure, "Just be careful, ok, Spike?"

"I will, Twi. Don't worry." He said as he opened the front door and stopped for a moment, "You know something?"

"What?"

Looking over his shoulder, he gave her his usual toothy grin, "I got a feeling today's gonna be a brand new day for this dragon." He said, and stepped outside.

Author's Note

And another chapter for your perusal. I'll admit it's probably not gonna be the best, but I wanted to try and bring a bit of warm-and-fluffyness between the two. He finally managed to get it off his chest and now things are looking up for him

I'll try and start making these chapters a bit longer too.

On a side note: Whoa! To be honest, I didn't expect this story to get favorited by so many people. I figured a couple would like it, but..wow.
All I can say is I'm not sure what I did right, but I'm glad I did it :)