As dawn broke, Rarity stirred in her sleep as the sun shone into the cave. Instinctively she went to stretch but as soon as she moved, the pain from her injured front leg woke her up fully and the memories of where she was came flooding back. She then felt something gently tugging at her mane, and turning her head slightly she saw what it was.

“Spike, what are you doing?”

Spike froze holding the mane brush, only just realising what he was doing having not actually thought about it before “You had some knots and twigs in your mane, I thought it needed some work." Spike looked a little bashful "Sorry.”

“No don't apologise, it feels nice to get my mane sorted after the mess it was in yesterday…without my magic I couldn’t use that brush your holding. But you can hold it - its like your claws a perfectly designed for so many more things than a hoof.”

They both chuckled, and Rarity then looked down to notice something else. “You...you did my tail too?” the pony asked kind of nervously.

Spike turned red and got really flustered “Rarity, I’m so sorry, I never meant…”

“Don’t worry!” Rarity interrupted putting, reaching back a reassuring hoof on spikes arm “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

However, Spike wasn't reassured and started backing away from the unicorn “I can’t believe I invaded your personal space like that!”

“Spike, if you had wanted to, you could have done anything to me last night. Be that attack me, eat me or -” Rarity coughed and blushed a bit as she prepared to say the next words “have your way with me!”

“I would never do that!” the dragon interrupted in shock before Rarity could continue.

Rarity smiled at herself, glad she didn’t have to say the third option “Of course not Spike, everypony knows they can trust you.” Rarity gently turned herself over so she could see her companion fully and saw that Spike was already starting to revert back to his old form. He had shrunk a little so now he was slightly smaller than Rarity and his voice had started to change back. His scales were just as dark as before though.

“Can they?”

“What do you mean?”

“When I woke up, I found that our tails were entwined.”

“Oh!” Rarity replied.

“Yeah, but...it wasn’t just my tail wrapped around yours, yours was wrapped around mine. Isn’t that, well, a sign of more than friendship?" Spike started fidgteing with his claws as he spoke "I presume you only allowed me to get close to you as you needed my warmth. Didn't I take a bit of an advantage there?”

Rarity struggled to hide a blush “Well Spike, I have no doubt it was just a subconscious thing, as you tend to curl up when you sleep. As for me, it can be instinct to naturally get close to somebody you are depending on. It’s a form of survival instinct, or Stockcolt syndrome if you were. You try to bond with somepony that you’re scared of so they…”

“You’re, you’re scared of me?” Spike almost whimpered.

Rarity bit her lip “Consciously, no, I trust you explicitly. But my instincts yesterday were warning me about going off alone with a powerful dragon that hated me and…”

“I don’t hate you!” Spike interrupted, before turning away “I could never hate you. By Celestia, I tried to, but I simply couldn't!”

A pause fell over the pair, Spike waiting for Rarity to respond. It was early morning and Rarity’s brain wasn't quite working properly. But through the awkwardness of where they found themselves, the conversational gates seemed to have opened and the unicorn was going to make the most of it “Spike, look at me!”

The dragon remained turned away “Spike, I’m injured and can’t force you to face me so please look at me.” Rarity pleaded. Feeling guilty, the dragon did turn back to face her. “You had every right to hate me -”

“But” Spike interrupted, but Rarity held up her good hoof.

“No, let me finish. We have known each other for a while and in that time there have been a number of occasions I have mistreated you. When I first met you and when you first started helping me, I should have taken your feelings more into account. I just...I just suppose I never thought you were as serious about me as you obviously were.”

Rarity reached out and took Spikes claw “But then, I did start abusing your feelings. I should never have asked for that precious gem from you. That was the first of many times I took things from you when I had no right to.”

“Maybe it’s fate?” Spike shrugged his shoulders

“Huh, what do you mean?”

“Well, that Heartstone has saved both me and you from a fate worse than death.”

“Yes, perhaps it was fate. But both of those incidents showed me that what you were feeling was more than a crush. By the time I realised that, I didn’t want to change what we had. It seemed to make us both happy and I wanted nothing to ruin our friendship. But regardless, I was taking advantage of you.”

Rarity held back a tear that was threatening to spill from her eye “And then I lost sight of your feelings in the matter. I mean, moaning to you about Trenderhoof not reciprocating my feelings...that was most insensitive of me. And to get you to work hard so hard so I had time for a date. It just showed a lack of any care towards you.”

“It’s not that bad…” Spike began, his eyes looking down to the floor.

But Rarity continued “Spike look at me” Spike looked up from the floor into Rarity’s eyes “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you, you have to know that. I just want to make it up to you somehow!”

“You don’t owe me anything, thats why I got so annoyed by the gems yesterday.” Rarity didn't respond to allow Spike to continue “I’ve know for a while that this - “ he pointed between the pair “- is complicated. And I’ve known that I’m underpaid for the services that I do for you. And we both know that I’m not doing it for personal gain.”

“You do it because of your feelings for me. That’s why you help me out much more than anypony else.” Rarity replied sadly.

“True. But it’s not only that, its also because of the alternative. I help everypony in town without expecting anything back.” Spike sighed “Everypony knows what my natural instincts are, and every day I have to battle the urge to hoard. I just hoped, maybe spending time round the living embodiment of generosity would help.”

“Spike, you don’t have to be underpaid to be generous. If you decide to help me either around the boutique or gem hunting, I’m going to pay you properly.”

“But…”

“No buts, hear me out. If you want to help me, you are going to accept proper payment. You have a hobby in your comics books you can spend the bits on"

“I can’t, that would feed my hoarding instinct. I only swap one comic book for another, never letting the total amount grow.”

“Okay, I didn’t think of that. But theres other things to spend money on. Perhaps one day you won’t want to live with Twilight. You could get a place of your own and so could save up for that, and then pay the bills.”

“It’s unlikely I’ll ever leave Twilights side. Even if she was to get a special somepony, I’ll always be her assistant!”

Rarity could tell Spike had thought about this before “Or, you could give your earnings away to charity, to the needy, to the orphanage whatever.”

“Can’t it just continue like we are now?” Spike asked “I really like it, even if I know it doesn’t mean anything.”

“No, because no matter what you say, you aren’t doing it for the right reasons. Spike, my feelings for you are...complicated. I really like you as a friend, and perhaps more. But, I don’t like you in the same way you like me.”

“Because I’m a dragon” Spike replied softly.

“No!" Rarity almost shouted, before composing herself "Because you are my friend. And also the son...or whatever, to one of my best friends. And a few years younger than me. Whether or not I’ve ever had such feelings for you, there would be so many problems to overcome."

“I know you're just trying to be nice.”

Rarity rolled her eyes “You are the perfect gentledrake, and nopony cares that you're a dragon. Someday, when you find somebody who can reciprocate your feelings, you’ll understand that!”

“Yeah right, nopony could ever love a dragon.”

Rarity didn’t like to gossip (okay she did, but only about certain things) but knew that this was in everypony’s best interests. “Scootaloo has a crush on you!” she replied with a bit of a song in her voice

Spike looked at Rarity with some confusion “She does?”

“Yep, and another filly at school….Archer I think her name is. She’s very adventurous and would really like to go exploring with a brave dragon companion” Rarity gently nudged Spike in the ribs.

“Yeah, but they aren’t you!”

Rarity blushed again, and Spike felt awkward. To give herself time to think, she asked Spike for some fruit for breakfast and some water. Spike handed Rarity some of the berries he had collected and went outside to fill up the cup. He returned inside wet from the rain, but it had given them time to think.

As Spike sat down, Rarity had a smile form on her face “At least yesterday I helped you live out one of your fantasies”

“What do you mean?”

“You always wanted to rescue a damsel in distress haven't you, and now you have!”

Spike couldn’t help himself as a slight grin formed over his face at Rarity’s bad joke. But Rarity had to say something she didn't want to. Sighed, she continued “Yes Spike, they aren’t me.”

“Huh?”

“The fillies that like you. They aren’t me. But...to be blunt...and maybe I should have said this a while ago...I don’t love you that way.”

Spike swallowed a handful of berries “I know...I guess I always have! And I know I have no right to demand you love me. Sorry for blowing up like that the other day”

“Spike, you have nothing to apologise for, it’s all down to me. I should have been more considerate, it is me that should apologise.”

“But I still shouldn't have shouted at you!”

“Yes you should have, I needed the wake up call!”

“Regardless, what I said to you yesterday, and the day before? It was out of line”

“I understand that the emotions got the best of you, but you were right in what you said.” Rarity realised that they were just going backwards and forwards “How about we don’t let anything build up between the two of us going forwards. Why don't we start afresh? I know I want to have you as a friend, but it has to be on more equal terms...for your own sake.”

“Afresh?” Spike seemed to dwell on the word for a moment “Yes, that does seem best.”

“But one thing will never change Spike. You are my friend, and I owe you my life!"

Spike looked outside as the rain seemed to be easing up “Well, we should head out after we finish here, no doubt the weather team is looking for us!”

“Yes." Another awkward pause as Rarity wondered how to bring it up "I see that you've started to revert back?”

“Yeah, I woke up smaller. I still don’t have my magic fire back and now I don’t think I’m strong enough to carry you.”

“Oh well, it certainly going to make traveling a little more awkward. But I’m sure once we get into the open somepony will spot us.”

After a few more minutes of eating the remaining fruit, and with the rain easing, the pair started their journey. Spike was walking on all fours under Rarity’s bad leg, the pony using him as a walking support. It may have not been the most elegant of solutions, but it worked. After about an hour of walking down the mountainside, they were spotted by Rainbow Dash who had been up searching all night. After checking that Spike was okay to get back to Ponyville by himself, the pegasus carried Rarity off to Ponyville Hospital, leaving the dragon to travel on foot back to town...with plenty on his mind.

Afresh

Author's Note

Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. It's not quite the end, there's a little more to come...