• Chapter 3 -

Twilight reached the end of the dragons journal. She didn't know what to say, or think. So many thoughts were going through her head, and so many questions that needed answers. Mouth agape, she closed the book, and set it to the side, not even bothering to hide it. She rested her neck and back on the mattress and pillow, but she couldn't make her own eyes close. She was dying for answers, but at the same time, she didn't want to wake the dragon. She knew what she discovered will make him furious, but she also knew it could possibly patch up their relationship, and make them understand each other better.

"What will happen to his trust towards me? Is he going to overreact?" She thought to herself. She was afraid to call him out, but at the same time, she felt as if she had no other choice. She needed to know more and she has been wanting to build a stronger bond with the dragon.

The alicorn took one last look at the journal, which was now sitting on her end table beside the lamp, and finally shut her eyes, preparing for sleep.

Twilight's alarm went off at 11 A.M. Twilight opened her eyes, and Spike groaned and covered his ears with one of his pillows. Twilight sat herself up with her hooves, and glanced over at the dragon. She didn't say a word. She leaped out of bed, and approached the purple dragon's.

"Spike," She began, but was interrupted.

"Just a few more minutes." Spike groaned into his pillow.

"No, Spike, I'm serious. We need to talk." Twilight said in an unusually stern voice. It almost sounded like she was scolding him. That's what he though, so it had caught his attention.

He turned his head to the right, facing towards the purple alicorn.

"Talk? About what?" Spike said in a sleepy tone of voice, while he rubbed his eyes.

Twilight sighed, glanced down at her hooves, then back up at the half asleep dragon.

"Just come downstairs in a few minutes, alright? I brought home some of that really good coffee from the cafe. That'll help you wake up." Twilight said, in a quiet and calm manner.

"Oh... Alright." Spike watched her trot down the steps, and scratched his head in confusion. He had thought they were done talking about what happened yesterday. Little did he know, this was about something completely different. He hadn't even noticed his journal was just laying out in the open, on the alicorn's end table, for all eyes to see.

Twilight had gotten him and herself a cold coffee from the café they had both visited the day before. She had hers and his sitting on the table in front of the couch she had put in the room below their bedroom. She sat impatiently for a few minutes, waiting for his arrival, when finally she heard his footsteps coming down the stairs from their bedroom. She watched him walk towards her, and took a sip of her coffee. The dragon joined her on the couch, grabbed his coffee, and gave her a worried look while he took meager sips.

He held his cold coffee with both of his hands, cleared his throat, and began speaking.

"What's up? You're acting a little strange." Spike asked the alicorn in compelling curiosity.

"That's the fun part," Twilight began and sighed once more, setting her coffee aside, preparing herself for some really serious talk. She was expecting the worst, from both herself, and the dragon. She was trying to keep cool, but in an odd way, she was actually a bit angry at the dragon. "Why would he hide all of these things from me?" She had thought. She almost felt like he didn't care about her what-so-ever. Maybe it was karma, for all the times she ignored him as an actual soul, rather than just a servant.

"Huh? What's that mean?" Spike said and raised a brow, now he was really confused.

"What I mean is, it's not me that's acting strange, is it?" The purple alicorn said as she looked him in directly in the eyes.

"Oh! You're talking about yesterday... Really, Twilight, I didn't mean to embarrass you in front of all of your-"

"No no no no, that's not what I'm talking about, Spike." Twilight interrupted the purple dragon.

"Then... What is it?" Spike said as he gestured his claws in a motion to show that he still had absolutely no idea what the alicorn was talking about.

"Can.. I ask you something?" Twilight began her interrogation.

"Sure, Twi." Spike said as he leaned his back against the end of the couch, taking another sip of his chocolate coffee.

"You see me as a good friend, right? In fact, such a good friend that you feel that you need to tell the truth about.. Well everything, right?" Twilight asked. This was now getting a little suspicious. But the dragon shrugged it off, as if she still had no idea about his journal.

"Well.. Yeah, of course, Twilight." Spike hesitated, knowing that he had indeed lied about himself to her plenty of times.

"So then, you're always truthful?" Twilight continued. She had a plan, if Spike responds with a 'yes'.

The dragon looked to the right, at some of the bookshelves. He couldn't look directly into her eyes and lie.

"Yeah, yes." The dragon said, still looking to the right.

The purple alicorn tilted her head and gave him a suspicious look. She then held her hoof up, gesturing to him to wait for a moment. Spike raised a brow once more, still confused.

Twilight leaped off of the couch, and trotted past the dragon, then to the stairs that led to their beds.

"What in the world.." Spike said under his breath, as he watched the alicorn go up the stairs. He started to feel a bit worried, but not too much. The dragon was simply guessing this was about her wanting to be a better 'mother' towards him. So, at this point, he didn't have too much to worry about, until he saw Twilight trotting back down the stairs, with some sort of book, floating in front of her. But this wasn't just any regular old book. This was his journal.

As soon as the dragon realizes that it is indeed his journal, his heart picked up at a quicker pace, his body tensed up, and his eyes widened a bit. Now it all made sense. He knew exactly what this is about. He knew that she had read his journal. Trying to find hope, the dragon tries to believe that she had not read the whole thing.

"What's.. that..?" Spike said, struggling to say his words correctly. The dragon wanted to pretend that he had no idea what it was.

The purple alicorn climbed up onto the couch, and stared at the dragon.

"It's your journal, Spike." Twilight said, as she laid the notebook down on in the center of the couch, right in between the dragon and the alicorn.

The dragon covered half of his face with his right hand.

"Did you.. read it?" Spike stuttered a bit, as his heart raced.

"Before you get upset, you need to know-"

"Know what?! That you snoop through my stuff? Or that you know every single humiliating thing about me, that I never wanted anypony to find out?" Spike blurted out, slammed his head against the couch, and covered his entire face with his hands.

"You need to know, that I'll accept you, for who you are, no matter what." Twilight explained, and put her hoof on the dragons shoulder. Just as she did that, he flinched his shoulders away from her hoof.

"Really? Really, now? It doesn't bother you at all that I'm some fag dragon? Or that I look at lewd images of stallions degrading themselves on a printed on a piece of paper to get off?" Spike shouted. He wrapped his arms around a pillow on the couch, stuffed his face onto it, and began to cry. He was now feeling like everything had fallen apart. That he couldn't even trust his own guardian anymore. Twilight now had to try harder to prove that she could accept him, no matter what.

Twilight scooted herself closer to the weeping dragon, in attempt to comfort him. She placed a hoof softly on his back. Twilight sat silent for a minute, thinking, and allowing the dragon to weep to himself. She felt as if her heart had shattered, just looking at this poor, emotionally battered dragon, cry his heart out. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying not to shed a tear herself.

The alicorn opened her mouth, and paused. She wanted to say something lengthy, something that would convince him to stop crying. She was going to do exactly that.

"Spike, you might think it is hard for some ponies to understand, but if anypony could understand to the fullest, it would be me. Spike, I just wanted to have a greater relationship with you. I wanted you to be honest with me, all the time. I didn't want you to feel like you had to pretend to be somepony else to make me happy." Twilight said softly. The dragon stopped weeping, but tears were still in his shiny green eyes. He lifted his head somewhat higher, and looked into Twilight's eyes.

He sniffled loudly.

"You.. do..?" The dragon said, still clutching the pillow. This is what Spike really needed. He needed somepony to understand him. He needed somepony to accept him for who he is.

Twilight gave him a warm and loving smile.

"Yes, Spike. I do." Twilight whispered softly.

The dragon wiped the tears off of his eyes, and Twilight lifted her hoof off of the dragons back.

"I... I don't know what to say.." Spike whimpered, looking down at the ground.

"You don't have to apologize. I know how hard it can be to admit something you never wanted to admit in the first place." Twilight said, and gave him another smile.

"You do..?" Spike said, and sniffled.

"I do. Now, stop crying or you'll make me upset too." Twilight giggled softly, and Spike after.

"Sorry.. I just... It caught me by surprise, you know..?" Spike said, and looked up at the alicorn.

"I know, I know. You don't have to explain. Just cheer up, for me, okay bud?" Twilight said, and let out another quiet giggle.

Spike looked into her eyes and smiled. He was starting to feel like he had been making a mistake, hiding all of this from Twilight, all this time.

"There it is." Twilight giggled, and playfully squeezed the dragons cheeks.

"Haha, stop it!" Spike said, as they both shared a giggle.

"Still, though," Twilight started. She now had a more serious look on her face.

"Still what?" Spike said, beginning to worry.

"Still, I'm not going to ignore your cry for help." Twilight said. In Spike's journal, he described how lonely he was. How he thought he never would find any love, especially because he was gay. He didn't know anypony who would; one, find a dragon to be attractive, and two, be homosexual at the same time. He described how depressed in had made him feel.

"Oh, you mean in my journal.." Spike said, as he reached for his coffee.

"Mmhm. I want you to talk to me about it." Twilight said in a stern tone. Twilight was just trying to make the dragon feel better.

"You do?" Spike asked, as he took another sip of his coffee.

"Yes, I do. I think it'll make you feel better." Twilight answered, and gently rubbed his shoulder with her right hoof.

"Well.. I dunno where to start." Spike said, and took a longer sip of his coffee.

"Hmm.. Tell me how you feel when you're with me, hanging out with the others. What do you feel like?" Twilight asked. She was all ears.

"Well.." Spike stopped, and took another sip.

"I... I feel like a third wheel. I feel like I don't belong. I don't feel accepted.." Spike explained how he felt. His cup was empty.

"And why do you feel like that?" Twilight asked.

"Well... All of you know what it's like to.. Love. You've all experienced it, and Rarity.." Spike continued, trying not to choke up.

"Spike, I'm not even dating anypony right now. We're single together." Twilight said and giggled a bit.

"That's not what I meant, though. You've dated before, you've felt love before. All I've felt is... Rejection." Spike explained himself. The dragon did have a point, he had never even dated anypony before. He has never experienced love.

"True, true. I understand what you mean, though." Twilight said, and looked down at her hooves.

"Every time I'm with your friends, I feel like they are sitting there, happy as can be, because they have somepony to love. Meanwhile, I sit here by myself, with nobody to love." Spike said quietly, looking and feeling down.

There was silence. They both sat, motionless, looking down at their appendages.

"Do you want me to help you?" Twilight broke the silence.

"What?" Spike asked.

"Do you want me to help you, you know, find a partner." Twilight repeated.

"Uhh.. I guess..? How would you be able to help though?" Spike said, confused.

"You're interested in.. Both ponies and dragons, right?" Twilight asked, to make sure. She didn't want to go canvasing for ponies, only to find out the dragon wouldn't be interested.

"Mmhmm." Spike acknowledged.

"Boy ponies and dragons," Twilight teased, and giggled.

"Yeah, yeah." Spike looked to the right and giggled. His cheeks turned bright red.

"I'm just teasing." Twilight chuckled and nudged the dragons side.

"I know, Twi." Spike looked at her and giggled, too.

"So I'll ask around. I won't mention your name, and I won't make it obvious that you're trying to find a date. I'll just keep my eyes out for single stallions that happen to have the same sexual orientation as you." Twilight explained her game plan.

"Thank you, Twi. I doubt you'll find anypony who would want to date dragon, though.." Spike said, and looked down to his feet.

"You don't know that. I met a mare who told me 'dragons are sexy'". Twilight said.

"Yeah, but that's a mare." Spike responded, and glanced back up at the alicorn.

"There will be a stallion just like that, I guarantee it." Twilight was sure she'd find a stallion out there who just so happens to have a thing for dragons.

"You let me know. Just don't do anything drastic unless I say it's okay." Spike said, and pointed his thumb at himself for a second.

"I won't, don't worry." Twilight replied, and chuckled a bit.

There was a silence once again. They both looked down at the floor, to the side of the couch they were sitting on.

A light bulb lit in Twilight Sparkles head.

"Do you remember, years ago, when you ran away to find more dragons like yourself?" Twilight asked the purple dragon.

"Oh come on, those guys were dicks. They're out of the question." Spike reminded the alicorn.

"And dicks are a bad thing?" Twilight says, and laughs after.

"Twiliiight!" Spike groaned, and blushed.

"Haha, I'm sorry, I had to." Twilight said, and giggled once more.

"Anyway, I wouldn't want to associate with those guys. They were all mean to me." Spike said, and crossed his arms.

"Not all of them were, though. It was a huge area, full of dragons. I remember seeing one that was all by himself, when you tail wrestled the others." Twilight mentioned.

"Damn Twilight, you have a good memory. I don't even remember half of it, I just remember getting picked on and humiliated." Spike said.

"Good thing, right?" Twilight said and giggled softly after.

"So you say you remember a dragon who was by himself the whole time?" Spike asked.

"Well.. He wasn't by himself the whole time." Twilight mentions.

"Oh, so he's an ass too." Spike said, after rolling his eyes.

"Well, he didn't seem like he wanted to be part of it. So maybe he's a nice dragon." Twilight adds.

"I'm surprised you can remember all of this." Spike said.

"Well, you probably can't remember because you were young, and your brain wasn't fully developed. I'm older, and I assure you my brain is quite large and well developed." Twilight bragged.

"If you think there is a good chance I'll meet someone nice there, then I want to go ASAP." Spike said, as he pointed to the front door.

"Come on, I'm always right." Twilight joked and laughed after.

"Riiight." Spike replied, and giggled.

They both awkwardly stared into each others eyes for a few seconds. The dragon blushed a bright red and put his hand behind his head, getting ready to speak.

"Uh.." Spike mumbled, awkwardly.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked in curiosity.

"I just wanted to say thanks for being so nice to me.. And thanks for helping me, it means a lot to me." Spike said softly, as he looked into her eyes, blushing brightly.

"Of course, Spike. I'm glad to help." Twilight said, and gently nudged the dragon on his side.

Once again, they were found staring at each other in silence. Twilight wasn't moved at all, but Spike was feeling a bit nervous about what he was going to do.

"You okay?" Twilight asked, and raised a brow.

The dragon leaned in towards the purple alicorn, and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his head on her shoulder, and stayed silent for a few minutes.

Twilight responded to his affection, and proceeded to wrap her hooves around his body. The two best friends both sat silent, holding each other, listening to every breath, for about a minute.

Once they unwrapped from each other, Spike noticed she had a blush on her face too.

"Hope that was okay." Spike said, and smiled at the alicorn, who was staring at him.

"Of course it was, silly. Your attitude.. It's a good change. You keep talking to me, okay? I'm always here for you, when you need it most." Twilight said and gave the dragon a bright wide smile.

"I will. I promise." Spike replied, with a smile.

I know you're tired of loving, of loving
With nobody to love, nobody, nobody
Just grab somebody, no leaving this party
With nobody to love, nobody, nobody

Author's Note

This chapter is pretty much ALL dialogue. I planned this chapter to be so, I planned for Twilight and Spike to have a biiiiig talk. And that lyric at the end, I felt it had significant meaning to this chapter, Spike being tired of loving nobody, and finally on the journey to find someone to love. I also apologize for any typos and/or grammatical errors, It's like, 4:30 AM. I would also like to add when Spike says "Nobody" instead of "Nopony", he is referring to dragons as well.