Spike Through The Heart

Chapters

Wander Shy
A Dash of Color
Twilight Time Redux

Wander Shy

My Little Pony Fan Fiction

Spike Through The Heart

By Kraven Ergeist

A/N: Thanks for all the comments. Still can't believe this made the feature box. A few people have expressed distaste with the pairing of Twilight and Spike, and like it says in the description, that's perfectly fine. Don't read the Twilight chapters, and feel free to check out the other pairing chapters when they come up to see if they're to your tastes. I don't expect to be able to please everybody, and there are plenty of other fics on the site if this one doesn't do it for you. There are entire groups and communities devoted to one pairing or another, and any fic I write is going to conflict with someone's tastes to some degree. That said, if there's a particular pairing or premise you'd care to see me try to write, shoot me a line and I'll see if it sounds interesting enough to tackle it after this fic is done.

A few of you have pointed out the walls of text in this fic, and for that, I apologize. I am trying to develop a more detailed and in-depth style, as my previous writing has stood out as being entirely conversation-driven and devoid of quite a lot of detail. I see each new fic I write as a chance to try to develop my ability to fully flesh out each scene, though this will usually depend on how much detail I can picture in my head. Obviously, there's a sweet spot between too little detail and too much, and I can see that there's probably less of a demand for it on fimfiction, so I plan to use this fic to test my ability to hit that butter zone and write with exactly as much detail as necessary (though I suspect that this chapter will fail this task quite miserably).

For those of you just tuning in, when we last left off, Spike had decided to stop being Twilight's assistant to try to make it on his own. Now we begin a new chapter, to see just how he'll fare out there all by himself.

Chapter Two: Wander Shy

The first few months were the most difficult.

Ponyville had been all Spike had known for most of his life. He had fond memories of Canterlot from his childhood, but his heart would forever be in Ponyville. Which, as it turned out, was part of the problem - everything in Ponyville reminded him of Twilight. Every-pony there knew his name - because of Twilight. Every friend he had ever made in Ponyville, he had made because of Twilight.

No, he could not stay in Ponyville. It was time to set out on his own. But where?

"Spike, please don't be this childish," Twilight had told him the day he'd left. "Where will you even go?"

Spike had thought long and hard about that problem. He couldn't go back to Canterlot, he reasoned. Twilight was such a regular visitor there that it would be as bad as if he had never left Ponyville. The same was true of the Crystal Empire, though he hadn't ruled it out as a backup option if things became desperate - he was still heralded as a hero to the Crystal Ponies, and would most likely be met with nothing but hospitality should he seek refuge there. But Princess Cadence was too close to Twilight, and he didn't like the idea of her looking over his shoulder on Twilight's behalf, nor did he particularly wish to face Twilight's brother right then. Plus he didn't want to take advantage of their hospitality. That just felt wrong to him.

No, wherever he went, he did not want to be catered to. He would pull his own weight.

The closest neighboring town that wasn't affiliated with Princess Twilight was Appleloosa, though he vaguely recalled that Applejack's cousin Braeburn lived there. Still, that was an indirect connection at best, and he remembered reading that the desert surrounding Appleloosa contained many gemstone mines, which would be perfect places for a dragon like Spike to work.

So he set out for Appleloosa, determined to make a life for himself, even if was just to prove that he could.

"Spike, be reasonable, please!" Twilight's voiced continued to echo in his thoughts day after day. "You can't just leave like this!"

He had found work sure enough; a mining company of earth ponies was kind enough to hire him on as a digger, tracker, and general handy-dragon. It was a definite plus that he could breath his own fire and light the way in the deep dark caverns of the San Palomino Desert, and after a few weeks of work, he had proven himself as strong and as capable as any earth pony, at least when it came to mining. They were a friendly enough group. They would even invite him to go drinking with them afterward. And best of all, none of them knew where he came from. To them, he was just Spike. Not Twilight's assistant - just Spike the dragon.

But as hard a worker as he was, as genuinely devoted as he could be when he set his mind to it, nothing could be done about the fact that his payment was edible. After receiving his cut of of the gemstones at the end of each haul, everything he had earned had usually been eaten before he could even cash them in. Perhaps he was regressing to his childish ways, he reflected one day as he arrived in Appleloosa to discover that the cart full of gems he had brought back to trade in for bits was mostly empty. He had thought he had grown out of binge eating gems after the fiasco with his friends' pets back in Ponyville. For some reason, every time he got his hands on some, the hole in his belly would twist and growl, and nothing he ate ever seemed to fill it.

"Fine!" Twilight had said as he'd walked away, tears in her eyes. "If this is how it's going to be, Spike, then just go already!"

Spike hadn't looked back. Part of him was glad that Twilight was so upset by his leaving. It felt good to hurt her after she had rejected him like that. But it was a fleeting feeling, and before he had even made it past the edge of town, his own eyes had already filled with tears.

It got so bad that one day, he caught himself eating on the job.

Worse yet, so had his boss. After being caught twice more eating the gems he and other miners had just dug up, Spike was eventually asked to leave.

He tried looking for other work in Appleloosa, but no-pony else seemed to be hiring dragons around there. So eventually, Spike went off in search of other gemstone mines, ones that hadn't been claimed yet by any mining companies. After a week of searching over a dozen empty caves and living off whatever desert wildlife he could catch and sleeping under the stars, he eventually discovered that the only mines not claimed by mining companies were the ones claimed by diamond dogs.

He had barely made out it out alive.

"How could you just leave like this, Spikey-Wikey?" Rarity had exclaimed when he told her about his decision. "Don't you care about us anymore?"

Spike wasn't sure where to go after that. Las Pegasus was only a handful of miles west of the desert, as was Applewood. And Spike had always had a childhood dream of being a movie star, so he ventured out west, hunting more of the local wildlife along the way to keep himself fed. Eventually he found his way to Applewood, and spent the next several months thanklessly getting coffee for a director named A.J. Haybrams. The unicorn barely acknowledged Spike's existence on set, and the position didn't pay anything besides, so Spike was left to fend for himself for food, frequently turning to rummaging through trash bins and hunting for mice. He slept at a homeless shelter, and often went to bed hungry.

Then one day, there was an accident on set and one of the actors hurt their ankle and couldn't perform. Spike implored the director to let him try, having been memorizing the lines after weeks of watching them all perform. Spike gave it his best, but during a particularly intense scene, Spike found himself bombarded with lens flare, dazing his vision and causing him to trip and fall, knocking over a large part of the set. A.J. Haybrams had kicked him off the set without a second thought.

Spike left Applewood soon afterward.

"Now listen here, Spike," Applejack had said. Of all his friends, she had probably reacted the most reasonably. "I know what it's like to wanna go off and make something of yourself, but are you sure you've thought this whole thing through?"

Spike ventured north after that, deciding to once again find the fleet of dragons he had met during the migration he and his friends had seen as a child. Maybe now that he was older, he might fit in more than he had back then. He wasn't optimistic and his memories of the previous encounter were bitter at best, but having spent the last several months being spurned by unforgiving pony-folk, Spike was ready to start looking beyond equines for company. So he made his way towards the Smokey Mountain, hunting whatever game he could find to sustain himself along the journey. He had gotten quite good at it these past several months, but even he realized that he was getting thinner with each passing week. He hadn't had a square meal in months.

He eventually found the caldera where the dragons had been when he'd last seen them. It was much easier to scale the cliffs than he recalled when he was younger. When he got to the top, however, the volcano seemed largely abandoned, and Spike mentally cursed himself for not remembering that dragons migrated with the seasons, and that most of them would be down in the Badlands this time of year, clear cross the country.

The journey to the Smokey Mountain had not been in vain, however. Spike eventually discovered a gigantic, elderly dragon sleeping at the center of the basin. He was so enormous and so covered in gray ash that Spike had almost mistaken him for another part of the volcano. His scales were completely obscured in volcanic dust, his wings were frail and weak, and his body too decrepit to stand or even so much as move other than to open his eyes or his mouth.

The other dragons had left him there to die.

"Spike..." Pinkie Pie had said, with the most earnest tears he had ever seen in her eyes. "Why would you want to leave Ponyville? This is your home!"

Spike spent weeks talking with the old dragon. He brought him all the food he could find, but the old dragon was massive, and anything Spike could catch was barely enough to feed himself, let alone a creature a hundred times his size. The old dragon told Spike stories about the things he had seen in his life. He was old enough to recall the days before Nightmare Moon, before Discord, before Sombra, before even Tirek and his brother had terrorized Equestria. Spike told him about Twilight, his friends, and the elements of harmony, and what had become of Tirek and Sombra and Discord and Nightmare Moon. The old dragon did not seem to even care about the happenings of Equestria. Instead, he seemed focused on Spike himself, and would ask him each and every day why he had come to this place, and every answer Spike gave the old dragon seemed to amuse him.

Finally, one day, Spike responded to the beast's question by telling the old dragon that he was trying to find his own path. When he did, for the first time since meeting him, the old dragon seemed to take the answer seriously, stirring for what must have been the first time in weeks. His body was so covered with ash that he looked like a piece of the landscape, and when he moved, the ash fell off of him like snowfall.

With a shaky movement, the old dragon reached out and touched a single claw to Spike's chest, leaving a blot of pale dust on his scales, as if anointing the young dragon. The dust seemed to shimmer in the morning sunlight, and Spike felt more than a little weirded out by the action, but soon after, the old dragon slumped back down and fell asleep again, and nothing Spike did seemed to stir the ancient beast. Finally he gave up and went about his day of hunting for food.

The old dragon did not wake up the next morning. Somehow Spike knew that he wouldn't be waking up ever again. The layers of ash from the volcano had piled so thickly onto his body that he looked like he had become part of the mountain. Maybe that's how dragons died, Spike thought morbidly; by becoming one with the landscape. For all Spike knew, he always had been.

He left soon afterward.

"I don't get it, Spike," Rainbow Dash had said. "What's waiting for you out there that you don't already have here?"

Spike spent the next several weeks - who knows, it may have been months, the days just blended together now - venturing around the White Tail Woods at the base of the mountain. He found a nice little cave for himself to sleep in, and spent his days exploring the woods, hunting for food, and trying to talk to the animals he encountered. None of them seemed inclined to talk back.

He missed his friends. He missed Ponyville. He missed cold apple cider and comic books and candy stores and magic libraries and even all his friends' silly little pets. He missed his old life, and he spent each night trying to remind himself why his heart refused to allow him to go back to it.

He didn't want to end up like that old dragon. He didn't want to be abandoned by his friends and left to die on his own like that. But no matter how he looked at it, it was he who had abandoned his friends, not the other way around.

Was it pride that kept him away? Was it the fact that, by coming back, it would mean that he couldn't make it on his own? Or was it that, by coming back, it would mean admitting to Twilight that he had been wrong?

Still, his anger towards one pony shouldn't color the way he treated his other pony friends. Each of his friends had reacted slightly differently to the news of his departure. Their words would all replay in his head as he closed his eyes each night, a constant reminder of his mistake, his failure, his regret.

Oddly, the pony whose voice he recalled most fondly these days was not that of Twilight.

It was Fluttershy.

"Spike..." she had said, hanging her head sadly. It looked as though it had taken every ounce of her courage not to let herself cry. "I'll miss you..."

It hadn't been a question. It hadn't been a request for him to reconsider. It had been a single expression of emotion. Pure and simple. And as Spike reflected on where his journeys this last year had taken him, he found himself more and more longing not for the complex ballet of niceties involved during his life with Twilight, but for a quiet, simpler life, not removed from the world, but far enough from it that it couldn't hurt him.

A life like Fluttershy's.

Spike managed a weak smile. It was thoughts such as that which he held most deeply as he drifted off to sleep.

For Fluttershy, work was never done. Then again, for Fluttershy, work was never work.

Her wildlife rehabilitation habitat was perpetually overflowing with sick, injured or abandoned animals ranging from birds to frogs to badgers to beetles. It seemed that no matter how tame the Everfree Forest became, no matter how much the magic of harmony pervaded throughout Equestria, there were still the dangers of the natural world, and these dangers usually resulted in the weakest being snuffed out. Fluttershy had long accepted the fact that even she couldn't save every creature in Equestria, and for the world to truly be in balance, sometimes life had to make room for other life. But she still considered it her duty to take care of any creature that crossed her path in need of shelter.

This was, of course, all on top of her duty as co-judiciary as part of Princess Twilight's retinue. Messenger birds would regularly come bringing news of some ill or another that had befallen any number of citizens which required the guidance of the elements of harmony, and this usually demanded a good deal of her attention. Every week, her and her friends met at Twilight's castle to directly receive any grievances that Mayor Mare could not accommodate. Sometimes there were many ponies flooding through their door to seek guidance, but as often as not, there were only a few or none at all, and the girls would spend the majority of the day simply chatting, socializing and otherwise catching up together. It was a nice little pattern that Fluttershy had grown quite accustomed to, and for their services, she and the other ponies received (in her modest opinion) a rather generous accommodation from the royal treasury, which she had been using to expand her wildlife rehabilitation habitat even further, allowing her to care for a far greater number of animals, and even hire on some ponies to help her with all of the work that entailed.

Overall, Fluttershy was quite pleased with the way things had progressed for her and her friends. About the only blemish upon her world she could think of was the absence of Spike the Dragon. She and all of her friends missed him terribly, and Twilight had never been quite the same after he had left. She wished she knew more about what had happened to make Spike want to leave so badly. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had their speculations, but Fluttershy hadn't believed most of them.

While he had sprouted up significantly in these past few years, to her, he would always be that adorable baby dragon she had first met on the day before the Summer Sun Celebration. She didn't like the thought of Spike out there in the world, all alone with no one looking after him. Twilight had explained to her that Spike needed to figure this out on his own, but Fluttershy had known Twilight Sparkle long enough to tell that she was profoundly upset by his departure. But she also knew her friend well enough to know that if she was this determined to let Spike have his way, even if it hurt her that much inside, than he must have had a good reason to do so.

She just wished she knew what that reason was.

"I'm finished in the yard Miss Fluttershy!" came an exuberant voice from her back patio.

Fluttershy nearly dropped the celery sticks she had been adding to Angel's dinner platter. She was still not used to keeping hired help around the house, but she was determined to acclimate to the situation, for her animals' sake. The young earth pony helping her run her habitat was a bright and chipper young filly with a yellow coat, a gray mane and a flower pot cutie mark. She had a promising future in landscaping from what Fluttershy had seen, and she owed much of her habitat's success to her skills in setting up and maintaining the grounds around her home. Still, she persisted in addressing Fluttershy as "miss," despite being almost the same age as she was. Part of the territory of being an element of harmony, Fluttershy supposed.

"Thank you, Meadowlark," Fluttershy called out, once she had calmed her surprise. "That's all I needed for today."

The yellow pony actually looked disappointed at being sent home.

"Are you sure you don't need anything else, Miss Fluttershy?" she asked politely.

Fluttershy smiled as she sighed. Meadowlark was such a diligent worker, but sometimes she could be too helpful for her own good.

"Oh, no," Fluttershy assured you. "You've done more than enough today! Thank you very, very much for all your help."

The young mare inclined her head and raised a hoof to wave goodbye.

"Alright then," she said. "See you tomorrow Miss Fluttershy."

Fluttershy waved back as Meadowlark trotted out the door.

"Oh," Fluttershy said, hesitantly. "And it's just Flutter-"

The door slammed shut before she could finish. She sighed, good naturedly. Meadowlark was a kind and diligent young pony, and Fluttershy was glad to have her, but the young mare adhered to courtesy almost more than Fluttershy herself did. She often wondered if Twilight and the rest of her friends found Fluttershy's mannerisms as tiresome as she found Meadowlark's some days.

Making her way back to the kitchen, Fluttershy resumed her preparation of Angel's platter, the white bunny waiting expectantly, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently on the counter top.

"Oh, Angel," Fluttershy chided sweetly, "I haven't forgotten about your supper. Don't you worry."

Angel grumbled indignantly.

"Don't be like that," Fluttershy said, putting the finishing touches on his plate. "Meadowlark is doing us a kind service by working here, and she should expect to get as much of my time as any-pony. Now I'll tell you what - why I don't I throw in a few extra cherry tomatoes on your salad? I know how much you like them."

She topped the platter off with a couple of bright red tomatoes the size of grapes and offered the plate to the white rabbit. The cantankerous critter sniffed at the proffered platter, and snatched it away to carry it off to the far corner of the house to gobble down his supper greedily.

Content that she had satisfied the last of her pets, Fluttershy stretched out her legs. It had been a long, hard day of working outside with her animal habitat, and she was looking forward to taking a nice long soak in the bath.

As she went about her nightly routine, she found herself wondering, not for the first time, whether or not Spike was alright. She had hoped that he would at least write home once in a while - he still should be able to send letters like he had been able to. Though she supposed that he would have been limited to sending them to Canterlot. Still, it worried her, not knowing whether or not he was alright. And it hurt a little, to think that he had went off on his own without considering the impact it would have on the rest of them. Fluttershy knew it wasn't personal - Rainbow and Applejack's speculations notwithstanding, obviously something had happened between Spike and Twilight that had made him decide to leave. And whatever it was, not even Twilight would discuss it.

Fluttershy trusted Twilight. She trusted Spike. But still, she worried. And until she heard from him, she doubted she would stop worrying.

After a long, relaxing bath, Fluttershy went to bed that night thinking of all the things she would be doing the next day. Meadowlark would be helping her clear out some of the refuse that littered the riverbank by her house so that that the critters who made it their home would have plenty of room to move and grow. It was also getting to be about time to clean her bird feeders again, and she was also running out of food for Angel Bunny. She would need to buy some more tomorrow.

So many more chores to do, and all of them unending. Still, Fluttershy didn't mind. If it was to help her animal friends, then it was a task worth doing. She closed her eyes that night, feeling satisfied that whatever lay ahead, she would be up to challenge.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, however, part of her still wondered if she would ever see her friend Spike ever again.

Spike awoke with a start from the same nightmare that had been haunting him night after night. In the dream, he had been back in Ponyville, but he was trying to leave. Only, instead of the wide-stretching landscape that surrounded the town, there lay a great precipice, as if the entire town stood atop an enormous plateau, with a vast expanse of nothingness stretched out in all directions below.

He stood at the edge of town, looking down at the bottomless drop along the edge of town, as all around him, his friends stood there, waiting to see if he would venture off the edge.

"Don't be ridiculous, Spike," Twilight had told him in the dream. "There's no way you'll make it."

"Aint' nothing for you out there," Applejack had warned. "Just a big ol' world full of danger."

"You'll just come crawling back with your tail between your legs!" Rainbow Dash had said, tauntingly. "You'll see!"

"I can do it!" Spike had yelled in retort. "I'm not a baby anymore!"

"But Spikey!" Rarity had gushed. "You are just a baby!"

Spike looked down at his body, and realized that he was suddenly the same short and stubby baby dragon from before, no different than he had been the day he first arrived in Ponyville.

"What!?" Spike gasped in shock as he stared at his hands. "No!"

"Isn't he silly?" Pinkie Pie had laughed. "He thinks he's a big enough dragon to take on the whole world! That's so adorable!"

He looked up as his friends began to tower over him, standing impossibly tall in all their glory. There they were, the elements of harmony, fighting monsters and demons and saving the world. They didn't need him. They would never need him. Who would need a helpless baby like him?

"No!" he cried out again as he took a tumbling step backwards, feeling himself falling into the abyss. "No!"

"Spike!" he heard Flutterhy's voice cry. "Don't go!"

That was when he woke up, dripping with sweat, realizing that he was on his feet and had no idea where he was. Had he been sleep-walking? He looked around in a panic, seeing trees and bushes and fallen logs and dirt and grass and stones, and nothing looked familiar. He wasn't in his cave - this didn't even look like White Tail Wood. Where in Equestria was he? How far had he ran? He was already panting and out of breath, and his feet were sore and aching, and scales covered in dirt like he had been running all night.

He halted his steps and nearly keeled over, out of breath. He was completely lost, and Celestia knew what hour of the night it was. The moon hung high in the sky, and the stars shone clear and bright.

The stars! Twilight had taught him the basics of stellar navigation years ago! It wouldn't be much help since he didn't know where he was starting from, but if he kept the same patch of stars in the same general vicinity, he knew he could at least keep walking in the same direction without getting turned around or start walking in circles.

At least, he hoped he could.

Spike started marching towards where he hoped his cave lay. It didn't help that he was exhausted, shaken and his head was pounding at having just woken up, making it difficult to concentrate on the stars. And when he did, he keep running into branches and brambles and tripping over stones and logs, which tore at his face and legs incessantly.

After walking for what must have been an hour, Spike was no closer to finding any distinguishable landmarks or anything like a clearing or river to follow. In frustration, he scrambled up the trunk of a tree and let out a gout of flame in the sky to light up the surrounding area, and sending a million birds flapping away in every direction.

Nothing! There was nothing to be seen for what appeared to be miles wherever he turned! He was completely lost.

Despair eating away at his heart, Spike stumbled back down the tree, before slipping and falling hard onto the forest floor. Tears clawed their way down his face as he began hurrying through the woods, desperate to find shelter. Spike felt defeated - so utterly defeated that he wanted to curl up into a ball and die. The nightmares were becoming real; the world was chipping away at his resolve, and remained unbent as Spike continued to be battered and harried about like a ship in a storm.

Branches continued to rip at his face, and he tasted blood in his mouth, probably from the fall, and he was feeling dizzier by the minute. He felt cold and afraid and so utterly alone. The world didn't care about him. He didn't matter. He wasn't important. He wasn't some hero or prince or knight in shining armor. He was just Spike.

Falling to his knees, the young dragon let out a howl of anguish that echoed through the trees.

In the end, that's all he had ever been. Just helpless, hopeless, pathetic little Spike.

He roared.

Fluttershy was woken up by a loud banging noise, and gasped as she sat bolt upright in her bed, her heart racing from surprise. It was the middle of the night, and there was a hurried tapping sound as well as a flurry of panicked bird-noises coming from outside her bedroom window.

"My goodness!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she sat up from her bed and turned on the light. She hurried out of bed and rushed over to the window, throwing it open to see one of her messenger birds, fluttering and cooing, hopping about in a tizzy, a flurry of feathers everywhere.

"What in Equestria is the matter, Mister Feathers?" Fluttershy said, as the bird continued to flap about, sending feathers flying.

Mister Feathers, a simple white pigeon, continued fluttering his wings and chirping rapidly, seemingly in a panic.

"Yes, yes," Fluttershy nodded, listening to the bird's woes. "Go on."

The pigeon fluttered and chirped again, gesturing fervently towards the forest with its beak.

"Oh dear!" Fluttershy's eyes widened. "That does sound bad. I'd best go see what it is."

The young mare snatched a warm coat and a flashlight and hurried out the door, making a beeline towards the Everfree Forest.

If it had been even three years ago, Fluttershy would have went to one of her friends for help, but in the recent years, she and the ponies of Ponyville had grown more comfortable with their neighboring woodland since Discord's plunderseeds had all dried up. Fluttershy may have guilted the draconequus into undoing some of the deadlier affects they'd had on the forest. He'd compromised by leaving the less harmful things, such as the poison joke. His argument had been that 'poor Zecora' would have nothing left to do if the ponies of Ponyville didn't need her to concoct the occasional spell or potion to remedy something. Fluttershy knew that Discord just enjoyed causing mischief, but she settled for his compromise - after all, it had been the poison joke that ultimately allowed her to sing with the Ponytones and finally brave the stage, at least in front of her friends.

Mister Feathers lead Fluttershy deeper and deeper into the forest, chirping at regular intervals so that she could follow along. Fluttershy was galloping now, flashlight under-wing, relying on her messenger pigeon to guide her through the woods. The bird hadn't been able to articulate what was wrong, but she could tell that he hadn't seen anything quite like what he'd seen in the forest in a long, long time. That alone was reason enough for Fluttershy to investigate. If it turned out to be something she couldn't handle, then she would go get the others, she decided. If it wasn't an emergency that concerned the rest of Ponyville, such as an injured animal, she hoped she might be able to handle it herself. It would not be the first time some-pony had overreacted to the frightening noises made by an animal who was simply wailing in pain.

Fluttershy skidded to a halt, however, when she heard a loud roar echo through the woods, practically shaking the trees and sending every bird, including Mr. Feathers, scattering wildly. Frightening noises indeed, she thought with a grimace. Whatever was making this sound was either in a lot of pain, or very, very upset, and was definitely big, whatever it was.

No longer needing her bird to lead the way with all the commotion, Fluttershy bravely ventured towards whatever beast was making the noise. Whatever it was, she hoped by all the stars above that she could help it.

Spike heard a voice from memory, and he seized up in anguish at the taunting nightmare that clawed at his consciousness.

"Spike..." the voice said.

He was back on the edge of Ponyville, looking down into the chasm that surrounded it. He was falling again, and the voices of his friends kept taunting him.

"I'm sorry..." he breathed, flailing his arms helplessly. "I...I can't..."

"Spike..." the voice repeated.

Spike thrashed about, his mind in a haze, half conscious, and half obscured in nightmare. The world around him seemed to make no sense anymore.

"Please..." he muttered as he reached out to void, eyes red from tears. "Help..."

Spike felt dizzy, like he was swimming through an ocean of impenetrable loneliness, struggling to come up for air as the waves of grief kept crashing down around him.

"Spike...?" the voice sounded much closer now.

He didn't know who it was who was calling to him, but he latched onto it like it was the most precious thing in the world.

"Help me..." he begged the voice. "Don't leave me alone..."

He felt the voice grow stronger.

"Spike!?"

Suddenly, he felt like he was yanked out of the murky depths of his fever dream, as a pair of cloven forelegs lifted him up and turned him onto his back, causing his head to flop backwards, jerking him back to full consciousness.

At least, he thought he was fully conscious. But here was another memory trying to worm its way back into his psyche.

This time, it was Fluttershy. And for some reason, she seemed to be bathed in light.

"Fluttershy..." he said her name, blinking through the tears. Of all of his friends he had hurt, she was probably the one he felt the worst about. "I'm...I'm so sorry..."

The look on her face was the same look of concern and worry that he had grown to expect of her, but there was an immediacy to it that he was not used to.

"Don't talk," she commanded, sweetly but insistently, resting a hoof against his forehead. "I've got you. You're safe now. Oh dear, you're burning up a fever...how long have you been out here?"

Spike felt dizzy and his eyes were still half lidded, but he could have sworn he saw Fluttershy holding his body between her forelegs, peering down at him as if nursing a patient.

He saw her spend a few moments more inspecting him, before she began chewing on her lower lip.

"I...don't know enough about caring for dragons..." she said to herself, before craning her neck to call out towards the darkness. "Mister Feathers, go get Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight!

Spike's eyes shot open in an instant. "What!? No! Don't!"

Fluttershy looked down at him in utter shock. "Wh-what? But..but Spike..."

"Please!" Spike begged, desperately, adrenaline coursing through his system. "I can't...I don't...please don't tell her..."

Fluttershy furrowed her brow as her better judgement conflicted with her need to honor her friends' wishes.

"Spike..." she muttered. "We have to tell Twilight! You're very sick! She might be the only one who can help you!"

To Fluttershy's horror, Spike rolled himself back onto all fours and with a great effort, heaved himself up and began to limp away.

"I have to get away, then..." he breathed to himself in desperation. "I can't...let her see me like this..."

"Spike!" Fluttershy gasped, getting to her feet almost too late to catch him as he inevitably stumbled back to the ground. "Stop it! You'll hurt yourself!"

Spike wasn't even strong enough to respond. By the stars, he was a mess! Cuts and bruises, even through his scales, and he was absolutely shivering from the cold! With a yank, Fluttershy tugged off her wool coat and draping it over Spike's shoulders.

Just what happened between him and Twilight that made him so desperate to flee?

Fluttershy steeled herself. It was her duty to take care of any creature that crossed her path in need of shelter. Spike was no exception.

"Mister Feathers," Fluttershy called out to her messenger bird. "Never mind Princess Twilight. I want you to go find Meadowlark instead. I need her to help me carry him."

With a tweet, the white pigeon fluttered off in the direction towards Ponyville.

Spike was still breathing heavily amidst Fluttershy's forelegs as she glowered down at him.

"Listen to me, Spike," she said, her voice full of conflicting emotions. "I won't tell Twilight, okay? I don't know what's happened, but I promise not to tell any-pony just yet. Just please...please don't run off again! I can't..."

Fluttershy hiccuped as the tears came.

"I can't bear to see you hurt like this, Spike..." she sobbed, her heart spilling out over his unmoving form. "You've been gone for so long, and I...I...I just...missed you, okay?"

Spike did not respond. He was still shivering and breathing shallow breaths. Fluttershy wrapped the wool coat over his body more tightly, trying to stave off the worst of the night cold while she waited for Meadowlark. She hoped her protege wouldn't be angry with her for waking her up so late, but this was an emergency, and from the sound of it, Spike was still running from Twilight. Fluttershy hadn't wanted to get another of Twilight's friends involved, for they too would feel the need to share what she'd found with the Princess. But Meadowlark was faithful to Fluttershy, and she knew her student would keep a secret for her.

The question was, for how long?

"Oh Spike..." Fluttershy muttered soothingly as she stroked his head. "What's happened to you?"

As the shock began to wear off, and she took some time to inspect the dragon for any injuries she might have overlooked, when it suddenly registered in her head why something seemed so off about him. She had to angle her flashlight beneath the coat on his shoulders to be sure, but there was something on Spike's back that hadn't been there when he'd left.

Two somethings, as a matter of fact.

A pair of wings.

They were small for his size and did not seem to be fully formed, but those were undoubtedly wings on his back. And they had not been there when last she had seen Spike a little over half a year ago.

She looked down at the young dragon, a look of dread in her eyes.

"Oh Spike..." she breathed in a tremulous voice, now even more worried than ever. "What's happened to you?"

Spike could faintly recall waking up at various points during the night. He saw Fluttershy and another yellow pony he didn't recognize, and he had the vague sensation of being dragged on some kind of sledge. Afterwards, he recalled being in a warm bed, and various images of Fluttershy spooning water, as well as a sweet-tasting medicine between his lips. He slipped in and out of dreams, sometimes seeing Twilight, sometimes seeing his other friends, but mostly seeing Fluttershy, though he couldn't be sure if he was seeing her in his dreams or in real life.

His first cognizant thought was that he had a splitting headache, and when he opened his eyes, the bright sunlight stung, forcing him to squint.

"Nnnng," he groaned in irritation as he tried to turn away from the sunlight.

His whole body ached and his joints were stiff, and he felt incredibly weak. But he also felt surprisingly warm. The bed he was in was rather soft and welcoming, and he didn't feel terribly inclined to leave it anytime soon.

No long afterward, he heard the sound of approaching hoof-beats, and through squinting eyes he could see Fluttershy leaning over him, placing a warm washcloth over his forehead.

Fluttershy? That was weird. Why was she here? She should be back in Ponyville. Unless...his memory was a haze, but he could vaguely recall wandering through the woods at night, falling down at some point, and then...Fluttershy was there? And then...stairs...and a bed? And that could only mean that...he was in Fluttershy's house.

He was back in Ponyville!

Spike suddenly jerked awake, sitting bolt upright.

"Fluttershy!" he blurted, before the world suddenly started spinning wildly and he collapsed back onto the bed.

The yellow mare responded to the sudden outburst with a high pitched "Eep!" recoiling backwards, the wet washcloth flying across the room, as she landed awkwardly on her haunches with an audible fwoomp.

"Spike!" she cried, looking absolutely amazed. "You're awake!"

Spike was still seeing stars, clenching his eyes, both from the sunlight and from the haze his mind was in. He reached up to both shield his eyes from the sunlight with hand and rub his eyes with the other, his arms feeling like they were each weighed down with a sack of bricks.

"How did I get here?" he groaned, squinting through tears at the young mare. "How long was I asleep?"

Fluttershy had hurried over to the window to lower the blinds, giving Spike's eyes some much needed relief.

"Umm...just a day or so," she said, reassuringly. "You were out in woods at night and you caught a fever."

Spike let out a sigh as the blinds came down, allowing his eyebrows to unclench, but letting his eyes remain closed as the reality of his situation sank in. This was all just so messed up. Somehow he had gotten himself lost during the night, sleep walking until he had gotten himself completely turned around. He could vaguely recall the nightmare he had experience, though the last thing he could truly remember was curling up in the back of the small cave that had been his dwelling for the last few months. As laid up as he was, he realized that as lost and as sick as he had become, there was no way he could have found shelter on his own. And if Fluttershy had not found him in the woods, against all odds, things would have only gotten worse. He couldn't be sure of how or why she had been out there, but if she hadn't found him when she did, he had no illusions - he would not have survived the night on his own.

He owed her his gratitude for saving his life. He owed her an apology for his absence over the last year. He owed her so many things, he just didn't know where to start.

His stumbling thoughts were interrupted, however, when she returned with the warm washcloth under-wing - he hadn't even noticed her leave to soak it in the sink again - to place it on his forehead.

It felt absolutely wonderful.

"There you go," she said sweetly, in full patient care mode. "How are you feeling? Any better?"

Spike let out another sigh, this one of relief from the warm compress. "Yeah...a little..."

"Oh, thank goodness," Fluttershy smiled wanly, though there was an odd distance to her voice. "I'm so glad you're doing better. I don't know much about treating sick dragons, so I could only treat you the way I've treated other ponies..."

Spike's eyes flickered open as he studied her, troubled by the odd way her voice trailed.

"Fluttershy..." he said when she wouldn't meet his gaze. "I-"

"Spike..." she interrupted, reaching for one of his claws with her hoof, finally revealing her eyes filled with tears, her voice turning into a sob. "Where have you been!?"

The damn of professionalism that had kept her from voicing such feelings until after her patient was better evaporated in an instant, and as the raw hurt in her voice and her eyes shocked Spike to silence, the young mare began to shake with unfettered grief as near a dozen moons of uncertainty and fear bubbled to the surface.

"Do you have any idea how worried we all were!?" she sobbed, holding his claw with both hooves now. "We never got one single letter from you since you left! Not one! We had no idea if you were alright! We didn't know where you were, or if were happy or safe, or if you were ever going to come back! You just...left, without any warning or explanation!"

With every word she spoke, Spike felt the weight grow heavier, as full scope of his mistake sank in. He hadn't just abandoned Twilight, he had abandoned every one of his friends. Some of them would probably not let the impact of such an action show - he very much doubted Rainbow Dash or Applejack would be so affected by his departure - but Fluttershy? She was the most sensitive soul Spike had ever known! How could he have imagined she would take his leaving?

In all his years, he had never imagined any-pony would ever cry over him. Not like this.

"I'm..." he croaked, his voice cracking in tears of his own. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry, Fluttershy...I..."

He was interrupted when she threw both forelegs around his shoulders and hugged him so tightly he started seeing stars again.

"Don't you ever do this again, Spike!" she hiccuped, her whole body trembling. "If you need to go somewhere, that's fine, but don't shut us out like that! Please!"

Spike, feeling more and more responsible for the damage he had done, reached up to bring his claws around her back and gently returned the embrace.

"I won't..." he promised, feeling more ashamed than ever. "Oh, Fluttershy, I didn't mean to hurt you like this. Please...don't cry..."

Fluttershy released her hold on the young dragon as she wiped her face with a sniff.

"It's alright..." she said shakily, rubbing her cheeks with her forelegs. "You're safe now, back in Ponyville. Everything's going to be fine."

"Ponyville...right..." Spike swallowed nervously, as he pondered the implications of just what would be happening next. "Umm...who else knows I'm here?"

Fluttershy frowned. "None of our friends know. Just my assistant, Meadowlark. But Spike...you should really let me tell every-pony that you're here. They'll all want to know that you're safe."

Spike shook his head, not wanting to make eye contact with the yellow pegasus.

"I...I can't," he said, weakly. "Not right now."

Fluttershy nodded, trying to be understanding. She supposed he had just been through quite an ordeal. And if any-pony could understand not wanting to be made a spectacle of, it was her. She just hoped her friends would forgive her for keeping this a secret.

"Alright Spike..." she allowed, deferring to his needs as her patient. "But I do wish you'd reconsider. You all have so much to catch up on. You even have a new set of wings to show them."

Spike was suddenly suspicious that he was still dreaming. Had he heard her correctly?

"Wings?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes indeed," Fluttershy nodded politely. "They're quite impressive, Spike. When did they start growing in?"

Spike shook his head. "What are you talking about, Fluttershy? I don't have any wings."

The young mare blinked in bewilderment. "Oh...um...well...I don't mean to contradict you, Spike...but it would appear that you do..."

Spike sighed, sitting up in the bed. He wasn't sure what exactly she was getting at with this, but he supposed he should at least play along to appease the young mare. She was clearly rather distraught, and he supposed it would be impolite of him to...

Then a light fwoomp sounded as Spike felt the oddest sensation of a pair of limbs that he hadn't known he possessed extending out from his back. They weren't much larger than serving trays, but they were still pretty sizeable by any standard. And as Spike stretched the muscles in his back, he found that he could wave them around!

"Wh-what the hay!?" he blurted, craning his neck and reaching behind his back to feel the scales of his newly acquired appendages, which seem to have become quite numb having been lying on them all this time. "When did these get here!?"

Fluttershy looked away awkwardly. "Oh...um...so this is quite a recent development, I take it?"

Spike tilted his entire body to one side as he held one of his wings with both claws, stretching out the leathery webbing.

"These weren't here when I went to sleep!" he blared, wide-eyed and panicked. "How could these have grown in just a day? What in Equestria is happening to me!?"

Fluttershy withered under Spike's shouting. "I-I don't know, Spike...they were there when I found you in the woods. I don't know that much about dragon physiology, but perhaps Twilight might be able to shed some light on this situation."

Twilight again! Spike simply did not have the mental fortitude to ponder how much of lecture he'd be in for should she discover that he'd returned!

"Twilight is the last pony I need to see right now!" he groaned, sitting upright in the bed, arms crossed in agitation.

This whole situation was hilariously absurd, he thought. Here he was, having returned from a year long absence, unbeknownst to any of his friends save for Fluttershy, and his body chose now, of all times, to start rebelling on him?

He returned his gaze to Fluttershy, who looked to be struggling to come up with a solution to amend the situation.

"Fluttershy," he asked gently. "You've already done so much for me already...but I need a favor."

Fluttershy's eyes widened, eager to help. "What is it, Spike?"

Spike scratched his chin. It'd been a while since he'd thought about books of any sort, but as he searched through the recesses of his memory, a few titles came to mind.

"I need you to go to the Crystal Library, and bring back any book you can find that might explain what's happening to me," he pleaded. "Start with Dragonology 101 and maybe check out History of Dragons by Starswirl the Bearded, but anything that mentions dragons growing wings."

Fluttershy nodded, earnestly. "That's a good idea, Spike. I'll head right over!"

Then she hesitated.

"Wait..." she thought. "Suppose I run into Twilight? Or one of the others?"

Spike gulped. He hadn't thought of that.

"Tell them..." he scratched his chin. "Tell them that you're just researching dragons. It wouldn't be a lie."

Fluttershy frowned. "That would be lying by omission, Spike. I won't do that to a friend."

Spike sighed in exasperation. "Fine. Just...try to avoid any-pony if you can, then."

Fluttershy pouted in a manner that Spike found...rather cute, if he was being perfectly honest with himself.

"This still feels wrong, Spike," she said, wrinkling her nose in anxiety. "Keeping this a secret from every-pony..."

Spike withered under her gaze. "I know, but..."

Fluttershy pursed her lips and raised her head. "Three days. I'll give you three days to get better, Spike. If you haven't come forward to the rest of our friends by then, then I will tell them myself."

Spike's jaw dropped. "B-but..."

Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm sorry, Spike. But I won't keep this a secret for longer than that."

It broke her heart to be so forceful with the young dragon, but she knew she had to be adamant about this. She knew from experience that she had to be cruel to be kind in some cases, no matter how much it might hurt to do so. Spike was important to her, but so were the rest of her friends as well, and she wasn't about to let herself become a crutch for Spike to lean on or hide behind.

Otherwise, he would never get over whatever it was that happened a year ago.

Fluttershy turned and slowly stepped towards the door, leaving Spike to ponder his situation.

"I'll go see what I can find at the library," she said simply. "If I'm gone for long, know that Meadowlark will be by later to check on things here."

Spike didn't respond. He had rolled over in his bed - her bed, as the case was - though she suspected he was not sleeping.

Her expression softened. She hadn't asked him what had happened between him and Twilight yet, as she sensed that it may not have been the best time to do so. She just hoped he would forgive him for not showing more sympathy for his circumstances, but she also had her other friends to consider, and that should matter to him as well. She couldn't shake the feeling that Spike was hiding something very serious, even from her. And while she wasn't one to pry, she certainly hoped that whatever it was did not do anything to damage his friendship with any of the others.

"Try to get some rest..." she said quietly as she left.

Fluttershy had a troubled look on her face all the way to the Crystal Library. She had never felt more conflicted about anything before. All the trouble she had dealt with in the past had eventually had a clear right answer, even if that answer was a difficult one. But this? Part of her was certain that keeping Spike's return a secret from her friends was wrong, but another part of her was determined to honor her friendship with Spike and not go against his wishes. Which part was right? Surely the first part, right? More of her friends would be hurt by hiding the truth than would be hurt by telling it, right?

But could she live with herself making either decision?

Fluttershy straightened her back as she walked, determined to put on a brave face. She had given Spike three days to get his act together. After going through such an ordeal, three days was not an unreasonable amount of time to recuperate. And he just seemed so distraught over the prospect of seeing all their friends after so long, which she could understand. He had been gone for a whole year; her friends wouldn't miss him for another few days, right?

Fluttershy tiptoed into the Crystal Library, not letting her hoofs hit the marble floor hard enough to make a sound.

Right, she thought. And what made her so special that she got to keep that secret for herself for three whole days? Just because one of her birds happened to see Spike in the Everfree Forest? Just because she happened to arrive just in time to save him? Did that somehow entitle her to something more-so than her other friends?

Did it not?

As Fluttershy made her way to the Biology of Magical Creatures' section of the library, her mind was somewhere else entirely. While she was not one given to believe in things like fate or destiny, that did not change the fact that Spike had come to her. Not Rarity, not Twilight...by some twist of chance, Spike had wound up lying sick in her bed that morning. She had woken up in the middle of the night to save him. She had gone above and beyond to help her friend. Did that not entitle her to a little more of his time and appreciation? Was that so selfish of her?

Fluttershy had visited this section of the library for various occasions of needing to research animal physiology and behavior in the past, and was quite familiar with many of the books here. Flipping through pages, she idly browsed rhetorical data on dragons that she had known since she was a filly. Every so often, there emerged an interesting tidbit that she had not known, but so far, there was nothing that might help some-pony care for a dragon who was sick or injured, and there was absolutely no mention of growing wings, or anything to do with growth cycles at all.

Then she came across a book called Dragons: Ritual and Evolution. Eyes wide and interest piqued, she began to peruse the parchment, and was amazed by what she discovered. Apparently, dragons did not grow the way that ponies grew. In fact, if left to their own devices, a dragon could potentially remain in its immature state for centuries at a time. To reach certain stages of growth, a specific hierarchy of criteria had to be reached. These stages of development were normally attained through ritual in various dragon cultures, to symbolize a dragon's growth into adulthood. Most of these criteria were self-explanatory - for example, when provided with their physiological needs, such as food, warmth and shelter, a dragon grows from infancy to childhood. But for older levels of maturity, the requirements seemed to become more subtle, and more internal.

One passage that caught Fluttershy's eye read that for a dragon to pass beyond adolescence, several more tiers had to be overcome. The first was focused on safety, and could only be surpassed only when the dragon was provided with security, stability, and freedom from fear. That made sense to Fluttershy, as dragons were vain and prideful beasts, and flourished when surrounded by creature comforts. Spike's behavior alone was evidence of this, and judging by the illustration in the book, he had since reached this stage. But after this stage came another, that of belonging and love. At this stage, the dragon could only grow further if they had attained proper companionship, such as friendship, family, or a mate. Beyond this stage lay the journey into adulthood, and could only be achieved by surpassing the stage of self-esteem, which could be attained through a dragon's achievement, recognition or respect. And it was at this stage, Fluttershy saw from the illustration, that most dragons attained their wings.

All this reading brought up more questions than it answered, but Fluttershy seemed to be on the right track. It seemed reasonable to assume that growing up with Twilight had provided Spike with all the physiological and safety needs that he required. And surely, between her and their other friends, they had been able to provide Spike with enough companionship to satisfy his need for belonging and love. His journey away from Ponyville, it seemed, was all about the fourth stage, self-esteem. And from what she'd gathered, that had been exactly what Spike had been looking for, a chance to prove himself and attain recognition and respect. It occurred to Fluttershy that Spike had tried something like this once before a few years ago, when he went off searching for other dragons. Evidently he hadn't found what he had been looking for, and so felt compelled to try again, even after all this time.

There was one more stage after self-esteem that had to do with self-actualization, and usually did not occur until later on in life, when the dragon was well into adulthood and on the verge of becoming an elder, so Fluttershy skipped past that part, and found a passage detailing the specific rituals dragons used to perform in order to satisfy these particular cycles. They all seemed to conglomerate into a great, annual coming-of-age ceremony that all juvenile dragons within a fleet participated in. The first part involved a grand feast that lasted almost a week, and normally involved every dragon born that year gorging on as much food as they could. After the feast, the young dragons were left with their mothers in the place of their hatching, usually a deep, warm volcanic cavern, where they were allowed to remain for several days, digesting and resting in relative isolation. Oftentimes, the young dragons would even enter a state of hibernation during this phase. If any dragon had not matured to adolescence by the end of this period of isolation, they were left with no recourse but to try again the next year. Often, it could take several years and several ceremonies before the dragons matured to this point.

For those that reached adolescence came the third part, during which the young dragons were allowed to mingle, and - Fluttershy's cheeks colored bright red - encouraged to mate with a member of the opposite sex from within their age group. Dragons, being so long-lived, seldom mated for life, but it was not unheard of for these first mated pairs to remain together for centuries. Then, the day after this first night of copulation, the dragons were turned loose upon the world, whereupon they must accomplish some task to prove their worth - usually acquiring some valuable gem or felling some large beast. Often, mated pairs would go on this journey together. But some dragons had been known to circumnavigate the globe during this process, and according to the book, the specific task depended largely on the dragon themselves, and had been known to take years in some cases. It was during this stage that the young dragons were meant to discover themselves and learn who they really were. And at the conclusion of this venture, the dragon usually began growing their wings, and by this point, were considered an adult.

Fluttershy's heart raced as she read. More and more, this was sounding like Spike's situation. The clues were adding up, not just about what had caused his wings to grow like they had, but what had spurned him into leaving Ponyville in the first place. The only part that wasn't clicking was the third stage - had she and her friends not been providing Spike with enough of companionship and sense of belonging to satisfy this stage of his growth long ago? Why had it taken so long for this urge to attain self-esteem to kick in, and more importantly, what had caused it happened so suddenly a year ago? In the book, it had said that the young dragons would begin their journey of self-discovery almost immediately after their desire to mate had been satisfied.

If the same held true for Spike...then that would mean...

"Hello?"

Fluttershy let out a shrill "Eep!" as she jerked in response to the voice, sending the book up into the air. She fumbled, blithely, trying to catch the book before it hit the floor, before she managed to clasp both her hooves around it, which unfortunately caused it to slam shut with a loud thump, shattering any chance of her remaining unnoticed.

"Ummm...yes?" she looked up sheepishly from the floor where she sat in the library, a pile of books around her.

Twilight Sparkle was smiling at her from the open door that lead out into the main hall.

"Oh!" she called out, walking up to her. "Fluttershy! I didn't realize you were here."

Fluttershy nodded and smiled nervously, slowly getting to her feet, feeling completely stiff-jointed. How long had she been here? She glanced idly at the window, and realized that the sun was hanging low in the horizon. It had been just around the lunch hour when she'd left the house; she'd been here all afternoon!

"Oh, hello Twilight," she said cordially. "I was just doing some research. I got kind of absorbed."

Twilight nodded at the substantial pile of books. "So I can see. What are you studying?"

Fluttershy had Dragons: Ritual and Evolution under her wing, which she withdrew to show to Twilight.

"Dragons," she said simply. "Actually, I was wondering if I might check this book out."

Twilight's expression was unreadable as she glanced at the book in her wing.

"Alright," she nodded, agreeably. "Is that the only one you'll be needing?"

Fluttershy nodded. "I think so, yes."

Twilight's horn glowed, and a quill and parchment appeared in front of her, where she wrote down the order to Fluttershy's book. At the same time, all the other books on the floor around Fluttershy's feet lifted off the ground as Twilight re-shelved them each into their appropriate place with her magic. Ever since Spike had left, Twilight had been left to handle such menial tasks on her own.

"Why the interest?" Twilight asked nonchalantly as she magicked away her quill and parchment.

Fluttershy hesitated. She had told Spike that he wouldn't tell any-pony for three days, but she had also told him that she would not lie by omission.

Twilight was her friend, she reasoned. She could be trusted. Still, it would be best to ease her into it.

"It's about Spike, actually," Fluttershy admitted.

Twilight's expression darkened, and Fluttershy felt a cold knot form in her stomach. Suddenly, this didn't seem like such a good idea after all. Was this what Spike had been worried about?

"What about him?" Twilight asked, soberly.

Fluttershy chewed on her lip, before pulling open the book she had found.

"Well..." she stammered, choosing her words carefully. "It's been a whole year since he's left. Don't you think he should have come back by now?"

Twilight frowned. "I don't know. And frankly, I don't particularly care at this point."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Twilight...you don't mean that."

"What makes you think I don't?" she snorted. "And why exactly are you bringing this up?"

Fluttershy wanted to tell her the truth. She knew she should. But something inside her made her hold her tongue. Something about Twilight's reaction made her feel like any knowledge of her erstwhile dragon companion would only serve to cause pain. Her mouth hung open for a moment longer, before she began flipping through pages in her book until she found the page she had just been on.

"Well...look here," she said, pointing at the illustration on the page. "Apparently most young dragons go through some kind of coming of age ceremony. It's a tradition going back so far in dragon culture that many parts of it are practically instinctual."

"The five stages of dragon evolution," Twilight said brusquely. "I know all about it, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy blinked, surprised. Twilight was a smart pony, had she seriously not connected the dots? "Then...you know about the third stage where-"

"Where the dragons basically go into heat?" Twilight finished the thought flippantly, looking more and more agitated. "Yeah. I know that part too."

Fluttershy had never heard Twilight speak so dismissively before. "And then...afterward, they feel the need to go out into the world and prove themselves, right?"

Twilight wrinkled her nose, looking downright annoyed now. "Is there a point to all this, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy winced at the implied accusation. "Well...umm...don't you think this sounds familiar?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Obviously! I've known that's what this was about since the day he left, Fluttershy. So Spike's on a pilgrimage of self-discovery. So what? He's probably off gallivanting across Equestria doing Celestia knows what by now! And you know what? Good for him!"

Fluttershy's mouth hung agape. This didn't sound like the Twilight she knew. "Twilight...aren't you worried about him? He may not even know why he felt the compulsion to leave in the first place."

Twilight flipped her mane back and glowered. "It doesn't matter why he wants what he wants, Fluttershy. He's not our responsibility anymore. Sure, I could cast a finding spell right now and find him if I wanted to! And what would that accomplish? If he wants to go prove himself in some kind of arcane dragon ritual, then that's his business. But I've got more important things to be doing than worry about his scaly butt all day."

Fluttershy was shocked. She had never heard her friend utter such hurtful words before! And about someone who she had been so close to! It didn't make any sense! Had she completely detached herself from the young dragon such that she didn't even acknowledge him as her friend anymore?

Twilight took a deep breath and seemed to calm down a bit. "Look...I didn't mean to blow up like that. This is just a...touchy subject for me, alright? Can we talk about something else please?"

Fluttershy chewed her lip as she stared at the floor.

"Actually...I should probably get going..." she said, feeling more than a little helpless.

She wanted to ask her friend why she was feeling this way! Clearly something was wrong, and she wanted to help! But pressing the issue clearly wasn't the way to go about doing it. She needed to find out more, and she had a feeling she knew who else would know.

"I didn't realize how late it was," Fluttershy explained. "My assistant is probably waiting for me at home. I should make sure she has everything she needs."

Twilight sighed and nodded. "Alright Fluttershy. Sorry to go off the deep end on you there."

Fluttershy nodded, understandingly. "It's alright Twilight. You know you can always talk to me about these things, right?"

Twilight smiled. "I appreciate that. Have a nice evening."

The violet princess watched as Fluttershy made her way out of the stacks and back out into the main hall towards the exit. Then she trotted up the stairs to her reading lounge and flopped over onto her favorite couch cushion and sighed.

What was the matter with her?

As Fluttershy made her way home, her mind was was filled with more questions than she had when she'd set out to begin with. First and foremost - why was Twilight so angry with Spike? She couldn't imagine him doing something that would hurt her enough for her to treat him like that. Then again, it could be that part of the reason he had left is that he had done something he was ashamed of and couldn't bear to see her again. But Spike wasn't the sort of dragon who could do something like that to Twilight...was he?

There was a lingering possibility at the back of her mind that Fluttershy had been refusing to acknowledge, and the more and more she examined Twilight and Spike's behavior, the more likely it seemed. Could Rainbow Dash and Applejack's teasing japes have been right all along? Still, it wouldn't do for her to make such assumptions about her friends.

She braced herself as her home came into view, and was pleased to find Meadowlark hard at work clearing debris out of stream that ran by her house. She had completely forgotten about her chores that day! She was sorry to make Meadlowlark do all that work by herself, but she was also glad that at least one of them had remembered. She just hoped that Angel would be okay with leftovers tonight.

Her fears were answered when she entered her room and saw Angel and Spike engaged in a stand-off of sorts, as Spike guarded a bowl of soup in his lap with a spoon while Angel seemed to be angling in for a pounce at the comparatively massive dragon for his food.

"Angel!" Fluttershy chastised as she entered the room. "No! That's Spike's dinner!"

The white rabbit withered under her accusatory stare and hopped away.

Spike looked relieved. "Thanks, Fluttershy! For a minute there, I thought I was going to lose my lunch. Literally!"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and smiled. Still the same Spike after all these years.

"Hi Spike," she said by way of greeting. "I see Meadowlark was kind enough to fix you some supper."

Spike nodded, spooning some of the warm broth into his mouth. "Mm-hm!"

The yellow pegasus placed the book she was carrying on the bedside table.

"I...believe I may have discovered a clue about your wings," she offered, guardedly.

Spike's eyebrows rose at that as he swallowed what was in his mouth. "Really? What did you find?"

Fluttershy took a breath. "First, I need you to tell me something, if you don't mind. Why...exactly...did you leave Ponyville?"

Spike withered under Fluttershy's gaze. "Well...lots of reasons. I guess...mostly because I was just tired of being Spike the assistant."

Fluttershy frowned. "So...one day, you just woke up and realized that you wanted more?"

Spike scratched the back of his head. "Well...no, I...sorta had a fight with Twilight..."

Fluttershy nodded. The pieces were starting to fall together.

"You have feelings for her...don't you?"

Spike's eyebrows shot up in surprise! He hadn't expected Fluttershy to guess that right off the bat like that! But then again, he supposed he hadn't been particularly discreet in the way he had been behaving. He pursed his lips, his eyebrows knotting together, and look away.

"You told her...didn't you?" he asked, sternly.

"Spike..." Fluttershy frowned. "Please, answer me..."

"Had," Spike said, firmly. "I had feelings for her. That's over. Now does she know I'm here or not?"

Fluttershy's heart sank. So it was true.

"No, she doesn't" Fluttershy sighed. "I was going to tell her when she asked, but...she just seemed so upset when I mentioned you that it...just didn't feel like it was my place to tell her."

Spike exhaled a breath of palpable relief. "...Thanks, Fluttershy."

The young mare nodded, but did not smile.

"Obviously, you still have very strong feelings one way or another," she pointed out. "Otherwise you would not be so adamant about staying away from her."

Spike turned a stern gaze towards her, and she felt her heart skip at the intimidating look in his eye.

"Maybe at first," he admitted. "Spike the assistant wasn't good enough for her, so I decided to become more than that. At first I thought it was for her. And then I realized, it was for me."

Fluttershy nodded. "And when did you realize that?"

Spike put another spoon-full of soup in his mouth as he thought.

"I met an old dragon," he said slowly, his eyes lost in thought. "Up by the Smokey Mountain. He was dying. He kept asking me why I had come there. I tried telling him about Twilight, about you and the rest of my friends, about Ponyville and about my life here, but every answer I gave him didn't seem to get a response."

Fluttershy listened in rapt fascination as Spike told his tale.

"It really made me think, you know?" Spike went on. "Why was I there? Why had I left? If you had taken Twilight out of the picture, where would that have left me? What would I be without Twilight? And so I decided that I need to become my own dragon. It didn't matter who respected me if I couldn't respect myself. I couldn't let her define my life like she had been for so many years."

Fluttershy's ears drooped. All these years, she had thought that Spike had cared deeply for Twilight and was content with his life as her assistant. Apparently, she had been mistaken.

"So what did you do?" she asked earnestly.

Spike shrugged. "I told that old dragon that I was trying to find my own path. And then he moved for the first time since I saw him. He touched my chest with one of his claws, getting ash all over my scales."

Fluttershy's heart was in her throat.

"Like a ritual..." she breathed.

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Yeah...kinda. Anyway, after that he...well...I guess that tiny gesture drained the last little bit of strength he had left, because he never woke up after that."

Fluttershy frowned. "Poor thing..."

Spike nodded. "From that point on, I knew that this wasn't about Twilight anymore - it was about me. It was about me being able to respect myself and be proud of who I am. Which is why I can't face her or any of my friends right now. Not until I have something to show for it."

Fluttershy smiled, uneasily. "Well...you do have something to show for it. Your new wings."

He shrugged, giving his new-found wings a little flap. "Yeah. For all the good they do me. I don't know if I'll ever build up the nerve to actually fly."

Her smile became more earnest. "We have that in common, at least. I was terrified of flying when I first started. Still don't really like heights either."

He grinned wryly. "Yeah. I heard about that story."

She watched in silence as he went back to eating, before a thought occurred to her.

"What about me?" she asked.

Spike looked up from his soup, a driblet on his lower lip. "Hm?"

Fluttershy felt herself blushing, nervously. "You said that you couldn't face any of your friends until you had something to show for your journey. What about me? I mean, are you disappointed that I found you the way I did? That I was the one who saw you like that and nursed you back to health?"

Spike swallowed again, and looked away, looking anxious. "Umm...well, I mean...I'm glad you did, of course. I would have...well, I would have been in big trouble if you hadn't. But, I mean...yeah, it's pretty embarrassing to be seen at your lowest point, and to be be this laid up...and in your bed, no less..."

Fluttershy's blush increased, though Spike did not seem to notice.

"But...well...if I had to pick only one pony to take care of me like this," Spike said nervously. "It would probably be you."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Me? Why?"

Spike shrugged, smiling. "Cause you're the single nicest pony I've ever known! I mean, come on, your element is kindness! Who wouldn't want to be taken care of by you?"

Fluttershy felt a warm, fluttery feeling in her stomach.

"Well...thank you, Spike..." she said, shyly, before looking around for something to distract from her embarrassment, her eyes settling on the book she had placed on the nightstand. "Anyway, why don't you try looking through this book I found? The part about the five stages of dragon evolution might have something to do with your wings growing in."

Spike placed his empty bowl on the nightstand and reached for the book, flipping open to the page Fluttershy had bookmarked for him. "Alright. I'll see what I can find. Thanks for doing this for me, Fluttershy. It really means a lot to me."

Fluttershy was practically glowing from the praise. "Oh, you're most certainly welcome, Spike. Now, I'm going to go help Meadlowlark outside. I'll come check on you in a little bit."

Spike nodded, smiling back at her before returning to his book.

"Thanks again, Fluttershy."

Spike had objected to spending the night in Fluttershy's bed again, not wanting her to sleep on the couch because of it, but she eventually won the argument. Her couch wasn't all that uncomfortable, really, and besides, Spike was still on the mend and needed a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in.

The next morning, she left early, letting Spike sleep in so she could go to the market and pick up some groceries for Angel Bunny. She had completely forgotten the day before, so she made sure to get plenty of fresh vegetables for the white rabbit's supper.

When she got back, Meadowlark was already outside, feeding the animals around her house. Punctual as usual.

"Good morning, Meadowlark," Fluttershy called as she walked around to the patio out back, setting her shopping basket down just outside the door.

Meadlowlark glanced up from her work by the animal pen and waved back.

"Morning Miss Fluttershy," she said enthusiastically. "That dragon friend of yours is really something! He's been up all morning trying to learn how to fly."

Fluttershy took a breath. "He is? Oh dear! He could get himself hurt. Where is he?"

Meadlowlark pointed out towards the field, where even now Spike could be seen leaping and bounding around in the tall grass.

It had been only a day since they'd grown in, and his wings had already almost doubled in size, and looked much fuller and healthier now, and he was moving them a lot more easily than he had before. After taking a running start, Spike spread his wings and allowed his momentum to carry him upward. He gained a fair bit of air, maybe ten or fifteen feet, before his momentum slowed down and he began to descend. As he did, he wavered, and attempted to flap his wings to stay aloft. With each flap, however, he lost altitude, and inevitably hit the ground with a rolling tumble.

Fluttershy cantered over to where he fell to make sure that he was alright.

"Spike!" she cried out in alarm. "What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting inside!"

Spike lifted his head up from the grass to meet the yellow pegasus' gaze and shook his head to shake off the grass that had accumulated in his frills.

"Oh!" he said, looking somewhat sheepish. "Sorry Fluttershy. But I'm feeling much better now."

"Even so..." Fluttershy scolded, reaching out a hoof to help the young dragon to his feet. "You should be focusing on recovering, not out here, trying to learn something as dangerous as flying."

Spike scratched his head and sighed. "I know, Fluttershy. I'm sorry for making you worry. It's just...I've been thinking about what you said last night. And you were right - I should be proud of these wings. But I need to learn how to use them before my three days are up, otherwise I'll just be making a fool of myself in front of every-pony."

Fluttershy shook her head. "Still, you shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard! Otherwise you could hurt yourself. Or get sick again."

He gave her a playful wink. "Well, then I'll have the best caretaker in Ponyville looking after me."

She pouted, her cheeks puffing red. "You shouldn't be so reckless, Spike. With or without my supervision."

Spike shrugged. "Well, you are a pegasus, aren't you? Why don't you teach me how to fly?"

Fluttershy took a step back. "M-Me?"

He nodded. "Sure. Unless you're too busy. I'd understand if you were. You've already spent so much of your time looking after me."

She shook her head, looking down, modestly. "It's not that, Spike. It's just...I'm not that great a flier."

Spike put his hands on his hips. "Come on, Fluttershy, your team scored second place in the relay race during the Equestria Games!"

"That was entirely because of Rainbow Dash, Spike," Fluttershy sighed. "Surely you realize that?"

"It wouldn't have been a silver medal if you hadn't been there," he countered. "Don't sell yourself short, Fluttershy. Besides, I'm not asking you to turn me into a champion flier - all I need are the basics."

"I don't know, Spike..." she said. "I'm not the best teacher, either."

"You said it yourself," Spike pointed out. "You were scared of flying your first time too. Who better to teach a total beginner than some-pony who can appreciate a beginner's perspective like that?"

Fluttershy bit her lip. This was probably not the best idea, but she really wanted to help Spike learn how to fly too. Part of her was sure that Rainbow Dash would be the better instructor, but then, Spike had a good point about him being a total beginner. Rainbow was a great flier, but Fluttershy doubted some-pony like her would have the patience to teach someone who had never flown before.

Which left only one pegasus for the job.

"Alright, Spike," she agreed, hesitantly.

For the next hour or so, she explained to him how important it was to be articulate each part of the wing to achieve lift, both while flapping and while gliding. She showed him on her wings how she could independently move each of her flight feathers to maximum effect, admitting bashfully that she regularly made mistakes that she knew consciously, but was unable to prevent herself from doing on a practical level in the moment. Spike was intrigued by the amount of control she had, but when he reached out to touch the feathers on her wings, Fluttershy recoiled with a laugh.

"Eek!" she yelped, fluttering her wings.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed.

"No, no, it's alright," Fluttershy sighed, cheeks red. "I'm just...ticklish there."

Spike laughed in return, storing that tidbit of information away for later, and extended his own wings to compare them to hers.

Of course, he didn't have quills the way a pegasus did - rather, he had frilled webbing, like a bat. But he soon found that he had control of each of the spine-like appendages that spanned across his wings, which allowed him a similar degree of control, and soon enough, he was able to mimic Fluttershy's movements as she held her wings out to show him what shape they should be in during a particular flight pattern.

"Alright, Fluttershy!" he said enthusiastically. "You think I'm ready for a test-flight?"

Fluttershy shrugged nervously. "I still think it would be best to try this with a professional flier, like Rainbow Dash."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but Rainbow Dash can't keep a secret to save her life. As soon as she sees me, she'll be blabbing about it to all of Ponyville."

"Very well, Spike," she sighed in acceptance. "But I'm going to fly alongside you to catch you in case you fall."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he raised an eyebrow in response. "I'm...a bit bigger than you are."

"Well, yes..." Fluttershy smiled and tapped his scaly hide with her hoof. "But you've also slimmed down a lot over the year you've been gone. You've lost all your baby fat, and are looking like quite the lean young dragon, Spike."

Spike blushed at the compliment, and Fluttershy blushed as well when she realized what she was saying and looked away.

"I mean...that's none of my business," she backpedaled. "But...from what I can tell, I should have no problems catching you if you fall."

Spike nodded, tentatively. "Alright then...here goes..."

He spread his wings and took off into a run towards the field. Fluttershy was trotting just behind him, keeping pace as he began to flap his wings. What had once been the chaotic thrashings of a panicked newborn were now deliberate and powerful movements that created gusts of wind that nearly knocked Fluttershy over. Then with a leap, Spike was in the air, still flapping his wings and slowly gaining altitude.

"Hey, look!" Spike shouted as he took to the air. "I'm flying!"

Where before he had reached a mere fifteen feet, now he was easily fifty feet high and climbing higher. Fluttershy was flapping her own wings to keep up with him as he flew. He had a much larger wingspan than she did was a much faster flier, even as he was just getting started, so she had to make an effort to keep up with him.

"Good job Spike!" she called out, keeping an eye on their surroundings. "Now, we're approaching the edge of the field. Lock your wings like I showed you and tilt them ever so slightly to the right."

Spike nodded and followed her instructions, banking to one side to stay out of the trees and above the grass, before resuming his steady flapping to keep himself aloft.

"This is awesome!" he shouted in excitement, a feeling of exhilaration overwhelming him.

Below them, Meadowlark waved her arms, cheering them on, and Fluttershy waved back at her.

Spike did too, and the motion caused his center of balance to tip, and he jerked suddenly as he tilted to one side, twisting his wings the other direction to compensate. The action caused him to wobble off in the other direction as he went tumbling.

"Whoa!" he shouted as he suddenly flipped over backwards unexpectedly.

"Spike!" Fluttershy called out in alarm as the dragon suddenly dropped out of the sky, before she dove after him.

Spike flapped his wings to try to re-right himself, but the wind was buffeting his wings with such force that they were practically plastered to his body. Out of panic, he reach out with his arms and found Fluttershy's outstretched hoof waiting for him as she flew towards him, which he grabbed urgently.

"Oof!" Fluttershy cried as she struggled to lift Spike's weight. He may have been leaner than he had been when he was younger, but it was all muscle mass, and he had more meat on his bones than any other pony around. Her wings flapped hard and she did manage to slow his fall some, but the ground was coming up to meet them at an alarming rate, and Fluttershy sucked in a breath and braced herself for the impending impact.

When they hit the tall grass, however, Spike's arms came around her and they tumbled in midair, causing himself to hit the ground first, letting her land on his belly with a thump, before the two of them tumbled and rolled over each other end over end until their momentum slowed and Fluttershy landed with a soft whump on her back in the grass.

"Mmmph!" she grunted in discomfort. She had eyes closed through the whole ordeal, and was almost afraid to open them afterwards. When she did, however, all she could see was Spike looking down at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

His body was slumped on top of hers, holding himself up by his arms over top of her, and if this had been any other situation, Fluttershy would have likely cried out in terror at such an invasion of personal space.

Instead, her thoughts were only on Spike.

"Am I alright?" she gasped, reaching up to touch his face. "What about you!? You're the one who hit the ground back there! Are you hurt? Is anything broken?"

She began checking his scales with her hooves for any signs of damage.

"I'm fine, Fluttershy," he assured her, taking hold of her hoof with his claw to cease her insistent fumbling. "I've got a pretty tough hide. If you hadn't caught me, I might've been in trouble, but you slowed me down enough to keep me from getting hurt, I think."

Fluttershy seemed to deflate at that. "Oh thank goodness!"

Spike smiled back down at her. "I'm just glad you're not hurt either."

Fluttershy closed her eyes and took a breath, trying to calm herself down. She used to have nightmares about falling from the sky, unable to fly, and this had come fairly close to those nightmares. Worse, it hadn't been just her that was falling - it was also her precious friend Spike, who she had taken under her wing in way. She had agreed to teach him, and that made her responsible for his safety, and that had made the fall all the more terrifying.

But then something had happened. Despite being a complete novice to aerial maneuvers, he had managed to grab her, wrap his arms around her, and take the brunt of the fall himself. It was a stupid, foolish thing for him to do. But it was also one of the kindest and most gentlemanly gestures she had ever received. In that moment, she hadn't been the one protecting Spike - he had been the one protecting her. And while she was used to her friends having to accommodate for her and was anxious to pull her own weight, she had to admit, it was nice to have someone she cared about going to such lengths to keep her safe like that.

"Hey!" came a cry as Meadowlark bounded over to them. "Are you two alright!?"

Spike tilted his head up to see the approaching mare, and Fluttershy suddenly realized that Spike was still on top of her, and she started blushing.

"Umm..." she mumbled shyly. "Thanks for catching me, Spike, but uh...you can...get off me now."

Spike flinched suddenly, as if his mind had been wandering, and he sprang off of her, laughing and blushing uneasily.

"Uhhh...hehe...sorry," he smiled, scratching his neck. "I'm glad you're alright."

She smiled back at him as Meadowlark came into view, the yellow and gray pony gasping for breath after struggling to push through the tall grass.

"Oh good!" the young earth pony sighed, seeing them both sitting up in the grass. "I was worried I'd have to call nurse Redheart!"

Fluttershy got to her hooves and offered a comforting smile to her assistant. "Sorry to frighten you, Meadowlark. No injuries, it seems."

"Yeah, fit as a fiddle!" Spike smiled as he got to his feet and brushed himself off. "So...what's for lunch?"

By the next day, Spike was flying on his own, though he was still probably as good as Twilight had been on her first day of flying too. He would have to get lessons from Rainbow Dash eventually, but for now, it was enough for him just to be able to get into the air.

Fluttershy had been doing a lot of thinking these past few days since Spike had arrived. While there would always be that lingering feeling in the back of her mind that she shouldn't be keeping Spike's return a secret, she couldn't deny that she'd been enjoying herself more and more these past few days since he'd come back. Over the years growing up with Twilight, Spike had developed into a polite and gentle young dragon, much friendlier than any other dragon she had come across, and a good deal more fun to be around. That much Fluttershy had always known, at least objectively, but having the young dragon around the house had brought it all into such focus.

For instance, he was an amazingly good cook - the time spent away seemed to have both increased his knowledge of wild herbs and spices, as well as starved him for a good taste tester besides himself, so he was only too happy to prepare meals for Fluttershy and occasionally Meadowlark as well. He was also very helpful around the house, a habit brought on by his years as an assistant making him quite eager to lend a hand wherever he could, and Fluttershy was finding that she was more than able to make up for the delay in her chores that had incurred from the downtime she had spent to take care of him while he was sick. She had insisted that she and Meadowlark could handle things on their own, but Spike was adamant, owing to his "dragon code" that he repay the debt he owed her for saving his life.

He had even been helping her and Meadowlark with all of her chores out in the animal habitat as well. He was a good deal taller than either pony, and was considerably stronger besides, so his efforts had made a lot of their heavier chores a much smaller burden. To top it off, Spike was good with animals too - a trait he must have picked up during his journeys - and had been helping in keeping each of her critters fed and their pens cleaned, and all without so much as a single complaint. And as Meadowlark was quick to point out, it was rather enjoyable to watch his lithe form glisten in the sunlight as he worked, although Fluttershy would admit to no such thing

Despite her reservations, however, Fluttershy was happy. It was nice having someone so helpful, polite and friendly around the house, and despite her best efforts, she was growing quite accustomed to his presence, even after only three days. In fact, that night, while Spike was preparing supper, she was starting to wonder just how things would be changing after the others found out.

As much as she hated to admit it, a very real part of her had been enjoying keeping Spike all to herself these past few days. It made her feel...special, she supposed. When she had first met him through Twilight Sparkle, there had been the distinct understanding that he had been with her, for whatever that had entailed. While he was still his own dragon and could make decisions on his own, his attachment to Twilight had never been contested, nor had there been any reason for any-pony to do so regardless. For all intents and purposes, he and Twilight had been joined at the hip, right up until the point where they had...well...joined at the hip.

Spike leaving Ponyville had changed everything, she reflected as she set the table for two that night, the aforementioned dragon stirring a pot in the kitchen. It had shattered that worldview of him always belonging to Twilight, and cemented a new reality of him being an independent dragon, free to make his own choices, capable of choosing for himself and no longer being under the thumb of...

Fluttershy mentally scolded herself. Spike hadn't belonged to any-pony, nor had he been under any-pony's thumb; she shouldn't think of it that way. But Spike's attachment to Twilight had still been irreversibly altered. Were there still any lingering feelings for Twilight? Probably - she couldn't expect an attachment like that to evaporate entirely, even after a year. But it was for that exact reason that she suspected that Spike may not wish to move back into the Crystal Library with her.

This suspicion was reinforced by the lingering resentment Twilight seemed to feel towards the dragon.

Clearly, there were some emotions that needed to be vented. And Fluttershy was the last pony in Equestria so inclined to force such ventilation. But what was to be done in the meantime? What was Spike to do after his presence became known? What was she to do in that case as well? Would Twilight or any of the others resent her for keeping Spike all to herself while he recuperated?

Perhaps there would be consequences, she decided. But all the same, she was glad that she had found him in the woods that night. Never mind that his life would have been in grave danger if she hadn't, but he had become such a wonderful presence in her life, not to mention the fact that she was now sharing Spike's secret and that made her feel downright mischievous! And if she had go back and do it all again, she probably would not have done it any differently. Spike had been wonderful company these past few days, and she would be sad to see him leave.

Which simply left the question...where would he be going?

When she posed this question to him at the table that night at dinner, he expressed as much uncertainty as she had.

"Well, I doubt I'll be moving back in with Twilight," he said somberly. "Even if she wanted me to, I don't think I'd be able to do it. Too much water over that damn right now."

Fluttershy just sipped quietly at the stew Spike had made - hay and alfalfa in a mushroom cream bisque. Fluttershy hadn't eaten this well in weeks.

Then an idea came over Fluttershy. She wasn't sure why it had bubbled to the surface; in truth, it had been lingering in the back of her mind for the past few days, but she hadn't dared to give the idea any thought, much less give voice to it. Now suddenly, without so much as thinking, it spilled out of her mouth before she could reel her imagination back in.

"You could always stay here with me."

Spike had been lifting a spoon to his mouth, which he lowered to give the mare an odd stare.

"Wait, really?" he asked. "Are you being serious?"

Fluttershy clamped her mouth shut. She hadn't been serious, had she? That had just been her own imagination running away with her mouth, hadn't it?

Hadn't it?

"Well..." she mulled the thought over, cheeks reddening under his gaze. "If you had no objections to the idea...it would seem that you have nowhere to go..."

She held up her hooves, dismissively.

"I-I'm sure any of our other friends would be just as willing to take you in," she backpedaled, nervously. "I mean...Rainbow Dash lives in a cloud house, so I'm not sure how that could work, but...surely Applejack or the Cakes would have room for..."

Fluttershy's reasoning died off on her lips as she realized how silly she sounded. But she was surprised when Spike nodded his head.

"I'd love to stay," he said with a smile.

Fluttershy's face lifted from a cloud of uncertainty to one of complete joy. "You would!?"

"Yeah! I mean, if it's not putting too much of a burden on you," Spike smiled in approval, before hesitating. "Well, actually, wait...do you even have enough room to spare?"

Fluttershy nodded quickly. "Oh yes, don't worry about it! I've been making renovations to the habitat outside; I have more than enough space now and I could easily clear out one of my spare rooms to make into a guest bedroom. It might take a little while, but...it could be done!"

Spike's heart melted a little bit at that sincerity in her voice. "You would do all that? For me?"

Fluttershy smiled sweetly at the dragon. "Oh, Spike, you've been nothing but pleasant living here, even while you were sick. And you've been so helpful and supportive to me, and a complete gentle-dragon besides. Who wouldn't want a housemate like you?"

Spike was smiling from ear to ear, looking like he was about to cry. Before he could, he rushed over and threw his arms around Fluttershy's neck and hugged her tightly, causing the young pegasus to jump slightly at that sudden embrace, but returning it all the same. She was glad that she had been able to help the poor dragon, and while he hadn't been showing it, it was clear from this display that Spike had been worried about this very problem too these past few days. Then again, she reminded herself, having been living on his own for the last year, there might not have been very many ponies who had treated him all that well during his travels. This was probably the single kindest gesture he had received all year, and it broke her heart to imagine Spike deprived of that kind of companionship.

So torn up by the thought that she kissed him on the cheek, and Spike only responded by embracing her even more tightly. It almost felt like she was taking advantage of the poor thing, but she could not stop herself when he was expressing such happiness. Part of this still felt wrong - while she hated thinking in such crass terms, it still felt as though Spike belonged to Twilight, not to Fluttershy, and she shouldn't be taking what wasn't hers. But Spike had already proven that he was his own dragon, and could decide for himself who he would be staying with.

Which he seemed to have just decided.

And if Fluttershy had stacked the deck in her favor by keeping his secret from the rest of her friends, well...who could blame her for wanting to keep such a gentle-dragon all to herself?

"Come on now, Spike," she cooed sympathetically, stroking his shoulder. "Let's finish our dinner. I got you some gems for desert."

Spike had been about to let her go, when the word 'gems' left her lips, and he threw his arms around her again and actually lifted her up in the air to twirl her around in excitement.

"Oh come on, now you're just bribing me!" he laughed as he spun her around.

"Eeeeeh!" she squealed happily and flailed her legs and wings in surprise as he swung her around. "Put me down, you!"

Spike mercifully set her back down. She was laughing with such mirth there were tears in her eyes. She didn't want to say it out loud for fear of drudging up more bad memories, but she was starting to appreciate more and more why Twilight had kept the dragon around for so long. Not only was he the most helpful dragon in Equestria, not only was he polite and kind and courteous and thoughtful, but the young dragon was an absolute joy to be around! He radiated warmth and happiness provided there was occasion for it, almost more so than any of her other friends. She would never be able to escape the lingering feelings of guilt she felt for keeping him all to herself, but at the moment, she didn't care.

"Well, hurry up and finish your supper before it gets cold," she chided benignly. "No gems for dragons who leave food on their plate."

Spike went back to his place setting and began wolfing down his stew.

"Yes ma'am!" he chimed.

Once again the two new housemates were debating about who got to take the bed that night - or, more precisely, who got to take the couch and give the bed to the other.

"Come on, Fluttershy, I feel fine!" Spike insisted. "You should sleep in your own bed tonight."

Fluttershy was adamant. "Until I get the spare room squared away, you're still a guest in this house, and as my guest, you get the bed."

Spike crossed his arms, a snarky look in his eyes. "Yes, but as a gentle-dragon, according to the dragon code, I can't allow a young mare to give up her bed for my sake, particularly when I'm in tip-top shape now thanks to that same mare's caring hooves."

Fluttershy pouted, though there was a smile behind it.

"You're really not going to give up on this, are you?" she asked.

The dragon shook his head, eyes closed as he kept his arms crossed. "Nope."

Fluttershy sighed and shook her head. "Very well. If you insist Spike."

She finished laying down what she had intended to be her sheets down on the couch, setting down the pillow on one end, and laying a blanket out for Spike to sleep under.

"Here's a glass of water in case you get thirsty," she said, setting the aforementioned glass on the table by the couch. "And you can help yourself to anything in the fridge in case you get hungry."

Spike chuckled good naturedly. "Thank you, Fluttershy. Now would you kindly stop worrying over me and go to bed already?"

Fluttershy still had an anxious look on her face, but she ceded the point gave the dragon a kiss goodnight on the cheek. Spike blushed at the show of affection, but climbed onto the couch all the same.

"Goodnight Fluttershy," he said with a smile as he crawled under the covers.

The yellow mare climbed the stairs to her bedroom and smiled back down at him.

"Goodnight Spike..."

Fluttershy closed the door and climbed into bed. As she tried to get to sleep, however, there were just too many butterflies in her stomach for her to settle down. Spike would be living with her from now on! It was such an exciting prospect! Of course, Angel might have to get used to it, but he seemed to be warming up to Spike - or at least, treating him with the same level of aloof indifference he treated the rest of her animals. And of course, it would take some doing to get him settled in - he certainly wouldn't be staying on the couch. That would never do!

Yes, it would certainly be an adjustment living with the dragon, but thinking of all the perks that came along with it made her heart flutter! Spike had been no less than wonderful these past few days, and she was absolutely exhilarated at the thought of the dragon being a permanent member of the household that she could hardly stand it!

So strange it was, she reflected, that such a change seemed so natural to her. Normally, she was not one for charging so boldly into uncharted waters like this, but then again, this was Spike, the dragon she had known for the majority of her adult life. And it felt so good to be doing something for herself for a change. While she knew that she was doing Spike a kindness and was glad for that, she knew that her friends would at very least be surprised with her, and in the worst case scenario, downright angry with her. But she didn't care! She was doing this because she wanted to do it. And why shouldn't she? Spike was his own dragon now. He didn't belong to Twilight or any-pony anymore! Never had to begin with, really. Clearly living with the princess had been stifling his growth if it had taken him this long to grow his wings.

She wondered idly what had tipped the scales. She had not been brave enough to inquire with Spike, but certainly it had to be something lascivious! Her stomach turned itself into knots as she imagined all the lurid little details of whatever late night rendez-vous had pushed Spike over the edge. The more she imagined, the more romantic and scandalous it all seemed, and the part of Fluttershy's imagination normally reserved for the harlequin romance novels that she kept sequestered away in the trunk by her bedroom window was firing on all cylinders at the thoughts that came to her mind.

Dear Celestia, what was she thinking!? It wouldn't do for her to contemplate Spike's private affairs like that! But try as she might, she couldn't help but imagine just what a beast he must have been! It must have been the bed-sheets she slept in that still lingered with his musky scent. Plus she'd always been curious about how dragons...did things like that. How lucky Twilight was to get the first taste of such a creature! And the more she imagined the two of them intertwined in the heat of passion, the easier it was to put herself in Twilight's horseshoes.

Spike didn't belong to Twilight anymore. Spike didn't belong to any-pony. He was his own dragon, free to make his own choice, right? She wasn't stepping on any-pony's hooves by making the first move upon his return, she told herself. Neither Twilight nor any of her friends had any right to be angry with her for doing this. This was not encroaching on any-pony else's claim! And who was to say Spike would even take her up on such an offer? No matter how she looked at the situation, she could not help but see her actions, decisions and thoughts cast in a veil of shame. As per usual, it seemed that every action she took, every move she made, every decision she chose would forever be shrouded in doubt.

When would she be able to do something for herself without feeling regret? When would she be able to just go after what she wanted without worrying that some-pony else wanted it more? Rarity and Pinkie had taught her that sometimes she had to put her hoof down, but she had gotten so carried away trying to do this that she had become something horrible as a result. And by Celestia, she didn't want that to happen now. She didn't want to become so depraved and hedonistic that she lost herself just by entertaining one lustful fantasy. But his musky scent on her sheets was simply filling her thoughts with him, and the dragon was dozing just outside her bedroom door! It was as if the stars had aligned to fulfill her deepest, darkest wishes, and the raucous that might ensue should she so much as breach that boundary...

Fluttershy flung herself out of the bed and began pacing around the room. This was driving her crazy! This was so stupid! She was a grown mare, she shouldn't be stewing in her own anxiousness like a school filly! There was nothing wrong with going down there and telling Spike how she felt! She reached a hoof up to her door handle, but withdrew it. Again, her hesitation and shame held her back. How many times had she denied herself even the simplest pleasures growing up? How many times had she denied herself even now? How many times had she sacrificed for some-pony else else who never even seemed to appreciate how much she had given?

She was the element of kindness, and kindness would always define her. But sometimes...sometimes, you had to be kind to yourself once in a while.

Fluttershy swallowed hard and reached for the door handle.

Spike was tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep. He had put on a bold claim by offering to take the couch, and to be sure, had been sleeping in far worse places this past year, but still, sleep eluded him. It was not that the couch was uncomfortable - far from it. It was the warm tickle in his throat the swelled up whenever he thought about Fluttershy and all that she had done for him. He doubted any of his friends would have been quite so hospitable. Especially Twilight. From the sound of things, she was about as bitter about what happened as he was.

Still, part of him felt like he was taking advantage of Fluttershy. She was the kindest and most generous of his friends save for Rarity, though he had mixed feelings about going to Rarity like this. After all this time, he wasn't sure how any of his friends would have reacted, even Fluttershy. He had been telling the truth when he'd told her that he would have picked her over all the others to help him in his time of need, but that was because he knew just how dependable she was, and he hadn't even wanted to do that much for fear of placing a burden upon her, or worse, being rejected all over again. But it was already done now. Did that make him a bad person, taking advantage of his friend's helpful and kind nature by allowing her to invite him to live in her own home? She had even helped him learn to fly, even though that was clearly outside her comfort zone.

He owed her so much, he didn't even know where to begin. Taking him in like this, after he had abandoned her and her friends for so long? He had no idea how he would ever make it up to her, which was why he had been so adamant about helping out as much as he had. It felt like small potatoes by comparison. Was that just his dragon nature, kicking in? When some-pony saved a dragon's life, that dragon owed that some-pony a debt that could never be repaid, and would often result in being life-bonded to that some-pony.

Could Fluttershy be that some-pony?

Suddenly Spike's cheeks flushed red as he thought back to all the times she'd kissed him or hugged him or otherwise been affectionate with him, and realized that based on those actions alone, the two of them were closer now than they had ever been when Spike had last been in Ponyville. It was a perturbing thought, seeing any-pony besides his previous caretaker as the pony he owed his devotion to. There had been that incident with Applejack a few years back when she had saved him from those timber-wolves, but he had still technically belonged to Twilight at that point.

Spike rolled over on the couch and flipped his pillow to let his head rest on the cool side.

He was thinking about this way too much! Fluttershy was just being nice! She didn't expect anything from him, did she? All those kisses and other signs of affection were just her way of being nice to him after being gone for so long. Right?

Right, and he was supposed to just pretend like each and every one of those gestures hadn't had an effect on his more carnal instincts. It had been a full year since he'd left Twilight, and there hadn't been anyone since then. Each delicate touch, each brush of a wing, he peck on the cheek, every embrace...he savored every one of them. It was more than just a sign of affection, it was a sign to him that any-pony cared about him at all, which is something he hadn't had in a long, long time.

Was that all this was? Loneliness and desperation for affection? He supposed he'd never find out until after his friends discovered him here.

His stomach dropped as he was reminded about that. Tomorrow was the day Fluttershy would tell them all that he was back. After that, it would all be downhill.

He rolled over again, and glanced idly around the living room, and was startled fully awake when he saw Fluttershy sitting on the floor just a few hoof-steps away from the bed, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Fluttershy?" he asked softly, not wanting to disturb the animals in the house, reaching out to the table besides the couch to flick on the small shaded lamp. "Is something wrong? What time is it?"

Fluttershy remained perfectly still as the light switched on. How long had she been sitting there?

"Spike..." she breathed, refusing to make eye contact with him. "I would...very much prefer it if you were in the bed tonight..."

Spike let out an exasperated sigh. Was that what this was all about?

"Fluttershy, we talked about this," he groaned as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I'm not going to make you sleep on the couch again."

The mare's wings shuffled back and forth, but otherwise, Fluttershy did not move.

"I..." she breathed quietly, eyeing the floor. "Wasn't...suggesting that I do..."

Spike rubbed his eyes again, and blinked as he tried to process what Fluttershy had just said.

"So...wait...what...?" he asked blithely, blinking in sleepless stupor. "What are you suggesting then? That we both take the bed?"

Fluttershy's head nodded twice. It was an unmistakable gesture because it sent her long pink mane waving back and forth with each motion.

Spike's mouth was dry as he tried to think of a response to that. Was Fluttershy being serious? What exactly was she offering here? He dare not try anything for fear that he was dreaming.

"I...don't think that would be a good idea, Fluttershy..." he said cautiously, looking away. "I mean...uh..."

He struggled to come up with an excuse that didn't sound contrived, and blurted the only thing that came to mind, which, to be fair, was a perfectly valid reason in his head.

"Gosh, I mean..." he smiled nervously. "I don't think I'd be able to keep my claws to myself if we tried to do that..."

He tried chuckling at his own jape, but it came out more like a choking cough, and he cleared his throat, looking at the mare nervously, trying to gauge her reaction.

Her expression was still unreadable, though now her eyes were even more hidden behind her mane.

"I...wouldn't mind..." she managed to whisper, her voice cracking in embarrassment.

Spike raised an eyebrow at that. Had her heard her correctly?

"What...?" he asked in complete stupefaction.

Fluttershy made a strangled noise as her voice caught in her throat.

"Don't...make me say it again, please..." she begged, and he could see that her cheeks were bright red behind her mane.

Spike's eyes widened. Dear Celestia, was she being serious? His heart was in his throat as his mind instantly touched upon a hundred forbidden thoughts and feelings that had been stirring beneath the surface of his consciousness just a short while ago. The idea seemed preposterous! Of all of his friends, if he had to guess which of them might be interested in fooling around, Fluttersy would have been the last name on his list. On some level, it was interesting to know, at least, that he hadn't been the only one thinking about such things. But that Fluttershy would be so bold as the make the first move? It was almost unthinkable. By the stars, as shy as she was, what she must be putting herself through just to be asking him this...

"Are you...saying that you want to...?" Spike stammered, unable to finish the thought. As it turned out, in situations like these, he was just as shy as she was.

Fluttershy nodded her head again, her vibrant mane swaying with the motion, eyes completely obscured.

"Yes..."

Spike swallowed, trying to stave of the dryness in his mouth. This was a dream, right? It had to be a dream! There was no way Fluttershy would want to do something like that with him. And even if she did...for her to proposition him like this in the middle of the night...

"You're can't...seriously mean that you..." his voice was so shaky as he gestured towards her. "...want to...with me...do you?"

Her eyes once again disappeared behind her mane, and before he could finish, she had turned to make her way a little too hurriedly up the stairs. She actually missed the first step and stumbled at the bottom of the stairs, and she let out a whiny of agitation.

"Fluttershy..." Spike called out as he followed her towards the stairs, reaching out to help her to her hooves.

She flinched slightly at his touch, but leaned into it the longer it lasted. Her movements were so conflicted, as if part of her longed to offer him the world, and the other wanted nothing more than to flee.

She finally broke away from him and hurriedly made her way up the stairs, turning to glance back around at him, looking completely flustered.

"Well...?" she asked expectantly, cheeks burning bright.

Spike hurried up the stairs after her, his mind in a million places at once.

"Are you...?" he breathed as they stepped into her room, leaving the lights off. "Are you absolutely sure about this, Fluttershy?"

She paused her step, scrapping at the floor with her hoof, her back to the dragon. The way the moonlight glided along her flank was utterly captivating.

"I...I have no idea..."

Spike frowned, feeling more and more like dirt.

"Well...if you're this unsure about it, then maybe we shouldn't do this..." he suggested, going against every instinct in his body telling him to approach her.

Again, her hesitation and shame were holding her back.

Suddenly Fluttershy was facing him, and had her forelegs around his neck.

"No!" she cried, a look of panic in her eyes. "Don't go!"

She would not back down from this. No matter how much it terrified her.

Spike would have blushed at the proximity if not for the desperate look in her eyes, her cheeks bright red as she pleaded with him.

His heart broke in an instant.

"I'm not going anywhere, Fluttershy..." he said, placing his claws around her forelegs. "I just...need to be sure that you're okay with this."

Her embrace tightened as he felt her breath against the frills on his neck.

"Please..." she whispered. She wasn't able to get out anything more than that.

The damn of Spike's resistance began to crumble away. A little voice in the back of his mind was telling him that this was a bad idea, that there was no way one of them wasn't going to be hurt by this, and probably both of them. The last time he had tried this, the resulting heartache had driven him out of Ponyville. But damn it all, those eyes of hers! He could no longer pretend that he wasn't completely smitten. How could anyone be expected to say no in these circumstances?

He reached up to cup her cheeks between his claws, bringing her face to his. Her eyes were wide and bright, even in the dim lightning cast by the moonlight through the window. Her lips were quivering as he kissed her, and her eyes slid shut as she responded to the kiss by pressing back into him, her forelegs closing ever more tightly around him.

As smaller as she was by comparison, it took almost no effort at all for him to lift her up onto the bed. She offered him no resistance as he continue to kiss her, her voice croaking in her throat as a strangled moan of delight from the attention, as she wrapped both sets of legs tightly around him in an almost possessive manner.

Spike didn't seem to mind it.

"Fluttershy..." he breathed, as his hot breath escaped as wisps of smoke, his lips finding their way across her jawbone, along the ridge of her neckline, up to one of her ears as his claws brushed through her long, silky mane.

Her entire body stiffened as she felt his teeth clamp down around her ear, and it was all she could do not to cry out.

"Spike..." she whimpered, her legs and wings trembling from the treatment. By the stars, this was so much more than she had ever imagined! He was actually kissing her, hungrily and fervently, as she'd only ever imagined in her wildest dreams! His scales were like fire, his hot breath a tempest, his tongue a slithering snake that set her skin ablaze wherever it touched. She felt her entire body heating up from the torment as his lips explored her ear, as every single muscle in her body began to clench all at once.

Spike found his way to her other ear, as if he wanted to taste her skin one inch at a time, like a predator savoring a piece of meat. Her mouth hung agape as he teased her sensitive skin, and she squeezed him even more tightly as his lips descended towards her neck and collarbone.

"Mmmmmm..." she whimpered as she laid back against the mattress, her wings splayed wide as the dragon continued to nuzzle at her body with his snout. His kisses descended lower and lower along her abdomen, her head tilting back in elation as her voice trickled out in a tremulous simper. Her face was eternally red, her imagination completely shattered at the realization of what Spike was doing to her. The same young dragon, who at one time she had seen as the most innocent of tiny creatures, now had his lips all over her body, making her insides do somersaults and her heart pound like thunder.

It was when his lips found their way between her legs, however, that she began to cry out in elation.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she wailed.

His lips and tongue had found one of her most private areas, and by the stars, she could barely believe it! Dear Celestia, where had he learned to do this? There would have been no possible way for her to prepare for this onslaught, let alone respond to it in any intelligible fashion. All she could do was slam her back hooves into the mattress, lifting her hips up to meet his lips as she turned her head to bite down on the bed sheets to keep from wailing again.

She felt a single claw enter her, and she lost her grip on the sheets and began to howl.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, Spike!" she cried, each breath a desperate cry for mercy as her eyes clenched shut.

He simply hummed in affirmation, his long serpentine tongue working magic on her nether regions, incessantly flicking back and forth, driving her mad. She felt every muscle in her stomach begin to convulse in response to his teasing, and her eyes flew open, her pupils dilated to points as she was overcome by a wave of pleasure that shook her entire body to the core.

"OHHHHHHHHHH!" she cried out as she pressed her bottom hooves down so hard her back lifted off the bed.

As she collapsed in a sweaty heap on the mattress, her breaths coming out in panting gasps, her mind was a confused mess of thoughts and emotions. In her entire life, she had never imagined pleasure like this, much less that it would come from Spike of all creatures. How the young dragon was capable of incapacitating her like this staggering. Was this what Twilight Sparkle had passed up on?

Spike looked up from his vantage point between her legs, a look of concern on his face, and began to crawl over top of her, looking down into her eyes.

"Fluttershy?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

Fluttershy was still gasping for breath as she gazed up at the young dragon in wonder, before she threw her forelegs around his neck once again and kissed him a lot more aggressively than he was expecting.

"Mmmmmmh!" she intoned as their lips parted. "Oh, Spike..."

Spike let a low growl escape his lips as she wrapped her lower legs around his waist, and he felt her well-moistened center brushing against the heat between his legs. It was felt almost too natural for him to slip himself inside of her, and she only responded by holding him tighter and calling his name louder and louder as he began to undulate his hips, driving himself ever inward.

"Spike!" Fluttershy simpered, tears rolling down her cheeks as she held onto him for dear life. "Oh Spike!"

She had expected it to hurt. Everything she had ever read, every bit of gossip she'd ever heard told her that the first time was supposed to be painful. But it just felt so right for him to be there in that moment. Maybe it was because of how warm and moist he had made her, maybe it was because dragons just did it better than ponies, but whatever the reason was, Fluttershy was loving every moment he spent inside of her. Every thrust of his hips, every touch of his lips, every brush of his claws was like a little moment in paradise.

Before she knew it, she was on the precipice once more, as Spike gazed down at her with eyes full of passion and longing. Then those eyes clenched shut, and she felt a sudden flood of heat between her lower legs as he grunted her name, and in that moment, she knew bliss as she tumbled over the edge once again. Spike's claws dug into her flank as he erupted inside of her, her own forelegs clutching his shoulders for dear life as she screamed out in terror and exhilaration.

She felt as if her own skin was not enough to contain the sensations, as though it would turn her inside out should it last a moment longer. It was like a sudden encounter with a dangerous beast, or standing at the edge of a cliff and being pushed off the edge. The rush of adrenaline surged through her veins, leaving her breathless and immobile, shuddering and shaking as if she been hit by a bolt of lightning.

"Fluttershy?" a breathy voice reached her ears, and her eyes regained focus.

"Ahhh..." she exhaled, cheeks still flushed red. "Oh, goodness..."

Spike blinked in surprise, still staring down at her. "Are...are you alright?"

Fluttershy closed her eyes, still catching her breath. "Oh...wow... Did...did that actually just happen?"

"I almost can't believe it myself..." he said, smiling breathlessly.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, as if trying to convince herself that she was still in the same room. "Does...does this mean that we're...?"

Spike licked his lips and swallowed as he climbed off of her and sidled up beside her.

"It means whatever you want it to mean, Fluttershy," he said with a smile. "I'm here for you as long as you'll have me."

Fluttershy felt a shiver running through her as the cold air washed over her and then she giggled as Spike ran his claws through her wings.

"A-ha-ha-ha! Hey!" she protested, mirthfully, as she fluttered her wings. "That tickles!"

"You don't say," Spike smiled as he reached down to pull the covers up over them.

"Ohhhh...I knew I shouldn't have told you about that," Fluttershy blushed as she scooted up against his warm body beneath the sheets. "Now you're going to use that against me all the time."

"Only some of the time," Spike protested as his arms came up around the pegasus in the bed with him. "Dragon's honor."

She extended a wingtip and playfully brushed a feather beneath his chin.

"I'll just have to find one or two of your spots," she teased as he squirmed at the touch. "And I think I may have just found one."

"I admit nothing," Spike claimed.

When she tickled him there again, however, he laughed uncontrollably.

"Still such a cute little dragon after all these years," she giggled.

Spike didn't seem to mind being compared to his younger self for some reason, though he knew he ought to have taken umbrage with such a remark. The comment did remind him, however, that his third day had just ended, and that he would soon be facing the rest of his friends.

Only now, he had even more to answer for.

"So..." he muttered somberly. "What's going to happen tomorrow?"

Fluttershy gave him a peculiar look. "What do you mean, Spike?"

Spike looked away uneasily. "The others. Tomorrow's the day you said you'd tell them about me. So what do we tell them?"

Fluttershy's cheeks reddened as she considered what would happen if her friends were to find out what she and Spike had done.

"Well..." she muttered, shyly. "We can keep some parts to ourselves...but we still need to tell them that you're back, Spike. And they're at least going to want to know where you'll be staying."

Spike nodded, pursing his lips as he wondered how that would go.

"Do you think they'll suspect anything?" he asked.

Fluttershy's blushed as she winked. "We can tell them eventually...but I don't see the harm in keeping it a secret for a little bit longer."

Spike sighed. That didn't really answer the question, but he supposed it would have to do for now.

"Alright..." he breathed, turning to lie on his back. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Fluttershy glanced back at him. "You're not...upset, are you?"

"No, of course not," he said hurriedly. "It's just...well, you're not the only one who worries if everything's going to be alright."

"I suppose you're right," she said, letting out a soft laugh as she snuggled up against his body. "Sorry for worrying so much."

"Me too..." he said as he pulled her body more tightly against his own. "You're right about one thing, though...this bed sure is a lot nicer than the couch. Better company too."

Fluttershy giggled. "I'm glad you think so."

Spike closed his eyes, leaning into her. "Goodnight Fluttershy."

She sighed in contentment as he did. "Goodnight Spike."

The next day, Fluttershy sent out some of her messenger birds to inform the others that she needed to meet with them at the Crystal Library. Because so few of her friends shared her gift of animal communication (she was not prepared to say one way or the other about Pinkie Pie), she had written her message on a small note tied to one of each of her birds' legs. By the time she and Spike arrived at the Library, all their friends had gathered in the throne room.

"Don't be afraid, Spike..." Fluttershy whispered as the two of them stepped down the main hallway towards the muffled clamor of their friends in the main audience chamber. "Every-pony's going to be so excited to see you again. Especially now that you've got a new pair of wings to show off."

Spike withered at the thought, looking like he wanted to hide behind Fluttershy's flank. "That's what I'm afraid of."

About halfway down the hallway, still out of anyone's line of sight, Spike slowed to a halt, and Fluttershy turned to give him a reassuring stare.

"Now Spike..." she said, chidingly. "Don't get cold feet now."

Spike chewed on his lip, sweating nervously. "Actually...why don't I just wait here and let you go in first?"

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow in an amused smile at the young dragon's suggestion. "Would you like me to announce you in, like royalty?"

Spike cringed and shook his head. "No, nothing like that! It's just that...this is sure to come as a surprise for every-pony. I can't just...waltz in there without giving them a little warning first."

Fluttershy sighed and shook her head. "Very well. But I'm trusting you not run off while I'm in there."

Spike saluted. "Dragon's honor!"

She nodded and proceeded along towards the throne room.

"Hey there, Fluttershy!" Applejack called out as the yellow pegasus strolled in. "We're all present an' accounted for, just like ya asked."

"Yes indeedly!" Pinkie Pie jumped up enthusiastically from her seat and started bouncing up and down in front of their newest arrival. "So what's the big news? Huh? Huh?"

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash added, skeptically, as she lounged sideways on her throne. "What's so important that you needed all of us here to tell us in person?"

"I do say," Rarity chimed in, looking as dignified as ever on her throne. "We've each already reserved an entire day every week to meet up here to discuss official matters together. What in Equestria could not be postponed until such time?"

Fluttershy blushed under the scrutiny, but was even more hesitant to reply for fear of putting an unnecessary burden on Spike. As exciting as it was to do so, she wasn't particularly good at keeping secrets, especially ones as dirty as the one she currently kept. She also couldn't help but notice Twilight being oddly silent upon her arrival.

"Well..." she said quietly as she climbed up onto her throne. "As you all know, I like to keep an eye on the Everfree Forest for any sign of distress. Recently, one of my birds came to me, telling me about something big, loud and frightening terrorizing the forest."

Everyone's expressions darkened, suspecting the worse.

"What do you think it is?" Rainbow Dash asked, as always eager to jump into action.

"Well," Fluttershy smiled uneasily. "I went searching through the forest myself to-"

"You what!?" Rarity gasped, astonished. "Fluttershy, how could you attempt something so dangerous on your own!?"

Several ponies raised an eyebrow at that.

"Rarity," Applejack said evenly. "We all know the Everfree Forest ain't been all that problematic for us lately. Heck, the worst thing to come out of there in recent months has been that foul-mouthed chimp tryin' to raise hell about how hard it's been finding any food."

Pinkie smirked at that. "Boy did we learn some interesting new words that day."

Rarity held her nose up. "Well, all the same, there's any manner of unpleasant things hiding away in those woods."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "What, you mean like all that dirt, mud and muck you could step in?"

Rarity snorted. "Oh, you may laugh Rainbow, but wait till you see what a little mud can do to a freshly coiffed mane. It isn't a pleasant sight."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both looked like they wanted to make a few more jokes, but Twilight Sparkle held up her hoof.

"Ladies," she said, silencing them both, before smiling cordially as the yellow pegasus. "You were saying, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy cleared her throat. "Oh, yes...anyway, I went searching through the forest myself to see what all the fuss was about...and you'll never guess who I found..."

She held her hoof out towards the open doorway leading out to the hall.

"Every-pony..."

Eyes widened and breathing stilled as all eyes turned to the entryway to the main hallway as right on cue, a young purple dragon stepped into view.

He put on a bashful smile and waved his claw.

"H-Hey guys..."

Everyone collectively exhaled at once.

"Well, I'll be..." Applejack breathed in surprise.

Pinkie was the first to leave her seat, though Rarity was soon to follow.

"SPIKE!" the pink pony cried out in unbridled excitement as she flat-out tackled the poor dragon, despite his superior size, sending him tumbling to the floor. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! You're back! This is like the best day ever!"

Spike grunted as he hit the floor, with Pinkie Pie practically standing on him.

"Spikey!" Rarity cried out rushing to his side. "It's so wonderful to see you again!"

"Yeah, where the heck have you been!?" Rainbow Dash demanded, hovering overhead. "We were all worried sick about you! Well, I mean...I wasn't, but..."

Spike tried to speak up, but found it difficult with Pinkie Pie nearly crushing his chest.

"Now now, girls," Fluttershy pleaded, urging the others to back off a little. "Give him some room."

Pinkie Pie hopped off of him, still grinning from ear to ear and looking like she was ready to pounce him as soon as the dragon stood up.

"My word, just look at you, Spike!" Rarity gasped when he stood. "Have you gotten even taller since we last saw you?"

As Spike scratched the back of his neck scales shyly, Fluttershy took the opportunity to speak out for him.

"And that's not all!" she said excitedly. "Look at what else he has now!"

Spike, taking, his cue, dropped down to all fours and unfurled his wings and spread them wide for all to see.

"My...!" Rarity inhaled, transfixed.

"Well, hot diggity!" Applejack exclaimed. "You got yourself a nice pair of wings there!"

"Spike has wings!?" Pinkie Pie gasped in disbelief. "Does this mean he's an alicorn princess now too!?"

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure he can't use magic, Pinkie Pie."

Spike was blushing under the scrutiny. "Uhh...well, uh..."

"Why, how in Equestria did you acquire such marvelous wings, Spikey-poo?" Rarity inquired.

"And more importantly, how well can you use 'em?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly. "Have you learned how to fly yet?"

Spike smiled shyly. "Kind of. I mean, I got the basics down, I think..."

Rarity gave the young dragon a warm hug. "Oh, this is so wonderful, Spikey-Wikey!"

Applejack smiled widely. "We've really missed you, little guy!"

Rainbow Dash smirked. "Yeah! Ponyville's never really been the same without you!"

Pinkie's smiled widened, despite all seeming feasibility. "Oh my gosh! We've got to throw you a welcome home party!"

Spike blushed. "Aww...thanks, guys..."

Applejack cast a suspicious look at Twilight, who had stood up, but was keeping her distance from the commotion.

"Twilight?" she asked, earnestly. "You're bein' awfully quiet about all this. Ain't you gonna say something?"

Twilight's face remained neutral as all eyes fell on her.

"Nice to have you back, Spike," she said in a polite and even tone. "Will you be staying with us long?"

Spike could not even bring himself to meet her gaze. "Well, uh...I don't really have any plans to leave..."

Twilight nodded. "Alright then. I assume you don't have any problems staying with Fluttershy then?"

What followed was the most uncomfortable silence of Spike's life. All eyes fell on him, Fluttershy and Twilight like one of them had just eaten a bird.

"Ummm...would he not simply just move back in with you?" Rarity asked the princess, totally confused. "I mean, it isn't like you don't have room to spare."

"I'm sure he's made other plans by now," Twilight said, matter-of-factly. "Spike? Exactly how long have you been in Ponyville since you arrived?"

Spike's gaze rested eternally on the floor. "Well, I...when Fluttershy found me in the woods, I...I was really sick and..."

"And?" Twilight prompted, when his explanation died off. "How long ago was that?"

Before he could respond, Fluttershy took a step forward.

"Twilight," she said graciously, "May I have a word with you please?"

Twilight all but rolled her eyes as she simply turned and strolled towards the back antechamber as Fluttershy followed after her, leaving Spike to explain what had been going on for the last few days.

When the two mares reached the antechamber and closed the door, Fluttershy released a breath.

"I didn't want to say anything because you seemed so torn up about his leaving," Fluttershy began. "It didn't seem like it was my place."

"I gathered," Twilight responded, noncommittally.

"I wanted to ask you what exactly had gone on between you two," she continued. "But I couldn't figure out how because of how torn up you seemed."

Twilight shrugged. "I'm not blaming you, Fluttershy."

The young pegasus made a face. "But you are blaming Spike!"

"And how is it not his fault, exactly?" Twilight demanded. "He's the one who decided to leave, and he's the one who decided not to see any of us until now. The others have a right to know that."

Fluttershy bit her lip, a guilty expression on her face.

"How did you find out?" she asked out of morbid curiosity.

"You mean besides the fact that, one day out of the blue, you happened to decide to come in and do a little research on dragon mating patterns?" Twilight asked sarcastically. "Or besides the fact that your little assistant has been chatting away about your new house guest to all her friends?"

Fluttershy frowned at the floor. She had asked Meadlowlark to keep Spike's presence a secret from Fluttershy's friends, but apparently that had not included her own friends. She would need to have a word with her later.

"I told you anyway, all I needed to do was cast a finding spell to figure out where he was," Twilight said, sounding tired and bedraggled. "That told me all I needed to know."

A sinking feeling ran down Fluttershy's spine. Just how much had Twilight seen?

"Twilight..." she breathed. "I..."

"What you and Spike do together is your business, Fluttershy," Twilight said, turning her back to the mare. "He doesn't belong to me. He's free to make his own choices. And he's clearly made his."

There was an unmistakable cracking in her voice that told Fluttershy that she was fighting off tears. Fluttershy was feeling tears of her own welling up.

How could she have been so foolish?

"So...go ahead," Twilight said, her voice cracking even more. "Go...do whatever you want together. I...I don't care. It...it's none of my concern. He-"

Twilight's stammering came to a halt as Fluttershy's forelegs came around her and she felt herself wrapped in a tight embrace.

"Stop it, please!" Fluttershy begged, eyes full of tears. "Oh Twilight...why didn't you tell me!?"

Twilight grimaced as Fluttershy hugged her warmly, trying to pull away. "Tell you what? There's nothing to tell!"

Fluttershy shook her head and just continued to hold the alicorn as tightly as she could. How could she have misread the situation so drastically? Twilight didn't resent Spike for leaving! Well, maybe she did, but that wasn't all there was to it. There may have been resentment there, but she was also feeling something much, much more.

"Don't feel like you have to keep this all bundled inside like this, Twilight," she said sweetly as the alicorn continued resisting her embrace. "We're your friends! We're here to help you through these sorts of things! Why would you hide something like this from us!?"

"Fluttershy, I told you!" Twilight grunted as she began flapping her wings as she continued to try to tug herself free. "It doesn't...bother me...at all!"

"Then why are you crying, Twilight!?" Fluttershy demanded, holding her by the shoulders as she stared into her eyes. "Look at yourself! I've never seen you this upset! Oh, Twilight, how could you let me make such a fool of myself like this!?"

Twilight stopped fighting as she looked into Fluttershy's eyes. She grimaced and looked away, letting the tears flow freely.

"Alright..." she grunted angrily through her tears. "Fine. So I still have feelings for the little reptile! So what?"

Fluttershy shook her head sadly. "So...you should talk to him about it."

She shook her head. "I can't, Fluttershy. You don't understand...I'm the one who forced him leave!"

Fluttershy's mouth hung open. "What?"

Twilight shook her head, the tears flowing freely now. "He...he wanted to be with me, and...and...I don't know! I got scared, alright? I made up some excuse about wanting to preserve my image as a princess, but the truth is...I was just scared! I didn't want our relationship to change like that! We've been friends for so long, and I...and I..."

Twilight began crying in earnest and she buried her head in Fluttershy's mane. The yellow mare began stroking her back sympathetically, her own eyes still red.

"It's alright, Twilight," she cooed softly. "It'll be alright."

Twilight shook as she embraced the yellow pegasus.

"No it won't..." she groaned, her voice muffled. "I've already ruined everything. Spike hates me now! He left Ponyville because of what I did. And now you two are shacking up, and you both just look so happy together and...I just ruined any chance I ever had with him!"

With every word, Fluttershy felt her guilt compounding. What had she been thinking? How could she have ever thought that Twilight would be okay with her and Spike? There was a reason she had felt so concerned by hesitance and shame in making such a decision! This was an absolute nightmare - it was like the last time she had decided to put her hoof down, only worse! She had become the worse kind of friend any-pony could ever have!

What in Equestria had she done?

"So you've been living with Fluttershy for the last three days?" Rainbow Dash asked, slowly putting the pieces together.

All the other ponies had taken their seats in the throne room. Spike was sitting at the foot of Twilight's throne. His own small one seemed to have been moved since he'd left, but he didn't feel like it was right for him to sit in Twilight's throne.

"Yeah," he responded sheepishly. "I spent the first day recovering from my fever, but by the second day I was healthy enough to try out flying. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner. I was kinda freaked out by the fact that I suddenly had a pair of wings I'd never had before, but the truth is, I was just too scared to face you all again after I'd been gone for so long."

"That's ridiculous, Spikey!" Rarity objected. "Why would you ever have anything to fear from us?"

"No, I get it," Applejack interjected. "I felt just the same way after I went to the Canterlot Rodeo. I couldn't even bring myself to face y'all with how I was feeling."

"You even ran off to the same place as Spike!" Pinkie Pie pointed out. "Appleloosa! Must be something about that place where every-pony goes to escape their problems!"

Spike shrugged. "Except I didn't come back from Appleloosa. I went on to Las Pegasus, then to the Smokey Mountain and finally ended up in White Tail Woods."

Applejack smiled wanly. "Only reason I came back from Appleloosa is cause y'all came and got me."

Rainbow Dash smacked her forehead. "Argh! I knew we should have gone out to Appleloosa to kick some sense into him!"

Pinkie Pie, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, wrapped her forelegs around the blue pegasus. "Awww, and here you said you weren't even worried about him, Rainbow Dash."

"I wasn't!" Rainbow blared a little too quickly. "I knew he'd be fine! I was just worried about how you all would manage without him!"

"Just admit that you missed him, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity laughed. "We all did! See?"

"I wasn't worried!" Rainbow protested, completely red-faced.

Spike felt the tension leaving his body. It was such a relief that at least his friends forgave him for being such a scaredy-dragon. And now that he was back in Ponyville, the memories of his loneliness began to melt away. His friends had never doubted him, they were just sad to see him go. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Of course, that still left Twilight and Fluttershy to consider.

"So, what's the deal with you and Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked, ever the tactless one.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity jeered before Spike could even answer. "That's none of our business!"

"Not like it ain't obvious to the rest of us," Applejack shrugged, helplessly.

"What's not obvious?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Some of us, anyway."

"What?" Pinkie Pie asked sweetly. "What am I missing?"

Spike's blush only deepened.

"What about Fluttershy?" Rarity asked, with obvious concern in her voice.

"What about her?" Applejack asked.

"Well, the two of them have been talking for an awfully long time," Rarity pointed out. "What do you suppose they could be discussing?"

"I wonder," Rainbow Dash asked, slyly throwing a glance in the resident dragon's direction. "Spike, is there something you're not telling us?"

Spike swallowed hard. "Uhh...well, I..."

Before he could finish, the door to the rear antechamber swung open, and both Twilight and Fluttershy slowly came back in. Both of them had eyes reddened from tears, and were met with a hail of concerned questions as two of them entered the throne room.

"It's fine every-pony," Twilight assured her friends as she took her seat. "Sorry to worry you all."

Fluttershy approached Spike, who had sprung to his feet upon their entrance and backed away from Twilight's throne until he was at the center of the room.

"Is everything alright?" he asked her as she faced him, a look of purest sympathy on his face.

It broke her heart to see him so concerned about her. She didn't feel like she deserved such sympathy. Maybe it was her own selfish heart that longed to hear his voice whispering in her ear once again, but now that voice only evoked feelings of shame and remorse in the young pegasus' heart. Such foalish dreams of romance and passion had carried her heart away on the polished scales of a brilliant young dragon, and she had cherished every minute of it. But now the reality of her actions weighed down on her like a cage of shame that she would never be free of so long as she continued to hold onto him. She had no idea how long she would be tormented by dreams of the life they might have had together and what it could have been. But so long as the pain of her friend was the price for such a life, then it would never be worth it in the end, no matter how sweet that life may have been.

"Spike..." she said in a bittersweet voice. "We need to talk."

Author's Note

Go ahead, hate me. This chapter took a lot out of me, and it ended up being much, much longer than the last one because of how things turned out. The tragedy of a series of fics such as this is that the deeper and more involved each chapter is, the harder and more painful it is when they must inevitably come to a close. Such a series of tragedies will never satisfy me, however, so in order to truly make this a set of romances that fans of each Spike pairing can enjoy, I have come to another decision about this fic.

Rather than make a single ending chapter about Spike and Twilight, I will instead end with a "Choose Your Own Ending," in which six different shorter epilogues will be released all at once some time after the 6th chapter is released. Unlike the other chapters, these epilogues will exist separately and independently from one another, and it will be up to each individual reader to decide which pairing will ultimately prevail in the end.

My reasons for doing this are two-fold. Firstly, as mentioned above, I feel as though because of the continuous nature of this story, having each pairing ending in a breakup is completely unsatisfying for fans of any pairing, and having only one final pairing at the end doesn't seem fair to the others. But secondly, despite my determination to make this primarily a Spike x Twilight fic (a decision I reached while writing the first chapter), I found that the more I wrote this chapter, the more I fell in love with the idea of Spike and Fluttershy as well! And I can imagine something similar happening with subsequent chapters as well (although don't count on them being quite as long as this one, as Spike had to go through some major developments on his own here). To write each of these chapters, I'll need to get into Spike's head and see each mare through his eyes and envision just what aspects of each of their characters that he'll be drawn to, and there's no way that won't affect my feelings on them as well.

So there you have it. This chapter was exhausting to write, and the next one promises to be quite a hurdle as well, so I can't say how long it'll be before I can get to it. But I promise it'll be fun. Now that Spike's back in Ponyville, he still needs to learn how to get by on his own. He can't stay with Fluttershy for the same reason he can't stay with Twilight, and he has these wings now that he doesn't know what to do with, so naturally he needs to find a skilled flier to show him the ropes.

I hope integrating Spike's wings as a story point wasn't too awkward. The scene with the old dragon felt a little rushed, as did much of Spike's journey but the chapter was already getting so long, I didn't feel like I could afford to put any more detail in, and those details really aren't what this fic was about. Sorry again for so many walls of text, especially during Fluttershy's research in the library (for those of you who noticed, yes, the five stages of dragon evolution were ripped directly from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, but it suited my purposes, so that's what I used). Some of it is just my style of writing, and if you pick up a book in the library, many of them will have walls of text too. It's just going to depend on the subject matter. I can probably say that the next few chapters, particularly Pinkie Pie's, may be a little bit less heavy-handed at least. But knowing me, I may very well find something to drone on about, and for that, I apologize.

Thank you all for reading in spite of this fic's obvious flaws.

Cover art by cr-r, if you happen to know the artist's website, please message the author so it can be linked.

A Dash of Color

My Little Pony Fan Fiction

Spike Through The Heart

By Kraven Ergeist

A/N: Since the comparison to a dating sim has been established, I now cannot help but envision Rainbow Dash as the tsundere character, though she also has many aspects of the genki girl as well. Will try to add a few more light-hearted moments to this chapter to counter-balance how heavy that last chapter was. Also, the italics at the start of this chapter are intended to be flash-forwards and not flash-backs, just in case that wasn't clear.

Chapter Three: A Dash of Color

Rainbow Dash stared blankly at the pale violet dragon hovering in front of her, interrupting what had otherwise been a rather delightful midday nap on her favorite sleeping cloud.

"No," she said bluntly, before curling back up into a ball.

Spike, the erstwhile dragon, having recently grown a pair of wings, was struggling to stay aloft, barely managing to stay at eye-level with Rainbow Dash.

"Aww, come on!" he pleaded with her. "Please!?"

The blue pegasus simply lifted a hoof, waving him off.

"Ask me again some other time, Spike," she said dismissively. "I'm busy right now."

"You're not doing anything!" Spike protested, before wavering precariously in the air. "You're just napping!"

"In my book, that counts as busy," she said, grumpily. "Now go bother some-pony else, would you?"

It had been a few weeks since Spike's return to Ponyville after spending a year trying to make a life for himself all across Equestria. After a single heated night of passion, he and Twilight Sparkle had parted ways under uncertain terms. His experience with Twilight had made him realize how little control he had over his own life. He hadn't really known what he was looking for, all he knew is that he didn't want to be forever known as Twilight's assistant. He had tried various odd jobs everywhere from Appleloosa to Applewood, had even gone in search of other dragons. There he had encountered an ancient dragon who had somehow unlocked the next stage of his evolution with some draconic mumbo-jumbo. This had eventually resulted in a pair of purple and green wings on Spike's back.

Unfortunately, the growth spurt had come with a number of side effects, including nightmares and sleep-walking, causing him to get lost in the woods one night. He would have likely died of exposure if Fluttershy had not found him by some miracle and brought him back to Ponyville where he had recuperated and familiarized himself with his new wings. He had spent three days resting at Fluttershy's place, and what had started as an innocent stay-over had blossomed into so much more. But it seemed as though it had not been meant to be - one word from Twilight, it seemed, and Fluttershy had called off all the plans she and Spike had made, and he found himself once again without a home.

"Ask me some other time, Spike," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she flew up towards her cloud home.

"That's what you said last time I asked!" the dragon said, flapping his wings desperately to stay aloft.

"Yeah, and it still applies," Rainbow said brusquely. "Now beat it. I've got a date with a Daring Do book and a bag of hay chips."

"But Rainbow Dash!" Spike cried out, before a gust of wind blew him off-kilter, and he went tumbling to the ground. "Whoa!"

It was hard not to feel resentful of Twilight even after all this time, and that she had come between him and Fluttershy had only made him less inclined to forgive her. Not wanting to leave Ponyville to once again be at the mercy of the big wide world out there, and not knowing what else to do, he did the only thing he knew how to do having grown up with Twilight Sparkle - he wrote a letter to Princess Celestia.

Before nightfall on the fourth day after returning to Ponyville, he had received her response, along with a small bag of bits. The letter had simply pleaded for him to give Princess Twilight some time and to be patient with her, and that hopefully a small allowance every week would be enough to keep him afloat while he figured things out. She had also made arrangements for him to stay in a small studio apartment in the heart of Ponyville, since living with Twilight was no longer an option.

Spike was relieved. He thought he would have to go begging one of his other friends to find living arrangements. While he was certain that any one of them would have had no problems taking him in for a little while at least, he was resistant to the idea of leaning on his friends so much for support. Leaning on the ruler of Equestria, however, was an endeavor that involved far less guilt. It may have had something to do with her being his caretaker while he was still a hatching, but as involved as Princess Celestia was with Twilight Sparkle, he still felt as though he could trust her not to be too candid with Twilight about his situation.

"Not now, Spike," Rainbow Dash said in agitation as she flew home with Spike trailing after her on foot. "I'm busy!"

"Oh, come on Rainbow Dash!" he called after her as he ran, craning his neck back to keep her in his sight. "I promise I won't be a bother!"

"You're already being a bother!" she retorted, before put on an extra boost of speed and left him in the dust.

"Wait!" he called out, before running headlong into a merchant's cart and falling over. "Oof!"

Spike had spent the next few days getting settling into his new apartment. It was small compared to the Crystal Library or even Fluttershy's house, but the room itself was larger than anything that had ever belonged only to him, so he had room to spare. It was part of a simple apartment complex with tiered outdoor entrances to each unit. The door opened to a kitchenette with a small table and two chairs, and to the left, the living area boasted a couch on the left side and a single bed in the back right corner. It was sparse and cozy, and it suited Spike just fine.

He had gone back to the Crystal Library to see about fetching his old belongings, and had found his things packed into several neat little boxes in the main hall, waiting for him as if whoever packed them had known that he had been coming, though Twilight herself was nowhere to be found. He had quietly ferried them to his new place, and unpacked his things into the small apartment complex. It was all there - everything from his bed sheets to his comic books, posters and action figures. He had taken very little with him when he'd left Ponyville, and even now he laughed at the prospect of taking his comic books or his toys with him on that dangerous trek across the wilderness. He supposed he ought to be grateful that Twilight had not seen fit to throw it all away.

He spent the next few days after that reading through the year's worth of back-issue comic books and other material he had missed out on - there had been several Daring Do books to catch up on - and before he knew it, he had blown through his entire week's allowance. He kept himself locked inside his apartment most of the time, reading his comic books, and generally being depressed. Several of his friends came by to check on him. Pinkie Pie in particular had adamantly thrown him a welcome back party, which he begrudgingly attended. Fluttershy and Twilight had both been absent.

Another week had gone by, and another allowance arrived for Spike in the mail, which he promptly spent on junk food. He had unopened letters piling up inside his door that he just couldn't bring himself to read. Every so often, he would receive a knock at his door, and find one of his friends outside, wondering if he wanted to join them for some activity or another. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, even Rarity had each personally come to check on him. He would smile nonchalantly and make up some excuse about how busy or tired he was, and they would try not to let their disappointment show.

At first, he hadn't even noticed that, aside from Twilight and Fluttershy, who he had not expected to see, Rainbow Dash was the only pony who had not yet bothered to come visit him.

One group of visitors that he had not expected to grace his doorstep, however, were the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Spike!" Apple Bloom had said as the other two stood to either side of her. "We heard you were back in town! We were gonna go skipping stones by the pond! Wanna come with us?"

All three of smiled as widely as they could and made that adorable squeaking noise that had become their trademark.

Spike smiled sadly at the three of them. They had each long since discovered their cutie marks, but that had not done anything to dampen their friendship with each other over the years. The three of them were still inseparable, though they had each grown significantly in the past few years, and the difference was even more starkly contrasted with Spike not having seen them for all of the last year. They were each out of school and had been hard at work putting their newly founded talents to good use all across Ponyville.

All this, Spike knew from hearsay and offhand comments from his other friends. But to see them each so grown yet still so carefree and joyful...

"You guys..." he muttered, trying not to cry as he smiled.

He was overwhelmed with too many conflicting emotions at once. He didn't feel the slightest inclination to leave his small abode. But every sad little face he had shut his door upon had one-by-one been whittling away at his heart. Now these three had to come and give him such hopeful smiles like this? Surely that was breaking some kind of rule!

"Alright..." he said, finally admitting defeat, letting the three of them drag him from his hermit hole.

On some level, he was envious of the love of life these three young mares shared. They had succeeded at doing what he had so miserably failed at - trying their hoof at everything in sight, and eventually finding something that stuck. Now that they had, they had never been happier, and it showed in everything they did. They had even taken time out of their busy schedule to spend some of it with a washed up recluse of a dragon.

"So what made you decide to come back to Ponyville?" Scootaloo asked as she expertly sent a flat stone bouncing across the surface of the small pond by Sweet Apple Acres.

Spike was laying on his stomach as he watched Scootaloo and Apple Bloom take turns skimming stones. Sweetie Bell was lounging with her back against Spike's flank, fiddling away with some knitting needles. The three young mares had been chatting away about this and that, while Spike had been mostly listening in silence and enjoying the afternoon sun, when the conversation had turned towards himself.

"It wasn't really a decision," he admitted truthfully. "I just...didn't have anywhere else to go."

Apple Bloom wrinkled her nose as she sent another stone skipping across the water. "Didn't you miss us?"

"Of course I did," he said, shaking his head. "I missed every one of you."

Sweetie Bell looked up from her knitting. "Then why did you leave?"

Spike sighed. This circle of logic had played out in his head over and over again, he was frankly getting tired of explaining it.

"Well..." he said, eyeing the clouds, idly. "Have you ever felt like you were completely over-shadowed by another pony? Like everything you did would always be outdone by what they did, and there was nothing you could do to escape it and grow beyond what you were?"

All three Crusaders let out a collective sigh.

"Umm, hello?" Scootaloo waved. "Have you even met us?"

"Each of us either has a big sister or a mentor who's also an element of harmony!" Sweetie Bell griped.

"Trust us," Apple Bloom groaned. "We know what that's like."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Right. Stupid question."

"Well hey," Sweetie Bell smiled. "If that's why you left, then that's something we have in common, Spike. Don't feel bad."

He shrugged and lowered his head to rest his chin on his arms.

"I guess..." he muttered.

Scootaloo flopped herself across Spike's back and began inspecting his wings. "So how'd you get these wings?"

Spike grunted in discomfort. Despite being around the same age as the three young mares, he was significantly bigger than they were, which apparently gave them license to treat him the way school fillies did their summer camp counselors by climbing all over him.

"Umph," Spike adjusted his position so he wasn't being completely crushed. "I have no idea. There's a book that talks about dragon evolution and rituals and stuff like that, so from the looks of it, something I did over the course my trip must have triggered some natural growth mechanism in my blood or something like that. One day, I just woke up, and there they were."

He didn't mention the old dragon he had encountered. He didn't want to have to recount those particular events to the young mares.

"So, can you fly?" Apple Bloom asked as she sat down in front of him.

"Not very well," he admitted. "I can get off the ground, but that's about it."

"Lucky," Scootaloo pouted. "At least you have wings that work."

"Don't be so jealous, Scootaloo," Sweetie Bell chastised. "Spike didn't ask for his wings."

"That's just the thing though!" Scootaloo complained. "He didn't have to do anything to earn his wings! He just got them one day!"

"Umm...I did kind of go on a pilgrimage of sorts..." Spike pointed out.

"That doesn't make it his fault," Apple Bloom said, completely ignoring Spike. "You shouldn't blame him for something he can't control."

"It doesn't make him any less lucky, though!" Scootaloo said, sitting up on Spike's back, causing him to grunt in pain.

"Oof," he exhaled, wincing as he looked at her, pitifully. "Scootaloo, could you...?"

Scootaloo grabbed him by the frills on the side of his head and looked him in the eyes.

"You don't even know how lucky you have it, Spike!" she said, with a touch of sadness in her voice. "You've got all this potential, and you're just sitting around wasting it!"

Spike took a breath, his eyes unblinking saucers. That hit a little too close to home.

"Hey," Sweetie Bell spoke up defensively. "Lay off the guy, will you?"

"Hmph," Scootaloo pouted, flopping back down on Spike's back. "If I had wings like yours, I'd go training with Rainbow Dash every chance I had!"

"You already do that!" Apple Bloom snorted.

As the young mares bickered, Spike chewed his lip as he idly flicked a few pebbles around with his claws. Scootaloo was right. He was wasting his potential. He had gone off on his own to try to find something he could be proud of. Fluttershy had told him that even if he could find nothing else, his wings at least were something he could be proud of now. But ever since he'd left Fluttershy, he hadn't used them once.

And what was he doing now? Eating junk food, reading comic books and avoiding his friends. What was he doing with his life?

"Whoa!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell both cried as Spike stood up, causing the two ponies to topple over.

"Sorry girls," Spike winced apologetically. "But I have to go."

The three young mares watched as Spike ran off in the direction of Ponyville.

"What was that all about?" Sweetie Bell asked, brushing herself off.

Rainbow Dash tugged at the seam of her Wonderbolts uniform. It fit rather snugly and was a little uncomfortable, but it was aerodynamic, and looked pretty good on her if she did say so herself (which she did - often). Besides, the pride of the Wonderbolts was reflected in this uniform, and so she wore it proudly, no matter how uncomfortable it was.

After admiring her reflection in the locker room mirror (an activity she would never admit to doing, especially to Rarity), she strutted out onto the tarmac. Though the term "strut" did not quite do the action justice - when Rainbow Dash walked out in full Wonderbolts regalia, she did not merely strut; she swaggered! Every movement she made spoke of confidence and pride. She was the bee's knees in this suit, and she knew it. And just as importantly, every-pony else did too.

Cadets would pause their exercises to admire her (much to their drill sergeants chagrin), officers walking by smiled and saluted her (she saluted back of course, but still!) and the heads of every colt and young stallion on the circuit track turned to watch her walk past. Some of them were undoubtedly checking out the way her flank fit in the skintight uniform, but who could blame them? She looked damn fine in this thing, and there was nothing wrong whatsoever with wandering eyes in Rainbow Dash's book, so long as they also respected her skills.

When Spitfire had come to Rainbow Dash personally, requesting that she come and conduct one of the Wonderbolts flight training courses, Rainbow Dash had leaped at the chance! She was already in the Wonderbolts' Reserves, and was on friendly terms with all the top ranking officers! What better way to cement her standing with the Wonderbolts than to prove that she could pass on what she knew to fresh recruits? This was her big chance to showcase her skills, not just as a flier, but as an officer capable of cooperation and patience!

Which is why she was so discouraged when she saw a familiar purple and green dragon with a backpack panting and wheezing out on the tarmac on the way to her first training course. He had been badgering her all week, and now it seemed that he had followed her all the way to the Wonderbolt Academy as well!

"Spike!?" she hollered, belligerently. "What are you doing here!?"

Spike took another few moments to catch his breath - it had been a long and grueling trip for him to make it all the way to Cloudsdale and climb up the mountain plateau upon which the Wonderbolt Academy lay. He had tried flying part of the way, but had quickly tired after more than a few minutes.

"So I take it..." he gasped, before taking a breath, "This is why you're so busy lately?"

Rainbow Dash looked around and rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah! I'm a Wonderbolts Reserve officer, and I've been asked to be a flight instructor for the new recruits this year. I was about to go see my trainees."

Spike smiled widely. "That's perfect! Let me tag along!"

Rainbow Dash's nostrils flared at that.

"Oh, no you don't, Spike!" she interrupted him, crossing her front hooves as she hovered in the air. "The Wonderbolts are the best of the best! The cream of the crop! Only the best fliers in Equestria get asked to join."

"I'm not asking to join, Rainbow Dash," Spike said, clenching his claws into fists. "I'm just asking to learn from you. And since you're apparently too busy to give me one-on-one lessons, maybe sitting in on your Wonderbolts training sessions will help me become a better flier."

Rainbow Dash looked unimpressed. "You wouldn't last a day in Wonderbolt training, Spike. No offense, but you're just too green."

"What does my color have to do with anything?" Spike demanded.

Rainbow smacked her forehead. "Ay! It means you're too new to flying, Spike! You've only been in the air for, what, a week or two? It takes years to even qualify to be a cadet!"

"I don't need you to make me into Wonderbolt material, Rainbow Dash," Spike pointed out. "I just need to get proficient. And you're the best flier I know!"

She looked up at him - she remembered when she and all of her other friends user to tower over the young dragon, and now he looked down at them all - and released a breath.

"Look, I'm sorry Spike," Rainbow Dash sighed. "I appreciate that you need a teacher and everything, but I just don't have the time right now. I need to focus my attention on training my cadets, not up-start dragons who just got their wings."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you were napping the other day?"

Her face reddened as she looked away. "Th-that's just how I recuperate from a hard day's work!"

Spike wrinkled his nose, unconvinced. "Rainbow Dash, I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice..."

Rainbow Dash stiffened defensively as he reached into his backpack and withdrew a thin, loose-leaf comic book inside a clear plastic veneer. As soon as she laid eyes on it, her eyes widened to saucers, her pupils dilating to narrow points.

"What the...?" she uttered, before shaking her head in disbelief. "No...way..."

Spike smiled, knowingly. "Ahh...so you recognize this, do you?"

Rainbow Dash was nearly brought to her knees. "A limited edition autographed copy of the Daring Do graphic novel adaptation!?"

He waved the comic book in front of her face. "In near mint condition."

She was practically salivating. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me! How in Equestria did you get your claws on something like that!?"

"The stallion who runs the comic book store in Ponyville is a friend of mine, and he owed me a favor," Spike smirked. "So what do you say? Would this little item make it worth your while to teach me what you know about flying?"

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Oh man, for that comic, I'll even make the time to give you one-on-one lessons!"

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Well, I mean, no offense Spike," Rainbow Dash said wanly. "But you training next to the Wonderbolt recruits would really slow them all down. Besides, when you're as new to flying as you are, you need a really good instructor to spend a lot of hooves-on time with you to make sure you don't fall out of the sky."

Spike winced, remembering his first lesson with Fluttershy. "I think I can get on board with that. So, do we have a deal?"

She smirked. "You give me that comic, and I teach you how to fly like a pro?"

He nodded. "I don't even need you to make me into a pro. Just good enough that I won't need any-pony's help anymore."

Rainbow nodded. She didn't tell him that she had already been planning to help him out after her cadets had passed basic training, but she had wanted to devote her full concentration to training her cadets first. But this was a near mint condition autographed copy of the Daring Do graphic novel! She couldn't turn that down! So it was no big deal to take time out of her busy schedule to do something she had already planned to do when she had more free time. She could multitask.

"Deal!"

They shook claw and hoof, and Spike handed her the comic, which she accepted, grinning like a school filly as she glowered over it.

"Oh, I know just where this little beauty is going..." she giggled to herself.

Then she blushed and cleared her throat.

"So, I'm gonna be staying at the Academy for the next three weeks or so while I teach here," she said, chewing on her tongue as she thought. "It's a little out of my way to fly all the way back to Ponyville during my downtime, so..."

Spike nodded eagerly. "I don't mind flying out here to meet you. It'll be good practice for me, and I have no other obligations during the day."

She smiled. "Good. Trainees disperse around seventeen-hundred hours each day, so why don't you stop by around then?"

He blinked, confused. "Seventeen hundred hours?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Sorry, military time. Means five PM."

Spike laughed. "Then why not just say five PM?"

She smirked back at him, hooves on her hips. "Cause standard timekeeping just isn't good enough for the Wonderbolts."

Spike laughed even harder. He was glad he had come out here. Sitting on his keister all day reading comic books and eating junk food wasn't doing him any good. He really needed to be out and doing something. And his new-found wings were in dire need of practice, and he wasn't feeling comfortable enough around Fluttershy at this point to ask her for any more help. Besides, that wasn't really her forte, and Rainbow Dash was not only the better flier - probably the best in Equestria - but she practically lived for flying. There was a lot Spike could learn from her, and he was determined to make his time count.

"So, swing back here around five then?" he asked nonchalantly.

Rainbow Dash saluted casually. "Yep! See ya then, Spike!"

He nodded and turned to go. It was mid-morning, and he had an entire day to kill before he got started. Maybe he'd go for a walk around Rainbow Falls while he was out here.

"Oh yeah, and, uh, Rainbow Dash," he called out when he realized that he had overlooked something. "Congratulations on being made into an official Wonderbolts flight instructor. The uniform really suits you."

The blue pegasus smiled widely at that. She knew he was deliberately buttering her up, but she didn't care - she loved getting praise like that, and could never get enough of it sometimes.

"Thanks!" she winked. "I'll be wearing it all throughout training, so get used to seeing it on me."

She turned and walked away, and Spike could swear that she was deliberately swaying her flank back and forth as she did. Either she got monumentally cocky while wearing it and liked to show off to every-pony, or she was purposefully teasing him. He doubted that it was aimed specifically at him though, so he tried to put it out of his mind.

Still...she did look damn good in that getup.

Spike mentally chastised himself. That wasn't what he was here for. The last two times he had thought that way about a friend, he had ended up really messing things up with them. And besides, there was probably already an enlisted officer that Rainbow had her eye on or something. In any case, he doubted she'd ever be looking at him like that.

Peering down the sheer cliff side, he steeled himself as he began to the trek down the side of the mountain, pondering what to do for the rest of the day.

One thing that Spike had not anticipated during flight training was wing-ups.

Of course, he had seen Rainbow Dash and many other pegasi doing them before, but it had never clicked in his mind that there was a direct correlation between the wing strength obtained this way and one's flying ability, nor had it occurred to him since acquiring his wings that doing wing-ups would be a good idea.

Though it was probably better that he find out this way, because if he had tried it out on his own, he would have most likely quit before he got started.

"Twenty-seven!" Rainbow Dash called out as she matched his pace, laying down eye-to-eye with him as they both pushed their bodies off the ground with their wings. "Twenty-eight! Twenty-nine!"

Spike grunted as his wings buckled under the duress. Being a dragon, his wings were shaped differently than a pegasus, more like a second pair of arms than the wings of a bird. So rather than pushing his wingtips to the earth, he instead rested on the bony knuckle-like appendages at his wing's front-most point. It felt like cheating, but Rainbow Dash assured him that he would be getting a good workout. And his wings had received such little exercise since they had grown in that they tired almost immediately.

"Come on, Spike!" she hollered as he began to slow down. "Don't quit now! I wanna see you hit fifty before we break!"

Spike's wings were shaking as sweat dripped his face. "Rrrrrrgh...I'm...trying!"

"Less talk, more action!" Rainbow Dash shouted vindictively as Spike continued to power through. "Come on! Thirty-five! Thirty-six!"

By the time he got to fifty, he practically fell on his face, gasping for breath, his wings hanging limply at his sides.

"Alright, nice work!" Rainbow Dash shouted, before jumping to her feet. "Time for some laps around the track."

Spike gave her a wounded look. "What!?"

Rainbow Dash was running in place right next to his prone form.

"Come on, Spike!" she hollered. "Flying takes a lot of energy. We gotta build up your stamina. And since you're still new to flying, the best way to do that is by running."

Spike begrudgingly got to his feet as Rainbow Dash took off down the track. Furling his wings up with a wince and dropping down on all fours, Spike barreled after her, huffing and puffing as his muscles already burned in protest.

"You're the one who signed up for this, Spike!" Rainbow Dash shouted back at him as she pulled away from him. "Now let's go! Hustle up!"

Spike lagged behind Rainbow Dash all the way around the tarmac. All around then, Wonderbolt fliers touched down and took off into the sky, while others ran laps of their own. Since he'd spent some time out in the wild, Spike had taken to running on all fours whenever the need for speed arose, such as when he would hunt for food. With his tail and neck growing longer every year, he was able to keep his balance a lot better this way, but compared to a skilled athlete like Rainbow Dash, even his tried and true wilderness experience was proving lacking in comparison.

After they had made four circuits around the track, he felt a wave of relief come over him as he saw Rainbow Dash slow to a halt, and he once again collapsed in a heap on the ground.

"Ugh..." he gasped, completely out of breath. "Finally...made it..."

Rainbow Dash was stretching out her legs. "Yep. That was a full mile Spike. Good job."

She gave her wings a stretch, before laying back down on her front.

"Alright," she smiled with a hint of sadism in her voice. "Now that we've given our wings a chance to rest, time for more wing-ups!"

The dragon looked up at Rainbow Dash in utter disbelief as she began lifting her body up with her wingtips once again.

Spike seriously wanted to weep.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

After they had finished their work-out, she had taken him through a gauntlet of wing-formation drills. Spike had known a few of them, probably from his lessons with Fluttershy, but he still had to be taught most of the fundamental wing positions. It was grueling work, and she was just coming off of spending the majority of the day training her cadets, but at least they knew the basics! Spike didn't even know how to hold the right posture for takeoff and landing!

By the time they were done an hour later, Spike had to practically be dragged off of the tarmac. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh at the unfortunate young dragon, but in all truth, she honestly hadn't expected him to last as long as he did.

Still, he would be sore in the morning.

"Still want me as your flight trainer?" she asked, tauntingly as he followed her towards the compound, limping as he did.

"We didn't do any actual flying..." he complained wearily, though there was absolutely no fire left in his voice.

"Of course not," Rainbow Dash said, like it was the most obvious thing. "You're getting an accelerated course, but even so, no beginner flight student starts out in the air. These first few sessions are all about developing your wing power and building your technique. You'll get into the air soon enough, though, so don't worry."

She smirked at him as he hobbled alongside of her.

"Although I'll understand if you want to quit."

Spike shook his head. "Nuh-uh! No way! I spent a whole year getting my tail-end handed to me out there, and these wings are all I have to show for it. So by Celestia, I'm gonna use them. Now what's next?"

Rainbow Dash smiled. She was glad to see he was taking this seriously. Many new fliers lost interest after a single day of training, but she had to admit, the dragon had real gusto. She had been worried when he'd first come to her that he was just pursuing a lark. She had heard off hand that he had been secluding himself in an apartment in Ponyville, so she was proud to be the one who could help motivate him to get out and do more.

Even if that meant less time for her to do other things.

"That's the spirit," she clapped him on the back, nearly causing him to fall over. "But we're done for today! I better see you tomorrow though, same time, same place."

Spike nodded feebly, as he gazed out towards the direction of Ponyville. He was not looking forward to the trip home.

Rainbow Dash recognized that face he was making.

"Never fly drunk or tired, Spike," she instructed tersely. "Climb down to the train station and take the train back to Ponyville."

He made a face of annoyance. "I can make it on my own."

"Maybe," she allowed, dryly. "But I'd rather you not risk getting yourself killed just to prove how manly you are."

Spike's face colored. "I'm not trying to prove anything like that..."

Rainbow nodded. "All the same, it'd be one less thing for me to have to worry about if you weren't out there risking your neck again."

Spike raised an eyebrow at that, and she quickly backpedaled.

"Look, don't get the wrong idea or anything," she looked away. "I'd just as soon not have every-pony else yelling at me cause I let you crash after your first day of flight training."

Spike looked away, pursing his lips. He knew she was right, but train tickets weren't cheap and he was running out of bits for the week.

"Spike," Rainbow Dash pressed, her tone growing more serious. "I mean it."

"Alright, alright," he finally gave in. The blue pegasus could be quite obstinate when she...well, all the time, really.

She nodded approvingly. "Good. Trust me, you'll thank me later. You may need to take the train back in tomorrow if your wings are still sore. Don't worry - soon you'll be flying everywhere and the need to take trains will be a thing of the past!"

Spike nodded. "I hope so."

Rainbow nodded back. "I know so! Don't worry - we'll make a true flier out of you yet! So, same time tomorrow?"

He smiled. "Yep."

And with that, he began the march down the mountain towards the train station.

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh as she strode towards the mess hall. It had been a long day, and she was ready to crash in her bunk. She hated sleeping in the unfamiliar sleeping quarters, even if it was the Wonderbolt Academy - she much preferred sleeping amongst the clouds. Still, she was hungry, and if she hurried, she knew she just might catch the senior officers on their way out.

Which she ultimately did, just before she entered the building.

"Hey there, Rainbow Dash," came the cocksure voice of Captain Spitfire, with her executive officer Fleetfoot at her side, both wearing their officer's uniforms as they stepped out the door of the dining hall. "How are the cadets coming along?"

Rainbow straightened her back reflexively and smiled, thinking back to how the day had gone. "It was fantastic! I couldn't ask for a better group of recruits to train! They've all got so much drive, it's hard to narrow down which of them are the best. It's gonna be tough dividing them into teams tomorrow."

Spitfire nodded, smiling contently. "I have every confidence in you, Rainbow Dash. You'll figure it out when the time comes."

Rainbow Dash beamed at the praise. "Hehehe...thanks!"

Fleetfoot took a step forward. "So, we missed you at supper. The Captain and I were hoping to see you there, maybe swap some stories and whatnot."

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Oh...uh, well, I'm...kind of helping a friend learn how to fly after I finish my official training courses."

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. "This friend got a name?"

"Spike," she said simply. "My dragon friend, from Ponyville. He's the one who saved the Equestria Games during the ice archery mishap a few years back."

Fleetfoot and Spitfire exchanged a look, before shrugging.

"Hmmm...we normally don't allow the facilities to be used by any-pony other than Wonderbolts and Wonderbolt trainees, but I guess as long as it's not interfering with your duties, there's no harm," Spitfire allowed. "Just make sure you're giving your cadets the appropriate amount of attention."

Rainbow Dash saluted. "You can count on me, Captain!"

The two officers nodded and began walking past her, in a clear sign of dismissal.

"Wait," Rainbow called out to them. "Maybe we could still, you know, swap stories and all that stuff tonight?"

The two Wonderbolts paused their step and exchanged a troubled look.

"Sorry, Rainbow Dash," Fleetfoot said sympathetically. "The Captain and I both have a lot of work to get to. Meal times are really our only free slot during the day."

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. This full schedule of hers was looking more and more like a problem.

"Alright," she said, hesitantly. "I'll, uh...I'll be here tomorrow, then. Same time, same place?"

Spitfire and Fleetfoot both smiled at that.

"Glad to hear it, Rainbow Dash!" the Captain beamed. "I'd love to hear about the time you and your friends took on Tirek."

"I want to hear more about your scuffle with Discord, personally," Fleetfoot added.

Rainbow Dash laughed uneasily. She just hoped she would be able to reschedule with Spike before he arrived for practice the next day.

"Looking forward to it!" she said, nervously.

Rainbow Dash spent the next day running her cadets through a gauntlet of trials, many of which she had developed herself through her own self-training. It took some getting used to on the part of her trainees, but once they figured it out, they started making real strides. And now that Rainbow Dash was seeing them do what she herself had done as a young mare, it was that much easier for her to spot the leaders and the followers.

She had drafted up a list of possible teams before the day was out. After training, she went over ideas with her two senior officers in the mess hall at their designated table.

"So, Galeforce is a really strong flier, but he's not that experienced and makes a lot of rookie mistakes, so I was gonna pair him with Zephyr," Rainbow Dash explained at the table while the other two pegasi listened, chewing their food. "She's already passed the remedial exams and is only in the training program to get her technical qualifications. She's got loads of experience, and I think he'd really benefit from being on a team with her as the leader."

Spitfire nodded, halfway through her hay burger. "Sounds like a good plan. Who's next on your list?"

Rainbow Dash checked her list. "Let's see...Whiplash is kind of a loose cannon, so I'm pairing her with Mistral - she's really big on protocol and a stickler for the rules, so she'll be in charge. Same with Stormfront and Shrike. Ummm...Starling and Albatross make a good team - she has maneuverability and he has high stamina. Was thinking of making her the leader..."

Fleetfoot took a sip from her water-glass. "Is there any-pony on this list that you haven't figured out yet? It sounds like you've got them all paired up just fine."

The blue pegasus nodded. "Yeah, well, I'm just trying to get these teams set up just right."

"Come on, Rainbow Dash," Fleetfoot sighed. "Relax. It's not like they're gonna be together for their whole career. Just for the training period."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "How compatible the teams are can make or break a cadet's training experience. Remember what almost happened with me?"

"I remember," Spitfire sighed nostalgically. "But you're a special case, Rainbow Dash. Always have been."

She beamed at the praise. "Heh-heh - I am pretty awesome, aren't I?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't go blowin' it out of proportion," Fleetfoot chastised.

Rainbow Dash chewed on her hoof as she studied her list. "Let's see...I got all twelve of my cadets paired into teams, and I'm all set for tomorrow...I don't know though, I feel like I'm forgetting something..."

Spitfire finished off her hay burger. "Oh yeah, whatever happened to that dragon friend of yours who you were helping out?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes flew open as she stood up abruptly. "Oh crap! I totally forgot!"

Without so much as a word, she dashed away from the table and took off into the air, blowing right through the doors which banged open on her way out. She flew up over the compound, past the tarmac, out onto the field where she spotted a familiar blotch of purple.

Rainbow Dash mentally kicked herself! How could she have been so brainless? She knew she was going to miss her appointment with Spike! She knew she was supposed to get in touch with him beforehand to reschedule! How had that one simple task have so completely slipped her mind?

Was she just so busy with her work? Had that been the cause? No, she thought back to her day - it had been busy, but it hadn't been that busy! She could have easily spent five minutes writing a letter or sending a courier or something! She'd just been so distracted with her work. It wasn't that it occupied that much of her time, but it was all she had time think about. She also wasn't used to holding down such a regular job before. Her whole life, her job as a weather pony had been a simple one - wake up each morning, check the weather, and kick it into shape if it wasn't on its scheduled behavior. Most of her day beyond that was spent relatively free of responsibility, allowing her mind to wander as it pleased.

But not anymore. Now, she had a responsibility to the Wonderbolts, and to all her trainees who had the same dreams growing up as she had. Compared to her previous job in Ponyville, which she had trusted to another pegasus until she got back, being a Wonderbolt training instructor was a significant responsibility, and took up way more of her free time than she was used to spending on one thing. And then she had lessons with Spike on top of it all!

She had been sweating all day, and her Wonderbolt uniform was clinging to her body in all the wrong places, and she wanted nothing more than to go back to her bunk and take a long shower, followed by an even longer nap. Rainbow Dash thrived on short bursts of high intensity interspersed with long periods of downtime, and with all the hours she was clocking in at the academy, she was not only finding herself more tired than usual at the end of the day, but more and more unfocused as well. And now she was completely dropping the ball on Spike's lessons.

Her stomach turned into knots as she glided down towards the dragon, hoping he would forgive her. Maybe all this multitasking wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Spike!" she blurted all at once as she landed.

To her surprise, however, she found Spike busy doing wing-ups.

"Oh, hey!" he grunted as he lowered himself to the ground. "How was dinner?"

Rainbow chewed on her lip, looking nervously at him. "I'm sorry, Spike! I totally forgot about training! I was in the mess hall with some officers and I got so absorbed in all the plans I was making with my trainees and...and I'm just really sorry, alright?"

Spike was taking the moment to catch his breath, his body flat on the ground. "Aw, don't worry about it. I asked one of the cadets where you were, and they said you were with the Captain, so I figured it was something important. So I decided to come out here and do my exercises until you got back. That way we could spend even more time on flight stances."

Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion. "You're not...mad?"

Spike shook his head. "Nah. You're a busy mare. Me, I've got nothing but time on my claws."

He went back to doing his wing-ups, leaving Rainbow Dash just staring in befuddlement.

"Spike..." she muttered.

Here she had been ready for him to completely chew her out for going back on their arrangement - and after he had parted with a signed copy of the Daring Do comic book for her trouble! But he seemed completely unfazed by her absence. It didn't even seem to bother him. She was so used to people constantly giving her a hard time for her absent-mindedness and short attention span. She usually let it roll off her back, but that didn't mean she didn't care about what her friends thought of her!

Captain Spitfire glided down towards them, with Fleetfoot on her tail.

"There you are," she called out, sounding concerned. "You left in such a hurry, we weren't sure if something was wrong."

Rainbow Dash looked back at her Captain and nodded, still looking somewhat unsure of herself. "Uhh...no, uh...apparently not..."

"Hmm..." Spitfire mused and turned to the dragon in their midst, who had gone back to doing wing-ups.

Fleetfoot strolled over to him and leaned down to look him in the eye as he exerted himself.

"So, you're Spike, huh?" she said, in full drill sergeant mode. "I remember you from the Equestria games. You've gotten a bit bigger since then. I bet you think you're hot stuff now, don't you?"

Spike did not let the officer's words slow him down. "No ma'am."

Fleetfoot smiled and leaned in a bit closer. "You think you're Wonderbolt material, son?"

Spike continued his wing-ups, unimpeded. "No ma'am."

"And why is that?" she demanded.

"Dragons can't enlist, ma'am," he explained simply without breaking his stride. "I'm not eligible."

Fleetfoot furrowed her brow. "Then why are you here?"

Spike halted his progress, holding himself poised on both wings as he breathed heavily, sweat dripping from his snout.

"I'm here because I want to be trained by the best, ma'am," he explained simply, staring at the ground. "And that's Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash felt something in her chest swelling a little at his words.

Fleetfoot nodded and stood back up. "As you were, then."

Spike resumed his wing-ups as Spitfire gave Rainbow Dash an approving smile.

"The kid's got grit, I'll give him that much," the Captain said with a nod. "I got to say, Rainbow Dash, you never cease to impress me. Training the new recruits and a dragon at the same time? You're either the single most ambitious pegasus I've ever come across, or the craziest."

Rainbow Dash flushed at the praise and glanced upward in thought as she laughed. "Yeah...crazy..."

Fleetfoot put her foreleg around Rainbow Dash's shoulders and grinned. "Crazy or not, it's this kind of go-getter attitude that'll take you real far in the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash. Keep this up, and you'll be a full fledged officer before you know it!"

Rainbow felt her pride swelling under her words. "Oh, you know me - always putting in a hundred and ten percent!"

Spitfire gave Fleetfoot and nod said. "That said, if this time slot is already taken, then it'd be rude of us to keep you occupied for the duration."

Rainbow Dash snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, uh, no, it's fine! I, uh..."

"Relax," Spitfire replied, extending her wings in preparation for takeoff. "We usually take lunch in our office, but you're welcome to join us there tomorrow."

"Yeah!" Fleetfoot chimed in. "We still need to hear the story of how you took down Nightmare Moon!"

"Oh!" Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise. "Uh, okay!"

Lunch was when she usually spent time with her cadets, hearing their questions and concerns, but she supposed she could make time to see her commanding officers.

The two pegasi nodded and took off, leaving Spike and Rainbow Dash to their training.

Spike collapsed on the grass, utterly spent. "Phew! I thought they'd never leave."

Rainbow Dash chuckled, equally relieved. Apparently, Spike had been putting on a show for the higher ups. Whether that was out of his own pride, or if he was trying to make her look good, she couldn't say. Either way, the Captain and her X.O. seemed to have been impressed with him, and in turn, impressed with her. Which was always a win in her book.

Though the way Spike's eyes had been lingering on her skintight outfit, she felt it was a safe bet that he was trying to earn her favor, which was never a bad thing.

"I was wondering how you were managing to do that many wing-ups," she winked at him. "Still, not bad."

He smiled up at her. "Does that mean we can we start working on wing formations now?"

She smirked back at him. "Right after your laps, mister."

Spike withered. "B-But...I already ran my four laps for the day!"

Rainbow grinned mercilessly. "And now you're gonna run four more! Now hustle it up!"

She began running down the track as Spike stumbled to his feet, barreling after her.

"Wait up!"

Over the next few weeks, the two of them continued to meet for training. Rainbow Dash's days had never been as busy as this for such an extended period of time. In a way, it was a lot like what she had gone through during her own Wonderbolt training years ago. She woke up at the crack of dawn to meet her trainees out in the field, who seemed to be taking to their new team formations pretty well. Together, they ran through drills and exercises throughout the entire morning until they broke for lunch. During her lunch break, Rainbow often found herself in Spitfire's office with the Captain and her executive officer, before returning to her trainees for more drills.

Then, at the end of the day, Spike would arrive, and the two of them would train for another hour or two. It wasn't that he was difficult to train or anything - he required more patience than anything else. He was going through exercises that she had done herself as a foal! It was difficult for her mind not to wander during his lessons, simply out of boredom.

It didn't help that every so often, she would catch his eyes lingering on her flank, which just distracted her even more. She didn't call him on it, so as not to make things awkward, but she had spent some time with Fluttershy the week before training, consoling her after her plans with Spike had fallen through, and gotten a pretty good idea of what had gone on there. And if Fluttershy's red-faced mumbling could be believed, it had not been at all an unpleasant experience. Rainbow Dash didn't have the time to spare to give the thought much consideration herself, but still, every glance that Spike cast her way made her that much more curious at just what the dragon was thinking about her, and that did not make for a productive training environment.

It seemed like every-pony wanted a piece of her these days, and Rainbow Dash was finding less and less time each day to do anything relaxing. She had many gears, and could easily shift from low gear to high gear in the blink of an eye. But staying in high gear all throughout the day? She was starting to lose sleep, and was catching herself nodding off during Spike's drills.

"What's next?" he would ask after flying through her latest obstacle course.

Rainbow Dash, who had taken to watching from the ground as Spike completed his drills, would shake herself to full alertness, before nodding and smiling.

"Would you mind running through that one just once more, Spike?" she would usually respond.

"Aww, come on!" Spike would complain, usually tired and sore by then. "We've been doing this for two hours!"

"You make your most obvious mistakes when you're tired," she would always retort. "Now do you want to become a good flier or not?"

All of this was just so far beyond Rainbow Dash's comfort zone as to make her head spin. Schedules, weekly planners, checklists for Celestia's sake! This was Twilight's schtick, not hers! It got to be so bad that Rainbow Dash actually went to the princess for help.

"You've got to help me, Twilight!" she said during her weekly meeting with the rest of the elements at the Crystal Library after the others had left. "You're good at time management, right? I've never had such a busy schedule before, and I don't know how to deal with it all!"

Twilight glanced over at the schedule that Rainbow Dash had shown her, eyeing it with a professional gaze. "Hmmm...well, it looks as though you've done as much as you can, Rainbow. Your Wonderbolt training is on a fixed schedule, so it's not like you can adjust that. Apart from dropping one or both of your other activities, there's not much more you can do. Have you considered alternating days between your lunch meets with Spitfire and your students? And what about pushing Spike's lessons back an hour to give yourself time to recuperate a little from your day?"

Rainbow Dash left, thanking the princess for here help. She didn't mention the wayward glances Spike had been giving her. It was pretty obvious to her just what had gone on between Twilight and Spike before he had taken off on his journey of self discovery, and she knew Twilight well enough to know that bringing it up would just make her upset. Besides, that kind of mushy stuff was the last thing Rainbow Dash felt like talking about with any-pony. But she took Twilight's advice to heart, and asked Spike to come by an hour later than usual the next day.

The day she did, however, she woke up to a knock at her door late that afternoon! She had decided to take a quick nap after training, and had somehow managed to sleep through his appointed time!

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she blathered, stumbling out the door, flight suit half-zipped up, completely embarrassed at how unprofessional she was being. "It won't happen again! I swear!"

Spike's cheeks colored - something about the way she was squeezing into her flight suit was sending his thoughts in all sorts of directions - and he suddenly didn't seem to mind being stood up again.

"Aw, don't worry about it," he said, brushing her apology off. "I've been getting plenty of practice in on my own, so any time you can give to me is appreciated!"

Spike was far too forgiving in Rainbow Dash's mind. Every little misstep she made, he just shrugged it off. How exactly could he be so calm and nonchalant about all this? He was depending on her to make him into a good flier, and she just kept screwing it up royally! It could not have simply been because he was crushing on her. That Spike was clearly interested in her was immaterial; if that was all this was, there was no way he would have kept coming back after all the abuse she had heaped on him during training. The grueling exercise alone would have driven him off. She had noticed his wandering eyes from day one, and part of the reason she had been drilling him so hard was to make sure that Spike wasn't just being a lovesick fool and finding any excuse whatsoever to be around her (not that she could blame him if that was the case). No, Spike was clearly committed to learning how to fly, and Rainbow Dash respected that, regardless of what other trees he might have been barking up.

It wasn't like Spike was making no progress, either. He was flying on his own without fear now, and his wings had only gotten stronger. He was now familiar with all the basic wing positions and flight patterns, and had even tackled some of the more advanced aerial maneuvers, like corkscrews and aileron rolls. He had also discovered, over the course of their training, that he was even able to stand on clouds just like pegasi.

No, Spike was definitely making progress. But what was bothering Rainbow Dash so much was that she knew he could be making better progress. And she knew that if she could just manage to focus her attention more on his training, then he would be all the better for it. He was clearly giving it his all, and it tore her up inside that she was not able to do the same. That being said, if she were to focus all of her attention on Spike, the Wonderbolt cadets' training would suffer as a result, and she had a responsibility to the Academy as well! Each and every day, her cadets were after her for more questions and more tips, all of them eager to become better fliers! They were all counting on her to be the best teacher she could be, and it was eating her up inside not being able to deliver on that.

She was Rainbow Dash! She was supposed to be the best! Her friends were counting on her to be the best! And if she couldn't be the best, then what good was she? What kind of friend would she be if her friends couldn't even count on her to give it her all when they needed her help? She was never one to settle for second place - anything less than a hundred percent would never be good enough for her. So why would she settle for anything less than that for her friends?

Her friends deserved more than that. Her cadets deserved more. Spike deserved more. And every day she failed to deliver, she went to bed feeling worse and worse about herself. This whole multitasking thing was starting to be more trouble than it was worth.

After each day of training, Spike and Rainbow Dash usually finished with a race through the obstacle course. He would take everything he'd learned and speed his way through a series of clouds, flags, rings and balloons, and try to fly through it as fast as he could. He never came anywhere close to beating Rainbow Dash, much less the academy record, but he was beating his previous time with almost every race. As much as he was improving, he was still pretty bulky compared to other pegasi. While that lent him great wing power, it caused him to struggle with tight maneuvers, which was unfortunately what Wonderbolt training was all about.

On her last day at the Wonderbolt Academy, Spike finished the obstacle course with his best time yet. Rainbow Dash sighed as she glided across the finish line, staying just ahead of the young dragon, acting as a pacer, urging him to squeeze out every last bit of speed he could. She watched him blast through the finish line with a gasp of exhaustion, and she let out a relieved sigh. It seemed that he had still managed to become a good flier in spite of all her numerous flub-ups.

She couldn't keep this up for much longer.

"Way to go, Spike," she cheered him on half-heartedly as they both descended towards the field. "You're officially the fastest dragon I've ever met."

Spike raised an eyebrow as they landed. "Aren't I the only dragon you've ever met?"

"Details, details," she said, waving him off. "But yeah, I think you're just about there."

He raised an eyebrow. "Just about where?"

"I mean, you've made it," she smiled somewhat somberly. "You're now a proficient flier. There's not much left for me to to teach you without getting into expert level material."

Spike's expression seemed to fall at that. "Aww, really? I feel like I'm still a beginner."

"That'll go away with practice," she shrugged. "Just keep at it, and you'll be fine. You can always ask me for the occasional pointer, but at this point, I've done all I can for you."

Spike looked downright saddened by this news. "Well...can't I...you know, just...keep practicing with you for a little while longer?"

Rainbow Dash chewed on her lip. It was the last day of Wonderbolt training - in the morning, her cadets who met the Wonderbolt accreditation would be admitted - and she was really looking forward to taking a few days off. That said, it wasn't like she wouldn't have the time anymore. But how long would she need to keep training with Spike before he thought he was ready? Weeks? Months? She didn't think she could keep this up anymore. And besides, how many more times could she sleep through her sessions before he gave up on her? As much as she wanted to fulfill her friend's expectations, she couldn't help him if he wanted her to be something she wasn't.

"Look..." she said, looking away uneasily. "I'm sorry I haven't really been as...on-the-ball as I should have been these past few weeks. Maybe I'm not really teacher material after all."

"What are you talking about, Rainbow Dash?" Spike asked, flabbergasted. "You've been an excellent teacher! You said it yourself - I'm a proficient flier now! And that's all thanks to you!"

"It's thanks to your talent, Spike," Rainbow Dash sighed. "You went from being practically grounded to flying with ease in three weeks flat. I've been trying to help Scootaloo for years, and she hasn't even made it that far."

"I still would never have come this far without you," Spike argued.

"Maybe..." she admitted, slowly stepping to the edge of the field. There was a small knapsack waiting for her, which she picked up, removing the item inside and offering it to Spike. "But the truth is, I could have done a lot better. Here."

Spike looked at the article in her hooves. It was the Daring Do comic he had given her when they had just begun, still covered in its clear plastic wrap.

"Rainbow Dash?" he asked in confusion. "Why are you giving this back to me? I traded it to you fair and square. We shook on it."

She shook her head. "I can't train you anymore, Spike. If you're not satisfied with what I put in the last three weeks, then it's not fair for me to keep it."

Spike stared dubiously at the comic book in her hooves.

"Why can't you train me anymore?" he asked, bluntly. "Is it just too hard with all your other work?"

She shook her head. "No, not really. I just...don't feel up for it anymore."

"Why not?" he pressed. "You've practically bent over backwards these past few weeks to fit my training into your schedule. Now that you're finally getting some more free time, shouldn't it be easier for you now?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head, refusing to make eye contact with the young dragon. Why was he being such a pest about this?

"I just don't want to do it anymore, alright!?" she blared, throwing the comic book at him and closing her eyes as she turned away, angrily. "Give me some space, will you!?"

Spike took a step back, looking like he'd touched a nerve, the comic flopping unceremoniously to the grass. "Sorry..."

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. She hated feeling inadequate, and she hated letting her friends down, but most of all, she absolutely hated that damn guilty expression on his face! This wasn't his fault after all! He had been granted the gift of flight by whatever magic dictated the life cycle of dragons. Rainbow Dash wasn't one who put much stock in higher powers, but she firmly believed that creatures with wings were meant to fly! And Spike had the added luxury of being close friends with the best flier in Equestria, who also just so happened to be the freaking Element of Loyalty for crying out loud! It only followed that he should be able to come to her for guidance!

But as it turned out, not only was she inexperienced with teaching student fliers, but she had been tapped to train two separate parties at once! When she had first signed onto this rigorous schedule, it hadn't seemed like that big a deal. She figured all it would entail is showing them what she knew, and letting them follow suit. And with the Wonderbolt trainees, that had been largely the case. Most of them were experienced fliers, and could learn by example. But even that small exercise got tiring after being repeated over and over again, eight hours a day, six days a week. And after each training session, she had to suddenly switch gears and begin training someone entirely new to flying.

Spike had required a lot of work these past few weeks, and as far as he'd come, it had still been exhausting work, and the prospect of continuing was a daunting one. But more importantly, she felt like he would have come a lot farther if she'd just been able to push herself a little harder. That went for the Wonderbolt cadets as well - just like the proverbial hawk who chased two rabbits but caught neither, dividing her attention like she had been doing had allowed both objectives to falter. From her perspective, it should not have taken much more effort to get both jobs done to perfection, but she just didn't have enough focus for both tasks. And that she had encountered such limitations at all was such a colossal disappointment, and all of these feelings had compounded, making her feel like all of her efforts to be a teacher had resulted in one giant failure. She had never really taught before, and this was supposed to have been her big chance to prove herself.

She knew that other ponies would tell her that she had started off by biting off more than she could chew, but she didn't care. She was Rainbow Dash! This should have been nothing for her!

She heard the sound of what she assumed was the comic book dropping at her feet, and she looked down at its bright, vibrant cover behind the shiny plastic sheath.

"If you don't want to train me anymore, then that's fine," Spike said slowly as he stepped into her view. "But this is yours. A deal's a deal."

Rainbow Dash wrinkled her nose. She knew she should just accept it and leave it at that, but that just didn't sit right with her.

"I haven't earned it, Spike," she snorted as she stepped over it and began to walk away. "I won't take it."

"Why are you being so hard on yourself?" he demanded, grabbing the comic and hopping into the air to glide down and land in front of her, blocking her path. "All I asked you to do was make me into a flier. And you have!"

Rainbow Dash turned the other direction and grunted.

"I should have been able to do better," she said simply.

Spike took a breath. He knew that Rainbow Dash could be touchy about her accomplishments, and he thought that by paying her homage and complimenting her at every turn, she would accept his gratitude. But now he saw that she would require a different sort of approach.

"Fine," he said bluntly. "You want proof that you've made me into the best flier I can be? Then I challenge you to a race!"

Rainbow Dash snorted derisively without slowing her step. "You're joking, right? I've won every race we've had for the last three weeks! I could beat you with my eyes closed."

"Not a Wonderbolt race," Spike added, keeping pace with her. "Not an obstacle course with twists and turns - a straightaway. No fancy cornering or maneuvers; just speed. A thousand-meter dash, straight through the air."

She paused and turned to look back at him, curiously. She knew that she was faster than him, but while watching him race, she noticed that while Spike lost a lot of ground making turns, he gained a lot of it back in the straightaways, just like he said. He was a powerful flier, and he had a lot of stamina to boot, thanks to their training. And she could tell the way he spoke that he was well aware of this fact.

The idiot really thought he could win.

Rainbow Dash felt her blood boiling in a way it hadn't in a long, long while. This was what she was good at. She had been struggling with the task of being an instructor for the last three weeks. Trying to impart her skills on others had been a challenging task, but all Spike wanted was for her to demonstrate those skills for him now.

This she could do.

"Alright Spike," she grinned back at him. "You really think you can beat me in a straightaway?"

He snorted, and a puff of smoke escaped his nostrils. "I know I can. You trained me too well. In fact, I'm so sure of it, I'm willing to bet you this Daring Do comic that I can win."

Rainbow Dash smiled widely, a huge grin on her face as she stepped up to look him in the eye.

"No going back, Spike!" she jeered, lowering herself into a challenging posture, as if she were ready to tackle him. "That comic is gonna be mine by the time we're done!"

"We'll find out soon enough," Spike smirked. "Now are you fit to fly or what? Cause I'm ready to go whenever you are."

Rainbow Dash struck the ground with her hoof, giving her technicolor mane a toss. "You're on!"

The two fliers started at the far edge of the tarmac. The runway was just under a thousand meters, but it would suit their purposes just fine.

Rainbow Dash was stretching her wings in preparation. She had already flown quite a bit that day during training with the Wonderbolt cadets and Spike, but she supposed he could use the handicap. Besides, he had already gone through a full day's training as well, so neither of them were at their peak.

Regardless, she was pumped.

"You ready to get your tail handed to you, Spike?" she taunted, hopping back and forth from one hind leg to the other while she flexed her wings.

Spike was already lowered into a ready position at the edge of the runway where the tarmac met grass, preparing for takeoff. "Only if you are."

Rainbow Dash spun on her heels and dropped into crouch just to his left.

"Alright then..." she crowed, eyeing him warily. "On your mark..."

She watched as Spike reared up in preparation to launch.

"Get set..." she said, coiling her hind legs to leap into the air. "Go!"

The two fliers took off with a blast, lifting off the ground to shoot into the sky.

Rainbow Dash pulled ahead quickly, accelerating all at once, leaving a bright rainbow contrail behind her. Spike meanwhile was snaking up and down through the air, his whole body gyrating with each wing flap, each one carrying him forward with a mighty gust. He beat his wings as fast and as hard as he could, but Rainbow Dash had already pulled away from him, and was still putting distance on him.

By the time they reached the halfway point, however, Rainbow Dash turned to glance back to see his progress, and was astonished.

Spike was catching up to her!

She put on an extra burst of speed, feeling the wind whipping at her skin. She did not dare glance back for fear of losing her focus, but she could feel, rather than hear, the steady whump...whump...whump of massive wings behind her as he edged closer.

How was he keeping up with her? Were his wings really this powerful? He had almost twice her body mass; there was no way he was keeping pace with her! But try as she might, she could not put on any more velocity without tipping into sonic rainboom speeds. A shockwave from this distance would shatter every window at the academy, and there would be hell to pay!

Spike was on her tail, his powerful wings carrying him ever closer to her, inch by inch, one powerful flap at a time. Rainbow Dash may have been the more agile flier, but his wingspan was almost twice what hers was! It was simple physics - her wings could accelerate to her top speed almost instantly, but his greater wingspan took time to build up speed, and every turn he took reduced his speed, forcing him to start over from almost a standstill. But in a straightaway, they were just so powerful that he was still accelerating, even as he was keeping pace with Rainbow Dash!

He had yet to even reach his top speed!

Dear Celestia, how much faster would he be going if they had attempted a two thousand meter dash? For Rainbow Dash, winning this race would be by virtue of the track being short enough for her top speed to keep her in the lead! She would have to challenge him to another race after this one, one where they were both fresh and ready to fly. And next time, they would start somewhere far away from the Academy or anywhere pony-folk dwelled, so she could see how he stacked up against her sonic rainboom.

They were neck and neck now, and the end of the tarmac was in sight! She flapped her wings as hard as she could, just brushing the edge of rainboom speeds as they neared the finish line.

Thirty meters...

Twenty meters...

Ten meters...

Both fliers blew across the finish line with a gust of wind and dust kicking up from ground beneath them. The two of them glided down to the grass and landed running, using their legs to slow themselves both down as they sped across the grass.

"Whew!" Spike blared, out of breath, collapsing onto his hindquarters. "Oh man, that was close! Did we tie?"

Rainbow Dash caught her breath, smiling from the runner's high. "That was pretty close, Spike, but I'm pretty sure I had you by a nose."

Spike gaped up at her, flabbergasted. "What? No way, we totally tied!"

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, shaking her head. "Come on, Spike...I'll admit, you're good. But not that good."

"Actually," came a familiar voice. "I'm pretty sure Spike won that race."

Both fliers sat up to see Captain Spitfire strutting over to where they sat, and they both got to their feet.

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Are you sure, ma'am?"

"Only technically," the Captain shrugged. "In Wonderbolt standard races, standings are judged by the fliers' head position. In that case, Rainbow Dash, your head crossed the finish line before his did. You would have won that race."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "I'm sensing a 'but' coming here..."

"But...that wasn't a Wonderbolt standard race," Spitfire said with a smirk. "It featured none of the maneuvers that we require from our fliers. That race had all the makings of a thousand-meter dash, just like in the Equestria Games. And by the Equestria Games' standard, all racers' positions are judged by whatever body part crosses the finish line first. And Spike's got longer forelegs than you, Rainbow Dash. I'm afraid his front legs crossed the finish line before yours did."

Rainbow Dash stared at Spike in disbelief.

"No way..." she breathed. "How could you possibly have gotten that fast in such a small amount of time!?"

He just grinned, sheepishly at her. "What can I say? I had the best flight instructor in Equestria."

Rainbow Dash ground her teeth together. She didn't believe that for a second. There was no way Spike's dragon heritage hadn't played some part in his growth. He had just grown too much and too fast. He just seemed to be so naturally strong in body now that just by nature of having wings, they carried him all the farther for it. Rainbow Dash had nothing to do with it. She had just given him the tools he'd needed to get started.

"Now then, if the shenanigans are over with," Spitfire said, lowering her aviators to peer at Rainbow Dash. "I have some actual Wonderbolt business to get to with our flight instructor here. Rainbow Dash, could I see you in my office please?"

She nodded, still looking somewhat bitterly at Spike, before trotting off to grab the nap-sack containing the grand prize that had been waiting for them by the finishing line, and tossing it unceremoniously at Spike's feet.

"Here," she grunted. "It's yours. You won it fair and square."

Spike looked up at her, looking concerned. "Rainbow Dash..."

She turned away from him with a toss of her rainbow mane.

"Just go home, Spike," she said dismissively as she followed Captain Spitfire back to the compound. "I've got things to do."

Spike watched her and the Captain leave, and he reached down to slip the backpack around his shoulders, fitting them snugly between his wings, before taking off towards the direction of Ponyville.

What had he done to upset Rainbow Dash so much? He'd just proven to her how good she was. He thought he had been an attentive student. He hadn't made a fuss whenever she had occasionally been late, and even that hadn't been that often. He supposed he had balked at how much exercise had been expected of him, but he had still risen to that particular challenge every time, or so he believed. And even when he'd failed, she had done nothing but encourage him. All in all, he thought training had been going pretty darn well.

So what was it? Was she just tired of bending over backwards for him? He could understand having worn out his welcome. He supposed he had not been very considerate of her feelings or her time by asking after her when he did. He probably should have waited until Wonderbolt training had finished its three-week run before bugging her about training him, but he had been worried that if he didn't do something, he would have slipped back into a funk. He realized it must have been rough on her, but she had seemed up to challenge at the time. He had received nothing but support and encouragement from her, so he supposed doing all that all the time must have been more exhausting than it seemed. But Rainbow Dash was not the sort to pull punches - if she had been fed up with him, he fully expected her to be up front about it.

Then a thought occurred to him that chilled him to the bone. Had Rainbow Dash caught him staring at her flank? Could she have thought that he was being a creep or something? Was that why she was so upset and aloof with him? While he couldn't imagine Fluttershy or Twilight blabbing about their private affairs, Rainbow Dash was no idiot, and she was close friends with both mares. She surely must have known or at least guessed at his history with the two of them by now. She could very easily have gleaned what had gone on. Had such revelations cast suspicion on him as a friend? The thought made him feel sickened and weak.

How had he so royally screwed up? How could he have ruined his friendship with not one but two ponies with a single act? And if Rainbow Dash, the loyalest of his friends, was being so aloof, what would the rest of his friends think when they found out? What if they had found out already!?

He felt like crying. He felt like rolling up into a ball and disappearing. He felt so worthless that he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with any-pony he passed on the street on the way to his single studio apartment.

He fled inside his little sanctuary and bolted the door behind him.

And he didn't think he would ever come out again.

Rainbow Dash's mind was wandering as she followed Spitfire to her office. She hadn't meant to treat Spike so poorly, but she was just so fed up with the dragon. How could he be so oblivious about this? Couldn't he see that his success was not due to her talent, but his own? For the past three weeks, Rainbow Dash had been dropping the ball at every turn, and Spike had prevailed in spite of it all! He didn't owe her anything, and certainly not a super-rare comic book that clearly had enormous sentimental value! She just could not have justified trading with him for such a lackluster performance on her part. Rainbow Dash was better than that - she knew she was better!

But then...he had beat her in that race, hadn't he? Whereas three weeks hence, he could barely get off the ground, now he was flying with confidence. Even if he wasn't Wonderbolt material, didn't she deserve a little credit for getting him that far?

Something in her gut just wouldn't allow it.

"Rainbow Dash?" Spitfire gesticulated with her hooves in front of the other mare's face. "Hello?"

The pegasus blinked and shook her head. "What? Yeah, yeah, sorry...what?"

Spitfire sighed. "I said, that was a pretty impressive race you and Spike put on back there. I had wondered why air-traffic control had been asked to go on standby. If you wanted an officially sanctioned race, I could have arranged it for you."

Rainbow Dash shook her head, looking away. "No, I'm sorry, that...that whole thing was kind of a spur-of-the-moment type thing."

The Captain raised an eyebrow. "I bet. Anyway, I wanted to show you something..."

Spitfire reached behind her desk and pulled out a manila envelop, opening it and dropping it on top of her desk for Rainbow Dash to read.

Rainbow Dash peered over the desk at the contents - it appeared to be a duty roster - and read it aloud.

"Zephyr, Mistral, Shrike, Starling..." she muttered as she flipped through all the names, each with the recruit's photograph and vital statistics, before giving Spitfire a questioning look. "These are all my recruits. Is something wrong? Did something happen?"

The Captain smiled. "Oh, something happened all right. Keep reading."

Rainbow Dash began sweating as she hurried through the pages, looking to see what had gone wrong. Had some-pony been hurt? Were they caught breaking regulations? Had they all been kicked out of the academy? The further she read without seeing anything amiss, the worse her imagination got!

When she finally reached the last page, however, she was surprised.

"All above applicants accepted pending remedial review..." she read aloud, before looking up at Spitfire, astonished. "All of them!?"

The Captain smiled proudly. "Yep. Acceptance letters go out tomorrow to all twelve candidates. A one hundred percent acceptance rate."

She leaned forward, peering at the other mare over her glasses.

"This has never happened before, Rainbow Dash," she said somberly. "In the entire history of this academy, every group of first year trainees has had at least one drop-out."

Spitfire slid off her glasses and folded them up, sliding them into her jacket pocket.

"I've said it before, and I imagine I'll be saying it again," she said wistfully. "But that is an academy record."

Rainbow Dash felt light-headed. She had thought for sure her students wouldn't have been up to snuff. She hadn't spent nearly as much time with them as she'd wanted to. Some of them still seriously needed to work on their form! Though they had all improved, and while they were definitely better than they were at the start of training, she hadn't expected more than one or two of them to pass, maybe a handful at most.

But...all of them!?

"That was some seriously fine work, Rainbow Dash," Spitfire said, proudly. "Every trainee stuck it out because of you. Even the ones who would have otherwise quit wanted to stay on because you inspired them to. You may be the best flight instructor this academy's ever seen. And we'd be honored if you'd stay on as a regular here. Full time."

Rainbow Dash's mouth hung open. She closed it, swallowed, and opened it again, though nothing came out save for a single vocalized breath, and she closed her mouth again, eyes as wide as saucers.

This was for real. It hadn't been a fluke. It was back-breaking work, but...had she actually managed to train both the Wonderbolts and Spike, and satisfy both parties simultaneously?

When nothing further escaped her lips, Spitfire smirked.

"I can see this is going to be a big decision for you," she said thoughtfully. "Take your time and give it some thought. I'll be waiting for hear back from you."

When Spike heard a knock at his door, he was laying face-down in bed, his possessions, comics books, actions figures and empty snack food bags and beverage cans littering his floor.

Whoever it was, he didn't want to talk to them.

"Go away..." he grumbled into his pillow, not caring if he had been loud enough for any-pony to hear him.

His ears pricked up at the voice that called from beyond the door however.

"Awww, come on, Spike," Rainbow Dash called from outside. "I just came by to apologize."

Spike wasted a second or two rubbing his eyes in confusion - why would Rainbow Dash come here? She never came to visit him - before rolling out of bed and hurrying for the door, kicking past several aluminum cans and nearly tripping over a plastic bag.

"Rainbow Dash?" he muttered as he swung open the door to see her standing outside his apartment.

She was still garbed in her Wonderbolt regalia, with an additional saddlebag around her waist, and had a sheepish grin on her face. She didn't seem anywhere near as upset as she had been before. In fact, somehow, she looked even more resplendent in her uniform than ever before. Her coat somehow looked bluer, in spite of the evening hour, and her mane seemed even more rainbow-y, if that was even possible.

She looked completely different than she had been just earlier today.

"Wait..." Spike rubbed his eyes again, not convinced that he hadn't been transported to an alternate dimension where Rainbow Dash wasn't avoiding him for being a philanderer. "Apologize for what?"

She offered a resigned sigh that was softened by a cheerful smile.

"For being such a jerk these past few weeks," she admitted with a shrug. "I guess the stress of being an instructor was really getting to me. But I promise it won't happen again."

Now Spike was totally confused. "What are you talking about? You haven't been a jerk at all, Rainbow Dash."

She shook her head. "Well, thanks. You're wrong, but thanks."

"You weren't a jerk," Spike insisted. "If anything, I was being a jerk by forcing you to do two things at once!"

"You didn't force me to do anything," she shook her head, her technicolor mane swishing as she did. "You couldn't force me to do anything, Spike. I make my decisions for me alone. I could have said no. I could have backed out at any point."

Spike smirked. "No you couldn't. You're Rainbow Dash - you never back down from a challenge. Come on, I know you better than that."

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Heh - probably right. But hey, it payed off! You're a flier now! And my entire class passed their qualifications! The Wonderbolts were so impressed, they wanted me to sign on as full officer!"

Spike's eyes widened. "Are you serious!? That's fantastic, Rainbow Dash! See, I told you you were the best flight instructor I could ask for!"

She smiled proudly, though her cheeks were a little red. "Hah! Yep!"

"So, are you going to take the job?" Spike asked.

Rainbow Dash looked uneasy. "I...I haven't decided yet. I'm still kind of processing it all."

Spike nodded, as he thought about what it would mean if Rainbow Dash took the position. It would mean she would leave Ponyville - and no doubt she knew that. This would be almost like what he had done a year ago, leaving her home behind to start anew. It would be a big step, a huge change. And while it was everything he knew she wanted, he couldn't help but feel like his circle of friends was drifting apart.

Of course, that had been happening ever since this whole mess started.

His eyes fell on the knapsack that he had discarded on his way in, which still contained the sealed copy of the Daring Do comic he had won, and he reached down and offered it to her.

"Here," he said, sheepishly. "You deserve this more than I do. You really earned it."

Rainbow Dash scoffed and shook her head. "Oh, don't be ridiculous, Spike! You won it fair and square!"

"I only won by a technicality," he said. "We both know you're the better flier overall."

"Exactly," she winked. "And I don't need a comic book to prove it."

"Rainbow Dash, you put yourself through hell to get me and the Wonderbolt cadets trained!" Spike objected. "I could see how hard it was for you! You were doing the work of two pegasi! You barely got any sleep these past few weeks! You deserve something to show for it!"

She smiled and puffed out her chest. "I have something to show for it! This uniform!"

Spike threw his arms up in the air, tossing the knapsack aside as he did.

"Gah!" he groaned. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

Rainbow Dash laughed out loud. "Come on, Spike, it's me!"

He grumbled and she laughed some more.

"So yeah, Pinkie Pie wanted to throw me a welcome home party," she said, rolling her eyes. "Wait till she hears it'll also be a 'New Prospective Job Opportunity' party. But anyway, you should come along."

Spike felt a knot growing in the pit of his stomach. "I...I don't know. Will Twilight and Fluttershy be there?"

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "I should hope so. Why?"

He looked away. "I, uh...I think I'll pass then. You go celebrate."

She gave him a suspicious look, before shrugging. "Oh well, your loss then. I'll tell every-pony you said hi."

Spike nodded. "Yeah...you do that."

Rainbow Dash gave him a sidelong glance as he closed the door.

Now she was really curious.

Spike was awoken a few hours later by another knock on the door.

"Hey, Spike!" an all too familiar voice called to him.

Spike rolled out of bed, glancing at the clock on the wall. The studio apartment that Princess Celestia had set him up in was sparsley furnished. It had a bed, a couch, a refrigerator, a stove, a small wooden table and two chairs. The clock on the wall was the only time keeping device in the place.

It was nearly midnight.

"Rainbow Dash?" he muttered through sleep-filled eyes.

He meandered once again towards his front door, stumbling over the trash that littered his floor, before unlocking and opening the door to find his friend standing right where she had been a few hours beforehand, looking noticeably more disheveled. Her mane was tussled and her Wonderbolt uniform was partly unzipped, and her cheeks were noticeably red from the dim outdoor lighting.

And she had an even bigger grin on her face than usual.

"Hey there buddy!" she smirked. "Still cooped up in here?"

Spike gave her an unamused scowl. "Um, yeah? It's almost midnight."

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Like that's an excuse."

She lifted her hoof to her ear, and cast a sidelong glance at him.

"So, how was the party, Rainbow Dash?" she said, inviting him to ask the question himself.

Spike blinked, her implication taking a second to register, before sighing.

"Umm...how was the party, Rainbow-"

"It was awesome!" the blue pegasus guffawed standing up on her hind legs to gesture with her hooves. "Pinkie Pie reserved the entire first floor of the Crystal Library, which would normally be kind of lame, but there was a disco ball and music and dancing and punch and everything!"

Spike raised an eyebrow at her exuberant state. "Did Applejack supply the punch?"

Rainbow Dash paused mid-thought. "Yeah, why?"

"Just a guess," he sighed.

"But yeah," she went on. "The whole town was there! You really should have been there, man! I'm surprised you didn't hear us all the way out here!"

Spike rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Don't worry. I could."

Rainbow Dash pursed her lips, sensing his mood.

"Ugh...alright, alright..." she said, somewhat deflated. "Sorry for waking you..."

"It's alright," The dragon shrugged. "Wasn't getting much sleep anyway. So...what's up?"

Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof, as if suddenly remembering.

"Oh yeah!" she said, excitedly. "I wanted to ask you something earlier, but it felt kind awkward bringing it up, cause y'know, this kind of thing isn't really my strong suit. But it kept bugging me all throughout the party, and now I've just got to know...what exactly happened between you, Fluttershy and Twilight?"

Spike felt the knot in his stomach return. He thought he had avoiding having to explain all this to her. Evidently, he was mistaken.

"You...you didn't hear about that from them?" he asked, looking at the floor, his eyes flitting up to watch her reaction.

She shrugged. "I got the gist of it. I kind of wanted to hear your side of the story though."

He chewed on his lip and slowly pawed at the floor with his foot.

This was going to be a long night.

"You...better come in and sit down for this..." he suggested.

The two of them sat at the small wooden table at the kitchenette, a single ceiling lamp overhead illuminating the nocturnal setting. While the living area was littered with clutter, the kitchen was kept relatively clean.

Spike spent the next half hour or so regaling Rainbow Dash with the sordid tale of his exploits. About halfway through his story, the mare reached into her saddlebags to pull out a jug of cider that had apparently been a gift from Applejack at the party, and began drinking it.

"Damn..." she muttered, when he got to the end story. "That's a tough break, Spike."

He glanced shyly at her. "You're not...mad?"

She snorted. "Why would I be mad? It's not like you took advantage of any-pony. I mean, I get why they might be a little sore about it, but from where I'm sitting, it just looks like a couple of consenting mares who tried fooling around, and changed their minds after the fact. It kinda sucks for you all, but hey, these things happen, y'know?"

Spike stared blankly at the equally blank wall he was facing. As guilt-ridden as he had felt over the whole ordeal, the thought of simply forgiving himself and letting it go had never really seemed like an option.

"Huh..." he thought out loud. "I never thought of it that way."

Rainbow Dash pushed the jug of cider across the table towards him. "Here. Sounds like you need this more than I do."

Spike took a grateful swig of cider. It was cool and spicy and it made him feel warm inside.

"So that's why you really left Ponyville, then?" the pegasus asked, hesitantly.

Spike thought back to the day he left. What had he been thinking anyway? Did he think that somehow Twilight would take him back if he proved himself? Or was he just doing it to lash out at her? No, if that had been it, he would have given up and come wandering home long before he had. Fluttershy's book had told him that all dragons went through a coming-of-age process that involved a similar journey of self-discovery, some of them taking years to complete. Perhaps it had just simply been instinct.

"It was for a lot of reasons," he shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I was just trying to prove that I was worthy of...something..."

He trailed off, not even believing his own argument anymore, and Rainbow Dash took another swig of cider.

"You got to stop doing that, Spike," she said nonchalantly.

"Stop doing what?" he asked.

"Thinking that you've got nothing to prove," she smiled, resting her front legs on the table. "You're an awesome dragon, and you always have been. Besides, getting laid doesn't have anything to do with proving yourself. At least, it shouldn't."

Spike rolled his eyes. "In a perfect world, I guess..."

Rainbow Dash sighed and shoved the cider in his direction. "Yeah, yeah, in a perfect world, the magic of friendship would conquer all misunderstandings and we wouldn't have to deal with all this stupid drama."

Spike accepted the jug and took another gulp. This was what he needed, he decided. He needed some-pony to sit and listen to his troubles. Some-pony who didn't judge him, and allowed him to be honest with himself. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had given him some of that, but Rainbow Dash clearly boasted more experience than those young mares did.

"Heh," he chuckled to himself. "And here I was worried that you thought I was some kind of lech or something."

Rainbow Dash snorted and burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Bwahahahahaha!" she chortled, tears running down her face. "Seriously, Spike, how can you be such a clueless dork!?"

He narrowed his eyebrows at that. "What does that mean?"

She wiped her face. "I mean, so what? So you fooled around a little! Who cares? We all got to let off some steam every now and then. As long as you're not hurting any-pony, then what does it matter?"

Spike groaned. This was the real sticking point for him.

"But Rainbow Dash..." he sighed. "I did hurt them!"

"Twilight and Fluttershy hurt themselves, Spike," she replied, bluntly. "Twilight's an idealist and has trouble seeing past her own nose because of it. And Futtershy's got such a heart of gold that there's no way she's gonna do something to upset one of her friends."

She took another sip of cider.

"Though I got to admire her guts though," she nodded approvingly. "I didn't think the girl had it in her."

Spike thought of a crude joke, but decided to let it pass and leaned his elbows on the table, resting his head in his claws.

"I still should have been more considerate," he grumbled. "Neither of them deserved being put into that situation."

"Stop beating yourself up for this!" she berated. "You have a right to be happy too. I mean, sure, you probably could have handled it better, but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. It's no-pony's fault from what I can see."

"I guess not every-pony sees it the way you do, Rainbow Dash," he sighed.

"It's something I've learned to live with," she said, downing the last little bit of cider, giving the empty jug a regretful look, before standing. "Anyway...are you gonna be okay, Spike?"

He shrugged. "I'll live."

She wrinkled her nose at that, but was overcome by a yawn as she realized just how tired she was. "I guess that'll have to do. I think I've kept you up late enough. I should probably head home."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Isn't your home up in the clouds?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Yeah. Duh."

He wrinkled his nose. "Which means, you'd have to fly there."

She eyed him curiously. "What's your point?"

He crossed his arms. "Aren't you the one who told me never to fly drunk or tired?"

"You're talking to the greatest flier in Equestria!" She boasted, puffing out her chest. "Besides, I'm not that drunk!"

Spike eyed the jug between her hooves. "That thing was full when you got here. Now it's empty. I had, like, two sips. And that's on top of Applejack's special punch that I'm guessing you had at the party."

Rainbow Dash pursed her lips, looking away in embarrassment. "I hate it when some-pony uses my own argument against me..."

Spike frowned. "Rainbow Dash..."

She finally relented. "Alright, fine, I'll stay on the ground for tonight. Must be a spare room at the Crystal Library somewhere, I guess..."

He shrugged, and the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"You could always just crash here, you know?"

Rainbow Dash considered the dragon's words for a moment - that did sound easier than waking up Twilight and making a big thing out of it - before something finally clicked in her head and she leered her eyes at him.

"Ohhhhh..." she chuckled haughtily, her tone shifting completely. "I see what this is all about!"

Spike flinched at the unmistakable implication she was driving at, instantly wishing he could take back what he said.

"Uhhh, wait!" he protested, holding his claws up. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Oh really?" the blue mare giggled. "Don't think I haven't noticed you checking me out these past few weeks."

"What!?" Spike yelped, blushing red.

"Not that I blame you, " Rainbow Dash continued in a self-satisfied tone, cheeks red for an entirely different reason. "The flight suit does make my flank look pretty amazing, if I do say so myself."

Spike's felt his eyes move, unbidden, to once again reaffirm this assertion for the millionth time, and he felt the heat in his cheeks growing hotter.

"How did-!?" he blurted, before shaking his head. "I mean, uh...I wasn't checking you out! What are you talking about?"

"You're a terrible liar, Spike," Rainbow Dash smiled chidingly at him. "It's alright. I wasn't complaining."

Spike was so embarrassed he almost felt like crying. The look she was giving him just made it all the worse. He couldn't believe himself. He told himself that he wouldn't allow himself to let his baser instincts get the better of him. But she had such an addictive personality that he couldn't help but enjoy to be around her. The fact that she was just such a pretty mare made it all the more difficult not to be drawn to her, and the Wonderbolts flight suit she was wearing just contoured so perfectly to her hips that he couldn't keep his eyes from wandering.

"I wasn't thinking like that!" he insisted, completely red-faced as he looked away. "The last time I thought of some-pony that way, I basically ruined our entire friendship! I won't do that with you!"

Rainbow Dash smiled knowingly. She knew this of course - in fact, now she could confidently say that she understood the situation pretty well now - which made the decision all the easier for her to make.

"I'm not Fluttershy, Spike," she said slowly, shaking her head. "And I'm certainly not Twilight. I don't care what any-pony says about me or my decisions. And I wouldn't expect anything less from you. There's no way I'd let something like that affect our friendship."

He gave her a curious look. "Really?"

She began to slowly circle the table to approach him.

"I've never been the type to want to settle down with any-pony, Spike," she assured him. "I hate holding myself back. I've always gone with my gut. And tonight, my gut's telling me to treat myself."

Spike swallowed hard as she approached him, turning in his chair to see the playful look in her eyes, and he felt himself beginning to sweat.

"Wh-what do you mean, 'treat yourself?'" he asked nervously, swallowing again.

She winked at him. "Like I said...we all got to blow off steam."

Spike flinched at her approach, and she paused her step, sensing his uneasiness, taking a steady breath.

"Look, if you really don't want to, then I'll understand," she shrugged. "But I trust you, Spike. Heck, you're one of the few guys I do trust. You're nice, you're smart, you're fun, and you're a pretty good looking dragon, all things considered. And we both know you've been eyeing me up. So what else is there to it?"

She was getting close now, and Spike could feel the heat swelling in the pit of his stomach, as well as...other areas.

"I, uh..." he licked his lips, looking nervously at her.

She leaned in closer, a sultry look in her eyes, and it was all Spike could do not to imagine the way her lips would feel on his. He couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze, and his eyes were lingering where the zipper to her flight suit lay halfway undone by her neck, all the while fighting back the urge to reach out and help it along its journey.

"You've got me for the rest of the night, Spike," she whispered, breathing huskily into his ear. "So what do you say? You gonna do something about it?"

The butterflies in his stomach gave way to a warm swelling of heat as he nodded, licking his lips as he leaned forward. Rainbow Dash seemed to watch him inquisitively as he kissed her, a claw raising up to encircle the back of her neck. She then pressed forward, and Spike felt her lips mashing against his own as she grabbed him by the shoulders, leaning almost all of her weight into the kiss.

He let out a surprised murmur as she shoved him back into the chair, nearly knocking him backwards, until she planted her front hooves on his knees, stabilizing him, and he finally parted with her, gasping in surprise.

"Whoa..." he stammered, holding onto her for support.

She looked up in thought, licking her lips as though considering the taste of his own.

"Interesting..." she said to herself, before giving him another sultry smile as she stood back on all fours and gestured with her head towards the bed. "Come on..."

She didn't wait for him to get up, and very nearly dragged him out of the chair and practically tossed him on the unmade bed with an unceremonious fwoomp.

"Ooph..." Spike grunted as he landed on his hindquarters amidst cluttered bed sheets, looking up at her as she crawled onto the mattress with him, immediately pinning him to the bed. Her lips went for his once again, and Spike felt the air leave his lungs as she kissed him even harder than before, gyrating her hips over his own, eliciting a growl of pleasure from his throat.

She was so much more forceful than he'd imagined. Everything from the way her tongue probed his mouth to the way her body pressed against his demanded his full attention. She devoured his lips with such carnivorous intent that it was difficult to remember which of them was predator and which was prey. She was like a force of nature; whatever she wanted, she was determined to get, and he was completely powerless to stop her.

Rainbow Dash parted with him as a trail of smoke drifted upwards from between his lips. She exhaled, and a similar wisp of smoke that she had captured from his mouth escaped her own lips, a self-satisfied smile on her face as she practically purred.

"I always wondered what a dragon tasted like..." she winked deviously as she arched over him.

Spike was looking at her with something close to awe.

"Should I be worried?" he shuddered humorously, not knowing what to do next. This was nothing like anything he'd experienced before.

Rainbow Dash sat up over him, straddling him comfortably as she smiled seductively down at him, her weight sitting delightfully upon his arousal.

"I think you should be quiet..." she grinned as she began tugging down the zipper to her flight suit until it reached the junction between her bottom legs. "If you know what's best for you..."

Spike's face lit up like a Hearts and Hooves day tree as he watched her, and Rainbow Dash smiled widely as he did. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her without clothes on, but somehow, slinking out of the skintight spandex made it all the sexier for it, and she loved every minute of it. She loved how easily she could make him squirm, and every gasp of breath he took was intoxicating to her senses. He may have had his share of experiences in the past, but he hadn't had anything like this before. She was Rainbow Dash, and he was about to find out exactly how much of a difference that made.

"Mmmmmmmmmh..." Spike exhaled as her lips descended past his neckline.

Rainbow Dash slid down the bed, her lips descending across the scales of his chest. They were warm and metallic and clicked as her teeth grazed against them, but the feeling of every little flinch of taught muscle and sinew beneath his scales was turning her on more than she could have ever guessed. Life out in the wilderness, plus three weeks of non-stop training had made him into a lithe, muscular beast, and she could feel every inch of his flesh flexing and reacting to her touch through his scales, and damn it if it wasn't making her feel hot as hell!

Further fueled, she kissed her way down the stretch of his abdomen, until she reached the crux between his legs.

"Ahhhh..." Spike breathed as her hot breath tickled his scales, eyes flickering in elation until they flew open as her mouth neared his tender bits. "W-Wait! Wh-what are you...?"

Then his head flew backwards as he felt her lips envelope him, his whole body stiffening under her touch.

"Nnnnnnnnnnngggg!" he groaned loudly, feeling the warmth of her mouth surrounding his arousal, her tongue gently massaging him from within its wet confines.

This was about the last thing he had been expecting, but damn was it incredible! He could feel her tongue swirling all around him, lolling him back and forth like a lollipop. His claws dug into the bed sheets as she suckled the tip of his throbbing arousal, flicking the tip of her tongue up and down, closing her eyes as she hummed in satisfaction, sending shivers up his spine.

Her eyes opened once again, meeting his gaze with a seductive smile that made his cheeks flush even more. She was toying with him! Teasing him! She knew exactly the effect she was having on him, and she was savoring every moment of helplessness he felt within her grasp. As she traced her tongue along his shaft almost casually, he almost panicked when he realized how near he was to release at that moment.

"W-wait!" he gasped, hips twitching uncontrollably. "S-stop! I'm gonna...!"

She did not relent, and he went into spasms as he came, his voice lost in his throat as he saw stars. Rainbow Dash let him slip out of her mouth just in time, letting his essence spill out across his own chest as she watched in amusement, a single hoof stroking the bottom of his shaft to coax him along until he was finished.

"Awww..." she chuckled playfully, grinning down at him with that same taunting smile of hers. "There you go..."

Spike clenched his eyes in a mixture of pleasure and shame after succumbing so easily and making a mess of himself. He had read about fellatio in some of his comics, but this was the first time any-pony had gone down on him, and he had been completely unprepared for the sensation.

Rainbow Dash reached for the box of tissues by the bed (she did not need to ask what their purpose was), and casually dabbed at his chest.

"A bit too much for you, Spike?" she giggled playfully, teasing him with her words as she wiped his scales clean.

Spike grit his teeth. This was just another power play for her. It always had been. She knew she was more experienced than he was, and she was using it to her full advantage. All she was doing was proving her superiority, and she was getting a kick out of teasing him and toying with him like he was a complete amateur.

Well, he thought grudgingly, let her have her fun. But he had his pride as a dragon, and while she may clearly have had the upper hand, there was no way he was going down without a fight. He may not have been as experienced of the two of them, nor was he the most athletic, but in terms of raw strength, he still had a trick or two up his proverbial sleeve.

"I'll show you 'too much,'" he grinned, before seizing her by the forelegs and rolling her onto her back, shifting himself on top of her and using his body weight to keep her pinned the bed.

"Hey, whoa!" she blurted in surprise, eyes wide as her wings played awkwardly outward beneath her. "What do you think you're doing?"

Spike curled back his upper lip in a wide, mischievous grin as he held both her front hooves down over her head.

"Payback..." he smirked, holding her hooves down with one arm, as another claw began to work its way down her front.

Rainbow Dash' smile widened as her cheeks flushed red. "Well, well, Spike...this is a side of you I certainly haven't seen before..."

He leaned down and snapped his teeth together just beyond her ear, causing her to flinch with a start as his claws teased their way through the soft fur of her underbelly, a low growl emanating from his lips as his tongue darted out to tease the rim of her ear. As his teeth grazed her ear, her eyes fluttered closed as his claws continued their journey down her abdomen.

Rainbow Dash shuddered in excitement. She had been hoping all her teasing would pay off, but she never imagined he'd take charge like this! She probably could have broken out of his grip with a few well-placed kicks if it came down to it, but for now, she didn't struggle, allowing herself to be held down and fondled. She would have been lying if she'd said it didn't drive her absolutely wild, and the more his hot breath tickled her ear, the more his claws fiddled with her the tender flesh of her underbelly, the nearer they drew to the crux between her legs, the more and more excited she got.

"Mmmmm..." she hummed in approval as she felt him tug the zipper of her uniform all the way down past her sex, and then proceed to delve his fingertips between her folds. His claws were long and thick, and he was just forceful enough for it to be sexy but he was just delicate enough not to hurt her. And as her whole body began to shake, she had to admit, the feeling of those claws inside of her was making her feel really, really good.

"Ohhhhh, man!" she exclaimed, biting her lower lip as she clenched her eyes in pleasure, not even trying to free her hooves anymore. "Don't stop, Spike! Just...don't stop!"

He kept clawing her, and her whole body roiled in pleasure as she felt his teeth take a hold of her ear, her hips undulating in response to his tormenting touches. His lips descended to her neckline, and her wingtips quivered. And as he plunged his claws ever deeper inside of her, she let out a cry of ecstasy as she pressed her back hooves to the bed, lifting her hips off the mattress, as wave after wave of pleasure rocked her entire body.

"Oh, Spike, yes!" she wailed, biting her lip as her whole body shook. "Yes!"

He could feel her squeezing his claws from inside of her, and he growled in triumph as he leaned forward to capture her lips in another ferocious kiss which she greedily accepted, mashing her lips into his as if retaliating to a declaration of war.

All the squirming and moaning had made him more than hard enough again, and as she lay prone, gasping for breath, he positioned himself between her legs.

"H-hey," she wheezed, looking down at him. "Hold up a sec..."

He blinked up at her, sobering a little at her protest. "Oh, sorry...did you want to stop here?"

She shook her head, still panting. "No, no...it's just..."

She took a breath, before smiling and wrapping her hind legs around his waist and rolling him onto his back, once again straddling him from on top.

"I think you've been in control long enough!" she crowed, rubbing her wetness against his boy parts as she pinned him back down on the bed.

Spike would have laughed if the switch didn't turn him on so much, and instead he simply placed his claws around her waist and began urging her down to grind against his shaft a little harder, which was an action that she took more than a fair share of pleasure denying him for as long as possible.

"Mmmm..." Spike groaned, wanting nothing more than to be inside her. "Rainbow Dash..."

The blue pegasus grinned in triumph as he said her name, her own body aching for more. "Oh yeah...that's more like it..."

She rewarded him by sliding down upon him, enveloping his shaft with her tight, moist confines. She was in turn rewarded by the sight of his head tilting back in bliss as she began to undulate and gyrate her hips, feeling his mass delving inside of her, delighting at the sensation of his hips jutting up into hers.

"Nnnnng..." she groaned in approval as she bounded up and down over him. "That's good, Spike. That's perfect. Keep doing that..."

Spike obeyed, thrusting his hips upward to plunge into her again and again as Rainbow Dash began to arc her back, her hooves resting on his chest as she clenched her eyes shut.

"Oh my gosh..." she breathed, cheeks red as she rode him hard, her insides on fire as she felt him swelling inside her. "Oh my gosh, Spike! Don't stop!"

Spike looked up at the pegasus as she rolled her hips over his, her walls massaging him as his head fell back in pleasure. His claws dug into her hips as he felt himself growing closer by the moment, his hips thrusting up hard enough to lift her off the bed.

"Rainbow Dash..." he moaned, a trail of smoke escaping his nostrils as he clenched his eyes in ecstasy.

About the time Rainbow Dash threw her head back, her wild mane tossing back as she howled into the night, Spike felt himself succumb to her once more, releasing inside of her as she clamped down upon him, swallowing him up as she fell forward onto his chest, her breaths coming out in loud, panting gasps of air.

"Ahhhhhhhh..." she released a breath, her whole body sweating from exertion, laying on top of Spike's scaly form. "Oh my gosh..."

Spike lay on his back, savoring the moment as he felt his head spinning from a mixture of pleasure and exhaustion. He was practically intoxicated with her, to the point where he doubted he could so much as stand right at that moment.

He never would have dreamed of this night going like this. He had feared that he had stepped on a landmine somewhere down the road, and as a result had ruined his friendship with the mare. Of course, he wasn't sure just what affect this night would have on their friendship either. She had said that she wouldn't let it change anything, but whether or not anything would actually change remained to be seen.

He certainly believed that Rainbow Dash knew what she had been doing when she'd come to him that night. But did he?

When she tugged her Wonderbolts flight suit all the way off, he assumed that was an indication that she was ready for bed.

"Alright, take five..." she said, breathily. "Then we can start round four."

"Wait, what?" Spike blinked in confusion. "You...want to keep going?"

She winked at him as she cracked her neck. "You kidding? I said you had me for the rest of the night, Spike."

She leaned forward and planted a greedy kiss on his lips.

"The whole night..."

Spike gulped. It looked like she wasn't quite done with him yet.

The two of them awoke to the sound of knocking at the door.

It had been a very late night, and the two of them were sleeping off their workout from the night before. It was well after noon that either of their eyes began to flicker open. There was a stirring of motion, a nuzzle here, a kiss there. Spike was sore everywhere and had several bruises under his scales, but Rainbow Dash never felt more limber - all in all, not so different from how their normal training sessions usually went.

Neither had truly woken up, however, until the knocking sounded at Spike's door.

"Spike?" a young sounding voice came from just beyond the door.

Spike and Rainbow's eyes flitted open, and they both exchanged a look. Spike gestured to the door, and then himself, as if to ask whether he should answer or not. Rainbow Dash simply responded with a shrug.

The knocking persisted.

"Spike!" Apple Bloom's voice sounded. "Come on, we know you're in there! We're worried about you!"

Spike winced, a guilty expression on his face, as he looked apologetically at Rainbow Dash.

She sighed and waved him forward, as if telling him to go ahead.

Spike slid out of bed, sliding the covers back over Rainbow Dash, before he tiptoed towards the door. The stealthy approach was mired as he accidentally kicked a can, which skidded across the floor noisily.

"Spike?" Sweetie Bell's voice sounded this time.

He mentally cursed himself as he reached the door, unlocking it and opening it a crack to peek outside to find the Cutie Mark Crusader's expectant faces waiting for him.

"Hey Spike!" Apple Bloom said by way of greeting. "How've you been? We haven't seen you in weeks!"

"Yeah!" Scootaloo stomped her hoof. "We were hoping to see you at Rainbow Dash's party, but you were a no-show! What gives!?"

Spike smiled uneasily. "Oh, uh...sorry guys. Guess I've been a little busy lately."

"Doing what?" Sweetie Bell asked.

Spike scratched his head. "Oh, uh...training, mostly."

Scootaloo's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! Rainbow Dash mentioned that she'd been training you last night."

"Oh..." Spike tried not to blush. "Did she now?"

"Yeah," Sweetie Bell lamented. "But our sisters didn't let us stay for the whole party. It went pretty late."

"Is that so?" he asked, wanly.

"Yeah, we didn't even get to try out my sister's special punch either!" Apple Bloom complained. "Applejack's been all week making that stuff!"

"You don't say..." Spike muttered.

Sweetie Bell raised an eyebrow. "Did we...catch you at a bad time, Spike? You keep glancing back inside like that..."

Spike jerked his head around - he'd hardly even noticed.

"N-no!" he blurted. "Not really! Just...you know...sleeping in."

Apple Bloom smiled widely. "Well, that's no way to spend the day! Why don't you come hang out with us?"

Spike glanced uneasily back inside again. "Uhh...how about later today? I still...need to wash up and everything."

The girls exchanged a suspicious look before nodding.

"Sure," they all collectively agreed.

"We'll be hanging out at the hayburger for the next hour or so," Apple Bloom mentioned. "Meet us there if you can."

Spike smiled companionably, still sweating. "Will do!"

He waved goodbye as the three young mares wandered off down the walkway away from his apartment complex and then shut the door.

"Talk about timing," Rainbow Dash sounded from his bed.

He turned and saw her sitting up, and she watched him as he made his way back to her.

"Tell me about it," he agreed, slipping back under the covers and began massaging Rainbow Dash's shoulders.

She reacted immediately.

"Mmmmmmmmm..." she sighed contently as she melted into his touch. "Ohhhhh, man, you can keep that up forever..."

"I've got to eat sometime," he pointed out without stopping.

"Nnnng...you can learn to do without..." she said out of hand, leaning into his dexterous fingers.

Spike simply laughed and continued rubbing her shoulders, enjoying the moment while he could. With any luck, they'd never leave the bed again that day.

Sadly, the moment was ruined when a muffled, high pitched voice yelled out "Rainbow Dash!?"

Both of them looked up at the one and only window the apartment provided on the wall opposite the door. It wasn't very big, nor did it provide much of a view. But it was still enough for the orange-furred, pink-maned pegasus with her nose pressed against the glass to see what was going on.

"Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash yelped angrily, leaping out of bed towards the window. "What have I told you about spying on me!?"

Scootaloo gasped and recoiled at the mare's approach, flailing her arms before falling backwards, stumbling through some bushes and taking off in a panic.

"I didn't see anything!" she hollered, running like a bat out of Tartarus. "I swear!"

When Rainbow Dash got to the window, she was long gone.

"Darn that girl," she grumbled in irritation. "I'm gonna have to smack some sense into her one of these days..."

Spike looked nervously at Rainbow Dash as she gave him an apologetic smile.

"I, uh..." she muttered in resignation. "I probably better go. Should probably talk to her before she gets the wrong idea."

Spike bit his lip, all his hopes for the day crumbling at her words. He knew getting into this that they would have to part ways soon enough. He just wished it could have lasted longer.

"Heh..." he muttered grudgingly. "I thought Rainbow Dash didn't care what any-pony thought of her or her decisions."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Still, Scootaloo's a good kid. She deserves to know the truth at least."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you going to tell her?"

Rainbow Dash gave him a half smile. She could tell just what he was fishing for.

"That you and I are still just good friends who needed to let off some steam," she said definitively.

Spike nodded, soberly. He had assumed as much, but hearing it still made him uneasy. He was trying really hard not to get too emotionally invested in this - he knew Rainbow Dash well enough to know that nothing would drive her away faster. The worst part, though, was that he didn't think he could deal with not knowing when or where their paths might cross again.

"And do you think these two 'good friends' are going to be letting off steam again any time soon?" he said, not so much tiptoeing around the issue as barreling into it headlong.

She chuckled as she touched a hoof to his chest.

"That, Spike, depends entirely on you..." she said.

He glanced down where her hoof touched him, which she promptly raised and gently bopped his nose, causing him to flinch back a little with a laugh.

"Heh..." he chuckled. "Should have expected something like that."

He watched her leave with a flick of her tail.

"See ya round, Spike," she said as she trotted out the door, before taking off after Scootaloo.

Spitfire raised her glasses as Rainbow Dash stood in front of her desk.

"Is that a no?" she asked, skeptically.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Not exactly. See, I definitely want to be a Wonderbolt. But I can't leave Ponyville either. My job as an element of harmony is too important, and with Princess Twilight's castle being present in town, there's definitely cause for a Wonderbolt presence in Ponyville."

Spitfire scratched her head. No-pony had ever had the audacity to make such a request in lieu of an acceptance into the ranks.

"So you want us to build an entire outpost in Ponyville just so you can stay there?" she asked, incredulously.

"A very small one," Rainbow Dash explained. "Just a way-station, really. Wouldn't need more than a hoof-ful of Wonderbolts there at any given time. You can put me in charge, or directly under some-pony of your choosing. But like I said, my skills will be best served at the side of the Princess, as the element of Loyalty. And there have been enough mishaps centered around Ponyville that the Wonderbolts could do a lot of good if they had wings in Ponyville airspace."

Spitfire pursed her lips as she considered the options. "I don't know, Rainbow Dash. Even a small garrison needs to be built, stocked, and manned - which is still pretty expensive. I like you, and I want to do right by you, but even my pull has limits. I can't go blowing our budget on a project like this just on a whim."

Rainbow Dash was determined. "Don't think of it as a project...think of it as putting a Wonderbolt directly within Princess Twilight's retinue. Think about it - the Princess of Friendship, with a Wonderbolt within her inner circle of closest friends. You could put it on all your banners and adverts - 'The Wonderbolts: Official guard to the Princess of Friendship.' You'd make back every bit you spend within a month, and you'd have recruits out the ears! Plus, you'd have a direct point of contact within Princess Twilight's retinue. Come on, what do you say?"

Spitfire chewed on her lip as she considered this new possibility. Rainbow Dash made a compelling case, she thought. She'd make a great captain one day.

"Those are some excellent points there, Rainbow Dash," she nodded. "Alright, I'll run it by the board of directors. I'll let you know what they say."

Rainbow Dash smiled in self-satisfied triumph. "Awesome!"

"I'm sticking my neck out for you here," Spitfire gave her a wry smile. "Don't make me regret it."

"You won't!" she grinned.

Scootaloo and her friends were giving Spike an odd look as the four of them sat awkwardly around a table at the local hayburger.

"You two did what!?" all three Crusaders bellowed at once.

Spike held his claws up, cringing at the looks they were getting.

"Shhhhh!" he shushed, vehemently. "Not so loud, girls!"

Scootaloo looked incredulous while the other two glanced around, shrinking sheepishly into their seats.

"How long has this been going on?" she demanded in a more hushed tone, otherwise undeterred by his urging. "Rainbow Dash wouldn't give me any details!"

Spike scratched his neck. "Just last night. Uhh...actually, it...was probably kind of a one-time thing..."

"Whoa, whoa, what!?"Scootaloo narrowed her eyebrows, volume increasing again. "Spike, do you mean to tell me that you made a freaking one-night stand out of-"

"Quiet, will you!?" he shushed. "And if you'll just give me a second to explain..."

The other two Crusaders both gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and she calmed down a little.

Scootaloo crossed her arms, unimpressed. "Alright...talk."

Spike did.

After he was done, Scootaloo promptly stood up and turned towards the store counter.

"I need a milkshake..." she said, walking off.

As Spike watched helplessly as she left, the other two Crusaders were left gawking at the dragon.

"Wow..." Apple Bloom blinked. "Who'da thunk it?"

Sweetie Bell gaped at her. "That's all you can think to say!? Shouldn't we...I don't know...do something about this!?"

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Um...excuse me?"

"Like what?" Apple Bloom scoffed. "Rainbow Dash clearly ain't interested in a relationship. What's so hard to believe about that?"

"I don't know..." Sweetie Bell stuttered. "Couldn't we help somehow?"

Spike raised a finger. "Uhh...ladies...?"

"If it wasn't meant to be, then it wasn't meant to be," Apple Bloom shrugged. "No sense fightin' it."

Sweetie Bell clapped her front hooves together. "But what if it's true love!?"

Apple Bloom fixed her with a sardonic stare. "Really? Have you ever even been in love, Sweetie Bell?"

The other mare threw a quick glance in Spike's direction. "Uhh...maybe once or twice..."

Spike blinked, totally confused. "Ummm..."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "If it were true love, they'd be together. Simple as that. You can't force it."

"Yes you can!" Sweetie Bell countered. "We used to do it all the time with magic!"

"Nothin' true about that kind of love," Apple Bloom shook her head, before looking at the dragon in their midst. "Spike, for what it's worth, I'm sorry for letting Scoots spy on you, and I'm sorry things got so complicated between you and Rainbow Dash. We're here if you want to talk."

"Yeah!" Sweetie Bell added. "Or, if you want, we can help come up with a brilliant scheme to get the two of you back together and-"

"Talk," Apple Bloom said pointedly.

Sweetie Bell rolled her eyes. "What? I'm just saying. That spell can't screw things up every time. I mean, statistically-"

She was interrupted by Scootaloo slamming her drink down on the table and sitting back down.

"I guess that goes for me too, then," she sighed in resignation, sipping a chocolate milkshake from a straw. "If that's the kind of pony Rainbow Dash is, then I'm not gonna hold it against her. Or you. So I'm here to talk if you need, Spike."

Spike let out a sigh, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders. "Thanks girls..."

The other two mares smiled, but Scootaloo held up a hoof.

"On the condition..." she added, "That you go talk to Rainbow Dash. Right now."

Spike blinked in surprise. "But...but she could be anywhere by now! I mean-"

"What's she been training you for?" Scootaloo insisted. "You got wings! Use 'em!"

Spike stumbled out of his chair. "R-Right!"

The three mares watched him leave, and sipped their drinks.

"Huh..." Apple Bloom sighed, sitting back in her chair. "Never would have pictured those two hitting it off that well."

"Hmm...maybe with Princess Twilight," Scootaloo shrugged. "But Rainbow Dash? I'm surprised she didn't break him in half!"

"I think Fluttershy would be a nice fit for him," Sweetie Bell said, head in the clouds.

"Nah, she's too skittish," Apple Bloom said dismissively. "Now Pinkie Pie..."

"How could any-pony date Pinkie Pie?" Scootaloo shuddered. "She's too insane!"

"What about your sister?" Sweetie Bell asked Apple Bloom. "AJ's getting to be marrying age."

Sweetie Bell held her hooves over her ears. "Aww, come on, don't even joke about that!"

As Sweetie Bell laughed, Scootaloo elbowed her gently. "What about your sister, Sweetie Bell? We all know he had a crush on Rarity a while ago."

Sweetie Bell just shrugged, sipping her drink. "Ehh...I ship it."

The other two mares just gave her a strange look as she went back to her meal.

Rainbow Dash felt high as a kite as she flew home from the Academy later that day. She did it! She had found the solution that let her stay in Ponyville and let her become a Wonderbolt! After years of putting it off, she had finally managed to reconcile her dreams with her duty, and she felt like a million bucks for having done so.

To think that less than a day ago, she had felt so completely out of it! It seemed that no matter how bad things seemed, if you were strong enough to stick it out long enough, you really could find light at the end of the tunnel. And if you were really good - like Rainbow Dash clearly was - you came out the other end shining like a diamond!

She had won so hard, she just didn't know what to do with herself! Not only had she impressed the Wonderbolt cadets with her skills so much that she had inspired the whole team of trainees to stick to it and put in the effort to join the ranks, not only had she trained a complete and total novice until he was strong enough to nearly beat her in a thousand meter dash, not only had she gotten to celebrate with one of the wildest nights she'd ever had in a long, long while, but she had actually managed to convince the Wonderbolts' captain to grant her greatest wish. And she had done it on her terms!

All this just reinforced what she had known all along - that it was awesome to be her!

The only thing that could make this day even more pleasant would be...

Rainbow Dash skidded to a halt in the air above her cloud house. There, waiting just outside her door, was Spike the dragon.

She smiled in amusement. What was he doing back so soon, she wondered? Back for more already? Was he that hooked on her already? She hoped not - the last thing she wanted was a guy who wouldn't leave her alone. She liked hanging around with the dragon, and he was a damn good lay, but it didn't matter how handsome or charming or good in bed he was, she wasn't about to let any-pony keep her to themselves.

And if Spike didn't get that, then there would be problems.

She glided down to alight upon the clouds that made up the base of her home, giving him a wayward glance. He was walking on clouds as comfortably as though it was the ground now.

"Hey Spike," she smirked, nonchalantly. "Miss me already?"

That's when she noticed the backpack around his shoulders.

"Umm..." he muttered, sliding it off to reach inside. "Actually..."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. This again?

"Oh, come on!" she complained. "We've been over this like a hundred times already, Spike! I don't need that silly comic book!"

"What?" he blinked in surprise, before realization dawned on him. "Oh, no, no, it's not the comic. It's...well, here..."

He pulled out her Wonderbolt uniform, neatly folded up, and offered it to her.

"You...left this at my place," he said, blushing. "I, uh...washed it for you."

She blinked in surprise. She had totally forgotten about the uniform she had left there.

"Oh..." she muttered, taking it back. "Well, thanks. 'Preciate it."

He smiled, blushing slightly. "I, uh...I also spoke to Scootaloo and her friends."

Rainbow Dash could barely contain her laughter. "Hahahaha! And?"

He smirked back at her. "It took some explaining, but they mellowed out after a while. Scootaloo demanded that I speak with you, though."

"Oh really?" she raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

Spike shrugged. "That's the thing - I don't really know. To be honest, I'm kind of flying into unfamiliar territory here. I don't know what's expected of me, or what I'm allowed to do or anything. And it's not like I have the greatest track record either."

Rainbow Dash sighed impatiently, but she supposed she couldn't fault him for being naive.

"Look, it's simple," she said patiently. "I don't really do the whole 'mare-friend/colt-friend' thing. To me, that just seems like a big waste of time and energy. The way I see it, if two ponies - or a pony and a dragon - want something from each other, they should just go for it and get on with their lives. And if one of them decides to move on to some-pony else, then that's fine. No hard feelings."

Spike's blush increased. "What if...one of them wants to do it more than the other?"

Rainbow Dash gave him a snarky smile.

"Then you sit on your tail and wait for me to come to you," she crossed her arms. "It's gotta be on my terms, Spike. Is that gonna be okay with you?"

Spike thought about that for a moment. He was still completely unsure about this, but it's not like he was committing to anything. That was probably for the best - he honestly wasn't sure he wanted to even try to tackle a relationship with any-pony anymore. And while this understanding between him and Rainbow Dash felt completely tenuous to him, at least she had clearly stated exactly what she expected from him.

He was used to being a follower. And while he had left Ponyville distinctly to get away from being a follower, so much time had passed since then and he felt like something familiar might be good for him, even if it was only for a little while.

So he nodded.

"Sure," he smiled. "I think I can manage that."

Rainbow Dash smiled in return. "Good. Anyway, now that that's out of the way..."

She held up the Wonderbolt uniform in one hoof, letting it unfold and hang loose on her foreleg, fixing the dragon with an all too familiar grin.

"What do you say you come inside so I can show this off some more?" she said with a flick of her mane. "I know how much you like the way it looks on me."

Spike's eyes widened. His cheeks had already been red, but they were now a shade of deep crimson.

"Sure..." he nodded. "I think I can definitely manage that..."

Author's Note

Less substance to this chapter, but more content overall. I felt like I spent less time belaboring character's inner musings, especially towards the end, but somehow this chapter turned out just as long as the last one. If any of you prefer shorter chapters, I apologize.

I'm also concerned about pacing. As much as I enjoyed writing this chapter, it felt like I was forcing it out towards the end, so I hope that isn't reflected by the writing.

Twilight Time Redux

My Little Pony Fan Fiction

Spike Through The Heart

By Kraven Ergeist

A/N: Just a disclaimer about ages. In the show, I consider the Mane Six as roughly the equivalent of 16-18 in human terms, while Spike would be closer to 12-14. I'm setting this roughly 4 years after the show, so we can assume that Spike is about the age of consent in this fic.

Chapter One: Twilight Time Redux

Spike could not have been more proud. It had been a long time since Twilight and her friends had saved Equestria from the wrath of Tirek. Years had gone by, more adventures had come and gone, but still the friendship that had bound the six mares representing the elements of harmony had never been stronger.

That said, there were many things that had changed. Twilight and her friends presided as judiciaries of all matters pertaining to the harmony of friendship in Equestria. Mayor Mare still ran things in the town, but whenever an issue came up that she couldn't solve, she could take the matter to Princess Twilight with every confidence that she or her friends would be able to work something out. As news of her position spread, ponies would come to Ponyville from far and wide, seeking the council of Twilight and her friends.

In the wake of Twilight's ascension, a new era of peace and harmony had been cast over Equestria. In the past few years, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had all discovered their cutie marks. New enemies had popped out of the woodwork, but many old enemies and rivals had turned over new leaves, including Trixie, Sunset Shimmer, not to mention Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Even Discord, in whom Twilight's faith had at one time been shaky at best, had earned the trust of all of Ponyville (though Spike was noticing of late the draconequus spending an inordinate amount of time in Canterlot with the Princess).

All this was not all that had changed, however. Spike had gotten older, and noticeably taller, when compared to how he was when his adventures with Twilight had began. While on all fours, he stood eye to eye with Twilight, who had also gained a few inches on her friends. And when he reared up on his hind legs, he practically towered over the entire group, standing almost as tall as Discord himself. While his appetite for gems had grown with his age, since this was his natural growth as a young dragon and not one born of greed, he maintained his command of language as well as his compassion for other creatures.

Living as he was with Twilight in the crystal library (to this day, she patently refused to refer to it by the title of Friendship Rainbow Castle that Celestia had given it), with every book lost from the Golden Oak Library restored through a time spell, he had access to untold numbers of books. As he grew older, Twilight had encouraged him to take up more advanced books in his pastime, such as Huckleberry Hoof, The Great Trotsby and The Thoroughbred of Monte Cristo. While at first, these classics had held little interest to the young dragon, he found himself paying much closer attention when he got about halfway through The Canter in the Rye.

It wouldn't have been so bad if Twilight hadn't insisted on him writing a book report after each book he finished.

"Hmmm..." Twilight mused to herself as she inspected the ink-dotted parchment Spike had handed to her, holding it up to her face with magic.

They were both in the top floor parlor of the crystal library, which Twilight had quickly designated as her personal reading and relaxation lounge. There were windows encircling the entire room, the floor was carpeted with a fuzzy woolen rug, and the floor was littered with soft, silky down throw pillows, ranging in size from the size of Spike's head to the size of an entire mattress pad. The sunlight flooded in from the west, bathing the room in a warm, comforting glow, causing every inch of the room to radiate with heat. It was quite easy to fall asleep in this room, as in fact Twilight had on many occasion.

Twilight had been up there that evening to put some finishing touches on some documents for Mayor Mare - life as a princess seemed to involve a lot more paperwork than she honestly cared for - when Spike had brought up his book report to her. The report had come as a welcome reprieve from the monotony of Ponyville politics; Twilight loved The Canter in the Rye, and she couldn't wait to hear Spike's appraisal of the book.

Spike, for his part, couldn't have looked more awkward if he'd tried. He plainly refused to make eye contact with Twilight during her increasingly frequent glances in his direction, and he couldn't stop pawing at the floor with his bottom foot.

Twilight couldn't help but notice something off - both in Spike's book report and his behavior. Having been her scribe since he was old enough to hold a quill, Spike usually wrote with crisp and neat penmanship. But the paper she was reading read little better than chicken scratch, and while the report clearly indicated he had at least read the book, his analysis of the material when compared to his other reports was remarkably lacking.

As if he had deliberately left out part of the report.

Finally, she cleared her throat.

"This is alright, Spike," she said gently. It was not alright, of course - were she grading it as a school paper, it would barely be worth a B minus. "You've identified the core subject of the story well enough - Foalden's growth into adulthood and departure from innocence. You mention his expulsion, his sister, and his hat, but you don't really get into the how's and the why's of the story. Why is Foalden Plowfield so reluctant to grow up?"

Spike chewed on the inside of his lip as he pondered the question. He was sitting on his hindquarters, resting on a sufficiently sized cushion while Twilight reclined on her side amidst the throw pillows, looking absolutely regal in every way a Princess should. She had even donned a pair of reading glasses; she was not far sighted, not really, but when she was studying at the magic academy, she used to rely on them during all-night study sessions that really taxed her vision, so she didn't have to strain her eyes so much. Mayor Mare must have been giving her an inordinate amount of work for Twilight to feel the need to put them on tonight. But for whatever reason she had done so, there was nothing to be done to temper the sexy librarian look she was inadvertently achieving with her glasses on and her mane tied back.

Spike kept his eyes averted as he fidgeted nervously.

"Uhh..." he stammered, finding his voice. His voice had changed somewhat in his adolescence. It had not yet reached the raspy depths of the great dragons of the mountains, but it was no longer the high pitched voice of a baby dragon either. "Lack of role models?" he offered, helplessly.

Twilight sighed. "Close. More importantly, it was because the role models that he did have were all so terrible. He spends the book trying to find some-pony who will talk to him and listen to his problems, but every-pony he meets has ulterior motives. All of his friends and family, his teachers, cab drivers, the prostitute, the nun...they all wanted something from him. None of them were willing to just sit and listen. And to Foalden, this was..."

Twilight peered at Spike over the brim of her glasses to find his eyes locked on the floor.

"Spike?" she asked, partly in irritation but with honest concern in her voice. "Is something wrong?"

Spike shook his head, red-faced. "N-No, no. I'm listening, Twilight."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, before returning back to her lecture.

"Well, anyway, for Foalden, this was indicative of the superficiality and artificiality of adulthood," she said, evenly. "It only served as evidence to him that growing up would lead him to a life devoid of innocence. Foalden wants to preserve innocence; he can't even bring himself to throw a snowball to mar the pure beauty of the driven snow."

Twilight cracked a sardonic smile.

"Heck, were he a real pony today, he'd be the only colt in Equestria to pay a call-filly not to sleep with him!" she said with a laugh.

She had expected Spike to laugh with her. She knew her sense of humor still needed some work after all these years, but she did find the topic rather amusing. And Spike was clearly uncomfortable with something, and she had hoped the levity might ease the tension a little.

Instead, it had quite the opposite effect. His face went beet red, and his eyes returned to the floor.

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Spike, seriously, what's wrong?" she asked, honest concern and curiosity in her voice. "You only ever get this way when something's bothering you."

The flush in his cheeks did not abate, though he did manage to look up from the floor.

"I, uh..." he stammered, helplessly. "I'm just not really...comfortable talking about...you know..."

Comprehension dawning, Twilight raised an amused eyebrow. "Talking about sex?"

Spike's eyes returned to the floor. "Uh...yeah..."

Twilight sighed in sympathy. A few years ago, she would have been just as uncomfortable with the subject. She had actually managed to convince her dad and her brother to explain the birds and the bees to Spike to spare herself the embarrassment. As she had gotten older and more experienced, however, those insecurities had eventually evaporated, and now it was just another part of life.

"You don't have to be uncomfortable talking about stuff like that to me, Spike," Twilight offered sweetly. "I mean, come on, how long have we known each other?"

Spike idly scratched at the scales on the back of his neck. "That...doesn't really make it any easier, Twilight."

Twilight frowned. "Why not, Spike? Don't you trust me?"

Spike furrowed his brow. "Of course I trust you."

"Then why is it so hard for you to talk to me about this?" she asked, earnestly.

"Look, it's just hard to talk to such a pretty mare about this stuff, alright?" Spike blurted without thinking.

Twilight was about to refute him, but the full meaning of what he'd said sunk in, and she found herself at a loss for words.

"Oh...well, I..." she stammered, before blinking in confusion. "You...what?"

Spike gulped and looked away, suddenly wishing he had chosen his words more carefully. "Uh...I mean, uh..."

Twilight was still mentally processing what she'd just heard.

"You...wait, you...really think I'm that pretty, Spike?" she asked, almost in disbelief.

It did not seem like it should have been possible, but somehow Spike managed to blush even harder.

"Well, yeah..." he stammered in a halting voice. "I mean, I've always..."

He clamped his claws over his mouth before he could say anymore.

"Uhhh..." he blurted, a little too late. "What I mean is..."

Twilight was practically speechless. In all the years they had been living together, not once - not once - had she considered the possibility that Spike might see her like that. The thought hadn't even occurred to her. She had practically raised him since the day he had hatched, and he had become such an integral part of her life, that she had never even thought to look at him as anything other than Spike.

It's not that he wasn't a caring and devoted guy, and she'd be lying if she said that she didn't find him cute, but he wasn't supposed to see her like that! He wasn't supposed to blush like that whenever the subject of carnal romance came up! He wasn't supposed to grow up and stop being that baby dragon she had known since she was a filly. He was Spike, and he was supposed to stay that way. Not a growing young dragon with carnal desires of his own - just Spike.

But now...

He was growing. Whether she wanted him to or not. And she was a fool for thinking that he would stay a baby forever, or that she had any right to expect him to not to change just for her sake. No, for however much she wished to keep thinking of him as that innocent baby dragon she had grown up with, the fact remained that Spike was growing - had grown, in fact, the more she thought about it. He had practically sprouted up right under her nose without her even realizing it. And before she even knew it, he was reading more, getting smarter, getting taller, and slowly but surely growing up into a handsome young dragon, and...

Dear Celestia, was she blushing too? Twilight quickly turned away to hide her embarrassment.

"That..." she squeaked, before clearing her voice to speak more evenly. "I think that's enough talk about your book report today, Spike. Good job. I, uh...I should really be getting back to work here..."

Spike hesitated. He was reluctant to leave the conversation there, but at the same time, he was utterly relieved at the thought of being permitted to leave.

"Are...are you sure?" he muttered uneasily.

Twilight had already found the paperwork Mayor Mare had left for her, and was hard at work, keeping her nose thoroughly buried in documents.

"Yes, yes, I'm quite sure, Spike," she said, a little too quickly. "Why don't you get started on your next book?"

Spike looked defeated. "Of Mice and Mares?"

"Yes, yes, that one," Twilight said impatiently, still not looking at him.

A frown on his face, Spike wandered back down the crystal stairs, wondering how he could have handled that better. Clearly he had upset Twilight, and all because of his stupid hormones. He wondered if he should just give up on trying to impress mares entirely. He hadn't made any progress with Rarity over the years - in fact, ever since her business had reached national fame, stallions had been courting her from all corners of Equestria, all of them handsome and successful, and could offer her so much more than he could. He had all but given up on the prospect of a special some-pony then and there, but his stupid brain had of course refused to quit thinking about it. And then Twilight had to assign him these stupid book assignments and...

No, he chided himself. He couldn't blame Twilight for this. She was just looking out for his best interests. He was the one who stepped out of line by bringing up his personal issues. What right did he have to burden his guardian, his princess, his best friend with these petty troubles? She had more important things to do then attend to his insecurities as a young male dragon, and he should be expected to be able to keep it together, at least around her.

But by Celestia, she had looked so beautiful, languidly lounging up there in the sun! These past few years, he had started noticing mares left and right. He supposed it was just part of the territory of growing up. Night Light and Shining Armor had told him he would start to see females all around him in a different light (that had been one of the most awkward conversations of his life). And it was true - after he had managed to tear his gaze away from Rarity for two seconds, every mare he laid eyes on started looking more and more attractive to him. Applejack with her down-to-earth appearance and strong, protective nature; Fluttershy with her adorable, waif-like demeanor and her soft green eyes; Pinkie Pie and her boundless energy and infectious smile; Rainbow Dash and all her spunk and poise and attitude...

And of course Twilight, who simply radiated warmth and reassurance whenever she entered a room.

Though they were all his friends, and he cared for each of them individually, it was difficult and awkward and downright embarrassing at times when he caught himself wondering just how flexible an athlete Rainbow Dash really was, or how strong Applejack's legs might actually be, or just how much dexterity Pinkie Pie had with her tongue...

Spike shook his head, reeling his thoughts in yet again. No, he thought. None of them would ever want him. He wasn't some dashing stallion or even a particularly impressive dragon; he was just Spike. And he would only ever be Spike in their eyes. Nothing more, and nothing less.

So, in resignation, he returned to his room (the library was big enough that he had his own room now), to get started on his next book.

Twilight, meanwhile, was stressing out so much that she couldn't even finish her paperwork.

What was wrong with her!? Why was she making such a big deal out of all this? It was just Spike growing up! No big deal! She knew it was going to happen eventually, didn't she? Well, the part where he'd suddenly start blushing around her was unexpected, but that was because she hadn't expected him to look at her like that! It would just take some getting used to, and then things would just go back to normal, right? This was all just a phase he was going through, and it would pass with time, right.

Not likely anytime soon, she thought to herself, as she paced across the parlor. The sun was beginning to set, and it would be nightfall soon. Mayor Mare expected her reports in the morning, but Twilight just couldn't concentrate. She was just too wrapped up, thinking about all those times she had been candid with the young dragon, been open with her thoughts and feelings, and how he must have been interpreting her; how she must have sounded to him. Celestia's sake, there must have been times where she must have sounded like a complete fool!

And as she thought back to all the awkward glances he had received from him, which she had written off as mere childishness, and she was struck with a startling realization that he could have been looking at her like that for years now! How had she been so unaware of him for so long?

She couldn't think straight! She had to talk to some-pony before she blew her top!

With a quick spell, she flung open one of the parlor windows and took off into the night, flying as fast as she could for Canterlot. Ordinarily, she would have just sent a letter, but that would have gotten Spike involved, and she just couldn't face him right then. No, for this, she needed to talk to Celestia face to face.

She arrived in Canterlot just as the sun finished setting. She saw Princess Celestria, standing on the balcony of the top most castle tower, as she gently lowered the sun below the horizon. Twilight flitted up over the balcony, before gliding easily downward, alighting with a gentle clip-clop on the marble floor. She spared a moment to reflect on how far she had come in her flight training, before trotting forward towards the princess, stopping to incline her head respectfully.

"My dear Princess Twilight," Celestia said gracefully as she opened her eyes from her sun spell. "What a pleasant surprise. What brings you to Canterlot at such an hour?"

Twilight lifted her head, concern evident on her face. "Princess Celestia," she said, somewhat out of breath from her hurried flight. "I'm sorry for showing up unannounced, but I have need of your counsel."

Celestia nodded her head. "Of course, Princess Twilight. Come inside - I was just about to prepare tea."

Twilight sighed with relief. The Princess always seemed to know just what to say to help her put things in perspective. And tea sounded like just what she needed right now.

As she entered the royal stateroom, Twilight caught a glimpse through the far window of Princess Luna rising into the air as she slowly brought up the moon. Waxing gibbous tonight, she noticed; it would be a full moon in another week or so.

There was a kettle held over a fire burning at the hearth of the stateroom, and a set of ornate looking silk couches surrounding a wide lacquered coffee table, where a white ceramic teapot, sugar bowl, creamer and a single cup and saucer sat. She watched as Celestia brought over a second cup and saucer from a cabinet by the stairs with her magic and set it on the table with the teapot, as at the same time, she used her magic to lift the kettle from the fire and gingerly pour its steaming contents into the teapot. Twilight remarked at the ease and fluidity with which Celestia used her magic to do even the simplest tasks, having evidently done this thousands of times, and it became all the more clear, even with so subtle an act, that Celestia and Luna had at one time together been capable of holding all the six Elements of Harmony themselves.

A strainer of tea leaves must have already been waiting in the teapot, as the scent of steeping tea began to reach Twilight's nostrils, and she allowed herself to breath a little more deeply than before.

Celestia smiled as Twilight approached the steaming teapot.

"It seems that the stress of being a Princess has once again brought you to my stoop, my dear Twilight," she said with a smile as she poured their tea. "You still take it with cream and two sugars?"

Twilight nodded as she sat the couch, unconsciously keeping herself poised, in spite of their shared history. As a Princess, Twilight had been teaching herself to keep herself composed at all times. Whereas in the days before her ascension, her mannerisms had not reflected her regality, and those not in the know had not seen her for the Princess she was. Now, the way she held herself, the way she strode, even the way she spoke while in public had all been refined to sound more regal and authoritarian. She had to remind herself to turn her Princess mode off from time to time now, as she did with her friends, with Celestia, and with Spike.

She gulped as she remembered what had brought her here, and how difficult it would be to even relay her concerns to her Princess without embarrassing herself.

"So tell me..." Celestia said, as she plunked four sugar cubes in her own teacup after serving Twilight her own. "What ails you this evening, Princess Twilight?"

Twilight took a grateful sip of tea, before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Actually, Princess Celestia, the trouble I'm having has nothing to do with my role as a Princess," she admitted remorsefully. "It hits me somewhat closer to home."

Celestia's eyebrows rose. "Oh? Do tell me."

Twilight sighed again as she briefly recounted the events of that afternoon, and what had suddenly occurred to her by Spike's revelation.

"I know that, somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that Spike was a boy who would have boy feelings," Twilight said, realizing how silly this all must sound to the Princess. "I just...never expected those feelings would ever be directed towards me. And I don't know what to do about it."

She was half expecting Celestia to laugh out loud at the situation. Objectively, she knew just how irrational she was being about all this, but she was hoping that the Princess would at least be able to see her side of the situation. Then again, being a Princess, she had an uncommon gift for seeing things in a truly objective manner. Either way, she hoped the Princess would at least be able to help her.

"Have you tried taking it as a compliment and moving on?" Celestia asked, not smugly, but very close to it.

Twilight tried not to roll her eyes. It wasn't a laugh, but it was almost as bad.

"Of course, I know that's what I should be doing," she admitted. "I shouldn't be making such a big deal out of this. But I'm finding myself so inexplicably preoccupied with this whole situation, and I can't even understand why! And it's driving me nuts!"

This time, Celestia did let out a small chuckle, and Twilight had to control her temper not to let her agitation show.

"Wh-what's so funny?" she asked, almost angrily.

Celestia's smile was just shy of obnoxious.

"Have you considered the possibility, Twilight..." she began, in a slow, deliberate tone "That maybe, out of the two of you, Spike isn't the only one who may have feelings for the other?"

Twilight's eyes widened substantially.

"M-Me!?" she demanded, flabbergasted. "Interested in Spike?"

Celestia took a sip from her tea. "It was just a question, Twilight..."

Twilight's face was beet-red. "W-Well, it's a ridiculous question! How could I have feelings for Spike? We practically grew up together!"

Celestia took a deep breath. "Only you can answer that question, Twilight...but I think you're on the right track at least."

Twilight barely heard her. The idea that Spike would have any interest in her was preposterous enough, but that she would reciprocate those feelings? Absurd! He was like a brother to her! Well...maybe not like a brother, but a really close friend! Even though he was really a lot closer to her than her other Pony friends. But he was nothing like the colts and stallions that she had always pictured herself falling in love with and marrying one day. He was just...Spike.

But then...she had to admit that, even discounting all this nonsense about who thought who was pretty, he was not the same Spike that she had known as a young mare when she moved to Ponyville. In a few short years, he had gotten older, taller, smarter, and yes, definitely cuter. But he was still Spike on the inside.

Still the same kind, adorable, dependable, compassionate, trustworthy and loyal Spike.

And she had turned him away without a second thought.

Twilight quickly finished off her tea.

"I...I should let you get back to your duties, Princess," she said politely, as she rose from her seat. "Thank you for your counsel."

Princess Celestia inclined her head. "The pleasure has been mine, Princess Twilight."

Twilight hurried over to the balcony and took to the sky with a flap of her wings, making a beeline for Ponyville.

Spike was lying in his bed, flipping through the pages of Of Mice and Mares, until he realized that while his eyes had scanned every letter on the previous page, his mind had not absorbed a word of it. Frustrated, he turned the pages back to the last thought he could recall, and continued from there, only to find that his mind eventually started drifting again, and he slammed the book shut in frustration.

For Celestia's sake, how could he have screwed up so badly? He may very well have ruined his friendship with the most important pony in the world to him, and all because he couldn't stop his stupid teenage hormones from fixating on the way her coat shone in the late afternoon sun, the glimmer in her eyes every time she looked his way, the soft, supple curve of her flank as she...

"Rrrrgh!" Spike groaned in frustration as he struck his fists into his pillow, causing the book on his bed to bounce.

What was wrong with him!?

"Spike?" came a concerned voice from outside his door. "Is everything alright?"

Twilight!

Spike sat bolt upright, his blood running cold. He hadn't even heard her walking by.

"E-everything's fine, Twilight!" he blurted, feeling guilty for thinking such lurid thoughts.

"Oh..." she said through the door, sounding unsure. "Well, um...may I come in?"

Spike's heart was in his throat. He knew there would be recompense for his behavior that day, but he didn't think it would happen so soon!

"Ummm..." he muttered, sweating profusely. "Sure, I guess..."

The door to Spike's room swung open as Twilight used her magic to turn the door handle. Two years ago, he had officially outgrown his basket bed in Twilight's room, and she had decided that instead of simply building him a bigger basket, that it was high time for him to get his own room. He had been of mixed feelings about the arrangement, having grown up sleeping in the same room as Twilight, but after she had cleared out one of the crystal library's studies and he had been given go ahead to decorate the room however he wished, he quickly warmed up to the idea. The entire room was filled with comic books, posters and action figures of everything from Power Ponies to Star Trot to Supercolt. His bed was perpetually unmade, and the floor was littered with all kinds of toys and uneaten snacks, and the whole room looked and felt very boyish.

As Twilight entered, out of habit, she used her magic to clear a path to the bed, picking up toys and comic books and magazines and placing them in an orderly fashion on the shelves lining the wall. For months, she had tried getting him to clean up after himself, but eventually she had given up the battle and resigned herself to simply picking up after him herself every so often in hopes that he would get the message. At this point in time, his untidiness was about the furthest thing from her mind however, and the action simply served to further delay the inevitable purpose of her being there.

Spike was sitting with his knees tucked up to his chest, and he had a guilty expression on his face, which made Twilight feel even worse about the situation. The poor guy probably thought he was in trouble, the way she had been behaving. She couldn't let this misunderstanding come between them. She had to resolve this now.

"Listen, Spike..." she muttered as she sat down beside him on the bed. "I wanted to apologize for how I acted today."

Spike looked up from his bedspread, looking genuinely confused.

"What are you apologizing for?" he asked. "I'm the one who was out of line."

Twilight shook her head, causing her mane to sway back and forth.

"I'll admit, it was...a little bit awkward for me," she blushed, thinking back to that moment in the parlor.

Even know, his gaze was difficult to maintain. His dragon eyes, once adorable in a manner that commanded maternal affection now seemed to be commanding an entirely different emotion.

"But you didn't say anything wrong," she assured him, blushing a little herself. "Not really."

Spike blinked, now looking totally confused. "Oh..."

Twilight chewed on her lip, worried that she may not have made herself clear enough, and still feeling an uneasiness between them. And as much as she wanted to clear up that uneasiness, the words that escaped her lips, she knew, would only serve to make things worse.

Still, she had to know.

"Do you...really think I'm pretty, Spike?" she asked, surprised at how hopeful she sounded.

Listen to her! She sounded like a school-filly out of high school! You'd think no pony had ever called her pretty before! Though, now that she thought about it...no pony really had, at least no pony she would have cared to hear it from. Ever since she had become a Princess and inherited a castle of her own, she had been no stranger to suitors courting her for her favor, but she had dismissed most of those out of hand (thanks to Rarity's caution) as attempts at currying favor within Canterlot. She had been dismissive of the notion at first, but the experiences had taught her over time to never take compliments at face value anymore. She could honestly say that she couldn't think of anypony who would pursue her just for her anymore.

Was that why Spike's admiration had been so unexpected? Or perhaps it was that the more she thought about it, the more she found that she didn't mind the idea of him admiring her so much? And the fact that she was reacting this way was cause enough for alarm in and of itself!

Spike, meanwhile, had started blushing anew at the query. She could tell he was struggling with the question, and she felt bad about putting him on the spot yet again, but she would much rather yank the bandage off quickly than linger on the process.

"That's not..." he stammered, but the thought died on his tongue at Twilight's insistent gaze, and he started again. "I mean, yes...but it doesn't matter."

Twilight blinked, confused. "What do you mean, it doesn't matter? It matters to me, Spike."

Spike turned away, a look of shame on his face.

"What I mean is..." he stammered, halting over his words. "What I mean is...you're Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Wh-what?" she blurted in response.

Twilight was taken aback. Spike had never been intimidated by her role as a Princess before. Had he? If he had, then he had been hiding it fairly well. Did he honestly see her role as a Princess putting that much distance between them?

"What does that have to do with anything?" she demanded, her face filled with confusion. "I'm still me, Spike!"

"I know that, Twilight..." he shook his head. "But that's not the point."

"Then what is?" Twilight demanded.

He gave her a sullen look. "The point is that you're an amazing mare. And you deserve the adoration of a prince or a knight or a great hero or something...not someone like me."

Twilight looked crestfallen. Did he actually think that way?

"Spike..." she sighed in an admonishing tone.

"It doesn't matter what a lowly dragon like me thinks," he muttered, hanging his head. "I'm not a prince, I'm not a knight, and I'm not a hero. I'm just...Spike."

Twilight had had enough. She had enough experience with friends who saw themselves as less than what they were, and she was not about to see Spike fall into that same hole. She took his paw between her hooves and looked him dead in the eye.

"But Spike...you are a hero!" she exclaimed, putting every bit of sincerity into her voice as she could.

Spike blushed at her touch, but seemed unmoved by her words.

"Maybe to the Crystal Empire," he allowed, almost grudgingly. "Not to you."

Twilight shook her head in refusal. "Spike, that's ridiculous! No pony thinks you're a hero more than I do!"

He turned his eyes up to her, giving her a defiant look that actually shocked her.

"Oh yeah?" he demanded, looking like he was on the verge of tears. "Then prove it."

Twilight was dumbstruck. She had never seen Spike this...what, rebellious? Demanding? She wasn't sure where any of this was coming from, much less how to react to it. Prove it? Prove what? That she thought he was a hero? How was she supposed to do that? He had already saved an entire empire, and helped her and her friends save Equestria multiple times! What more did he want? And why did he seem to want it from her, of all ponies? What could she do to convince him how incredible he was? How could she make him see what a kind-hearted, thoughtful and caring young dragon he was, and how rare a thing that was to find!?

Even amongst colts her own age, it was difficult to find any pony who compared! Did he seriously not have any notion for how singularly spectacular he was? For Celestia's sake, how could he be so down on himself? If even half of the stallions who had come calling after the initial hype of her ascendance had been as well-mannered, considerate and compassionate as he was, than she would be...well, she would probably be taken already!

But they hadn't been! Not by a long shot! Spike stood head and shoulders over all of them, and he hadn't even been that tall at the time! And now? Now, not only was he still the same sweet and gentle dragon as before, but he had grown so much since then! He was smarter, stronger, taller and braver than ever before, and he was only getting more-so by the day!

And despite how little care went into keeping his room clean, he always kept his own scales so meticulously polished that they practically shimmered in the light. Spike was a dazzle to behold, she realized with sudden clarity. When before she had only seen the baby dragon, his compliment had lifted that veil of innocence, allowing her to see him as he truly was. And it was clear to her that Spike had indeed descended from a race of beings known historically for their vanity, but never before did she appreciate just how right they were to be so vain until now.

No matter how she looked at it, Spike had it all. Looks, manners, a kind heart. So why? Why did he not see all that? Why couldn't he see what she saw? And how in Celestia's name was she supposed to make him see it?

The answer surprised both of them.

Spike's eyes flew open as the young mare leaned towards him and pressed her lips against his own, causing his whole body to stiffen in stunned silence as she kissed him. Spike was dumbstruck! He hadn't dared, hoped or dreamed of Twilight doing anything like this! He had just spent the entire evening trying to separate the thought of Twilight from anything and everything even remotely like this! This was all wrong! Twilight wasn't supposed to be kissing him like this! Not while he was so vulnerable! Not while he needed it so badly! Not while he wanted so desperately to kiss her back!

Before he could think to do so, however, her lips parted from his. Her eyes were closed, and when she opened them, she looked about as confused as he was.

Spike's mouth hung open dumbly, and he stared blankly at her in utter disbelief.

"Wh...what just happened?" he asked in stupefaction, red-faced.

His words seemed to bring Twilight back to the present, and she too suddenly blushed uneasily. What the heck was she thinking!? This was just going to make things worse! This was Spike here! What could have possibly possessed her to think kissing him would solve anything!?

"That's...commonly referred to as a kiss..." she explained matter-of-factually as she peeked at him from beneath her mane.

Spike pursed his lips. Her know-it-all attitude could be so aggravating sometimes.

"Well...I know that," he groaned. "But what did it mean, exactly?"

Twilight blushed even more, looking away, resignation in her voice. "Well...what do you want it to mean?"

Spike blinked. What did he want it to mean? Princess Twilight Sparkle was in his bedroom, well after dusk, and kissing him full on the lips! What did she think he wanted it to mean!?

"It..." he stammered, schooling his mouth not to say something foolish. "It feels like you just kissed me to make me feel better, not because you wanted to."

Twilight, still blushing, gave him a challenging look. "Of course I-!"

She stopped herself halfway through the thought, and recomposed herself.

"Look..." she said, feigning calm as she looked away. "Can't it be enough that I kissed you to make you feel better?"

Spike wondered if he had overstepped his bounds. Twilight Sparkle had just kissed him; he shouldn't be looking a gift pony in the mouth, so to speak. But his foolish heart would not let this go. If she had kissed him merely as a gesture of pity, then that made it the worst thing she could have possibly done to him! Here he was, stewing in unfettered feelings and emotions running rampant. A kiss from the object of his affections was like to send his heart plunging over the edge! For Spike, that kiss mattered! It mattered so much to him, because it represented the opportunity for so much more!

But if it had simply been done out of pity? A token, worth little more than a pat on the shoulder, something to keep him from making a fuss like a troubled child? No...no, that would not do. His heart demanded more than mere consolation. He would not be brushed aside like that. Not again. He was done being Spike, the baby dragon, who all the grownups had to step around and make amends for. He wanted this for himself, and he was done being pandered to like a child.

"No," he said simply, the green in his eyes brooking no argument. "I want you to kiss me because you want to."

Twilight's face lit up like a Hearths and Hooves Day tree! Was he seriously asking her what she thought he was asking her!? And the way he had said it, and the intensity in his eyes while saying it...sweet Celestia, her heart was pounding at the thought of it! This was no innocent request for affirmation or solace. This was hunger, unyielding and unfettered, restrained only by the goodness of his heart. Only then did Twilight comprehend any notion of just how much Spike wanted her in that moment. Those eyes that had languished over her in the parlor that afternoon were not the contrite eyes of a child...they were of a dragon, savoring the taste of warm flesh. The thought of Spike looking at her with such eyes...that such thoughts of her would pervade his mind like that...the realization completely took her breath away!

And by Celestia, she was loving it.

She plunged forward, momentarily uninhibited by embarrassment, as her lips found his once again. He closed his eyes as she descended on him, but this time, he kissed her back, his claws coming up to encircle her cheeks, pressing his lips back against her with a ferocity that she hadn't known he possessed. It was all a little frightening. And very, very exciting.

She parted with him once again, far before she would have liked to, for lack of air and lack of any idea what she was doing.

"There..." she said, breathlessly, cheeks flushed as she gasped for air. "Are you happy now?"

Spike was similarly oxygen deprived, but his breaths were coming out as wisps of hot smoke, his nostrils flaring aggressively. His pupils had dilated and Twilight's heart skipped a beat as she thought she heard something akin to a growl escape his lips.

He wanted more.

He was upon her yet again, wrapping his claws around her neck and waist, the hot smoke on his breath filling her nostrils with a musky scent that turned her legs into jelly. Twilight let out a strangled moan as he kissed her insistently, her wings flapping in a panicked response. His claws dug into her flank as she squirmed - it was painful, but somehow she didn't seem to care.

"Mmmh!" she grunted, her cheeks bright pink as she managed to pry her lips from his once again. "Ah! I'll, uh...take that as a yes...?

He was on her again, and Twilight felt more and more control slipping away from her as he kissed her greedily, his claws raking across her unprotected flank, eliciting another gasp from her lips. By the stars, he was kissing her! Spike - her Spike - was kissing her! And what was worse, she was actually enjoying it!

Dear Celestia, if she didn't stop this soon...

"Spike!" she squeaked, pulling away for another breath as she slid off the mattress and onto her hooves, ruffling her feathers and gasping for breath.

Spike stared back at her with a worried look in his eyes, fearing that he had hurt her. "I-I'm sorry!"

Twilight didn't respond. Couldn't. Sweet Celestia, that was intense! His claws on her back, his hot breath against her skin, the ferocity of his lips, his piercing green eyes...she was practically shivering from the sensations! She had never felt this way around any-pony or anyone else ever before! This was all so new and exciting, and she was anxious - for various reasons - to experiment further.

But she was also terrified about what it would mean if she did.

"Look, uh...it's getting late!" Twilight hurried blurted out, looking in every direction but towards him, not even believing her own excuse. "I should, uh...I really should get going..."

She quickly turned towards the door before she could see the face that Spike was giving her, before she could change her mind. She could still feel the fire of his lips on her own, the dull throbbing of the welts his claws had left on her flank, and it was everything she could do not to turn right back around and pounce on him.

"Wait!" Spike cried out in a panicked voice. "Twilight!"

She knew it was a mistake to turn around and look at him. She knew exactly the expression he would be making. She knew what power those eyes of his would have on her, what seeing those eyes would do to her.

She did it anyway.

And the expression on his face nearly broke her. The ache, the need, the longing in those eyes of his...it was almost too much for her to bear!

"Don't go..." he asked her in a soft, insistent voice. "Stay with me..."

Twilight's face flushed red. She wanted to. By the moon and stars above, she wanted to! Already she could feel her insides churning at the thought of what he intended to do to her, and Celestia save her, it had been so long!

"Spike, I..." she muttered helplessly, eyes lingering on the floor of his room, fidgeting vehemently. "I...I just don't know..."

"I don't know either, Twilight..." Spike said, getting to his feet and stepping over to her. "But I really want to find out."

He reached up to place a single delicate claw on her cheek.

She did not shy away.

"Please...don't leave before I even have a chance to figure out what this is..." Spike whispered.

Twilight closed her eyes. This was a mistake. She knew this was a mistake.

But for the love of Celestia, she just didn't care.

"Oh Spike..." she whispered, before practically diving into his arms, sending the two of them crashing onto the bed. Before, he had been the aggressor, but now Twilight had dealt with enough of his taunting eyes and heated kisses that she was done pretending to be the sensible, responsible one, and planted him on his back to straddle his waist as she mashed her lips into his.

Spike did not fight back, letting her have his way with him, opening his mouth at her insistence to welcome her probing tongue, feeling the warmth of her body over the scales of his belly. Wanting nothing more than to touch her everywhere, his claws wrapped around her neck and her back to tangle themselves amidst her loose, violet mane, his other gliding down her back to grab hold of her flank, causing her to suddenly flap her wings in excitement.

"Ahhhhh...!" Twilight gasped in a quaking breath, breaking the kiss to tilt her head back in elation.

Spike eased his grip on her rump.

"Sorry..." he stammered nervously, not wanting to hurt her.

"No, don't..." Twilight shook her head, losing the sentence in a gasping breath. "Don't stop. It's okay. Keep...keep going..."

The quavering in the mare's voice re-sparked the carnal desire in Spike's loins and he seized her mane to tug her head back even farther, allowing him access to her neckline as his claws found their way around her flank once again. In truth, he had no idea what he was doing, most of his knowledge coming from whatever he read in those adult comics that Twilight didn't want him to read. But whatever he was doing, it seemed to be working, as Twilight clenched her eyes shut as his lips and tongue found their way across her neckline.

"Ahhhhhhh!" she wailed, her whole body quavering. "Oh, Spike! Ohhhhhhh!"

Sweet Celestia, how was he doing this? Surely he wasn't experienced enough to be making her feel this turned on, could he? Was it just because he was a dragon, or had Spike been secretly getting lessons behind her back somewhere? She made a mental note to find out how, but quickly forgot about it when she felt his claws sink into her flank once again, and her legs were jelly once more.

The heat between her legs was growing steadily, and Spike could feel her warmth against his abdomen, her moist flower rubbing against the sheath between his legs. When he felt her flesh around his own, he let out a growl of pleasure, his claws digging more insistently into her flank, which in turn she responded to by arching her back, wings standing upright.

Twilight could feel his arousal beneath her, and let herself descend upon him, letting his girth fill her. Her mouth hung open at the sensation, her marehood flaring in response to the dragon's shaft. Eyes closed in delight, she planted both hooves on the mattress as she pressed herself down as far as she could go, welcoming him into her, feeling like she had been waiting for this her whole life.

She didn't know if this was the right thing to do, and right then, she didn't care. But damn it all to Tartarus, she needed this more than anything right at that moment, and by Celestia, she would have it!

What she hadn't counted on was what Spike would do next.

Twilight's pleasure was momentarily interrupted as the dragon gently slid her off of him, letting her flop onto her side as Spike sat up quite suddenly.

"Wh-what...?" Twilight stammered, somewhat dizzy from her joyride. "Spike...? What are you...?"

Spike didn't answer. Instead, he got onto his knees and gently rolled Twilight onto her haunches, positioning himself behind her, a carnivorous look in his eye.

Evidently, he was tired on being on the bottom.

Twilight blinked in realization of what he intended, and blushing, lifted her flank up to be level with his hips, which he eagerly accepted with both claws clasping her by the rump.

"Ahhh!" she gasped in response, her tail lifting almost instinctively as she glanced back at him, completely red-faced. "G-go easy on me Spike..."

He nodded once, a comforting smile on his face, as he gently teased her entrance with the tip of his shaft. Twilight bit her lip as he slowly penetrated her entrance, inch by tremulous inch, until he was entirely buried inside of her.

"Nnnng-ahhhhhh!" Twilight quavered, her front legs giving out from under her as she rested her chest against Spike's messy, unmade bed as he began to slowly move around inside her. He began to finally thrust, and she clamped her teeth down on the bedsheets, her wings fluttering in alarm as his movements sent waves of pleasure running through her entire body.

"Mmmmmh!" she moaned through the sheets, burying her face in the mattress to muffle her voice as her cries of pleasure began escaping unbidden with increasing volume. "Mmmmmmmh! Mmmmmmmmmmmmh! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmh!"

Dear Celestia, she was losing her mind! With every thrust, Spike drove her closer and closer to the edge! She could feel a hot fire building up inside of her, and every time Spike so much as moved, the flame got hotter. Then, as she felt herself pushed just to the peak of the precipice, she felt a sudden yank on her mane, forcing her head back up, the sheet still clenched between her teeth as Spike's own tremulous breath tickled her ear.

"Rrrrrrrrgh...Twilight!" he managed through a breath of hot growling, shoving himself into her with all his might.

Twilight could not contain the scream that escaped her throat as she came that night, nor could she do anything about the sudden burst of magic from her horn that knocked over several bookshelves and a chair as she did. She felt the heat from Spike's fiery breath on her neck, and an even greater swelling of heat between her legs as he released, claws gripping her possessively and greedily as his face contorted in the throes of an agonizing climax.

Twilight felt Spike's limber form slacken around her, though the need with which his claws entrapped her did not abate. She didn't mind. She craned her neck around to plant an insistent kiss on his lips, which he was only too happy to reciprocate.

Twilight finally found her voice again after several more minutes of gasping.

"Dear Celestia..." she exhaled, sweat shimmering on her coat. "That was...I mean...that was just...wow..."

Spike was equally breathless, his panting breaths still coming out in hot smoky wisps.

"I...I dunno how I feel about...telling Princess Celestia about this...just yet..." he stammered with a playful smile on his face.

"Oh, Spike..." Twilight laughed, turning around completely to throw her front legs around him and kiss him full on the lips. "You know what I mean! Where in Equestria did you learn how to do that?"

Spike smiled cheekily. "Must be those dragon instincts kicking in. That was my first time doing anything like that."

Twilight blinked at him in surprise, sweat still glistening her cheeks. "Are you serious?"

Spike bit his lip, looking down bashfully. "Well, yeah...you're my first, Twilight."

Twilight blinked again, slowly realizing the magnitude of her decision to follow her instincts that night. Slowly but surely, their evening of carnal adultery seeped from the forefront of her thoughts, only to be replaced by untold tomorrows of judgement, what-ifs, and regret. Before she got her wings, things like that wouldn't have bothered her quite so much...but before she got her wings, she hadn't been the Princess of Friendship.

"Spike, I..." she said, nervously. "I'm sorry, I..."

Spike brought a single claw up stroke her cheek.

"Why are you sorry, Twilight?" he asked, shaking his head in confusion.

She fixed him with a sorrowful look that pleaded for forgiveness.

"I...I didn't mean to..." she stammered, before she closed her eyes, unable to finish the thought.

"Didn't mean to what?" Spike pressed, sounding worried himself. "Give me the night of my life?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, Spike...it's not that simple."

Spike pursed his lips, trying to figure out what was going through the young mare's head.

Finally, it dawned on him.

"You're worried about what people will say about us."

Twilight opened her eyes, fixing him with a sorrowful stare. "You're one of my dearest and most treasured friends, Spike. But...there just can't be an 'us.'"

Spike frowned, looking away. "I don't see why this has to change anything. What business is it of any-pony else what the Princess of Friendship does in her off hours?"

Twilight shook her head, sadly. "Spike, do you honestly expect that you could keep something like this a secret? It would get out eventually."

"So maybe it would," he admitted, frowning defiantly at her. "So what?"

"So it'll undermine my authority," Twilight explained simply. "No pony in Ponyville will offer an ounce of respect to a Princess who sleeps with her assistant, Spike."

Spike leaned in a little closer so that his breath touched her ear.

"Even if that assistant is a fire breathing dragon?" he asked wryly, letting his breath smolder just a little.

Twilight drew in a tremulous breath, her skin still sensitive to a hair-trigger.

"Mmmmmmmmh-nnng!" she groaned, and drew away. "Stars be damned, Spike! Don't make this more difficult for me! Please!"

Spike continued to frown, completely dissatisfied with the turn of events this night had lead to. What had started as the night of his dreams had brought those dreams crashing down around him just as quickly.

"I'm sorry, Spike..." Twilight breathed when she'd caught her breath. "But this can't happen again."

Spike didn't take his eyes off of her as she turned away from him. She wouldn't meet his gaze as she slid off the bed with a clip-clop, nor would she turn to look at him as she slowly made her way back to his door.

The door swung open with a shimmer of her magic.

"What if..." Spike blurted.

Twilight stopped, not turning to look at him. He could see the tears running down her cheeks.

The words he would say next would tear out his heart.

"What if I wasn't your assistant?"

Slowly, Twilight turned her head, her tear soaked eyes finally meeting his own, a look of utter confusion on her face. What could he possibly mean by...?

Then she saw the determined look on his face, and her blood ran cold as she realized just what he was saying.

Spike had grown up so much in these last few years. He had moved into his own room, he had started reading at an advanced level, and was bigger, stronger and smarter than he had ever been before. But for all that, Twilight had never truly let him grow up. Not in her heart of hearts. But life goes on, and nature takes its course. The young dragon wasn't the little baby he had been when she'd first moved to Ponyville. Spike had proved that much just a short while ago.

Quite thoroughly.

The growing dragon in his heart would be contained no longer. The veneer of infancy she had constructed around him had been breached, and there was no going back. She should have thought of another way, should have found a way to ease into the transition, but her sense of duty had prevailed over the growing lump in her heart that forced its way into her throat and practically choked her to tears.

It seemed that this dragon had finally outgrown his nest.

Spike had decided it was time for him to leave.

Author's Note

I was toying with the idea of how I should end each of these chapters, and slowly, I came to the decision that because this will have all begun with Twilight that it should end with Twilight too. That means that the story would have a beginning, a middle and an end, and wouldn't just be a series of lemon fics in no particularly important order. Unfortunately that means that the first chapter has to end on a down note - hence "Spike Through the Heart."

From here onward, Spike will leave Twilight's castle and try to make it on his own. He may spend some time away from Ponyville, maybe try to reconnect with the older dragon clan, though I'm not sure for how long. Eventually he'll come back, but he won't be able to face Twilight. No, Spike has been damaged, and seeing the cause of that damage will only reopen the wound. He is in need of healing, and if anyone amongst the Mane Six is capable of offering that to him, there is one pony above all who comes to mind.

Sorry about all the corny ponified versions of classic literature. I also tried to make using Celestia's name as an expletive as believable as possible, substituting a few other words for variety, like Stars and Tartarus. I hope it came off as something a pony might say in vein, and not break the flow of the narrative too much.

Cover art drawn by Nara-chann.