Different species, but a shared heart
Clack. Clink. Thunk. Rattle.
Twilight’s ears twitched, rousing slowly from sleep at the noise, mentally cataloguing the sounds. Plate, glass, bowl, tray being lifted.
Pat pat pat pat...
Spike coming down the hall.
“Whup!” came the stifled yelp.
Spike nearly tripping over his own two feet, for that matter. Must have caught himself, there wasn't even the rattle of dishes. There was something about it. Something that nagged at her mind. He made breakfast, sure, but rarely brought it to her...
Rattle... click.
Doorknob. Her door opening. Her eyes half-opened in sleepiness to see Spike coming closer with a tray. Nose kicked in.
Haycakes, extra syrup. Lavender. Mint? Odd, he didn’t make that except for... special occassions...
He smiled sheepishly at her, setting the tray on her night stand, then leaned over to kiss her cheek.
“Good morning, Twilight... happy Mother’s Day,” he murmured quietly, blushing.
Oh. That special occassion. He really was too good to her sometimes.
She reached out with a smile of her own and pulled him close, then into bed and under the warm sheets with her, hugging him tight and giving him an affectionate nuzzle on his frills.
“Thank you, Spike. You’re such a good boy. I wonder sometimes if I really deserve you,” she said. He snuggled back into her, then turned to hug her properly.
“Of course you do, Twilight. And I deserve you. You hatched me. I... I can’t ever possibly repay you for that.”
She thought back to that time, smiling faintly. There were rumors, even now, that it was rigged. That it was somehow luck, or strength, or a plot by the Illuminated Naughty to ‘further consolidate Celestia’s power’ or some such silliness. The group was comprised of old money Canterlot nobility that had the crazy notion that it was their money that actually ran Canterlot, and that everything else really bowed to their will. Though it was funny when Celestia heard about it. She then gave them to Luna as a gift for her to read the riot act. In the full Royal Canterlot Voice. With no earplugs.
Spike sighed happily, hugging her tighter, and murmured something.
“What was that, Spike?” she asked, looking down. He pulled away, and looked up at her, shyly. It was hard to remember sometimes that he was still so young, both by pony and dragon standards, yet there were times he acted much more mature than his age would belie. He swallowed, blushing.
“I said... that there’s no place I’d rather be than right here. I miss the tree, sure, and this castle is taking some serious getting used to, but... as long as we’re together, as far as I’m concerned, we’re home. I... I don’t know what I’d do if I... lost you,” he said.
Twilight hugged him tight and nuzzled him again.
“You’re never going to lose me. Not as long as I can help it. I can’t imagine life without you either, Spike, and I’m sorry that I’m so thoughtless sometimes in regards to your feelings,” she answered. The ‘nacho incident’ involving Twilight Time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders came to mind, for one thing.
“How about we both admit we’ve made mistakes and move on?” he suggested, sounding remarkably like something she’d offer. He learned fast, a lot more than she gave him credit for. She just hoped that she was leading by good example.
“Sounds like a good plan to me,” she said, nodding, and inhaled the scent of breakfast, though her eyes were closing again in sleepiness. Spike sat up and pulled the tray closer, picking up the fork and cutting a portion of haycakes, syrup dripping from them. Twilight opened up, Spike giggled, and popped it into her muzzle. There was a happy sigh that escaped her, and she chewed, savoring it. “Definitely too good to me...” she murmured. Spike just offered her another bite, humming.
Ten minutes later, breakfast was gone, Spike had vanished to take the dishes and tray to the kitchen to clean later, and had left his apron behind. He closed Twilight’s door and rejoined her in bed, where she hugged him with a happy sound.
It was now or never. On the tip of his tongue. Spike opened his mouth and squeaked a little, before coughing lightly. Twilight looked down at him. He blushed in embarrassment, before looking up into her eyes and clearing his throat. This was serious Spike at the fore. Something he didn’t do very often unless he really needed to say something important.
“Twilight. I’ve been thinking. We’ve been together since you’ve hatched me. You’ve helped raise me, you’ve loved me, you’ve seen to my every need. Every time I had a bad dream, you were there. You made sure I was warm on cold nights, and had a way to cool on hot days. You’ve kept me fed, indulged me when I was being silly, encouraged me to pursue my dreams, and warned me off when I needed to take a step back. You’ve been my mother, my sister and my best friend my whole life. I have no way to properly express how much that means to me. No way to really show you the simple fact that you mean more to me than life itself. I know I don’t say this enough. I know, and you know I know... that I love you, Twilight. I only wish there was more I could do to show you that. I’m trying to be grown up, and mature, and be as big of a help as you need, but nothing ever seems like enough. I’m sorry for that.”
Her heart leapt into her throat, and tears came to her eyes. Her muzzle worked soundlessly, and her brain went into overdrive to try and find the words. After a few moments that seemed to stretch into an eternity, she gave up, and gave him a tender kiss on the forehead, just below his frill.
There was only one thing she could really say, reduced to simplicity.
“I love you too, Spike. Forever and ever. Don’t ever think you have to apologize for anything. You’re still learning and growing, just like I am. My son. My little brother. My best friend. I love you.”
The two of them held each other close, crying tears of joy, and eventually slept, dozing off lightly as the sun began to rise over Ponyville.
It wasn’t skill, or strength, or cunning that led to Twilight hatching Spike’s egg that day. It was love. They both knew that, and that was all that mattered.
Author's Note
Written for the July 2014 Secret Santa fic prompt challenge, with the prompt being "Turns out luck wasn't a factor at all."
Also written because I don't think Spike doesn't get enough love in the show, and there's not enough 'quiet moments' with him and Twilight.
