“Thank you for letting me do this Twilight” Rarity smiled awkwardly at the Princess as they both sat in one of the meeting rooms. “I feel bad at any sort of confrontation with a friend, but I think it's the right thing to do. Or am i being a little unfair here?”
“Rarity, if Spike has made you uncomfortable, I’m sure he would want to know. We all know he’ll do anything for you...like any of his friends.”
“But especially me.” Rarity sighed “Well, lets get this over with.”
Twilight called out for Spike to join them and the pitter-patter of the dragon’s feet could be heard echoing against the crystal floor of the Friendship castle. Upon entering the room, Spike’s face lit up at seeing Rarity, but then dipped a bit as he picked up on the tension in the room.
Spike looked around a little nervously as he took a seat about “Er, whats going on?”
Rarity took a deep breath to steady herself “I need to speak to you Spike. About your plushie.”
“Oh” Spikes ears fell a little, and the whelps eye sank downwards.
“I’m sure you can appreciate that it’s a little - “ Rarity paused to find the right word “ - unnerving to know somepony you know is sleeping with a stuffed version of their likeness.”
“I swear its not for anything creepy” Spike protested
“I’m sure Rarity wasn’t thinking that” Twilight reassured her charge “But why are you sleeping with a plushie version of Rarity?”
“I’m not mad - ” Rarity added in a calming voice “ - but I have to know what's going on.”
“It’s...it’s complicated.” Spike replied.
“Spike, I can appreciate that you might have special feelings for me. But surely this isn’t healthy?”
“It’s nothing like that.” Spike protested again.
“What is it Spike?” Twilight pressed “You know you can tell us anything”
“I just don’t want to be alone.” Spike blurted, before covering his mouth.
“Alone?” Twilight asked in surprise “But, but when we moved into the castle, you were so excited to find there was space for your own bedroom?”
Spike sighed and fidgeted with his claws for a few moments “The thought of having my own room, a place to be a stallions room and store my stuff was amazing. Until the first night. I just couldn’t sleep. I missed hearing your deep breaths, the little squeaks you make during dreams... “
Spike paused for a moment, wiping away a little moisture away before landing what was a killer blow to the emotions to one of the ponies in the room “I missed having my mummy around.”
“Oh Spike” Twilight let out softly, but the dragon continued.
“We’ve lived together for so long, firstly in Canterlot and then in Golden Oaks, and baring the occasional sleepover or trip we spent practically every night together. But that had to come to an end. Every chick has to fly the nest eventually.”
Without Spike realising it, both of the mares in the room were holding back tears as the little dragon split his heart out to the pair.
“Because I’m a princess in a castle?”Twilight asked quietly.
“No, nothing to do with that. You're a grown mare now Twilight, I can’t stay in your bedroom forever.”
“We’re family, it’s no problem us sharing a room.”
“No, I didn’t mean that. You have your own life to live Twilight, and whilst I know I’ll always have a place in your heart, I know I can’t have it exclusively forever.”
Twilight looked at him with a level of confusion “I don’t understand”
“What about when you meet a nice stallion, marry him and want to have foals of your own?”
Rarity inwardly smiled as Twilight blushed a little bit, but the alicorn then moved over to sit next to the dragon “Nothing will ever be more important to me than you Spike. If you want to share a room with me, you’re always welcome to!”
“Maybe, but that's not right. You’re just a young mare, starting out in life. Who knows where your adventures will take you and who you’ll meet...like that Flash fella in the mirror universe?”
Rarity let out a little snort as Twilight’s wings flared out for a brief moment, resulting in a glare from the alicorn to her friend. “That doesn’t matter Spike, you’ll always have a place in my heart”.
“I may always be your number one assistant, and maybe even consider me to be your first child.” Spike put a claw gently on Twilights face “You have been an amazing mother to me Twilight, it would be wrong of me to do anything to disrupt your life and maybe having foals of your own.”
Twilight wrapped Spike up into a hug with her wings “Oh Spike, you should have said something. I didn’t know you were feeling lonely.”
A soft silence fell over the room for a moment, until Rarity coughed a little “I don't mean to interrupt this family moment, but that doesn’t really explain why you have a doll of me.”
“Oh, right.” Spike replied, his ears falling again “Well, I had to do something to get myself through the night so the next day I went to the toy store. I just didn’t want to feel alone, and like a child I felt a teddy bear was the answer.”
Spike kicked the ground idly with one foot “I guess I’m not as grown up as I thought.”
His demeanor made both of the mares in the room feel very sorry for him, this baby dragon that always tried to be more grown up than he actually was. But rather then pounce in for another hug, Twilight kept her distance to allow Spike to speak.
“Amongst of all the toys there, they had all six of the ‘element bearer plushie collection’” Spike air quoted as he spoke “Maybe I made a bad choice and I should have gone with just a random animal or something, but the chance to spend my evenings, you know...“ Spike looked over to Rarity “...with you.”
Rarity brought a hoof up to her mouth with a little surprise. Having Spike actually say something that had been unsaid for so long was unexpected, and put her in a tough position. She loved Spike, but not in the way that he loved her. She was always worried that someday she might have to break his heart, and it possibly would have to be today.
Spike wasn’t finished though “I know I’ll never actually get to spend a night with you. But at least this way I will never be alone.”
Rarity put a hoof on his shoulder and the whelp looked up at the smiling unicorn “Oh Spike, you will never be alone, you’ll always have us...your friends.”
Spike smiled for the briefest of moments, but then his demeanor dipped again “But that's the thing...I won’t will I?
“What do you mean Spike?” Rarity asked as the dragon gently lifted her hoof from his shoulder.
“I know I’ve never mentioned it, but I know that one day, I will wake up and you’ll all be gone. So I kinda wanted something that won’t leave me, that will always remind me of the great times we all had.”
Spike looked up and saw both of the mares he loved wiping tears away from their faces. The unicorn broke her eye contact with the whelp to try to compose herself whilst Twilight stepped forwards.
“Oh Spike, I never thought of that!” Twilight held back a sob as she spoke. “But that's not for a long time yet, but there's another pony that will always be there for you.”
“Who?” Spike asked confused
“Princess Celestia of course” Twilight smiled
“Princess Celestia? I wouldn’t wait to impose on her.”
Twilight rolled her eyes “Spike she raised you for a while after I hatched you and thats when she was running the country alone. With Luna returned, she has more time to herself than ever before. And regardless, she will never abandon you Spike…”
“Like none of us would ever if we had the choice” Rarity added warmly. Before Spike knew it he was in the comforting hooves of both the ponies. After the appropriate amount of time, he broke the hug.
“Twilight, could you leave me and Rarity alone for a moment, I need to speak to her about something.”
“Of course Twilight smiled and, with a pleading look of Please be gentle to him thrown Rarity’s way, she left the room. closing the door behind her.
Spike turned to the pony he adored “I’m sorry that I got a plush of you Rarity. I’ll get rid if it.”
“Oh Spike, there’s no need for that really. I mean, if you need something to hug at night, as you said its not creepy."
“True, but I wouldn’t want to do anything that would hurt my...friendship with the real you. I mean, if you found a perfect gem, the sort of thing that is one of a kind, and you lost it - do you think any other gem would ever live up to that gem, no matter for pretty it may be?”
She knew that Spike had always had special feelings for her, and she had known for a while just how deep that went. Afterall, it was that which turned him back into the young whelp after his growth spurt, and everything he went through to show her his love helped her reject the nightmare.
“No, I guess not. Somethings are one of a kind -” Rarity smiled warmly “- like a dragon that cares about other ponies but himself.”
“Huh huh, yeah” Spike rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I won’t throw it away, that would be a waste. Like everything else, I’ll give it to the children's ward at the hospital.”
“Everything else?”
“Yeah, whenever I buy something for myself, like a new rare comic or something, I make sure to buy something of around equal value and donate it to the poor sick foals.”
“Spike, that is one of the most generous things I’ve heard from anypony for a long time!”
“Come along Spikey Wikey, we're nearly there.”
“Where are we going?” Spike asked a few steps behind, his shorter legs troubling to keep up with the larger pony’s. It was a few days after the talk about the plushie, and as promised he had given it away. However, Rarity had instead brought him a small phoenix plushie, which of course he had named PeeWee.
“And isn’t it getting kinda late in the day? I don’t think we can get back to Ponyville before dark now.”
“Have I ever led you wrong?” Rarity asked "At least not unless corrupted by a magic book?"
“No. But can you at least tell me what we are doing?"
“I can do one better, I can show you.”
As the pair entered a clearing, there was a tent, a campfire and a picnic basket already set up.
“Camping?” Spike asked
“Yes, I asked Rainbow Dash and Applejack to set this up for us so we didn’t have to lug it all the way ourselves. Or, more likely, you would carry it all for me."
“But why are we off camping?”
“Well, something you said got me thinking. About sleepovers. Apart from the one time with Princess Luna, we’ve always excluded you from sleepovers and the like, which is kinda unfair really. So I wanted to make it up to you.”
Rarity sat down on the picnic blanket and motioned for Spike to join her “But of course it would not be proper to have a sleepover with just the two of us, being a male and female.. But camping is an acceptable time for two ponies to share a room slash tent regardless of their gender.”
“It is?” Spike asked in surprise, as he took a sip of apple juice that Rarity had poured for them both.
“Indeed, it’s one of those weird double standards in life where ponies all walk around naked, but for some reason taking clothes on and off is something that is private.”
“Yeah, that is kinda weird.”
Spike and Rarity chatted for the rest of the evening, discussing everything from how Coco Pommel was doing to Spike’s comic collection. And as the stars came out Spike lit the campfire with his breath and they sat together watching the stars. But all too quickly for the young dragon he found a yawn overwhelming him, and Rarity decided it was time for bed.
As the pair settled into their respective sleeping bags, Rarity spoke up “You know that there always has to be something between us, don’t you Spike. A metaphorical wall as it were, right?”
Spike sighed “I do Rarity. Thank you for a wonderful evening, but don’t worry, I know we’re just good friends.”
“Good, well, if I ever confuse you, please remember that you are important to me Spike. So if I do show effection, it’s as a good friend.”
And with that Rarity wiggled herself over until she was next to Spike, and cuddled him from behind. Surprised at the initial contact, Spike nestled into the embrace of the pony. There may have been two layers of fabric between them, and it was clearly only a sign of friendship, but one that meant the world to him.
“Goodnight Rarity.”
Rarity smiled as she could sense the dragon melt into the hug. Yes, maybe it wasn’t the best idea she had had, but if it made her best friend happy for just a while then it was worthwhile. Afterall, she wouldn't be around forever to do this.
“Goodnight Spikey Wikey”
Meanwhile, back at the Friendship Castle, Twilight was preparing for bed. She made sure to activate all the castle's security spells as she made the way up to her bedroom. In the routine that she had kept up since the first night in their new home, she stuck her head into Spike’s room to check on him, but tonight it lay empty. As did Owlowiscious’s perch as her pet was off for the night hunting.
Entering her own large room, and knowing she was alone, she felt it safe to let her guard down at treat herself a little. Opening up one of the cupboards, she retrieved a box hidden at the back. Placing it next to her bed, she used her magic to release the seal on the box.
She looked around again nerviously, paranoid of someone seeing her secret shame but knowing she was alone, she opened the box. She levitated out the inhabitant and slowly got into bed with it.
Twilight snuggled into her sheets next to the Spike plush she had made for her after the dragon had moved out, a contented look on her face as she spent another night with her baby.
