//-------------------------------------------------------// Moonlit Spark -by Destia Blaze- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Called to Canterlot //-------------------------------------------------------// Called to Canterlot "Spike! You've got a letter!" Twilight had called up the stairs of their shared home in the glimmering Friendship Castle. It was a beautiful day, the sun glowing with a radiance that welcomed the new day with open arms. Spike, in all of the wondrous morning, took the opportunity to sleep in. He lay face down on his bed, having moved out of Twilight's room after his most recent growth spurt. Twilight, having not seemed to gotten her adopted brother up, decided to get more personal in the matter, hooves clopping as she made her way up the stairs. "Spike! Get up you lazy dragon!" She spoke in an amused tone, banging lightly on his door before opening it and leaning on the door way. Using her magic, she projected her voice next to his ear as she whispered lightly, "the new Power Ponies issue got here." That, however, got her more than desired results as Spike shot up in excitement, his bleary eyes scanning around and landing on Twi, a smirk adorning her face. It had been several years since the destruction Tirek wrought on Ponyville. The small town, in its ever resilient state, rebuilt and now with the newest resident princess, began to expand as ponies of every shade made their way there. Spike groaned a little, knowing full well the there was not in fact, a new issue of his beloved comic. "Twi, why you gotta be like that, I was enjoying my day off." The drake complained light-heartedly. He and Twilight had become closer than ever, that doesn't mean he's comfortable with seeing his sibling half naked in her door frame. "Put some more clothes on Twi. Dash has had way too much influence on you since you two got together." That got a blush out of her. Twilight hadn't realized that standing in the doorway of a young dragon in her underwear and one of her marefriend's shirts. She seemed to be radiating with happiness since her and Dash got together. "Whoops sorry, forgot to get dressed after I made Dash and I breakfast." She replied, a blush covering her cheeks. "I'll go get dressed, but you've got a letter, from Luna. It's weird, she's never sent us mail like this before, I hope everything is okay." She placed the letter on the drakes nightstand before looking to him, "I'll go get dressed, I would like to know what the letter says, if you'd like to share that is." She then vanished with a 'pop' and a flash of light as she teleported away. "A letter huh? Wonder why Luna didn't just use her magic to send it here." He said as he opened the letter with one of his claws, forgoing getting dressed as he simply sat up in his bed. He pulled the envelope open and saw it was only a letter, so he withdrew the letter and opened up, reading it the moment he finished opening the letter itself, reading to himself. To our Spike the Dragon, Hello Spike, it has been a while since our last letter and we are sorry for that. We have been busy lately with this years Grand Galloping Gala. We ask that you come up to Canterlot, though we ask you come alone. It is in our interest that we speak to you about something of urgent proportion. We request you bring a few days worth of clothing and a change of swimwear. Sincerely, Luna "Well, that was brief." Spike commented offhandedly as he got up, setting the letter to the side. He made his way into the bathroom, jumping into his shower as he cranked up the heat, enjoying the warmth that washed over him. He quickly finished up his shower and started to get dressed, throwing on a black shirt that had a burning design, stylized in his signature green flame, also throwing on his jacket. He threw on some old, as he called them, 'work pants' that had a couple rips in them, one of which was over his right knee. he threw a few outfits into his travel case, also reaching for his trunks when there was a knock at his window. He looked over to see Dash waving at him with her signature cocky grin plastered on her face before she opened his window and landed inside with a graceful flip. "Where are you heading to big guy?" Dash asked while looking at him curiously, her head crooked up slightly just to keep eye contact with the drake. Dash had on some workout shorts, as well as a sports bra, showing off her well taken care of figure. Spike had a unique friendship with the athletic mare, as she had taught the drake how to fly once he'd gotten his wings. The training spike went through had made him an excellent flier, despite his size. He walked up to the mare and gave her a quick fist bump before returning to his packing. "Got a letter from Princess Luna, she asked that I go to Canterlot for something." He responded lightly shrugging. This managed to get Dash's attention as she had been looking at one of his posters, depicting Dash and Spitfire flying side by side with Dash and Spitfire's signatures under each others' respective picture. She looked back at her friend with a smile "Oh that so? It didn't sound urgent or anything?" She inquired with a curious expression, not unlike Twilight's. This got Spike chuckling , "I'm not sure, does swimwear sound urgent?" he asked, waving his shorts around. "Good point, should I go and get the girls together?" She asked, already prepping to fly out to gather their friends. "Nah, Luna just wants me to go up there, so no reason to go grab them all. I take it you've been getting prepped for your next show huh?" The drake asked, acknowledging the workout outfit that his friend was wearing. "Work never stops for you does it?" he asked with a grin plastered on his face. "Maybe, but I enjoy flying, you know that." Dash responded with her own grin. The drake laughed and nodded a bit "I suppose that's true, I should go get some food and let Twi know I'll be gone a few days, you should be more than enough to keep her occupied though." Reaching over, he closed his travel bag and slung it over his shoulder as he made his way out of the room, Rainbow close behind as they made their way to the kitchen.  Spike grabbed a mixing bowl and some bananas, beginning to prepare the workings of some special banana pancakes. Dash took notice quick and decided to ask for a couple herself, Spike nodding as he began to make enough to feed four ponies. As they pancakes were finished up being made, Twilight's hooves could be heard clopping through as she noted the smell of the room, she knew there were pancakes made. She started towards the dining area where she saw three plates set out, with Spike at one, Dash at another, and an empty plate with her name seemingly all over it, as Dash was seated near it, she took the seat and kissed her marefriend before thanking Spike and digging in herself. As the pancakes were finished off, Twilight looked to her brother and asked, "About that letter, what was it about exactly?" With the ever curious expression she wore, Spike decided to tell her, slinging his bag onto his shoulder once more. "I'm going up to Canterlot to see exactly that, Luna wrote to me asking me to meet her up there. I don't think it's anything serious, seeing there are swimming trunks involved." He mentioned with a smile to his sister. "I'll probably be gone for a few days at least, take care of Rainbow would ya?" "Hey!" Rainbow shouted with a smiled on her face. "Anyway, I gotta go. I'll tell you all about it when I get back okay?" He gave Twilight a quick hug before doing the same with Rainbow. "So long as you're safe Spike." Twilight smiled and waved her brother goodbye. Spike walked out the front of the castle with a smile as he noticed the wonderful weather and began trekking towards the train, that is until he heard a whistle. He looked towards the source and noted a chariot descending towards him, a pair of thestrals pulling it along. As it landed one of the thestrals spoke to him "Sir Spike? Princess Luna has asked us to escort you to the palace, please climb on." Spiked nodded and climbed into the chariot before it lurched forward, ascending into the air once more, off towards Canterlot. //-------------------------------------------------------// Lunar Confessions //-------------------------------------------------------// Lunar Confessions Canterlot, The Capital City of the great nation of Equestria. With it's towering ivory towers Canterlot appears a noble city, filled with wonder and sophistication. Spike never saw it as such, however he found it to be a city of snooty ponies acting better than everypony else. Never having been fond of most of the ponies in this city Spikes only reason for coming here was because Princess Luna called him. The thought of Luna started making him wonder just what was so urgent, and why swimwear? That doesn't make sense! As he pondered over it, the chariot made a startlingly bumpy landing, shaking Spike from his thoughts as the guards were blushing from embarrassment due to the shaky landing. "We've arrived, Sir Spike" the guard on the left announced. "I could tell." Spike chuckled lightly before regarding them once more "Thank you both, I appreciate the ride." He thanked the guards with a smile and a thumbs up. To which that guards nodded and took off, chariot in tow. Spike turned around and was surprised to see a very excited Princess Luna bounding up to him. "Spike! We are glad to see you have come!" She exclaimed happily, pulling the drake into a bone crushing hug. "Gah, Luna! Air!" Spike groaned out, to which Luna pulled him out of the hug to look him over. "We didn't hurt you did we?" Luna asked with concern clearly written on her face. Spike could only chuckle in response at his friends' antics. "I'm fine Luna, but what about you? Why did your letter sound so important?" He asked inquisitively, one eyeridge raised as he held onto the petite princess in his arm, causing the princess to blush rather profusely. Much to Spike's confusion, Luna simply looked away, face flushed. "Are you okay? You look like you might not be feeling well." He noted as he placed his hand against her forehead, just under her horn. "Spike we are quite alright, just a little hot." She lied, avoiding his hand as she freed herself from his gentle hold. "Are you ready for this mission? It is quite important." She spoke in a hushed voice, a smile playing at her lips causing spike to lean in as he was very curious as to why he had been called instead of the girls. "You are here... for us to have fun!" Luna declared excitedly, a playful glint in her eyes. "To have fun? I thought we were in trouble Luna!" Spike yelled in faux irritation, a small smile playing at his lips to ensure Luna he wasn't upset. "Well, we thought we would surprise our good friend with a couple days at the water park." Luna commented with an adorable pout, tugging at Spike's heartstrings. 'Luna shouldn't be allowed to be this adorable!' he thought to himself, a light blush crossing his features. "By all means, after you Luna" the drake spoke, playfully bowing to Luna as he gestured for her to lead the way. As Luna took the lead, she began walking towards the castle "Soon, dear Spike. First we must get your sleeping arrangements taken care of." Spike nodded in understanding following Luna up to the castle, bag on his shoulder. After having made the sleeping arrangements, Spike found himself in the room just a couple doors from Luna's room. "Man this is crazy, a weekend with Luna. This is gonna be awesome." He said nobody in particular, seeing he was in the privacy of his room, he looked around, noting the king size bed, a bathroom connected to his room,two large windows, giving him an excellent view of the gardens, a large dresser with a vanity and a large, walk-in closet connected. "I think the room might be a bit much though." he said with a laugh as he finished putting his clothes up. Stepping out of his room, Spike noticed Luna in front of him, hand raised as if in preparation to knock on his door. "Oh, hello Luna, what's first on today's agenda?" He asked in amusement as he watched Luna's face erupt into a blush. "Today, we're going to the park and then the gardens, that is if you would like to." Luna responded kindly, twiddling her thumbs as she scuffed her hoof across the floor with an adorable expression on her face. 'Luna, you shouldn't be allowed to do this to me! This should be cruel and unusual punishment!' Spike thought as he grabbed her hand in his. "Then let's go Luna, it's not much fun if we don't do it right?" he asked with a smile. He failed to note the crimson blush that had taken hold of Luna's face as she stared at their hands intertwined with one another. "S-spike we would like to tell you something, though we are fearful it would drive you away." Luna muttered the end of her sentence, face alight in her blush. Spike stopped walking and turned to look at his friend, the smaller mare looked away for a moment, suddenly very silent. "What is it Luna?" Spike inquired, letting go of her hand as her became increasingly more curious. "You know you can tell me anything." He reassured her, unaware of the coming words. "We have... Feelings for you Spike." She said quietly, her voice too quite for the drake to hear, as the drake made it known. "You what?" He asked simply. "We like you Spike!" Luna said in a quick burst of speed, and unfortunately for her, volume as well. Noting he could hear her that time, her face suddenly was even more red, nearly overriding her naturally dark fur color, watching Spike for any indication of response as the drake had gone quiet, appearing as if in thought. "What kind of like are we talking here Luna?" He asked, his face an unreadable mask at the moment as he studied the mares face. "W-we believe it is what is now called 'crushing'" Luna replied nervously, fearing she'd just destroyed her friendship with the drake. Eyes filling with tears at the thought, she turned to flee from Spike. The drake, however, was faster and caught her arm causing her to wheel around facing him once more as he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers. Hesitantly, Luna returned the kiss after being briefly surprised. As Spike pulled away her opened his eyes, looking at this smaller mare with a thoughtful expression. "Luna, I'm not going to lie and say I didn't want to hear those words, but I want to explore this feeling I have for you further before we make anything of it. Okay?" He asked softly, looking at the still surprised princess, causing her to nod dumbly. 'I just kissed Luna and didn't get banished! Yes!' Spike mentally cheered as he grabbed her hand once more, walking out towards the park with a child-like energy about him. "Let's go to the park, maybe we can talk some more there" Spike cheered, happy to spend the day with one of the mares he's closest with. As Spike and Luna reach the park, they took a seat on the nearest bench, which to the princess' delight is under some shade. when they sit down, Spike sits and faces Luna with a curious expression. "So... Why me?" he asked in a simple, but final type of way, leaving nothing to be misinterpreted. This surprised Luna, as she did not expect Spike to be so forward about it. "W-well we feel you are respectable. You help your friends when they need it, you are always there for us no matter what, you're generous, caring, and quite handsome." Uttering the last word caused Luna's dark fur to go bright red once again, as if her admitting feeling towards somepony else was embarrassing. "We like these traits you have, and you have been so kind and caring with helping Us get caught 'up to speed' I believe you had called it, with today's times." she spoke softly, as if she was choosing her words carefully. Spike waited patiently for Luna to finish speaking, listening to her with undivided attention. "We guess we never could figure it out until we spoke with our sister about it. She had called it 'love'. But we do not think to say we are 'in love' with Spike the Dragon would be accurate. Rather, the statement becomes obscured with those words." She looked up to the drake, him standing nearly a foot taller made most mares have to crane their necks just to look him in the eye. "But we would like to try this 'in love' thing, to ascertain if it is correct to use with us." Luna looked away but smiled nonetheless. After a few more hours of conversing, the sun began to set, painting the sky in a beautiful myriad of colors. Spike remembered that they were supposed to go to the gardens, and after reminding Luna she got an excited expression once more, quickly getting up and pulling the drake with her. As they arrived at the gardens, Luna beckoned Spike to follow her as she quickly took off into the hedge maze that the sisters had built upon Luna's return. Spike, being ever so loyal, followed with an excited curiosity, keeping pace with the lunar princess. Their journey through the maze came to an abrupt halt when Luna pressed her hand into one of the hedge walls, causing it to flash briefly before opening to a clearing with a picnic blanket and basket. "Would you care to join us on a moonlight picnic?" Luna asked with a soft smile. //-------------------------------------------------------// Moonlit Picnic //-------------------------------------------------------// Moonlit Picnic Spike looked at the setup once, and only once before nodding happily to Luna with a cheerful expression. "I would love to join you Luna." He reached into his pocket to find he had his music player and after confirming he had it, he looked up. The night sky was beautiful. The stars seemed brighter, and the moon! The moon was so magnificent tonight it seemed like everything was just, what seemed to him to be happier. He looked to Luna, who seemed happy to witness Spike's awestruck stare into the sky decided to make her thought known. "Do you like it Spike? We weren't sure if it would be overdoing it if we made the night a little more cheerful, we wanted tonight to go well." Luna's face became covered in a faint blush before she continued "We also have music prepared if you would like that as well." As she finished her comment, a light blush crept up her face, lighting it up in a manner that had Spike out of sorts as he struggled to not rush to her and hold her in his arms. He gave a singular nod in response and a very familiar voice crept into his ears. "Scales landed a date with Luna? I never thought I'd see the day." Spike turned around to see a pale white Unicorn staring at him, her iconic glasses perched atop her head just behind her horn. "Vinyl? You're the musician?" Spike asked inquisitively, looking between Luna and Scratch rapidly, disbelief evident on his face. Vinyl simply smiled "You know it buddy, She knows what I can do, and you do too. So trust me, I won't ruin this for either of you. Spike couldn't tell if it was him or the way Vinyl said it, but he felt like she was both being incredibly serious and deciding to throw an innuendo into it. Luckily for the Unicorn, Luna did not catch it, however, Spike got it loud and clear, as his face darkened a couple shades with a blush, enough to get both mares attention. "Spike?" Luna called "Are you alright?" she inquired, though Scratch figured it out quick and stopped any further questioning. "Yea, he's cool Luna, just messing with him is all." Scratch quickly began to set up her 'studio' and began looking through her tracks until she found one she found appropriate and began to play (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPnuwyJrCnM). Spike looked to Luna for a moment as she returned his look and they came together and sat down, Vinyl lost to the world of music for the time. Luna pulled over a basket and opened the lid, pulling out two thermos-like canisters, some candles, and something spike recognized looked like a star ruby, just before Luna lit the candles and put them on a couple stands he didn't realize she grabbed. before him was one of the thermoses, the ruby, and a salad. Luna's side mirrored his own, minus the ruby. "What's with this Luna?" He asked, staring at the ruby then looking back at the mare he's grown rather fond of over the course of the day, pulling her to him causing her to squeal in surprise, before making herself comfortable by laying across his lap and speaking. "We felt that if We showed you We did care, you'd be more inclined to give us a chance, We are sorry if this bothers you." She spoke as though she were small, and simply a mare with him, he was startled at how different it was to when they had last spoken. She spoke with pride and power in her tone, she appeared the pinnacle of power with her sister by her side and Spike realized this is that same mare, only she wants to be care for, and nurtured, and she wants to grow with somepony that won't hurt them because they trust her as she does them. Most of all though, Spike wanted to be that somepony, and he felt amazing at how much that meant to him. Gently, he lay back, pulling her onto his chest as he smiled at the night sky, so full of life because Luna wanted to try to impress him, she wanted his attention and he, for the first time, felt wanted. He loved this feeling and as he looked to his chest, he saw this beautiful mare, staring up at him, the sparkle in her gorgeous cyan eyes, the way she made a small pouting face when she had to think about something was adorable to him. 'Do I love Luna? he thought to himself as he continued to look at this mare on him before nodding to himself and placing a gentle kiss on her lips. 'Yes I do. I love Princess Luna'. The effect was instant, Luna lit up so brightly right before pressing Spike into the grass gently whilst returning his kiss ten-fold. They lay there in the silence, noting that, spike smiled and held Luna tightly before whispering into her ear "I love you Luna." ""I love you Spike" Luna replied softly. They sat up and began to eat in a comfortable silence side by side as they watched the sky, a gentle meteor shower raining above them making the night evermore beautiful to the drake as he kept one arm wrapped around Luna's waist, making her a very happy mare. His curiosity peaked, her reached for the thermos and opened it, cautiously sniffing at the contents inside and finding to his delight, that it was Apple Family Cider. Taking a sip, he immediately realized why Twilight never let him have any while he was a kid. The stuff was practically all alcohol, though being a dragon had it's perks. He took another drink and smiled in content as he looked over to Luna, whom was taking a drink from her own thermos. "I do love Apple Family Cider, it is simply delicious and tingling to my senses." Luna spoke softly, an airy and whimsical tone in her voice. "Thank you Luna, for today. At first I was concerned that this wouldn't have gone as well as it had and that'd we would have been in an awkward friendship, but I feel better knowing that I took the chance and we enjoyed our date." He gave her a light, gentle squeeze and a kiss on her cheek, causing her to blush just a little. "If I hadn't taken this chance, I'm not sure where we'd be." "We always miss one hundred percent of the chances we don't take dear Spike" Luna replied simply before returning the small kiss onto his cheek, "We are also glad we took the risk and told you how we felt, though now we ask... How will your friends react. More importantly, how will Twilight react?" She asked with a thoughtful expression. "She is your Motherly Figure after all." This got Spike thinking, how would he tell them all? "I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, won't we?" he asked casually, taking a bite of his salad, the Star Ruby forgotten beside the salad as he enjoyed the crisp crunch of the salad, taking in all of the delectable flavors of the fresh cucumber, tomato, and radish. "Did you make the salads yourself Luna?" he asked, looking to the mare in question. She smiled a nervous smile "I did try to make them yes, though I had to have some help." As if on cue, a mare stepped out of the shadows, bowing to both Spike and Luna. A thestral by spikes guess (it's the wings) as she looked at them, she spoke clearly and calmly, "My Name is Nightingale and I am the Captain of the Night Guard. Our Princess came to me in a relative state of uncertainty on what to prepare for you and herself. Seeing you've lived with ponies for the current duration of your life, I recommended salad, since it is both simple and appealing. I am happy to see that the princess is indeed happy," she looked over to Luna and bowed once more, "I will take my leave now princess." and with that the Thestral vanished into the night on leather wings towards the mountains. Spike looked towards Luna and smirked "Well she seemed nice" before standing up and lifting Luna up in his arms, using his tail to pack everything up, pocketing the Star Ruby with a display of dexterity usually reserved for his room when he's bored. After packing up the picnic, he lifted the basket with his tail and spread his wings before realizing he had no idea where they were and let Luna stand on her own. "Er, lead the way princess." he said with a mock regal tone, bowing in jest as he got a giggle out of Luna. As they made their way back towards the direction they came from, the hedge began to materialize, allowing them to leave once more. As they got to the other side of the hedge, he scooped his princess up once more and took off towards the castle on his wings, providing some privacy as they spoke again "So, is that why my room is so close to yours then?" he asked with a grin. "Actually, We wanted to ask if We could sleep with you for tomorrow morning, We hate sleeping alone and seeing we're an item now... Would it be alright dear Spike?" Spike couldn't help but smile softly at that. "I would like that very much Luna, you're always welcome to sleep with me." After getting his mind straight he realized he was flying indoors, a very impressed looking Luna in his arms. "You seem very bold to show me off to everypony already" she giggled the cutest giggle ever to Spike, causing him to slow down and land just before his door, opening it and inviting Luna inside. "Shall we watch the sunrise and then head to bed My Princess?" he asked, with a light purr at the end of his sentence, drawing a blush out of Luna before smiling softly as she nodded meekly. They walked over to his bed, shutting the bedroom door behind him. He opened the curtains as the sky began to become painted with a myriad of colors, he held Luna lightly in his arms as she snuggled into him. as the sun rose, he became drowsy, curtains closing by themselves until all was dark, and he was asleep.