Ten in the morning at the friendship castle map room, Starlight Glimmer, the newly graduated student in friendship and official reformed villain, was situated alongside the two most regal beings of Canterlot, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Not long ago, the alicorns had presented themselves in the castle to take Spike to Canterlot in order to make official his new noble status. But they only found a disturbed Twilight who had just searched all through Ponyville and her own castle for her companion with no avail. The worst thing for her was the fact that she couldn't feel him with the hoarding sense no matter how hard she tried.

The princess of the sun tried to calm her, telling her that she could use a letter to find him with the dragon mail spell. Unfortunately for the three alicorns every letter that Celestia tried to send just turned back at her with her own magic, meaning that Spike couldn't receive the letter. That kind of situation was only possible if the dragon couldn't breathe fire.... or if he was dead. Obviously, the mention of the later caused Twilight to enter a frenzied state.

Fortunately for the trio, the amount of chaos inside Twilight’s psyche was enough to disturb the embodiment of chaos itself, Discord. After a short and panicked explanation from the purple alicorn, Discord proposed to help them find the drake with his magic.

Back in the present, the three mares were waiting for the drake and the alicorn to come back. The only remarkable thing between the trio was that only one of them did not know what was really happening.

"It has been an hour since she teleported..." Starlight commented before looking at the princess of the sun, "I know that Discord helped her with the amount of magic needed for the spell to go that far, but... what about the way back here?" she asked worried, "Besides, why would she go alone?".

"Twilight is capable of teleporting back here with her own magic if needed," Celestia said with pride and a smile on her face, ignoring the last question of the pink unicorn. Her sister, on the other hand, wasn't so eager to show a calm pose.

"I don't know how you keep that look on your face sis" Luna glared at her sister.

"Luna, everything is alright" She muttered to her sister, "We know how this could end if they know the truth, so just pretend that there are no reasons to worry about anything".

Starlight only got more confused after not being able to hear Celestia's mumbles. Her previous question still lingered in her head, what was Twilight’s reason to go alone to Saddle Arabia? Better yet, why was Spike there? And most importantly, how did he get there? It was impossible for him to travel that far in the little time remaining after the previous day’s party had ended.

Starlight tried to pay no mind to her worries and focused on something else. While doing so she noticed that the confections and decorations of the previous party were still mounted.

"I thought that Pinkie would get rid of these this morning".

"You called?" A pink pony mare covered in flour and sugar stains appeared behind Starlight; startling the young unicorn in the process.

"Pinkie!" She squeaked, "by the goddess, someday I'm gonna prove that you can use chaos magic too" She glared with mild anger to the joyful party pony before her frown changed to a smile,"ahg, it's hard to get angry at you".

"I know, not even I can get angry with myself" she smiled some more before adding,"believe me, I have tried. Oh, before I forget, I was in the kitchen cleaning all the remaining plates and silverware from yesterday. Originally I was only supposed to clean the main room and the map room and Spike was going to clean the kitchen, but unluckily for me he was dragonnaped".

Both princesses and the unicorn went wide eyed at the party pony's comment, "What are you talking about Pinkie? Spike wasn't-" Celestia tried to dismiss the party mare words with a lie but was interrupted in the middle of it.

"That won't work with me~," Pinkie Pie said in a sing-song tone, "I got here even before you two came searching for Spike. And from what I could hear from Twilight's desperate mumbles it sounded like our little dragon is in trouble. By the way, I just told Rainbow to gather the others. They should be here in five minutes".

Suddenly the door to the map room was forcefully opened by the white fashionista. Making a huge thud sound that echoed through the room; the white unicorn didn't have time to worry about her currently badly done mane and just rambled as she walked toward the other ponies, taking huge breaths while doing so.

"Oh, I guess I miscalculated..." Pinkie Pie commented before shrugging,"meh, I'm not good at math after all."

"Where is Spike? Who dragonnaped him and why? I want to know everything!" demanded the distraught designer.

Luna glared again at her sister, "I told you, the best course of action was to tell them after Twilight's departure"

"Discord told us that he was still alive," Celestia glared back at her sister "I didn't want to tell them because there is no reason to do so if he is safe," she muttered between gritted teeth.

"It's still bad, what if he is alive but heavily injured? We don't have to be so hideous about this anymore 'Tia" Luna argued back, not noticing that the rest of the elements were already in the room.

"Ahem," the farmer cleared her throat loudly. The two alicorn were now conscious of the number of ponies that were hearing their little argument. Applejack for her part wasn't in the mood to hear anymore lies. "Y'all better explain what is happening here ya he'r me? And don't try to lie to us again about Spike’s secret life".

Celestia went from astonished to apologetic after hearing Applejack demanding in her concerned voice, she sighed and nodded to her sister.

Luna cleared her throat and watched at the bearers, "First of all, Spike is still alive. Discord used most of his energy today to make sure about that." Fluttershy and Rarity sighed in content before Celestia continued, "But that doesn't mean he is unharmed" the group frowned slightly at that comment, "I think is better if I start from the beginning, what do you say sis?"

"Yes, now that there is no turning back it is better if we just tell them everything," Celestia said before both Luna and her prepared to explain all the problems they had in the past with the foreign country.

Tweenty minutes later

"And that's everything... the best case scenario, which I don't think this is, is that there was a misunderstanding on the part of the Saddle Arabians. However the most possible case is..." Luna stopped for a moment.

"The most plausible case is that the obsessed Princess violated our agreement and went against her own family in order to have Spike for herself." Celestia ended her younger sister last sentence.

"If that is the case then the only thing we need to do is go there and kic-"

Rainbow Dash words were interrupted suddenly by a magic bubble appearing in the middle of the room, taking the entire space on which the map laid, the bubble soon dissipated into purple dust leaving in its place three figures: a white mare covered with a white silk, a purple dragon, big as Celestia herself, and Princess Twilight, who was on the dragon’s back and taking some air to replenish her strength after wasting so much magic in her last teleport spell.

The ponies who were sat around the table stood agape at the dragon's appearance, most of them just kept astonished, and a little amused, at the features of the grown dragon, while only two of the group stood in shock for another reason. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were the ones that among the others noticed that something was wrong with the dragon in front of them, the dragon which in no doubt was Spike; but they noticed that his eyes and facial features exhibited something.

He was broken...

Fluttershy's many years of work with animals made her aware by sight alone which ones had seen the horrors of death... also the fact that she could speak with the wild creatures of the forest made her acknowledge another fact about what was currently happening to Spike. He hadn’t faced death... he experimented something much worse.

Pinkie was none the wiser when it came to understanding animals or mythical creatures, but her expertise on parties and making everyone happy had trained her to have and unusual sense that allowed her to know at a glance the mental condition of someone without having to rely on deep psychologist therapist and long talks. Yet even with all her training and expertise in the matter, this was the first time she had witnessed someone looking as hopeless as Spike looked.

"Spike" Fluttershy asked first,"what happened to him?".

"Don't you see it? he looks super strong right now" Rainbow Dash said, granting a nod from the orange farmer.

"And I must say that his new shape looks a little more alluring..." Rarity blushed,"though, I still prefer the little and cute Spickey wickey".

"ARE YOU ALL BLIND?!" Shouted Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, startling the group. "Spike is broken" Commented the pink mare, "He looks like he suffered something worse than any kind of punishment that Tartarus could offer" added Fluttershy.

Celestia watched over the situation carefully. The two mares were right. The eyes in her son reflected feelings that she had only witnessed when she fought against King Sombra's army. Soldiers who were forced into battle against their will and witnessed immeasurable pain they had never wanted to see because of it. Realizing that Spike couldn't make proper words in that kind of state and that her former student had expensed more of her energy, she looked at the last one of the group, White Breeze.

"It seems like neither Spike or Twilight can speak right now, White Breeze could you explain to us what happened in Saddle Arabia?" Asked the princess of the sun.

The white earth pony watched the duo, then at the bearers of the elements, and finally to the princess. "Jade Dust and her cult dragonnaped Spike. After that they poisoned him, making him unable to use his fire. Then they forced him to take drugs... a high amount of drugs... then..."

Two tears traveled down Breeze's muzzle. The silence that followed made the mares shiver in suspense.

...

"They forced him to rape me... and then they raped him, one by one. They forced him to drink more of that drug as soon as they noticed that he was starting to resist it, from what I heard... his consciousness faded away... more times than I could count" White Breeze looked at the dragon again, " it is just a miracle that he is still capable of thinking".

Celestia held the white pony with her magic and brought her to a motherly hug, hushing the sobs of Breeze with caution.

“I was blind to my mistakes your highness. The cult discovered my facade and used me to create a trap. If it weren’t for me, they would have never know about Spike’s potential and would have forgotten him...” White Breeze said between sobs.

“No, White, it wasn’t your fault. You knew that it was a dangerous mission, and you suffered a lot, but you are still alive.” Celestia looked at Breeze and cleaned the tears from her eyes, “I will make sure to compensate you and your family for your heroic act and services to the crown. Now rest... you have earned it.”

White Breeze nodded to her Lord. Taking the last of her strength, she looked at Spike with a reassuring smile, “Mr. Spike, you were a victim in this, just like me, so don’t you ever think that you were the one hurting me back then”.

“Thanks Breeze.. you don't know how happy those words make me” Spike said exhausted, his voice akin to the whispering tone of Fluttershy.

While Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy cried their hearts out, the others bearers and the princesses just stood with anger.

"We think better of how the word war sounds now. It sounds like the most righteous and finest of acts." Luna said. The anger deep within her began showing on her now darkened mane.

"As a member of the wonderbolts I fully support the idea your highness," commented Rainbow Dash in a military tone.

"Don't know about the farm, but if there is war to fight because of this you can count on the fact that I will be in the first line giving some bucks to those degenerates" Added Applejack.

"There is no need to make a war" Twilight muttered with a raspy voice.

Twilight's friends smiled at the purple unicorns reaction. They had begun to wonder how long it would be before she moved.

"Darling how good to hear your voice" Cheered The fashionista before taking the alicorn with her magic,"We better move you to a comfortable place".

As soon as Twilight's body left Spike side, he panicked and grabbed the alicorn again in mid-air, using his fees as before, he stood on two legs and hugged the princess.

"Don't leave me!" Shouted the dragon, wearing a raspy voice just like Twilight, their earlier sobs and loud cries let their throats damaged since the morning.

"Oh dear..." commented the shy pegasus, "it's worst than what I expected".

"Spike, everything is alright" Assured Starlight who finally was starting to step out of her shock,"Twilight needs to properly rest".

Twilight signaled a dismissing hoof to the pink unicorn. "Don't worry about me, some big spells are no trouble for me. Spike is the one that really needs to recover." Rarity released her magic hold on the alicorn, leaving her to the embrace of Spike. The adorable view of the hugging duo subdued some of the rage boiling in the room. They knew that the top priority was to take care of them first.

" I wasn't resting on Spike's back, he was the one that asked me to stay there while casting the spell" Twilight explained while rubbing the scales on Spike’s back.

Fluttershy got near to the duo to closer inspect the disturbing features that Spike presented, "Spike, I know this will be hard for you, but you need to get out of your comfort zone. Your friends are here, you don't have anything to worry about."

Spike heard the pegasus words, but Twilight noticed that he was still frightened, "Don't worry big guy, it’s just like Shy said, you are are safe here."

"Twilight, I'm not only scared for what they did to me, the thing is that the drug effects are still active, in this state I’m not so confident about myself anymore".

"It would be only a moment" She reassured him before putting a little peck on his muzzle,"I need to send a letter to Zecora, she is the only one that will now how to clean the poison out of your system, besides we need to explain what happened back in there in Saddle Arabia".

Spike released Twilight and stood quite for a moment until his gaze went to Fluttershy's eyes. Twilight asked her former student to bring some scrolls and then asked Rainbow Dash to be the one to get the message to the alchemist zebra. In the time between Twilight’s askings, the purple dragon was showing good signals to the shy mare beside him, his eyes finally were starting to shine again; unknown for both, that shine was actually signaling another kind of message.

"You are worthy..." mumbled Spike unconsciously, getting nearer to the Pegasus.

"Spike?" she said in a quiet town before being pulled into the dragon's claws.

Spike held Fluttershy close to his face, he was looking at her like a poor would look at a chest filled with bits, his eyes danced trough her entire figure, looking from the tender and thick flanks to her soft belly and finally to the beautiful and fragile features of her face. The group was confused by this behavior and found impossible to react properly.

"An angel..." he mumbled.

"hum... Spike?" she whispered.

"No... you are more than that, you are a kindness mare with the heart of a humble hero, always protecting the ones that are weak, and surpassing your own limits in order to defend the ones that you love... like a flower you have grown from a fragile and shy sprout to a full grown and beautiful rose, a strong Arcangel who’s shine show righteousness and kindness. Fluttershy... you are worthy" Spike said as his muzzle got closer to the shy mare.

Twilight stood perplexed at the dragon's flatterings at first, only to recall Spike's true feelings towards his friends.She tried to think for a moment about the repercussions of the drugs with Spike's current actions. but another unexpected event stopped her brain from functioning properly.

"Twilight," Shouted Starlight while entering the room,"I just found the sc...".

Just as the ones in the room, Starlight jaw dropped at the sight of the dragon and the caretaker pegasus. Spike was softly kissing the shy mare while his claws caressed her back.

Fluttershy found herself panicking at first, the dragon’s grip on her and his new appearance made her feel like she was in the grasp of a hungry predator. His slitted eyes and pointy teeth didn't help the situation either. Until she noticed something, even with his new appearance the hug was still comforting and heartwarming. His touch gave her the same feeling that the old Spike always had. It make her relax for a moment, knowing that Spike was still inside that new form. Her body was no longer tense and she started to like the caressing of the young dragon. Lost in the drake’s ministration and warm scales she forgot the world around her and started to reciprocate the kiss. Fluttershy pushed her muzzle against his. Pressing the front part of her body against him as she cooed softly. Her worries and fears seemed to melt away as her mind focused on Spike's sweet scaly lips.

Spike snapped out of his trance after sensing Fluttershy moans travel through the kiss, he shoved his friend out of his grasp and started to hyperventilate in fear.

"Oh, no no, not again, Fluttershy I'm sorry I- I..." he rambled his words in a frenzy, insecurity creeping down in his psyche while he hugged himself as a measure to control his actions.

Twilight took the dragon and cast a magic shield around him, "Spike calm down, look, I concealed you inside this shield, I won't let you hurt anyone" Twilight said to Spike before watching to Fluttershy's side, "Are you ok Fluttershy?"

The yellow pegasus nodded shyly while the blush in her muzzle only deepened into a crimson red color; Twilight wondered that she should be worried, even angry, about her friend's reaction to Spike's kiss, but right now it wasn't the time for that.

"Okay, Spike, you should rest in that bubble. you have been through a lot lately, so I would explain everything to our friends"

Spike got confused for a moment, "Are you not mad at me because of... you know..." he trailed off, trying to not say the obvious part.

"There is a lot in my mind, Spike, that's for sure, but I don't want to go deeper into that matter for our own good" Twilight paused, 'I’m not sure if this is the best of occasion to tell everyone about your feelings towards the girls either' she thought before resuming, "besides, you can't control yourself properly yet so I think that you aren't completely guilty about it. The real deal right now is explaining what happened back there after the princess went missing".

The group, except for Fluttershy that was still red as a tomato, furrowed their brows in confusion.

"She is missing? Yeah right, more like she went hiding to the most remote place so I can't kick the living hell out of her" the angry rainbow maned pegasus commented.

Twilight shoved a dismissing hoof to her friend, "No, Rainbow. She didn’t go into hiding on her own will because I sent her to that unknown location myself" Twilight explained.

"You what?!" both princess almost spat her shout, Luna’s hate thoughts dissipated from her mind after the shock of Twilight’ss words hit her.

"Ugh... I know, I know it was reckless from my part to use a multidimensional traveling spell, and I know that it was even worse because I only used it out of anger against the princess and her cult-"

"Twilight do you know the implications of those actions?" Luna asked to the tired alicorn.

"I know I know. Let me explain. While I was using the cleanse spell on Whitea Breeze and Spike".

"Cleanse spell?" Rarity asked intrigued, interrupting the conversation in the process.

"I needed to clean the remaining substance in their bodies before teleporting us back" Twilight said with uneasiness in her tone.

"Substances? like the remainings of the drug?" Rarity furrowed her questioning, only receiving an embarrassed look from the trio.

"I think that Twilight's mean the sem-"

"Okey Pinkie, I don't really want to this conversation to take that way!" Twilight interrupted the pink mare before she made the conversation more uncomfortable than how already was.

"Friends please; this is important," scolded the princess of the sun, "I just send a letter to the king after Twilight’s departure in order to get some answer. In the process, we had to announce that Twilight was there in the first place. If the kingdom gets to know that the princess is-".

"The royal family already knows it" Twilight interrupted.

Booth sister did a double take and stayed stuck for a second, Celestia was the first one to recompose,"Then how is that they- no, we are just running in circles here, just explain us everything Twilight there will be no more interruptions" The Princess declared with authority.

Twilight took one of the scrolls that Starlight brought and started writing the letter to Zecora, "Like I was saying," she started explaining while writing, "after cleaning Spike and Breeze, I took a moment to gather the energy required to teleport us back here, while doing so the king arrived. From what I know, it seems like the pony that worked with the ones making the drugs caught the cult stealing his last stash. The pony followed the group and after witnessing what they were doing he made his way to the king. It took him a lot of time to get pass the guards and tell everything to the king".

Spike signaled a claw to Twilight, "let me continue" he mumbled to her. Twilight nodded to his petition and released him from the bubble for the meantime.

"The moment the king arrived he started rambling to his daughter about the consequences of her actions. When he didn’t get a response he noticed that she and the whole cult weren’t there. He looked at me with fear, fear that turned into confusion, confusion that brought rage. He demanded us to tell him what happened to his daughter. I knew things could turn really bad for Twilight so I took the role of the guilty one and-".

Twilight sobs and quiet sniffs stopped the dragon's explanation, "why?" she mumbled.

Spike enhanced senses caught Twilight's words, "Twilight, it was the best thing to do. You didn't deserve to pay for the things they did me."

"Haven't you suffered enough?!" Twilight shouted with mild anger, "I didn't have the time to say something, I was so broken inside after seeing you like that. You on the other hoof? You were the one heavily damaged. You were the one raped mentally and physically, and even in that state you stood there strong like a diamond!" she laughed in tears, the memory brought mixed feelings to her mind. Her own impotence at the moment, and the fact that Spike thought of her before himself, even when he was more distraught than her.

Fluttershy and the rest stood silent while watching the scene. There was a lot that confused them since the explanation wasn't over, but they chose to let them speak the contents of their hearts. After all, the conversation only cemented that they needed to talk about this before ever thinking about getting back to Ponyville.

"Do you even thought of what the king would have to do to you? Twilight you are the new princess of the kingdom, but even before that, most citizens thought of you as a humble mare that had risked her own hoofs more than one time for the sake of Equestria. A heroine who holds no political power in reality" Spike paused, "Worst scenario he would have given you the same kind of treatment that her daughter received. Heck, not even the punishment that I received from him is light enough to pass it to you".

"I never asked to be a princess anyway!" Twilight exclaimed, "You were training your whole life in order to be a prince!"

"Wait what are you two trying to say?!" Celestia asked to deaf ears and fins. their discussion was slowly putting all the pieces together, and the resolved puzzle didn't look good for the princess in the slightest.

"Twenty years are nothing for a dragon!" Spike argued back, "in two hundred years everyone would forget this and I can be a prince again if I want to".

"Why you bucking lizard"she started hitting him in the chest, her shivering hoofs and shaking blows didn't hurt Spike physically, albeit his mind was taking every hit as a cannonball, " you altruist bastard... the fact that you are immortal doesn't mean that you can go there forgiving everyone like the only one that would suffer for it is you" Twilight said between sobs, "I was the one guilty, even if I was commanded to search for that sick mare between time and space through the multiverse... even if I only have a day to be with you and the others... at least if that is the case... we could still be...".

The scroll on which Twilight was writing was now covered in incomprehensible words and draws. Spike hugged her and let her words sink in his psyche for a moment before watching at his friends and family.

"The king demanded I renounce myself as a prince. He thought that my actions were reckless, but considered my condition and the things that her daughter did to me... in the end I think his rage was only with himself for letting this to happen to his family, I think that he just didn't want to know anything related to her daughter’s actions for the time being... He was also a victim in this, so I accepted his demands" Spike paused to look at his mother,"We have two days to make the announcement public, and inform the papers".

"Spickey this has no senses at all" The fashionista exclaimed.

"Why do you have to pay for the things she did to you?" Fluttershy added.

"Yeah! That king is the one that should pay for her daughter's actions!" Pinkie Pie continued.

"Enough!" shouted Rainbow Dash, "I have enough of this, I'm gonna go there and give that king a piece of my mind rig-" Rainbow felt incapable of moving, a yellow aura was restraining her body,"Princess, I don't care if I have to fight with you too, so let me go unless you want to know why no one like's the true meaning behind the words 'taste the Rainbow' ".

"Have I ever told you that Spike is my favorite nephew?" Luna asked the now confused group.

"Spike had decided to save our relationship with the foreign land. I know my nephew enough to say that he did it because he doesn't want anypony to struggle, there are lot of merchant ponies earning their lives traveling between the two kingdoms, other ponies" she paused to look directly at Applejack,"needs seeds that don't are easy to gather here, and that are just some examples".

"When I was young, I knew that the ponies would enjoy the night in the future when technology and prosperity eventually allowed them to remain awake longer. But I was impatent and selfish. I failed as a true ruler, because a true ruler would have waited and endured the slings and arrows for the sake of their people. But I wasn't strong enough, I didn't have the kind of willpower to withstand the jealous feelings that swelled inside of me and ended up succumbing to darkness" Luna paused, "Spike has had to endure the same kind of feeling more times in his young life then anyone should. First he had to endure the fact that everyone thought of him as a time bomb, a wolf disguised as a sheep that could attack at any moment. Then, even after he was finally was recognized as someone reliable and trustworthy, he still had to endure a life of being treated like a child soley due to his stature and looks.”

Luna looked with tears in her eyes to her nephew,"He saved us from the dragons, and renounced to be their lord so he could stay here and protect the ones he loved. And now this... he sacrificed himself for the well-being of the ponies he cares, and for you Twilight" Luna took a huge breath in order to calm herself, "Spike is my favorite nephew because I want to learn from him, I look up to his conviction and determination, because I know that even when I'm hundreds of years older than him, he is more capable of being a ruler than I may ever be".

Celestia released Rainbow, "Just as Luna said, Spike decided to do this for the sake of Equestrians" Spike nodded to the group, "And just as he said, after some years all of this will be forgot, sweep by the infinite flow of time".

"But..." Twilight interrupted, "Because of his decision, I can't marry him if we ever decide to... "

Rarity got herself up from her seat and approached the duo, "Don't mind the formalities Twilight, a love relationship doesn't need to be bound to a paper to exist", She noticed how Spike winced and retreated with every step she took,"Is he going to be like this with every mare until he gets the drug outside his system?" she asked concerned.

Applejack noticed something important after Rarity made her question,"now that I think of it, Why is Spike not afraid of you, Twi?".

"that's because" Spike's eyes transformed again for a moment, "She is master..." he winced in pain after those words left his muzzle, his eyes returned to his natural form again, but the pain was still present... actually.

The pain had been there for a long time. Spike took a huge breath and tried to withstand the pain within his body. the fight between him and his instincts was wearing him out. But he didn't want that his friends knew that; if he could resist a little longer then...

"Your master?" Fluttershy asked with a frown, the way he said those words made her boil in anger for some reason, "what does he mean with that?".

"I... I don't know" Twilight lied while scratching the back of her head.

Fluttershy frowned,'No... You know why. I knew that something was weird beyond you two since that time Spike asked me about your behavior... '

"Maybe it's anoth-"

"Enough!" Fluttershy shouted, frightening all the presents, "I know when something is happening to a creature, Spike had always given me signs that something was wrong, he even asked me things in the past, things that I tried to forget... I tried to pay no mind out of my own shyness, but I can't stand it anymore. A dragon is not supposed to be dependent on others, even if he is a good one, the way Spike treat us, the way he always looks to be helpful, all those time he showed fear of being not necessary, even when I’m actually frightened of my own words”Fluttershy took a breath and calmed her tone before even she could get scared of herself, ” I need answers, Twilight Sparkle, I need to know why he had always looked like a slaved creature".

Spike watched the distraught Fluttershy, then looked at his concerned friends, and finally to the panic face that Twilight was wearing. Their faces only served to help his pain grow, he was at his limit at this point.

"Twilight... I'm gonna be selfish this time..." He said before taking one of the scrolls nearby and write a Spell combination, he passed the scroll to Twilight, who found herself shocked after reading the manuscript.

"Spike, this is-"

"Let me explain first..." he said to her, hushing her mouth with a finger, "Girls, right now, I'm suffering contractions in all my muscle, my body is trying to transform back to my usual self but the drug is fighting back. The spell that I gave to Twilight will put me to sleep for a long time while Zecora gets here and threats me, but that's not all." he took another breath and growled in pain for a moment, holding a claw in the air to Applejack who was about to get near, "I still have time to withstand the pain, but after I run out of it, I want to ask two selfish petitions, the first one is to use a memory spell, so I can forget everything related to my rape... that kind of spell is illegal to use".

"Don't worry we can let it slide for you" Celestia assured to his son.

"Thanks, mom" Spike smiled, "I will need you to fill the blank spaces in my memory, and make something up about my prince status. I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, but I want to get rid of those images as soon as posible".

Spike looked at the five bearers of the elements with a melancholic face before his eyes rested upon the yellow pegasus, "The other thing I want to do is even more selfish... Twilight, I want to confess something to our friends... Something very important that I need to get out of my chest".

Twilight drifted for a moment in thought, she knew what Spike was about to do, deep inside, she felt unsure, insecure of what those words could do to them, but.

"Do as you please, Spike, After all, I'm not one to stop any wish you have after acknowledging all the things that you had suffered", she said with a smile, releasing herself from their hug.

"Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash. When my mind lost itself into the oblivion the last thing I regretted, aside for not being strong enough to fight against my assaulters, was that I didn't tell you how much I" he paused and took another breath, "how much I love you".

"Don't worry squirt, we also care-" Rainbow Dash tried to say.

"Rainbow. I mean true love, like how I feel for Twilight" he stated with a serious tone.

The whole group stood astonished at the drake's confession, well, all but Pinkie Pie and Starlight; Pinkie Pie was actually smiling, feeling flattered by the Drake feelings towards her. Starlight by the other hoof wore a sad look on her face who quickly turned into a shocked, and obviously fake, one. The party mare was the only one to notice it but tried to let it slide for the moment.

"I know, I know it sounds weird, even bad. I tried to ask Ember about it but she did not have an answer either, dragons tend to only have one mate his whole life" he snickered, "but not this dragon, I guess. Fluttershy, if you want an answer of why I acted the way I did with you, was because I loved and still love you all; if you looked me like a creature trained to be a slave, it was because I was so lost in my lovestruck that I couldn’t properly hide how much I wanted to make you happy".

Twilight looked at her shy friend, she was blushing in crimson red while trying to make her jaw stay still, "Maybe I know why Spike felt for us six in the first place" she commented, taking the attention of everyone in the room, "I actually did some things to Spike, things that I'm not proud to say, neither I have the willpower to say them, but those actions maybe were the responsible for Spike’s feelings..." She looked at the dragon emerald eyes for a moment, "Spike, you said to me that you always had felt love for us, in your own words 'the kind of love that you hold for a friend or family', but you also told me that those feelings started to change after I did those unspeakable things to you...".

"Yeah, that is true, Twilight, maybe that was the reason," said the dragon a little uneasy while scratching his nose, "but either way there is no point anymore in trying to figure out why".

Twilight looked at his dragon with doubt, she didn't know how he was gonna take her next words, "Spike, the thing is, that there is a way to figuring it out..." she paused, "If I enhance the memory spell, I can clean the things I did to you".

"What?" Spike did a double take.

"Spike, the truth is that I never felt comfortable about... Well, us, after all, I forced our relationship, your feelings were a mess from the beginning because of me, and I just went as I pleased, knowing that your kind attitude would never say no to me".

"Then if you are gonna do it, erase the dreams too," Spike stated bluntly. Confusing Twilight in the process, she wasn't expecting that he would accept so easily. "I know that i have a tendency to make bad decisions, and the pain is making it hard for me to think straight too, that’s for sure, but I agree with you. Being honest, even before of all of this, my mind always found ways to make me think of the possibilities, 'what ifs' that always crept into my mind."

Spike groaned again and used a claw to support his head, "if you really love me, then taking my claws again will be easy for you. If I really love the girls just like I do to you, well, it will mean that the dreams had nothing to do with it, so your consciousness will be free of guilt" Spike concluded.

"Hold on you two!" Applejack exclaimed, "Are you two even hearing yourselves? Look I think that you two need to have a proper rest and cool your heads before making another decision."

Spike groaned again and held another claw against his forehead, he was barely standing up at this point, "yeah... rest sounds like- it sounds fine for me. Twi, for the mean time just put me asleep, I'm not capable of doing it myself with all the contractions breaking my body.”

"Sure thing Spike. Starlight, I'll need you to carry him to his bed after I cast the spell. I have to save some strength after all." Twilight said before forcing Spike into sleep.

"Oh, sure... just let me..." Starlight tried to lift the dragon but found a lot of resistance in the process, "Seems like his new body is magic proof... this is gonna take a while..."

The pink unicorn made her way outside the room, grunting every two or three steps because of the high amount of magic needed to hold the drake properly.

"Twilight, I think is best if we talk this with more caution, besides there are a lot of things that I didn't understand," The kind yellow mare said while getting up from her seat, "I'm gonna make some tea so we can take this more slowly okay?".

"I don't know Flutters, but I appreciate the fact that you all are concerned about it" Twilight commented.

The shy mare nodded and went to the kitchen alongside the pink mare.

Twenty minutes later

The girls had been talking with Twilight for a while, trying to convince her to take another path, but she only dismissed the idea time and time again; Starlight ended up being the one writing and sending the letter to Zecora. The princesses for their part used that time to sent White Breeze to the Canterlot hospital with the help of the royal guards that brought them to Poniville at the morning. Right now, the royal sisters were looking at the conversation and discussions, drinking some tea and eating a little cake that remained from the previous party.

"Common why you two don't say anything about this?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed to the royal sisters, "Spike is a member of your family right? so why aren't you worried about his brain being cleansed from the inside?"

Celestia and Luna glared at themselves for a moment, and then at the rainbow maned mare, "Actually, we think that Twilight is right", Celestia commented, making the group of five mares gasp, "Look, Twilight has been avoiding this matter since the beginning so I will say it: Twilight and Spike’s relationship is flawed. It started with doubts, discussions and a lot of effort. More than once they discovered that they felt true love for each other, but after hearing their idea about cleaning Spike's memory, I realize that the seed of doubt never left their brains".

Twilight signaled the princess to stop for a moment, "Sorry princess but doubt wasn't the thing that haunted us, it was the resentment of how it all started." Twilight paused for a moment to look at her friends, "Maybe, someday, I will have the courage to tell you what I did to him. But right now I want you to trust me."

Applejack was about to offer another solution, but Pinkie Pie interrupted her early.

"Twilight, I know that the girls are watching this from the logical point of view, and yes, I know that the right thing to do is stop you, but I don't care about what is the correct thing to do anymore, what I really want to know are two things: are you two really enjoying your relation as a couple?"

Twilight didn't know how to properly answer her friend, knowing how her hyperactive friend wasn't one for complex answers she decided to summarize as best as she could, "yes and no".

"Now the second question!" she declared, "do you think Spike will be happier if you do what you want to do to him?"

"I promise you Pinkie, he will be happier than he ever was," Twilight stated with a smile.

The pink mare known for her weird and incomprehensible ways of doing things, looked at the purple alicorn with a frown. Piercing her soul for a couple of seconds. The others were accustomed to this kind of behavior so they let her shenanigans take control of the situation for the moment.

Pinkie turned her frown to a smile, and in the blink of an eye, she shouted, "Then it's good to me! now let's go to ask Spike!" cheered the happy mare before being stopped by a magic blue aura, "hey!"

"There is no need of it Pinkie, Spike will tell you the same thing, I asked him a while ago through the realm of dreams" Luna explained before releasing the pink mare, "besides, if we wake him up, he will only suffer because of the after effects of the drugs".

"Seriously? Well then it's double fine for me" Pinkie shrugged before getting to her seat again.

"That makes one of us" Applejack commented, still unsure of Twilight idea, just like the other four.

The Orange mare took her hat and let it lay on the map, “Look Twi, It's not that I don’t like your idea, is just that I’m unsure of the righteousness of this spell. I like how this could mean that you two can form a new relationship from the beggining, but...” Applejack trailed off for a moment in her own past, “There is no much difference between hiding the truth and lying. Also, the whole thing about this magic being illegal makes me uneasy”.

Twilight furrowed her brows in thought, She hummed softly for a moment until an idea popped into her mind, "What about this!" she proclaimed, "it will take some time, but I can make a counter spell of the eraser. In order for this to work, I will block Spike memory instead of erasing them. The spell will need some time to properly work as I intend, so he will need to stay in the castle for a few days".

"I guess that you will tell him after the spell is complete that his memories were locked, right?" Applejack intrigued, granting a nod from Twilight as an answer.

"Exactly" Reaffirmed Twilight.

Applejack smiled again and return her Stetson hat were it belonged, “In that case, he will know that you two decided to forget the past in order to reform your mistakes. tIt also means that he can choose to know the truth at any time, that seems finds to me”.

"But just so you know, if he decides to forget everything again then I will not take this measures... otherwise he could end up with serious mental damage" Twilight mumbled the last part.

Rarity and Applejack were about to ask about Twilight last words, but the entrance of Zecora, alongside a cart filled to the brim with elixirs and ingredients of all kind, interrupted their line of thoughts.

"I came as quick as I could, to give the Drake his proper cure" Zecora gasped her forced rhyme. Starlight soon entered the room and looked at the girls.

"I explained to her everything I knew" Starlight assured, "Sorry for here so getting late, I asked her to use a teleport spell but she said that some e of her elixirs are extremely fragile" The pink unicorn explained, the calmed expression on her face showing that she used her magic to fly all the way to the castle. "So... how is everything here?"

"Before I answer that," Applejack commented, her eyes sitting upon Luna, "does Spike agree with this too?"

The princess of the moon closed her eyes for a moment, just to open them again with a smile, "you have the green light from him".

"More like green fire" Pinkie cheered, "Yay! no more boring talks!" She said before using a mini confetti cannon hidden inside her mane.

"Pinkie I haven-" Applejack paused for a moment and just shrugged to the whole situation, "ah, it doesn't matter, I agree with this, what about you girls?".

The girls just nodded in approbation, while Rainbow Dash just shrugged, "At least this feels more righteous that the first idea" she added.

"So, Spike is gonna forget all about the rape?" Starlight asked with expectation.

"Well yeah, he will also lose his memories about our relationship" Twilight added.

Starlight felt joy for the affirmation, but soon found herself ashamed to keep smiling once the next words of Twilight were spelled. "oh, sorry to hear that last part" She added with a blush on her face.

"Nothing to worry about Starlight, I can win his heart again in no time" Twilight assured with pride before getting off her seat, "I will tell you everything in the way to Spike room".

Some hours later

It was late afternoon at Equestria, and in the Friendship castle, two mares a zebra and an alicorn were watching at the drake in bed, welcoming him with joy while he was waking up. Spike was confused to see so many faces around him, the last thing he recalled was getting in his bed late at night, but now he could see the sun setting bellow the horizon from outside of the window.

"Uhm... got afternoon?" Spike yawned, "ah~... Twi, what is happening? It's not normal that I wake up around so many mares. Not gonna lie, a lot of stallions would be glad to be in my place right now" he added jokingly.

Twilight smiled 'looks like the spell worked' she thought before recalling the words she had studied for this moment, "Nice to see you are awake again, sleepy head" she said cheerfully, "seems like some dragon added obsidian to his punch without telling, you are lucky that Celestia covered that info to the public, because you are half year off to properly drink, mister", she lied about the events of the previous night.

"Obsidian? I was sure that I learned my lesson the last time I tried to eat it..." Spike thought out loud, "but well, now that you say it, my mind is really fuzzy right now and my whole body feels like I was caught in a stampede, so you must be right" he paused to look at nurse RedHeart and to Zecora, "and... why are you two here? sorry if I sound rude, is just that I can't find proper words after waking up".

'That settles it, the spell worked, he forgot everything about the rape, now let's see if the rest worked aswell'

"Zecora got here to help Redheart with your healthcare, after all, you are a dragon so this wasn't a usual case of poisoning with 'liquor'" Twilight explained, "Did you remember something important Spike?" she forced the question, too late to notice how she screwed her plans a little for a moment.

"Well" Spike paused to look back at his chest of memories, "I remember the party, then the fact that Luna and Celestia told the ones present about my true age..." he frowned in concentration, "They told something else but I can't remember properly. Actually... I feel like there is a lot of holes in my memories...".

"Don't worry, Spike, is just a common after effect of the obsidian poisoning" Twilight told him with an assuring smile, "Luckily for you, Celestia and Luna are still here, they can tell you what happened, I will tell them to come here and then inform the girls".

"The girls are here too? Wow, they must be worried" Spike scratched the back of his head feeling the shame of his actions swelling in his mind, "I will have to apologize to them for the trouble".

'Maybe this could be an overkill, but I have to make sure'

"Yeah, they sure are, just like I was. Do you know how hard is to get a number one assistant?" Twilight commented in a joking manner.

"Yeah, the merchants usually put them at the highest prices since there are too few of them" Spike followed the joke, noticing now that Twilight face was approaching to his own.

"I'll go outside and tell, the other" She paused to give a kiss to Spike's forehead, "I love you, my number one assistant".

Spike face shined in joy, "love ya too Twi" the purple dragon exclaimed.

Twilight departed the room wearing a smile. She closed the door behind her and disposed to go to inform the princesses.

'How long has it been since I heard him said those words without a trace of doubt or regret?'.

The purple alicorn found her friends after some minutes. She wasted no time in telling them that the spell had worked properly and that it was their turn now to do their part and come up with something to tell Spike about his royal status.

'It will be rough to get Spike to love me again, but this time I'll do it properly, without hurting him or anyone else in the process'.

Twilight walked through the corridors at a slow pace while she made her way to the map room where her friends were waiting.

'Even still, I need to contain my urges to start right away. Redheart said that it will take at least a month for his body to completely clear out the the drugs inside his system' Twilight stopped for a moment to look herself at her own reflection on the ground, 'I'll use that time to prepare myself' her eyes shined in a bright purple, 'All of this was because I felt into the grasp of Greed, and even though I can fight against it better now, the fact that I didn't do anything before just prove I could have put a stop to all of this in that night I first kissed him.'

Twilight started to move again through the corridor, a single tear was forming in her left eye while she kept thinking in the past.

'I was so frightened, so confused, and yet, I never asked for help. And even when I grew up the courage to ask Cadance for guidance, I choose to use him again... I was so weak...' Twilight sobbed. She stopped again, this time to calm herself, 'and then he just... he just accepted it, he gave me a chance after everything I did...'.

Twilight started to openly cry, her muzzle started to drench in the tears and the world around her dazzled. She took a wall as a support and kept on her mental rambling, no, it wasn't rambling, it was a scolding. She was reprimanding herself for everything she had done for the first time in her life.

'All the things I did, oh goddess, how I was so blind to not see the damage I was doing to him? he spoiled every one of my wishes, he stood by my side when it really mattered, he took more care of me that I could ever do at my young age. And how do I pay him? I misthreathed him, I overdid myself everytime we do the child act; more than one time I acted selflessly and most of those times he ended up being the hurt one because of it... to top it off, I practically raped him every week'.

Twilight Looked at the door at the end of the hall, the distance seemed so near, she wanted more time, more space for her to think.

'And how did he respond to my selfish treatment? He decided to give me a chance, time and time again to prove my love... he protected me from the rage of a king lost in pain and sadness even while suffering and drugged. He stood with the same determination that he always has when it comes to protecting the ones he loves...' Twilight cleaned her tears again and recomposed after her mind recalled the most important thing 'he even gave me the chance to amend my errors.'

Twilight made her way to the door and open it, forgetting for a moment that she could use her magic to help her. Once inside, she told the whole group the good news.

"I hope our favorite squirt is ok now" Rainbow Dash said while flying outside the room.

"Oh, I hope that he feels good now," The white fashionista asked, granting a nod from Twilight, "how delightful! I need to see him"

"He is still all big and meany looking?"

"I can hug him now?"

"Yes, Fluttershy, he is back to his natural form and size" Twilight frowned at the pink mare, "And no, there are no hugs for today, the drugs had just been cleansed from his system but there could still be remainings, I will tell you the details later" the pink mare stood there with a teary look on her face after hearing her hugs being neglected.

"How bad, Spike really likes to give hugs too" Starlight commented on her way out of the room.

Applejack was the last one in the room, "You don't seem to want to go see him with us" the farmer said concerned.

"I just need some time, you go ahead, I'll catch up with you in a moment".

"Well, ah'll take that for the meantime, but don't stay here for too long, I will need your help if miss drama gets noisy" Applejack commented.

The words "I just hear that" echoed from outside of the room, earning a chuckle from the orange earth pony before she took her leave.

Pinkie stood up and looked at Twilight again, her honest smile returned to her face, showing understanding and care towards her friend.

"Twilight, is fine if you want to cry," She said to Twilight, the purple unicorn released her held tears and sobs after hearing those miraculous words, "You had been through a lot today, and now you have a whole challenge to take, get Spike out of his crush with Rares again will be hard I'm sure of that".

"I will do my best Pinkie" Twilight sobbed with joy.

"I'll hope for that Sparkle" The pink mare saluted before getting out of the room.

Now Twilight stood alone in the room, only her and her thoughts trying to gather all the courage they needed to keep going.

'Now I have a second chance to start this, but this time, I know how I feel and I know that he can love me back.'

Twilight looked at the memories shards hanging on the roof of the map room, Every colored shard made her recall the past vividly.

'He helped me to grow as the mare I am now, a mare who is known as a humble and respectable heroine, a princess who is fanatic to knowledge, books, science, and magic. He helped me fight against every one of my flaws in the past, and now I would reward him for it, I will do the only thing that he always asked me'.

'I will amends my bad habits'.

Author's Note

And there you have it, the end of this fic who started as a personal trial to make a story in which Twilight could love her assistant and get out of her shell in a progressive way that followed the whole series till the 6th season and then follow the current one (7th).

Throughout this whole fic, I let some signals about the feelings of some of the main six towards Spike too. My mind keeps telling me to make a spin off sequel using those moments as a fuel, but the true reasons behind them were that I wanted to put the suspense of a possible competition for the heart of the drake.

Also, I want to dedicate this last chapter to say thanks again to ShadowSpider for all the help, tips and suggestions that he gave me.

Now that I ended my ramblings, let me thank you for reading this fic! I hope that you have enjoyed it.