My Little Pony XO Friends Forever

Morning arrived, and Spike was still asleep in the middle of the library.

A shadow loomed over him.

“Spike?!” a familiar voiced called out to him.

The dragon woke up in a jolt. “Huh? Wha? What is it?” He looked up to see a lavender Unicorn staring down at him, both concerned and angry at the same time: Twilight Sparkle.

“Why are you sleeping on the floor?” she asked, though it sounded like she was telling him off. “Have you been up all night working? I told you Owlowicious does that. You need to get your sleep.”

“I know,” Spike replied, rubbing his eyes together as he drowsily stood up. “But I was working on a Hearts and Hooves Day letter.”

“Oh,” Twilight asked with a smirk. “And who is it for?”

“Uh… it’s for…that is…” Spike stammered with embarrassment.

Twilight giggled lightly, then she asked with another smirk. “That wouldn’t be for Rarity, would it?”

“Yeah,” he replied defeatedly, his scaly cheeks blushing deeply. He knew that Twilight was aware of his feelings for Rarity. She knew that he was in love with the beautiful Unicorn.

Twilight Sparkle giggled again. “Oh Spike. I know that you love Rarity. No need to keep that a secret from me.”

“I guess you’re right.” Spike replied reassured. But then he gave her a betrayed glare. “Of course, you didn’t keep it a secret.”

“Spike, I said I was sorry.” Twilight replied exasperatedly. But he was right to be upset since she couldn’t hold onto that special secret for long. But at least Rarity didn’t know about this. It was unlikely that she even knew about Spike’s crush on her.

“Anyway, I got to go now. See ya, Twilight.” Spike said as he grabbed his letter for Rarity, and was just about to walk out the door.

“Hold it right there, mister!” Twilight called out to him.

“Yeah, Twilight?” Oh no! Was he still in trouble?

However, much to his relief, he saw Twilight, with a loving smile on her face, grab another letter of her own with her Unicorn magic, and gave it to him.

“Happy and Hearts Hooves Day, Spike.” She replied.

Spike looked to see the sweet sentiment written in it.

[i]On this special day I want to tell you know

that I love you. You are my dear friend,

and my Number 1 Assistant.

Happy Hearts and Hooves Day! Love, Twilight Sparkle.

He also noticed a small ruby taped to the letter.

Spike looked up back to Twilight. Tears streamed from his eyes, and he gave her a sweet smile, touched by her gift.

“Thank you.” He hugged Twilight’s leg.

“Oh Spike, you’re welcome.” She returned his hug, and nuzzled him close. She was happy to know that Spike loved his letter.

They released, and Spike dashed out the door. “See ya!”

Twilight Sparkle looked on as her dragon assistant closed the door behind him. She was still happy to see him pleased with her gift.

* * * * *

It was a beautiful spring day in Ponyville. But of course, everypony was too busy with what was going on.

Hearts and Hooves Day was here! Heart-shaped balloons floated from every lampost, market stand, and everywhere else for that matter. Heart-shaped decorations hung from all directions. Ponies were collecting flower bouquets, chocolates, and Hearts and Hooves Day letters to give to their very special someponies. It was such a romantic time of year.

Spike was definitely in the spirit of it. All he could think about was giving Rarity his letter to her. Will she love it? And better yet, will she finally love me? That’s all he could think about. He just couldn’t wait to walk right up to heavenly vision of a mare, and give her the best love letter ever.

“Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Sweetie Drops!” A voice called out.

Spike turned to see a mint Unicorn with a lyre cutie-mark galloping over to a beige Earth Pony with a blue-pink-streaked mane and a cutie-mark shaped as three wrapped candies.

“Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Lyra Heartstrings!” She called back. Lyra joined her friend at their favorite bench. She gave Sweetie Drops a Happy Hearts and Hooves Day letter. Then, Sweetie gave her gal pal a letter, too. They both read their cards, looked at each other, and, after flashing touched smiles, they hugged each other… actually huggling (a mix between hugging and snuggling).

Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops have always been best friends. They were salt and pepper; peanut butter and jelly. Two best friends spending Hearts and Hooves Day together. So sweet.

As Spike looked on to see the two pony friends huggling each other, he started to think back about his own friends, too. How they meant so much to him.

Spike could even recall the special bond he made with Twilight Sparkle when she raised and gave him a home to stay. He even remembered when they used to live in Canterlot. But when Twilight was assigned by her teacher, Princess Celestia, to make some friends, they moved to the quaint town of Ponyville. There they met them, the five ponies who would forever change their lives.

Besides Rarity and Twilight, there was Applejack, the hardworking Earth Pony who had a big family,—and definitely, a BIG family—grew an orchard of delicious apples, and was always honest.

Then, there was Fluttershy, the shy but gentle Pegasus who cared for all the animals near Ponyville. On their first meeting, she was timid around Twilight, but Spike remembered when he was introduced did that sweet pegasus suddenly gush at the sight of him, and asked questions about him, actually about dragons. Some were questions that he didn’t even know about. Spike did know one thing, Fluttershy was a very kind pony who cared deeply about her friends and the animals she attends to.

Also, there’s silly filly, Pinkie Pie. The pink Earth Pony was always bubbly, cheerful, and always wanted to put a smile on everypony’s face. To her it was all about parties, cupcakes, and making new friends. Even in the darkest hours or when things got hairy and scary, she would always face danger and laugh in the face of it. Laughter was her specialty after all.

And then, of course, there was Rainbow Dash, the fastest Pegasus in Equestria. She was perhaps the coolest, too… though she would probably be considered 20% cooler. She also has her trademark move: the Sonic Rainboom. It would rock the skies in its colorful brilliance. Not to mention that it was Rainbow Dash’s move that not only earned her cutie-mark, but even the rest of their friends got theirs at the same time. It was as of though they were destined to be friends forever.

Such great friends. There was just one thing he couldn’t get over. It was the fact that they were GIRLS. To a baby boy dragon, it could get mushy and gushy at times. He just couldn’t stand it. Rarity was the only exception, especially for this holiday. He was in love with her, and, maybe after today, they could become more than friends.

Something suddenly clicked in the little dragon’s head. He forgot to get cards for the rest of the gang!

“Oh no!” Spike groaned to himself. He face-palmed himself. “I can’t believe I forgot to get cards for the others.” He sighed defeatedly. “Might as well make a few stops along the way. At least Rarity will still get hers.” Spike looked back on the letter he wrote, and hugged it close. He was still hoping against hope that maybe SHE will reciprocate his feelings with a hug, too.

Spike scampered down the town. He made a quick stop at the Hearts and Hooves Day stand, where cards, chocolates, balloons, bouquets of flowers, and any gift for the holiday were being sold. He just purchased five other cards, and dashed back again.

Spike made his way over to the first place he had in mind: Sweet Apple Acres, the home of Applejack.

He was just about to reach the apple orchards when he saw three fillies galloping past him. On their backs was a rather HUGE Hearts and Hooves Day card. Spike recognized them as Apple Bloom (Applejack’s little sister), Sweetie Belle (Rarity’s sister), and Scootaloo (who always wanted to be Rainbow Dash’s sister). Together they were the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Come on, Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Applebloom said to her friends. “We gotta get this to school!”

“Right,” Scootaloo replied. “Do ya think Miss Cheerilee will really like it!”

“She won’t like it,” Applebloom answered. “She’ll love it! It’s perfect! And it has to be.”

“Still think we’re gonna need a bigger envelope.”

Spike looked on to see them still galloping with their larger-than-life card riding astride them.

‘Now that’s a BIIIIG card,’ he thought to himself. Shaking his head again, he proceeded on to Sweet Apple Acres.