Spike's Mates

The next morning, Spike slowly awoke with a groan and was confronted by Celestia; beaming with happiness at the fact that he didn't remove the mark. She was his, and vice versa. Celestia started to feel like a filly falling in love for the first time as all she wanted was to be with Spike a every second of everyday; like the two of them use to be. Spike started move to sit up, but Celestia put a stop to that by pushing him back down and moving on top of him. She stared lovingly at him before capturing his lips. The two of them kissed for a while before breaking apart to catch their breaths. "S-So, is this how it's gonna be from now on?" he asked. Celestia answered by nuzzling her cheek against his as she cuddled him. Their lovely moment wasn't to last though, as Luna teleported inside Spike's room.

"Sister, we're needed in Canterlot immediately!" she said urgently. "We've received news of the current situation in Dragonia!"

"Has it started?" Celestia asked as she quickly rose to a sitting position.

"We believe so." Luna answered. Celestia removed the covers, revealing her voluptuous body, and got out of bed. With a wave of her hand, her clothes magically appeared on her and her mane was instantly fixed.

"W-Wait." Spike said in confusion. "What's started? What's going on?"

"Nothing for you to worry about, sweetheart." Celestia said lovingly before moving in to plant one more kiss on his lips. Spike soon turned his attention towards Luna who simply winked at him. "I'll come back soon." Celestia walked over to her sister, and with a flash of her horn, the two vanished.

Now that Spike was alone, he had time to reflect on his actions. While with Celestia, he didn't feel any kind of pain in his chest like he did with Pinkie and Fluttershy. He thought it was because he was going to let them go afterwards, and though the painful thought of losing the rest of his mates in the future was still there, it wasn't as prominent as before. It still hurt just thinking about it, but not as bad. Deep down, Spike's dragon blood was telling him to keep Twilight and the others while his conscience was telling him otherwise; that he needed to do the right thing. He started thinking about the mates he had left. Luna, before she left, winked at him, so maybe she feels the same as Celestia and wants to stay with him. It may not look it, but Spike was just as close to Luna as he was with Celestia, so the possibility of her staying with him isn't out of the question. Then there's Cadence, his "older sister", who looked after him when he was small, before she started taking care of Twilight. As close as the two of them were, Spike couldn't keep her. She was married to Shining Armor after all, and had an empire to run. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were already a couple before they came out to everyone, so as for how long they were together, Spike had no idea, but it was clear that the two of them cared for each other very much and he had no right to get in the way of that. That just leaves, Twilight; the only other one that was hurt by these past events. Stargazer tried to have him killed just because he hated the fact that Twilight was so close to someone other than him. As he finally got out of bed and started to get dressed, Spike wondered what would've happened if he decided to move out right when Twilight and Stargazer were getting serious. Maybe none of this would've happened, and he'd still be alive.

"Stop it, Spike." came a familiar voice. Spike turned to see Twilight standing in the doorway giving him a stern look. "I know that look. You're thinking that things between me and Stargazer would've been better if you were gone, right?"

Spike responded by giving Twilight an annoyed look. "What is it with you ponies and reading my thoughts?" he thought. Twilight walked up to Spike and wrapped her arms around him. The Princess of Friendship would NEVER allow Spike to even consider moving out on her behalf; regardless of who she was with. Deep down, Spike knows that if he ever did something like that, regardless if he meant well or not, Twilight, and the others, would hunt him down, drag him back, and give him a piece of their minds for months on end, then never let him out of their sight for even longer.

"Spike." Twilight spoke up. "There's something I want to talk to you about, but not now, later, okay."

"Um, sure, but why later?" he answered. "You planning on going somewhere?"

"Yeah, actually. Rarity needs help with her fall line; especially since the Fall Formal is coming up soon." she explained. "Why don't you come with? I'm sure Rarity wouldn't mind the extra help." Spike figured why not, besides, he was wondering how she she was doing since she and Pearl broke up two months ago. Maybe they were able to patch things up like Pinkie and Dizzy were able to do when they broke up. Spike and Twilight soon left the castle and began making their way towards Rarity's boutique. Along the way, Twilight slowly moved her hand to capture Spike's who held it tight. The two of them walked hand and claw through the village enjoying each others company; Spike unable to stop himself from glancing over at Twilight's slightly bouncing breasts. Just as Twilight was about to say something, both she and Spike noticed a puff of black smoke in the distance.

"What in Equestria is that?" Spike asked.

"I think it's near Rarity's house!" Twilight answered. Without another thought, the two of them ran as fast as they could towards the black smoke; hoping with all hope that it wasn't the boutique on fire. As they got closer, the smoke got thicker, and they could hear somepony yelling; a few someponies actually. Turning the corner, they saw three earth pony stallions running for the lives with one of on fire. Twilight acted quickly and opened up a portal right over the bond fire and water from the river fell out; putting out the flames instantly. Once the smoke cleared, Spike and Twilight saw that what was on fire was some kind of small stage with instruments. The earth ponies that ran away were obviously performers, but why were they in front of Rarity boutique? Their question would soon be answered when they saw none other, than Pearl himself; on the ground on his hands and knees in total defeat.

"Pearl?" Spike started. He only took one step forward before Twilight stopped him, and moved in front in order to protect him. She was didn't know if he was gonna try anything, but she was sure he'd blame Spike for losing Rarity, even though, it was his own fault.

"So, you've finally come out of your coma, huh?" he said. "You here to mock me?"

"We're here to help Rarity with her Fall Line for the upcoming Fall Formal, Pearl." Twilight said sternly. "What are you doing here? Rarity made it clear that she doesn't want anything to do with you."

Pearl slowly rose to his feet and faced Twilight. "I was trying to get her back." he explained. "I figured that if I gave her some time to cool off, then things could go back to normal between us, but I showed up with a band I hired, she threw a molotov at us."

"That should be a clear sign that you should stop." Twilight replied. "Rarity doesn't forgive that easily; especially after what you tried to pull."

"But Dizzy tried the same thing and he was forgiven." he argued.

"Dizzy realized his mistake and bent over backwards to make things right with Spike and Pinkie." Twilight countered. "You kept your actions a secret and hoped nopony found out about it."

"IS HE STILL THERE?!" Rarity screamed from inside her house.

Pearl quickly turn his attention towards the house. "RARITY, PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO ME!" he begged. Pearl didn't get the chance to say anything because Rarity had thrown another molotov right out her window. Twilight grabbed Spike's hand and teleported away while Pearl just stood there and screamed just as it hit him. Now covered in flames, Pearl ran off screaming before jumping right into the river. He emerged seconds later and vowed that he'll return after giving her more time to cool off. Twilight and Spike reappeared in front of Rarity's home and walked in just in time to see the fashionista coming downstairs with two molotovs in hand. Her intentions were clear, but upon seeing Twilight and Spike in her house, she quickly change her demeanor and got rid of the molotov with magic. "Twilight, you made it, and Spike's here too." she said.

"Rarity, what's going on?" Spike asked.

Rarity sighed heavily before answering. "Pearl's been trying to get back together with me." she explained. "He just can't seem to take a hint that I don't want him anymore. I can't be with somepony who would be so petty as to attempt to use me like that." With a snap of her fingers, all of Rarity's equipment appeared before them. "Now then, let's get to work, shall we?" Rarity quickly went to work; using Twilight as a model to try on different dresses while having Spike gather materials to make some much needed changes when she needed to. While helping out, Spike started to noticed something off about Rarity. He figured that deep down, she was still upset about Pearl; he was sure of it. Now probably wouldn't be the best time to bring it up since she was so focused on her work, so maybe later when all of this is done, and who knows, maybe there's something he could do for her.

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It was late afternoon when they finally finished. Twilight had modeled in over a hundred different dresses and she was beyond tired. "Thank you so much for your help, Twilight." Rarity said gratefully. "You too, Spike. You two have no idea just how much hours of work you've saved me."

"Happy to help, Rarity." Twilight said exhausted. Just then Spike belched up a letter addressed to Twilight. Twilight took from him and read it. "Princess Celestia wants to see in Canterlot."

"What's going on?" Spike asked.

"I don't know, but it says that she needs me, Shining, and Cadence to be there." she explained.

"Must be something important if she wants all the royals there. Maybe it's about the Fall Formal." said Rarity. "You best get going, Twilight."

"Yeah, but, Spike......?" she started. Twilight didn't want to leave Spike; there was still something she wanted to talk to him about. Spike realized this and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Twilight, whatever it was you wanted to talk to me about, it can wait." he said. "Hurry and get going, they're waiting for ya." Twilight gave Spike and nod and lit up her horn. Whatever it was that Celestia wanted, she hoped that it wouldn't take long. Besides, maybe she did want to talk about the Fall Formal coming up like Rarity said. With a flash of magic, Twilight was gone; leaving Spike alone with Rarity. As the two of them started to clean up the work area, they both came to the realization that this was the first time in a long time that the two of them were alone like this. How long has it been since they worked in the boutique together? How long has it been since they've gone hunting for gems? All of that seemed to just stop when Rarity started dating Pearl. In fact, she and Spike were pretty much separated from each other with Rarity putting all of her time and effort into her relationship with Pearl. He pretty much took Spike's place in terms of gem hunting, which he was terrible at, and helping out at the boutique, which was a complete nightmare. To say he couldn't tell the difference between silk and polyester would be a complete understatement. Rarity lost count of how many times she yelled at him for always mixing them up despite repeating the differences between them over and over.

Spike had just finished putting away the last of Rarity's fabric when a pair of arms wrapped around him. "Um, Rarity?" he said in confusion.

"What do you say we go gem hunting, like we used to, Spikey.' she suggested.

"Sure, but, what for?" he wondered. This request was out of the blue. Why did Rarity suddenly want to go gem hunting? All of her work was done already, so what would the extra gems be for? Before anything else could be said, Rarity snapped her fingers and changed into her gem hunting outfit. After that, both she and Spike were out the door.

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"We've just received word that war has finally broken out in Dragonia." said Blueblood. "The troops are ready to act once you give the order."

"Wait!" Twilight spoke up. "We're not gonna interfere, are we?"

"Not really." Celestia responded. "But if their fight enters Equestria, then we'll have to act. For now, we'll just sit back and watch the events as they unfold."

"From what we can gather, the fighting started within the Dragonia's capitol; right after Torch was named the new Dragon Lord." Shining explained. "Atomsk gathered all of his supporters and attacked."

"What about....."her"?" Twilight asked with venom.

"You mean Ameth......" Shining started but was stopped by Cadence from saying her name. "Well, no word on her whereabouts. My guess is that Atomsk sent her somewhere away from the fighting. She could be hiding somewhere in Dragonia, or maybe in the Griffin Kingdom."

"Or she could be here in Equestria." Twilight growled."

"After what you and the others did to her at the Summer Sun Celebration, I highly doubt she'll set foot here again." said Cadence. "But still, we can't be too careful. I'll have some of the guards from the Crystal Empire look into the possibility that she may have entered Equestria."

"What do you plan on doing if you find her?" asked Luna.

"Grant her sanctuary." Blueblood answered; catching Twilight's attention. She was about to object when the prince continued. "I know you still want to get your hands on her for she did to Spike, but right now isn't a good time. With the dragons now engage in a civil war, I believe it's best that we stay out of it as much as possible, and that means putting aside whatever grievances we have against her and see to it that she's safe; at least till the war's over, then we'll send her back, otherwise we'll be looking at another possible "Grand War"." He was right, and hated that he was right. Twilight would love nothing more than to get her hands on that dragon and ring her neck one more time before sending her carcass back to her father, and wasn't the only one. Applejack and the others have been wanting a piece of her as well. She has the mind to just gather the others and go in search of her on their own and take care of her personally; assuming she's even in Equestria in the first place. Like Shining said, she could be anywhere.

"Okay, if that's all, this this meeting is adjourned." Celestia said as she stood up. "We'll meet back here again if something else comes up."

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In a cave just outside Ponyville, Spike had just finished digging up the last of a few gems Rarity had located with her magic. The two of them had a cart that was filled to the brim with many different gems, and it took Spike all he had to keep himself under control and not go berserk and devour the entire cart. "Brings back memories, doesn't it, Spike?" Rarity asked as she placed the last of the gems on the cart.

"Y-Yeah.....memories." he answered while being in a trance. Spike was no longer in control of his body. His mouth watered and he extended his arms all zombie like as he made his way towards the cart. Suddenly, he was encased within a bubbled and pulled away; the sounds of Rarity's giggling filled his ear. "Some things just never change." she giggled. Pulling Spike by her side, she released him from his "prison", and was able to snap him back to reality. The two of them soon walked out of the cave and headed back towards Ponyville, but along the way, Spike wanted to ask Rarity about something.

"So, Rarity, about Pearl?" he started.

Rarity stopped walking and turned towards Spike with an angry look. "What about, Pearl?" she growled. "Did he say anything to you?!"

"W-What, no, no, it's just.....when you were working on your line, I could tell you were upset." Spike explained. "I figured you were still thinking about him, that's all." Rarity's anger slowly faded and she turned away from Spike. He was right, she was thinking about Pearl, in fact, she couldn't get him off her mind, or to be truthful, she couldn't get over the fact that he attempted to use her in order to show up Spike. And for what, because Spike used to have a crush on her when he was like what....12 years old? It was just a crush, puppy love even. Spike had gotten over that and moved on, why couldn't he? Was he that insecure in their relationship? She's already explained to him multiple times that he's the only stallion for her, and that she has no intention on seeing somepony else, and yet, he still went along with Stargazer's plan, then attempted to keep it to keep it a secret. Rarity was pulled from her thoughts when Spike grabbed her hand. She turned to look at him for a while before her eyes started to fill up with tears. Ever since the break up, she's spent most of her time working on her Fall Line, or some other projects, and never really stopped to take in the situation. The fact that the very first relationship she'd ever been was over....truly over. Unable to keep it in any longer, she wrapped her arms around Spike and cried her heart out. She'd experienced heartbreak before, but none like this. The only thing Spike could do was hold her close in an attempt to console her.