Day and Night

   Spike hugged himself against the cold wind. He found slight amusement in the ironic fact that he was a fire breathing dragon. He trudged on back to the library, fantasizing about hot coco and the roaring fire that Twilight and Celestia were no doubt curled up in front of. He sighed and found himself wishing that Rarity would give him just one chance. He then noticed a heavy little sack floating next to him.

   "What the heck?" He grabbed it and inside were gemstones and a note. He took the note out and read it;

     "Dearest Spike, I wanted to thank you for coming  to visit me so often. I know I may come off as ice cold, but, it's just because I'm always so busy and have little time for much else. I hope that you don't think it's just because it's you who is visiting. Yes, I'll admit, my behavior changes when the girls are around, but you know why, right? Let me tell you, just in case: You can't ignore Pinky Pie, she requires supervision or else she'll break something. Rainbow Dash, actually, you can in a way, ignore her. She just stares. It's hard to ignore Apple Jack without her putting her snout in. I would be scared to ignore FlutterShy because she'd probably cry and I don't want to do that to her. And, Spike, remember what happened last time YOU ignored Twilight? She bucked you through the library window! No thanks! So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I actually DO like you and I wish I could get some time off just to hang out. I would take you up on one of your numerous offers to go to Sugar Cube Corner for lunch. I hope these gem stones show my sincerity and that you like them.

   Rarity"

   Spike almost dropped  the stones; he was in shock. A snow ball whacking him in the head brought him back to reality;

   "Hey! Who tossed that?" He looked around and saw a puffy pink tail behind the snowman. He smiled and crept up to it, and very slowly, started melting it. Sure enough, behind the snowman, was a grinning Pinky Pie. She laughed,

   "Aw, you found me!" She said. Spike grinned,

   "It's your tail, Pinky. It always gives your location away." The pink pony laughed again,

   "Yeah. What'cha reading?" Spike put the note behind his back,

   "N-nothing." He felt himself blushing like crazy. Pinky tilted her head,

   "Aw, come on! I won't tell!" Spike looked at her,

   "Promise?" She nodded,

   "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Spike felt better. He knew that once Pinky did that, there was NO way she'd tell. He handed her the note and she read it.

   "Am I crazy, or did Rarity ACTUALLY write that?" Pinky giggled,

   "Well, you live in a library, so that on it's own makes you loco in the coco. But, Rarity wrote this!"

   Spikes eyes lit up like a Christmas tree,

   "Really? How can you tell?" Pinky handed him the note back,

   "Because it's written on the yummy delights stationary I gave her as a gift!" Spike noticed the border of candy and cakes and nodded,

   "That's nice. Thanks, Pinky." Pinky shrugged,

   "It's nothing. So, what's Twilight up to?" Spike poked the note into the bag,

   "She's curled up back at the library with Celestia." Pinky smiled,

   "Aw! That's so sweet!" Spike nodded,

   "I know. They seem so happy." Pinky nodded and Spike swore her brain rattled. "So, you going to the New Years party?" Pinky's eyes lit up,

   "OF COURSE!! After all, what's a party without Pinky?" Spike laughed,

   "True. Well, I should be getting in now. Good night, Pinky." Pinky nodded,

  "Alright. See you, Spike! And, don't worry, I won't tell anypony about the note." Spike smiled,

   "I know." And the two parted ways. Spike no longer felt the cold wind in his face, or that it tail was frozen. All he felt was an over powering wave of happiness. Rarity actually cared for him. That was the greatest feeling in the world. He doubted it was romantic. But still, it was a start.

   When he got back, the library was dark. He let himself in with the spare key and crept upstairs. The pain of a frozen tail was kicking in.

    "Ow...ow..." Spike hid the gift in his basket and went downstairs. As he suspected earlier, Celestia and Twilight hadn't moved and were still curled up together. Spike smiled, it was a cute image. He tiptoed to the fireplace and lit it. His tail slowly began to turn back to normal. He didn't notice Celestia's tail and he backed up onto it.

   "OUCH!" Celestia jumped up, scaring Spike half to death and tossing Twilight across the room. Twilight his the bookshelf with a 'THUD'.

   "Ow! My head! Why'd you do that?"  Celestia looked at her,

   "I'm sorry! Spike stepped on my tail!" Twilight looked at Spike, annoyed that she had been woken up and now she'd have to reorganize all the books. The headache wasn't helping things, either.

   "Spike, please be more careful." Spike nodded,

   "Sorry. Do you need an ice pack or anything?" Twilight shook her head,

   "No, I'm fine." Celestia spoke up,

   "Are you sure? Perhaps I should check." Twilight giggled and Spike walked out. He didn't want to watch them make out.

   "I'll be in the kitchen making hot coco. You guys can have some, too."

   A few minutes later, they walked into the kitchen, a love-struck look in their eyes. Twilight grabbed a cup of coco and sat down. Celestia, however, headed for the door.

   "I must get going. I have many things to do for the party. And, I'm a princess. So, my taking the day off has backed many things up, I'm sure." Twilight pouted,

   "Please? Just five more minutes?" Celestia kissed Twilight's still throbbing head,

   "I'm afraid not, hun." Twilight nodded, looking like she was going to cry. Celestia sighed, "I'm sorry, but I have to go. You'll see me at the party, ok?" Twilight nodded again,

   "Fine." She mumbled. Once Celestia was out of sight, she stood up and went to the stairs, "I'm not trying to be rude, Spike. But I just want to go to sleep." Spike nodded. He understood and could see the pain in his friend's eyes. He knew it wasn't because of the bookshelf thing, either. She really wanted Celestia to stay.

   "Goodnight, Twilight."

   "Night, Spike." Spike stayed up for a bit longer, and organized the books. Twilight still needed to put them away, but that would only take a second. He yawned and went upstairs. He was beat and fell asleep instantly.