“Twilight! I’m heading out!” said Spike, standing next to the opened front door with a bag strapped to his back.

Twilight stood over the balcony. “Where are you-Oh!” she exclaimed, the answer finally dawning on her. “I almost forgot. The Canterlot Library has that book I need.” Spike simply nodded and smiled back at her.

The unicorn’s face grew into a worried expression. “Oh, I wish Princess Celestia wasn’t sick. Otherwise, the royal guards could just bring it to us. They wouldn't have to tend to her, and you wouldn't have to-"

“Twilight, I’ll be fine,” Spike reassured. “Trust me.”

“You’re sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

“Well, I do need time to myself once in a while.”

“Er, yeah sure. But, I mean, it could be dangerous out there by yourself and…”

“Twi,” Spike said sternly. Twilight sighed and let her worry fade away. She looked back at Spike, this time with a smile.

“Thank you, Spike. I appreciate it.” She wrapped her hoof around Spike and pulled him into a heartwarming hug. Spike willingly accepted this and hugged her back before he left out the door.

“Please be safe.”

***

The barn was filled with absolute silence. Awkward silence, at that. Rainbow and Applejack just stared at each other while Twilight and Spike were just left speechless. It was hard to tell if tension had settled in, then again it’s hard to tell whenever Rainbow was angry or excited about all this.

“It’s right here!” She showed the pages held between her teeth. Spike gulped as his eyes twitched. Part of him wanted to just grab those pages and run like a bat out of Tartarus, but he knew better than that. Twilight, however, just kept her mouth shut, trying her best to not get roped up into any more of this. All she wanted was to go home with Spike and leave this whole mess behind her.

Meanwhile, Rainbow held a smile that claimed that she was totally right about everything. She looked around in hopes of the others backing up her claims. All she got in return were blank stares and a shaking Spike.

Rainbow's attention was more focused on Spike than anyone else in the room. “You’re looking pretty tense there, Spike," she said, with a raised eyebrow. "You okay?"

Spike clenched his fists and stared hard at the ground while Rainbow went off on how she believed Applejack was the acclaimed author. His mind fumbled around on what to do next as he started shaking uncontrollably. Nobody, let alone Spike, could have predicted how this situation could have gotten so out of hand so quickly.

He suddenly decided to give in to his desire. His desire to run. It wasn't the best plan to do, but he couldn't have thought of any other way. Things were deteriorating fast and he had to act quickly. With very little of his courage mustered, he ran up to Rainbow and snatched the papers from her and dashed out the barn door.

"Spike!" Twilight yelled, but he didn't stop. He just kept on running as far as his tiny dragon legs could.

Rainbow Dash turned back toward the other mares. "Jeez, what the heck was his problem?" Her eyes suddenly widened as she looked onto Twilight with shock. "Wait, don't tell me-"

"Rainbow, now's not a good time," stated Applejack. "Well, Twilight?" She said, her worried eyes looking over to Twilight as well. "Aren't we gonna go after him?"

Twilight shook her head as she started to head out.

"What?" Rainbow said. "Why not?"

"Because I promised Spike that I'd keep this a secret for as long as he needed and, well, look where that got us." She started looking down at the hay under her feet. "I just can't help but feel that I let him down."

Twilight was suddenly interrupted by Applejack's hoof wrapped around her. "Now, don't you worry your little head about it," she said softly in a comforting tone. "This is my fault too, you know."

"Yeah, since you kinda broke into her house..."

"Rainbow!"

"I know, I know. I guess I had a part to play in this too." Said Dash, rubbing the back of her neck.

A smile started to grow on Twilight's face, causing the others to smile in return. "Right, then," said Applejack. "Let's go find Spike and see if we can't explain ourselves."

"Yeah, but where do we find him?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight rose her head. "I think I might know where."

***

Around Noon, Spike was ready to leave Canterlot's greatest library with Twilight's book under his arm, but was stopped by an overwhelming sensation of nostalgia. He fondly remembered his and Twilight's frequent visits and extremely long stays. It was rather hard to believe it had been years since they left. He could still remember where everything was, every nook and cranny, like the back of his hand. He started to head for the door, until his attention forced him to stop once more. Over yonder, a book, a lone book, lying there on the floor. No one had bothered to pick it up, and he knew he couldn't just let it sit there. Perhaps a little bit of Twilight had rubbed off on him.

He picked up the book and took a look at it's cover. From The Bottom Of My Heart by Ancient Typewriter. Spike immediately knew what this was. It was one of those icky romance books Twilight would always read and swoon over. He had no interest in this, none in the slightest. But he didn't put it back on the shelf. In fact, he just sat there, looking at it. On the back, a monochrome picture of a rather old stallion, with a long beard and round eyeglasses. It was rather hard for him to believe that a stallion could write something this mushy.

But, he still sat there, looking at it. Something kept pulling his interest in more and more. He thought that maybe he was a bit too prejudiced by this sort of thing. Perhaps, he could learn a thing or two and get a marefriend of his own. He opened it up and started reading.

By the time he had stopped, the moon was already up long enough. Spike grabbed his book along with the one Twilight wanted and began to head off. But he felt something. It didn't feel like hunger, even though he hasn't eaten. He didn't want to say it was sadness either. Some sort of warmth he had gotten from reading that book had gotten to him. He may had even let a tear escape from his eye. Spike hated to admit it, but he felt touched. Other books he read got him pumped up with excitement and cheer. This one made him feel more down to earth, calm, and collected.

He started to hit the road, but ran into a sickly looking Princess Celestia. "Uh, y-your majesty!" he stammered as he bowed. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Oh, no. *achoo* *sniff*" said Celestia. Her voice was rather hoarse and low. "I thought I'd just *achoo* *sniff* get some fresh air. Luna can make some excellent nights." Her eyes veered towards Spike's books. "Oh, I see that you're here for Twilight's new book!"

"Oh, uh, yeah," He said, attempting to hide the other book behind him. "I got it. Right here." he smiled nervously.

"Well, I'll *achoo* *sniff* let you be on your *achoo* *sniff* way."

"Right, thanks. Uh, get better!" He waved as the both of them started on their separate ways.

"Oh and Spike?" Celestia spoke. Spike immediately turned around, again hiding the other book behind his back.

"Y-Yeah?"

"You know, *achoo* *sniff* you do have a very excellent talent in writing..." she winked as she headed off. Spike stood there, a little confused by what she meant. He then walked home, staring at Ancient Typewriter's book.

An idea started to form in his head.

***

Spike sat on the edge of the Ponyville bridge. The same bridge where he had earned Rarity's second kiss. He skimmed through the papers in his hand, realizing he had only gotten ten pages done. The sun had began to set as he started writing more, adding in annotations to what he thought should be revised later. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but let his mind wander. He continuously thought about how he was going to explain this one to the two mares that recently found his story.

"Spike?" His head perked up and turned to his left. It was Twilight, with a very worried look on her face.

Spike got back up on his own two feet and jumped back down on to the bridge. "Twilight? What are you doing here?"

Twilight giggled for a bit. "Oh, Spike. You always came here whenever you were troubled about something. Remember? And then-"

"And then, you would always find me and take me home. Yeah, I know."

She sighed as she got closer to him. "Spike, I realize how much this means to you. I thought I could help keep this a secret, but obviously I couldn't."

Spike couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Heh, yeah, well, not from a lack of trying though."

"Spike, listen. I'd understand if you needed a more quieter place to work. I could get you a hotel room and-"

"Twilight, that's...not really necessary."

"Why not?"

"Because as much as I love writing, I love writing at home. With you and everyone else."

Twilight comforted Spike with a hug, more genuine than the ones before. "You still wanna keep this a secret?" she asked.

"Yeah, but let's try to keep the whole town from knowing before I even finish the first draft, alright?"

"Agreed!" Spike heard two more voices in unison. He turned to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash walking up behind Twilight. He was left a bit confused by their sudden entrance.

"We'd just like to apologize too," Applejack explained. "Y'know, for-"

"For breaking into our house?" Spike added.

"Okay, can we not bring that up?!" Applejack's voice rose. "That was stupid, Ah know."

Rainbow put her hoof on Spike's shoulder. "Don't worry, little guy. We'll do our best to keep your secret a...well, a secret."

"C'mon, guys," said Twilight. "It's getting late. We should start heading home."

"Right, catch you guys tomorrow!" Rainbow blasted off and soared through the air.

"Yeah, Ah suppose ah should get going too." Applejack opened her mouth but then paused. "Er, never mind." She then left in quite a hurry.

"What was that all about?" Spike wondered.

"Eh, who knows. Come on, let's get going."

Spike let a sigh of relief escape him. He was rather glad that this mess was finally over. He could finally sleep and let the present become the past.

***

A few days after Spike's journey to and from the library, the clock struck midnight. Twilight slept on her bed peacefully, unknowingly. Spike sat at Twilight's desk, quill in hand and a sheet of paper in front of him. All that was left was where to start. He had a million ideas for a story in his head, but didn't know which one to start with.

But he needed a name. He couldn't let the others know. Not now, anyway. He had to think of something good. Something that sounded pony-like. He looked at the bookshelves with dozens of pony names. Ancient Typewriter. Final Draft. Something along those lines. Ink Writer. Cursive Words. Something popped. It was perfect. He started to write furiously.

Tears and Smiles: Beloved Misery
by
Cursive Writer

It was perfect.

***

The next day, a knock heard on the door was enough to awake Spike. His eyes opened groggily as he checked the clock hanging on the wall. 11:30. A bit later than the time Spike usually woke up but it wasn't enough to delay his duties as assistant. The knock was heard again, this time a bit harder.

"Spike!" Twilight yelled. "Could you get the door, please? I'm kinda busy!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said as he got up from his basket slowly. "I'm on it." He rubbed his eyes on his way downstairs. By the time he reached the ground floor, he was awake enough to start the day. He opened the door to reveal Applejack.

"Oh, hey, Applejack. What's up?"

"Oh, uh, Spike! Um, nothing much, y'know. Ah was, uh, just wondering..." She bit her lower lip as her eyes darted from one thing to the other. She rubbed her forehoof quite often at a slow pace as she stuttered and fumbled with her words. "Ah just, Ah still felt kinda bad for what Ah did the other day, and Ah've been meaning to ask ya yesterday, but Ah...kinda panicked..."

"Okay...?" Spike said, wondering what could possibly be on her mind.

"And Ah was just wondering...if...Ah could..." She paused for a good couple of seconds.

"If you could what?"

"Ah was just wondering if Ah could...take ya out to dinner?"

Author's Note

TEN THOUUUUSSAANND YEARS
...can give you such a crick in the neck.

Yes, I open up a long awaited update with an Aladdin reference. What, you wanna fight about it?

Holy crap, this took longer than it should have. I was gonna have it done by October, but College. Then I was gonna have it done in December, but College. Then by the end of January, but...y'know. But finally, here it is. And just in time for Valentine's Day. How about that. I can't promise that I won't let a hiatus this long happen again, but I'll try my best to keep the story going.

But for some good news, the story isn't dead. I have some more chapters planned out and am currently trying to figure out the ending. So, rejoice! Also, there may or may not be some rewrites of some past chapters. I'll just have to wait and see on that one. That's all for now! Catch you guys soon!

Oh, and happy 1 year anniversary of this story, guys.