MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYPONY :D

I've been saving this chapter for this day, that's the reason I haven't updated in a while.

I'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter, I was worried no one would read it because it was too long, I should probably explain why I write long chapters instead of slitting them into parts.

You see, I want you to feel as though each new chapter of the story is like a new episode of the show.

That's why some are so long, because I write each chapter like an episode of the show itself. And as we all know, not every episode of the show is slit into parts.

My parted-chapters were slit into parts because they were important chapters in the story, I hope you understand.

But enough of me babbling on like an idiot, time for the chapter, enjoy!

Chapter 37: Bonding with Spike

It's been 3 days since Spike went on a greedy rampage, everypony in town was busy rebuilding their homes after claiming back their stolen belongings from the cave that Spike put them in.

Luckily, no one knew that the dragon who terrorised the town was Spike. Only the rest of the main 6 knew and they promised to keep it a secret from the towns-folk, so we weren't worried about any angry-mobs coming by.

However, Spike felt really guilty for letting himself get carried away like that and nearly destroying his own home. Even though we told him it wasn't his fault and that none of us were mad at him, he still felt ashamed of himself.

He's also hasn't seen Rarity since it happened. He told me that she may know he has crush on her, he must be nervous about seeing her.

Ponyville library

It was a nice sunny day in Ponyville, most of the ponies were rebuilding their houses after Spike wrecked them when he was giant.

I was down stairs in the library. Of course, I wasn't wearing the vampire cape that Rarity made for me anymore, it was in my wardrobe for safety.

I walked across the front room and into the other room to see Twilight sitting on a stool in front of a desk, I figured she was studying. I looked over to the clear patch on the wall, I randomly thought back to when Spike smashed through it to escape the library.

After Spike returned to normal, Twilight used her magic to make the dragon shaped hole in the wall disappear, now it looked as though it never happened.

I then shook off the thought and looked back over to Twilight, she had her back turned to me so she must've noticed me come in.

I walked up behind Twilight and looked down at her work on the desk, she was using her magic to write with a quill. She was also hovering a book beside her, she kept looking back and forth from the book to her work.

"So what you doin'?" I asked curiously.

Twilight was only slightly surprised by me, she turned her head around to face me and smiled. "Oh, just a bit of extra studying, it shouldn't take me much longer now." She stated.

I nodded. "Ok, cool." I said before Twilight turned her attention back to her work.

As I watched her work, a thought came to me. "I wonder where Spike is, I haven't seen him all day." I thought as I looked around the room for him, it proved to be a pointless act because he wasn't in the room.

I then turned my head back to Twilight. "So where's Spike? I haven't seen him today." I said to her.

Twilight turned her head to face me and gave me a troubled look. "He's…kinda been on the roof lately. You know, the balcony on top of the library where the telescope is." She explained.

My ears lowered slightly at this news, Spike had been spending the last few days up on that balcony and we barely see him half the day. "Again? What does he do up there anyway?" I asked.

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm really worried about him. He might still feel bad about what happened when he….you know…he took it kinda hard." she stated.

"Should I…should I go up and talk to him? Maybe I could take him out somewhere, we could have a little fun to cheer him up." I suggested.

Twilight then gave me a small smile. "That's a good idea, a little time out of the library should help him." she said.

I smiled back. "Yeah, I hate seeing the little guy so down. I'll go up and talk to him." I said before I turned around and walked towards the door.

"Thanks, Matt." Twilight said sweetly as she watched me leave the room, she then turned her attention back to her work.

After leaving the room, I walked up the flock of stairs that lead to the very top of the library. I continued to walk up the stairs until I came to a door.

I then pushed opened the door and walked into the room. In the centre of the room, there was a long ladder that reached up to a wooden hatch on the ceiling.

Seeing is how I had wings, I didn't need to use the ladder and flew up to the hatch. I pushed it open and looked around to see I had reached the balcony on top of the library.

And standing by the wooden barrier of the balcony, was Spike who was looking through the telescope which was attached to the barrier.

I quietly walked up beside him and looked out at Ponyville, you could really see a lot from the top of the library. I could see everypony walking around in the streets while others were busy repairing their houses.

I then looked down at Spike to see he hadn't noticed me, I then tapped his shoulder with my hoof. "Hey buddy." I said.

Spike jumped in fright at this and quickly turned his head to face me. Once he saw it was me, he exhaled to calm down. "Oh…it's just you, you scared me there." he said.

"Sorry, Spike. What're you doing up here?" I asked.

Spike looked down at the wooden floor and sighed. "Just looking to see how everypony's doing with rebuilding their homes…you know, after I wrecked them." he said slightly sad.

I then wrapped my arm around him to comfort him. "Come on, little bro. It wasn't your fault, you were in a mental state, it happens to everyone." I stated.

Spike looked up at me with a raised eye brow. "Do they turn into a giant destructive monster?" he asked with his arms crossed.

"Well umm…no, not really." I answered; causing Spike to frown. "But I'm gonna help you feel better, we're gonna go out into town and have some fun." I said cheerfully.

Spike gave me an unsure look. "I'm not so sure if that's a good idea, Matt. I think a dragon is the last thing everypony wants to see right now, especially when I was the dragon who nearly destroyed the town." He said.

"But no one knows it was you, they didn't recognise you when you were giant and no one saw you shrink back to normal. It's safe to go out there…you just have to trust me." I said holding him closer.

Spike looked away and twiddled his fingers as he thought about it, he then looked back up to me and I gave him a trustful smile. Spike smiled back before he sighed. "Alright, Matt. We'll go into town." He said.

I smiled with delight at this. "Alright, that's my dragon. Let's go." I said before we both walked over to the hatch and went back down into the library.

Once we made it down to my room, I grabbed my saddle-bags and placed them onto my back before we went down stairs and into the living room. Twilight, Jeff and Peewee were already in there.

Me and Spike then walked up to Twilight. "Hey Twi, Matt's convinced me to go out into town with him." Spike said.

Twilight smiled at this news. "That's great, Spike. If you ask me, I think it'll do you some good to get out of the house for a bit. You haven't stepped food outside since the incident." She said.

Spike rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "Yeah, I know." He said before he looked down at the floor with a worried look.

I noticed this and placed my hoof on his shoulder, he turned his head around to see the warm smile on my face. "It'll be fine, Spike. I'll be with you all the way." I said with a comforting voice.

Spike then smiled up. "Ok Matt, I trust you….lets go." He said.

With that, I lowered my body down to him and he climbed onto my back. I then looked at Twilight.

"We'll be back later, Twi. Love ya." I said sweetly.

Twilight gave me a sweet smile. "Love ya too, Matt." she said.

I then gave her a small kiss on the cheek before I made my way towards the front door.

Just then, Jeff flew over to us and landed on top of my head. "Wait, can I come too? I wanna get out for a bit as-well." He said.

I then looked up at him and smiled. "Sure, Jeff. You can come." I said.

"Sweet!" Jeff said cheerfully before I continued to walk towards the door.

"You boys be careful, alright?" I heard Twilight call from behind me.

"Yeah, we'll watch ourselves." I called back without turning my head around, I walked out of the front door with Spike and Jeff before I closed the door behind me; leaving Twilight alone with Peewee.

Twilight then turned her head to face Peewee, he looked up at her. "So, what should we do while they're gone?" he asked.

"Well, I'm still trying to study in the other room, wanna help?" Twilight asked with a hopeful smile.

Peewee was silent, he kept looking back and forth from Twilight to the door to the next room. He then made his decision. "Sure." He said before he flew onto her back.

Twilight smiled at him before she walked towards the other room to continue her studies.

Meanwhile, I was halfway into town with Spike riding on my back. "So where do you want to go first, Spike? It's your choice." I said.

Jeff was still on top of my head as he looked down at my face with a raised eye brow. "Hey, why does he get to choose where we're goin'?" he asked.

I looked up at him. "Because we're out here to cheer him up." I stated.

Jeff was still confused until her realised what I meant, he then rolled his eyes. "Is he still mopin' about that whole rampagin' dragon thing?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I want to help him feel better, so this trip into town is for him." I said.

"Fine." Jeff said before he turned around to face Spike. "So Spike, where do ya wanna go?" he asked as he crossed his wings.

Spike then rubbed his chin as he thought about it. "Well…I've heard there're some new supplies at Sugar Cube Corner, I was kinda hoping to see them at some time." he said.

I turned my head around to face him and smiled. "Alright buddy, we'll go to Sugar Cube Corner and check out these new supplies. That sound good?"

Spike smiled largely as he nodded, my smile grew. "Alright then." I said before I turned my head back around.

I continued to walk through the streets towards Sugar Cube Corner.

Meanwhile: Luna's castle

Luna was in a large dark room made of stone bricks, she called it her Brew Room and it's where she creates her magic potions.

In the centre of the room was a large wooded table, it had loads of things on it like Test-tubes and flasks. But in the middle of the table was a medium sized black brew pot.

Luna was sitting in front of the table looking into the brew pot, she watched as the steaming red water inside it swirled around.

Ever since Luna decided to create the potion, she had been out collecting the ingredients needed to make it until she was finally ready. Now she was halfway through making it. However, she didn't feel proud of herself for making this decision.

Luna used her magic to hover the small brown scroll in front of her as she read the instructions.

"Let's see…three red glow gems." Luna read before she hovered three glowing red gems off the table and over the pot before dropping them in, the gems disintegrated in the boiling red water.

Luna then looked back at the scroll. "One Phoenix feather." She read before she lifted a long orange phoenix feather off the table and dropped it in the pot, the feather burning in the water which then changed from red to orange.

Just then, there was a flash of light and Discord appeared on the other side of the room, Luna didn't notice as she was too focused on her brew.

Discord was about to say something before he noticed what Luna was doing.

"One vial of rain water." Luna read before she hovered a small vial of rain water over the pot and pored it into the boiling water, the water then turned from orange to blue.

Discord raised his eye brow. "What're you doing?" he asked.

Luna went wide-eyed before she quickly turned around to face Discord. Once she saw it was him, she exhaled. "It is just you, Discord. Please tell me, what business brings you here?" she asked after calming down.

Discord then walked over to her. "Well I haven't seen you in some time, so I was just come over to check on you. You know, to see if you were alright." He explained while trying to look passed Luna only for her to block his sight by moving her head left and right.

"Well as you can see, I am perfectly fine. So if you'll excuse me, I have some very important work to get back to." Luna stated as she kept Discord from seeing the brew.

But Discord didn't listen, he kept trying to look passed Luna until he managed to see the brew pot with steam flowing out of it. "What is it you're doing down here anyway?" He asked.

Luna became nervous before she spread her wings out as far as she could to black Discord's sight. "It is nothing." She stated.

Discord gave her a suspicious look before he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light, he then reappeared on the other side of the table and looked down at the pot and potion ingredients.

Luna spun around to face him as she became more nervous.

"It certainly doesn't look like nothing, what's going on here?" Discord asked as he crossed his arms.

Luna shifted her eyes back and forth as she tried to think of something. "What should I tell him? I cannot tell him I'm making a love potion, he would tell my sister and she would grow suspicious." She thought as Discord waited for an answer.

Just then, Luna thought of something. "It's a new potion I'm working on." she answered.

Discord gave her a confused look. "A potion? What kind of potion?" he asked curiously.

"I call it a strength Potion. You see, this potion increases the drinkers health and strength for the rest of the year. So the effects are temporary, but effective." Luna explained hoping he'd believe her.

Discord stood there in silence, he just stared down at Luna with those big yellow eyes of his. Luna stared up at him sweating slightly with a large nervous smile on her face.

But eventually, Discoed smiled down at her. "That's actually not a bad idea." He said.

After hearing this, Luna calmed down and exhaled. "Really, you think so?" she asked with a small smile.

Discord then looked down into the brew pot. "Oh yes, most definitely. I myself would like to become strong and healthy for the year." He stated.

"Well…umm…I am pleased that you like the idea, Discord." Luna said.

Discord then disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared in front of Luna. "How long will it be until it's ready?" he asked slightly excited.

Luna's smile then faded. "Err…a few months maybe, I have to do a lot of studying and research to be sure I make it correctly. We wouldn't want any rather nasty accidents, would we?" she said.

"Well, that is a concern. Yeah, you hit the books and study more about this potion you're making. And remember to tell me when you're finished, I want the first vial of this potion when it's done." Discord said before he snapped his fingers and a small white card appeared in his talon fingers.

Discord then held it out to Luna. "My card." He said with a grin.

Luna's horn glowed before the white card lifted out of his fingers and she looked at it, she then gave him slightly annoyed look as she sighed.

"This is a photograph of you and Pinkie Pie squirting the citizens of Ponyville with squirt-guns." Luna said as she turning the picture around to Discord to show she was right.

Discord looked down at it. "Sorry, wrong card." He said before he took the picture back and held it up in front of him.

Discord then chuckled. "But you have to admit, that day was kinda funny. Haha, just look at the reaction on everypony's faces. Haha, good times." He said.

Luna just rolled her eyes.

Discord then tapped his chin with his finger. "Now that I think about it, I don't even have a card. Oh well, you know where to find me when you're done." He said as he walked away from Luna with his arms winging back and forth.

Luna watched as he walked away. "Yes, I do. Please, give my sister my regards." She said kindly.

Discord didn't turn his head around as he waved his lion arm. "I will, I will." He said before he stopped walking and turned his body around to face Luna.

Discord gave her a playful wink before he snapped his fingers and disappeared in another flash of light; leaving Luna alone with her bubbling brew pot.

Luna then relaxed. "Thank goodness, I thought he'd never leave." She thought before she turned around to face the brew pot.

"Now where was I?" Luna said to herself before she went back to working on the potion.

She read the next part of the scroll before she hovered a large wooden pole into the bubbling water and gently rotated it around.

Meanwhile: Sugar Cube Corner

Me, Spike and Jeff arrived at Sugar Cube Corner, I looked up at the shop to see that the roof was already fully rebuilt.

We then walked into the shop and saw that no one was in front of the counter, so we were alone in the room.

I stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. "So where're these new supplies you mentioned, Spike?" I asked.

Spike looked around as well before he saw the new supplies in a glass case on the other side of the room, he smiled and pointed to them. "They're over there." he said before he jumped off my back and walked towards them.

I then followed him until we reached the case, Jeff jumped off my head and joined Spike. They both looked at the new cakes with awe as they drooled slightly. "They look so good, can we get some?" Spike asked.

I smiled at him. "Sure, I brought my money. Besides, this day is for you, so you can get whichever cake you want." I said.

Spike then looked up at me. "Matt, you don't have to do that. I don't want you to spend your money on me." he said humbly.

I smiled as I placed my hoof on his shoulder. "Hey, this day is all about you. I want you to have the best day ever, so tell me which cake you want and I'll get it." I stated kindly.

Spike gave me a large excited smile before he looked back into the glass case and searched for a cake he'd like, Spike then saw a cupcake with shiny purple frosting on it. "Oh, how about that one?" he said while pointing at it.

I looked to where Spike was pointing and saw the cupcake, I looked back to him and smiled. "Sure thing, Spike. Wait here, I'll go to the counter and ask for it." I said.

I then turned around and walked up to the counter, I tapped the table bell with my hoof and waited for someone to come.

After a few minutes, Mr Cake came out from the kitchen and walked up to the counter. He then smiled at me. "Hello, Matthew. What can I do ya for?" he asked politely.

I smiled back at him. "Hi, Mr Cake. Umm, can I buy one of those new cupcakes from that case over there?" I asked while pointing my hoof over to the glass case where Spike and Jeff were standing in front of.

Mr Cake looked in the direction I was pointing in and smiled. "Sure, in fact you're the first one to buy our new supplies. Do you know what that means?" he asked with a smile.

I shrugged. "No, what?" I asked.

"I'll explain. You see, we like to play a game every time we get new supplies. We haven't sold any yet because they just arrived this morning, and whoever's the first to buy one of the new supplies gets it free of charge." Mr Cake explained.

I was surprised by this, this meant I could get Spike the cupcake and I wouldn't have to pay for it, I couldn't believe my luck. "Really?...Well, that was lucky." I said.

Mr Cake nodded. "Yes it was, now let me get you that cupcake you wanted." He said before he came around the counter and walked towards the case with me following.

Once we reached it, Spike stepped out of the way to let Mr Cake get to the case. "Now which one did you want?" he asked.

Spike then pointed to the cupcake with purple frosting. "That one, please." He said politely.

Mr Cake nodded before he opened the case lid before he grabbed the cupcake with his hoof and brought it out. Mr Cake then closed the lid before he held the cupcake down to Spike. "Here you go, Spike. I hope you enjoy it." He said with a kind smile.

Spike took the cupcake and looked at it with a large smile. "Oh I will, thanks Mr Cake." He said.

"It's my pleasure, Spike." Mr Cake said.

With that, we made our way towards the exit to leave the shop. I looked back at Mr Cake and waved to him. "Thanks again, Mr Cake." I said.

Mr Cake waved back. "You're welcome, Matt. I hope you come back soon." He said as he watched us leave.

After we left the shop, Spike walked beside me as he looked down at the cupcake in his hands. He took a bite out of the top and smiled with satisfaction as he chewed.

"Mmm…this is delicious. Thanks, Matt." Spike muffled with a full mouth.

I smiled down at him. "No problem, Spike. I'm glad you like it, and Mr Cake said it was free because we were the first to buy one of the new supplies." I said.

Spike turned his head around to face me with a surprised look. "Really? That means I got my cupcake while you got to keep your money, how great is that?" he cheered.

I nodded. "Yeah, so where should we go now? The arcade?" I suggested.

Jeff's eyes then widened before he rushed to the top of my head and looked down at my face. "NO! No way, I have too many bad memories about that place, I ain't goin' back there." He said loudly.

I looked up at him with confusion. "Why? Is it because you were put in a cage and used as I prise there?" I asked.

Jeff gave me a small glare. "Did you have to bring that all back up?" he asked.

At that moment, Spike stepped in. "It's ok guys, I didn't really wanna go to the arcade anyway. I was kinda hoping we'd drop by Fluttershy's house and help her with the animals or something." he said with a small smile.

I looked down at him. "Ok, that sounds good. What do you think, Jeff?" I asked looking up at him on my head.

Jeff then rubbed the bottom of his beak as he thought about it. "Hmm…ok, I'm cool with it. Fluttershy gives a mean back rub anyway, and I have some new knots for her." He said as he rubbed his back.

"Ok then, let's go." I said before we made our way towards Fluttershy's cottage while Spike ate the rest of his cupcake along the way.

Later: Fluttershy's cottage

After a short walk, we had arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. Spike had finished his cupcake and was now licking the last bit of flavour off his fingers.

"Enjoy your cupcake, Spike?" I asked as I walked beside him.

Spike looked up at me. "Yeah, I loved it. I can still taste it in my mouth." He said before he licked his fingers again.

As we arrived in front of the cottage, I looked over to the chicken pen to see Fluttershy standing inside it.

There was a bucket of grain sitting on the ground beside her, she reached her wing into the bucket and scooped up some grain in her feathers before she sprinkled in onto the ground, her chickens were pecking the grain around her.

"There's Fluttershy, she in the chicken pen." I said, Spike and Jeff looked over to the chicken and saw Fluttershy, we all then headed towards the chicken pen to meet up with her.

Once we reached the chicken pen, me and Spike stood on the other side of the pens fence while Jeff flew off my back and landed down on top of it.

"Hi, Fluttershy." I said loud enough for her to hear me.

My loudness must have been a bit too much for her, because she let out a small eep as she flinched in fright. She then looked over to us and relaxed. "Oh, hello Matt. What brings you here?" she asked in her quiet voice.

"I'm trying to help Spike feel better about what happened when he…you know." I explained.

Fluttershy nodded. "Oh yes, I remember." She said.

"Yeah, and he was wondering if we could help with the animals or something, do you have anything we could do to help?" I asked.

Fluttershy wasn't expecting something like this to happen today, she gave us a slightly surprised look before she thought about it. "Well…umm…I guess you could help me feed the other chickens I have around here…but can you handle chickens?" she asked.

"Are you kidding? I had chickens back in England, I know how them." I said with an amused smirk.

"You had chickens? Did you live on a farm?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

Back in England, I didn't live on a farm, but I lived around farms and there were always some animals to look at. I remember going to visit some sheep while I was walking my black-lab dog called Harvey, I always use to give them dog treats. There was also a large white horse that liked dog treats too, it always use to come up to the fence to get some whenever it saw me.

"Urr…I lived on farm land, there were a lot of farms where I lived, but I didn't live on one. My chicken pen was in my back garden." I stated.

Fluttershy then smiled. "Well, I guess you could do it then. Oh and by the way, an old friend is here for a visit." She said.

"Really, who is it?" Spike asked.

"Philomena." Fluttershy answered.

The sound of that name rang like a bell in my mind, I remembered that phoenix in an instant.

Philomena was Princess Celestia's pet phoenix, she was also a mischievous bird. She and Fluttershy go way back, Fluttershy thought Philomena was ill when she was shedding her feathers and did everything she could to help her, even thought it was meaningless.

Phoenixes shed their feathers because they grow old. Once they lose all their feathers, they burst into flames and rise up from the ashes as a beautifully fresh phoenix. I figured they could live forever with that kind of power.

I gave Fluttershy a surprised look. "Philomena's back?" I asked with a smile.

Fluttershy raised her eye brow. "How do you know Philomena? She's only been in Ponyville once and you weren't here back then." She said.

I then gave her a sly smirk. "I have my ways, so where is she?" I asked.

Fluttershy looked around to try and find her. "She was here a moment ago." She stated.

"Wait, wait, wait, who's Philomena?" Jeff asked curiously.

I then looked at him on the fence. "She's Princess Celestia's pet phoenix, she's also kind of a drama queen." I answered.

"P-P-Phoenix?...S-S-She?..." Jeff stuttered.

Just then, we noticed a large bird shaped shadow fly passed beneath us, Fluttershy noticed it too and looked up at the sky. "Oh, here she is now." She said with a smile.

Me, Spike and Jeff then looked up to the sky to see the beautiful orange, yellow, and red feathered phoenix that I recognized as Philomena, she looked as though he had just renewed herself and was a now fresh phoenix.

I watched in awe as she flew gracefully in the sky. "She's beautiful." I said out loud.

Jeff watched her with wide eyes and his beak hanging open. "…She sure is..." she whispered to himself.

After a moment, Philomena dove down and landed on the fence beside Jeff who continued to stare up at her with more than just awe. Philomena was so much taller than Jeff.

Fluttershy walked up to the fence and smiled up at Philomena, she then looked at me. "Philomena here has been helping me find all my bird friends so they can all eat their food together. Isn't that right, Philomena?"

Philomena then let out a caw with a proud smile. "Whow…she has the bird voice of an angel." Jeff thought.

"Princess Celestia was right, Philomena is a sight, I've never seen a real live phoenix before." I said.

Jeff then looked over to me. "A sight? S-She's more than a sight, she's like super ho-…." He then stopped as he thought about what he was saying.

We all stared at him, including Philomena, waiting for what he would say next. "I mean…she's like super…nice lookin', I mean look at those fiery feathers. I wish I had some like that, these plain old feathers get so dull." He said as he spread his wings out and looked at his feathers.

The moment felt kinda wired at this time. "Okaaay…anyway, do you mind if we help with the chickens?" I asked as I looked back at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy smiled. "Sure, there should be some spare gain buckets over there by the gate." she said as she pointed towards the gate.

Me and Spike then turned our heads to see three buckets of grain sitting by the gate.

I looked back at Fluttershy with a smile. "Ok, thanks Fluttershy." I said before we both walked over to the buckets.

"Just spread some grain around the garden and the birds should come." Fluttershy said as her eyes followed us.

Once me and Spike reached the buckets, Spike picked one up by the handle with his hand, while I picked the other one up by the handle with my mouth.

I then looked over to Jeff who just stood there looking dreamily up at Philomena. "You comin', Jeff?" I muffled with the bucket handle in my mouth.

Jeff snapped out of his trance and turned around to face me. "Huh?...oh…nah, I'm good here. You two just go and have fun." He said as normally as possible.

Me and Spike looked at each other before we looked back over to him. "Ok then." I said before we walked away from the chicken pen with the buckets of grain.

Once we were gone, Jeff looked up at Philomena while she wasn't looking. In his eyes, the sunlight sun beautifully over the female phoenix while her feathers flowed in the gentle breeze.

Jeff stared up at her with his beak hanging slightly. "Whow…I don't think I've ever seen a bird more-" He was cut off from his thought when Philomena turned her head to look down at him.

Jeff was stunned as he stared at her eyes, he laughed nervously before he quickly turned away. Philomena didn't take notice to his strange behaviour and continued to watch us.

"I think we just made a connection." Jeff thought with excitement as he smiled.

Meanwhile, me and Spike were standing in the gardens just next to the chicken pen, we placed the buckets down on the ground before we started throwing the grain on the ground.

I did as Fluttershy was doing earlier, I scooped up some grain in my wing feathers and threw them on the ground. Spike reached his hand into the bucket and grabbed a handful of grain before he too threw it on the ground.

After a few minutes, some chickens and random birds came over to us and started eating the grain. The birds were comfortable with us standing there, some even flew up onto my back while others flew onto Spike's shoulders, Spike hand-fed those birds.

Even though this activity wasn't all that exciting, I could tell that Spike was enjoying it. And that was all I wanted.

"So Spike, how's today been for you so far?" I asked as I threw more grain on the ground.

Spike turned his head to face me. "It's great, Matt. I had a delicious cupcake, saw Philomena again, and now I'm feeding a bunch of birds. I don't know how this day could get better." He said before he threw more grain on the ground.

I then smirked at him. "What if I told you we were gonna go to your favourite donut shop after this?" I said.

Spike gave me an excited look with a large smile. "No way, but that's all the way up in Canterlot." He said.

"If it meant making this your best day ever, I'd go to Fillydelphia." I stated with a warm smile.

Spike smiled warmly back at me. "Wow Matt, I never knew you cared about me that much." He said.

"Of course I do, little buddy. You're one of my best friends, I couldn't stand to see you all sad like you were earlier. I want you to have a good day today, and if you want to go up to your donut shop in Canterlot, then we're going there." I said kindly.

Spike gave me a thankful smile. "Thanks, Matt…I'd like that." He said, we both smiled at each other.

Just then, Spike looked up at something. "Hey, that's one scary looking bird." He said as he pointed at something behind me.

I then turned around and looked up at a tree branch to see a large black crow with red eyes, it stared down at us with what appeared to be a sharp glare.

The crows gaze was enough to frighten away the birds on my back and the one on Spike's shoulders.

"You're right, it does look kinda…mean." I said as I stared up at the dark crow. We just stood there frozen in the crows gaze, wondering what it was thinking and what it would do next.

Spike was the first to act, he slowly reached into his bucket and pulled out a handful of grain. He then slowly held his grain filled hand up to the crow. "Emm…want some, little fella?" he asked nervously.

The crow was still for a moment before it spread out its wings and let out a loud caw, it then shot down towards Spike. Spike reacted in fright by dropping the grain and running away.

Before the crow could chase him, I stepped in front of it and started swinging my hoof at it to shoo it away. "Hey beat it, you crazy animal." I said aggressively.

Somehow, the crow was quick. It dodged every swing of my hoof, I'd never seen a bird move so fast.

I then swung my hoof at it again, only for it to scratch me across my arm with its sharp talons. I let out a small yell of pain as I pulled my arm back, the crow then flew into my face and cawed loudly as it tried to scratch my face.

I grew tired of this annoying battle. "GET THE HELL LOST!" I yelled before I finally managed to grab the crows tail feathers with my mouth and threw it hard against the tree it was on.

It then landed on the ground by the tree and wasn't moving, the smack against the tree must have been hard because it had a large scratch on its beak.

I panted slightly before I lifted my arm up and saw three scratch marks with blood starting seeping out of them, they also started to sting.

Spike then came up behind me with a concerned look. "Are you ok?" he asked.

I turned around to face him with my arms still up. "Yeah, it's just a few scratches…damn crow, how can a bird be that fast?" I asked.

Spike shrugged. "I don't know, I've never seen a bird move that fast before. It's like it knew your every move before you even made them."

I didn't respond because I was too busy thinking about what happened while looking at my injured arm. Why did the crow attack? What did we do to make it attack? It was like…it was possessed.

Just then, Fluttershy came over to us. "Are you two ok over here, I heard a loud racket." He said.

I then turned my head to face her. "I bet there was, one of your crows swooped down and attacked us for no reason, it scratched my arm." I said loudly.

Fluttershy gave me a shocked. "A crow? B-But I don't have a crow, crows usually stay in the Ever Free Forest, they never come here. Are you sure it was a crow?" she asked.

Spike then stepped forward. "Yeah, we're more than sure. It's right over there." he said as he pointed to the tree.

Fluttershy then looked over to the tree before she looked back at us. "Where? I don't see any crow." She claimed.

Me and Spike quickly looked over to the tree to see the crow wasn't on the ground anymore. "It's gone." I said shock.

Spike quickly looked back up to Fluttershy. "The crow was right there by that tree, honest." He said, I looked back to her as well.

"Don't worry, guys. I believe you both, it's just weird how a crow would randomly attack like that." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, but what freaks me out the most is the fact that demon bird is still out there." I said as I looked around the sky to try and spot the crow.

Fluttershy then looked down at my arms and saw the scratches, she let out a small gasp. "Matt, your arm's bleeding." She said.

I lifted my arm again to see that a small string of blood was now slowly running down my arm, Fluttershy looked closer at it. "Oh you poor thing, let me get you a bandage." She said sweetly.

Fluttershy then trotted back towards her cottage; leaving me and Spike in the garden still slightly shook up from the crows attack.

Meanwhile, Jeff was still trying to avoid eye contact with Philomena. He kept his head turned away from her as he breathed nervously. "Come on, dude…you've talked to a lot of girls in the past…how's this one any different?" he thought.

Jeff then slowly turned his head around to face Philomena before he was once again lost in her beauty, he smiled dreamily up at her as his wings hung numb-lick.

"Ok we get it, she's hot. Just talk to her, bird." Jeff's thoughts said; snapping him out of it.

He then shook off his trance state before he cleared his throat. "Umm…Philomena, right?..." he said looking up at her.

Philomena looked down at Jeff with a curious look, he gulped hard as she stared down at him. "Errr…it's nice to meet you, I-I'm Jeff…maybe Celestia's mentioned me." he said as he held his wing out to her.

Philomena cocked her head in confusion, Jeff's nervous smile faded. "Ok, maybe not. But I should probably tell you about me, I'm Matt's…err…bird buddy. I helped him fight off Thorn when he took over the castle." He explained.

Philomena gave him a surprised look before she took his wing with hers and shook it up and down, she let out a small happy squawk as she did. Jeff smiled greatly as he had hold of her wing.

But it didn't last as Philomena released his wing, which disappointed Jeff. He then looked up at her and smiled. "Ok so far, so good. You've made a good first move, now make your second on….DANG, what is my second move?" he yelled in his mind.

Jeff stood there completely stumped, Philomena didn't feel very comfortable with the random silences. Jeff had to think fast before he loses her attention, he said the first thing about her that came to his mind.

"So…you've got petty feathers…groom much?" Jeff asked nervously.

Philomena looked down at her feathers before looking back at Jeff, she squawks a few times.

"Am I hittin' on you? No, no, I'd never hit on you, why would I?" Jeff asked nervously; gaining a slightly offended look from Philomena.

Jeff quickly realized what he just said and tried to fix it. "I didn't mean that to say you're not attractive, you're a very attractive bird. But you don't look like type that wants to go out right now, especially with a bird as lame as you."

Philomena gave Jeff an angered look as she cawed loudly, Jeff realised what he said and almost slipped himself.

"I MEAN ME, a bird as lame as me, not you. You're not lame at all, you're one of the guys." He said, he then face-winged himself once he realised the mistake he made again.

Philomena growled as she glared directly into Jeff's eyes, he laughed nervously. "Haha, So…I take it you don't wanna go out with me?" Jeff said nervously.

Philomena responded by spinning around and slapping Jeff across the face with her tail feathers; casing him stumble off the fence and into a mud puddle in the chicken pen below.

Jeff picked himself up in a daze before he shook it off and looked up at the offended phoenix.

Philomena glared down at him before she turned around and huffed with her head up high, she then took off into the sky; leaving Jeff in his muddy state.

Jeff rubbed the cheek she slapped while watching her go. "Well…that didn't go as well as I hoped." he said.

Jeff then heard a noise behind him before he turned his head around to see a chicken staring at him, he gave it a small glare. "What're you lookin' at, chucky?" he said aggressively.

Jeff then grabbed a chunk of mud in his wing and threw it into the chickens face; making it cry out in fright before it ran away with mud on its face.

Later: Ponyville streets

After feeding the birds at Fluttershy's place, we were now in the streets walking towards the train station to catch a train to Canterlot.

Fluttershy had wrapped a bandage around my injured arm and it didn't hurt as much anymore.

Spike was walking beside me while Jeff sat on my back. For some reason, we found him in a mud puddle and Fluttershy cleaned him up. We couldn't say goodbye to Philomena because she was gone when we found Jeff.

But the weirdest thing is the fact that Jeff hasn't said a word since we left Fluttershy's place, he was just sitting on my back being quieter than he's ever been, it was kinda worrying.

I turned my head around to face him as I kept walking. "Hey Jeff, do you know where Philomena went? We didn't see her again when we finished." I said.

Jeff then looked at me. "Philomena?...err…I think she said somethin' about goin' back to Canterlot for royal business or somethin'." He lied.

I gave him a confused look. "Royal business? What royal business could a phoenix have?" I asked.

"Well, she is Celestia's pet. I'm sure the Princess needs her to…keep her company." He said.

I raised my eye brow at him. "Company?...with her guards, Discord, and the Diamond Dogs up there with her in the castle?" I said.

"Look I…I just…I don't know, can we drop the conversation about Philomena now? I don't feel very good, I have a woozy stomach." Jeff said in a slightly annoyed tone as he held his stomach.

Spike looked up at him with a concerned look. "Maybe you should go back to the library and take a nap or something." he suggested.

Jeff looked down at him and nodded. "Yeah…yeah, that's probably the best idea. Enjoy the rest of your day, guys. See ya." He said before he flew off my back and headed towards the library.

Spike then looked at me. "I hope he's alright, he's been acting strange since we left Fluttershy's place." He said.

"I know Jeff, he'll take a nap, wake up later in the day, eat a big hot meal, and he'll be right back to normal." I said with confidence.

Spike then climbed onto my back. "I hope you're right, Matt. Jeff may be annoying sometimes, but he's a good friend."

I smiled at him. "I know he is. Now come on, we don't wanna miss the train." I said before I continued walking to the station.

Later that day: Canterlot/Joe's donut shop

After a short train ride, we arrived in Canterlot and went to Joe's donut shop. Where of course, I met Joe the baker for the first time.

I've only seen him in the show near the end of The Best Night Ever. He was a nice guy, cool too, I liked him.

Me and Spike were sitting by one of the round tables with the cushion seats around it, Spike had a plate full of his favourite donuts and he had already eaten 4 of them. And we've only been there for 10 minutes, the kid loves his donuts.

Spike was now starting his 5th donut, I just watched him with an amused smile. "You sure can keep your donuts down, you could eat donuts for Equestria." I commented.

Spike then gave me a confused look as he chewed the chuck of donut in his mouth. "What's that mean?" he muffled.

"Ah, nothin'. Something I use to say back in England, it's not important. But seriously, you really eat those donuts." I said.

"That's why this is my favourite donut shop, the donuts here are delicious." Spike said.

At that moment, Joe walked up to us while using his magic to hover a cup of hot co-co beside him. "That's because I always do my best to make sure each donut is perfect down to the last detail." He stated proudly as he placed the cup down on the table for Spike.

Spike smiled at him. "And you never fail." He said.

"Thanks Spike, let me know if you want any more." Joe said before he walked back to the counter.

Spike then took another bite out of his donut before he looked back to me. "Wanna try a donut, Matt? They're really good." He said.

I shook my head. "No thanks, I'm fine. You enjoy them, and if you want more, just ask and I'll get them for ya." I said kindly.

After a minute, Spike finished his donut before he sighed and looked at me again. "Matt, I know why you're doing all this for me, I know what today's been about. You're trying to make me feel better after what I did when I became greedy and huge, but the question I wanna ask is…why?"

I then gave him a caring look. "Because I want to help you, Spike. I told you at Fluttershy's place, I don't like it when you're upset. You're my friend Spike, I care a lot about you. I just wanted you to be happy again." I stated.

"So you took me out into town and offered to spend your own money to buy me things that I liked to make me feel better? You did all of this to make me happy again? To have what you call, the best day ever?" Spike said with a raised eye brow.

I nodded. "Yeah…h-hasn't it been?" I asked slightly worried that he had not enjoyed the day as much as I thought he had.

Spike was silent for a moment until he smiled warmly up at me. "Of course it has, I have had the best day ever." He stated cheerfully.

I was relieved by this news. "That's great, Spike. I knew you would. I mean with the cupcake, the bird feeding, and finally a trip to your favo-"

"What're you talking about? It hasn't been my best day ever because of all those things. I don't care about the cupcake, the bird feeding, or even these donuts…it's been my best day, because you've show how much you care about me." Spike said with a warm smile.

I smiled warmly back at Spike. "I mean yeah, Twilight cares a lot about me too, she's like my big sister and she loves me. But I've always wondered what it'd be like…if I had a brother too. And you're…kinda like…my big brother." Spike said as he rubbed the back of his head.

I felt heart warmed by this, Spike saw me as a brother figure. I too have wondered what it would be like to have a brother, and I also saw Spike as a brother, he was like my little brother figure.

I moved closer to him and wrapped my wing around him to pull him closer to me. "You're like a brother to me too, Spike, a little one….and….I love you like one. You're like the brother I never had…and I'll always be here for you." I said sweetly.

With that, Spike wrapped his arms around me as he hugged me, I then hugged back. "I'm so glad Twilight's marrying you." he said as he hugged me tight.

I smiled down at him before we broke the hug. "I should probably finish these donuts and then we'll head on home, we don't wanna get back too late. Right, buddy?" Spike said.

"Buddy? Oh, we're not friends." I said.

Spike's smiled then went away as he wondered what I meant by that, I then gave him a loving smile as I placed my hoof on his shoulder. "We're brothers." I said.

Spike's smile returned before we shared another brotherly hug. "And by the way…I love you like a brother too." Spike said as we hugged.

The moment was too touching for me to handle, small tears of happiness formed in my eyes as I hugged my 'little brother'

That night: Ponyville library

After another short train ride, Spike and I returned to Ponyville and had finally arrived back at the library.

Spike was so tired on the way back that he had fallen asleep on the train. Not wanting to disturb him, I carefully carried him back to the library. He snored soundly as he curled up on my back.

After I quietly entered the library and closed the door behind me, I tip-hooved up the stairs to see Twilight lying on her stomach on the bed, she was reading a book with the bed-side table lamp on.

As I walked towards Spike's basket, Twilight noticed me. "Matt, there you are. When you said you were taking Spike out for the day, I didn't actually think you meant the whole day." she said with a raised eye brow.

I smiled at her. "Yeah…anyway look, Spike fell asleep on my back on the way home." I said as I turned my body to show Spike sleeping on my back.

Twilight smiled sweetly. "Aww, that's so adorable. You should put him to bed in his basket." She said.

I nodded before I looked down at his basket to see Jeff and Peewee sound asleep in it, I looked back at Twilight. "A little help, please."

With that, Twilight's horn glowed and Spike gently lifted off my back and was placed softly in the basket with Jeff and Peewee. Spike, Jeff and Peewee now had their heads on the pillow.

Twilight then used her magic to lift up the blue blanket and tucked them in.

I watched Spike as he slept in his basket, he looked so peaceful under his covers and his head on the soft pillow. It made me so desperate to relax in my own bed with Twilight, so I did.

As I walked towards my side of the bed, Spike slowly woke up. "Huh?...Matt?...we're are we?" he asked half asleep.

I tuned my head around to face him. "We're back in the library. You should go back to sleep, you're very tired." I said kindly.

Spike then nodded. "Alright, Matt. Goodnight, big bro." he said before he lied back down in his basket.

I smiled warmly at him. "Goodnight, little bro." I said before I turned my head back around and continued to walk to the bed.

Once I reached it, Twilight jumped off so we could both get under the covers. When we were in the bed, Twilight looked at me. "Did he just call you his big bro?" she asked.

In looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, we had a bit of a touching moment today. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, I'm kinda tired." I said.

Twilight then nodded. "Ok, Matt. I look forward to hearing it. Goodnight, love you." she said before she lied her head down on her pillow.

"Love you too, Twi. Goodnight." I said before I did the same and lied my head down on my pillow.

As I drifted to sleep, I couldn't help but think about my day with Spike and how much stronger our connection has now grown.

But unknown to me, the black crow from earlier was standing outside the window, it glared sharply at me as I slept before it turned around and flew away into the night.

Meanwhile: Luna's castle

Luna had spent the whole day in her Brew Room, she worked as hard as she could to make sure the potion was 100% perfect and to make sure it wouldn't cause any unwanted problems.

The bubbling water in the brew pot was now a dark red colour, it swirled around in the pot as Luna used her magic to rotated the large wooden pole around in the thick liquid.

Luna then lifted the wooden pole out and placed it down on the table before she read the last part of the scroll. "Now for the finale ingredient to complete it." She said to herself.

Luna levitated a group of small green leaves in front of her, she used her magic to then pluck one of the leaves off and hover it above the pot. "One mistletoe leaf." She said.

With that, Luna dropped the mistletoe leaf into the bubbling water and it disintegrated inside it. The water in the pot then turned from red to pink before releasing a puff of pink steam.

Luna watched in awe as the pink steam rose up in the air and formed into the shape of a heart, it then vanished in the air.

After that, Luna looked down at the small fire under the pot and put it out by waving one of her wings at it; causing the water to stop bubbling.

Luna looked down at the sparkling pink water before her horn glowed and a test-tube hovered over to her, she then dove it down into the potion and scooped up enough of it to fill the test-tube.

Luna lifted the test-tube out of it to see it was full of the pink love potion, she then hovered a cork over to the test-tube before she shoved the cork into the top to make sure none of the potion could spill out of it.

With that final act, it was done, the love potion was finished.

Luna held it in front of her with her magic as she stared at it, the potion inside the test-tube started to glow. Despite being proud of her victory over creating the potion, Luna felt a wave of guilt as she thought about what she would do next.

Luna's ears lowered as she hung her head and sighed, she then looked back up at the pink glowing test-tube in front of her.

"Just one hour…that's it, just an hour. Then I will move on and let Matthew carry on his life with Twilight Sparkle…no one will ever have to know." Luna said to herself.

Luna continued to stand there in the dark room staring at the love potion she had made.

But the question that rattled her mind was…will the plan work? Or fail and risk losing her friendship with the ponies she cares for most?

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Don't worry about Luna, she'll get something surprising in the next chapter, trust me.

In the next chapter, I'll tell you my top 10 best presents that I will get today. The present that will be number 1 will be my favourite, what will it be? We'll find out in the next chapter.

Plus, I may take a little break from writing to play my new games. But don't worry, this story will continue. I'm even halfway through completing chapter 38.

Please remember to review!

Merry Christmas everypony and I hope you enjoy your day, I wish the best to you all :D

Next chapter will be up soon.