Spike was plunged into darkness. He didn’t see, feel or hear anything. He couldn’t even know how much time he had been in that place. All he could remember was his battle with the manticore and having had Twilight in his arms before the world faded from his eyes.

“I hope she is ok” It was all he could think about.

But if he wanted to find out, he had to exit there. He had to come back to real world, to Equestria, to Ponyville. But how could he find the way if he didn’t even know where he was?

Time passed and things hadn’t changed. However he now could hear strange noises in the distance that sometimes seemed voices, though he could never understand any words. He started to recover his body’s sensitivity, but he couldn’t know where he was or where he was going yet. Until finally one day, a light shone his world. He slowly opened his eyes. It was time to return to reality.

He was gradually adapting to light until one more time he noticed some colors around him, though he couldn’t distinguish any forms. He noticed he was lying on his back, in a blue room. On one side there was an orange shape with purple spots and on the other side there was a white shape with lavender spots.

“Has he woken up?... HE’S WOKEN UP!” Shouted Scootaloo.

“Spike, thank Celestia you’re ok!” He recognized Sweetie Belle’s melodious voice.

Spike felt a strong grip around his neck, as well was an assault of multiple kisses on his face.

“Oh Spike, you brave fool, we’ve been so worried! It was horrible when they gave us the news! Never do something that imprudent or crazy again! What would we do if you died” Sweetie Belle shouted in a dramatic and hysterical way, clearly inherited from her older sister as she continued her assault of kisses.

“If you don’t stop strangling him, we’re going to find out!” Scootaloo yelled and pulled her from Spike.

“Oops, I’m sorry Spike! I didn’t mean to!” She apologized very embarrassed.

“Come on, get out of the bed and let him be born again in peace” Scootaloo insisted.

Spike recovered from his shock and waited until he was able to clearly distinguish both the ponies. Scootaloo was definitely a young Rainbow Dash, except for the colors and she flew on wheels. Her cutiemark was a wheel with a trail of fire. Sweetie Belle was as beautiful as her big sister. She had been letting her mane grow to let a lock of hair on both sides of her face. Her cutiemark was a lavender eighth note.

“Hey girls, how are you?” Asked Spike.

“Much better now that you’ve woken up” Sweetie instantly answered.

“Yes, we were beginning to think you’d be like that forever. You’ve been sleeping for five months” Scootaloo said very seriously.

“FIVE MONTHS?”

“Pff, hahahahah! Nah! It's been five days only”

“Scootaloo, leave him alone. The poor dragon has been through a lot” Sweetie Belle scolded her friend.

“Hey, calm down. It was just a joke! Spike doesn’t mind, right Spike? Some already feared the worst, but I knew our favorite dragon wouldn’t be defeated by a little bit of manticore venom. Twilight said you tore it apart. Great!”

Spike’s mind was put on alert when he heard that name.

“Twilight… Where’s Twilight?” he asked very worried.

“Calm down, Spike. She’s fine. But we had to take her out of here. She wouldn’t leave the room just to be here at all times. After two days without sleeping, and without counting the night you entered here. We had to convince her so she would come back home to rest a little. The rest of us have been taking turns to take care of you” Sweetie explained.

“Yes. And if you think this diva has made a show, you didn’t see how Rarity got when she arrived here”

“Hahah, yes, I can imagine it” He ironically said.

“Scootaloo, let’s not waste more time. Go find Twlight”

“Oh sure! I’m coming back. She can hardly wait to see you” She said when exiting the room.

Spike and Sweetie were left alone in what soon became an awkward silence.

“Then… I heard you won the Equestrian Idol contest” Spike said, wanting to take a conversation.

“Yes, I did! Did you hear it?”

“Of course I did. Actually, it was Twilight who was watching the program, but I instantly noticed your voice and I came to see you. You were fabulous”

“N…No, I was lucky. There were other ponies who deserved to win more than me. Besides, the dress Rarity made for me helped a lot” Sweetie said while looking away from the dragon.

“Nonsense. You have a wonderful voice. It would have been a crime if you hadn’t won” Spike kept praising her.

Sweetie felt how the beating of her heart grew stronger and her cheeks were getting painted red.

“You're very kind, Spike. Would you like me to sing something as we wait?” She asked in a tone that was extremely shy for her.

“Yes, I would. Sing that song you won the contest with. What’s its name?”

“’I will always love you’ by Whitney Houston”

Sweetie took air to start singing the song, but in that moment a purple magical sphere appeared in the room. When it disappeared, they saw how Twilight and Scootaloo had appeared.

Spike looked at Twilight, who was looking at him with a big smile and a cheerful expression. But Spike couldn’t smile back when he saw the bags of her eyelids. She was wearing makeup to hide her exhaustion and both her mane as her fur looked somewhat neglected.

When she noticed the way Spike was looking at her, Twilight lowered her head without knowing what to say. Sweetie Belle turned her head from side while seeing their reactions and trying to understand what was happening.

Shouldn’t they already be in each other’s arms and exchanging sentences like ‘I’m happy to see you’ or something like that? The young unicorn thought.

“Well, I’m sure you have a lot to talk about. Sweetie Belle and I will bring Rarity here, who also wanted us to tell her when you woke up” Scootaloo said while pulling her friend out of the room.

Spike said goodbye to them both and thanked them again. Then he looked at Twilight again.

Twilight raised her head to face him. She wasn’t smiling anymore. She looked sad and miserable. She sighed and recovered her smile while getting closer to Spike’s bed. She climbed onto the bed and sat down next to him.

“Tw… Twilight?”

She smiled, extended her arms around him and hugged him, being careful not to hurt him. After all, he was still bandaged on his abdomen and his neck to minimize his mobility on the areas his bones had been hurt in battle.

“I’m very happy to see you, Spike. I’m glad you’ve finally woken up” She said while putting her face behind his shoulder with the proximity of their embrace.

Though Spike was still confused, he returned the hug.

“I'm glad to see you're safe. But why do you look like that, Twi? It seems you haven’t slept well in days”

“That’s because I haven’t. The first two days I was here with you. I only left to eat. The girls finally convinced me to go home… But I could only think about you. The last 2 nights I did nothing but have nightmares about what happened in the forest” Twilight whispered full of sorrow.

“Twilight, are you crying?”

“I’m sorry Spike. I’m so sorry. You could have died because of me. The things I told you… I don’t know what took over me. If I hadn’t said those things, this would have never happened” She said between audible sobs.

“Don’t cry, Twilight. I’m fine now. It’s over, it doesn’t matter. You’re my… You’re my friend. I did what I had to” He said, trying to soothe her.

“No, Spike. It does matter!” She broke the embrace and looked at his eyes.

“It was all my fault. You wouldn’t have had to fight that monster in the first place if I hadn’t been so stupid to not realize I had entered the forest. If I had been able to escape… If I had been able to use magic… Don’t you understand? You were going to die! And I was going to have to be there and see you die! And I would have never forgiven myself knowing I was the one who caused your death”

“And I would have died with a smile knowing I was able to save you” He serenely revealed.

Twilight fell silent and stared at him in disbelief and amazement.

“I told you during the hurricane. Of all the jewels of my treasure, you are the most precious, Twilight. I would do anything for you. Of course, I wouldn’t like to do something like that ever again, but I’d do it a thousand times. I’m still a dragon and nothing or anyone who’s so fool to try to take one of my treasures from me will remain unpunished” He said while rubbing her face with his left claw and wiping her tears.

“Thank you, Spike. Thank you so much”

Twilight smiled at him tenderly and got closer by resting her forehead on his shoulder, letting herself be hugged. She savored the sensations she had been missing so much and she had only been able to find in her dragon’s arms. Her mind had been cleared of all doubt. She was totally and madly in love with Spike. He was everything she could ask for, what she deserved and what she needed. And it was time to make him know.

“Spike, there’s something important I have to tell you. In fact… It’s the reason I was so weird that morning… You see, I… ”

“SPIKE!” An unmistakable shouted while opening the door of the room, almost breaking it.

The fashionista came in, ran to the bed, climbed onto it, pulled Twilight out of it as if she was an object and hugged Spike tightly.

“MY SPIKEY WIKEY! My brave warrior! My immeasurable treasure! My beautiful baby! Thank Celestia and Luna you’ve regained consciousness!” She shouted in a exaggeratedly dramatic way, even for Rarity’s standards, as she shook the dragon from side to side and kissed him multiple times on his cheeks.

“Oh ,my dear Spikey, I’m so proud of you and mad at you! How dare you do something so brave and reckless and then have us all worried about you?! Promise me you won’t do something like that again”

“Rarity, you’re hurting him!” Shouted Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo from the door.

“Oh Spike, I’m sorry! Do you need anything? Shall I bring you some water, gems, ice cream?”

Spike took a moment to breathe. He finally regained his composure and looked at the white unicorn, who was looking at him with great concern, as if she was ready to go to the end of the world just to give him a whim.

“No, Rarity. You being here is more than enough. Don’t cry or your makeup will drain”

“Welcome, Spike” She said while hugging him, this time with delicacy and tenderness.

“It feels good to be back”

Twilight was looking at them with a melancholic smile. Unlike Applejack, Twilight felt no kind of jealousy when seeing Spike with Rarity that way. She knew very well that the dragon had left those hopes long ago. A little after the event Spike lost his mind when he confronted with the dangers of his blood, Rarity finally understood how much the dragon really loved her.

Like everyone in Ponyville, Rarity was always aware of the dragon’s feelings for her, but she saw them more like the tender crush a child had on an older woman. But that day, she had understood how wrong she was. Rarity had learned to love Spike too, but the love she felt for him would never be the same love he had for her. And so came the day she had no other choice but to break his heart by telling him they couldn’t be together. Spike had been depressed for days, but eventually he got over it and neither he nor Rarity let that destroy their wonderful friendship.

“Oh Twilight, I’m sorry I didn’t see you when I entered”

“It’s ok, Rarity. It’s nothing. I was very worried too”

Later, that same day Spike received visits from the rest of his friends, as well as Snips, Snails and Pipsqueak.

Finally there were only in the room he and Twilight.

“Aren’t you going to leave, Twilight?”

“Nope! Swift Relief told us you’ve been having some sleeping problems. So I’ll stay here to look after you or whatever you need” She happily revealed.

“Where are you going to sleep?”

“Don’t you see any other bed in this room or do you?” She said while smiling sarcastically.

Spike understood and sighed while moving to a side of the bed to give Twilight some room.

“Twilight, how did they heal me? I know in this hospital there must be some kind of antidote for the manticore’s poison. But as far as I know, that works only with ponies, so it means it wouldn’t work with me too” Spike asked very serious as Twilight got comfortable next to him.

“Yes, you’re right… I managed to bring us to this hospital by using a teleportation spell. But your body would reject the antidote. The doctors didn’t know what to do and there was no way to ask for the princesses’ help. So we went in search of the only one who could perhaps help you”

“Zecora” Spike muttered guessing the answer.

“Exactly. I, Swift and two guards of the hospital ventured into the woods in search of Zecora, who soon made a broth of ‘I-don’t-know-how-many’ herbs and powders They had been giving you that juice the last 2 days intravenously”

“I’ll have to thank them the next time I see them”

They talked for a while before falling asleep. But after another while something awakened Twilight. She heavily opened her eyes and noticed how she had rolled over in her dreams, being facing away from him. The cause of her awakening was Spike’s arms, which had surrounded her armpits and brought her close to his body. Twilight was a little confused, but she quickly supposed the dragon was just looking for a heat source in that cold night. But before she could come back to her dream, she felt Spike’s legs surrounding her waist. Now she was confused.

“Is he having a dream in which he’s riding me?” She asked intrigued.

All her doubts had been cleared when she felt how Spike was starting moving his hips from back to front and rubbing the bottom of his abdomen against her back.

Twilight felt all the blood of her body focus on her face in an instant.

Oh my goodness, he is… He’s riding me! She realized while getting stiffer than Rarity’s mannequins.

Twilight didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She knew despite his young age for dragons’ standards, Spike was already a teenager for ponies’ standards and it was obvious he was more than interested in sexuality. In fact, one of the reasons Twilight had ordered to build another bedroom for Spike, was because of the many times that in one of her nightly trips to the bathroom, Twilight would find the dragon having built a tent under his blanket.

However, this was something completely different. Twilight had to stop it. But how? Waking him up and humiliating him? She thought about a spell that could let her escape their embrace. After a while, her horn glowed and Twilight passed through the arms that held her firmly as if she was a ghost.

Already out of the bed, she turned to see the dragon, who was still moving his body, even when there was nothing there. Twilight sighed with relief. After that a question invaded her mind.

“Who is he dreaming about?”

She decided it was best to leave. She would visit him again the next day and would thought about a good excuse to justify her escape. But then she heard something that made every neuron in his brain had a short circuit.

“Twilight… Twilight…”

Twilight laboriously turned to see the dragon who was talking in his sleep.

Is he… Is he thinking about me? Is it me who he’s fantasizing about? Is he thinking that… That… He’s making love to me? Twilight’s brain had never produced so much endorphin in a moment.

YES, YES, YES! He loves me! He loves me so much that he’s fantasizing about me! I… I… I have to make sure of this!

Twilight disappeared in a purple magical sphere and reappeared in the library’s lobby. She used her horn to light her way and ran straight to Spike’s bedroom.

She had to be sure Spike was fantasizing about her that night because of how important it was for her and him and not just because of the effects of his imagination. She couldn’t risk spoiling it again. She entered Spike’s bedroom and looked for his diary, which Twilight knew it was under the mattress. She raised the diary in front of her face, where she stopped for a moment.

FOREVER! Pinkie’s voice shouted in her mind.

“Just a quick read. Something that helps me know how Spike feels for me”

Twilight opened the diary on a relatively new date, in which he’d written about his day in Sweet Apple Acres and how Applebloom had become almost as sexy as her sister. Twilight snorted and cursed her luck for opening the diary on that page.

The next entry was about a day in the town hall and about Elora, who he worked with and he described her as intelligent and organized. Twilight continued flipping through the diary while looking for a quote that was about her. But before she could find something, she lost herself in the information that was falling over her like a waterfall.

Spike had written about his daily activities, his adventures, works and ideas; but especially about his fantasies. He had written A LOT of fantasies with a great number of mares from Ponyville, which were about from the most romantic scenarios to the most erotic ones. In one, he’d described a romantic study session about the wonders of love with Mrs. Cheerlie. In another one, he’d written about spending an afternoon in the SPA and receiving a ‘very special’ service from the twins Lotus and Aloe; a triple date with the CMC in a fancy restaurant in Canterlot. A first level lesson about love rituals and lust with his favorite zebra… But none in which Spike had written about Twilight. She started flipping through the pages in reverse and eventually she found some quotes in which he’d written about his friends. A singular fantasy where he and Pinkie were sailing down a vanilla river on a raft made of chocolate. Another one where he and Rainbow were celebrating Rainbow’s admission to the Wonderbolts, allowing them both to
use for the first time her new uniform in a very passionate night with the dragon. And of course, there was more than one quote dedicated to Rarity.

Twilight didn’t feel with the right to judge Spike. All those years of unsuccessful attempts to get a marefriend had ended up in irremediable periods of sexual frustration and she knew very well what it was like to be limited to only fantasies, which she had written on her diary, as well as Spike. Her feelings for the dragon hadn’t changed at all. In fact, she was rather surprised by his imagination and how he could get so exceptionally romantic, as well as creative. There was certainly more than one thing she’d like to experiment once they were dating, but…

“Why am I not in any part of his diary” That made her feel sad.

“Does he think I’m not pretty?”

She laterally collapsed on the bed and saw a book next to the bed. She sighed exhausted, but before giving up and start her journey to the world of dreams, something caught her eye. On the bookshelf there was a purple notebook, which looked as worn out as the oldest book of the library. She took it and opened it.

It was another diary, but very, very old. The first pages had nothing but scribbles that had been blurred and faded by time. When she started to flip through, she could notice the evolution of his writing, but it was still very unreadable, until she finally managed to find some texts she could read, though they still had many syntax and semantic mistakes.

A smile appeared on Twilight’s lips when she understood what the diary was about. It was Spike’s first diary. The one he used when Princess Celestia was personally taking care of him before she left Spike in Twilight’s care. On Spike’s diary, he innocently referred to Celestia as her mother and described his happy days next to her and how he often had to be in the care of other ponies in the castle when her mother had to ‘go to work’.

Then Twilight got serious when she found the quote she was looking for: one who was about her. She translated the text as best as she could.

Mommy says she can’t take care of me anymore and someone else is going to do it. We went to a part of the house I had never been in. She introduced me to a pony. Her name is Twilight. She has a horn like mommy, but she has no wings. She’s purple and she’s very beautiful. Mommy says I’m going to live with her now.

Twilight kept reading all the quotes of the diary carefully. It was soon easy for Twilight to come to the conclusion that she had been Spike’s first love. At first he had written things like ‘Twilight is smart’, ‘Twilight is pretty’ ’I like being with Twilight’.

But as she continued reading, his writing progressively got better and more complex. ‘Twilight is the most beautiful pony I know’ ‘Twilight is very intelligent’ ’When we grow up, we will get married and will live in a castle like this’. Tears began to escape Twilight’s eyes when she saw the innocent dreams of that baby dragon who had apparently developed feelings for her, much before he had any idea of what those feelings really meant. It was a diary dedicated to her, to both of them and no one else.

Before she could notice it, the diary was over and she didn’t even reach the part where they moved to Ponyville. Twilight hugged the diary, emotionally touched. But her happiness faded after a moment.

“That was back then, but now?”

She needed the latest information. She looked at the bookshelf again, where she saw there was another book, this one was red. Without hesitation she took it. Her eyes shone when she saw it was a continuation of the first diary. It seemed it had been some time since the end of the first diary. Spike was now using a more complex vocabulary and writing. And especially, it seemed he already understood the feelings he had for Twilight.

Spike’s feelings hadn’t changed. He still considered her wonderful. However, he didn’t praise her in the same innocent way he used before. Spike continually questioned his feelings, which he now considered them taboo. He expressed his doubts about whether it was right to feel that way for her or not. His fears about the consequences his confession might bring him. His shame of being unable to tell her how he felt.

Twilight quickly started to feel ashamed she had been the cause to provoke such an emotional turmoil to the poor dragon. She was flipping through the diary, only finding more and more quotes that were about how much he treasured her and how much conflict there was because of that. She finally arrived at the last entry in the diary, which was written in Fluttershy’s birthday.

Fluttershy’s party has been wonderful. She looked beautiful. Not as much as Twilight, but, who could? Fluttershy has revealed us she’s going to be a mother. When I saw her and her husband so happy, so united, all I can think about is how much I would like Twilight and me to have a relationship like that. But it’s only a dream inside a dream, for I’m not brave enough to tell her how much I really love her.

Oh Twilight, my beautiful Twilight! If only you knew. If only you could listen to my heart’s chant that sings for you and just for you. But I’m afraid. Afraid that revealing my secret will only take me away from you. Afraid that you think I’m a sick and perverted dragon for being in love with a creature that’s not even my kind. Afraid to lose you, that you send me away from the house and I can never see you again.

In that case I wouldn’t blame you. You'd have every right to do it, for I know it’s very likely that it’s wrong to feel that way for you. But you know? I just can’t help it. If only you could see yourself as I do. If you understood how beautiful, smart and wonderful you really are… Maybe you would understand.

You would understand I love you. I love you so much that it hurts…

Twilight closed the book. She couldn’t read anymore.

“No, Spike… I could never hate you… I could never be angry with you. Not over something so wonderful like this” She said, trying to contain her tears while hugging the diary tightly.

“How didn’t I realize before? How? There must have been signals, signals I ignored and I wasn’t willing to see. All this time… How awful, I'm a monster” She blamed herself.

“A couple of months have almost costed me my mental sanity, but you’ve had to deal with this all your life. But not anymore. Not anymore!”

“Don’t fear, Spike. Starting tomorrow we won’t have to feel alone or distant from each other ever again!”

She teleported herself back to the hospital straight to the dragon’s bedroom, who was sleeping peacefully while lying on his back on his bed. She got closer to him and checked if both the mattress and the blankets were dry. Then she climbed onto the bed, cuddled against him and planted a kiss on his cheek. Twilight smiled when she noticed how the dragon smiled between his dreams as if he could feel her love. She almost rested her body on his, resting her head on the base of his neck, making him hug her with her telekinesis.

“You'll see, Spike. Starting tomorrow we’re beginning a new life... Together”

Author's Notes:

It seems I have already finished my studies. The next week the final exams will start. Post your reviews and don't forget to tell me if I made a mistake so I can correct it.