"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes! I told you, Twilight, I'm fine!"

Spike pulled his knees closer to his chest and sighed, rolling over on his bed and tipping his head back so that he was face to face with his sister-figure, Twilight Sparkle. Her wings shuffled nervously and she lay down next to him, laying one across his back, violet eyes boring into him. As a result, Spike shut his own. She didn't need to see the emotion in his eyes, 'else she'd never leave him alone.

"I don't think you're okay," she said to him.

"I'm fine." The words were muffled; Spike had pressed his face into his pillow.

Twilight scooted a little bit closer, attempting to wrap her wing around him in a comforting way, but seeing as the new additions to her body were still awkward, it didn't quite work. Instead she placed on hoof on his back; Spike sighed, realizing she could probably feel the shudders racking down his spines.

"You're not okay," Twilight announced.

"Gee, amazing prediction," came the muffled reply.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Spike. I want to know what happened. Why are you so upset?" Her voice lowered, just a little bit. "Does it...does it have to do with Rarity?"

Rarity. Even the name alone sent shivers down Spike's spine. She was the most beautiful mare ever to walk the planet. Once, not so long ago, she had claimed she loved him. She had actually dated him. He couldn't have been happier.

And then the fiasco happened.

He wanted to blame it all on Applejack, he really did. But that just wasn't fair. AJ had been as unknowing as he. Moaning, Spike pushed his head farther into his pillow, starting to actually feel a slight lack of air. There was a sudden sound of magic in its purest form, and the pillow was pulled out from under him, almost causing the dragon to fall flat on his face; luckily, the aura caught him as well, turning his dreary face around and forcing him to stare up at Twilight, who was now less than pleased.

"Now listen here, Spike," she said sternly. "I understand if you don't want to talk to me. If you want to keep it personal, I'm fine with that. But can you at least give me a little hint about what's going on?"

When he stared at her blankly, searching for an explanation, she explained sheepishly, "I don't want to be in the dark forever, Spike. I love you, and I want you to know that I care."

Spike opened his mouth to say something, but simply found he couldn't do it. Those shimmering violet eyes...gee. Her parents must have had a hard time resisting something from her when she was younger; he was too young to remember most of those days, but he did remember a lot of begging for cookies. Chocolate chip, Twilight's favorite. So instead of speaking, he let out a sigh of defeat. "I'm upset because Applejack, Pinkie Pie and I just had a crazy day."

So true.

So, so true.

Twilight, true to her word as she always was, nodded firmly and, as promised, left him alone, returning his pillow and allowing Spike to grin and snuggle up in his sheets, closing his eyes, trying to suppress tears and trying to forget. Maybe if he thought about happy things, it would all go away.

So Spike thought of happy things. He thought of days when Twilight insisted on giving him a day off, and he was free, free to do whatever he wanted for a whole day. He thought of Peewee, and the little phoenix's contribution to his life, and helping him realize who he was.

He thought of Rarity's smile.

Her smile was so much prettier than her frown, but this wasn't saying that she had an ugly frown. It still had a ladylike quality about it, the way that the corners of her lips turned down ever so slightly and she gave a little pouting sound, pushing her chin out and curling her top lip. It was, in a way, beautiful.

But that was all gone now. She hated him. She hated Applejack. She most likely hated Pinkie Pie, though Pinkie hadn't done anything wrong.

Spike clenched his fists tighter. Now everything was ruined.

The first tears fell before he could stop them, though he wiped them away quickly. They were getting his blanket wet.

"Spike?" came the voice of Twilight from downstairs; she sounded concerned, but she wasn't prying. Thank goodness for that. Twilight somehow always knew just what to say. "I'm going out to Sugarcube Corner, alright?"

"Alright."

A hint of question lingered in Twilight's tone. "Do...you want to come with?"

"No."

Confusion. "Alright, then. Bye, Spike. Watch the books while I'm gone."

As the sound of the door slamming shut reached Spike's ears, he rolled over and grunted, "Because they're totally just going to get up and walk away all by themselves."

Nopony was there to hear him. Now he was alone with those horrible thoughts.

The dragon shut his eyes, and slowly he drifted into a restless sleep.

Dreams had never really been a big thing in Spike's life. They were just...dreams. Sometimes they were really random and strange, and made no sense at all. Sometimes they were upsetting. Nightmares. Those he didn't like. But all in all, a dream had never made Spike say, Gee, this dream has changed my life for the better and now I'm a better dragon. Nah, dreams were just dreams.

This dream seemed different from the start.

It started in Ponyville. That was where most of his dreams started. Spike wandered aimlessly along, looking about him at the chatting villagers and the happy ponies. Everything seemed so carefree and light, just how he wished his life was at that moment.

There was Twilight. She and Fluttershy were having a conversation while sharing a lunch.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie appeared to be in some sort of argument, but it wasn't a serious argument - Spike could tell this because they were all smiling; occasionally AJ would let out a snorting laugh.

Spike felt the urge to grin. Everypony was so happy...there was no fighting, there were no stupid arguments, nothing!

However, one pony was missing.

Where was Rarity?

That was when he heard her voice; she called out to him like an angel from the doorway of Carousel Boutique. There she was, with blue eyes alight, no trace of anger or wariness whatsoever. Spike was hesitant at first, but she called again and he gave in, sprinting to her and burying his face in her chest as they embraced in a deep hug.

"I thought you hated me," he whispered around her fur.

"Hate you? Spikey, how could I ever hate you?" was her whispering reply. "I love you, Spike!"

He pulled away and narrowed his eyes at her. "Like a friend?"

Rarity gave him a peck on the forehead; Spike felt his heart flutter and he had to grab onto the side of the entrance to stop himself from falling.

"Like a lover," she replied.

"Not Applejack?"

Rarity, for the first time, looked genuinely confused. "Applejack? Why in the world would I love Applejack?"

At this point, Spike couldn't even tell this was a dream anymore. His heart was going in circles, beating as fast as a rabbit's, and he felt like screaming to the sky his joy and excitement. Instead he had to settle for hopping up and down wildly. Rarity chuckled, a ladylike chuckle, not a big, loud, obnoxious chuckle.

"You are so funny, Spikey!"

That's me. Spike grinned goofily, tempted to spin in place and faint right there on the spot. I am so funny.

There was a call from farther down the road; Spike looked up to see Twilight waving, wings for once not bent and awkward looking, a larger smile on her face than he'd seen in months. "Rarity! Spike!" she yelled. "Do you want to go hiking with us?" As she spoke, the remainder of the Elements of Harmony came up behind her, all with equally large smiles and excited waves, all looking better than they had in a long, long time.

Rarity gave an excited little giggle. "I would simply love to!" she replied. "And I'm sure Spikey-Wikey would love to accompany us!"

Halfway through eagerly nodding, Spike paused as something seemed to grip his chin and prevent him from answering. He opened his mouth to reply verbally, but no sound came out. It was as if his body had been frozen where he stood.

A voice spoke in his ear, undoubtedly female, but unrecognizable if it was somepony he knew.

Not yet, Spike. If you want to continue this dream, this perfect world, this utopia, you'll have to sleep once more. For now, you are needed in the waking world.

Spike's eyelids wobbled sleepily. "B-But I wanna stay...I wanna stay with Rarity..."

Sorry, the voice replied coldly and unforgivingly, but then, in a quieter tone, Soon, I promise.

The world went black. No dramatic fading-out of the screen. No wavy images. Just a dark, sudden, unforgiving black.

Spike's eyes snapped open.