"Are you being serious, Twilight?"

"Yes, Spike, I am."

"But, what about the--" Spike was cut off by Sombra's sigh of aggravation.

"Lizard, just accept the offer!" Sombra exclaimed, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"But, after what I did..." Spike trailed off as his gaze went became downcast, his claws wringing together.

"Spike," Twilight said firmly, but her eyes were soft on the young dragon, "I know why you were so upset."

Spike blinked in shock. "Huh?" he blurted out, his eyes wide.

Twilight smiled, then nodded her head Sombra's way. "Sombra told me, Spikey," she replied, giving him a meaningful look.

Spike blushed. "You haven't called me that since we were both little..."

"And you really should have known better than to tell him that, Spike!" Pinkie chirped, bouncing over to Sombra's side, "You know he'll use it against you!"

"Like you don't do that, too!" Sombra argued, nudging her shoulder, "Miss 'I'll-Keep-Your-Secret-But-Then-Tells-Sparkler-The-Moment-She-Can'!"

"Maybe it'll be Mrs.'I'll-Keep-Your-Secret-But-Then-Tells-Sparkler-The-Moment-She-Can' if you play your cards right," Pinkie whispered in his ear.

Sombra's ears fell flat against his head while his face flushed red. "Er..." he drawled, his expression fixed between shock and terror.

"I still find it hard to believe that you like--"

"Finish that sentence and I'll end your life here and now, Lizard," Sombra said sharply, breaking out of his shocked state.

"--pink mares," Spike finished, giving Sombra a smug look.

"Oh, you're dead!" Sombra exclaimed, leaping at Spike, but stopped short when Pinkie pulled him into a tight hug.

"Oh, but you know I like you, too!" Pinkie told him, kissing his cheek.

"I hate you so much..." Sombra muttered under his breath, glaring daggers at Spike.

"Anyway," Twilight enunciated, attempting to gain Spike's attention, "I don't want you to think that all you are to me is an assistant, Spike."

Spike frowned. "I know that, Twilight," he told her, "I just forgot for a while, is all."

Twilight shook her head. "That wouldn't have happened if I had been the good friend I was supposed to be, Spike!" she argued, hunching down so she was his height, "I love you, Spike. You're like the annoying younger brother I kind of always wanted!"

Spike smiled at that. "I love you, too, Twilight," he replied, then hugged her as he said, "And you're like my sister! And mom, in some ways..."

"Aw!" Pinkie cooed, rubbing her cheek into Sombra's as she grinned slyly, "Speaking of love--"

"No," Sombra replied flatly, "not gonna say it."

"So, what do you say, Spike?" Twilight asked, pulling away from the hug as Pinkie and Sombra exchanged dialogue, "Do you wanna go to the Crystal Empire with me?"

Spike nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!" he replied, then asked cheerfully, "Do you really think the Crystal Ponies will be happy to see me?"

"Heck yeah!" Pinkie called, then gave Sombra a playful noogie, "All cause you beat this big meanie pants!"

"Gee, love you, too, Pinkie," Sombra said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he did.

PInkie gasped. "You said it!" she cheered, then hugged Sombra tight enough to where his face turned blue from lack of oxygen.

"I... was... being... sarcastic..." Sombra rasped between small intakes of air.

"Still counts, Meanie Pants!" Pinkie exclaimed, snuggling her head into his.

"I... hate... you..." he muttered, still finding the energy to glare at her.

"Spike, I just wanna make something clear to you before we do anything right now," Twilight said to Spike, breaking his attention away from the quarrelling couple.

"What is it, Twilight?" Spike asked, his excitement dimming at her tone.

"There's a reason why I would never send you away, Spike," she told him, "and that reason is, even though I may not need you for something, I will always, most certainly, want you to be in my life."

"Oh, gods, stop it with the sappiness!" Sombra begged, then nodded his head to Pinkie, who was showering his cheeks with affectionate kisses, "I already get enough of that from her!"

"Oh, you know you love it!" Pinkie chided him, resuming her kisses.

"Tartarus, when will it end?" Sombra questioned, looking up to the heavens for an answer.

Twilight chuckled to herself. "We can discuss it further on the way to the Empire," she told Spike, "I wanna get through everything that's been bothering both of us, alright?"

"Okay!" Spike replied enthusiastically, then frowned as he realized something, "Wait, does that mean that you--"

"--made a checklist?" Twilight finished, magicking a scroll up for Spike to see, "Yep! I wanna make sure we got everything down!"

"Just how much is on that scroll?" Spike asked, taking the scroll, then losing his hold on it. The scroll bounced against the floor, causing it to unravel and reveal a long checklist the reached from the library's centerpiece to the door of the library.

"I want to cover all the bases and double check, and then triple check!" Twilight said giddily.

"Uh..." Spike drawled, totally surprised at the sight of the checklist.

"Come on!" Twilight exclaimed, "Let's get to the station!"

Spike, who was still in shock, was then pushed out the door by Twilight, who was enthusiastically discussing the topics of their would-be discussions.

"We can talk about your eating habits, your bathing habits-- which need a better schedule, by the way --your likes, your dislikes..."

Sombra and Pinkie watched as the two exited the library, leaving the couple by themselves.

"So..." Pinkie said, looking over at Sombra, "what do ya wanna do?"

"If you're implying that we should take advantage of us being alone for once in a long time, I have only one thing to say to you," Sombra replied, not even looking at her.

Pinkie pouted. "Fine, be a grumpy pants," she told him, crossing her forelegs in disappointment.

Pinkie wasn't prepared for Sombra pressing his muzzle against her ear, the sheer intimacy causing her to freeze as a blush came to her cheeks, the hair on her neck rising.

"I would be so open to that," he whispered, relishing in her reaction.

Pinkie grinned slyly. "Beat ya upstairs!" she proclaimed, then zoomed off.

"Sparkler will want to burn those sheets if she finds out," Sombra muttered to himself, then shrugged, "but that's Future Sombra's problem."

And, with that last word, Sombra ran up the stairs, taking the opportunity to be with his special somepony.

Author's Notes:

Ha, so since I kinda did a bad job wrapping up the story in the last chapter, due to popular demand, I wrote an epilogue for this. Since I didn't want to get into the whole thing with Twilight and Spike to a deep, emotional level, simply because I SUCK at doing stuff like that, I decided that they settle things off-screen...

...And that Pinkie and Sombra do the do in Twilight's bed while she's gone.