Now, one might think that, on a beautiful and sunny day, with birds singing and not a cloud in the sky, it would be rather difficult for anypony to be in any way down or depressed. And yet, that seemed to be exactly the look on Spike's face as he made his way towards the outskirts of Ponyville. While everypony he passed by seemed to be greeting the day with great enthusiasm, he looked, for lack of a better word, nervous. His breathing was the kind that made it clear that he was trying to calm himself down, and as he began to walk into the border of Sweet Apple Acres, that breathing continued as such. Tree after tree he passed, and every once in a while he'd look up to see the delicious fruits hanging from their branches. But, he had no time for a snack, even though he'd have wanted nothing more than any kind of distraction right now. Instead, he carried on, walking towards one of the more secluded parts of the Apple family's land. There, after traversing some particularly large bushes, he came upon his destination at last; the clubhouse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. This well-maintained treehouse was a pleasant sight in this little woodland grove, and yet the young dragon couldn't help but look upon it with some trepidation. As he approached, he cleared his throat a little, and afterwards, began to call up in a somewhat nervous manner.

"Um...hello?"

There was a brief moment of silence that followed those words, and for a short while, he wondered if there was actually anypony up there at all. However, it soon proved to be the case that there was, and as the front door of the treehouse opened, three small fillies emerged. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all walked over to the railings of the treehouse, and looked down to the source of the call. When they saw that it was Spike, the former two smiled happily and waved to their friend. However, it was Sweetie Belle who seemed most shocked to see him, and, after the two youngsters had stared at each other for some time, she moved over to lower the staircase leading down to the ground. Spike watched nervously as his fillyfriend drew closer and closer, and when she finally arrived, her expression was completely neutral, causing him to dart his eyes back and forth for a bit. But, moments afterwards, she broke out into a massive smile before leaping forward, holding him close in a hug. It was an adorable sight, and one that her two friends couldn't help but let out a simultaneous "awww" at. As for Spike, he seemed more than a little pleased that this was the reaction the filly had to seeing him, and soon returned her embrace, smiling as he held her close. But, as they parted, his tone was still one of uncertainty.

"Well...it's good to see you again Swe..."

But, he hadn't the time to finish those words, for he was soon taken aback by a sudden sharp hoof to his arm from the young filly. Now nursing the spot where she'd poked him, he looked on as Sweetie frowned deeply at him.

"It's been a whole month! Where have you been in all that time?!"

Raising a clawed hand, Spike scratched the back of his head a little before chuckling nervously.

"Hehe...well...it's kind of an interesting story about all that."

Sweetie frowned at that, but was unable to say anything as Scootaloo spoke up from the treehouse.

"In that case, why don't you tell us all about it, loverboy?"

Although he frowned at the somewhat childish nickname, Spike nevertheless seemed willing to do just that, and so gestured to the treehouse with his hand, silently looking to Sweetie Belle as he did so. After a few moments of silence, the young unicorn filly nodded, her expression softening somewhat, and the two began to make their way upwards, ready for the young dragon to explain everything that had been going on.

The young drake had been sitting there, explaining things, for quite some time, and the three fillies around him, all sitting quietly in the treehouse, had watched him and listened to every word he'd spoken. To say that they were shocked would have been a great understatement, as they all looked to him as if they'd see a ghost. But even so, they continued to remain silent as he spoke, talking about everything he'd learned recently, everything that had been going on, and, as one might expect, this was a lot to take in. The fillies, after seeing Spike finish his story, looked to each other with utterly flabbergasted looks. As for Spike, he looked from one to the other, showing clear discomfort in the silence that had followed his words. Fortunately for him, a time soon came when that silence was broken, and it was Apple Bloom who did so, with her words reflecting the obvious shock she'd felt.

"The...the future?"

Spike nodded, prompting Scootaloo to speak up next.

"So...Twilight knew everything that was going to happen?"

Another nod from Spike, and this time, it was Sweetie Belle who spoke up.

"Well...that would explain why my sister has been so distracted lately."

Apple Bloom turned to her friend and nodded.

"Ah'll say! Applejack's been pacin an grumbling fer weeks now. Ah asked her what was wrong...but...she just said she didn't wanna talk about it."

Spike nodded to that.

"I don't blame her. It was a lot to take in. But, thankfully, things seemed to be okay between her and my Mom right now."

Sweetie turned to him with curiosity all over her face.

"So...where's Twilight now?"

Spike turned, facing a nearby window, and raised a hand, pointing his finger towards it.

"She said she was going with her friends to the castle of the two sisters."

Scootaloo immediately snapped her head in Spike's direction after hearing that.

"You mean that spooky old place in the Everfree where they fought Nightmare Moon? Why would she go there?"

Spike shrugged his shoulders somewhat.

"I heard she and the others had some things they needed to do there."

A look of slight confusion appeared on the young drake's face after saying that, at which point he raised a hand and casually scratched his chin as he thought about it.

"But...she was pretty set on all of them going together, instead of by themselves. Not sure why though...but I'm guessing it's something to do with the future. It usually is these days."

The other fillies nodded in agreement over that, and turned to each other. They were clearly deep in thought over this revelation, and, as one might expect of youngsters like them, their minds were abuzz with many questions they wanted to ask. After all, to know that somepony they knew already had knowledge of the future and how their lives were going to turn out? It was a serious temptation to say the least. After some time of sitting in silence, Scootaloo turned to Spike and spoke softly.

"So...did Twilight ever say anything about what we were like in that other time...or whatever it was?"

Spike considered that for a while before nodding.

"Well...for one thing, she said you three still didn't have your cutie marks at this point."

Immediately, the fillies all looked to him with shock, before then turning to their aforementioned marks. Apple Bloom's apple and hammer, Scootaloo's wheel and lightning bolt, and finally, Sweetie Belle's heart and musical note. Those marks had been a source of great pride for the three of them, and they remembered well just how happy they'd all been on then night they'd earned them. To know that there could have been another time when they still didn't have them was not a thought that pleased them in the slightest, as Sweetie Belle was more than willing to voice.

"No cutie marks? That's terrible! How long did we go without them?"

Spike shrugged his shoulders somewhat.

"Dunno. Another few years at least, from what I heard."

Horror crossed the fillies' faces at hearing that, which prompted Scootaloo to speak up again.

"So...I guess we should thank Twilight for helping us with that?"

Hearing those words, Spike scratched his chin and though long and hard for a moment, after which he spoke up again.

"Well...I'm not sure if that was one of her plans. From what I heard, she was mostly concerned with big monsters and stuff."

Sweetie nodded before turning to the other two fillies.

"Besides, it's really Spike we should thank for our marks, remember? If it wasn't for him, we'd still be blank flanks right now!"

A blush crept onto Spike's cheeks after hearing those words from his filly-friend, but it soon passed as he turned to her with a more serious expression.

"Well...from what Mom told me...I wasn't as close to you three as I am right now. In fact..."

He hesitated to say it, but he felt in his heart that Sweetie needed to know the truth of the matter.

"...according to her...I was still pining for your sister in the first time."

Instantly, shock crossed Sweetie's face, as well as a look of fierce jealousy. Before Spike could react, the young unicorn rushed to his side, holding him close again.

"Well! She's not getting you this time, you hear me?"

Yet again, a blush emerged on the young dragon's face, though far redder than before. As one might expect, this led to a barrage of giggles from Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Fortunately for Spike, he'd long ago moved past being embarrassed about such things when he was with Sweetie, and simply looked to her with an appreciative smile, thankful she wasn't upset with him over what he'd just told her. However, a somewhat upset look did cross her face soon afterwards, and as she parted from him, she frowned a little.

"So...why didn't you send me any letters or anything while you were gone? I was worried about you."

A genuinely apologetic look crossed Spike's face as he heard that, and he looked down at the floorboards beneath him before speaking.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Sweetie. It's just...I've kinda had a few things on my mind."

Scootaloo chuckled a little before responding to that.

"Oh yeah? What could be so important that you couldn't spend a few moments to write to your special somepony?"

She was trying to get a rise out of him, but it did little good on her part, for Spike simply looked to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, for one thing...I was a dog for a short while."

Immediately, all the smiles and snickers in the room died down, and the three fillies looked to their draconian fired as if he'd gone mad. They thought that, perhaps, this was simply a joke on his part. But, one look to his face, at the utter seriousness he bore, and they knew that he'd meant every word of it. Needless to say, this caused a few glances around the room, as each of the fillies thought hard about how they could possibly respond to that. Eventually, and after much consideration, Sweetie turned to him, with a sly smile, giggling slightly before responding to her coltfriend's revelation.

"Awww! I bet you looked really cute as a dog!"

Her words were emphasised with a gentle pat on his head, leading to, as you might expect, even further giggles from her two friends, much to Spike's chagrin. However, he couldn’t stay upset for long, as Sweetie began to nuzzle him affectionately, to which he couldn't help but smile.

"Well...I was kinda the centre of attention over there at the time. All those humans couldn't get enough of me."

Upon hearing that, Sweetie pulled away with a raised eyebrow.

"Er...humans?"

Spike shrugged his shoulders before replying.

"Yeah. They're these weird, two-legged ape-things from another world who wear clothes all the time. Turns out there's one for each of you."

Another round of confused glances went around the three fillies, before Apple Bloom turned to Spike and spoke.

"Wow...y'all an Twilight have the craziest adventures when y'all go off by yerselves."

A chuckle escaped Spike as he nodded at that.

"Yeah...and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Sweetie smiled at the warm look her coltfriend bore as he considered his time with his mother, before then gently nuzzling up to him again.

"So...what do we do now?"

The confused look Spike gave her after hearing that led to her explaining herself.

"I mean...if your Mom has all this future stuff...what's going to happen? I mean...knowing the future is probably going to drive us all nuts to hear about it."

Spike nodded before giving an answer to that.

"Well…if you think you'll go nuts form it, imagine what's it's been like for her this whole time. knowing all this stuff is gonna happen, having to keep it secret, trying to stop big catastrophes from all these changes. I do not envy her in the slightest!"

A general murmur of agreement went around the room at that, but Sweetie, soon afterwards, looked to the young drake beside her before putting on a warm smile for him.

"Well...I can think of one good thing that's come from all this stuff your Mom has done."

Spike looked to her with a raised eyebrow, silently asking her to say what she meant by that. But Sweetie said no words, and instead, giggled slightly before then gaining a somewhat amorous look. Before Spike could say or do anything, he watched with shock as his fillyfriend leaned forward, gently planting her lips upon his. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo watched, somewhat taken aback at this incredibly forward display of affection their friend was giving. As for Spike, he found himself speechless as he felt the lips of the young unicorn upon his own, and soon found himself utterly lost in that kiss, closing his eyes and thanking his lucky stars that he had her in his life. But, it soon dawned on him that it was his mother who was more to thank for all this, and so promptly forgot about any stars whatsoever, lucky or otherwise. A few moments passed of the two of them staying together like this, until finally Sweetie Belle pulled back from him, keeping that same sly smile on her face as her coltfriend recovered from what she'd just done to him. It took some time, a good five minutes or so at the very least, but eventually, the young dragon opened his eyes, finally regaining his senses after the young filly had thoroughly smashed them with that kiss. As he looked to her, and then to the stifled giggles the other two fillies were holding back, he cleared his throat a little before trying to look as composed as possible.

"Yes...well...I guess that is something I should thank Mom for."