“So… what’s up with you?” I nonchalantly asked the dragon as we began our trip back to the foyer through the garden.

“Nothin’ really…” Spike responded. “…but the REAL question is… what’s up with you…”

“Same here. Y’know, be—!”

“…and Twilight?” He caught me off guard.

"I seem t' have a knack for not expectin' things I should expect. Gotta work on that…"

“Oh! Um… w-what about me an’ her?” I asked dumbly.

“Oh, don’t think I don’t see it,” Spike teased. “I might be a baby dragon, but I wasn’t born yesterday. You like her, don’t you?”

“Well of course I like her. Who wouldn’t? She’s a very nice, friendly pony.”

“No, I mean you like like her. Like how I like Rarity.”

“What? No way!” I sternly denied, despite the air becoming suddenly hot. “She’s… just a friend is all…”

“You’re not fooling anyone, y’know. I heard you two kissing last night.” He started drilling me. I wasn’t sure what to be more ashamed of: The fact that I was actually becoming infatuated with a unicorn from an alternate universe, or the fact that a dragon child from said universe was digging into me about it.

“It was jus’ a peck on the cheek good night!” I shouted, losing control of my voice volume.

“Ah-ha! So you DID kiss her!” I gullibly fell for that bluff. Spike started laughing raucously. “Oh man, I was just joking, but wow, you’re serious?”

“This li’l sonuvabitch is craftier than I thought…”

“…You sneaky little… *sigh* fine, yes, I‘ll admit that I AM startin’ t’ like like her,” I confessed, seeing no more point in denying it in the face of Twilight's closest friend. “I don’t know why, I don’t want to, but… I am. But you hafta understand that I can’t do anything about it, for obvious reasons.”

“Well, why not?” Spike was a bit puzzled. “I’m pretty sure she likes you, too.”

“Oh? And how do you figure that?” I skeptically asked.

“Trust me: I know Twilight, so if she starts acting unusual, I’m usually the first to pick up on it. Here’s an example; when you two got done talking about love earlier, you were giving each other ‘the eyes.’”

“The… eyes?”

“Staring each other down like lost puppies.”

“Oh, that…” I remembered as we reached the doorway and entered the hallway. “That don’t prove nothin’, though. Maybe she jus’ liked what I was sayin’.”

“You two did it on more than one occasion. And how could you even find it in you to deny it as anything more than her just listening to you? Especially with the way you two were flirting when we were headed to the Carousel Boutique yesterday!"

"Oh, so the instant I compliment somebody on their looks an' they decide not t' respond right away, that CLEARLY must mean she's in love with me?" I indignantly remarked, going on the defensive.

"Still in denial, huh? Okay, then...” Spike was playing detective, and he was making it look easy. “Answer me this, Ty: Why do you think she wanted to talk to Cadence—?”

“To catch up with her, obviously.”

“…without us being there?” He raised an excellent point.

“Well… maybe they jus’ wanted some girl time…?”

“Hmph. For someone as smart as I thought you were, you sure are thick-headed..."

"Jus' make your point," I ordered, not in much of a mood to be ridiculed by a child.

"Well to be fair, since you don’t know, Princess Cadence is widely known as the Princess of Love,” Spike informed. “Given that…— take a left here— she’s probably some kind of love advice guru! Take that into account with her staring both of you down not too long ago, PLUS what Twilight told you about her experience with stallions, or lack thereof, and-- This is the Million-Bit Question, so hear this one out-- What do you think she wanted to be alone to talk to Cadence about?” The evidence was piling up, but I refused to accept it. I couldn’t accept it.

“It… no… but why? She knows I can’t be here long. She knows I’m not a stallion… that I’m actually human… Why…? I don’t understand…”

“Beats me,” the dragon uncaringly answered, finally stumped as we headed into a giant kitchen that was reminiscent of one of those kitchens seen on professional cooking shows, minus the stands for the audience to sit in to watch the chef. Spike pointed me towards the refrigerator so that he could stand on my back and take a bucket of ice cream out of the freezer before we headed back out. Reentering the hallway and continuing back to the foyer, I lost myself in thought about a number of things: Spike’s analysis of Twilight’s reason for wanting to be alone with Princess Cadence, the possibilities of my friendship with the little purple unicorn, the consequences of our emotional attachment to one another, and even… what it would be like to actually date her. But that last one, I had to shake out of my head, seeing as I would not allow myself to do it. Spike was simply sitting on my back, wolfing down that ice cream like it was the last he’d ever have.

“Spike…”

“Yeah?”

“With Rarity…” I began, unsure of how to approach it, but knowing the point of what I was about to ask. “Do you ever feel like… like you can’t ever actually date her? Due to… limitations of any kind that are outta your control?”

“If you mean because I’m a dragon and she’s a mare, then yeah… Sometimes, I do…” he somberly answered to my shock.

“Why?” I had some valid answers myself, but I wanted to hear his.

“Well, other than the dragon-pony deal… I’m a good deal younger than she is, and she hasn’t exactly shown me any clues as to liking me… At least, not in the same way…”

“With the way she was treatin’ you at the picnic? How could you not be sure?” I goaded.

“Well, she’s been that way towards me ever since I made the second biggest sacrifice of my life— the first being when I realized I didn’t want to become a typical dragon, instead choosing to live with ponies— by giving her this big, beautiful heart-shaped ruby I was saving for my birthday to eat. In return, she kissed me on the cheek after telling me that that was the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for her."

"Wow... Tha'ss pretty noble o' you."

"Yeah... Funny thing is, on my birthday, everypony gave me a gift, which awakened something inside me. I wanted more and more material things for no reason, no matter if I had use for it or not. Turns out the reason for that was because I was actually –and rapidly— growing into the full-sized dragon I was supposed to be."

"Growin' into a full-sized dragon in a matter of a single day? What goes ON in this place??"

"It wasn’t until I started terrorizing the town in a fit of greed-fueled rage and pony-napped Rarity, who defended that same ruby when I took a look at it, that I realized a couple things: One, that it’s more worthwhile to give than to receive, and Two, that she actually meant what she said. My memories came flooding back thanks to her and I reverted back to the way I am now. From that day on, I became her ‘Spikey-Wikey.’ She even gave me another kiss on the cheek.”

“Wow… That’s quite a story…” I began as we reached the foyer, went up a few floors via the stairwell, and then continued in our original direction. I was actually impressed by Spike’s knowledge and experiences. They betrayed his age greatly. Still, I wanted his opinion on his feelings for the white unicorn mare. “So… why are you still so unsure about her feelin’s towards you after all that?”

“Because sometimes… I feel like she… like she just sees me in a similar light to how Twilight sees me… like a little brother…” he answered with what sounded like remorse. I even heard him sniffle. “I mean, I’m okay with the nickname and the special treatment I get from her… but it hurts to think that she does it for a different reason than I want…"

"How so?"

"I mean, I do almost as much for her as I do for Twilight, yet there’s still this nagging feeling that I’ve become… TOO helpful to her… To the point where I’ve accidentally made her see me like how Twilight sees me…” He suddenly perked up. “But I’m NOT giving up hope! Someday, Rarity WILL be mine!” He shouted with newfound vigor. I admired his expectantly childlike enthusiasm and strong sense of faith; even though I knew for a fact that Rarity, a full grown pony mare, would probably never even consider thinking of Spike in the way he wanted her to think of him, mainly for physical reasons. Still, I had to give credit where credit was due for his resilience.

"Tha'ss the spirit. Keep ya head up an' don't get discouraged."

"That's the plan."

"But hey, even if Rarity DOESN'T return your feelings the same way you do, I'm sure there's plenty of other ponies-- or dragons-- that'll be more than willin' t' be yours..."

"Yeah, but they won't be as beautiful and amazing as Rarity..." he dreamily replied.

"What exactly do you see in her, anyway?"

"What is there NOT to see? She's beautiful, she's generous, she's pretty, she's wonderful to be around... And did I mention she's absolutely gorgeous?"

"Heh, yea I think you got that message across pretty clear, Spike..." I laughingly replied.

"Hm. Sounds like i'ss more of a thing o' physical attraction... Or more accurately, a childhood crush... He'll prolly get over it with time..."

"Still, you wanna be able t' move on in the case that Rarity doesn't see you in the way you want her to. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make her drink..."

"GOLDEN opportunity t' use that one... Aw, yea..."

"...What's that mean?" Spike quizzically asked, not seeming to understand the proverb.

"I mean that you can give Rarity everything you have, take her t' see all the wonders o' the world, an' even full-on write her name in the stars if you had the power... But none o' that is gonna have as big an influence on her feelings toward you than her own perception and personal choice an' preference."

"Oh, I get it... Wow, that was pretty smart, Ty..."

"Yea, I try..." I nonchalantly responded, although I felt inwardly proud.

As we entered the door to yet another hallway, we momentarily stopped talking. He was finishing up his ice cream, and I was thinking about his relationship with Rarity as compared to mine with Twilight Sparkle. His situation was similar to mine in some ways… I wasn’t sure exactly how old Twilight was, so I couldn’t say anything about age difference between the two of us. However, just like how Spike and Rarity would possibly never be together because he was a dragon, it was the same as how Twi and I could probably never be together… because I’m human. And just like how Spike was much too young for Rarity, assuming she’d ignore his being a dragon, it was, in some bizarre way, similar to how Twilight and I were separated by entire planes of existence, although not as severe.

Sure, she could possibly pop into my world to pay me a visit and/or maybe bring me here to Equestria on occasion once she learned how to better control that spell of hers, just like how age difference stops becoming too big a deal once two lovers are full-grown adults (Though, I’m sure even that would still get in the way in Spike’s case)… But the fact still stood that Twilight had to transform me into a pony for me to be accepted here. Not to mention that I’d have to hide her if we went anywhere in my world (unless of course, she was able to learn how to transform herself into a human girl… I’m sure THAT would be a sight to see…), but that point still stood strong. Even so, the fight against my new-found affection for Twilight found itself becoming steadily harder with the longer I remained here, especially as a pony.

“Say… if you DIDN’T have to eventually go back to your own world and got stuck as a pony… would you date Twilight?” Spike asked.

“Well… I’m not entirely sure. I'd LIKE t' say yes, but... I still don't think I know enough about her yet."

"Well, once ya get past how uptight and nitpicky she gets about being orderly and clean all the time and how frantic she gets when things don't run exactly as she scheduled it, AND how stubborn she can be if you're in an argument and you KNOW she's wrong, she's a great mare. Trust me, you're getting a fair warning on the just the small stuff from the guy who's lived with her since he was born."

"Hahah, I'mma take ya word for it. I’d hafta ask you the same question about Rarity if you were a pony her age…”

“Are you kidding!? I’d be all over her like Pinkie Pie on chocolate cake!” We shared a good laugh as we trotted through the hall. This one seemed much longer than the one going towards the garden.

“Yo, how is it livin’ with Twilight?”

“It’s awesome, to say the least. And that’s not just because I’ve lived with her my entire life. She takes care of me, protects me and most of all, she loves me. The least I could do for her in return is be her #1 assistant by helping her with her studies, looking out for her whenever she has a problem, and even keeping the library clean whenever she has an errand to run. Honestly, she’s been like the mother I never had… But don’t tell her that.”

“Hah, why not?”

“Because that’s too mushy! I’m a growing dragon, and I wanna be big and tough; not emotional and gooey and junk…” It seemed that even with his impressively vast assortment of knowledge and wisdom, he still had much room for growing up. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I hear ya. Your secret’s safe with me, so long as this whole conversation stays between us,” I suggested.

“Deal!” He excitedly answered as I stopped to reach a hoof around my shoulder to give the dragon a promising hoof-claw shake before continuing. We reached the end of the hallway opened the door to find ourselves outside, standing on top of one of the castle walls. Just a few feet ahead was a large watch tower with two dark gray unicorn guards standing near the entrance. There was one additional guard who didn’t have a helmet on, apparently keeping watch of the area down below from where he was standing in the middle of the pathway. He was a unicorn about my height, with a shoulder-length dark blue mane with light blue stripes in it. His armor was noticeably different from the other guards; it was purple with golden trim and it had a symbol on the chest plate that looked strikingly similar to, although not quite exactly like Twilight’s Cutie Mark. He turned to us with a look of stern wariness.

“Halt! Who goes there?!” asked the unicorn guard as he took a position of attack, freezing me in place. His look and pose shifted to one of relaxation as soon as he looked at Spike on my back. “Well hey there, Spike! What brings you here?” He asked as he approached us. I took a step back in apprehension.

“Don’t worry, he’s cool,” Spike assured me. “Hey, Shining Armor! We’re just here waiting for Princess Celestia to return so we can talk to her about our visitor here.” At last, I’ve met Twilight’s older brother. He sure was a tough-looking guy.

“Ohh, so you’re Twiley’s new colt-friend,” He said in a surprisingly calm tone. I figured he’d been talking to the guards who brought us here, so I didn’t overreact to his assumption.

“No, Mr. Armor, sir,” I politely answered, still a bit nervous. “I’m jus’ a friend o’ hers. Whatever you heard about us bein’ together like that, I’m sure was some kinda crazy rumor. In fact, I’m from—!”

“An alternate universe, correct?”

“Yea. How you know?”

“My wife Cadence told me about it. She mentioned something Princess Celestia told her about Twiley using some strange spell by accident to send herself to your world. Man, I tell ya; that girl never ceases to surprise us… it makes me proud to be her B.B.B.F.F. By the way, have you seen Cadence? I have no idea where she went.”

“Your… what?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever,” he informed with a chuckle.

“Hah, first that little sunshine dance with Cadence, now this…” I said as I laughed with him. I figured Twilight must’ve been showered in love and affection as a filly, which was no less than admirable. “But yea, we jus’ left her an’ Twi at the library. Speakin’ of which, you think we should go back, Spike?”

“Sounds good,” he answered.

“Mind if I tag along?” asked Shining Armor.

"Not at all. The more the merrier, Mr. Armor,” I responded.

“Please, just call me Armor. I didn’t catch your name, though.”

“Ponder Memoir. But everybody jus’ calls me ‘Ty.’”

“’Ty?'" he questioned in stark confusion. "How do you get THAT out of ‘Ponder Memoir’?” He had a good point.

"Funny how no one up until this point had questioned me on that..." However, I wasn’t going to reveal my real name here. "Hmm... Gotta think up an excuse... Ah! I got it!"

“Because… I’m always… TIED up in my thoughts!” I joked with a nervous chortle. I felt like that was probably the dumbest joke I’d ever made. I could even hear the cliché “Ba-Dum-TSS!” drum riff in my head.

“Haha, that’s a good one! It makes sense, too, given your name,” he said. I was pleasantly surprised to see Shining Armor had enjoyed that quip. I heard Spike let out a short chuckle as well.

"Bad puns for the win... I jus' hope I don't gotta make THAT egregious joke again..."

“Quick question before we go: you sure you won’t get in trouble by leavin’ your post?”

“Nah, my break just started. I’ve got the hour to myself.”

“Okey doke! Le’ss be out!” I said as Shining Armor, Spike and I began our journey back to the library…