Author's Notes:

This is a Patreon-suggested chapter by nfreak.

“Ugh… I swear, Twilight really needs to invest in hiring some castle staff around here…”

Spike huffed tiredly as he trudged down the hallway of the Castle of Friendship, clearly wiped-out after completing the entirety of his chores and getting dinner prepared. By the time he was finished with everything, he could see that the skies were growing yellow from the sun setting outside. That sight made him groan in exasperation, since he knew he spent the entirety of his afternoon tending to his and Twilight’s ridiculously huge castle. Despite knowing that Twilight did just as much cleanup around the place as he did, it was hard to really compare scrubbing crystal floors with his claws while the Princess could dust a room instantly with a flash of her magic.

The drake sighed as he stopped briefly enough to rub his tired eyes. He knew he may have been overthinking things, and was fully aware that Twilight had a huge amount of responsibilities as Princess AND Headmare of the School of Friendship. But ever since he came out about his relationship to Pharynx, Spike could see how distant Twilight had gotten as a result of such a surprising reveal. And after spending the past week back from the Changeling Kingdom tending to all of his castle chores, he felt more than a little miffed that she gave him so many tasks through lists, and barely said much towards him herself.

But alas, Spike tried to keep his cool in regards to his Guardian’s feelings on the matter. He knew that Twilight was likely shocked about his orientation, and maybe even a little offended that he didn’t tell her personally. He also understood that due to his young appearance, which was a result of dragons’ notoriously longer lifespans in comparison to ponies, it may have been difficult for her to recognize him as a legal adult. However, just as he rounded the corner towards the Map Room, he paused when he overheard some voices through the thick doors.

He knew he could’ve just walked in to tell Twilight their dinner was ready, but he decided to overhear the discussion just in case. After his and Pharynx’s encounter with Rainbow Dash as a result of them entering an unlocked room unchecked, he didn’t want to follow the same mistake they did. He leaned his head in against the door while listening in, and quickly recognized who were inside conversing privately: Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash themself.

“T-Twi, I… I just…” Rainbow’s voice sounded noticeably strained, as if they were crying very recently prior to Spike’s eavesdropping. However, the drake could still tell they sounded more than relieved when they spoke following that brief pause. “... I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am to have a friend like you~”

“Oh, Rainbow… Come here!” Twilight’s voice sounded notably distressed as well, and Spike didn’t need to be a detective to know the two were probably hugging following that statement. After a few seconds, a couple sniffles could be heard before Twilight added sincerely, “Rainbow Dash, there’s absolutely nothing that would make me change how I feel about you. You’re one of my closest friends, for Celestia sake! And after all you’ve done for me, and all we’ve accomplished together, there’s no way I would ever dismiss you for who you are on the inside.”

Spike’s eyes widened immensely, and he froze for a moment as he realized Rainbow most likely came out to their friend regarding their gender. Even though he was undeniably proud of the pegasus, as well as Twilight herself for giving such a kind reaction, the drake felt like a massive weight was dropped into his stomach to make him grow unnerved. But despite the small pout he felt beginning to grow across his pursed lips, he maintained his focus as he kept listening in.

“Twi, you… you have no idea how freaked out I was before I came in here. I mean, I know it’s stupid to assume you wouldn’t be cool with it and all, but still I… I dunno… I’m just really happy you’re helping me out with this.”

“Hey, I’m from Canterlot, remember? It’s not like I was raised ignorantly on those kinds of things! If you want to be a stallion, I’ll be by your side every step of the way. And I’ll be sure to be as respectful as I possibly can if you choose to undergo that transition.”

“Thanks… I-I really do appreciate hearing that. And… And honestly, I… I kinda was considering it. I mean, after reading through the notes Pharynx gave me, it seemed pretty legit, you know?”

“Well, I promise you I’ll help in any way I possibly can. And I gotta say, the treatments he listed do seem promising. I might want to do some additional research before you confirm anything, though. But until then, feel free to let me know if there’s any, ummm… preferences you have regarding how you want to be addressed.”

“Y-Yeah, uhhh… I’m still kinda figuring that out myself? But seriously though, I’ll be sure to let you know what works for me.”

By all intents and purposes, Spike should’ve been elated for both of them while he eavesdropped on their private discussion. But with every positive and affirming statement he heard Twilight make towards their friend, Spike’s expression grew more peeved while was leaned against the door. He didn’t want to compare his own coming out moment to Rainbow’s (especially since theirs was more private and respectful towards the Princess), but the vast difference in Twilight’s response between both of them was beyond jarring. But before he could grow a nasty scowl from the jealousy and betrayal he felt from his Guardian, he jolted back from the door when he heard the unmistakable sounds of their hoofsteps.

Fortunately for the drake, he was able to go back to the corner of the hallway just as the doors opened up. He began to walk back towards the Map Room, acting as if he wasn’t listening in on the two for the past couple of minutes. While he kept a forced smile on his face, Spike could see that both of the happy-looking mares had some obvious redness in their eyes. Rainbow Dash looked completely at peace while walking beside their friend, and kept their head rested against her shoulder while the Princess had a wing wrapped around their back. Despite how miffed he may have felt towards his Guardian, his smile was still rather genuine given Rainbow’s stellar breakthrough.

“Hey, guys!” he chirped in a positive-sounding voice, keeping himself casual as he asked with a shrug, “So… I take it that something important happened?”

Both of them tried not to giggle from their overwhelming emotions while looking away from the drake. Rainbow Dash was the first to respond to Spike after huffing in solace, “W-Well, ummm… I… I kinda told her…”

Spike’s expression grew more touched, and his smile widened upon hearing how relieved their voice sounded with that confession. The drake was legitimately happy for his friend, and he quickly rushed in to give Dash a much-deserved hug. “Ohhhh, Dash!~ I’m so proud of you, dude!”

Twilight had to cover her mouth as she tried not to let out a surprised giggle from Spike calling them “Dude.” Fortunately, Rainbow looked rather happy with the title as they hugged Spike back just as tightly. “Hehehe… Th-Thanks,” they said as they tried not to get too choked-up again. Regardless of how hard they tried, Rainbow still ended up having a couple tears of joy streaming down their cheeks by the time they and Spike pulled away from their hug. However, Dash didn’t seem to mind that reaction too badly as they wiped their cheeks with the back of their hoof. “Honestly, I… I couldn’t imagine telling her so easily if it wasn’t for you.”

Spike tried not to cry while smiling back at her, and gave her another compassionate hug. “Hey, it’s alright, Dash,” he said sincerely through his hoarser tone of voice. “I’m just happy you know you have us for support.”

After giving one last squeeze to the drake, Rainbow kissed the top of his head enthusiastically. Despite how much that surprised both of their friends, Dash didn’t seem to care as they said, “Believe me, Spike… I couldn’t be happier about that too.”

Rainbow needed another moment to collect their breath, and let out a hearty “Whoo!” as they sighed sharply and wiped their brow. “Alright then!” they said with a shake of their head. “I don’t know about you guys, buuuuuut I think I need to do some flying to help bring myself down a bit. I mean, like... emotionally. Not literally.”

Spike and Twilight both giggled from that clarification, and Twilight was the first to respond to their friend. “Well, I can’t say I blame you for feeling that way. Just know that we’ll always be around if you need to talk some more.”

“Yeah!” added Spike with an equally warm smile on his face. “And don’t worry,” he said with an insistent raise of his claw, “Twi and I won’t say anything about it to the others, alright? Your personal life is safe with us.”

“Pbbt! I already knew that!” they said with a strong roll of their eyes after scoffing audibly. But regardless of that response, Rainbow still kept a gracious smile as they added, “But still though, I really do appreciate knowing that. You guys are awesome~”

After hugging both of them one last time, Rainbow Dash made their leave without much else to say. And due to how overwhelming that moment was for both of them, neither Twilight or Spike felt the need to say much more during Dash’s exit.

Unfortunately, as soon as Dash disappeared from sight and left the castle, the mood quickly changed the instant Spike looked back towards the Princess. Twilight’s brows raised worriedly when she finally took notice of Spike, and the upset-looking scowl he had on his face while his arms were crossed over his chest.

“Uhhhh… Spike, is something wrong?” she asked with a look of concern growing on her face.

“Ohhhh, I don’t know,” he replied in a surprisingly condescending tone of voice. Spike narrowed her eyes on her as he tilted his head and asked, “Could it be because you accepted Rainbow the instant he came out to you, but you still haven’t taken the time to talk to ME?”

Twilight’s eyes shot wide open, and she tried not to gasp in realization while her hooves involuntarily tried to move back from the drake. She tried to open her mouth to give a statement, but all that could come out was a weak and shaky “Oh” after a brief bout of awkward silence. Meanwhile, Spike was looking increasingly pissed as he uncrossed his arms and walked in closer towards his Guardian.

“You know!” he began sharply while raising up a claw to point at Twilight’s regretful expression. “I’ve tried reeeeaaalllly hard not to say anything about you being so distant with me! Because at the end of the day, I know that I should’ve told you about me and Pharynx personally. I get that, alright?! But it’s been a few weeks since that party, and you’ve barely said anything to me at all since I came back from visiting him! Even after I was gone for a WEEK, you still haven’t gotten over the fact that I’m gay?! Meanwhile, you take Rainbow’s news like a champ almost INSTANTLY?!?”

Twilight tried to put her hooves up, mostly to keep her assistant and adopted son from getting too angry towards her. Even though she’s seen him upset at her before, the mood he was in now was alarmingly different from previous instances; and given how limited her knowledge still was in regards to dragon biology (even with Smolder and Princess Ember’s inputs), she didn’t want to risk his blowup triggering anything too close to his Dragon Greed incident. Unfortunately, Twilight wasn’t able to speak up while the drake continued ranting in growing anger.

“I mean… Pardon my Prench here, but what the BUCK, Twilight!?! I mean, I’m glad you’re so accepting of Rainbow! I really am, and I’m proud of you for not treating him like crap over it. But did you NOT think that I should’ve deserved some assurances like that?! Even though I know the circumstances are WAY different between Dash and me, that doesn’t mean you can just ignore me when I’m cleaning this bucking castle for you, AND making you dinner!!”

“A-Alright, alright!!” she blurted as both of her hooves shot up to place some distance between her and the pissed-off dragon. While she knew there were a lot of differences between Spike’s coming-out to her in comparison to Rainbow’s (not to mention, the fact that the Princess secretly knew about her friend’s gender dysphoria from that surveillance feed, which gave her enough time to fully process it), she knew that wasn’t a valid excuse after Spike addressed it himself. Not to mention, the Princess was well aware that despite how shocking Spike’s reveal may have been, she admittedly hadn’t been as close to her child as she used to be. And right now, she had to reprimand any tension between them to keep from hurting Spike any more than she already had.

“Spike, I… I wasn’t trying to ignore you, I swear!” she said as genuinely as she could, even though she could tell it didn’t mean much when the dragon’s glare remained unchanged. “I mean… Okay, yeah. I… I’ll admit I tried to keep to myself more than I should have. And… And I know I can’t give a good excuse for acting like that. B-But I never meant to make you feel that way, and I… I’m so sorry--”

“Oh, ARE YOU?!” Spike’s interruption made Twilight jolt on surprise, and she was unable to regain her apology before the dragon kept ranting. “Because you already said more words to me in that ‘apology’ than you have in the past WEEK! I swear, it almost felt like you were away from the castle completely! Do you have ANY idea how much that hurts?! DO YOU?!?”

By that point in his tirade, Spike’s lips were beginning to tremble as his pout weakened. Twilight put a hoof over her mouth when she saw tears beginning to bead at the corners of his eyes, and how badly the drake was struggling not to cry in anger. “Seriously, what do I have to do to get your bucking attention?! Were you SO offended that I told Rarity before you that you had to act like I didn’t matter anymore?! Did you really think I wouldn’t be upset when you avoid talking to me for weeks on end, but fully support Rainbow the instant he tells you about himself?! Because if you really think that wouldn’t hurt me, then… then look for yourself...”

Spike sniffled as strongly as he could to keep the floodgates from breaking, but Twilight could see that he was just at the brink of tearing up in exasperation. Fortunately, the dragon gave just enough of a pause to give her the chance to speak up. Even though she was justifiably guilty for how badly she hurt him, she couldn’t deny that she had some questions to ask Spike as well. But before any of that could be said, Twilight put down her hoof before saying in as sincere of a tone as she could, “Spike, you… you know that I would never hurt you intentionally. And I… I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am for doing that to you. You… You’re one of the most important friends in my life, and I don’t want you to think for a second that you’re anything less than that to me…”

Unlike her first attempt at giving an apology, Spike’s expression seemed to change a little upon hearing her honesty. Unfortunately, that change was shown in his upset-looking pout intensifying even more. Twilight wanted to just lunge in and give him a badly-needed hug, but she knew that it wouldn’t instantly change how poorly she treated the drake. Not to mention, given the reason Spike was so upset towards her, the Princess felt that it would’ve been a better option to try and talk with him for a change.

“B-But I…” Twilight tried not to cringe when she added that conjunction, and took a quick breath before saying, “I really want to know something, Spike. And I… I’m really sorry for not asking this sooner, but… I have to know, why did you tell Rarity personally and not me?”

Despite his earlier complaints, that question made Spike sigh painfully with a strong roll of his eyes. “Oh Sweet Celestia, seriously?” he groaned while trying not to stare at his Guardian flatly. Even though he wasn’t as close to crying as he was earlier, it was obvious he wasn’t wanting that to be her first question. But alas, the drake didn’t try to object as he huffed under his breath and said, “What do you want me to say, Twi? That I felt like Rarity deserved to know after all the time I spent fawning over her? That when it came to the thought of telling you personally, I got so overwhelmed and anxious that I could barely get out of bed?! I mean, I know I should’ve done it anyway, and I really am sorry for not doing that. But you have NO idea how scared I was when it came to telling you about me and Pharynx!”

“But why?!” she asked as her tone of voice grew firmer. “Spike, what would make you feel scared about coming out to me?! I mean, I’d probably be shocked, I’m not gonna lie, but I… I would’ve figured that I was important enough to warrant that kind of talk!”

“I know that, Twi!” he said with a strong huff before closing his eyes, and pausing briefly enough to wipe his face with a forearm. “And believe me, I really wish I had the courage to do that! But… But ever since I was a baby, you and everyone else I knew always went on and on about how I’m gonna be a ‘lady-killer’ growing up! O-Or how often I’m staring at mares and stuff, and how that automatically meant I was straight! And don’t get me wrong, I totally get why you felt that way about me. I mean, that’s just how society is sometimes. But I just… I just felt like you were expecting me to be straight! And at the end, it… it just made me feel like…”

Spike was having difficulty speaking near the end of that explanation, and had to pause again while wincing uncomfortably. Twilight waited a moment for him to finish his remark, but bit her lip worriedly as the seconds passed. After a while, the Princess felt compelled to ask, “It… it made you feel like what, Spike?”

The dragon grew a shameful-looking expression on his face, and he had to lower his head in guilt before he confessed meekly, “I… I felt like I was letting you down…”

Twilight almost felt like her heart broke upon hearing him admit something that honest, and she couldn’t let back her emotions anymore. The Princess instantly went in to pull Spike into her forelegs, and sat down on the crystal floors while hugging him tightly. “Oh, Spike!” she said reassuredly. “Spike, you would’ve never let me down from telling me that personally! I… I know I said some presumptory things sometimes, but that didn’t mean I was wanting anything specific from you! Spike, if you want to be with Pharynx, it’s none of my business whatsoever to judge! No matter who you love, or who you want to be, I’ll always support you one hundred percent! I… I swear on my crown I will never be upset with you about something like that!”

As he was being hugged tightly by the Princess, Spike’s brows raised in surprise upon hearing that last part. Even though he was grateful to hear her say something so reassuring, the dragon wouldn’t have expected Twilight to place her royal title as a wager for such a promise. But alas, that statement was more than enough to make him close his eyes tightly, and press his head against her chest with a trembling smile. The moment she felt the dragon start to hug her back, Twilight grew a touched-looking smile of her own while planting the bottom her her chin atop Spike’s head.

“Oh, Spike… Spike, I never meant to make you feel like I was avoiding you. I mean… I know that I was, but… that was mostly so I could process everything and keep myself from saying anything that would offend you or Pharynx. But… But I know now that there’s a big difference between keeping myself reserved, and just ignoring someone who didn’t deserve it. And I want you to know, right here and now, that I am so sorry for ever making you feel like you were being ignored. It wasn’t the right way to respond to you coming out, and I wish I could take that back so we had a conversation like this sooner. Because no matter what, I never want you to think you can’t walk with me about these things. I’ve loved you ever since you were hatched, Spike; and I can promise you that I always will love you no matter what.”

A couple stray tears finally escaped the dragon’s eyes as they trailed down his cheeks. Luckily, Spike also had a grateful (albeit very shaky) smile on his face as he said with a weak and forgiving creak, “Th… Thank you, Twi…”

A long, heartfelt moment of silence passed as the Princess and her assistant held each other tightly in the middle of the empty hallway. While Spike clung to her chest and struggled not to sob into her chest fluff, Twilight had to clench her eyes to keep from doing the same above his scaled head. Fortunately for both of them, their shared embrace and devotion to one another was all that was needed as the seconds passed by. By the time they were finally content enough to pull away from their hug, both of them had to sniffle and wipe their eyes before the other could see how much they were tearing up.

“Whoo~” Twilight tried to lighten the mood with that weakly-exclaimed huff, which was just enough to make the drake giggle lightly. The Princess had to take a quick breath to quell ner nerves before she said, “W-Well, I… I really hope dinner isn’t cold yet. Because… Because I really want to have a good dinner with you so we can talk some more.”

Spike nodded with a grateful smile beneath his blush, and he looked up at her to say in a thankful tone, “Twilight… you have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.”

With that, Spike hopped up on top of Twilight’s back so they could head to the dining room. Twilight knew that his back-riding wasn’t necessary anymore, but she let him have that moment after everything else that transpired. As she began to walk, she heard Spike say with a lighter-hearted scoff, “Although I gotta say, Twi. Are you really thinking I’m gonna leave our dinner cold? I mean, I AM a dragon, after all! I can literally reheat it in a millisecond!”

“Yeah, burnt to a crisp, maybe,” she retorted cheekily.

As soon as she heard Spike give an annoyed growl, Twilight tried her hardest not to giggle too audibly. Of course, Spike heard enough to cross his arms while seated on top of her. “Okay, how many time do I have to point out that gravy takes way longer to reheat than other foods? It wasn’t my fault you left that cauliflower on your plate when handing it to me!”

“Spike, the gravy was burnt too!”

“No it wasn’t! That was just the skin!”

“Oh, really now? So in your eyes, gravy skin is supposed to be pitch-black and charred to the plate?~”

“Hey, at least I didn’t burn popcorn in Celestia’s castle!”

“Spike, I was SIX when that happened!”

“Yeah, and that smell didn’t go away until you were eight!”

The sounds of their laughter and bickering could be heard echoing across the halls as Twilight and Spike made their way to the kitchen. Even though there weren’t any surveillance spells on them due to being in a private residence indoors, the two weren’t completely alone during that heart-to-heart conversation. Just as the Princess and assistant rounded a corner, neither of them seemed to notice Starlight Glimmer standing nearby under a convenient shadow. The mare wasn’t intending to eavesdrop on the two, but it didn’t seem like she regretted it as she sniffled and wiped her eyes with a tissue. “Oh, jeez,” she muttered with a shake of her head, and a weakly-trembling smile on her face. ‘Even when I’m not in that stupid room, I end up listening in on things I really shouldn’t.”