It was over.

Spike's shoulders slumped a little. Slowly, wearily, he went down to one knee and reached up to his helmet. Carefully he cracked the turret open and let Bright Eyes jump into his hand, then gently lowered him to the ground. Bright eyes looked back up at him. "Are you okay, Spike?"

Spike nodded. "JUST... TIRED," he said. His armor began to sparkle oddly, to gleam till Bright Eyes couldn't look.

He never even noticed the tiny sparkle on his own flank.

From the sidelines, at the edge of the devastation , ponies had gathered. They all saw it. Even as the few pegasi still airborne gathered from every corner, their monstrous champion knelt in the ruins and began to shine, brighter and brighter, till he finally disappeared in a cloud of sparkling light.

When the winged guards arrived, all they found was a young crystal unicorn colt with a brand new cutie mark, and a badly roughed-up baby dragon lying next to him asleep.

Nyx stood at the top of the staircase. Two guards flanked her, leaning idly on the guardrail, their weapons lying at their side. "He's taking longer this time," one noted idly. "What does this make, seven?"

"Eight," the other one said. "Whatcha gonna try this time, kid?"

"The Miniature Lightning," Nyx said. "I need more practice with that one."

Blackie once again climbed up the last few steps. "This time, little pony," he wheezed, "I SHOW NO MERCY--"

Nyx lowered her horn and fired off the Miniature Lightning spell. A lightning bolt no larger than a twig leapt from her horn and struck the diamond dog leader. Blackie's fur frizzed, and with a loud "YAIK" he fell backwards down the stairs.

WHUMPthudYIPEbangTHUDCLUNKYowlYIPCRASHWHAPTHUDbangBANGthumpthumpityBANG

Fresh canine groans of pain echoed from below.

Nyx leaned out over the stairwell. "Hey Diamond Dog Guy?"

"What, evil little pony?" came the faint reply.

"You had enough, or are ya thirsty for more?"

There was a long pause. "I think we just lie down here for a while..."

Blackie's second in command, a pug-nosed brindle, spoke up. "You want we try again?"

"Shut up. I thinking."

"....thinking what?"

"I thinking dragon bosses can kiss my hairy--"

"Hey now!" Nyx scowled down the stairwell, lower lip jutting out. "There are foals present, you know."

"....Sorry...."

Garble crashed to the ground. Groaning and aching, he sat up. He almost immediately realized that he was his original size again. Cursing in dragon, he tried to rub his head.

One of his other heads was in the way. "Agh, get your finger out of my ear!"

He yelped. "Whaaa? Why are you still there? The fire opals wore off, didn't they?"

"The heck should we know?" his other head snapped. "Retard!"

"Hey, shut it, you!"

"Make us," mocked the head on his other shoulder. "Wuss."

"Got beat by a bunch of pansy ponies-- ya pansy--"

"Shut it you two or I'll..." Garble threatened.

"Oh look, another one!"

Garble looked up and screamed like a filly. Two alicorns (and you'd have to be bucking stupid not to know who they were. Even DIAMOND DOGS knew about Celestia and Luna) were standing over him. One was wielding a mace the size of an oak tree. The other had an equally large warhammer floating beside her.

"Strewth," the dark one exclaimed. "But how shalt we score this one?"

"Same as all the others, Luna," Celestia said, hefting her mace. "One point to the winner."

"But he hath three heads!"

"Well-- true enough." Celestia hmmed. "Very well, new game. Tell me, sister-- have you had a chance since your return to play 'whack a mole?' "

All three heads screamed.

Shining Armor's soldiers, battered, bruised, and bloody, but standing taller than they ever had, emerged. They marched out into the wreckage strewn battlefield that the two dragons had trampled out for themselves. Aerial recon reports were trickling in from the pegasi; an estimated third of the buildings in the Crystal Empire had been flattened. An old Zebrican saying he'd once heard ran through his mind; "When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." He muttered. He shook his head.

Rock Steady was limping alongside him with a badly sprained ankle. He gave the prince commander a look. "True enough I suppose, Sir," the mountainous crystal pony said. "But if'n the elephants hadn't a fought, there wouldn't be no grass left." He paused. "Sir."

Shining Armor looked at him and chuckled. "Fair enough, lieutenant."

Rock Steady started to protest. "I'm just a Private, si---" he blinked as he realized what Shining Armor was saying. "Oh no. No thank you, Sir." Shining raised an eyebrow. "Sir, I ain't ready to lead or boss nopony," Rock Steady said. "One battle don't make no leader."

"Rock, you led three charges against a, to put it lightly, superior force, and brought back every pony who followed you alive," Shining said. "Even if you had to carry them on your back to do it."

Rock Steady looked uncomfortable. "D'you really think I'm up to bein' an officer, Sir?"

"As much as anypony," Shining said. "And Lieutenant? That nagging little bit of uncertainty? Treasure it. A wise pony is always just a tiny little bit uncertain of themselves." Rock Steady thought that over, and nodded. "Anyway, don't feel too singled out. You're not the only one getting a field promotion today.... First Lieutenant Diamond Bright is a Captain now. He earned his second bar today overseeing the S&S crews."

"The Builders and Busters??" Rock Steady said in surprise.

Shining shrugged. "He survived my niece. I figured he could handle anything those explosion-happy lunatics threw at him..." he cocked his head as a report filtered in. "Casualty Report?" he said. His eyes went wide. "Zero? Are you kidding me?" Another pause. Shining laughed. "Pass that word on, soldier, over and out."

"Did ah hear right, Sir?" Rock Steady said.

"You did. We got a ton of injuries, but so far zero fatalities--- soldier or civilian. The evac was air tight, it looks like." Shining's face wreathed in a grin and he clapped Rock Steady on the withers with a hoof. "Now that's cause for a celebration. Once cleanup's underway we gotta find ourselves a tavern."

"I know a good 'un," Rock Steady offered with a chuckle, limping painfully. "Assumin' them overgrown rock lizards didn't sit on it..."

"Okay, we gotta be careful about levitating these stones out," Twilight Sparkle was saying. "We do it wrong, we could trigger another cave in."

"Um, maybe, um, if we Crystal Ponies and Earth Ponies...." Amethyst said hesitantly. "Hee. Us Crystal Ponies. I like saying that-- Aheh. Maybe if we, um, reinforced the walls...?"

"That would be a start, yes-- does anypony here have experience with construction or earth moving or--" Twilight halted as a rumble came from the stones blocking the exit. Golden and indigo auras wrapped around the enormous rocks, and they were pulled out of the entryway like a cork from a bottle.

Everypony squinted at the sudden influx of daylight. Outlined in the glow of the setting sun were Celestia and Luna. They both looked alarmingly disheveled; their coats were rumpled and smudged with dirt, and Celestia's mane had spots that looked a great deal like burn marks. For some reason they had an enormous warhammer and spiked mace propped over their shoulders and almost festive grins on their faces.

"My my," Celestia said to her faithful student, "You have been busy today, haven't you Twilight?"

The moment the all-clear had been sounded, Princess Cadence had flown from her high lookout straight to the streets, her winged guard trailing behind her. She'd spotted Shining armor and swooped down on him, almost knocking him off his hooves, smothering him in grateful tears and kisses. He returned them with equal fervor, and neither one gave a tinker's damn who was watching.

Their approval rating went up fifteen percent in less than a minute.

"Woohoo, oh yeah!!" They looked up, startled. Roller Reel was overhead, dangling from the forelimbs of a Pegasus guard and filming everything. "Dude, what an awesome finish! Smooth Moves, Prince Shining, woo!"

Cadence started to say something scathing about respect for the crown but Shining cut her off by planting his lips over her own. Catcalls and whistles went up from the crowd; Shining gave them all an 'oh get lost' wave with his hoof and kept kissing his wife.

They had barely come back up for air when there was a shout raised. In the distance, Celestia and Luna could be seen flying in, an enormous cloud in tow. The ponies from the expedition to the tomb, all of them, were on board; the pegasi giving the cloud a push from behind. "We found it!" Twilight said the moment her hooves touched ground, holding the journal of Chancellor Level Head and the Earth Pony magic primer overhead as proof.

"Quick, move around so the sunset is behind her," Roller said. The guard complied; Roller put the scene in frame and filmed away.

"Oh yeah, that's a keeper."

"We're sorry we took so long to respond," Celestia said. "It was only that last dragon who arrived who had the sense to NOT try spewing fire at my sister and I the moment he saw us. We managed to get him to talk--"

"--between bouts of blubbering like a little foal--" Luna interjected dryly.

"--And we promptly made haste here. The next train from Canterlot will be bearing workponies, equipment, and supplies to help rebuilding...." A cheer went up; she smiled beatifically. She looked out past the crowd. Her expression changed to one of surprise. She was looking at the remains of a small storefront; the owners had returned and were examining the damage. The family of crystal ponies had begun running their hooves over the shattered building; as she watched the building slowly reassembled itself, crystalline blocks knitting themselves together, walls rising up, shattered windows mending... "...Though I'm not.. sure... if you'll still need it by the time it arrives," she finished, eyebrows arching. Even as she spoke they began adding a second floor.

"Oh my word, how marvelous!" Rarity exclaimed, eyeing the work in progress. It had a very novel architecture-- both more crystalline, yet subtly more flowing and organic than the original, with a deeper color and luster. "If this is any example then the Empire is going to be even more dazzling than before! Oh, dears," she called out to the ponies working on the storefront, "May I suggest adding a touch of Lapis Lazuli to the sides? Yes, just like that..."

The library, by a miracle, had been left standing. Twilight was down in the saferoom with Precious Lore, setting up the transfer of the tomes and scrolls from the tomb to the library for safekeeping-- and immediate transcription, printing and publishing. "I think we've all had enough of this 'lost forgotten lore' business THIS time around," Cadence had said matter-of-factly.

Precious Lore looked over the scrolls and books and tablets that Twilight and the archaeologists had brought back already. "We're going to have to expand this chamber," she said, looking around. Her eyes watered a bit. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. Even if there wasn't a single syllable of magical knowledge in all this, it still.... thank you."

Twilight Sparkle smiled. "It was my pleasure, Mrs. Lore," she said. "I'm afraid I can't linger, I have things to oversee back at the palace. If you'll excuse me--" she turned to go.

Precious Lore cleared her throat. Twilight looked back. "Um, yes?"

Lore cocked an eyebrow. "You are leaving that book behind aren't you?"

"Um, what book?"

"That book sticking out of your saddlebag?" Lore said. Twilight looked at her saddlebag; sticking out of the top was the Earth Pony Magic Primer.

"Oh, this," Twilight laughed awkwardly. "Well, um... there isn't any possibility I could borrow...?" she asked weakly.

Precious Lore just gave her a look.

"But... book!" Twilight pleaded. Precious Lore's expression didn't change. Twilight's eyes got big and dewy and her lower lip pooched out. She whined faintly.

Precious Lore burst into laughter. "Oh come on, you silly thing, we'll run you off a copy! Let's go see if this fancy new magical library system has a way to transcribe books..."

In fifteen minutes, they'd run off three new copies of the primer for Twilight. (one for personal use, one for the Golden Oaks library, and one just in case.)

In an hour and a half, they'd run off a hundred more, and were picking out addresses to mail them...

Thanks to certain ponies pulling strings, Spike had a large, spacious room all to himself at the hospital. They'd bandaged him up,  put salves on his burns and on his poor hurting eyes, given him some painkillers, fed him about a ton of gems and put him right to bed. He'd slept for a bit, but he wasn't really tired. It was starting to get a little dull actually.

"Hey kid, you got visitors," the guard at the door said.

Spike brightened up immediately. "Send em in!" There was a commotion in the doorway and the room filled with familiar voices. There was a concerted gasp as his friends laid eyes on him. "Oh, hey. It's not as bad as it looks, really--"

He was cut off as ponies gathered at either side of his hospital bed, clamoring in sympathy. He felt someone hug him. "Oh, Spike, your poor eyes..." Twilight said in his ear, heartbroken. He felt someone jump on the bed and run up it to hug him as well. "I'm so glad you're okay big brother," Nyx said. "-- you'll be okay, the doctors'll fix your eyes up--"

"Hey hey hey, it's not that bad," Spike said, picking at the bandages over his eyes. "My eyes are okay. Well... not okay, but they're not ruined or anything. The docs just want me to keep from straining my eyes while they heal up, that's all."

A pair of forelimbs wrapped around his neck from the other side of the bed and a soft cheek pressed against his. "Oh, my poor brave little Spikey Wikey!" Rarity nuzzled him and began pressing little kisses all over his cheek.

"Oh, blech, gag me," Nyx said. "Big brother mushy face cooties." She leapt off the bed.

"Whoa," Spike said. "Heheh. I sure hope this is Rarity."

Rarity pulled her head back. "And what do you mean by that?"

Spike grinned. "Well if it was Big Macintosh, things would be kind of awkward later, dontcha think?" The tension broke as everyone in the room laughed.

There was a cheeping noise. "Oh!" Fluttershy said. "I've been keeping PeeWee safe with me for you, Spike. He hid in my mane through the whole thing..." the pegasus giggled.

"Aw, thanks, Fluttershy," Spike said. "Hey, PeeWee!" There was a fluttering sound and something small, feathery and warm settled on his head. "Haha. I missed you too little guy." Spike reached up to pet the baby phoenix. The bird cheeped and rubbed his beak on Spike's claws... then began tugging at the bandages over his eyes.

"Hey, stop-- wait, what--" Spike tried to nudge PeeWee away but the bird was insistent.

"Spike, wait!" Twilight said suddenly. "Let him be."

Puzzled, Spike obeyed. The little bird finished tugging the bandages loose, then laid his feathered cheek on Spike's brow. Something wet trickled down Spike's forehead and under the bandages, into his left eye. PeeWee turned his head, and another drop trickled into his right...

Spike blinked, then blinked again. His eyes went wide and he pulled the bandages completely away. "Hokey Smokes! Everything's clear again!"

Twilight laughed joyfully and clapped her hooves. "Phoenix tears," she said. "Legendary for curing poisons, and healing wounds."

The little bird hopped down to Spike's lap, cheeping loudly and obviously proud of himself. Spike gave him a cuddle. "Aw, thanks, little guy. You're the best."

Twilight winced and prodded tenderly at the swollen burns around his eyes. They were lessened, but they were still there. "I guess the healing is kind of limited," she said. "After all he's just a baby phoenix."

"Eh." Spike shrugged. "Can't have everything." He turned and yipped as he found himself nose to nose with Bright Eyes. "Dude, I gotta hang a bell on you."

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Bright Eyes said.

Spike shrugged and winced as his aching muscles objected. "Well, not BETTER better--- but better," Spike said. "Good to see you're okay, partner. Hey, what's that?" He pointed to Bright Eyes' flank.

"My cutie mark!" Bright Eyes turned so Spike could see it better. It was a stylized eye. "A scout's eye," Bright Eyes said. "The Imperial pegasus scouts wear one as a badge.  Cool, huh?"

"Yeah, it suits ya." Spike held out a thumbs up.

It was then he noticed the sound of a whirring camera. He turned and saw Roller standing in the doorway, filming. "Big reunion in the hospital room, nice closure..."

"Roller--!" Twilight griped.

"Sakes, youngun, don't you EVER put that camera down?" Applejack said.

"No," Roller said bluntly.

"Your majesties--" the guard at the door said to somepony. A moment later Shining Armor, Cadence, Luna and Celestia came striding in.  

"Goodness, it's a good thing this is a private room. It would get quite crowded otherwise. Hello my little ponies," Celestia said. "I hope we're not interrupting... but there are a few things we wanted to discuss with Spike." She looked down at Bright Eyes. "And his little friend, of course," she said kindly.

"Oooh, lemme switch reels," Roller said, fumbling with his camera to pop in another cartridge. "Whoa, only three left..."

The royals all shared a look. "I think that issue can wait a moment, Tia," Luna said.

"Right. First things first," Celestia said. She lit up her horn. "If I could check you over, Spike?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Spike said. Celestia waved her horn over him, "hmm" ing at odd intervals. She sighed and stepped back. "Much as I expected."

"Am I okay?" Spike asked nervously.

"Oh, you are quite fine, Spike," she said. "A bit battered around the corners but fine." Her eyes crinkled. "However, I should note that you won't be able to... ah... have a growth spurt like that again for quite a while."

"What? Why not?" Spike wasn't upset, but he was curious.

"Well, in simplest terms, Spike... your larger form took quite a beating," she said. "That wouldn't matter so much if you were a few years older, but at this stage growing so big and then taking such a brutal pounding... it's going to take time for your 'inner dragon' to recover. At least a year. Maybe longer."

Spike sighed. "Well, it wasn't like I was planning on turning into a giant Spikeasaurus again any time soon." he put his chin in his hand. "Still kind of a bummer."

"There are... some other issues," Shining Armor said. "Soldier, close the door." The Guard complied, pulling the door shut from the outside.

Princess Cadence sighed. "What we're about to tell you next is a matter of national security, for both the Crystal Empire and for Canterlot," she said. "So what gets said here must not leave this room."

Luna looked at Roller Reel and cocked an eyebrow. "That means 'turn off the camera,' " she said, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a half grin.

Roller said "Eep" and complied.

"When Twilight-- well, when we all-- cast that spell on Spike and Bright Eyes, the--"

"The Armor of the Crystal Champion," Twilight said.

"Yes.... it seems there was a-- side effect."

"You see," Shining Armor said, "that spell was designed to arm and armor the bravest and most loyal warriors of the Crystal Empire. Those it was cast on would be able to summon crystal armor and weapons from the Heart at any time, to defend the Empire. The armor would empower the ponies wearing it with energy from the Heart, making them stronger, tougher, faster."

"Yeah... I felt that," Spike said. Bright Eyes nodded as well.

"Well, there's a catch or two," Shining Armor said. "For one thing, there's a limited range--- the soldier can only summon the armor when they're within a certain number of miles of the Heart."

"Lemme guess--- about the range of the borders of the Crystal Empire," Spike said drolly. "Give or take a few leagues."

"Bingo. Also.." Shining Armor hesitated. ".. the heart can be used to summon you."

"Come again?" Spike said.

"It wasn't just a crystal armor spell, Spike," Cadence said. " It was a magical bonding. The spell was meant to only be used by the ruler, in a ceremony where the Champions were sworn in for life as protectors of the Realm. But to scale it up for you, it had to be cast on you by the whole city at once. You and Bright Eyes--- or rather, 'Giant Spike' and his unicorn pony partner--- were basically "sworn in" by the entire population of the Crystal City as lifelong defenders of the Empire. The spell was incredibly complex and is already fading from ponies' memories, thankfully. But the pact is sealed. The Hearts now have the power summon you to them, instantly. From anywhere."

Spike's eyes went round. "You mean... no matter where we are, if the Crystal Empire needs us, you can just---" he wiggled his claws. "And we'll--" he made a poofing noise, pantomiming a magic explosion on one side of the bed, then tracing a line through the air to the other side where he pantomimed another--- "And bangola, we're here?"

"Essentially," Shining Armor said. "Once you're here, they can reverse it, sending you right back to where you were when you were summoned. But the Hearts are tied to the ponies of the Empire. If the Crystal Empire is ever in danger, their fear and need could trigger the heart to summon you, automatically. And the spell would demand that you stay here till the danger has passed--- or is defeated."

"Preferably by a giant dragon in crystal armor and his heroic pony partner," Cadence muttered.

There was a long, long pause. "So what you're saying," Spike said slowly, "Is that he and I," he jerked a thumb at Bright Eyes and himself,  "have been magically drafted as lifelong monster battling defenders of the Crystal Empire."

The silence was stunning. Rainbow Dash was the one to speak first. "That... is so... awesome," she said, her eyes round.

"You better believe it!" Spike said gleefully. He looked at Bright Eyes, who looked just as gleeful. Spike held out his fist. "Dude, gimme a brohoof!"

"Aw yeah!"  Bright Eyes' hoof shot out, meeting Spike's knuckles.

"Go Team Crystal Champion!"  They said in unison.

"They seem to be taking the news well," Celestia said with wry amusement. Luna giggled behind her hoof.

"Aw maaan," Roller whined. "I can't believe you made me shut off the camera!" he held out his hooves. "That moment was PERFECT!"

"Yeah, about that..." Shining said. "We're going to have to confiscate all your film."

"What?!?" Roller snatched up his camera and his saddlebags, clutching them to himself. He glared at Shining Armor, his eyes round as saucers. "Never!!"

"Come on, son, it's got to be done," Shining Armor frowned, beckoning with his hoof for Roller to hand over the goods.

Roller bared his teeth and snarled at him. "Keep back or I'll BITE you! RAR!" Shining actually pulled his hoof back in surprise.

"Hey!"

"Roller! Shining!" Cadence said. The stallion and the colt stopped. Half the ponies in the room had to smother giggles;  Bright Eyes and Spike didn't bother with the smothering. Cadence continued calmly. "Okay, Roller. We don't need to confiscate your film. But you do understand, when you put together your movie--"

"Documentary."

"When you put together your documentary, we're going to have to edit it." Roller scowled but he listened. "Just to remove any reference to who Spike and Bright Eyes are. For their own safety. You do understand, don't you?" Cadence smiled winningly. "I promise you we won't cut any more than that. And what we do cut we'll store someplace safe-- at least for a few years, till it's safe. Okay?"

Roller groaned unhappily, but relented. "Okay. But I want some kind of guarantee, here," he said.

"Gotcha covered," Pinkie Pie said. Everyone yelped as she popped up right in the middle of the room. "Repeat after me, Cadence--"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my Eye. I Pinkie Promise to keep Roller Reel's film stuff safe," Cadence said, mimicking the motions. Roller Reel stared at them like they were both nuts.

Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder. "Trust me, Roller, that oath is more binding than a cast iron contract," she reassured him, chuckling.

"For safety's sake," Cadence said, "we have suggested that Bright Eyes move back to Ponyville so as to be close to Spike. We... don't really know how the bonding will react if they're separated." She looked apologetic. "We've spoken with his parents, explained the situation to them. They'll receive a royal stipend for their trouble..

"And I'm guessing you want Bright Eyes to be tutored in magic, for when the Empire needs him," Twilight said.

"He's not going to find many unicorn tutors here," Cadence agreed. She looked at Twilight pointedly.

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes, I think I can manage to squeeze in a tutoring here and there," she said. "Yes, I'm volunteering."

"In addition one of the Crystal Hearts will be moved to Canterlot, to make sure that Spike and Bright Eyes have the greatest range where they can summon the crystal armor... just in case. After all, Equestria may have need of the Crystal Champion someday as well.  It will also give us instantaneous communication between the two kingdoms, which is an added bonus."

Roller looked awkward. "Um." he said. "Did his folks say anything about me?"

Cadence looked puzzled. "I don't understand?"

Roller shrugged. "I'm Bright Eyes' cousin," he said. "I sorta moved in with 'em after my parents threw me out. Um. After I 'flunked out applying for the Guard,' as my Dad put it." He glanced at Shining Armor, who winced in recollection.

"Ouch," Shining Armor muttered to his wife.

"If they're moving to Ponyville, I'm not sure whether they want me to go with 'em or what," Roller said. "Not-- you know, angling for anything here," he protested. "I just wanna know the lay of the land so I know what I need to do next."

"I'm sure Mom and Dad will let you come too, Roller," Bright Eyes said sympathetically.

Twilight's mouth quirked up in a smile. "Well, it occurs to me that Spike's... condition... is going to involve a lot of testing and experiments," she said. There was a groan from Spike, but she ignored him. "And it occurs to me that I could use somepony to document his progress on film.." she paused, tapping her chin and smiling. "Come to think of it, I could use somepony like that to document my other experiments too-- and the Golden Oaks Library will need a pony to handle the new media department."

"We have a media department?" Spike asked.

"We'll get a media department," Twilight said. "Or we will once the new system from the Crystal Empire library starts getting adopted--"

"Hey, if you're bringing him back to Ponyville, can I borrow him once in a while to film my stunt flying? Visual reviews are important for improving performance," Rainbow Dash said seriously.

"Ooo, and you could make a bundle filming birthday parties!" Pinkie said, bouncing.

"A regular government contract and a market for a little private work on the side," Shining muttered to his sister, amused. "a nice little motivator to keep the secret. Very nice."

"And a legitimate offer to boot," she replied.

Celestia chuckled. "Welcome to the staff," she said to Roller. "I'll expand your stipend to cover hiring an assistant, Twilight."

Roller had a dazed look on his face. "I'm gonna need a bigger camera bag," he said, grinning weakly.(1)

"Now that we have those complicated little details addressed," Celestia said, "perhaps we should leave so that Spike can get some rest." She opened the door so that ponies could start filing out. After a moment she lowered her head and looked under the hospital bed. "Ah, that means you too, Nyx, dear."

"Eep!" Nyx stood up so quickly that she banged her head on the underside of the bed frame. Hastily she shuffled out from under the bed. "Yes ma'am," she said meekly, "Sorry, your Highness." She crabbed sideways around the room, carefully keeping her backside away from them as if she expected it to get swatted at any moment, and backed out the door, never taking her eyes off either of them.

Twilight Sparkle watched her daughter go, and looked at Celestia apologetically. Celestia looked pained. "I'm sorry, Princesses," Twilight said. "She's still a bit... skittish.... about you two."

Celestia nodded, looking a bit sad... and not a little bit guilty. "Understandable," Celestia said.

"I'm sure she'll come around," Twilight said.

"A problem for another time," Luna said gently.

"Twilight?" Rarity said suddenly. "Do you mind if I speak with Spike for a moment? In private?" She looked abashed. "It won't be a minute."

"Of course, Rarity," Twilight said. "I'll be right outside." She followed Celestia and Luna out the door, and closed it.

Spike looked nervous and took to petting PeeWee to keep his claws busy. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?" he asked meekly.

Rarity sat down at his bedside and smiled at him. "Spike," she said. "I never got the chance to thank you for what you did. And... to say I'm sorry."

Spike kept petting the baby phoenix. "Sorry? About what?"

"For taking your feelings for granted," she said. "For treating your heart like it was some silly toy. I never took your love seriously."

Spike shrugged, trying to play it cool. "Hey," he laughed weakly, "I know how it is. I'm just a kid, right? I bet lots of dumb colts have had silly crushes on you--"

Rarity looked him in the eye. " 'Lots of dumb colts' didn't save me from a rampaging dragon," she said. "'Lots of dumb colts' didn't battle a horde of monsters with their bare fists to protect me." She smiled. "That doesn't sound like a 'silly crush' to me."

Spike pulled away. He looked away and bit his lip. "That's how I did it," he blurted out.

"Did it?"

"That's how I grew again," he said. "Dragons grow big like that, if they're not full-grown, when their hoard is threatened. --Well, there's usually some other stuff involved, too. You saw those gems they spit out---" he shook his head. "Never mind, not important. The thing is, I don't have a big pile of gold and gems, or anything like that. You know how Celestia says 'my little ponies?' I know it sounds dumb but-- I feel that way too. All the ponies in Ponyville, in Canterlot, in the Crystal Empire--- all my friends, all my family-- those are my hoard. But the really big thing, the thing that made my Greed Growth kick in, was what Garble did at the castle. Garble did the dumbest thing in the universe to do around a dragon. He threatened the most valuable thing in my hoard. My greatest treasure." Peewee crooned in his lap and rubbed his beak against Spike's chin.

"Your pony friends?" Rarity said.

"You," Spike said, looking up at her with wide, open eyes. "My Greatest Treasure is you." He looked down, face scrunched up."I mean I know it's impossible. I know I'm too young, and the wrong race, and-- even if you find somepony else, you'll always be the greatest Treasure in my heart--"

A hoof went over his lips. Rarity lifted his chin and turned his head toward her. Without a word she kissed him. Once. Gently, chastely, right on his scaly green lips.

All Spike's higher brain functions completely shut down. "Breathe, darling," Rarity said, amused.

"Gasp."

Rarity chuckled. "Spike," she said. "Are you willing to wait a few years?"

"Wait?" Spike said, dazed.

"A few years. Just a few," Rarity said. "Till you're of age. That's only a few years from now..."

"I'd wait forever," Spike said dreamily.

"No promises, no commitments," Rarity cautioned, holding up a hoof. "A lot of things can happen in a few years. But at least I can give you that."

"Really?" He looked doubtful. "But... what if I'm still this pudgy little..." he looked down at himself.

"I got a little preview, Spikey. That big beefy brute you turned into? They say that's what you'll look like in a few more years-- If you're a good boy and eat all your alfalfa." Rarity chuckled and nuzzled his cheek. "What can I say? Good things are worth waiting for." She got to her feet and walked out the door. "Till later, Spikey Wikey." With a flirt of her tail she was gone.

Spike sat there, staring silently at the door. A smile spread across his face that could have lit up Manehattan. "YyyyyyyES!" he said, throwing his fists in the air, sending PeeWee fluttering. "Dragon boy has got a shot!" He flopped back on his pillows, arms behind his head, grinning at the ceiling like a fool.

1) During that year's Nightmare Night, all sorts of absolutely insane events would take place in the Palace of the Moon in Ponyville. Roller Reel and Bright Eyes would be visiting relatives back in the Crystal Empire that week-- upon their return the camerapony would spend days cursing his luck. As such, he was completely unavailable for the events of Nightmare Night and Nyx. C'est la vie.