3799 words
Author's Epilogue458 words

Later the Same Day

After speeding through the rest of Fluttershy's more important chores, the two took off towards Twilight's castle, Spike keeping silent for most of the flight. When Fluttershy tried to ask him what was going on, he'd reassure her that nothing was wrong, and that he wanted to tell Twilight and her at the same time.

Landing on the castle's doorstep, Spike opened the door and peered around it, looking down the hallways. Moving out of the way, he made room for Fluttershy to come in, then took off towards Twilight's public library, keeping an eye out for Starlight or her marefriend.

They reached the library first, and looked inside to find an unfortunate lack of the princess.

Fortunately, they found another pony in her stead.

“Heya, Starlight,” Spike called, waving a paw at her. “Where's Twilight off to?”

She looked up from the book she'd been reading, smiling over it at Spike and Fluttershy.

“Oh, she's around. I think she said she was getting a late lunch, maybe another book from her own library to bring over here. Slow day today, apparently.”

They both snickered as Fluttershy looked around the empty library.

After a quick word they left this particular library for the one closer to Twilight's bedroom. Through a series of halls that Fluttershy could have sworn she remembered, but could not exactly place, Spike led the two of them to a set of mostly unassuming doors.

Cracking them, a voice called from the room, “This is not part of the public library, this is a private room!”

Smiling, Spike stuck his head around the door, waving at Twilight.

“Oh, Spike, come on in, of course. How's the house-hunt going along?” she said with a smile at him. “Not too bad, is it?”

“That's what I'm here for, actually. If you've already eaten, I've got something to show you. Fluttershy's here too,” he pushed her around the door, and she waved meekly at Twilight, “I wanted you two to see it together.”

Twilight's smiled widened, and she replaced a book in the shelf she was standing in front of. “Already, Spike? I guess I need to get that stipend ready earlier than I thought.” Her horn lighting up, she teleported a thin sheaf of long papers to herself, then held them out to Spike. “Remember to keep those balanced, please,” she reminded him, lifting an eyebrow at him.

“Of course, dear Princess,” he said, bowing grandly. “Same as Princess Celestia gave you...” he started to ask, opening the book to glance at the first page, pausing at the number inscribed on the front page. After a moment, he glanced back up at Twilight, lifting his own eyebrow.

“Twilight.”

She gazed over at him, her stony face unchanging. “Hmm?”

“Twilight,” Spike said again, tapping the booklet, “I know your memory's not this bad, and I know your math isn't either.” He held up the book, pointing it at her. “What is this?”

“That is the stipend that I have decided upon,” she started, stopping when Spike shook his head impatiently.

“Twilight, this is over twice what Celestia was giving you when she sent you out here. I did some of your finances, remember? So you would buy food instead of just books,” Spike said with a smile, shaking the little book.

“It was more so that you could learn a bit of math,” Twilight said as she looked at the book, then at the ground, absently scraping her hoof along the floor in a pattern. “… I didn't want you to go hungry, Spike,” she muttered. “I just wanted…”

Spike lifted a paw to his face, massaging his eyes. “Twilight, both of us got along comfortably on the amount Celestia gave you, for years. And besides,” he said, tossing the booklet back to her, “You wanted me to be on my own, remember? That's the reason for this. Sort of hard to be on your own when you're getting this much 'support', Mom,” he said, teasingly.

She caught the book in her magic, looking it over before lowering her horn to the lifted book, tapping the inside of the cover with her magic.

“Better?” she asked, lifting the booklet over to him. He looked over the number again, then into her steeled eyes, and sighed.

“I suspect it's the lowest you're willing to go, so it'll work. Not like I have to spend it all, I suppose. Now, do you want to come on or what,” he asked, tucking the book away and turning to the mares with a smile.

“Everyone ready, then?”

The two mares nodded at him, Twilight stopping suddenly. “Actually, I'll meet you two at the door. I've got something to take care of, it'll only take a moment.”

Spike nodded, and he led Fluttershy through the hallways, opening the doors to Twilight's fading teleportation flash. Grinning, she floated over a piece of paper to Spike's saddlebag, slipping it inside and shaking her head at his questioning gaze.

Shrugging, he started walking away from the castle, heading towards the inner parts of town.

“I'm sure you've figured out what's going on by now,” Spike said over his shoulder, turning down one of the first roads on the outskirts of town.

“Did you already find someplace, Spike?” Fluttershy asked, looking around at the residences they were slipping past. “Oh, look, there's Roseluck,” she muttered, sending a timid smile towards the florist who returned it with her own greeting.

“Yeah, there's a few ponies around here I recognize,” Spike called, looking up and down an intersection, before turning left. “I'm pretty sure I saw Ditzy coming out of a house around mine, and I think Donny was walking around the neighborhood as well.”

“Well, I'm glad you know your neighbors already,” Twilight said. “Some of them, at least.”

Sighing, Spike stopped. “Hold on a second,” he muttered, flaring his wings and taking off, looking down around the neighborhood before gesturing for the two of them to join him. Together, they landed in front of a house that only one of them barely recognized.

Pulling out the thin metal key, Spike ceremoniously opened the door, moving to the side and bowing the mares in.

Giggling, the two entered, Twilight already wincing at the obvious furniture marks on the wall and floor. She moved off on her own, inspecting the hardwood floors and walls, while Fluttershy spun in place, smiling at the empty walls and the large room.

“I'm gonna have to get a couch,” Spike groused, walking in and closing the door. Looking around, he sighed at Twilight. “I've already agreed to lease it, Twi.”

She stood, ramrod straight, turning to say something, before swallowing her words and smiling.

“I hope you'll like it as much as I liked my first house,” she said, sincerely.

“I'm sure I wi-wi-will...” Spike started, stuttering to a stop when the door erupted in quiet knocks. “Uh,” he muttered, looking bewildered.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight lit up the doorknob and pulled the door to the side, revealing Spike's tormentor to be a stormy pegasus with blonde hair, a basket clutched protectively in her teeth. She smiled widely around the handle, tipping a wink instead of trying to talk around it.

“Oh, hey Ditzy,” Spike said, giving her a wide smile. “I knew I saw you around earlier. You're a neighbor?”

Setting the basket by the door, she tilted her head up to him and returned the smile, nodding her head. Reaching a hoof over, she flicked at the checkered cloth covering the insides, revealing…

Brownies.

The rest of the room looked up at the blushing mare, all three of them blinking.

In her warm, joyous but bashful voice, the mare giggled and said, “I ran out of baking powder...”

The other three shared a look, then their own little chuckles and giggles.

“Knowing your skills, they'll be excellent,” Spike said, picking up the basket. “If Twilight wouldn't mind summoning some plates, I think we all have time to enjoy these…?”

Twilight nodded and zapped some plates into existence, and everyone received a brownie.

They were delicious.

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Spike gently closed his front door, having given thanks to the blond mare and promising to return her basket as she left. He was wondering if she liked blondies, or if she'd prefer some sort of simple confectionery, when he zeroed back in on his two remaining guests, both smiling at him.

“What?” he asked, bemused.

“You did really well, entertaining your first guest,” Twilight said happily, Fluttershy nodding beside her.

“Well, of course,” Spike blustered, looking a bit bewildered. “I mean, I've known Ditzy for years now, and I've been entertaining for you, Twilight, for ages now...”

Twilight shook her head, and Fluttershy said, “She was here for you, Spike, not Twilight. It may not feel like it, but this could have been a big deal, and you performed flawlessly.” She clacked her front hooves together, smiling up at him. “Good job!”

He rolled his eyes, waving off their praise even as he blushed. “You guys are being weird. Twilight,” he said, turning to her, “am I sleeping in my room at the castle tonight, or on the floor here?”

“Well,” she started, smiling over at Fluttershy, “I doubt you would have to sleep on the floor, but I've actually got a moving out present for you.”

She stood up and walked over to the door, moving through the saddlebags Spike had left by the door and pulling out the slip of paper she'd put there earlier. Gesturing at the two of them, she walked towards what was to be the master bedroom.

Stopping them just outside the door, Twilight walked into the large room and wandered around the middle, until she decided she'd found the center.

Unfolding the paper, she summoned a quill and scratched something onto the paper, then looked up.

“Cover your ears.”

Spike looked curiously at her, but obeyed. Fluttershy looked up at him before covering her own. Nodding, Twilight cast a small spell on her own ears, then started pushing magic into the paper, letting it go as it began to float by itself.

After another few moments, hazy outlines began to float through the room, Twilight seeming to direct them as they passed near her. After a full minute, the room was filled with shadows, and Twilight cut the spell.

With a massive popping noise, Spike's bedroom from the castle came into being, displaced air rushing through the hallway and into the living room.

Twilight nodded with a grin, her ears glowing as she pulled away the spell that was stoppering them. “See, Spike? Neither the floor or the castle. Before we left, I 'packed up' your room, and it's sort of just been waiting for me to tell it where to go.”

Spike walked over to the dresser that had been in his room, still decorated with pictures of his friends. He let his back paws squish into the plush rug he'd placed in his other room long ago, standing on his back legs as he looked over the faces of the mares that had been placed there years ago, occasionally getting a fresher picture in the old frame.

One, though, never changed. The centerpiece, placed with help of a ruler.

All seven of them, taken when he was still dwarfed by the ponies.

“You switched out your picture, Twilight,” Spike noted, picking up her frame and admiring the exact same pose she had made last time. Every time.

“The other one was starting to fade,” she said, looking away and blushing.

Smiling, he leaned over and wrapped her in a hug, picking up the mare and cuddling her to his chest. She squeaked a little, before relaxing into his embrace and nuzzling him, her legs pinned to her sides in his arms.

“Thank you so, so much Twilight,” he muttered, nuzzling the top of her head. “You’ve done so much, and made this so easy on me.”

“I couldn’t exactly make this harder on you, silly,” she tried to grouse from under his arms.

Fluttershy leaned against the door, smiling over at them and letting out a quiet giggle. Looking over at her and blushing, Spike gave Twilight a last squeeze and let her down, scratching the back of his head and looking over at the dresser again.

Flinching, he whipped his arm out and spun a certain picture, then placed it gently face-down.

“Gonna have to ask Rarity for another picture,” he told the two mares staring at him.

“Risqué?” Twilight asked, floating the picture over Spike’s head and glancing at it. Her eyes widened and she teleported the entire thing away, blushing.

“Yeah, a bit,” he chuckled.

“Uhm,” Fluttershy murmured, raising a hoof. “If I could, uhm...What kind of...”

Twilight shook her head, Spike blushing.

“If it helps, Twi, she sent it to me,” Spike said, chuckling. “I’d never have the courage to ask for a plot-shot.”

Twilight’s hoof connected to her forehead, rubbing over her eyes as she mouthed the words ‘Plot-Shot’ to herself. Fluttershy, of course, blushed and turned her head away, coughing into her hoof.

“I honestly forgot about it,” he said, looking over the rest of his pictures carefully. “It’s been a while since I was in my room long enough to pay attention...” He frowned, looking over another picture with him and Rarity entwined in front of a restaurant in town. Pulling it from its frame, he set the picture off to the side, doing the same with another picture of them kissing…

He squinted at it, then shrugged and placed it with the other picture.

“We’ll need some pictures to replace these, ‘Shy,” he murmured, the mare blushing while Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Well, I suppose I’ll leave you both to it, before I start having to imagine Rainbow’s barfing sounds again.” Twilight moved over to Spike, sharing a hug. On her way out of the room, she paused, then gave Fluttershy a hug of her own.

“Thanks, for making him happy again,” she whispered, before letting go and walking down the short hallway. They heard her open the front door, then shout, “Don’t break that bed again!” Before either of them could do more than blush, they heard the door close.

Fluttershy looked up at Spike, her eyes large and questioning.

“Look, it was only one time, a-a-and...”

He trailed off as she filled the room with gentle laughter.

Soon, he joined her.

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