Once upon a time, Spike went for a walk.

While on his walk, he was judged by an ancient alicorn, lodged with griffons, parlayed with air pirates, charmed a maiden of a mystical race, and dealt with the scourges of hate, fear, and racism while deliberately drawing the armies of myriad nations to the brink of global war.

Once upon a time, Spike went for a walk, and did all of this so that he could keep a promise to the one that meant the most to him... Twilight Sparkle.

In the first of three books, Pillars of the Sun (Chapters 1-15), Spike is devastated by Twilight's fate and grows more and more despondent as he attempts to understand what has happened to his dearest friend. A gentle nudge from a pony he trusts sends him looking for answers. When that nudge becomes a push he unravels ancient secrets... and risks losing himself before his attempt to rescue Twilight can even begin.

• Having been elected a national hero for his antics in recovering the Crystal Heart, a modest Spike is now left wondering how it’s possible to accept all the sudden unflattering attention and fame he’s not completely convinced is so necessary – or terribly deserving, for that matter. WARNING: Contains copious amounts of material based upon Season Three's introductory episodes – previously edited by and dedicated to Martian, Bookplayer, theburningone94 & hunterz263, TheMyth, plus the kindly input of Not Worthy, Phazon and Bad Horse. Cover art created by author.

Ever since the events of his birthday, Spike has feared and suppressed his species' natural behavior. However, when one chains the beast too long, natural tendencies tend to break loose. Spike, along with his friends, must discover a way for Spike to control his natural behavior and continue to live alongside the ones he loves. But is this possible?

Which is more powerful: nature or nurture?

After leaving on a second pilgrimage to find himself, Spike returns to Ponyville, physically larger and sporting an impressive array of skills and powers.

His plans for a calm life in Ponyville, however, takes a different path as he soon finds himself the desire of several ponies interests, friends old and new included.

Change breeds benefits, as the saying goes. Spike has yet to hear it ring true.

For a long time, I thought I was an oddity. One dragon living with a bunch of ponies, in a whole kingdom of ponies, no less. I was emasculated, a shadow of what I thought I was supposed to be. What I expected of myself, and what I thought was expected of me, drove me to follow the great dragon migration. I thought it would wake up my inner dragon, and finally allow me to realize what I'm meant to be in this world. But it didn't. All it showed me was that other members of my species only care about size, strength and brute force. I left there, glad that I had such good friends, but still just as lost as ever on the inside. That is, until she showed up.

A crossover-ish type story involving a certain black lady dragon from a video game series.

A MLP Legend of Spyro crossover, though no knowledge of the games is needed to read the fic.

Spike had been instructed by his mentor Twilight Sparkle to stay away from his longtime crush, Rarity, but when he disobeys her and starts helping Rarity at her dress shop, they grow closer than ever. Eventually the truth will come out. Will he be rejected, or will Rarity return his feelings?
Sparity. Implied Dash/Fluttershy. Moody Teenage!Spike. Awkward!Twilight. (A lot of Mean!Twilight). Humanized!Everyone. Some sexual references (THANK YOU, Rainbow Dash, that's quite enough), some legal drinking. Set after the show, so everyone is quite a bit older.

When Rarity writes to Princess Celestia inquiring after how dragons age, she gets a plea for help in reply. A war is brewing, and Princess Celestia thinks Rarity's the one to stop it. Now, still completely uncertain what her feelings for Spike are or if they're even plausible, she's off to meet with his distant relatives to negotiate a truce between the dragons and the sea serpents before the world gets caught up in their destructive clash.

Unrelated to "How to Woo Your Lady" or my other fics.

Cover image generously loaned by fongsaunder at deviantart: fongsaunder.deviantart.com

Spike was always content to sit back and let Twilight and the others go off on the dangerous adventures. But shortly after they leave Ponyville to find a mysterious amulet, Spike receives a cryptic letter from Twilight. Worried about his friends, Spike sets off on a journey to find them. Along the way Spike encounters unlikely allies and is pursued by a familiar enemy.

An ancient evil is about to rise from a third alicorn, and our only hope lies in the claws of a young dragon. Will he be able to stop this evil? Or will he die without telling the one he loves how he truly feels.

For most of his life Spike has yearned to be treated as more than a hatchling; only five years younger than Twilight by all rights he should be considered a young adult, or at least a teenager, by pony standards.

His mind, though still developing, is at times equal to an adult pony's thanks to the many years he spent working alongside his studious caretaker. When forced to focus can could quickly outpace and outwit most colts his age.

His body on the other hand is tiny and adorable.

As with all dragons the pace of his growth matches the demands of the world around him; with the carefree, relaxed life of a librarian's assistant there have been few demands a baby dragon's form could not meet. Until now.

Faced with other dragons, rivals and peers much more fit for survival Spike's body has started working overtime to catch him up and prepare him for the long, difficult life of a dragon. Fortunately, this means he will soon have a body that matches his mind; large enough to take care of himself and get a small token or respect now and then.

Unfortunately this means he has hit puberty.