Spike hadn't thought about it, but as he lay in his bed, in his room, in this huge open castle that now belonged to both him and Twilight, he realized something.
He was getting older.
Obviously he was, if he wasn't there would definitely be a problem, but his problem wasn't with the fact that he was growing up, it was the fact that he was still being treated like the baby dragon Twilight had always known him as.
Kissing him, hugging him in front of their friends, using her spit to wipe things off his face with her hoof, and worst of all, cuddling up to him at night.
To be fair, he was the one who had initiated it, going to her a few years back with the tale of a nightmare. Her warm body had comforted him, made him feel safe. And even more so when she had ascended and acquired a pair of fluffy wings that swiftly took him off to dreamland whenever he was curled up under one.
And no matter how much he loved that feeling, it had to stop.
He was getting older.
He didn't need to be coddled, or cuddled or cradled or any or word that began with the letter ‘c’ that implied babying.
If he was to have any chance with Rarity in the future, he had to stop his bad habits now. She wanted a sophisticated and mature man. Not some baby dragon who still snuggled up to the mare who raised him.
And the next day at breakfast, he let his grievances be heard, to the astonishment of everyone at the table, expectantly.
Of course, since this was such a serious subject to him, maybe he shouldn't have started with suddenly blurting out, “I'm a man now,” to the confusion of the mares around him.
“Excuse me?” Twilight asked, raising a brow.
“I'm a man now,” he repeated sternly. “And I would like to be treated as one.”
There was a brief moment of silence, one that was filed with the ever evident snickers of an amused Rainbow Dash, who couldn't quite seem to grasp that he was serious.
“What brought this on?” Twilight asked, genuinely bemused and a little discomforted by the outburst.
His eyes shifted to the white mare that sat across from him, but only for a moment. It was so quick that unless somepony had been following his line of sight, they would have been none the wiser.
But Twilight was a scholar. An intellectual mind who could draw solutions from the most dire of situations. She had seen where his eyes had trailed, and understood without him having to say a word.
Still, he answered her. “Don't you think that it's about that you stopped babying me? I know you're the one in charge...but it seems like I'm not caught up with dragons my age.”
Twilight had no idea what that meant, since pony kind really didn't have any kind of records or any information about dragons, except for what they've found out from Spike and his trips to meet with others of his species.
At this point, Rainbow Dash couldn't contain her laughter. “Seriously, Spike? You probably still sleep with a nightlight! I don't think any ‘man’ does that!” she managed to get out between fits of laughter.
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Don't you worry none, Spike. Rainbow’s just being a jerk. In fact, Mac still sleeps with his raggedy doll. Ain't nothing shameful about it.”
Rainbow Dash fell out of her seat. “Was that supposed to make him feel better?” she asked. “That doesn't exactly make him look more manly!”
“Hush now, Rainbow Dash. I think Spikey-Wikey is manly just the way he is.” Rarity said, winking at him from across the table.
Spike's cheeks burned hot after that. “T-thanks Rarity,” he mumbled, trying to hide his blush.
Fluttershy nodded. “Everyone has their own way of expressing themselves," she added. Though Spike was pretty sure being babied wasn't a way of expressing himself.
Twilight shook her head. “No, no, Spike is right, you guys.”
“See Twilight, that's why—Wait what?!” Spike said, cutting himself off. “I am?”
The Princess of Friendship nodded. “Yeah. You're getting older. You'll probably outlive all of us, and it's time we start acting like just because dragons age slower doesn't mean you aren't maturing.”
Spike couldn't tell if she was actually agreeing with him or testing him. “Right,” he agreed. “I'm glad you understand my position on the subject matter,” he responded, trying to sound as sophisticated as possible.
Unlike Twilight, Spike was no scholar, and it showed.
“You're really agreeing with him?” Rainbow Dash asked, her hooves slamming on the table.
“Yes, just like when we let him seek out his fellow dragons, we should let him get some breathing room. And....I admit I do kind of coddle him.” Twilight confessed, fluffing her wings abashedly.
“Well I think it's mighty fine you're letting him start to make his own decisions, Twilight,” Applejack congratulated.
“Yes, I think he'll be just fine,” Fluttershy added, nodding.
Twilight seemed a little unsure, but agreed with her friends nonetheless.
Spike was just happy that everyone, with the exception of Rainbow Dash of course, was taking him seriously.
His first test wasn't for Twilight, but for himself. He was to abstain from sleeping in Twilight’s bed or room, and especially cuddle up to her.
She didn't make that rule of course, he did, and he planned to stick to it.
That night he lay in his room, trying to shut his eyes. Unfortunately, sleep could not take him and he wound up staying up the entire night. He did everything he could to fall asleep, but it just didn't feel right without a fluffy purple wing draped over him.
The next morning was dreadful. He could barely keep his eyes open. He was sure he had snorted some of his oatmeal in the past twenty minutes but he couldn't tell because his eyes were closed.
Twilight was obviously very concerned by the new state of her number one assistant, but against his better judgement, he assured her nothing was wrong. It was going to take some getting used to. Everything takes time. Of course he's not going to get it on the first night.
Or the second.
Or the fifth.
Or the ninth.
Spike hadn't even realized it had been two whole weeks since his proclamation until Twilight reminded him that they were heading into the Crystal Empire the next morning and that he needed to make sure to get as much sleep as he could because they were leaving early.
He had been holding on for two whole weeks. Honestly, he couldn't tell if he was getting better or not. There really wasn't much of a change in the relationship between him and Twilight except for the fact she kept her promise and didn't coddle him. Which he greatly appreciated.
The sleep deprivation had gotten a smidge better too. Well, he had assumed so, until they almost missed the train because he slept through his alarm clock.
Spike kept dozing off on the train, fading in and out of the waking world. Soon he was sure he'd start hallucinating. He could almost hear Rarity calling to him in her gem kingdom....
Before he realized what was happening, he had fallen over, face flat on the seat in front of him. The train had stopped so abruptly that he hadn't had time to brace himself.
Grumbling, he mumbled assurances to Twilight as he helped himself up. He could do this. He was fine. It just took some getting used to.
They had arrived at the castle by lunchtime, a banquet prepared for them by the servants. Spike was sure it was probably absolutely delicious, he just couldn't quite, well, stay awake for most of it.
The past two weeks had been filled with abridged moments of rest, followed by long restless hours of thinking.
He knew Twilight had noticed this, but didn't know why she did not interfere whether for her own reasons or his.
What he did know was that the bowl of gems in front of him was getting more distorted in color, merging together in a blurred mess of colors as he tried to stay awake.
Cadence, while a lot more regal than Twilight, was just as observant as her. She was keen on people's feelings more than physical knowledge. And she knew that something was very wrong with Spike.
She called him out into the hallway, her eyebrows furrowed with worry. “Are you alright?” she asked, putting a hoof to his forehead to check for a fever.
He honestly wouldn't had been surprised if he had one at this point. “Huh? What? Yeah I'm fine,” he answered in a low voice, yawning.
“You look awfully tired to be fine,” she told him, smiling wryly.
He frowned, glancing up at her. “Don't worry about it, Cadence. I'm fine," he repeated, stressing the word.
“You're lying,” she said. “You're swaying back and forth and I feel like at any moment you'll keel over,” she continued, pointing at him.
He did notice that his body had a slight sway to it. “What of it?” he growled.
She ignored him. “When was the last time you had a full night’s sleep?” she demanded.
“I don't have to—”
The stern, motherly look on the alicorn’s face let him know that he did have to.
“Two weeks ago...” he confessed.
“Two weeks?! Spike! Do you know how dangerous that is? You could have collapsed from exhaustion! I don't even let the guards go that long! What were you thinking?!”
“I was thinking that it's time for me to man up,” he said in a soft voice. “I want...I want to become a man worthy of Rarity’s love. Twilight still treats me like a baby. She tucks me in with her and lets me sleep under her wing when I have nightmares. Someone who is trying to win an older mare’s love shouldn't be doing those things.”
Cadence stared at him thoughtfully before sighing. “Spike, you don't need to change yourself for Rarity. I'm pretty sure she loves you just the way you are. Sophisticated or not.”
Spike frowned. “How do you know that? How can you be so sure?”
“Because I'm the Princess of Love,” she responded with a smirk. “And my sweet prince isn't exactly a sophisticated man either. He reads comics, snores, and seems to enjoy nap time more than Flurry Heart does,” she said, laughing to herself.
“My point is, if you and Rarity were truly meant to be, she'd accept you for who you are. You are caring, and sweet, and even then most manliest of men need a good cuddle sometimes. Trust me Spike, I think I know what I'm talking about here,” Cadence finished, booping him on the nose.
“I guess you're right,” Spike replied. “I should probably apologize to Twilight too. She's given me my space but I can see how much it hurts her. She needs the cuddling as much as I do. It's our thing. I was so busy thinking about how Rarity would perceive me I didn't think about how Twilight felt. I'm definitely going to talk to her tonight.” he proclaimed, nodding to himself more than Cadence.
The alicorn smiled. “Good. Glad to hear it. Now come on. Let's go back inside. There's a bowl of gems waiting with your name on it.”
Night had fallen once again, and this time Spike knew that he'd be sleeping tonight. As all the activity in the castle quieted down, he walked through the darkening halls with a purpose.
He knocked on Twilight's door, for some reason afraid of what would happen when the purple mare opened it.
When she did, there was a bit of shock on her face, but her eyes were alight with understanding and excitement. She said nothing though, for Twilight was always an observant scholar, and knew the young dragon had something to get off his chest.
He could practically feel the warmth radiating from her smile that had melted into her face after the first initial reaction, and that had given him the encouragement to say what he had to.
“I...I'm sorry for making you worry," he confessed. “I said I wanted to become a man for Rarity, but all I did was act like a baby. I didn't think about how this would affect anyone but myself and I could see that you were worried about me. I feel awful and I just—”
Before he could get the rest of his words out, there were two familiar hooves embracing him. They felt so good around him that he could cry.
“It's okay Spike,” Twilight shushed him. “I forgive you. You're growing up. And part of growing up is learning from your mistakes.”
Spike looked up at her bleary eyed. “Does this mean you're not mad at me?” he asked.
“Of course not,” Twilight said, closing the door behind them. “I could never be mad at you.”
“Then...” He hesitated. “Then...do you think I could start sleeping under your wing again?”
Twilight ruffled his spikes. “Sure thing, Spike.”
As they settled into bed, the usual becoming the norm again, Spike blurted out flustered, “Not a word to anypony. Especially Rarity!”
Twilight couldn't help but giggle.