~ The Mane Seven ~
“This is really okay with you girls?”
Pinkie giggled from underneath. “Of course it's okay. It's your birthday!”
“I still feel kinda, y'know, bad.” Spike looked around at the mares surrounding him, each pressed against one another and only a muzzle distance away from his face. Party streams hung across the lobby of the library. “This isn't too, and I don't know, embarrassing?”
“Well, of course, it's embarrassing!” Rainbow said, smiling at him as she lay atop Rarity. “Friends don't really do snuggle parties, heck, the fact that I'm here is a testament to how much I like ya.” She leaned forward, nuzzling his cheek and causing it to blush. “It may be weird, but if it's your birthday wish to be close to all of us, then who cares how odd this may look.”
“I simply concur!” Rarity placed a hoof on Pinkie's side, using her body to lean forward and peck the drake on the same cheek. She pulled back a moment later. “I still dislike being unable to buy you gifts due to your previous incident, but if this makes you feel just as happy.”
Spike smiled from the pink mare's tummy. “It does. It's just...it all feels so unreal, y'know? I keep blinking, thinking this isn't really happening.”
“Believe it, partner, because this is all for real.” Spike felt a hoof brushing down his spines, looking up at the smiling face of Applejack. “You've gone out of your way to help us for the past few weeks, so it's only fair that we've got your back as well.”
Spike did not know what to say; he did not know what to do, so, instead of thinking, he let his body take over as he pressed his face against the pink fur and began to weep gently. It was all so great to have his friends together, so warm to feel their embrace when he thought himself all alone, knowing now that will never be the case.
“I'm just so glad you girls like me,” Spike choked, lifting his head and wiping his eye. “For so long I thought you were just going to take Twilight away, that I was just her annoying her brother, that I was just—“
A yellow hoof pressed itself gently against his lips, the other softly stroking at his arm. Spike looked up to Fluttershy, who smiled sweetly down at him. “None of that was true, Spike, and you proved to by coming to each of us, by trusting us enough with your feelings even though they may have upset up.”
Fluttershy leaned forward and nuzzled his cheek, her long pink mane tickling the back of his head. “You made all those mares you feared into your friends, something, I think, Princess Celestia would be proud of.”
Fluttershy pulled back, but she never stopped smiling, never stopped stroking his arm, the soft fur of her hoof caressing his smooth scales. It was a contact both relished in, a stage of deeper friendship where feelings no longer had to be expressed with words.
“She has a point, Spike.” Before he could even turn around, he felt two legs wrap around his chest. A moment later, Twilight hugged his back, nuzzling his neck and whispering into his ear. “You learned a lot not only about yourself, but everypony here, and I think Celestia would enjoy reading some of your lessons.”
Twilight pulled back a bit, beaming over the drake like a proud mother over her child, forelegs never leaving his body. “You don't have to do it now, but would you be up for the task tomorrow?”
“I think I'd like that,” Spike said, turning onto his side. He shot a claw over Twilight's neck, pulling her closer once again. “But is it okay if we all stay like this, together, for just a little longer?”
Twilight smiled, placing her forehead on his.
“Of course, Spike. That's what friends are for.”