Spike awoke in his bed, and looked around his bedroom. Not the one he had been staying at with Twilight’s family, but a more familiar one. One in a place where is fondest memories began.
“Spike! Breakfast,” called a woman’s voice downstairs.
Spike sat bolt upright when he heard that voice. The voice he thought he would never hear again.
“No way! Did it work?” Spike wondered to himself.
Without even getting dressed, Spike rushed downstairs in his pajamas.
The stairs were just how he remembered them. The color of the wooden planks, the pictures on the walls. The chipped paint on the banister at the bottom of the stairs. Quickly he swerved at the bottom of the stairs in the direction he remembered the kitchen. There, he was greeted by a most welcome sight.
There stood a blue-haired woman in a blue dress, setting a plate full of pancakes out.
“Spike, what are you doing in your pajamas? Could you really not wait for breakfast?” the woman said.
“Mum…?” Spike said.
“Who else?” the woman giggled. She was completely unprepared for when Spike rushed forward and tightly embraced her. “Spike? What are you doing? Did you miss me so much while you were sleeping?”
“Uh...Kind of,” Spike said, as he held his mum tighter. A single tear leaked from his eye, and passed over his smiling face.
“Now, what are you thinking, showing up in your pajamas and acting so strangely in front of the company?” his mum asked.
“Company?”
Spike glanced over to where the dining room was, and saw a most welcome sight. There sat his dad at the table, looking the very way Spike last saw him outside Canterlot, complete with the same clothes and haircut. Sitting across from Sombra was a more unusual sight. There sat another man. One with red eyes and a black jumper.
“Got a hug for your uncle Pharynx, kiddo?” Pharynx asked.
“Uncle who?” Spike said, fighting the urge to shout.
“Don’t give me that. Only the guy who’s been there your whole life. And I mean that literally. Who do you think drove your parents to the hospital when your mom was in labor with you?” Pharynx chuckled.
“Pharynx, don’t traumatize the boy,” Sombra said, lightly hitting Pharynx with the magazine he was reading.
“You want trauma? Tell him how you reacted while he was being born. I could hear the scream all the way in the waiting room,” Pharynx chuckled.
“That’s enough out of you!” Sombra said, laughing as he hit Pharynx slightly harder with the magazine.
“Children, that’s enough,” said Spike’s mum.
“Sorry, Ember,” both men said at once, as if they were scolded children.
“Seriously, Spike: get dressed. You can’t take Sweetie Belle out to the water park dressed like that,” Ember said.
“Take who where?” Spike said.
Spike grew more confused by the laughter of the adults.
“Look at this. He hasn’t even gone on this date, and he’s already a mess,” Sombra said. “Rule number one, son: only show fear after the date, when the girl can’t see you.”
“You’re one to talk. Ember, do you remember the first words Sombra said to you?” Pharynx asked.
“I try to forget. But, I think it was, ‘...u--uh-uh-huh…” Ember said, as she draped her arms around her husband.
“And what do you know. It worked,” Sombra said, before kissing his wife.
Spike didn’t know what to make of what he saw. He only wanted things to go back to the way they were, but this had turned out better than he could have dreamt. Come to think of it, this as it was now all felt like a dream to him. But, he couldn’t stay long. He still had to change out of his pajamas. Leaving the adults to their devices, he went back upstairs to change into his street clothes.
Minutes later, Spike had eaten his breakfast. No sooner did he finish did his phone in his pocket buzz. After picking up his plate to put in the sink, Spike looked at his phone, and found a text message from Twilight.
I’ll be at your house in a minute. Get your stuff ready for the waterpark. :)
“Twilight’s driving me to the waterpark?” Spike thought to himself. “What else can happen today?”
He left his dirty plate in the sink, and quickly ran upstairs again to pack up for the waterpark. As he was in his room, he finished packing and looked out the window. There was the view of the neighborhood just as he remembered it. For many minutes, he stared at the scenery, basking in the mere sight of it, and hoping it would never change again.
Down on the street, Spike saw a car pull up. His phone buzzed again, and he looked to see another text from Twilight, saying she had arrived.
Spike took his bag and walked downstairs. As he passed by the dining room, he heard the adults talking.
“So, poker at Night Light and Velvet’s place?” Sombra asked.
“Yup. And, whose turn is it to bring the drinks this time?” Pharynx asked.
“Yours,” Sombra answered.
“What!? No! It was my turn the last time!”
“Mm-mm,” Ember said, shaking her head. “Last time, Chrysalis brought the drinks. And you and Tirek drank them all. So, now we’re skipping mine and Sombra’s turn for yours.”
Pharynx kept protesting the arrangement as Spike continued out the door. He walked to the car, and tried to open the passenger door, only to find the seat occupied.
“Back seat,” Thorax said.
It looked like some things hadn’t changed. Spike did as instructed, and stepped into the backseat of the car.
The drive was smooth and uneventful. And on such a clear and sunny day too. All around, it seemed like everyone was feeling the mood of the new day.
“Oh! Look!” Twilight excitedly said, before honking her horn.
Over on the path beside the road, Fluttershy and Discord waved back at Twilight. The two of them sat down at a table on a restaurant patio, and continued to wave until they were out of sight.
Around a corner, they passed by the park, and Spike saw another welcome sight. Officer Tempest was standing tall and proud, both eyes intact, as she supervised a juvenile community service program. The juvenile in question was another familiar face: an older boy with orange hair.
“How much longer do I have to do this?” Garble said, as he speared a piece of trash.
“Don’t know. How much more public property do you plan to deface?” Tempest said. “You’re just lucky that kid turned you in when he did. Or else you’d both be worse off. I can guarantee that.”
She glanced up, and saw the very boy who had turned Garble in driving by in the backseat of a car. She offered him a quick salute, then went back to supervising Garble.
Spike saluted the officer back, and continued his ride.
Twilight parked her car at the water park, and everyone disembarked the vehicle. Spike looked at the park before him, feeling the same feeling as the first time he saw it. Only now, the feeling was a thousand times greater. Now that everything in his life was in its proper place, everything was going to be greater.
“Twilight! Over here!” called Rarity’s voice from nearby.
They all walked over to where Rarity was waiting for them with Pinkie Pie.
“Good. You guys are already here,” Twilight greeted them.
“Where are Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?” Spike wondered.
The others were all silent a moment. Spike became more confused when he saw their faces all morph into knowing smiles.
“That isn’t how a date works, Spike. It’s just going to be the two of you alone today,” Pinkie said.
“Me and…” Spike trailed off.
“Spike,” said a voice behind Spike.
The boy turned around, and saw Sweetie Belle standing before him. Nothing about her had changed in the least. Something Spike was truly happy to see.
“I’m, uh...I’m glad to see you,” Sweetie said, as she wrung her hands.
“Yeah. And you can’t realize how glad I am to see you,” Spike said.
“Oh, goodness! It’s too adorable,” Rarity whispered.
Spike pulled himself from his own self-induced haze, and managed to speak.
“Let’s all get into this place. Those slides won’t ride themselves,” Spike said.
“Nicely put. Let’s go on in,” Thorax said.
Once they all paid their admission, they all went to their separate changing rooms. Spike emerged from his wearing his trunks, and he looked around for the others.
“So, how do I look?” asked Sweetie Belle’s voice from the side.
When Spike turned, he was left speechless. He had seen Sweetie in her bikini before, but now that she wasn’t wearing her t-shirt, he could see one major difference. No longer was Sweetie’s arm marred with a massive scar. It was as immaculate as the rest of her. It could only mean that however they met now, it had been on more amicable terms.
“You look...beautiful,” Spike said.
Sweetie Belle giggled and flushed red, before she took Spike’s hand.
“How about we ride the biggest slide first?” Spike said.
“Okay.”
The two of them climbed all the way up the hill that the largest slide in the park was built on. Several patrons rode down at once, splashing into the water below. One look down, and Sweetie Belle could feel her courage wavering.
“Maybe this wasn’t the best place to start,” Sweetie said.
“What if I went down with you?” Spike said, as he placed his arms around Sweetie Belle, and sat down behind her on the slide.
“Promise you won’t let go,” Sweetie said.
“I promise,” Spike said as they slid forward.
At the very cusp of the slide, just before they went down, an urge overcame Sweetie Belle. An urge to speak her mind before she plunged into oblivion.
“Spike, I...I LOVE YOU!!!” she shouted, the very second before they went speeding down the slide, and splashing into the water below.
The two children surfaced, laughing loudly from surviving the experience.
“Spike, we’re alive! We made it!” Sweetie said.
Spike guided Sweetie Belle to the shallower water away from the slide. Before they left for dry land, Spike had something to say of his own.
“Sweetie Belle. What you said back on the slide...Well...I’ve been thinking a lot lately. About you. I realize just how much you mean to me, and...I love you too,” Spike said.
Both children said nothing, but slowly leaned closer to one another. Quicker than Spike knew, Sweetie Belle planted a kiss on his cheek, and ran off giggling.
“Hold on a second! You’re not leaving that easily!” Spike said, as he chased after her.
All was right with the world. As long as Spike had what was special in his life, nothing could go wrong.