//------------------------------//
// Chapter 50: Epilogue, END OF ACT 1 
// Story: Spike of All Trades 
// by Ariamaki 
//------------------------------//

The view turns and lurches, perspective changing... There is a room nestled deep into the roots of a massive tree in the town of Ponyville. This is the Golden Oaks Library, the titular oak and the library itself as one. Here in the library is a specific room, deep beneath ground level. In this room there is a table, on which rests a complex crystal structure. Before that table there is a couch, a simple piece of plush furniture sized to hold two or three ponies. It currently holds one pony and something else entirely...

To be specific? Here sat Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia, and Spike the Dragon, her (complex relationship for which no word exists) and confidant. Twilight looking much the same as always, her tri-tone mane arching over one eye and the starbursts of her Cutie Mark standing out bright and clear on her flank. Said flank did shimmy a bit as she adjusted... this very perspective, her magic fiddling with the video-and-audio-recording spell embedded in the crystal..

Spike turned his head to take in a good view of himself, the first he's properly gotten since the mirror at Rarity's (after his at-first-unfortunate, then-appreciated growth incident) that morning. Like Twilight, he wasn't looking terribly different from his past... But he was both taller and thinner than he had been earlier in the day. The ridges and spines on his head now came level with Twilight's horn when they were both standing, and they could see eye to eye without moving at all. Otherwise he was quite the same: A complimentary purple to Twilight's own shade mixed with an acidic green, eyes large and currently sheltered behind a set of semi-transparent eyelids: This thing was bright.

"Are you staring directly into the preview hologram again?"

"I mean, a little bit? We don't exactly break this spell out very often. It's a novelty!"

Twilight scoffed at that, but with a twinge of pride behind it: This was a rare and complex working.
"Yes, well it's also an optical hazard... Or is it a risk for you at all, as a 'Gamer'? We have so much to talk about!"

"We sure do, Ms. 'Celestial Consort'."

His unicorn (lack-of-word) buried her muzzle in her hooves and restrained herself from fleeing the couch, again: Setting up this recording had been their third excuse to get her back into the room after multiple failed attempts to discuss what had changed about her today. Spike was also (if he was totally honest with himself) trying to buy some time: His situation involved a lot of explaining as well, and he had done some things today that would usually get him a dressing-down.

They had parted ways a bit over fifteen hours ago, early in the morning after Spike awakened to find (or so the current theory went) his 'personal Dragon magic' had awakened along with him, creating something uniquely his, akin to a pony's Cutie Mark. He had spent the entire day since coming to grips with this personal magic: The Gamer. It meant that he 'lives through real life as though it were a game', according to the description for one of his skills. 

Yes, he had skills, and stats, menus and interfaces and an Inventory and a Map. The works: Like a walking talking arcade machine, a game engine let loose into the world. At the same time, Twilight had been travelling to Canterlot for a previously-unannounced trip. Throughout the day he found out little bits and pieces of her reasons for making the visit, reasons which Spike's power eventually confirmed to be 'consummating her outstanding secret romantic relationship with Princess Celestia'.

Needless to say they both had a lot of explaining to do.

"We're going to put this off pretty much indefinitely if we don't force ourselves, right?"

"As you like to say: 'If past results are any indicator of future outcomes'... Yeah. Very yes."

Twilight nodded grimly and pushed a bit of effort into the spell she was tinkering with. For the first time, Spike was able to really watch the process on a fundamental level, and it was fascinating. Twilight's magic was tighter, smaller, more compact and efficient than the looping whorls and curves of Rarity's symbols. That, and the well-practiced spell went by so quickly that he couldn't even try to comprehend details. If he hadn't already had the magic-sight of Dragon's Mind running, it would have been too fast for him to react.

"Starting recording, Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon present. Topic: The Biggest Day Ever. Starting with Direction Layer... Command:Pause. Does L-4 seem reasonable to you, Spike?"

He and Twilight both had a habit of rambling: It was more common for her but he wasn't immune, and his rambles tended to devolve and digress way further off-topic. To help counter this, they had developed this recorder. Used alongside the recorder was a system that Twilight's official documentation (and yes, there was documentation for something only the two of them would ever use) called Directions, because it was all about getting directly to the point. Layer Zero was detailing the entire topic exhaustively (good for research papers and reports), increasingly positive numbers were more... Concise wasn't the right word, because that implies minimizing the words used to get across the same concepts. The Directions were about ignoring some of the concepts entirely and only talking about the most-important events or results. 

Regardless, a bigger number meant fewer details, and the rarely-used negative numbers meant adding detail above and beyond a 1-1 retelling of events.

"I mean, we basically already know the Layer Six version of each others' stories, so yeah let's just start at four and work our way back as needed. Interjections?"

"Interjections are fine, but let's put a moratorium on arguments or compunctions: Just the facts."

"Sounds plan-ish: Should I bring in the snacks and drinks from earlier?"

"Yes please! Dinner was lovely, but I imagine we've both worked up an unusual appetite today."

She only caught her own phrasing a moment too late, and Spike chuckled at her blush as he went to fetch the snacks: Shards and chunks of strong chocolate, some de-stemmed strawberries, and a sizable bowl of clotted cream. Anticipating the potential for this to turn into an overnight project he also brought several extra drinks (bottled), a few blankets, some pillows, and a spare alarm clock. Rather than try to balance that entire haul by hand, he just stuffed it into his Inventory: Intangible storage space that only he could access: Yet another perk of being The Gamer. Twilight hadn't seen him use it much yet, so this would double as a chance to show it off before they got started... Not to mention a good test to see if cold things stored in there stayed cold.

When he got back in and started very blatantly pulling objects out of thin air, he could see Twilight's eyes go wide and her hooves shake... But she restrained herself. Instead of going into a sort of science-fugue questioning how he was breaking every known law of equinity, she just smiled at him and gratefully levitated over one of the drinks and a few strawberries.
"Thanks so much Spike: So, ready to record our days at L-6 and then pack it in?"

"...L-4 and work back from there, Twilight. Why are you so embarrassed? This is awesome news!"

"Spiiiike, this is all really... You just don't talk about this sort of thing!"

He helped himself to a bit of chocolate and cream, all while levelling a very dry glare her way.
"Don't we? Because we grew up together, from the day you got your cutie mark slash the day I hatched. We've confided in each other for waaay over a decade now, and yaknow, last I checked? We totally talk about this sort of thing. Frequently"

"Yes, but..."

"You had a crush on Cadance for like a year and you nearly gored Shining on your horn when you found out they were dating. I had a crush on your Mom for about the same amount of time, and tried to breathe fire on your Dad but just ended up teleporting some of his breakfast down the hall. I know what times of day to stay out of your room, and you know about my 'ice cream dreams'. We talk about this sort of thing."

"...I know."

"Is it because there's somepony else involved? Or because it's specifically Celestia involved?"

"Yes! Kind of. But she also gave me pretty explicit instructions about that, with friends and family."

"Wait, seriously?"

Twilight attempted to impersonate her mentor-turned-lover, and did a decent job all things considered.
"Twilight, I know this has been wonderful for both of us, but don't think you need to worry about secrecy where your friends are concerned: Spike, especially. Given that letter earlier I imagine he'll have quite a lot to talk about with you later, and it would be a shame if you couldn't do the same."

"...Did she actually do that sort of unsettling chuckle at the end, where it's pretty clear she knows exactly what she's telling you to do but doesn't make any effort to soften the blow?"

"Yes. It's ten times more frustrating when... Well. We'll get there."

Spike gestured towards the paused recording spell.
"Well then... I'll go first, give you some time to prepare?"

That seemed to work, and she resumed the spell. Spike took a deep breath and met his own eyes in the hologram, thinking of how to best summarize all the insane things that had happened in the fullest and most complicated day of his life... Which is saying a lot, given how he spent his time.

"Going with an L-4 summary of events to start... I've awakened some kind of magical power, which I have very good reason to assume is the culmination of my dragon heritage. The power calls itself The Gamer, and it has made my life experience into the perspective of a top-of-the-line video game character. I have menus, which I will show a written copy of on-visual now. I have acquired nearly twenty different skills and powers in addition to these menus, first and foremost being the ability to Observe anything and see its game statistics, description, history, and more. Others include..."

He let himself fall into a practiced pattern as he went, using his Omphaloskepsis even as he kept describing and summarizing his day, thanks to the Exposure skill. Twilight reacted, very subtly, when he first activated it... But she didn't interject or interrupt. They'd probably only start talking back and forth about things once they both worked their way back to L-3 or even 2... Neither of them was probably up for a Direction 0 discussion of their days, given the sheer complexity of what Spike had gone through and the privacy of what Twilight had apparently done.

"...And of course, a factor in my new health is my new height, which is significantly variable-"

"How variable?"

"I can demonstrate my min-and-max if you want: It'd be good to have that recorded anyways, right?"

Twilight seemed quite intrigued by that, and so Spike pulled up his Dragon's Hoard. When he first acquired it earlier in the day it had been a problem and a bit of a nuisance... But he was already getting used to having the same height as his older friends, and the potential to change on a whim had a certain appeal.

"The variables are based on different 'hoards' of my property and such, with tolerances that have been getting wider as I train the skill. Minimum is currently..."

Spike winced through the sudden compaction as his body pulled down, down, further down... When it was finished, he was a full head shorter than he had been when he woke up this morning, around two and a half feet tall. Twilight looked him over and gestured for him to stand to get a better display on the recording, but it was clear she was restraining herself from asking too many questions.

"I'd need to stand to show off this next one anyways..."
At which point he braced himself for the real pain, stretching and growing in flares and creaking waves of green fire. By the time he finished his tallest crest brushed against the ceiling of the cozy room, and his chest was wide and surprisingly muscular. He very carefully avoided whipping his tail, since right now it would probably damage the couch behind him.

"Current maximum is roughly nine feet give or take, and my spines put another foot on that easy."

"Why say 'roughly' and 'give or take' when this is part of a menu: Doesn’t it show concrete values?"

"It does, but skills change their values as I practice them, and showing off like that got me a level in Dragon's Hoard: I didn't grind it too excessively earlier, so it's still popping pretty often. The range changed by... like an inch on both sides when it gained that level."

He didn't bother defining the term 'grind' for the recording, or for Twilight: She might not have played games to the same extent that he did, but she had grown up with him and Shining Armor. Not to mention the Sparkle house was within trotting distance of one of Canterlot's arcades. While she scribbled down a few notes, he returned himself to normal size and slipped back onto the couch.

"Alright. That covered your summation pretty well, in terms of end results: I really do want to hear how you got some of these skills though."

"Well, I'll gladly drop back to an L-3 or even an L-2... After you go."

"...Beginning an L-4 summary of today's events and their consequences from my perspective. I consummated my relationship with Princess Celestia. Physically. And repeatedly. We cancelled several plans for lunch, a theater show, dinner, and an anniversary trip to the park for the sake of having more time in bed together. And on the balcony together, and at one point in the palace kitchens together. We ended up un-cancelling the park trip in the end, but that was because we had gotten somewhat creative in our... activities. We also performed a ritual binding that tied our magic together on an intrinsic level, which apparently raised my 'Character Level' several times according to Spike's power-"

"First thing, are you sure it wasn't all the 'exercise' that got you one of those levels? And second, did Celestia really give you her Benediction?"

Twilight startled away from him with wide eyes and scrambled to the console.
"...Command: Pause. Command: Erase last ten seconds. No she did not, but Spike how do you even know about it!?"

"Well, I met Rarity's aunt and uncle who are both Night Guards, and one of them told me the details. Said he was surprised I didn't already know, and made a joke about Celestia 'keeping her state secrets from her state secrets'. It was pretty funny, come to think of it."

"How long ago was this?"

"Oh it was today! After Rarity induced my Dragon's Hoard skill acquisition and the forced growth spurt that came along with it, without my consent... But before the two of us mutually decided we shouldn't pursue my crush on her in the foreseeable future, if ever."

Her expression softened as she stepped back towards the couch, ears flopping down.
"Spike! I... Alright. OK. Clearly trying to make a dry summary of this first was the wrong idea. I'm so sorry to hear... We should start over."

He reached across the couch and picked up one of her hooves, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Yeah, that... would be nice. I'm still definitely of two minds about a lot of things... I’m of three or four minds about that bit in particular."

"Right then... Command: Archive current recording. Reset. Starting recording, Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon present. Topic: The Biggest Day Ever. This is going to be an informal recording for review purposes only, Do Not Release. Leaving blank space for three, two, one..."

- - - - - - - - 

"So we're saving any further mechanical testing for tomorrow, right?"

Twilight nodded without speaking, which was polite given her mouthful of strawberries. Once she gulped it down, she gave another brief nod for emphasis.
"That seems reasonable to me, unless you want to... You are doing something right now, aren't you? I can feel something shifting in your magic field."

"Yup! Actually one of the biggest pick-ups of the day was from the meditation you taught me. The benefits are huge, and I got a follow-on skill that lets me meditate while doing simple and repetitive actions. Like simultaneously talking and carving little gem sculptures, apparently."

At this point the two of them had gone fully casual, slumping back against the couch. Twilight was running some simple numbers and moving objects with her magic, and Spike was grinding skills... Really, it was the same way that Pinkie fidgeted or Rarity fussed with the seams of her clothing: Sometimes you just needed to keep yourself occupied during a conversation.

"Really? That's fascinating! It implies that your power doesn't just codify abilities, but can actually intensify and enhance their functionality."

"So that meditation doesn't have any huge day-to-day benefits for a normal pony?"

Her expression soured briefly.
"Well, there are reports and claims, but... I'll admit it. I've never paid too much heed to them, if only because I don't see a lot in the way of peer-reviewed studies coming out of the field."

"That just means we get to be the first ones to publication!"

"...That would be an intriguing take on things. Alright, I'll add it to the docket."

"At the very least, I'm not even slightly tired, despite the way that usually goes for me."

"Neither am I, which is weird given what all I did in Canterlot... Although that investiture of power was indescribable. If I were to try... I feel like it’s only just begun, like a seed was planted."

Spike flipped his claws over and pictured the flow of power through them, a constant undercurrent in his head while he was meditating.
"Do you think my wakefulness is coming from the meditation, from The Gamer, or a bit of both?"

"Spike, would you believe I actually have a third theory?"

"Lay it on me, oh great and wise Twientist."

She stuck her tongue out at him, but rather than reply in kind he just tossed another piece of chocolate onto the outstretched appendage.
"Mmmh, thanks. So, I think you've finally matured. Not just as a person, you did that long ago. I mean your body... You never got much bigger except for the greed incident. Your breath didn't get much stronger. Your natural magic field was always below average. And then today you suddenly come into your own and awaken this power and all of that changes: Now your height can shift freely, your breath has apparently near-infinite potential, your magic field is strong enough that the minor flux from entering meditation pings my senses..."

He could feel his own expression, still turned towards himself, growing dark.
"Are you saying my body was just... holding out on me all these years? Sandbagging me?"

"No! More like the opposite. I think it was just storing up to make this possible, like a capacitor bank. You were always sleeping, you ate heavily, you exercised your body and mind... But all that power just went into preparing the way for this huge change."

That brought him back to feeling more cheerful, the emotions mercurial and quick to fade.
"So now I might actually have a sleep schedule like a normal pony. I mean, assuming that The Gamer even has to sleep. I know I can, Gamer's Body has that insane clause about full restoration when I sleep in a proper bed... But do I need to sleep anymore?"

"We just don't know yet: Maybe you don't even have to eat, for all we know. "

"Heh. Heck of a way to come into maturity: Most ponies get gradual growth spurts, puberty, and weird feelings about their classmates. I have to question whether the basic laws of biology even apply to me!"

Twilight laughed at that, but then pushed away from the couch and gestured for him to stand. He followed her up, meeting her gaze eye to eye... It was going to take a lot of getting used to, but he really liked this perspective. There had been something inherent to being flank-high on adult ponies that led to them dismissing him in conversations, but now he felt properly scaled (heh) up.

"Spike... I did have another reason I went to Canterlot today. So before the clock turns over for tomorrow, I wanted to do one last big thing for you today."

"...Alright."

Her horn went dark for a moment, and then began glowing with an escalating intensity, throwing off the rare spark here and there. One wave of light after another began to wash over him, and he could feel his body try to resist it... He shrugged it off and forced it down: As cool as it would be to get a Magical Endurance skill to match the physical resistance he picked up earlier, this was very much not the right time. When Twilight opened her eyes again, they were the pure glowing white he only saw when she used the Elements or made some other massive working.

"By the power invested unto me by the Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance... By the laws set down in the Equestrian Code and verified by my own hoof... I, Twilight Sparkle, as your warder, your caretaker, and your legal guardian... Formally declare you, Spike the Dragon, a fully-fledged adult in the eyes of all laws and all powers."

Spike could feel the natural loop of the magic closing on him and making itself a part of his own body and aura... But then it stopped, and a flat green plane appeared in front of his eyes.


An attempt has been made to permanently enchant you. Accept this alteration? Y / N


He hovered a claw in front of the buttons, looking at Twilight as he did. She was clearly a bit winded by that... And if the spell did what she said, he could understand why. But given the earlier incident with Rarity, it would be best if he did understand before moving on, just in case.

"So... First off, thank you. I'm sort of overwhelmed? This is... wow. But I thought we couldn't move forward with the whole 'legally declaring me an adult' thing until we had a better idea of what draconic adulthood even is? And I was pretty sure the final adulting process was going to involve a few reams of paperwork, not some massive ritual spell."

"That was the plan, yes. But you did awaken this new power, so Celestia and I discussed it during our... downtime. This is basically a failsafe to make your legal majority undeniable by any means. So even if we run across dragons at some point in the future and they try to make some claim-"

"You mean like an 'Oh, well our adulthood is five hundred years, and adult dragons can claim any foundling as their child-slash-property on sight?' sort of thing? Because yeah, I've read a few stories like that and I wouldn't put it past any of the dragons we've seen or heard of."

"Right! Exactly. But Spike, you've been with us for so long, and rather than try to deal with whatever the dragon nations have for a legal system, or try to make you into some exemption in Equestrian law? We took a more... appropriate route."

"So just how binding is this? Because my system popped up a warning message letting me refuse it, and given my last run-in with abrupt magical transformation today..."

Twilight's face drained of color and she backed away, suddenly looking terribly angry at herself.
"Shoot! Spike, I... Oh my gosh I wasn't even thinking about the parallels to the situation with Rarity. I'm so sorry! I just haven't been able to think straight at all today-"

"Well yeah, not to repeat a joke but I imagine the things you did with Celestia would have been difficult if you had been thinking 'straight'."

“...OK, you’re at least not-mad enough to be cracking jokes. Also you would be surprised.”

He honestly wasn't mad at all: Twilight got ahead of her own hooves a lot of the time, especially when it came to experimental magic, Celestia, and doing things to make Spike's life better. Her growing magic hadn't started out with the intent of creating fake mustaches, after all... Speaking of which, he parsed Twilight's sentence again and then paled himself.
“...I’mma file that one under ‘things I should be surprised Celestia can do, but I totally am not’ and pray the mental drawer doesn’t overflow. Still! No worries. This isn’t even remotely the same as the thing with Rarity, primarily because you and I have a lot more experience with this. I’ve sat through being your test subject for how many spells again?”

“Right. Well... It’s fairly inescapably binding, although from your descriptions of the ‘titles’ some ponies have, I wouldn’t be surprised if it just becomes another toggle in your menu. But if any entity, magic, law or force tries to treat you as anything less than a full-fledged adult (and said force isn’t at least as powerful as Celestia and I working together) it’s going to fail.”

His claw had already been drifting to the left as she spoke, but when she got to the end he gladly dropped the tip down on the Yes button. The change was immediate and strangely imperceptible. He could tell it was working, but nothing about him had changed. It was the kind of definition-setting magic, a metaphorical pavis of law, which would only ever be noticeable if it was tested. In the meantime it sat dormant and nestled under his skin, a comforting non-presence of Twilight’s magic. And just as she had supposed it also sat in his menu: A toggle option for ‘Magically enforce recognition of adulthood?’, right between the titles and his class.

“Also, happy coming-of-age, I got you a present: I did all the paperwork months ago and filed it when I landed in Canterlot this morning. And yes it was two reams of paper, literally. Now we just need to schedule your cuteceañera!”

Spike wanted to grumble and complain about that, especially since he hadn’t been too happy the last time somepony made a joke about it... But coming from Twilight it was just earnest.
“Pinkie hosts or I bail the instant we cut the cake.”

“Spike, this is Ponyville: Of course Pinkie is in charge of the... p-word.”

“Trying not to wake her up at, what, eleven at night? There’s been plenty of times where she doesn’t even get started until this late.”

“You did say she was up all day tending that tamale.”

“Fair! No p-word. I’m surprised she doesn’t show up for synonyms though: Isn’t that basically what cuteceañera means?”

Twilight just shook her head and trotted over to the table to finish off her beverage.
“I’ve learned to stop questioning Pinkie, at least on that level: Her logic is uniquely hers.”

- - - - - - - - 

It wasn’t long before they had polished off the rest of the snacks and drinks, sending the two of them back out into the harsh light of the Library to go scrounge up a few more. Clearly they had underestimated just how much there was to discuss. After a few minutes they returned with the last of the fruit, some salty pretzels for balance, and a few more bottled drinks (which were indeed kept cold in his Inventory, which apparently didn’t give a flip about thermodynamics... or it didn’t have anywhere for the heat to move in and out of), including a single bottle that was just for Twilight.

Desperate for any final ways to put this off, Twilight looked to Spike as she levitated a fluted glass down onto the table.
“You sure you don’t want anything hard, Spike?”

“Eh, I’ll save that for the pa... particular event we were talking about earlier. Plus I’ve had enough at Canterlot events to know I’m not a white wine sort of guy: I'll take a few sips tops.”

“We have perfectly good reds too, some mead from Fluttershy’s hives... I’m fairly sure there’s even some of Applejack’s namesake in there somewhere.”

“No hard cider?”

The cork gently pop’d out of the neck of the bottle, almost covering Twilight’s nervous laughter.
“I had a Daring Do reading night with Rainbow last week.”

He vaguely remembered the tipsy giggling from downstairs when he was reading through the latest arc of Power Ponies at the time.
“Aaahha: Say no more. Didn’t you pick up some of that new orange wine Berry’s been selling?”

Her expression went stiff and she turned away, pouring the wine perfectly without looking.
“...didn’t get any.”

“Dare I ask?”

Twilight didn’t reply until after the glass was full, the bottle recorked, and everything was set aside... And when she did, it was with a surprising amount of heat in her voice.
“It’s not made with oranges!”

“Yeah? We knew that: Berry only works with grapes. It’s just that she leaves the skins in so that it all picks up some of the colors and chemicals-”

“I understand that, Spike, but even taking the homonym into account it's still misleading in the context of beverages! So I might have... gotten huffy about linguistics. At the time. Vocally.”

Even with the boosts from his first Story Arc already finished, Spike still half-hoped he’d pick up a skill for Exasperated Facepalm or similar: Celestia only knows it would be easy to grind.
“Do I have to go apologize to the marketponies?”

“No, I did it myself at the time... I was just so stressed out with the preparations for ‘today’. It was an incredibly taxing week or two leading up to... all of that.”

“Speaking of which, are you finally going to start telling me about your half of things?”

“Spike, I’m just concerned that you’re...”

“Not old enough? Twilight, you literally just declared me an adult. Unless, of course, the spell doesn’t apply to dodgy rhetoric and flimsy logic?”

That sent her sputtering and looking for a response, eventually settling on “Dodgy? FLIMSY?”, which just got Spike laughing... and she started laughing as well, both of them going into deeper fits of hysterics before slowly petering out. Twilight levitated her glass over and took a sizable swig before settling deeper into the couch.

“Alright, alright. So all of this started... Well, it started at that first Summer Sun Celebration, if I’m being totally frank. But it started in earnest after my brother’s wedding...”

Twilight spoke for what felt like days, but took only hours. He sat and listened, intrigued and enraptured, through every word of it. Here was how it all went down, as Spike understood it:





Twilight had never felt any shock in her life as complex and intense as the feeling when Celestia was knocked out by Chrysalis in their battle at the wedding. Dozens of thoughts had laid into her all at once, ranging from ‘How was the power she stole from my brother sufficient to let her match Celestia?‘ and ‘I need to stop her now more than ever!‘ to ‘Somepony needs to check on Celestia and move her out of the active combat zone’ and ‘(a series of complex equations for charging up a blaster spell to maximum as quickly as possible)’. But only one thought actually caught Twilight by surprise, both in the moment and afterwards. She had seen Celestia take a nasty hit, watched her fall, seen her crown clatter across the floor... And she had thought ‘What if I never get to tell her?’.

Never got to tell her what, Twilight had lied to herself at the time. She spent weeks afterwards pursuing the little niggling thought, something so inconsequential that had somehow been just as loud as all the others in that time of crisis. Eventually it became very clear: Some part of her mind, her thoughts on Celestia, had been compartmentalized and set aside years ago... And that shock had set it in motion once again, her affections putting their feelers out once more. Twilight had always loved Celestia from the moment she first saw her, even if she hadn’t fully understood it at the time. When she did come to understand it? She was already Celestia’s student, which was reason enough to push the feelings down with ruthless efficiency (and no small amount of regret).

As the years carried on however, it became clear that was untenable. Celestia didn’t just see her as a student, she had already known that much: She was a confidant, a friend, and maybe (Twilight had dared to dream) somepony with the potential to be an equal or even a lover. Years spent in Ponyville had given her the separation and distance needed to realize her side of things wasn’t just infatuation or a perversion of their teacher-student relationship, but legitimate affection. The shock at the wedding two years ago clarified it even further, and Twilight decided (once she stopped running from herself) that she would buckle down and confess.

The self-doubt and subsequent buckling-down had taken the better part of a year. She confessed to Celestia face to face, privately, over a tea-time talk in the alicorn’s bedchambers last year. Her reaction had been calm and serene... ignoring the widened eyes and the slight shake of her cup against the saucer. It was a rare crack in her composure, and Twilight had memorized both the sound and her expression completely before Celestia had replied. She asked for a bit of time to consider it, which Twilight gladly gave her.

A week later they reached parity: Celestia responded to the confession of love by asking Twilight out on a date during their next get-together. It felt like the egalitarian way to handle things, and was precisely as dorky and stilted as one would expect from this particular pair of ponies. With a bit of assistance from Luna and Cadance, the two of them began meeting up as often as possible, dating in a variety of ways and places. Some times it was under the auspices of official business, other times one or both of them would be disguised if it was in public. Once it was quite literally in a dream, a gift courtesy Luna. Mostly, they stayed inside and explored their new relationship... and each other.





Things went on from there and while Spike continued to listen, he also began to play a more active role in the conversation as Twilight emptied her glasses. By the time she got around to recounting some of their more notable dates, Twilight was nearing the halfway mark on her bottle... Which was saying quite a bit given her average-at-best tolerance for the stuff. Spike knew it would still take a fair bit more for her to be properly drunk, but her descriptions were starting to stray further away from safe territory. Each time she started going into any topic he knew she’d regret in the morning, Spike made sure to pull her away from the topic: They had protocols for when ponies were drinking at the Library.

“-and that was the first time we ended up eating e-”

“Twilight.”

“Right! Right. Information overload. Sorry. I’ve been apologizing a lot tonight: Sorry for that, too.”

“The phrase I meant was too much information, but I’ll take what I can get. And no worries about the apologies, sometimes things just all hit at once.”

She nodded in appreciation, blinking owlishly before levitating her glass over again and taking another swig.
“I left off... Right! Dates. We ended up going out together a few dozen times all told since then. In fact, today marked fifty dates sharp. Which was a landmark for us! I mean, most ponies go for chronological landmarks like anniversaries, but... Numbers made more sense to us. We always made sure every decadate was special, for example.”

“Would you chalk that up to you-being-you, or to the two of you having known each other for so long before you started dating?”

“Bit of both, honestly: Celestia’s own irregular free time plays a large part as well. It would be odd to celebrate some long stretch of ‘time together’ when we actually spend time together in such erratic bursts.”

Spike looked at his menu’s system time, and was unsurprised to see a single digit hour well past dayroll.
“Speaking of spending time, you want to call it at a half-bottle and pack it in for the night? We’re not exactly under pressure to cram this all in now, and I’m really interested in hearing more.”

“That... is not a bad idea at all, Spike.”

And without any significant prompting, the two of them made their way up and out from the sitting room and to their respective beds. They could have cleaned up, they could have capped things off with some meaningful words... But they’d already said an unnatural number of meaningful words that day, and cleaning (for once) seemed like it could wait until morning. It felt strangely right to cap off such an absurd day in an unceremonious way.

And thus ended Spike’s first day as The Gamer, properly ended. It ended the exact opposite of the way it started: All of his eyelids drooping closed to the now-comforting blue light of a floating menu screen.

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