Spike whistled casually as he closed the door behind him, finally escaping from the frigid weather outside. Stomping some snow off of his boots, he then kicked them off and continued whistling down the hallway on the way to his room.
“Spike, you’re home!” a familiar voice called from inside the reading room attached to the castle library. “How was your holiday shopping?”
“Productive,” Spike answered, peeking his head around the corner and into the library. He kept the bag filled with presents outside of Twilight’s view. “You don’t get to see yet, though.”
Twilight Sparkle, seated in a lounger, covered her mouth with a hoof to hide her smile. “Good! I wouldn’t want to know, anyway. Come on in, I want to talk to you.”
Spike frowned and muttered under his breath as he marched into the library, certain he was about to be lectured about something. Placing his bag down next to the reading room’s sofa, he crossed his arms. “Alright, what is it? I’m a busy dragon, you know.”
Twilight pursed her lips, but appeared more unsure of herself than angry. “Well, as you know, tomorrow is Hearth’s Warming Eve, and we’re headed to Canterlot to see the family.”
“I’m well aware.”
“This is the last Hearth’s Warming before I take over ruling Equestria on my own, and I got to thinking about how much we’ve been through over the years.”
Spike groaned, scratching his face with a claw. “Get on with it, Twilight.”
She merely glared back at him for a moment, but her distaste quickly faded. “I want an early Hearth’s Warming gift from you.”
Spike pointed at the white plastic bag on the floor. “A few of your gifts are in there. Go ahead and grab them, I won’t stop you.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Twilight explained. “We used to be so close and affectionate, Spike! I don’t know what happened...maybe we just grew up, a little bit. But, I still want to experience that, at least on Hearth’s Warming.”
Spike raised a scaly eyebrow at her.
“The early gift I want from you is some cuddling time.”
“Nope,” Spike immediately answered, turning around and heading for the room’s door. He stopped only when Twilight’s magenta magic abruptly shut the door.
“Come on, Spike! What’s the problem?”
Spike spun around and pointed accusingly at her. “It’s a little weird, Twilight, okay? I don’t really want to get felt up by you.”
Twilight immediately scoffed at him, although her cheeks turned pink. “I’m not going to feel you up. Where’d you even get that idea? That’s not what cuddling is...I just want to, y’know, hug you for a while. We used to hug all the time!”
Spike frowned skeptically at her. “You are making me uneasy, Twilight.”
Twilight straightened up in her chair, regarding him seriously. “If you do this for me, you can return all my presents and use the bits on yourself.”
Spike immediately felt a squirming sensation in his stomach as he began to pity Twilight. “You...This means that much to you?”
Twilight nodded, smiling sweetly at him. “It’s all I want for Hearth’s Warming...From you, at least.”
Spike took a look at his bag full of gifts and groaned. “I’m not going to return your gifts, Twilight. That wouldn’t be right.”
Twilight let out a short little whine at his response.
“You can hug me as well if it means that much to you,” he clarified, striding over to the comfy recliner. With a single swift movement, he hopped up and sat between Twilight’s back legs.
Twilight let out a little squee of delight and wrapped her forehooves around Spike’s torso. She rested her head on top of his, just to the right of his spines.
Spike merely let out a few barely-audible mumbles and groans. “C’mon, Twi, not so tight.”
“Sorry,” she sighed half-heartedly, nuzzling his head. “How about a fire?” With a flick of her horn, she lit some logs which had been carefully arranged in the fireplace.
“So you were well prepared,” Spike commented off-hand as the room began to fill with a pleasing warmth.
“I’m always well-prepared!” Twilight congratulated herself. Leaning down, she nuzzled her assistant’s cheek.
“Erghh, C’mon, Twi,” Spike complained, cringing under the affectionate assault. “What if Starlight comes in here and sees?”
“Oh, relax. She’s already left to spend the holidays with her Dad.” She nuzzled him again, deeper this time. “You’re such a scaredy dragon.”
Spike reflexively recoiled, inadvertently pushing himself deeper into his oldest friend’s coat. “Oh, no,” he cursed himself.
Giggling, Twilight gave him a tight squeeze. “Alright, no more nuzzles, I promise.”
“Good.” Spike relaxed more, letting his weight rest against Twilight’s barrel.
Twilight began swaying side to side happily, her warm coat brushing against the scales of Spike’s back. “...Thanks for this, Spike. I know it’s a little silly, but I’m so happy right now.”
Spike wiggled back into Twilight, nestling his head into the crook under her chin. “Don’t tell anypony...but this isn’t as bad as I make it out to be.” Freeing his claws, he placed them over her hooves and held them.
“You can pretend I’m Rarity if it makes you feel better!” she teased.
Spike squirmed in Twilight’s grasp. “Twi!” he whined.
“What’s wrong, darling?” Twilight cooed in a poor impression of Rarity. “Oh, I do hope I’m not flustering you!”
Squirming out of Twilight’s grasp, Spike flipped around to face her, sitting criss-cross. He pointed a claw at her face. “Just because you’re a pretty mare with a horn, doesn’t mean you’re Rarity.”
Twilight froze for a moment, blinking a few times. She blushed slightly, rubbing Spike on his head and giggling. “You’re a smooth one, Spike, I’ll grant you that.”
He smiled and winked at her, before clambering over her hind leg to sit next to her in the chair, facing the fireplace. “What did you expect?”
Chuckling to herself, Twilight unfurled a wing to wrap around Spike. Almost immediately, he placed his own arms around Twilight’s midsection, pulling himself into a hug against her.
“So, what’d you get me for Hearth’s Warming?” he asked.
“That’s a secret, and you know it,” she chided. “We’ll open presents in 36 hours with everypony else in Canterlot.”
“C’mon,” he prodded. “I got you an early present, didn’t I?” Accentuating his point, he squeezed himself tightly against her for just a moment.
“Oh, alright…” she relented, rolling her eyes. Lighting up her horn, she pulled out a book from a nearby bookcase.
“Aww, Twilight, really? You’re going to give me a book?”
“I’m going to give you several books,” she explained proudly. “But this gift isn’t a book at all.” With a tendril of magic, a few slips of paper slid out. “Here are two round-trip tickets, redeemable as you see fit, and some hotel vouchers. You’re old enough to head out on your own for vacations; I figure you can take Big Mac somewhere fun!”
“Or Rarity,” he corrected smugly.
“If I find out you two shared a hotel room in Las Pegasus, you will both be in huge trouble with me.”
Spike chuckled, sliding in closer and resting more tenderly against his oldest friend. “Alright, alright. What if I want to bring Discord, though?”
“He can teleport.” Twilight answered, her lips pursed in mild disapproval. “And he can pay for his own darn room.”
This pushed Spike into a torrent of laughs. He placed the slips on a night table beside the recliner. “Thanks, Twi. Happy Hearth’s Warming.”
“Happy Hearth’s Warming indeed, my number one assistant.” Unable to resist, Twilight leaned down to nuzzle his head again, although this time Spike didn’t pull away. “I’m so glad to have you at my side.”
“And I’m happy to be here. Literally, I mean; your side is softer than I remember it. You put on weight?”
Twilight nabbed the book she had hidden the tickets in and smacked Spike lightly upside his head.
Spike fell into another laughing fit, and Twilight couldn’t help joining him a moment later.