Spike lied motionlessly on Gilda’s back, holding on tightly as the wind fought him.
“Yo, kid, you still alive back there?” Gilda asked. “You’ve been quiet since we hit the air.”
He didn’t respond to her question. Instead, he moaned inaudibly, showing no signs of recuperating from the rejection.
“Hello! Could you say something that tells me you aren’t dead? Otherwise, I’m going to get rid of the excess baggage.”
“Rarity…” was all Spike could manage to squeak out. He repeated her name constantly, choking up occasionally.
“Well… that’s something, at least.” Gilda groaned. “Still the most miserable thing I’ve heard, but at least you have energy to say something.”
Spike grumbled inaudibly, making Gilda roll her eyes in disgust. It was an eerily silent trip to their destination, made more unbearable by the fact she was carrying a sulking dragon.
She landed near a small plain, rolling Spike off her back. The miserable dragon lay on the ground, a lifeless shell of his former self.
“Hey, get up, kid!” Gilda demanded. “I need to show you something.”
Spike got up and followed Gilda, who was walking towards a small pond.
“Look in there,” Gilda said. “I want you to tell me what you see when you looked in the pond.”
Spike stared down at the rippling water. The contents of his misery were fully displayed: red eyes, dried tears along his cheeks, and a dead and soulless expression that signified loss. He sighed softly and continued staring into the water.
“Well?” Gilda tapped the ground impatiently. “Any day now!”
“I see me, Gilda,” Spike said. “What else did you expect me to say?”
“Well, you want to know what I see? I see a pathetic twerp that is tearing himself up over a petty crush not accepting his advances. Look at you! You’re a miserable wreck!”
“But I am miserable…”
“Well, you shouldn’t be.” Gilda walked towards the pond and smashed her claw in it, distorting the image of Spike in the water. “You see how quick the sappy face left in the water? I can easily do that to you with a few jabs! Either that, or you can try and straighten out on your own!”
Spike cringed at her threat. “I’ll try,” he said simply, looking at the ground. “Maybe if I go lie down a bit, I can—”
“Lying down ain’t going to help you, twerp,” Gilda said “You’re going to do something to clear your mind of that mare, whether you like it or not.”
“Okay,” Spike said. “So, was there a point in you bringing me down here other than to hit the water and use it as a metaphor for my face?”
Gilda was about to respond, but couldn’t come up with anything to contradict what Spike had stated. “Just get back on my back,” she said, completely ignoring his question. “We’re going to go somewhere I like to go when I need some time to unwind.”
Spike complied with the demanding griffon’s orders. It wasn’t as if he had a choice—she would just track him down and berate him for being so sulky otherwise. He climbed on her back and she took off to the skies once again.
***
When they finally landed, they were in front of Ponyville’s bowling alley, causing Spike to raise an eyebrow.
“You come here often?” Spike asked.
“Well, I used to bowl back in Manehatten when I got tired of being in my crappy apartment,” Gilda explained, walking towards the building. “I usually go by myself, but since you’re around, I might as well play a round with you.”
“I guess…”
The two walked inside the bowling alley. Gilda went against the counter to claim a lane. While she was registering their names, Spike sat on the stepped towards the bowling area, staring at nothing, tears beginning to well up in his eyes again.
It is an honor to have you as a friend, but I just don’t love you the same way that you like me.
The words were like poison, pounding their way into his skull until the least desirable phrases tormented him.
I just don’t love you the same way that you like me.
“But… I do love her…” Spike rocked back and forth with his hands against his head. He was on the verge of a meltdown.
I just don’t love you…
Don’t love you…
“She doesn’t… love me…”
“Hey, kid, we got lane four! Let’s get out there and get a few strikes on our belt!” Gilda grabbed Spike and pulled him to the appointed lane. She stretched out by the aisle, grabbing a red and black bowling ball.
“Alright, dweeb, we’re playing for ten frames,” she said. “Now, I want you to try and enjoy yourself. None of that sobbing and miserable look you’re pulling now. I paid too much for you to be wasting a shot!”
If Spike was in a better mood, he would have argued that she was using his money to pay for the game. However, he kept quiet and nodded his head.
“Good. Looks like I’m up first.” Gilda stuck her claws into the holes of the ball and lined up herself up in a good position to hit the pins. After angling herself appropriately, she rolled the ball down the lane, successfully hitting all ten pins.
“Striiiiike!” Gilda said, drawing the attention of the other participants in the alley. “First roll, too! Try and beat that, twerp.”
“Okay.” Spike grabbed a smaller, purple ball and slipped his claws inside. His misery intensified as he analyzed its color. It reminded him of the mare that stomped all over his heart. He slowly walked in the lane, not caring where he positioned himself, and lazily rolled the ball. It didn’t take long for the ball to roll in the gutter, avoiding every pin.
“Well, doesn’t look like I’m too good at this ga—OWW!”
Gilda struck the back of Spike’s head with her fist, giving him an irritated look. “What did I tell you about wasting a ball?”
“I tried to roll it, you jerk!” Spike rubbed the back of his head.
“No you didn’t! You lazily rolled it in the lane and didn’t care where it was going to end up!”
“Fine! I didn’t try, okay?! Spike said. “But how do you expect me to care when I’m miserable?!”
“You aren’t trying to stop being miserable, that’s the problem!”
The purple ball rolled back into the holder, giving Spike a second chance at hitting some pins.
“If you want me to stop being miserable, don’t hit me!” Spike glared at Gilda as he went to retrieve the ball. This time, he lunged the ball down the lane. It managed to hit one pin in the process.
“There! I hit one! Now will you—OOWW!”
Once again, Gilda punched him in the back of the head, this time with much more intensity.
“What is your problem?” Spike flared his nostrils furiously, blowing smoke . “I hit the stupid pin this time!”
“Yeah, but you’re doing it out of pent-up aggravation! You’re supposed to be unwinding!”
“Again, how can I unwind if you keep hitting me every twenty seconds?”
“Well, stop acting like a miserable sack of crap, and I might not hit you anymore!”
The two glared at each other, intense anger beaming in their eyes. It was once again Gilda’s turn to roll. She didn’t strike out that time, and instead got a split, eliciting a groan.
“Geez, I hate these,” she said, completely ignoring Spike’s agitation. “If you don’t hit the shot perfectly, you won’t get any of the pins.”
She lined up her final roll, attempting to hit the two pins. Instead, it only managed to get one down, the other jolting around slightly, barely avoiding the final push.
“Darn. Missed a pin. Your turn, twerp. And this time, put some effort into it.”
Spike once again grabbed the same ball, glaring at Gilda as he entered the lane.
Stupid Gilda, he thought, huffing to himself. The heartless jerk doesn’t care about my feelings! She’s just taunting me. Using my money to take her bowling… I don’t even like bowling that much. She could care less about me being miserable! I just got rejected! REJECTED!
He held the ball, preparing for another half-hearted roll. However, something stopped him from rolling—another voice had invaded his thoughts. The voice of his rejecter.
You’ll find someone else, someone even better than I am.
“No, I won’t.”
“Spike, you alive there?” Gilda noticed Spike standing motionlessly in the middle of the lane. “Hey! Hello?”
Spike’s attention was focused on the mare’s voice. “I can’t find anypony better than you…”
Because you won’t allow yourself to…
Spike jolted when he heard the unfamiliar statement.
You have to move on. I don’t want my little Spikey Wikey to be miserable because of this. You have to be stronger than this. You are stronger than this…
Spike sighed, realizing what the voice was. It was his conscience finally reaching him, knocking some sense into the dragon. Part of it was also fear of Gilda’s mighty claw, but he set that fear to the side to focus on the bigger issue.
Himself.
“You’re right,” he said to himself. “I have to get past this.”
“Um, are you talking to the ball that can’t respond back?” Gilda asked, thinking Spike had gone nuts. He ignored the griffon and lined up his shot, hoping to make a shot that would avoid a hard thrust to the back of his skull.
“I’ll do this for Rarity,” he said. “For my friends, so they don’t have to see me miserable. But, most importantly, I’ll do this for myself.”
He released the ball and shot it towards the pins. Unfortunately, he lined his shot up all wrong, and the ball went careening into the gutter. He turned towards Gilda and lowered his head.
“Go on, get it over with,” he said, closing his eyes and cringing. However, instead of a hard fist colliding with his skull, he received hefty chuckles from Gilda.
“Hey, kid, I’m not going to hit you,” she said, grinning softly.
“R-Really?”
Gilda nodded, causing Spike to look at her wide-eyed. “But, I missed the shot! I completely messed it up!”
“Yes, you did,” she said. “And while that was the most pathetic throw I’ve ever seen, you actually attempted to play the game. You tried to do it, instead of sulking and being a zombie. That’s all I wanted from you.”
Spike grinned slightly, wiping the one escaping tear that tried to leave his face. He was glad to finally have been able to somewhat get a grasp on his emotions.
“However, you do suck at bowling, kid,” Gilda taunted. “Seriously, what kind of shot do you call that?”
“It was my first legit try!” Spike defended. “You can’t expect me to get it right on my first try!”
Gilda stuck her tongue out at him. “Not like your other attempts will be any better.”
Spike clenched his fist and walked up to her, coming face-to-face with the griffon. “You want to bet on that, bird beak?”
Gilda smugly grinned at the fired-up dragon, saying, “Bring it on, dung for brains.”
For the rest of the game, Spike attempted to put Gilda in her place. He concentrated and took the challenge seriously, carefully lining up his shots to ensure his success. Every time Gilda watched him take his turn, she bobbed her head and grinned. This was the kind of energy she wanted the kid to show—the kind he needed. Oddly enough, it was also the kind she enjoyed.
Spike got up to take his final shot, glaring down the aisle with intense focus.
“Hey, twerp, the gutter is calling! It says it misses you!” Gilda laughed.
“Laugh it up all you want, Gilda. I’ll finally make you shut your trap.” With a concentrated throw, Spike sent his ball crashing into a roll of pins, ending the game.
“Yes!” Spike exclaimed, balancing himself on his tail in happiness. “Eat that, Gilda!”
The griffon put her claw to her beak and yawned, not too excited about his victory.
“You said I couldn’t do it. You said I didn’t have a chance. But I showed you! I actually hit five pins this time! Count ‘em: five pins!” Spike held his entire claw out, displaying his five digits for added insult.
“Yeah yeah, whatever you say,” Gilda said, rolling her eyes. “Just forget that it took you nine frames just to say that you were able to hit five more pins. Not only that, you still lost to me.”
“None of that really matters,” Spike said, too prideful of his accomplishment to let his victory go. “I did something you said I couldn’t do!”
The score finalized on the screen above. The apparent winner was Gilda, and she had beaten him by a landslide, but she decided not to point it out again. He was too into his little success for her to break his spirits.
“So, wanna play another round?” Spike asked, cracking his fist. “I bet I can beat you this time!”
“So you actually got into this game, I see.” Spike nodded his head. “Well, since you’re starting to like it, no.”
Spike’s eagerness died out as Gilda began walking out of the bowling alley. He trailed behind Gilda, flicking her tail to the side when it got in his way.
“So, basically you got me into this game just so you could lift my spirits up. Then, once I actually get into the mood and start having a little bit of enjoyment, you take that away from me.”
“Like stealing candy from a baby.” Gilda chuckled. “And, plus, I didn’t feel like paying for another game. Maybe we should do something that shouldn’t eat up my money.”
“You mean my money, right?” Spike corrected.
“If you want to walk all the way to our next destination, then yes.”
Spike remained silent. He climbed on Gilda’s back and she flew into the air instantly. This time, instead of laying on her back like a miserable pile of nothingness, he sat up and looked out towards the sky.
“So, where are we going now?” Spike asked.
“You really like to ask a lot of questions, don’t you, twerp?” Gilda replied. “You’ll find out when we get there.”
“Why can’t you just tell me where we’re going now?”
“Because, one, you keep asking me these mundane questions, and two, because I don’t feel like it!”
Spike groaned. “You know, I would say that you are being extremely rude to me, but I shouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
Gilda cocked her head towards Spike and raised an eyebrow. Spike cringed up, worried that he had said something to upset the griffon.
“Well, kid, looks like you’re finally catching on.” She gave a cocky smile and returned her focus to the air, piloting them towards the next location.
From behind the clouds, a mountaintop came into full view.
“Oh, the mountains,” Spike said once he realized where they were going. “I come up here all the time!”
“Really?”
“Yeah! Normally I gather gems up for Ra—”
Spike paused as the barrage of memories came flowing back to him. He felt his spirits die down ever-so-slightly. Gilda became concerned that Spike had fallen silent once more. She wanted to get him out of it before he sank back into sadness.
And she had an idea on how to do it.
“Hey, dweeb, better hold on tight!”
“Okay.” Spike obeyed, grabbing on tighter to her feathered back. “But why?”
Gilda answered his question through action, diving towards the mountainside at increasing speeds. Spike was holding on by only his hands. If he was to let go, he would be sent plummeting towards his doom.
“Hey Gilda, slow down!”
“Nope! Not until we get towards the mountains!”
“At the speed you’re going, we might end up crashing into them!”
“That won’t happen if you stop talking and let me concentrate.”
“How is me talking distracting you from anything?”
“Because SHUT UP!”
If Spike could roll his eyes, he would. He remained quiet and hoped that Gilda knew what she was doing. The griffon looked confidently towards the mountains and continued accelerating towards them. It looked as if she was going to crash head-first into the rocks. However, at the last second, she angled herself straight and slowed herself down to land firmly on the ground.
Spike looked in awe at how skillfully Gilda maneuvered through the sky and onto the ground. “Whoa! That was awesome!”
“Yeah, I know,” Gilda said, straightening her fringes. “Not every day you come across anyone as awesome as me, huh?”
Spike rolled his eyes and walked towards the edge of the mountain. The town was a small speck to the two.
“You know, I always liked looking down on Ponyville from here,” Spike said as Gilda walked beside him. “When I’m up here, I like to imagine that I’m a big dragon, towering over the tiny town.”
“Wow, you have a limited imagination,” Gilda taunted, causing Spike to lightly punch her in the gut.
“You can’t let me have any fun, can you?” Spike chuckled.
“I’m a regular killjoy,” Gilda replied, sticking her tongue out at him. “But enough standing over the edge. If you fall off, I’m not going to come to your rescue.”
“Fine.” Spike left the mountain’s end, wandering aimlessly. “What did we come up here for?”
“What do you normally do up here?”
“Well, me and Rarity usually go gem hunting,” Spike said with a sigh. “Why do you ask?”
She began pushing Spike forward. “Well, get to hunting. We’re going to do something you like this once.”
“B-But we don’t know where the gems are! Normally, Rarity would—”
“Let me guess, she uses the magic from her horn to tell you were the gems were, didn’t she?” Spike nodded. “Ha! Leave it to the ponies to find a wimpy, easy way of doing things! And let me guess, she also made you do all the digging, right? She was too pretty to get her hands dirty, am I right?” Gilda asked.
“Well, not exactly,” Spike said, twiddling his fingers. He didn’t want to admit it, but in the back of his mind, he knew that most of what Gilda had said was true.
“Well, we’re going to do things the old-fashioned way. Dig and pray that we find some gems.”
“So, by we you mean—”
“Yes, me and you. Also, if I find more gems than the dragon that actually likes to eat them, I’m going to slap the everlasting crap out of you. Got it, squirt?”
“Y-Yeah, I got it,” Spike replied.
The two spent most of their time digging for the gemstones. Spike made haste with his digging, burrowing through the ground at the rate of a mole. Gilda dug as well, but at a much slower rate, making sure to look like she was attempting to find the gems while the dragon was looking at her. During the entire expedition, they found a grand total of thirty gems.
“Oooh…” Spike drooled over the delicate rocks. “They… look… delicious…”
“Well, then go ahead and eat them instead of salivating all over the ground,” Gilda suggested.
“You don’t have to ask me twice!” Spike planted himself on the ground and started crunching on the gems. Gilda watched as he ate his food. Spike noticed she was staring at him and held one of the gems out.
“You want one?” he asked.
“Does it look like I eat colored rocks?” Gilda scoffed. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t want to eat anything you slobbered all over!”
“Jeez, I was just offering,” Spike mumbled, stuffing his face with the gem he was about to offer. It took him only a few minutes to down the remaining gems, his belly sticking out from the amount he had eaten.
“Great, the kid’s getting fatter by the second. Eventually ,I won’t be able to fly you around, tubby.”
“Oh, be quiet! I can burn the rest of this off in a week.”
“Ha! I doubt that, twerp!”
They spent a lot of that day just relaxing and lazing about. They shared short conversations with each other (most just snarky quips and taunts), digging for more gems any time Spike had the munchies. The two seemed to get along more as they got they sat in each other’s company.
The sun was beginning to set, turning the light-blue sky into a yellowish-orange array. Gilda stretched out her talons and spread her wings, feathers ruffling in the process. “Alright, dweeb, you live at the library, correct?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I’m gonna take you back,” she said. “I’m done with you for the day. Besides, I’m about to go see something I don’t think you can handle.”
“What are you talking about? I can handle anything you can dish out!”
“Really?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow. “I must warn you now that what I’m about to do is going to be more intense and terrifying than diving towards a mountain. This thing will make your scales crawl, your blood turn cold, and make you wish you could erase everything you saw from your eye sockets. Now, tell me, are you truly prepared for that kind of terror?”
The vivid description caused him to gulp and shake a little, but he was determined. He wasn’t going to be driven away from Gilda— not that easily, at least.
“No problem,” Spike said coolly. His confidence caused Gilda to raise an eyebrow.
“Very well, twerp.” She lowered herself, inviting him on her back. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“No need to try to scare me off,” Spike replied, walking towards her. “I’ve dealt with you and your rotten attitude all day! What could be scarier than that?”
***
“No, please. Leave me alone!”
The masked pony remained silent, revving up a chainsaw and running towards the horrified mare.
“No! Stop! STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—”
The audience squirmed as the chainsaw made contact with the mare. It was horror night at the Ponyville sit-in theatre, so the the field was filled with ponies screaming. Some couples nestled against each other, keeping themselves calm after seeing a gruesome scene.
Gilda and Spike sat in the middle of the crowd. Gilda looked wide-eyed at the projector screen, throwing a clawful of popcorn into her mouth and enjoying the gory madness happening on screen. Spike, on the other hand, wasn’t taking it too well. He had his hands over his mouth, shivering violently from the scenes.
“Okay, maybe there are things scarier than your poor attitude,” Spike admitted.
“Oh, so now you change your mind,” Gilda said, digging into the popcorn bag. “Well, you should have listened to me earlier.”
“I didn’t think you would take me to see a horror flick like thi—AAHH!” Spike covered his eyes as he saw the next terrifying scene and looked at the ground. “I want to go home now…”
“Too late for that, twerp,” Gilda said, popping more popcorn in her mouth. “I’m not missing a single moment of this movie because you’re about to piss yourself.”
“Fine,” he said, visibly upset. “I’ll just go home myself!”
“Okay, fine by me.”
“You’re not going to oppose? I mean, it’s dark, dangerous, who knows what’s out here at this time of night—”
“And I don’t really care. I’ll take you home after the movie is over, but until then, you either sit down and wait it out or walk home by yourself.”
Spike folded his arms and looked back at the screen. Two colts had decided to split up and look for the chainsaw-wielding stallion.
“What are you two doing?” Spike shouted at the screen. “He’s just going to get you both!”
He received a light tap on the shoulder from Gilda. “Hey, keep it down. This is the good part!”
Spike watched and hoped that nothing else disturbing would happen. His hopes were shot down immediately as the masked creep leapt from behind the shadows and began his work. The audience screamed once more and Spike buried his head into GIlda’s fluffy breast.
“Really, kid?” She groaned. He didn’t respond, nor remove his face from her chest. Gilda sighed loudly and stretched out her left wing, covering his body with it to shield his vision from the movie. He felt her warm, comforting wings encase him, causing him to flush lightly.
“Thank you, Gilda,” he said softly with wide, young eyes.
Gilda couldn’t bear looking into his sappy eyes. She immediately harrumphed and turned back to the movie. “Yeah, whatever! Just don’t follow me to the movies ever again.”
Spike smiled and nodded his head, snuggling against her protection. Gilda brought a claw to her face and dragged it down. “I should have just let you wallow in your misery…”
***
Spike was still shivering, walking beside Gilda and looking around occasionally.
“You’re pretty jittery,” Gilda said. “That movie couldn’t have scared you that much!”
“Well, I’m not the best when it comes to horror movies,” Spike admitted. “I wasn’t expecting you to have such a morbid interest!”
“Not my fault. You’re the one who said you could handle anything.”
“That was before I knew you were going to take me to see a film about that chainsaw dude.” Spike shivered just from the thought of the film.
“No one told you to come with me, you know.”
“Well, no. But for some reason, I just like being around you. I mean, yeah you’re a jerk, but you’re an awesome jerk. You helped me get over the Rarity situation, too.”
“Well, well, well. You can actually utter her name without being all sad sap,” Gilda said with a cheeky grin.
“Yeah… I can, can’t I?” Spike was absolutely glowing with pride. “Rarity! Rarity, Rarity, Rarity—”
“Gosh, kid, I heard you the first time! No need in getting all happy over being able to say an ex-crush’s name.”
“Oh, sorry,” Spike said, blushing in embarrassment.
Gilda, exhausted from looking after Spike the entire day, led him back to the library. Spike himself was getting a little sleepy, so settling in the bed would also be nice for him.
“Well, here you are,” Gilda said as they reached Golden Oaks. “Now that I’m done with you, I can finally go get some rest.” Gilda stretched her arms out and yawned heavily.
“Yeah, I could use some sleep myself. It’s been an eventful day, but one I enjoyed.”
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a nice time, too,” Gilda admitted. “Just don’t expect this to happen too often. Or, better yet, don’t expect it to happen again.”
“Well, if you put it like that,” Spike said, “I’ll make sure to force you out of that house more often.”
Gilda chuckled at his response. “If you can, Spike. If you can.” She reached into her bag and pulled out some bits, dropping them into Spike’s hands.
“What are these for?” Spike asked.
“What do you mean what are they for?” Gilda replied, staring at him like he was an idiot. “You buy stuff with them! I didn’t think you were brain-dead.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it! I mean, why did you give me my money back?”
Gilda brought her talons on top of Spike’s head and rubbed it softly. “Because I kind of felt bad about taking a kid’s money when he had nothing to show for it, so I want to give you your stuff back. That, and now you can’t say I didn’t pay for everything tonight.”
Spike’s face reddened. He looked up and smiled softly at the griffon, who was acting a little more tender than normal. “Yeah… I guess not.”
“Anyway, I’m about to go hit the hay. Peace, twerp.”
“Yeah… peace…”
He watched her fly off into the moonlit sky, smiling and blushing even more madly than before. Once she left his eyesight, he walked towards the library door and entered.
“Spike, where have you been?” Twilight ran up to him and embraced him in a tight hug, confusing the dragon. “We’ve been worried sick about you.”
“We?”
“Is that Spikey?” A sniffle came from the living room. It was clear to him who the voice was, and, without hesitation, she darted into the room to embrace him.
“Oh, thank goodness! My precious Spikey Wikey is fine!” Rarity shouted in delight.
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Rarity came over here as soon as she finished her date to make sure you were okay. I thought you were with her for most of the day.”
“We looked practically everywhere for you, darling,” Rarity said in an overly-dramatic fashion. “We even looked for you on top of the mountains where we usually go, but we couldn’t find you!” She pressed Spike’s cheeks together with her hooves. “Don’t ever scare us like that again! Where were you?”
“I was with Gilda for most of the day,” Spike said, much to the two mares’ confusion.
“Gilda?” Twilight asked. “Wait, that’s right. She moved here to Ponyville not too long ago.”
“Hmph! You mean that ruffian is living here now?” Rarity scoffed, still cradling Spike.
“Seems to be the case. What I’m confused about is why you were hanging around her, Spike.”
“Well… you see, I went to her earlier for some advice on how to win Rarity over—”
Rarity released the dragon and looked down glumly, remembering how distraught Spike was earlier. “Spike, I’m sorry about that, but I—”
“No, it’s completely cool,” Spike said, waving her off with a claw. “I totally understand.”
“You do?” Rarity asked in shock.
“You do?” Twilight asked as well.
“Yep. Admittedly, I was a little miserable once you dropped the news on me, but Gilda spent some time with me afterwards to take my mind off of it. I’m completely fine now.”
Twilight and Rarity stared at each other in awe. This was something that they feared Spike wouldn’t get over for weeks, yet he proved both of them wrong and got over it in a single night.
“Well, that’s great, Spike,” Twilight said with a smile. “I’m glad you were able to handle this in a mature manner.”
“Yep, I would say I’m pretty mature for my size,” Spike gloated, causing Twilight to roll her eyes and Rarity to giggle. “But… even a big grown dragon like me needs some rest. Time for beddy-bye…”
He rubbed his eyes and made his way up the stairs. “Night, everypony…”
“Goodnight, Spike,” Twilight said.
“Nighty night, Spikey,” Rarity said.
He walked up the stairs and entered his room, preparing for bed.
“Well… that went better than I imagined,” Rarity said “I can’t believe he got over it so quickly.”
“Me neither,” Twilight said, a hoof planted on her chin. “It’s certainly a miracle he’s not bawling his eyes out right now. However, I do wonder about something.”
“And that is?”
“Well, he seemed happy to have been around Gilda. As if he was starting to—”
“Starting to what?”
Twilight shook the idea out of her head. “Nothing. It’s just one of my silly assumptions.”
“I see,” Rarity said, smiling softly. “Well, whatever business Gilda had with Spike, I’m just glad it was a pleasant one, unlike the last time she was down here—”
“Yeah, I remember that day. Wonder how Dash will take the news.”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter how she takes it, now, does it? Spike is having fun with her, so Rainbow Dash might just have to be civil, even if Gilda is a very rude griffon.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Let’s just hope things don’t get too heated.”
***
“Hey… wake up…”
Spike groaned and kept his eyes sealed shut, ignoring the alluring voice.
“Get up, twerp…”
Spike slapped at the intruder with his claws, trying to convince the creature to go away. Once there was nothing else bothering him, he went back to his peaceful slumber.
That was, until a cold bucket of water fell on him, forcing himself out of the bed and onto the… pillowy clouds?
“What was that for?” Spike asked in agitation, his vision still blurry. “And why am I on a giant cloud?”
“Because I brought you here, stupid!”
Spike squinted his eyes and focused on the blurry figure in front of him. As his vision slowly came to him, he saw Gilda towering over him.
“You know, there are better ways at getting my attention than tossing freezing cold water on me,” Spike said with a frown.
“Well, you didn’t respond to the first attempt, so I just went onto the solution I’d knew would work.”
Spike rolled his eyes, still shivering from the cold water. “So, now you have my attention. What exactly do you want?”
Gilda brought a claw to her cheek and began to scratch it, blushing madly as she did so. “You know, I’m not the one to beat around the bush, so I’m just going to say it. I want you to kiss me.”
“Y-You what?” Spike couldn't believe his ears.
“What, do I have to repeat myself?” Gilda said in annoyance. “This wasn’t something I came to a conclusion on so easily!”
“It’s just that—”
“Just what?”
“Well… we just met each other, Gilda.”
“So?” Gilda approached him with half-lidded eyes. “You like me, don’t you?”
“Um… yes.”
“Then prove it,” Gilda said. “Unless of course, you’re chicken.”
Spike’s entire face was turning a crimson shade. Gilda pulled the dragon closer and parted her beak, leaning towards Spike for the kiss. This was a dream come true for Spike. His first kiss, his first intimacy, and with—
“Gilda!”
Spike gasped and leaned up in his bed. The situation he was in was only a dream. Just a dream.
So, why was he having the same one over and over again? He lied back down and looked up at the ceiling in confusion.
“Why can’t I get her out of my head?”