Spike lay on his bed gazing up towards the ceiling, a broad smile upon his face. The last two weeks since the fall harvest had been something indeed. Nothing much had really changed between them, the single kiss upon the cheek had been taken easily by both parties and none had made any attempt to exploit this. Twilight had however taken to giving Spike a kiss on the cheek every morning at breakfast as a greeting.
While this was a sign of romantic interest, Spike took it to mean more of a simple greeting, Twilight's way of thanking him each morning for all that he'd ever done for her. Currently though, life went on as normal and the reason why Spike was in his room alone was because Twilight was currently visiting with Celestia. He wondered when she would get back, he had an Idea in mind for what they could do today.
In Canterlot Castle
Celestia smiled as Twilight relayed the events of the past month, the stories of what she had been doing certainly caught her attention. It certainly seemed to Celestia that her pupil was developing feelings for her dragon companion, but she kept her mouth shut as Twilight went on.
"I mean, I don't know what the next three and a half months will have in store, but I know that whatever happens, I'll have a good time. Thank you Celestia for ordering me to take a vacation."
Celestia smiled as she took a sip of her tea before replying, "It was either that or have you end up in the Ponyville hospital psychiatric wing. I'm glad to see that you are having fun."
Twilight nodded and fell silent for a moment, thinking deeply. She wanted to ask Celestia about what she was feeling, this faint swooping in her stomach every time she thought about the dragon who was back home. She felt confused when she felt it and at the same time happy that she did.
Celestia watched the young pony, lost deep in thought. She knew exactly why she had become so quite and said nothing, Twilight would ask when she was ready to do so. Eventually after another five minutes Twilight sighed deeply and said, "Well, that's all I wanted to talk about. Its always nice visiting with you Princess. I hope we can do it again another time."
Celestia nodded wisely as Twilight got up from the table that she and the Princess had been having their tea at and stretched. "Twilight, If you ever need to ask me anything, don't hesitate to do so."
Celestia's sentence made Twilight feel that she already knew what she was feeling. While not an unpleasant thought, of having someone like Celestia to go to for advise, she couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed that the princess might know. Twilight thanked the Princess once more and teleported back home, fighting back the urge to vomit upon landing, teleporting was ill advised when one had a full stomach, at least over long distances.
After taking a couple of deep breaths Twilight called, "I'm home!"
She heard the sound of Spike's clawed feet hitting the floor from his room above her. He'd obviously been in his bed while she'd been gone. It wasn't long before she saw him, coming down to the first floor with a large grin on his face, "Welcome back, have fun at Celestia's?"
Twilight nodded and answered, "Yes, it was nice to visit with her again."
Spike smiled a little broader and motioned for Twilight to sit in the living room saying as he did so, "Twilight, there's something that I'd like to ask you." Twilight sat comfortably onto the sofa and looked curiously at the dragon, who smiled as he sat across from her. "Twilight, I was wondering if you'd like to spend today on a hike with me, through the forest."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, A hike? Not that she was against the idea, it just seemed an odd thing to ask especially when she just got back from being gone all morning.
She reclined a little, thinking it over, with Spike looking hopefully at her. His stare was not lost on her and she smiled, realizing that he had to have been planning this for a while now. She nodded and answered with grace, "Of course Spike, I'd love to. I take it you've already prepared for this?"
Spike nodded and motioned to the door saying, "Of course, We'd better go. In a few hours the sun will start to set and I'd rather not be on the way home in the dark." Twilight nodded and followed after him outside.
The afternoon sun hung high in the air, shining down brightly onto Ponyville and its many bustling inhabitants. It wasn't very surprising to see many of their friends bustling around, either playing with each other or their children, or heading to various shops, or even still heading home to have lunch. The air was slightly chilly despite the noon sun, an early warning of how cold the evening chill was going to be. Spike breathed deeply and proffered a crooked arm to Twilight saying, "Shall we?"
She smiled, a little embarrassed and whispered, "We're not exactly going to a ball, you don't need to do that."
Spike grinned and said, "I know, but humor me regardless." Twilight rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide her embarrassed smile as she stood on her hind legs and wrapped an arm around his own, walking with him down the main road out of town.
She did her best to ignore the many curious looks and ill hidden whispers from a few bystanders as she walked along with him but soon she came to realize as she looked at the dragon with whom she had her arm locked with, that all the gossip and stares were nothing more than a little meaningless. She flushed a little more as Spike leaned near her and whisper, "You'd think they'd never seen this before."
Twilight gulped a little and whispered back, "That's probably because they haven't."
Spike realized that she was of course right, but it didn't bother him. He chuckled a little as he continued to walk, talking about nothing of any importance with her. It wasn't long before they we're leaving the town, both of them having to quickly evade a bright red wagon which flew past and a blinding speed, containing a squealing Rose and being propelled by Blitz. A few seconds later, a rather irate Pinkie Pie sprinted past them after her daughter, her husband bringing up the rear a few seconds after she had passed breathing as though he'd run up the Solstice heights and back without stopping. Spike shook his head sadly as he watched after him, not remotely envying the constant activity lifestyle he currently led.
Twilight was looking after the family with a look of worry, probably for the young ones, one accident at the speed they were going, Twilight shuddered at the thought. After a few more minutes the pair of them mentally shook themselves and returned to their walk toward White Tail Woods. It was certainly a much nicer place to walk through than the Everfree forest, especially at this time of year, where all the leaves of the forest would be a multitude of shades of red, yellow, orange, and gold. After a little while, Twilight could stand on her hind legs no more and gently released Spike's arm, dropping gracefully back to the ground. Spike sighed gently, as if the loss of her presence was saddening and shrugged simply as he continued to walk along.
She wasn't sure of what exactly was happening as of yet, but what she did know was that whatever it was it seemed to be affecting Spike as much as her. Within fifteen more minutes they were entering the edge of the wood, the trees casting a faint shadow on the ground, the leaves of the trees were a flame with the colors of fall, red, orange, and gold was every where they looked. There were leaves covering the path as well, and a light breeze swept invitingly by them. Spike smiled a little wider and bowed Twilight through the forest entrance, earning him an exasperated sigh followed by Twilight rolling her eyes. He didn't see it but she smiled none the less as she walked slowly through the woods, her dragon companion following silently by her, grinning broadly like this simple walk was the most amazing thing in the world.
She had to be honest with herself, that she too found herself enjoying this walk a great deal. She glanced back over to Spike and cheekily pushed him before dashing of with a loud, "Tag!"
Spike, who had fallen after being caught off guard, got up and chased after her, her laughter ringing through the trees as they both expertly dodged branches in the chase. Spike was starting to gain on Twilight, despite her having four legs to his two when she suddenly vanished, leaving him to skid to a halt in front of a mass of trees Looking around it he saw her standing yards away, smiling at him cheekily before turning and trotting off.
So that's how see wanted to play this game was it? Spike looked up into the tree above him and got an idea about how to easily catch up with her. Focusing his own magic he leapt up into the tree, landing smoothly on a branch and getting a fix on where Twilight was, looking back to see where he'd gone. With a grin, he used his own magic to jump from the tree he was in, the wind catching him as he flew across the field she'd stopped in and landed in the tree next to her She'd seen him flying through the air and promptly turned to continue running, feeling her heart racing as she realized that what he was doing could easily win him the game. She began using her teleportation to quickly move from one spot to the next, hoping to through him off, but every time she tried she could sense his magic as he landed near her.
Twilight entered into another clearing and stopped, breathing hard, trying to catch her breath. She couldn't sense his magic anymore, but that probably meant that he was sitting nearby watching her. She calmed her breathing and began scanning the tree line, trying to catch a glimpse of the dragon in the trees but she saw nothing. She sighed and took a step back to turn around and suddenly the world became a world of pain as she fell backwards to the ground, her hind left leg caught in a sink hole she hadn't seen.
Her knee felt like it was on fire, her mind swimming in pain as she tried to correct herself, tears streaming down her cheeks. She heard a loud thud feet from her and felt Spike's claws ever so gently remove her leg from the hole, every nerve in her leg screaming in protest. Spike felt horrible, he felt that this was his fault, causing her to run here by keeping up with her, her knee was so swollen that he couldn't stand to look at it.
He gently reached down and touched the damaged leg and allowed his magic to flow out of him and into the hurt leg. He felt sick as he heard an audible pop as the joint reset itself into place and the muscle and tendons healed. "Twilight, I'm sorry, its my fault this happened to you."
Spike's heartfelt apology only made Twilight shake her head as she tried to roll onto her front, tears still fresh in her eyes as she managed to say, "Its not your fault. I started the game and should have been paying better attention to my surroundings."
Despite this, Spike still felt bad as Twilight continued to try and roll back on her front. She sighed as she decided to let her leg rest more from its rapid recovery, ceasing her attempts to roll over and closing her eyes. It was a few minutes before she felt Spikes claws slide gently under her.
She at first was alarmed, opening her eyes only to have them greeted by Spike's piercing emerald green ones, his nose a mere inch from her own as he gently said, "Here, my princess, allow me to carry you to safety."
This disarmed her completely, her heart felt like it was melting away as a blushing Spike lifted her easily, cradling her in his arms.
She knew that so many times in the past he had dreamed of doing this, being the heroic knight to save the damsel in distress, but it had always been fair Rarity who had been the princess, not her. She couldn't help but feel honored that Spike had chosen her for fulfilling his dream over Rarity. She felt so safe here, in his arms, her ear placed firmly against his chest as she curled deeper against him, hearing the strong reassuring beat of his heart.
"Oh, my dear prince, take me to safety. Help your princess in need." Twilight's words held more power than anything he'd ever heard, not even from Celestia herself. He stood there, his heart thudding madly against his ribcage as he look down at the beautiful pony that he held like a precious gem. He nodded and began walking through the woods, shielding Twilight from the branches, promising himself that not one of them would touch her sleek mane
Soon, far, far sooner than Spike would have liked, he was coming out to a small pond and gently sat Twilight down on the bank, under the canopy of a large hickory tree that grew there. She immediately missed the sound of his heart, the slow steady rhythm of his breathing, the warmth of his body.
She opened her eyes and looked at him as he sat there, starring back. She knew now, more than ever what it was she was feeling, and for some reason she felt as if she had always known that it was there. She scooted closer to Spike, her eyes locked steadily on his own, her mind in a flurry of confused thoughts, her heart beating a violent tattoo against her ribs. She felt his breath on her nose, his eyes closing, as he inched nearer to her, her own eyes drooping shut as the realization of what was about to happen crept over her.
The moment happened in one long agonizing moment as their lips met. This one kiss was both the last thing they ever expected and the one thing they both wanted as they gently kissed for the first time on this pond bank, under the fall leaves of the hickory tree. Never before in her life did she think she'd experience this most magic of moments and even as they gently broke apart, she knew that what they had could never be broken. Spike let out a content sigh and curled an arm around her, pulling her close to him, her head resting gently on his shoulder. "Hey Twilight?"
Twilight's only response was a soft hum as she look up at him. Spike smiled a little bit wider and said the three words that at that moment she yearned to hear above all others, "I love you."
She smiled and cuddled closer to him. This day had ended unexpectedly but wonderfully none the less, and the next few months were bound to be wonderful.