Spike had just finished buttoning up his suit and was currently examining himself in the mirror. His suit was a plain black with a red tie, but he was most concerned with his scales, which after a thorough cleaning, had a slight shine to them. He seemed pleased with his appearance and turned towards Twilight’s room.
“Okay, I’m ready. What about you?” called Spike.
“Just a minute,” she replied.
Spike took this time to do a final quick check in the mirror. Still nothing seemed to be out of place.
“Okay, how’s this?” Twilight asked timidly.
He looked to the voice’s source and what he saw threatened to cause his mouth to drop. There standing in the doorway was Twilight; her hair not at all resembling her usual style, instead it looked much straighter with a small playful piece across her face, her eyelashes were done perfectly and her eyelids had just the right amount of eye shadow, and Spike’s favorite, she had on a magnificent sapphire dress. The dragon couldn’t help but look her over more than once. This caused Twilight to shift her hooves so that more of her was covered, and her face to take on a bright crimson.
“Th-This is too much. I should probably go change,” said Twilight, obviously taking note of Spike’s beet red face.
“N-No, I love it,” he assured her with a smile.
Twilight returned the smile and began to relax her front legs.
“Sh-“ Spike’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat and attempted to speak once again. “Shall we go then?”
She giggled. “I don’t see anything stopping us.
----------
As the pair walked through the brisk night air of the park, Spike kept glancing to the stars. It was and astoundingly clear night. This in turn gave the dragon an idea. However, not all eyes were on the sky, for though Twilight was looking at a body, it most certainly wasn’t celestial.
Spike looked over to Twilight, yet, through the dim night, didn’t notice her quickly avert her gaze, nor her currently increasing blush.
“So Twilight, what made you choose the park?” he asked.
Twilight looked away, thinking for a moment.
‘Oh crap! Um, how do I put this and not make it sound romantic? Uh, oh that’s it!’
“I just thought it’d be peaceful, plus I remembered how when we used to live in Ponyville, we’d like to take walks like this.”
Spike smiled. “Well, during the day maybe.” He blushed. “And never with you looking quite this nice.”
Twilight smiled as her cheeks grew even hotter. “Well, I just thought I should look nice for you. It’s not every day you get reunited with your best friend.”
Spike’s expression dropped at Twilight mentioning this. He had hoped she wouldn’t bring up that topic tonight, for all it did was bring back Spike’s sense of guilt.
Twilight saw this and instantly regretted her words. “Spike, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring-“
“It’s okay,” he replied, cutting her apology short.
She looked away, now feeling guilty herself. For a few seconds they walked like this, each passing moment seeming to grow more awkward, that was until Twilight decided to try something.
She pulled her head back slightly and nuzzled it right against Spike’s side so that, whether he wanted to or not, his arm would briefly be around her.
Spike felt her soft fur brush against him as she leaned into his side. Recoiling slightly, he asked “What are you doing?”
Twilight looked up to him with a playful smile. “Exactly what you think I’m doing.”
Spike couldn’t help but chuckle at her immense adorableness and began to grow more relaxed. He then brought his raised arm to rest around Twilight.
In that moment she fought as hard as she could to not let a yelp of joy escape her lips. Though her ultimate test would be when she felt him pull her closer. She just couldn’t describe the joy she felt in that moment.
The two continued to walk like this for a few more minutes, but when they came to a bench, Spike thought it might be best if they took a seat. After all, spending the entire time walking isn’t very much fun, besides, there was something he needed to let her know.
“Hey Twilight, could we sit down for a second?” he asked gesturing to the bench.
She was reluctant to do so, since sitting would require Spike to remove his arm, yet still complied.
The two took a seat and Spike once again found himself gazing up at the stars. He always found this as a way to clear his mind, and he most certainly needed a clear mind for what he was about to say.
He looked to Twilight. “Twi, there’s something you need to know.”
Spike briefly looked away, but when his gaze returned, he saw Twilight’s awaiting violet eyes there to meet it.
“I was awake when you kissed me last night.”
Twilight’s eyes widened in terror. ‘No! No! No!’ she thought.
“Spike, I’m sorry! I just wanted-“
He raised a claw to silence her. “I’m not mad, at least not at you.” He looked away. “I’m mad at myself, I mean, after what I did, I don’t deserve for you to still care about me.”
Twilight quickly began to understand that Spike still had no inclination of her crush. This caused her great relief, yet she was still upset for seeing her friend in such a state of self-loathing.
Gently, she rested a hoof atop his hand, which caused him to look up at her. “We’ve been over this. Nothing would ever make me stop caring about you because I know you, the real you, and he is so deserving. Just please stop beating yourself up over this.”
Spike sighed. “But you-“
Before he could finish, Twilight wrapped her hooves around him and pulled him into an embrace.
“Stop.”
This managed to catch Spike off guard, but once he realized what was happening, he couldn’t help but smile. He then wrapped his arms around Twilight as well, pulling her in closer to him.
“You’re the best friend ever.”
Twilight found herself blushing heavily as Spike’s arms grew tighter. She couldn’t help but relish the warmth of his embrace. She was also enjoying the complement, yet at the same time it made her worry that she’d found her way to the dreaded friend zone.
Slowly, not truly wishing for the moment to end, Spike began to pull away. Twilight had about the same amount of reluctance.
Spike then smiled. “Well, how about we get off this depressing topic? How are the girls doing back home?”
Twilight smiled briefly from seeing Spike’s grin, but it quickly faded as the question was posed.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen them since we stopped looking for you.”
Spike raised his brow. “You all looked for me?”
She nodded. “Of course we did. What kind of question is that?”
He shrugged. “I just never really thought… Anyways, go on.”
“Well, the day after you left, I went to Ponyville, thinking you’d have gone home. We looked, but you know how that went. After that we started going from city to city. For about a year we looked, but by that point it was just Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity.”
“Rarity?” he asked.
Twilight nodded, and hid the fact that this question brought great pain to her. She dearly hoped that Spike’s childhood crush had finally run its course. Though, she quickly assured herself that this fear was ill-founded, for it wasn’t Rarity’s doorstep which Spike had come to, it was hers.
“Eventually though, it was just Applejack and I. Everyone else had to get on with their lives, but you know Applejack,” she continued.
This unexpected information caused Spike to smile. “Yeah, Applejack is stubborn until the end... So, when did you finally stop?”
Twilight looked away ashamed. “About two years afterwards.” She then looked up to Spike with pleading eyes. “But I never gave up hope. Please just know that.”
Spike gently placed a hand upon the back of Twilight’s head. As he did this, Twilight looked into his eyes and saw not anger or sorrow, but happiness. He was happy to know just how long Twilight had tried, even if she didn’t think it was long enough, he did. He then leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead.
Twilight sat there in complete shock. She already had tears lining her eyes, yet those of sorrow were quickly being replaced with happiness. She truly had no idea how to react in this moment.
As Spike pulled away, he saw Twilight’s expression and couldn’t help but grin.
“You okay?” he asked.
Twilight, whose eyes were still as wide as saucers, only nodded.
Spike chuckled. “Hey, let’s go back to the castle.”
Now having the ability to come up with a response, she looked up to him. “What? Why?”
“Just trust me.”
---------
Spike quietly ascended the stairs, trying his absolute hardest to make sure he didn’t run into anyone who would report him to Princess Celestia. Though what he feared most was the thought of running into Princess Luna. Surely if he had the unfortunate luck of running into her his time alone with Twilight would be over. Despite this, he was quite honestly excited about seeing his adoptive mother once more, but he wished for it to be on his own terms.
“Spike, where are we going?” asked Twilight, obviously not understanding the fact that he wished for her to remain silent.
He turned to her and whispered “You’ll see, but just be quiet.”
Just then, the stairwell came to an end, however, at that end was where the hallway branched off. Cautiously, Spike and Twilight hugged the wall as they drew closer. Just as Spike was about to hurry across to the other side, he caught sight of the unmistakable shadow of Princess Luna. Quickly, he raised his hand, instructing Twilight to stop.
The two held their breath as the seconds passed, and then finally, Luna began to trot away. They both sighed and darted down the hall. Spike then found what he had been looking for; the staircase to the tallest tower in the castle. Feeling as though they were finally home free, Spike began to become less cautious.
Having a good idea of where they were going, Twilight found herself wondering only one thing; why were they going there?
As the two stepped inside the tower’s room, Spike looked around, noticing how much it had changed. The pristine flags that once draped these walls when he was a child were nowhere to be seen. And the shining gold suits of armor at its entrance, now sat dull and dust covered. This sight made Spike a bit upset. However, the one thing that remained the same was the balcony.
Spike smiled as he went over to it. He overlooked the edge and saw beyond to the city below. Though the buildings were different, the sight was still as breath taking.
“Spike, now do you mind telling me why were up here?” asked Twilight.
He didn’t reply, instead he leaped atop the brick railing and took a seat. This action horrified Twilight, though when she saw him look back to her with a grin as he patted the spot next to him, her fears were put to rest. However, Spike still earned himself a glare.
Once Twilight had taken her seat, Spike finally began to speak.
“Do you remember this room?” he asked.
Twilight shot him a look that read ‘you’ve got to be kidding.’ “Of course I remember, we used to play in it all the time.”
Spike smiled, expecting her expression. “Well, I just thought it’d be nice to see it again.”
Twilight returned the smile. “Is that all?”
He didn’t validate her question and instead looked to the night sky. “How often do you still go star gazing?”
Twilight shrugged. “Honestly, I haven’t really done any since you left. That was kind of a you and me thing.”
He grinned at her. “Exactly.” He then reached over and put an arm around Twilight.
She blushed and tried her best to hide her face as she couldn’t help but smile.
“So, what made you want to do this?”
Spike sighed. “I don’t know, I just haven’t done it in a while either and thought, hey why not?”
Twilight leaned closer to Spike and snuggled against him slightly. “Well, I’m glad you did.”
Spike chuckled as she tried to get comfortable against his scales. “You know, you really are cute when you act like this.”
She could feel her heart flutter as he said this, yet what came to mind most was the fact that this wasn’t the first time Spike had called her cute. She decided she might as well take the opportunity to inform him that she was awake as well.
“Yeah, I know. You told me once before,” she said while looking up at him with a mischievous grin.
Spike was confused. As far as he knew this was the only time he’d ever told her this, not including the time he… His eyes suddenly went wide and his face was covered in crimson.
“Twilight, I was thanking you for letting me stay,” he lied.
She wrapped a hoof around Spike and snuggled against him a little more.
“Yeah, whatever. You still called me cute.”
The tighter she held him, the more embarrassed he became. “Shut up.”
“Who dares sneak about this castle!” shouted a very familiar royal voice, or, better put, ‘royal Canterlot voice’.