The short trip back to Spike's home just outside the Everfree was silent. Both Trixie and Twilight were unsure of how to take the situation. Trixie had initially thought the idea of a pregnant Spike to be hilarious, but the realization that he had just risked death for a baby that lost both it's parents shot her full of guilt. It spoke volumes for the young prince, she hadn't known Spike on a personal level long, but it was an act of selflessness she couldn't say for certain she would have done herself. Twilight had told her of Spike's problems before, she knew that Spike was destined to live for eternity while the stallion he loved would die in less than a hundred years but he would stay with Big Mac regardless. This was something she knew may become a factor in her own love life with Twilight.
"Hey Spike?" Trixie said gaining the silent dragon's attention.
"Yeah?" Spike said looking back to the mare.
"I think what you did was great, I'm sorry for poking fun at you for it." Trixie said guiltily.
"Thank you, and don't worry about it. Not many ponies would go rushing in to a potential battle like that. I'm glad to have you around." Spike said with a smile. He had really grown to like the showy mare, and Twilight was head over hooves for her.
"Gotta admit, I agree with Trixie. Even if it was stupid to trust someone that could have easily killed you." Twilight added in a typical big sister tone. The neutral tone that conveyed a mixture of compliment and insult.
"I knew she was honest with me. I could see it in her eyes." Spike replied sadly, the look on the golden dragon's face was one he would never forget.
The group arrived at the house several minutes after conversation ran thin. Spike was thankful for the wonderful work his mother's crew had done. Even though he was taller the door still allowed easy access to the house. Spike stopped dead in his tracks when he entered the living room. There, sitting on the sofa was Macintosh reading a magazine about farming tools. He looked up when he saw a familiar mass of purple in his peripheries.
"Spike? D'ja get taller since yesterday?" Mac asked as he looked his love over.
Spike was silent, his mouth was open to speak but no words would come. His brain, for all the knowledge he now possessed, was drawing a blank. He didn't even notice Twilight and Trixie enter the room behind him. Trixie observed the scene, and did all she could think to do. She levitated the branch she had grabbed to serve as the torch they needed, and unceremoniously thwaked him on the back of the head. It seemed to jump start Spike's brain, giving him his cognitive abilities once more.
"Um... Yes? Like only a couple feet though. I couldn't really help it." Spike admitted.
Macintosh was always the silent type, but that didn't make him stupid. He knew something big had to have happened to worry Spike so much that he locked up, and something huge to effect him physically.
"Sumthin's wrong here. Is this some kinda magic problem?" Mac asked as he closed the magazine and placed it on the end table.
"Not exactly, the problem has been resolved... mostly." Spike replied nervously.
"Mostly?" Mac asked with a raised brow.
"I suppose it'd be best if I just showed you. You need to come with me to the Everfree, it's important." Spike replied without meeting Mac's gaze.
"Alright, I trust ya." Mac said getting up from the dragon-sized sofa.
"Twilight, Trixie, I'll take care of business in the forest. Me and Mac need to talk about this sooner than later." Spike told the mares who merely nodded and left the house. Spike was glad they didn't object, this was already going to be difficult.
Spike took the branch Trixie had assaulted him with, a rag, some twine, and several bottles of household cleaners. It was the best he could do under the circumstances, he had never needed help burning something before. Macintosh looked at him with concern, but stayed silent and packed the items into his saddle bag. Spike took a moment to lock the hammer and chains back into the closet, it seemed he had no need of it today. They left the house silently and headed through the forest.
Spike decided to try and start some conversation on the way, despite the noticeable awkwardness.
"So... You were home earlier than I expected. Everything go alright in Appleoosa?" He asked as they continued down the rough path through the forest.
"Eeyup, caught n' early train. Braeburn's pals weren't mah kinda folk. Thought ah just wanted to be with ya fer status, er money er somethin. Ah bucked em' through the bar, ah think we're gettin billed fer that." Macintosh said with a smug smile.
"They got lucky, I'd have burned their tails off." Spike said with a snort of black smoke. "Didn't peg Braeburn to be a bad judge of character."
"He said they ain't normally like that. Ah believe im'." Mac added. "Folks jus' cain't use their heads sometimes."
"That's true, but as long as you use your heart you should come out alright." Spike said yet again avoiding Mac's eyes. His words stung, Spike needed to be rid of his secret soon.
"Yer right about tha..." Mac trailed off as he looked back to the path ahead, the sun's rays had intensified making what lay ahead easier to see. "Are those?"
"Dragons, a male and a female. They can't hurt you though, they've already passed on, but they're part of why we're here." Spike said with a monotone that told Mac Spike was holding back his emotions.
Neither of them said anything else until they were just a couple yards from the fallen dragons. Mac was rightfully confused, he had never seen such violence before. Yet here he stood before two downed creatures that had seemingly ended each other. It was an indescribable feeling, these two creatures though different were still strikingly similar to Spike. Mac's imagination twisted the image of one to the likeness of Spike, the thought of seeing his lover like this made him feel ill.
"W-why are we here?" Mac asked looking up to Spike in desperation.
"These dragons killed each other because that's how they were raised. It sickens me to admit it, but this is what my kind call divorce." Spike said with lament heavy in his tone.
"Ya mean these two... were married?" Mac asked in disbelief.
"I don't think other dragons really have a concept of marriage, but they were mates. The green dragon was dead when we got here, and the gold one wasn't far behind. I spoke with her in her final moments. The reason they died was they were fighting over their child. The green one didn't think she looked like him and tried to kill her because he thought the gold one cheated on him. The gold one killed him to protect the egg and herself." Spike explained sadly.
"That's terrible! If they loved each other why do this?" Mac asked in utter disgust.
"I'm almost certain they didn't love each other, but the golden one loved her daughter very much. She cried for her before she died, without her the egg would grow cold and magic would most likely fail to save her." Spike continued.
"Where's the egg now?" Macintosh asked with eyes glued to Spike, the fate of a child was nothing to be taken lightly.
"I have it, I promised the mother I'd take care of her. Her last act was to give me some of her knowledge and strength to protect the baby. Her last words were that she wished for me to raise the baby to be better than the rest of our species, to be a good person. To be better than them." Spike replied with conviction as he pointed to the immense cadavers. He needed Macintosh to see how important this was.
"So, you wanna raise their baby?" Macintosh asked slightly bewildered by the idea of Spike devoting himself to something so potentially dangerous.
"No, I want us to raise her. She's a dragon, of course, but more than that she's a child. She deserves a loving family just like anyone else. I know family is the most important thing to an Apple, and I want to be part of yours. I'd like nothing more than to bring the baby into the family with me, but I need your blessing. I love you more than anything, but I swore to a dying mother that I would raise her child. I need to know what to do Mac, my heart is telling me I need you, but she needs me to save her." Spike said as tears streamed from his eyes.
Macintosh loved Spike more than anyone in the world, and the idea of raising a child with him wasn't at all unpleasant. The only doubts he had were those he had of himself.
Am ah ready t' be a father? Would ah be able t' help raise a dragon? If ah fail, would Spike ever forgive me? These questions ran through his head like bugs scattering away from the light. He looked back to Spike who kept shifting his gaze between Macintosh and the golden dragon. Macintosh had watched Spike go through hell during his growth spurt, but the pain in Spike's eyes now made that seem like nothing. He knew he had been silent for too long, worrying the dragon. He was mentally kicking himself for doubting his future with Spike, even if the circumstances were strange he should have jumped at the chance to raise a child with the one he loved.
"Ah love ya more than anything Spike, ah know you better than ah do mahself. Ah'm sorry ah worried you, but ah never wanna leave ya. Raisin a foal is somethin I'd thought about fer us, jus' never so soon. Ah know it's gonna be hard, but ah wanna start a family with ya more than anythin." Macintosh said, with tears streaming down his own face. He was soon pulled up by Spike into a powerful hug.
In the heat of the moment Spike had forgotten his strength, but Macintosh didn't care. His family had just grown again, and he couldn't be happier. So long as they had one another life could throw nothing their way that they could not overcome.