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// Chapter 9: Beautiful 
// Story: The Dragon Sage 
// by Dragon Sage 
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        Twilight and Spike arrived in Ponyville after about an hour's flight. The two continued to catch up on the past few months of happenings as they approached the castle. Spike occasionally looped around and somersaulted a few times to demonstrate his new wings. They were talking about their visits from Cadence and Shining Armor when they finally touched down.
        
        “. . . and then he said that he needed to throw me a bachelor party twice as crazy to make up for it,” Spike said with a laugh. 

        “Oh please, Spike. My brother’s idea of a crazy bachelor party would include board games and comic books,” she said rolling her eyes.

        “Well that sounds pretty good to me!” he said and began walking up their stoop.

        “Hey Spike, do you think we should do something about the Miasmic ponies tonight? I mean, they were after the Elements of Harmony, and this would be the first place they’d look,” she said and gestured to the castle. 

        “Hmmm. Well, the Night Watch will have them on the run for a little while, and Princess Luna said she’s going to increase guard presence in Ponyville too. I don’t think we can do much about it right now,” he said scratching his chin.

        “But they could be anywhere now,” she retorted.

        “We won’t be able to free them from the Miasma until we have everypony here, and the girls won’t get back until tomorrow. Besides, you’ve had a rough day. Do you think you could cast a barrier over the castle like Shining Armor does?” he asked. 

        “I certainly cannot do it as big as he can. He protected all of Canterlot himself. But I think I can manage the castle well enough. Plus, I feel better having you nearby anyway,” Twilight said and began walking through the door. “I’ll need to wash up with the antidote first.”

        Spike followed her inside and looked around at his old home. The tall ceiling and beautiful stained glass felt foreign to him. He only lived there for a few weeks before moving back to Canterlot, so his sense of awe was not lost in the time he spent away. He watched Twilight walk down the hall and followed slowly. 

        “Hey Twilight. Do you know why Shining Armor was in Canterlot? I mean, I know he was talking to the Princess, but what were they talking about?” he asked.

        “Oh! He didn’t tell you?” she said a little surprised. “He and Cadence are going to be parents!” she said and her wings gave an excited flutter. 

        Spike’s eyes widened as he thought back to Shining Armor’s visit. He did seem especially bubbly, but Spike couldn’t figure out why. 

        “Wow. A royal foal? Thats pretty big news,” Spike stammered. 

        “Isn’t it exciting!” Twilight said with another flap. She pushed open the doors to the bed chambers and Spike shortly followed. Spike noticed how everything, down to the books on her bedside table, looked just as it had when he left. His basket and pillow still rested beside Twilight’s bed. He walked over and chuckled at how small it seemed to him now. 

        “You’ll find your new one fits you much better,” Twilight said. “It’s on the second level of the library.”

        “Oh, so you’re kicking me out?” he jested.

        “You’re a big boy now Spike. You deserve your own space,” she said and turned towards the bathroom. She stopped for a moment and looked back at her assistant. She never thought about how the sight of him looking down at his old bed would make her heart begin to bleed.

“Spike?” Twilight asked softly. 

        “What’s up?” he asked and trotted over to her. 

        “I . . . I just,” she fumbled with her words. She gave up and wrapped the her friend in her hooves again, holding him close. “I’m really glad you’re here. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come for me.” Spike, surprised, brought his own arms around her and patted the back of her head gently.

        “What kind of assistant would I be if I couldn’t help when you need it most?” he said and pulled her a little closer. She sighed and once again felt the fire in his chest warm her up a little. The soothing sensation of his breath falling over her mane made her fall a little more closely into him. She lingered there for one or two moments too long.

        “Uh, Twilight?” Spike said letting his arms fall awkwardly to his side.

        “Oh! Right, sorry,” she said and covered an embarrassed blush by turning to the bathroom door again. “Could you light the lanterns for me while I hop in the bath? I’m not very helpful without magic,” she said and headed into the bathroom. 

        “Sure!” he said and grew a sly smile. Twilight walked into the dark bathroom that would normally be lit by lanterns along the wall. She shuffled around in the dark looking for her towel when a thin shot of green fire flew past her nose. It fizzled in the air with a hiss and found its way to the lantern opposite her. The light began to illuminate the room around her. More thin spears of fire flew through the air as Spike spat flames from his snout. 

        “How’s that?” he said with a self-satisfied grin. She gave him a scowl and furled her brow at him. 

        “You nearly singed my nose, show-off,” she said challengingly. 

        “Oh, so that's how it is? I guess you won’t be needing my help getting the water warm without magic then,” he said with another sly grin. She looked back at her bath tub. The old-fashioned design did not have a warm water knob, only one for ice cold. She always heated up the water to a comfortable level with magic before. 
        
        “Ugh,” she groaned. “You’d think a magic tree-castle appearing out of a rainbow of friendship would come with a water-heater,” she said and began the water flow by turning the knob with her teeth. 

“Is that your way of asking for help?” Spike said, his stupid smile lingering. Twilighted sighed.

“Would you mind helping heat the water Spike? I’d also prefer if you could do it without setting me on fire as well,” she said and smiled at him. She missed the way he poked at her like this.  

“Right away,” he chirped and walked over to the tub. He waited for the water to reach an appropriate height, took a deep breath, and plunged his head in the water face-first. Twilight saw another faint green light emit from where his head was submerged. In about a half minute, the water began to emit steam on the surface and Spike pulled his head out of the water gasping for air. 

“Wow. You can breath fire continuously for that long? That’s impressive,” she said and dipped her hoof into the bath. It was a little warmer than she was used to, but she carefully shifted in and the heat felt unbelievably relaxing after the day she had. 

“Knight Wing had me practice breathing exercises at high altitudes. He said . . . oh um, sorry. I’ll leave you to your bath,” Spike said and politely turned his head from the bathing Princess.

“Actually Spike,” she stopped him. “You can stay. I can’t reach my back too well without magic, so would it be alright if you helped me out?” she said and the Dragon sighed again. 

“Ok, Sure thing,” he said and picked up the loofa next to her. She sorted through her soaps and shampoos and found the one labeled ‘Poison Joke.’ She picked it up with her teeth and poured it in the bath, which began to bubble and sud in the heat Spike created. She placed a few drops on the loofa and placed the vial back down before dunking her head under.

“Ahhh, this feels good,” Twilight sighed as Spike began working on her back with the soapy brush. The silence that followed between them was not uncomfortable, more like an unspoken agreement that this particular moment was a good one. 

“So,” she began while Spike started scrubbing her sides, “That rude pegasus that kicked Warmonger, that was Knight Wing?"

"Yeah, he's not good at first impressions. But he's a good teacher, and very loyal to Princess Luna," Spike explained. 

"I see. I never heard of the Night Watchers until I read about them in one of your letters. I'm surprised that my brother never mentioned them before," She said and tilted her head to the side to allow Spike to scrub her neck.

"I don't think he knew about them either. My guess is that they work separately from the royal guard," he explained. 

"It was sure nice of him to visit you in Canterlot. What did you and Shining Armor talk about?” she asked. 

“Well, uh, he seemed very interested in whether I found a special somepony. Or, special somedragon? I told him I’ve never met one that didn’t try and burn me and my friends to a crisp,” he said and continued scrubbing. She laughed at his use of words.

“Did you tell him about Rarity?” she asked with a teasing smirk.

“What? No no of course not,” he babbled and lightly tapped her forehead with the loofa as if scolding her. “We did talk about love though. Not anypony specific, just, you know, the abstract sense of it all.”

“Funny. Cadence and I talked about the same thing. She pointed out to me that love is actually just another form of friendship, and that way it would become much less confusing for me,” she said and wiped her mane out of her eyes with her hoof. 

“Yeah. Shining Armor said that love is friendship set on fire. So the more friendship you have, the longer the flame will last. Now look up here, I gotta get your horn,” he said and used his claw to lift up her chin. He carefully began scrubbing her horn with the sud-filled loofa. Pretty soon, the blue spots began to dissipate and the horn began naturally straightening. 

“Hmmm, that’s an interesting way of putting it,” Twilight pondered. 

“Yeah. According to him, the jitters and the nervousness that come with a crush aren’t what loves about. It’s more like the little things that make you want to be around each other, even on bad days,” he said and continued to scrub. “Almost done.”

“So you’re saying that true love is about being comfortable around somepony?” she clarified as she rubbed a hoof on her newly clean horn. Spike placed the loofa down and began to dry his hands.

“I guess so. I mean, marriage is forever right? We’re not going to be pretty forever. So you should spend your life with somepony that you want to be around, even if you don’t think that they’re . . .” Spike stopped. He turned to look over his handy work on a soaked Twilight Sparkle, when something caught him off guard. Her mane shined beautifully in the glow of the lanterns around them. Her gaze was soft and comforting, and he found himself thinking that no other pony could ever make him feel more at home.

“. . . beautiful,” he finished and froze where he stood. Her gaze pierced right through him. His heart began to beat harder and his mind started racing. The towel in his hand fell from his grip and a purple aura of magic caught it just before it hit the floor. 

“Great! My magic’s back!” she said with wide smile. “Let’s see if I can get this barrier up.” 

With that, she stood in the tub and pointed her horn skyward. She closed her eyes and began focusing on the protection spell her brother taught her. Her horn glowed and shimmered as a bright purple beam of light emitted from the tip and soared upwards. The whole bathroom glowed in the light of her magic and the cascading sounds of her spell echoed through the entire castle. A veil of purple shrouded the castle in a faint light from the top of the tallest tower down to the ground. 

“Alright! That should hold until morning,” she said and smiled at her assistant. Spike was still dumbstruck and his mouth hung slightly open. 

Twilight looked over Spike as he stared at her. He looked puzzled, or perhaps surprised. She had to admit, even though he was bigger, she felt better having someone familiar around her for the night. She began to ask what’s wrong, when Cadences voice began echoing in her head. 

He’s the best kind of friend there is.

A sick plummeting feeling filled her insides as she realized how Spike was observing her. Her face immediately turned beat red and sat down a little lower in the tub, returning Spike’s gaze in shock. Spike shook his head and stood up tall, fumbling to get words together.

“Well, wow, good job with the magic shield thing. Looks great, so, I’m just going to go to bed. Lots of flying today, right?” he said and nervously chuckled. She practically mimicked his chuckle from the bathtub. 

“Yes, tons of flying. So, okay then! Goodnight,” she said and watched him shuffle to the door.

“Goodni--” he said before the slamming of the bathroom door cut him off. 

She kept her eyes locked on the door where Spike had just been and began tearing through her mind to find a logical explanation for what just happened. She had agreed with everything Cadence told her because it made sense, but it was also true that everything she said applied to Spike. She quietly cursed herself and Cadence for opening her eyes this way. The only feeling that made any sense to her was the warm embrace of the bath water that enveloped her entire body.

Meanwhile, Spike was having a separate collapse of senses.

What the hay was that all about! he cursed at himself.

One second they were carrying on like he had never left for Canterlot at all, then the very next she looked completely different. The way her magic cast a radiant light over her face seemed to make it new and amazing and . . . not what he was used to at all. He loved Twilight, sure enough, and he never saw her as anything less than his closest friend. She probably saw him as . . .

Well, what was he to her anyway? She always considered him a faithful assistant, and a good friend, but how long can two friends live with each other? He always thought that he’d spend his life working with Twilight, but perhaps pursuing love elsewhere. Not to mention that she was a pony and he was a dragon. Of course that never stopped him from crushing on Rarity before, but for some reason this possibility seemed so much more real now that he was grown. And what about Rarity in all this?

His mind was racing and spinning as he threw open the doors to the library. His legs carried him up the steps, but his mind carried him up the wall, while his chest screamed at him to go back. He climbed into the extra large pillow-bed that lay before him and tucked himself in like he used to. Sleeping apart from her still felt a little odd, even though it was his first night home in nearly 9 months. He groaned and turned as his mind refused to simmer down for the night. But just before he gave up on sleep for the night, he noticed something.

The pillow he was resting on smelled just like Twilight’s mane. He knew the scent perfectly well from when she hugged him earlier. He then remembered how she felt in his claws, holding her closely and gently as she did the same. The image did little to calm the storm in his mind, but the familiar sent was able to relax him enough to enjoy the feeling of being home again. He missed Ponyville and his friends, and the thought of finally returning home was the last thought on his mind before sleep swept over him like water on rock.