The meeting was over at last. Twilight and her guest of honor, the middle-aged governor of the Neighman Islands, were walking side by side towards the castle doors, while the governor’s staff followed behind.
“Thank you very much for your time, Princess Twilight,” said the governor.
“Oh, it was my pleasure, Governor. I’ll send a letter along with my answer by the end of the week.”
“Oh, no rush at all, Princess,” said the governor, genially. “Take all the time you need. I understand you’re a busy mare. Far be it from me to disrupt your schedule.”
“I appreciate your concern, Governor, but it’s no trouble,” said Twilight, the both of them having reached the doors. “Take care, now.”
“And same to you, my dear.”
Twilight bowed low, a gesture reciprocated by the governor, and he and his staff trooped out of the castle, back towards the train station. Twilight watched them until they were out of sight, and once they were, she let out a sigh of relief, though it was more like a groan. As glad as she was to have settled the governor’s concerns and queries about Equestria’s relationship with the island province, he and his staff had droned on for what felt like eternity. It had almost put her to sleep, and she had already been up late planning for their arrival. She was glad she had excused Spike; a kid like him didn’t deserve what she had had to go through.
And speaking of Spike, just as she was turning back towards the door, she thought she caught sight of a familiar figure approaching the castle. A few seconds later, she saw that it was indeed Spike, trooping back with his comic book in his claws. She smiled at the sight of him, but then her smile faded, as she saw his expression brought into clearer focus.
His arms were hanging limply by his side, his feet dragging listlessly, his head bowed, his eyes looking straight at the ground. Twilight had only seen him that depressed once before, when she had been forced to confess her part in lighting the torch at the Equestria Games, when he was suffering from stage fright. That look had hurt her heart then, and this look hurt her heart now.
“Spike?” she inquired, as he came level. “Are you ok?”
Spike said nothing. He just walked slowly past and through the door. Twilight bit her lip, hesitated, then followed. The little dragon didn’t say a word, even though Twilight was right behind him. He headed straight for his bedroom, slouched inside, and shut the door, just as the alicorn was about to follow.
“Ouch!”
The door had smacked her right in the nose. As she rubbed it in pain, Spike seemed to stir out of his stupor, and turned bemused eyes onto his friend and guardian.
“Twilight! Did I do that? Sorry! I didn’t realize you were behind me!”
“It’s ok, Spike,” said Twilight, eyes still watering. “I’m all right, but are you? What’s got you so preoccupied?”
Spike’s gloomy face returned, and he sighed.
“It’s nothing,” he said. “Really.”
Twilight raised an unconvinced eyebrow, concern etched on her lavender face.
“Spike,” she said, gently, “you know you can tell me anything, right? You can trust me.”
Spike looked up at her, gazing straight into her eyes. As he stared at the warmth and compassion imprinted in them, he knew she was right. Twilight was the closest thing to a parent he had ever had, next to Princess Celestia. He couldn’t, nor did he want to, hide anything from her. If anypony deserved being confided in, it was the studious pony standing before him.
“Ok,” he said, nodding. “Come on in, then.”
Relieved to see him accepting her vote of trust, Twilight followed him into his bedroom. It was a cozy, spacious room, with posters of the Power Ponies and Daring Do on the walls, alongside specially-chosen photographs with him and his friends, a basket of gemstones sitting in the corner, for whenever he was feeling peckish. His room also sported a much larger bed than his basket back at the library. Twilight had been thinking for a long time, even before Tirek’s rampage, that the young drake deserved his own room, and felt, ruefully, that the destruction of the library had finally made that possible.
Spike sat down on his bed. Twilight, being much too large to sit in it with him even with its bigger size, sat on her haunches beside him.
“So what’s bothering you?” Twilight asked. “Did your new comic end badly or something?”
Spike shook his head, unable to suppress a grin at the idea.
“Nah,” he said. “If it had, I’d be more annoyed than depressed. They’re doing a better job with Humdrum, actually.
His grin slowly faded again.
“No, what happened is, I bumped into Sweetie Belle. Or, she bumped into me.”
“Oh?” asked Twilight.
“She was really excited about something she saw down by the pond,” Spike went on, his voice becoming more constricted as he went on. “She...she saw Applejack and Rarity...and they were…”
He paused, and in that moment of silence, Twilight looked apprehensive.
“They weren’t fighting again, were they?” she asked. “I still remember that slumber party, when they kept sniping at each other…”
“No, they weren’t fighting,” said Spike. “Sweetie Belle said they were having fun.”
“Oh, good,” said Twilight, gratefully.
“And then she said...she said…”
Spike gulped, his eyes feeling wet again. Twilight watched him warily.
“She said that Rarity...that Rarity said they...she and Applejack were...were...special someponies.”
He squeezed his eyes shut before saying these last two words. Twilight gaped at him, her mouth hanging open. For a few seconds, words simply failed her, a rare occasion for the loquacious alicorn. Then, finally, she said,
“Rarity and Applejack?...They’re...they’re together?...That’s...I mean...Wow! I never would’ve guessed! I always thought...I mean...Well!...That’s...amazing!”
Twilight actually managed to smile. It was unbelievable, and yet, not wholly impossible. Rarity and Applejack had their differences, of course, and they’d had more than their fair share of squabbles. It was unlikely anyone could find two ponies who were more exact opposites of each other. And yet, in spite of all that, they had gotten over these setbacks and become very close friends, even managing to teach each other a thing or two about being in their horseshoes. Applejack was less reluctant to clean up her appearance, and Rarity wasn’t as afraid to get herself dirty as one would have expected her to be.
Had their unlikely bond really blossomed into love? Twilight would never have anticipated it happening between two of her best friends, and not merely for the fact that they were the same gender. That fact hardly mattered in this equation, as far as she was concerned. If Applejack and Rarity were happy together, happy enough to declare themselves special someponies, that was all that mattered.
It was some time before Twilight’s thoughts were jerked back to Spike, who was looking even more miserable. The elated feeling that had spread in the alicorn’s chest at the thought of her two best friends hooking up ebbed away at the sight. At first, she wasn’t sure what the dragon could be so downcast about. Surely he must be happy about this prospect: their friends had found love, with each other! Wasn’t that cause for celebration?
And then, just like it had with Sweetie Belle, realization reared its ugly head, and Twilight couldn’t suppress a gasp as she remembered. How could she have been so thoughtless? No wonder Spike was in such a gloomy mood!
“Oh, Spike…” she murmured, leaning down to nuzzle his wet cheek. “I’m so sorry...I should’ve realized you’d be upset. After all, you and Rarity...Well, you never really...I mean-”
Spike wiped at his eyes and held up a claw to forestall Twilight. She backed off, watching him with a mixture of sympathy and wariness on her face.
“It’s ok, Twi,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t going to work. I didn’t want to believe it, but deep down, I always had the feeling that it was never going to happen. I mean, I’m still just a baby dragon, and she’s a full-grown mare. I didn’t think that mattered, though, as long as my love was true, and I felt like it was…”
He sighed.
“I should have realized sooner, when it was obvious she didn’t take my feelings for her seriously…”
“Spike, don’t say that,” said Twilight, soothingly. “You know Rarity still cares about you. You’re her friend. She’s your friend.”
“I know,” said Spike, nodding. “And I am grateful for that. I mean, if it was any other pony, they might have said ‘eww, get away from me, you little creep’, or something like that.”
He chuckled sadly.
“I guess that’s why I like Rarity so much. She’s not just beautiful. She’s understanding. She’s kind. She’s got a lot of love to give, no matter who you are…”
His eyes began to water anew, and he shut them tight again. Twilight put her foreleg around him, drawing him into a hug against her belly, nuzzling the top of his head. Spike’s tears dribbled down her fur as he clung to her soft middle. He remembered being held like this before, when he had seen his worst fears played out before his eyes, and Twilight had reassured him that they would never come to pass…
He sniffled and hiccupped for a little while, then pulled away to look Twilight in the face. There were lingering tears in the alicorn’s amethyst-colored eyes now, but there was also a small smile on her muzzle.
“Feel better?” she asked, softly.
He nodded, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes before speaking again.
“I think so,” he said. “Thanks, Twi. I guess I still had some in me after talking to Sweetie Belle.”
Twilight laughed softly.
“It’s all right. I know it can’t have been easy for you to hear that kind of news so bluntly.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Spike admitted. “But I’m not mad at Sweetie Belle for it. I don’t blame her for being happy. And I don’t want to be mad at Applejack, either,” he added, as though afraid he’d betrayed resentment in his speech. “In fact, I’m glad it’s Applejack. I know she and Rarity have been spending a lot of time together lately, and if it had to be anypony, I’m glad...I’m glad it’s her. She’s the right pony for her.”
Twilight’s smile broadened. She felt proud at how mature and sincere Spike was being about this, especially for a drake his age, in spite of his tears. Even though he wasn’t hers biologically, she saw him as exactly what she’d have wanted in a son/little brother.
“I’m sure they’re gonna want to tell everypony about them being together,” said Spike. “But...I want to be the one to talk to Rarity about...about us.”
Twilight nodded.
“I understand,” she said. “I know, like you said, that she never really took your crush seriously, but I also know she’d never wanted to have hurt you. I’ll let the two of you resolve it when the time comes.”
Spike smiled up at her.
“Thanks, Twi. I...I love you.”
He wrapped his small arms around her barrel, nestling against her stomach. Twilight felt a rush of tender tears as she held Spike in her forelegs, her wings closing around him.
“I love you too, Spike,” she said. “All of us do. We’re lucky to have a friend like you.”
She bent down and kissed him on the forehead, exactly as a mother would do for a tearful child. He sighed contentedly against her middle, his leftover tears spreading again onto her fur. When the time came, Spike and Rarity would have their talk, but for now, to sit here and hug it out, that was more than enough for the two of them at the moment.