The Mane Six Chronicles Book 5: The Long Vacation

by KorvasTerindar

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Spike lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, idly spinning a long wooden, rectangular box in his hand, snow falling lightly outside the window. It had been two weeks since their picnic with Celestia and her children, and life progressed on as normal. Twilight had been spending a fair bit of the last two weeks in the company of Tetran and Ocaena, learning all she could from them and trying to become friends with them.

Spike didn't mind this, it gave him ample opportunity to work on his greatest surprise for Twilight. He stopped spinning the wooden box and used his claws to carve a little intricate pattern on it, relying on the ancient knowledge of the dragons to guide him as his talons traced a delicate pattern before going a bit deeper to carve it out. He felt knots in his stomach as he thought what this box was going to be used for, nerves causing his feet to feel slightly chilly. He redoubled his focus on his task, trying to keep his mind away from his nerves.

He traced out another delicate pattern on the side when he heard his door handle turn. Thanking everything in creation for his keen ears he rapidly spun around and rammed the box under his pillow before smoothing all the sheets out and in the process removing the wood shavings. He settled back down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling as the door opened and sure enough, Twilight stepped in. He turned his head to look at her and smiled saying as he slid his feet off the bed, "You know, knocking is really in now a days."

She paused for a second, eying him. She had never had to knock to enter his room, even as he'd grown into the adult he was now. She shook her head and decided to not to ask why he'd said that. She moved next to him and said, "Spike, I'm sorry I haven't been around the house very much."
Spike waved a claw and said, "Its alright Twilight, your making new friends and I don't mind that."
Twilight shook her head and insisted, "Nonsense, you're my boyfriend, I should be spending more time with you so I'll make up for it, so what do you want to do?"

Spike shrugged and looked around the room, trying to find something to inspire an event they could share together. It wasn't until his eyes caught the build up of snow in his window did he get an idea. He grinned slyly and feigned, "Oh I don't know Twilight, give me a few minutes to come up with something." As he hoped she nodded and turned to leave. He opened his window with magic and used his magic to cause a snowball to form, hurling it at her. It hit her flank with a poof of white snow and she yelped in surprise.

She looked over her shoulder at him with an amused and annoyed expression on her face. So that's how he wanted to play, hmm? She laughed and sprinted down the stairs with Spike running behind her, grabbing her scarf with magic and opening the door, running out into the snow. Spike smiled as he pulled the door shut behind him, it had been years since he and Twilight had a good snowball fight. He didn't have much time to revel in it before a large snow ball smacked him across the face. He grunted and spun, dropping down to grab a handful of snow, before he could ball it up, two more snowballs hit his chest. He threw the snow towards Twilight and ducked as ten snow balls sailed by him.

Instead of grabbing snow, he used his magic to rush past Twilight at a blinding speed, the air whooshing behind him as his magic wrapped Twilight in layer of snow. Spike skidded to a stop and looked back at the stunned Twilight, covered in snow.
He walked over to her and said, "Oh look, I made a Snow pony in the shape of Twilight."
Twilight's laughter could be hear from inside the the shell of snow and she shook her head, the snow falling from her face. She looked back at him and shook the rest of her body, the snow flying away. Turning to face her companion she said, "How about another round?"

Spike grinned broadly and hurled a fist of snow at her before rolling sideways to avoid her wave of snow. Spike skid back to his feet and used his own magic to pull a wave of snow towards her from behind, he wasn't surprised when it parted around her effortlessly. He picked up another snow ball and tossed it at her, the small ball turning direction and colliding with him instead.

He smiled and created a massive ball of snow and tossed it at her, following it with a large wave of snow. She broke the first attack apart with her magic but her eyes went wide as the second one knocked her over and buried her. She shook the snow from her eyes and look at Spike, who stood there with a large grin on his face. She sighed and shook her head, "Okay, you win." Spike smiled and offered a claw to her, she took it and grinned mischievously and pulled him into the snow bank she was in. Spike laughed as he landed next to her, his eyes filled with snow and unable to see anything. He wiped his eyes off and looked at Twilight.

She was beautiful to him, even when the snow clumped up in her mane and coat, making her look comical, she was still beautiful to him. He reached over and wiped some of the snow from her face, causing her to blush at the touch. Even though she'd kissed him and dated him for some time now, she still blushed when he touched her like this, soft and loving. He could feel her shivering from the cold, soon coming to realize that he was as well, how long had they been out here? He got to his feet and pulled her to hers, guiding her inside to the living room where he sat her down on the couch and lit the fireplace with a puff of his dragon fire. He turned back to the couch and smiled as he saw Twilight sitting there, wrapped in a blanket she had summoned. She smiled and lifted one side of it with her magic and Spike sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her.

He nuzzled her neck and sighed contentedly as the fire crackled merrily. He could her heart beating madly at the closeness they felt. He ran a claw through her mane and smoothed it out. He smiled at her and leaned in close to kiss her. She loved it when he kissed her, leaning the rest of the distance to kiss him. The moment was brief but sweet and Twilight marveled how she had come to this point in her life. For so long, she had lived in the same house with Spike, she had taught him, and helped him in all his problems as he'd grown.

Never once did she think that she'd be here, in his arms, kissing and cuddling together. She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder, his claws rubbing along her neck and shoulders bringing a sense of contentment over her. She stared into the fire, her mind slipping as the feeling of his claws made her body relax. Her eyes closed and she snuffled closer against him, falling asleep in his arms. He smiled as Twilight relaxed completely and her slow steady breathing took over. He shifted into a more comfortable position, lying prone on the couch with Twilight asleep beside him, her head on his chest, a foreleg draped over him in the hug they had had before she had fallen asleep. He kissed the top of her head before he closed his eyes and fell asleep with a soft, "I love you."

Several Hours Later...

Shining Armor stood on the front step of the library where his sister lived. He'd been knocking on it for the past half hour. Twilight was always home, it was odd that she hadn't opened it for him. He walked over to the living room window and tried to look in through it. The curtains were closed and the window shut, unsurprising given the cold temperatures. He returned to the front door and focused his magic on the door lock. He was annoyed to find that it had been unlocked the entire time he'd been there.

He opened the door softly and stepped inside, thinking that perhaps the reason why Twilight had not answered was because she'd fallen asleep at her books again. He took off his traveling cloak and hung it on the hooks along the wall just inside the door, reserved for scarves, cloaks, and capes. He noticed Twilight's scarf on one of the hooks, soaking wet and dripping.

She was obviously home, but where was she. He took the stairs to the second floor and looked into her room, she wasn't there. He went to the bathroom, knocked and looked in, yet again, no Twilight. He checked Spike's room, then the study, then the kitchen and didn't find her. The only room left to check was the living room. He realized he should have checked this room first, but he didn't think it likely she'd be here and not hear him knocking. As he stepped into the living room and looked around, his mind disengaged completely.

There, on the couch wrapped in a blanket and snuggled against each other were Twilight and Spike. Shining closed his eyes and tried to back out of the room as quickly as he could, trying not to envision what could have happened to put these two in this position. As he backed up rapidly, his foot collided with the side table and he tumbled backward onto the floor with a loud crash. Both Spike and Twilight jolted awake in a heartbeat, Twilight rolling onto the floor as Spike sat bolt upright. Twilight looked over to the living room door and saw her brother attempting to juggle the lamp and flower vase that had been sitting on the side table he'd knocked over.

Twilight caught the objects with her magic and righted the table, setting both items back onto it. Shining was looking away from his sister embarrassed and said, "I...I'm sorry Twilight, I didn't mean to disturb you. I'll go now."
Twilight shook her head and responded cheerfully, "Don't be silly, I haven't seen you in months! Please come in."
Shining shook his head and said, "I don't want to disturb you and Spike. You are obviously...busy."
It took a few moment for Twilight's sleep fogged mind to register what he meant, when she did she spluttered and exclaimed, "No! No, no, no! Its not like that at all! We are dating yes but that's not what happened, I promise you."

Shining paused for a moment, then nodded, he knew Twilight would never lie to him like that. He smiled and rose to his feet and apologized to both of them for the misunderstanding. Shining stepped into the warmly lit room and sat on the sofa, opposite the couch and said, "I hope the two of you have been having fun together. I also hope that your treating Twilight well Spike."

Spike nodded as he folded up the blanket that had been covering them as Twilight went to the kitchen and said, "You know me Shining, I would never hurt Twilight, I love her."
Shining found it odd to hear these words from Spike but ignored the feeling. He nodded and sat back comfortably, appreciating the warmth of the fire after the cold of the winter air. Twilight came in from the kitchen, floating a try of tea and cookies. She set it down on the table in the middle of the room and moved around it to hug her brother. He gladly returned the hug and took a tea cup from the tray, watching as Twilight went back over to Spike and sat down next to him. Shining watched as Spike put his claw on her hoof and held it there as they helped themselves to the snack.

He sighed, he had to be honest with himself, he'd thought that Twilight was going to be an old maid at the rate she was going, spending more time with her books than the living. He was glad, albeit a little out of sorts, that Twilight had found a love in Spike. He took a gulp of his tea and thought a little more about how he felt about his sister dating a dragon. He had always thought that the one to pull her away from her books would be some highly intelligent and handsome bookworm of a colt who could out study her in every way possible.

He shook his head and took a cookie from the tray, munching on it as he resumed watching the two across from him. Both Spike and Twilight were starting to feel a little uncomfortable under his gaze and eventually Twilight sighed and said, "Shining, would you like to hear how we fell for each other?"
Taken slightly aback, he didn't immediately respond but eventually he nodded.

He listened as Twilight told him the story, of her obsessive studying that caused Celestia to order her to take a five month vacation and then of the day trip to the beach. She told him of the Millennial shower, of the fall harvest, where they had had their first dance together. Of their walk through white tail woods and their first kiss, of he indecision and final acceptance of her feelings for Spike and of the trip to the ancient dragon capital. She deliberately left out the picnic with Celestia and her children, or the manner in which she learned of them. When she finally finished, it was well after dark and the snack had evolved into dinner. Shining sat back on the sofa and thought quietly to himself.

He eventually smiled and said, "Well, after all that you've been through, I'm not surprised that you've fallen for each other. I only have one thing to say, I am happy for the both of you." Twilight smiled and leaned over to kiss Spike on the cheek, causing him to blush. He grinned and put an arm around Twilight's shoulders and gave her a one armed squeeze. Shining shook his head at these signs of affection and rose to his feet. Twilight frowned as she stood as well and asked, "Are you leaving already?"

Shining nodded and said wearily, "I've got to Twilight, I had to make time for the visit and I can't delay my duties as long as I would like."
He hugged his sister again and said as he ruffled her mane, "Don't worry about it Twilight, I'll visit you again, and next time I'll bring Cadence along with your little nephew." Twilight smiled and said, "I'll hold you to that, I'd love to see her again, and my nephew. I bet he misses playing with Auntie Twilight." Shining chuckled and said, "Yes he does, I'll bring the other two little ones if I can."

Twilight smiled broadly and nodded as she relinquished her brother and watched him walk away to the door. She felt Spike by her side as Shining pulled his cloak on again and stepped out into the night with a final goodbye. Twilight felt sad at his leaving, but knew that he had his own responsibilities to cope with back in Canterlot.

She turned back to Spike and hugged him, kissing him gently on the lips before moving to clean up the mess from dinner. Spike felt a sadness in him as he watched the slightly subdued movements as Twilight cleaned the living room. He felt a determination in his heart to never let her be sad again, he'd do whatever it took to make her the happiest Pony in all Equestria. He nodded to himself as he moved to help her, He had a month left in which to plan, and he intended to make full use of it.