A few hours later…
It was a lonely walk home after Spike dropped Derpy off at the hospital. The wind wasn’t cold, but a bit chilly as it brushed against the dragon’s scales. He hopped with every step, a goofy grin adorning his face. The moon hung high in the sky still, illuminating the quiet cobbled paths of Ponyville. But that meant nothing to Spike as his mind was focused entirely on the thought of a beautiful blonde pegasus named Derpy. Was it cheesy as all get out? Yes. Did he care? Absolutely not.
He found his way back to his home after a few more minutes of hopping about. He needed to make sure he was quiet of course considering the time, so Spike did his best to shut the castle door behind him without making any noise. As it clicked shut he slid around and began the trek up to his room.
It was still early enough that the sun hadn’t broken through the night sky yet, and in turn, Twilight and Starlight should still be asleep. And that meant that he should be able to sneak into his room, no questions asked, and get some shut-eye to finish off the night.
He was prancing with joy as he skipped by the living room toward the stairs. His smile hadn’t receded by a single inch since the magical events that took plays a few hours prior. Boy did he have a story to tell Starlight when he got up the next—
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”
Spike froze mid-step and slowly shifted his head to the right. There she was, sitting on an easy chair, staring right at him.
“Uhh, oh, hey Starlight,” Spike said, with a quick wave. “Nice to see you. I”m just, you know, heading to my room. Sleep and all that good stuff.”
“Psh, yeah, don’t even try, Have a seat.” She pointed a hoof toward the chair across from her. “Let’s have a quick chat, shall we?”
Spike looked back longingly at the stairs with his heavy eyes one last time. But, he knew he’d never hear the end of it if he just tried to brush it off. Given the facts, he resigned himself to missing sleep for a few extra minutes and hopped onto a chair.
“Okay, let’s talk,” Spike said. “What about?”
“Oh, I don’t know… How about the fact you’re slipping into the castle at four in the morning, smelling like sweat and big city back alleys?” Starlight looked at him intently with a smug grin. “Yeah, let’s start there.”
“Oh, well, there’s really nothing to talk about,” Spike said, nonchalantly drawing his eyes to his twiddling thumbs. “I spent some time with Derpy, went to the fair, visited her sister and spent the night up in Manehattan. You know, nothing big.” Spike’s gaze drew up to find Starlight’s jaw on the floor.
“You spent the night… in Manehattan… with Derpy?” Starlight blinked a few times. “Okay, tell me about it. I have to hear this.”
Spike waved it off. “Eh, I’m not really in the mood for details. I’m kinda tired and—” Spike’s body was instantly held back into the chair by a purple glow of magic.
“Oh no you don’t,” Starlight said. “You tell me you spent the night in Manehattan with Derpy and then you say you’re not in the mood for details? Listen here, Spike. I want details, and I want them now. I had to help Twilight organize her textbooks all last night because you weren’t here, so you say you’re not in the mood? Well you get in the mood!” Starlight’s heaving chest slowly began to simmer down as her rant ended. “Um, sorry. I’m just curious.”
The dragon blinked a few times. “Okay then… you win. You wanna hear the whole story or just the Hoof Notes version?”
“Meh,” Starlight said, waving a hoof. “Skip the exposition and just get to the good stuff. Let’s start with the night altogether. What happened?”
Spike sunk back and put his arms behind his head. “Ahh, yes. I remember it like it was only yesterday.”
“It was only yesterday.”
“Hey, I’m telling the story here, not you,” Spike said with a grimace. “Now, it all started after we visited her sister. Long story short, she mentioned she’d never been to Manehattan and I asked if she wanted to go. So, you know, I rolled a solid charisma check and we were in Manehattan an hour later.”
Starlight shook her head. “You’ve been playing Ogres and Oubliettes with Discord too much. Spike, don’t you remember what we talked about? Once you start making references in real life, it’s gone too far.”
“Hush,” Spike said. “You’re just mad you don’t know how to play. Anyhow, like I was saying, we went up to Manehattan. She looked around a bit, all awestruck and cute-like, and I decided to show her my special lookout spot.”
“The one on the building?”
“That’s the one!”
“Taking a mare to a place of special relevance for you under a moonlit sky?” Starlight rubbed her chin. “A bit cliche and greeting card-esque, but sweet nonetheless. Carry on.”
“So, I take her up there, we cuddle a bit and bam!” Spike clapped his claws to punctuate his point. “It happened.”
“No way,” Starlight said, hanging off the edge of her seat. “It happened?”
Spike nodded slowly. “Oh yeah. It happened.”
“I can’t believe you made it happen,” Starlight said. “You used protection of some kind, right? I’m only asking because you know if Twilight finds out she’ll—”
“No! Not that!” Spike viciously waved his hands. “What kind of dragon do you think I am?”
“One that might not be a loser forever, but apparently I was mistaken.” Starlight stifled a chortle with her hoof. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, Spike. What happened?”
“Hmph, if you don’t keep that snark under control, you’re not gonna find out,” Spike said with folded arms. “But because I wanna go to bed, I’ll tell you anyway. Picture the scene: me and her, her and me, on top of the building, moonlit sky aglow. Her eyes on mine, mine on hers, her hoof in my claw… It was so perfect. She looked up at me and then I just went for it.”
“And?”
“We kissed!” Spike’s straight face morphed into a smile at the mere mentioning of it. “And it. Was. Awesome!”
“About time!” Starlight exclaimed. “I was wondering when you were gonna climb that hill. It’s only been, uh, let’s see here…” Starlight checked her imaginary watch. “... way too long. And after you slammed the door on her the first chance you had, I wasn’t sure if it was ever gonna happen.”
“Well, I wanted to make sure the timing was right,” Spike said. “You know, you only get one shot at a great first kiss. According to Lone Pone magazine, the first kiss sets up the entire future of how the other pony views you. I was afraid of messing it up if it wasn’t perfect.”
Starlight tapped her hoof on the hoof rest of the chair. “You read magazines about kissing? It’s worse than I thought.”
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being prepared!”
“Okay, Twilight, calm down,” Starlight said with a chuckle.
“Woah now, let’s not get too offensive with the name calling. I do have some pride hiding around here somewhere.”
“I’m just saying, you can’t base what you do or how you feel about another pony on what a book says,” Starlight said. “If you do that you end up single and alone in your fifties eating ice cream by the gallon with a pet cat. You just gotta go with what you feel in the moment.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Spike said. “But look, I really like her… obviously. I just want it to work out. For the long run, I mean.”
“If you want it to work out, there’s only one thing you need to do. Just be yourself and just keep doing what you think is right… unless what you think is stupid, in which case, ask me first. Deal?”
“Deal.” Spike gave her a quick thumbs up.
“You know I can’t help but feel like I’ve had to give you this same talk like three times now,” Starlight stated. “I hope you get it, someday.”
“Hey, being myself isn’t easy. Do you know how hard it is to be romantic and sweet when all you wanna do is sleep under a mountain of blankets? My romantic life has basically been set on survival difficulty since I was a teenager.”
Starlight let out a hearty laugh. “Fair enough. But have no fear, Spike. I’ll keep pounding it into your head as long as I need to, alright? Now, onto more important stuff. I’m thinking it’s safe to say you two are an item at this point. Where do you plan on going with the relationship thing from here? You said you wanted it to work for the long-run, so what did you have in mind?”
“I don’t really know,” Spike said. “I mean, is it really a serious relationship yet? I don’t even really know what she wants. It was only a kiss, really.”
“It was only a kiss? It starts out with a kiss and then you’re asking yourself, ‘Wow, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss.’ And then next thing you know you’re getting married and punching out a few dragon-pony hybrid babies.”
“Uh, Starlight? What are you talking about?”
“What I’m saying is that, yeah, you’re the proud owner of a serious relationship now buddy. In a few years you’ll probably signing on the dotted line with red ink and immediately following it up with a legendary case of buyer’s remorse.” Starlight smiled at him. “But, lucky for you, from the few times I’ve met her, Derpy definitely seems like a keeper. So be proud of yourself and don’t screw it up.”
“I don’t plan on it,” Spike said with a smile. “There. That’s my current plan for the two of us. Don’t screw it up.”
“As good a plan as any. How you managed to reel in a mare like Derpy is even more impressive than how you guys reeled me in from a communist dictatorship, but now that you’re here you may as well roll with it.” Starlight said with a playful wink. “Now go get some sleep. You probably need it after a long night like that.”
He stretched out his arms and let out a guttural yawn. “I can agree with that. You coming?”
Starlight reciprocated with a yawn of her own. “Yeah, I need some shut-eye. Waiting up all night for you took a bit longer than my body was prepared for. I’m exhausted.”
“What’d you stay up so late for, then?” Spike asked, rolling his eyes.
“Well, when you didn’t come home for bed tonight, I knew something was up. And there was no way I was gonna let Twilight find out about this first, especially if it was something bad. You know how she gets with you.”
“Hmm.” Spike gave her a sly grin. “So you’re saying you were actually worried about me?”
“Oh, gosh, of course not,” Starlight said, gripping her chest. “I was merely concerned. And that’s the most you’ll get out of me.”
“Heh, love you too, Starlight.” Spike hopped up from his chair and extended a claw to help Starlight up from hers. “Let’s get some sleep, alright? And tomorrow, maybe you can help me figure out some opening lines for asking Derpy out again? I was thinking of something like ‘Hey, bae, let me show you true happiness,’ or something like that.”
Starlight froze in her tracks. “Yeah, we’re definitely gonna need to work on that. I’m pretty sure a tumbleweed just rolled out from under my tail.”
Spike and Starlight made their way up the stairs and parted ways to their respective bedrooms for a good night’s sleep. Spike collapsed onto his bed immediately after entering his room.
He was still smiling ear to ear at this point. Making a filly smile, putting a jerk in his place, getting a kiss from a beautiful mare, a demeaning yet uplifting talk with Starlight… he had one fantastic day. And given how great things had been going for him, Spike was more than ready to wake up later and start a new day, because things were only looking up.
8780128
Stalright to the right, everything you own in the box to the right.
ah, you could say Spike is really looking on the Brightside here. It sounds like he's quite a happy Mr.!
why do I get the feeling that starlight low key loves spike?
Damn. Great song
Double damn. Great chapter I look forward to more from you so keep up the good work my good man
Feels like Starlight being pro-innuendo.
Innuendos, Sneaking around, Starlight being an annoying sister (or whatever relationship she's got with Spike. idk anymore). This story keeps growing, and keeps getting better.
8780396
I try to keep innuendos seldom so they're actually funny when they come around. But I figured Starlight being exhausted at 4am would be the perfect occasion for her to let loose.
Starlight sweety.... you need to get laid. If it’s been so long tumble weeds are rolling out from unde your tail...
I really love the relationship you've got going with Starlight and Spike. I'm getting this "Twilight = mom, Starlight = big sister" vibe.
Gotta say, though...
This is the easiest way to get Murphy knocking at your door...
oh Starlight.....a bit mean to call him a loser because of that, afterwall we won't start to think that what he did was wrong.
I get the feeling he shouldn't ask her, she is probably just really into it but has nearly no idea herself.
Okay help him, it only can get better.
Nice chapter.
Ohh...Starlight....Get Sunburst!
Okay, so this has nothing to do with the story but IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS SAYING FOR A MONTH! I got feghooted with a pun of this and it bugged the heckin heck out of me that I could not figure it out THANK YOU
Wow, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss.’
Killer line bud
8780861
I can't resist throwing in music references, lol.
8780839
I'm glad I could be of service. *bows*
8780600
Murphy can stay the fuck away from my story. Things are going so good for them!
8781514
Thanks for reading, my friend!
NANI?! A Reference? What reference?
Rarity is that you?
HAHAHA, SHE KNOWS.
ARC 2 WAS OUT YESTERDAY, HUH?!
Ahhh, the song is so good, I don't understand how people can sing that well. Also, I love that Starlight is even more self-aware here then she is in the show, it's brilliant. The writing is also very very very very nice, I think you were going to a big sister/cool aunt/cousin vibe with Starlight and a very motherly vibe for Twilight? Hmm, if that's true what would Celestia be?
And how long should I expect the second arc to be? No way it can be another 23 chapters, can it?
8780402
I think the innuendo was good not because it's a seldom occurrence, but because it felt so natural to the conversation.
8785851
Yeah back when Starlight was reintroduced as a good girl people were blowing up about Starlight x Spike. Someone asked me how I felt about that pairing and I told them they've got great chemistry together. Not romantic chemistry per se, but they really felt like close friends, more so than Twilight and Spike cause of the ambiguity in their relationship. This is a really believable take on how that Starlight and Spike relationship would have evolved over time in a more mature setting than a kids show.
Replace the comma with a period.
I'm stealing this. This is gold.
Interactions between Spike and Starlight are always hilarious, and I love every bit of it.
I hate you.
8783031
Grandma?
The sad tag says otherwise, yo.
Though, I notice you write Starlight's dialogue like she's had bad relationships before. Or at least, it feels implied.
"Hello, Author? Yes, I'm in this story and I don't like it."
In all seriousness though, love this story so far.
10059148
I'm glad you like it so far!