Chapter 16: Fireproof
Spike’s eyelids began to waver as the sunlight beat down on them. He let out a groan as he raised his wing up to his head to shelter his face from the burning inferno. The warm embrace of sleep began to slip from his grip as he tried desperately to cling to it. His mind began to fire up as he slowly became more aware of his surroundings. His bed was the floor, which was odd. He remembered collecting a blanket and pillow, but not why. Then more thoughts began to come to him as he opened his eyes a little wider. He saw Twilight, who smiled at him happily.
“Good morning, Spike,” Twilight said cheerfully. Spike shot up and stumbled about on the floor.
“I . . . uh. Goodmorning?” he said after finding his balance.
“I hope you’re ready to get to work, because we have lots to do,” she said and began walking towards the library.
“What work?” Spike groaned and followed her.
“What do you mean ‘what work?’ Obviously we need to start with observing the Miasma crystals to learn more about them. I couldn’t find anything in the library about them this morning, so we’ll just have to start documenting our experience with them as well.” Twilight’s expression began to get more and more frantic as she spoke. Spike, the ever faithful assistant, took notice.
“Twilight?” he started. She didn’t hear him.
“But we’ll need to meet with the princesses on whether that kind of information could be dangerous to put into a book. Who knows if they have the time. Not to mention that this all happened while I was trying to send out copies of my book to libraries across Equestria! I’ll need to write to all of those librarians to explain what happened, which is even more writing. Maybe I should just forget about that and devote all my time to studying the Miasma?” She was speaking at lightening pace, and Spike had trouble keeping up.
“Twilight!” he called out. She turned and stopped ranting for a moment, looking up at him worryingly.
“Relax, ok? We have all the time in the world for that. Can we just start with a little breakfast?” he offered. It really was too early to get started with panicking. He had just woken up after all. She smiled and lit her horn with magic.
“Oh, I thought of that already. I picked this up from Pony Joe’s while you were still asleep,” she said, and from the table beside her, a chocolate-frosted donut flew up and straight into his open mouth. Extra-sprinkles, just the way he liked it.
“Thanks,” he mumbled with a mouthful of delight.
“You’re right though, Spike. We have plenty of time. Besides, I know exactly what I want to do first,” she said and shot him a sly smile. She walked up to him and cocked an eyebrow, as if she knew a secret and playfully kept it from him. Spike’s eyes went wide as she glared at him. He wasn’t exactly sure what she was hinting at, and his imagination was not co-operating.
“What’s that?” he said nervously.
“You are showing me the observatory, mister,” she said and prodded his chest with her hoof. Spike gave a sigh of relief and finished his donut.
“Okay, Twilight. This way,” he said and gestured to the door. He led her outside and propped himself up on the invisible bridge to the cliffside. Twilight marveled at the spectacle before her as he suspended in mid air seemingly on hard ground. She poked at the path with her hoof and peered over the balcony, observing it closely.
“This is so interesting! Do you think it’s a concealment spell?” she asked him.
“I don’t think so,” Spike replied and playfully bounced up and down on the invisible path. “If you look below, you can see my shadow on the ground but no shadow from the bridge. That means that the light is going all the way through it, so there is no stone path hidden here.”
“Wow, you’re right!” she said with awe in her eyes. “I bet it’s some kind of particle condensing spell that lets you walk on air when you come into contact with it. How fascinating!”
“If you think that’s cool, come see this!” he said and held out his hand. She gave him her hoof and he pulled her up, guiding her along the bridge towards the cliffside. She gladly held onto him as she looked down towards the ground, which was nearly 20 meters below her. Despite the height, she felt safe enough with him guiding her that she did not even ready her wings in case she fell.
“Check this out!” he said and stretched his head out into the smoke-screen disguised entrance.
“Wow!” she remarked. “It look so real!”
He smiled and guided her by the hoof inside slowly. She held her breath, in case the wall of stone was somehow breathable. Her vision went dark for a moment until her hoof emerged on the other side of the entrance. Her face beamed with excitement as she drank in the sight of the wonderful observatory. Her gaze darted from the books to the other levels and back up towards the glass dome above them. Her excitement bubbled into laughter as she let go of Spike’s hand and galloped from shelf to shelf.
“This is amazing,” she called out as he trailed behind her. "There are so many!"
“They’re all first-editions too,” he said, stoking her giddy fire.
“Wow, this is so great. Where should we start?” she said with another jump. Her smile was wider than he had seen it in ages. She looked up at him with all the enthusiasm and joy that he had come to adore. Her wings were splayed and her grin filled her cheeks to the brim. The sight made him feel totally and incandescently happy.
“Let’s start from the ground floor and work our way up,” Spike suggested and pointed at the spiral staircase behind her. She agreed and they quickly made their way down to the bottom floor. She continued to survey the bookshelves and looked up towards the glorious ceiling where the sun came streaming in at an angle.
“This one over here!” he called out to her from on top of a bookcase ladder. He waved around a book in his claws excitedly. She trotted over to him and lifted the book out of his hand with her magic.
“A spell tome?” she asked.
“Yeah! Almost of my breath magic was derived from spells that unicorns invented first. That one’s a Rune Reader original, and it’s got the same spell I use to see in the dark!” he said excitedly. Twilight immediately began tearing through the pages and skimming over the passages about light and casting charms on oneself instead of somepony else. She looked back up at Spike with another smile.
“Are there more of these?” she asked.
“Yeah!” He answered.
“I’m going to want five more of these spellbooks. Anything you think I can pull off,” she instructed and walked over to the nearest desk. “Oh this is so exciting! I don’t suppose I can take these back to Ponyville with me. Do you think I could take some notes?”
“We’ll ask Princess Luna later. Let me go get you a quill and paper, then I’ll get back to the spellbooks,” he said, waving off her concerns.
“Well as soon as you’re done with that, I’m going to want to try some of these spells out. Do you think you could show me a few?” she said while flipping to the first page of the book.
“You got it” he said and went to work.
The two of them eagerly worked on studying and practicing magic for hours. Spike would coach her on a spell and then become a test subject for her first attempt. He ran back and forth from Twilight’s desk to replace the books into their proper spot when she was finished with them. The two laughed as her first attempt at a shouting spell came out as a squeak. Twilight was able to learn it after a few attempts.
“HOWS THIS?” her voice bellowed and Spike flew backwards into the statue of Aurora. He tumbled and rolled before propping his head up and looking back at her in shock.
“I think it worked,” he said and rubbed his tender ears.
“That must be how Princess Luna used to speak. Remember when she scared everypony at Nightmare Night?” Twilight said.
“I guess so,” Spike said and looked up at the stone figure looming over him. “I wonder if she taught her how to do that,” he said and pointed up to Aurora. Twilight looked up and observed the stone figure in the center of the room.
“Maybe so,” Twilight said softly. Her gaze drifted higher as she looked up towards the ceiling. The light was already coming from the west and beginning to get dim.
“Wow, how long have we been here?” she said and looked over towards a tall clock on the wall.
“Hours,” Spike shrugged. “It’s almost--”
Spike was interrupted as a low grumble filled his ears. The sound was nearly like a toad croaking, which sounded odd. He looked at Twilight, who blushed and held a hoof on her torso. He smiled and rolled his eyes.
“You hungry?” he offered. She didn’t respond and continued looking at the ground bashfully.
“Hayburgers,” he decided and picked himself up off the floor. She smiled at him and followed as he led them both up the stairs and out the door.
The evening was beautiful in Canterlot as the shadows of the tall city towers began to cover the streets. Some stores had a few lanterns lit already. Every sidewalk was filled with the hustle and bustle of ponies making their way home from work. The restaurant they arrived at was a simple diner not too far from Luna’s observatory. The two walked inside and were seated by a gracious young colt who eagerly found them a booth near the window.
“Your highness, is there anything we can do to make your visit more comfortable?” he said with grandeur.
“Just two waters to start, please,” she said simply and the waiter trotted off towards the kitchen. She gave a sigh and lifted the menu up to her head. Spike muffled a chuckle at her.
“Still not used to the royal treatment yet?” he said pointing to the waiter.
“I know I’m a princess and all, but this is just a diner, not the royal Canterlot dining halls,” she said with a wave of her hoof.
“Well let's see if we could have some fun with him,” Spike suggested.
“How?” Twilight asked.
“When they bring out your water, you could do a spit take and start shouting at the waiter. Use the shouting spell and terrify them, like, ‘This water is far too wet for a princess, fool! I’ll see everyone in this establishment banished for high treason!’” Spike mocked as he sat tall and threw his finger in the air threateningly. Twilight laughed so hard she had to cover her mouth with her hoof.
“Spike! That’s terrible,” she said with another laugh.
“I bet we get this meal for free,” he said with another grin.
“Spike, you know we’re paying just like everypony else.” At that moment, the waiter re-emerged holding two glasses of water on a saddle-tray and handed them out to Spike and Twilight. He smiled and began to make another grand show of gratitude before asking for their order.
“Two hayburgers with everything on them. Extra ketchup for the princess,” Spike said and pointed his thumb at Twilight sitting across from him.
“Right away, sir,” he said and bowed before hurrying back into the kitchen.
“You know just what I like,” she said and placed her menu back on the table.
“Well it isn’t exactly the first time I’ve had a meal with you,” Spike said sarcastically.
“It’s the first one in a long time, though,” she retorted, to which Spike nodded. Twilight gazed out the window towards the evening sky as the stars began to appear one by one. She let out another sigh, this time feeling much more comfortable rather than exhausted.
“Thanks for today, Spike,” she said sincerely. “After all that happened yesterday, I was beginning to fear that things would not feel the same. But, as it turns out, a nice day of study was just what I needed to ease my mind. So thanks,” she said again.
“Well, yeah,” Spike said as if the point was moot. “I’m your assistant after all. That’s my job.”
“You’re job only entails helping me when I ask. But you’ve always gone above and beyond the call of duty. It’s like you can tell what I’ll need before I even know,” she said and took a sip from her glass.
“True,” he said confidently. “I bet you a ruby that I can guess what you want to do next,” he said with a smile. She looked back at him and thought for a moment about what he could mean. She decided to see what he was getting at and held up her hoof.
“A ruby it is,” she said and Spike shook her hoof confirming the bet. “What do I want to do next?”
“You . . .” he started and bowed his head down over the table, getting closer to her face. The sudden proximity caused her eyes to go a little wider. His eyes peered into hers closely and she felt her hooves freeze. Her heart began racing as her own body began to lean over the table without thinking. Her breathing began to get shaky, so she held it in, waiting for whatever he would do next.
“You want to go use the telescope at the observatory, don’t you?” he said and cocked an eyebrow. She heaved a breath and stumbled around as she sat back down in her seat.
“Oh . . . um, wow, yeah that’s it,” she said quickly and nervously laughed. Spike went from looking sly and confident to looking confused for a moment. “Guess I owe you a ruby, huh?”
“Yeah,” he said. “The sun is going down now, so we can head back there after the--”
“Hayburgers for the princess and the, uh, dragon,” the waiter said as politely as he could muster.
“Wow, that was fast,” Spike observed and looked back up to Twilight. She was already halfway done with her burger. She chomped down eagerly at it, forsaking her magic and shoving it into her mouth with her hooves. In seconds, her cheeks were covered with ketchup. The waiter gave them a surprised and slightly disgusted look before quietly walking away towards another table. Once she saw that he was gone, she politely swallowed and wiped her mouth.
“Take it easy, Twilight. The burger isn’t trying to destroy Equestria.”
She laughed and nodded towards the waiter who was still walking away from them. He looked back between her and the waiter for a moment, noticing how she began to slow down on her burger when he was gone. Then he realized that she was only putting on a show.
“I bet he’ll quit the whole royal treatment thing now,” she said and winked at him.
“You were messing with him,” Spike said and a proud smile grew on his face. Despite all the power of an Alicorn and the title of a princess, Twilight was still very much her same old self. Unbeknownst to Spike, she was thinking the same thing about him.
The two made their way back into the observatory after finishing their dinner. Spike gave off a satisfied moan as he felt full after having nothing but a donut all day. Twilight smirked at him and followed him into the observatory once more. The sight was still amazing to her, but she decided to hold onto her excitement this time. He led her over to the massive telescope that hung from the ceiling and pointed out through the massive glass window. The starlight gently lit the floor beneath the dome with just enough light to see where they were stepping. Twilight gazed upwards at the magnificent sight.
“Over here,” Spike said and stood near the eyepiece of the great telescope. She walked over and carefully placed her right eye on the scope. It took a moment for her to adjust her sight, but soon the sky lit up as she gazed out into the beautiful abyss. Past the moon she could see the glimmering lights of the galaxy as it swirled around them. She zoomed in farther and caught a glimpse of the Carina Neighbula. The telescope she had on the Golden Oaks library balcony was nothing by comparison. She gasped and marveled at the peaceful yet dazzling display in the night's sky.
“It’s so beautiful,” she gasped.
Spike’s eyes were down towards the mare sitting in front of him with a warm smile on his face.
“Yeah,” he sighed, and let his eyes linger on her. Her mane cascaded down her neck in vibrant colors. Her voice seemed to fall over his shoulders like a blanket, soothing him to sleep. Her smile was comforting and warm, even though he had seen it a thousand times before. Her eyes were kind and welcoming and he could look at them for . . .
He realized that she had gone from looking through the telescope to looking right at him, softly returning his gaze. He was so lost in thought that he did not even notice she was staring back at him. She had the faintest smile on her face, and all Spike could do was look back at her with trembling hands. He began to panic. He had to move before he did something he’d regret. In a quick motion, he turned and walked a few steps away from her and took a seat in the center of the observatory platform. He looked down at the ground shamefully as she began walking towards him.
“Spike . . .” she started. He avoided looking at her as best he could, but was unable to muster any words in response. She stopped, her hoof stretched out towards him, and hesitated again.
“Spike, I need to tell you something,” she said softly. He continued to look down at the floor, but he gripped his claws tightly into a fist as if bracing for impact. “I heard what the Miasma said to you.”
Spike perked up and wheeled his head around, looking at Twilight fearfully. This time she looked at the ground. She took a moment, searching for words, but all the books in the world seemed to have escaped her mind. She looked back up and put a hoof on his hand gently.
“I--”
“--Twilight. Don’t,” he cut her off.
“You don't even know what I was going to say," she protested.
"It doesn't matter. I'm sorry you heard those things, but I do not want talk about it," he said and looked away again.
"Why not?"
"Because it will only make things worse," he countered with nearly a whisper.
"What do you mean?” she said and removed her hoof from his hand.
“This . . . I don’t want to risk . . . This.” He trembled. His eyes were fighting with all their might to stay dry. Despite his best efforts, they began to glisten. His mind began racing for a way to get out. Part of him wished that he could go back to wrestling griffons rather than this. He looked around in a panic and began walking back towards the entrance to the observatory.
“Wait!” she called out and began to follow him. “What do you mean ‘risk’?”
“It’s nothing,” he said as they got to the exit.
“Well it’s obviously not ‘nothing’,” she protested.
“Please, Twilight, it’s not worth it,” he said and stepped outside onto the invisible path. Twilight had enough of his running and called out to him loudly.
“Why are you so afraid?” she said and her voice echoed off the cliff face beside them. Spike stopped retreating and quickly turned around on the invisible path and looked at her square in the eyes with a fiery glare.
“Because I think I might be falling madly in love with you, Twilight!” he shouted. "There! You happy? Ever since that first night home I can't stop thinking about you. I've been with you my entire life and it's as if I've never seen you before! I look at you, and I'm home. But I know it's not possible, and it hurts so much but I'd rather hurt like this forever than lose you entirely!"
This time his voice was the one echoing off the side of the mountain. The words seemed to ring in Twilight’s head as her eyes shot open and she froze in her place. His breath was labored and his wings were splayed, shaking nervously. Her heart began to fly as she looked back at him, unable to say anything in response. Spike closed his eyes, took another breath, and slowly began to speak again. This time he was calm and quiet, but still trembling a little.
“You are the most important thing in my life,” he said softly. “It's been that way ever since we were little. I would never risk losing your friendship for anything.” Twilight thought carefully about what he said, and turned to look at the ground far beneath them.
“You won’t lose me,” she said weakly.
“Friendship set on fire, remember?” he said back to her. “What happens if it goes out? I can’t . . . I won’t,” he said and turned once more.
He began walking back towards the study balcony, when his front foot took a step too far on the side. Instead of a solid path, his hand met with thin air and plunged downward. There was a sick tumbling feeling as he lost his balance and pitched forward. Before he could bring his other hand up to catch himself, his head collided with a smack against the invisible path. He let out a grunt of pain and felt dizzy as he began to fall to the side off of the path.
“Spike!” Twilight called out and leapt after him. She grabbed onto his hand with her hoof and struggled to keep his weight from falling over the side. His face looked dazed and his eyes squinted and closed a few times. She was too late to keep his body on the ledge and soon he was dangling from the side of the bridge. In the darkness, she could not see where the ground was, but she knew it was far. His weight was too much for her to handle, and they both began slipping outwards.
“Hang on!” she called out and spread her wings as widely as she could. Another moment later and they were both falling. She kicked off the bridge and threw her hooves around him, getting as tight a grip as she could. She flapped her wings as hard as she could, but Spike’s weight began carrying them downwards towards the ground. Her balance began to shift as Spike turned. The ground was nearly upon them. She closed her eyes and braced for impact.
Spike’s wings opened up at the last moment, spinning them around and slowing their descent into a glide. For a moment they coasted through the air, both of their wings straining to find balance, before Spike’s tail caught the ground and they began rolling. The ground hit his back with a crash and she pounded against his chest as the two of them tumbled and skidded on the grass. Finally, they rolled one last time before leaning backwards and skidding to a stop.
Twilight’s eyes opened slowly. She looked around in the darkness of night to assess her surroundings. They were on the grounds surrounding Canterlot between the cliffside and their tower. Instead of grass beneath her, she felt the warm sensation of Spike’s chest rise and fall against her own. His wings were wrapped around her tightly, holding her close and blanketing her gently. She looked down at him. His eyes were still closed and he looked disoriented and dazed from the impact. He breathed normally, and did not show any signs that he was in pain.
Spike’s head was still spinning. His back was buried into the grass, which was soft enough to cushion their fall thankfully. He kept his eyes closed until the world would quit tumbling around him. He felt the strange sensation of vertigo leaving his head while the soft fur of Twilight’s chest caressed his. He breathed lightly as he felt the night air sweep over his scales. A second later, another strange sensation filled his head.
Lips touching his.
He opened his eyes slightly and stared up at Twilight, who was pressing herself down onto his head and gently kissing him. His heart began to beat faster as he absorbed the sight in front of him. She lingered there for a moment pressing her lips down onto his softly, before picking her head up and smiling at him. Spike’s eyes were now wide open and staring at her loving gaze like he had just seen a ghost.
“Twilight . . .” he nearly gasped. She continued to smile at him and laid her weight on top of him.
“I know, love is friendship set on fire. But Spike, aren’t dragons fireproof?” she said sweetly.
“Well, what does this me--”
She cut him off with another quick kiss. Her lips only teased his this time, coming back up again after she was satisfied that he shut up.
“It means Spike, I don’t want to spend anymore time without you in my life,” she began. She let a hoof rest beside his head and rubbed it gently. He stared back up at her with timid eyes. “We’ve loved each other since we were both very small. I know this is a little different, but I have no intention of letting us drift apart for any reason. You are my best friend, and I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather be with than you, Spike.” She looked down at him, her mane falling to her side and her eyes glinting in the moonlight.
A spark lit behind Spike’s eyes. He looked up at her with a newfound confidence and brought his hands up to cradle her face. She rubbed her head against them affectionately as he held her.
“Okay,” he said softly.
"Okay?"
"Okay," he repeated and wiped a stray tear from her eye. "I love you."
“I love you too,” she quickly responded. His smile lit up the stars.
He used his hand caressing her cheek to pull her down onto him and began kissing her fervently. She locked her lips with his as he ran his hands around her neck and pulled her tightly against him. She did the same with her hooves and began returning the kiss with equal vigor. His wings squeezed against her from a little tighter, radiating her whole body in that same sublime warmth that was burning hotter and hotter.
The two quietly embraced in the grass beneath the towers of Canterlot. They weren’t sure if time was moving quickly or not at all. To them, it did not matter. All that mattered was each other. Though it took some time for them to realize, that’s all that ever mattered.
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Hey, this is really interesting! Spike growing up, using magic, cool head canon, good writing. Can't wait to see where this go—
>TwiSpike
Oh. Uh, never mind. Nothing personal, just feels too much like incest to me.
Best of luck to you, though!
Aww is the story over
But aren't dragons fireproof
That had to be the smoothest fucking line I ever heard in a fic that wasn't super clichéd! Bravo sir! Bravo! 
5754943
Agreed on that account. One of the best cheesy lines that aren't cliche. Which I think is hard to find anymore. :D
That's... creative use of a physical property.
Good chapter. Wan't quite expecting it to happen that way. The "aren't dragons fireproof" line was a nice touch. It's good to see that they aren't dancing around each other anymore.
5754522 It is not incest because they it has no blood ties, are not even of the same species,i respect that you do not like the spilight but do not call it incest just because you have a different interpretation of their relationship,also, from the beginning the author said that it is a spilight history
ps
Sorry for my mistakes, my English is not good
It was good. More now if you would please.
5758354
I understand that it's not really incest, hence why I said that it only feels like it to me. . Best I can explain it is this: Spike and Twilight's relationship in the show reminds me a lot of my relationship with my big sister. So, I tend to see them as brother/sister, which means that I'm not a fan of them becoming romantically involved.
5761141
Oh bucks!!! I left my bombs on!!!!!!!
Yay they finally kissed. Nice execution by the way!
My pancreas is hurting from all the daww. That's really sweet.
6185951
When my zombie friend Steve read this
He said that he had a heart attack
And those exact words
It was very good. I just don't understand why Twilight didn't use her magic to levitate him or teleport themselves. The scene woudn't have changed that much and the result would have been the same. But that's nitpicking. Aside from that the chapter is great and the play on words 'set on fire' and 'fireproof' was actually quite clever