Sometimes you have a thought that you should probably tell someone. A little support for all they've done for you, a chance to clear the air after a misunderstanding, maybe even that confession you've been holding onto for far too long. Is it worth keeping that thought to yourself at a time when tomorrow's chance may never come?
While Twilight may not have had any such thought, she came too close to denying those close to her such a chance. In the aftermath of another intense adventure, the recovering princess finds herself with a lot of free time and a friend sticking by her side. It might be time to bring such thoughts into the open, and see where they lead.
I know I said I was effectively done with writing, but sometimes you just get an itch you want to scratch and then here we are. It took a little while to get back into the groove of things but hopefully the quality hit isn't too bad. Enjoy, and see if you can figure out just what spurred me into this one!
Also serves as an alternate ending to Black Sun wherein Celestia and Spike reach the Tomb of the Gods in time to rescue Twilight. I hopefully put enough in that it can be followed (or at least you're not completely lost) without reading the main story though.
Rated T violence for injuries worse than the show would depict.
Proofreading by the ICBFF, Deep Note
Heh, I was wondering where that was going to lead. My first thought was... well, not approval, but then I had to remind myself how much time had passed in the story. Makes sense, though, or rather it doesn't not make sense - I never got the vibe of Twilight and Spike's relationship being one of siblings, so with maturity borne from the passage of time, it would be a believable development.
Not sure about the "dragons don't really do love" bit, though - though I imagine their culture would have discouraged it's open expression, but that's a whole different kettle of theories.
9744067 Yeah, I forgot to give some measure of how much time had passed from the show (to answer that, the 23 years mentioned at the start is from the end of S3). So there's been time. I originally saw Twi and Spike as more parental in the early seasons of the show, then more sibling as time went on (and then Smolder showed up and I didn't know what to think), then a shameless ship once he got older.
As for the love thing, maybe that was the wrong word. I imagine that dragons are highly self-centred by nature and their culture evolved with a 'Care about yourself above all, no exceptions' mentality that's existed since time immemorial. Of course, Spike's been influenced by both a pony upbringing and inbred dragon heritage, so maybe he/I meant 'Dragons don't really do romance" and flubbed it due to inexperience.