Chapter One
Spike woke up to the sun rising above a hill, yawning and stretching his arms he stood up. He was in a blue crystalline room, one of the many apartments in Twilight's new castle. He jumped out of his bed, a woven straw basket, and straightened the fluffy pillow. He tucked in the light purple blanket so the embroidered star could be seen nice and neat. He gazed at the pattern, wondering how his friend and mentor could have come so far as to have become a princess, the Princess of Friendship, to be exact. Spike walked into the bathroom and hopped into the shower. He felt the warm water washing over his bright green and purple scales. He grabbed an emerald, and used the gem like bath-soap and scrubbed his scales clean. He turned off the running water(one of the perks of living with a princess) and grabbed his green towel off of a hook. For a while he just stared at it. It was one of the many gifts from the crystal ponies, and in purple it had a swirly "S" fancily sewn into it. Spike wrapped it around his body and walked out of the shower. He walked out of the bathroom and tossed the towel into a hamper for one of the paid servants to bring into the laundry room. Walking up to a mirror, he smoothed down his scales.
"Lookin' good Spike!" he told himself as he looked at his reflection. Soon he opened the door and slid down the stair's railing to the dining room. Twilight was already there, eating a daisy sandwich.
"Good morning, Spike!" she cheerily bid him as he sat down.
"Today's the day! I'm finally going to tell her!" Spike whispered to himself as a pink and green unicorn mare set a bowl of gems in front of him.
"Thank you!" he said gratefully as she walked away.
"Spike! You need to speak up! I didn't hear a word you said!" Twilight firmly told Spike.
"Now, what were you saying?"
"I was just telling myself about how today I'm going to ask Rarity to be my special somepony today," He blushed as the words left his mouth. Twilight gasped before replying.
"What! You're going to what!?" Twilight's jaw dropped as the words he said finally registered in her mind, "You're going to ask her to be your special somepony!? But... but... you can't! You aren't old enough! You're not... you're not..." Twilight stumbled over her words, trying to figure an excuse. She couldn't lose her best friend, she couldn't lose Spike!
"Didn't Sweetie Belle go on a date just yesterday?" Spike managed to ask Twilight.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with this situation?"
"How old were you when you hatched me?"
"I was only a filly, what does this have to do with the situation Spike?"
"Was Sweetie even born when you were a filly?"
"Probably not, but what does this have to do with this predicament?"
"So I was hatched when Sweetie maybe wasn't even born?"
"Well yeah... oh, I see what you're saying, I guess if you put it that way, then I guess you are old enough," Twilight walked over to Spike and embraced . He felt the warmth of her feathery wings envelop him in the tight caress, "Well, I guess you should be off then, before I start bawling," she smiled as she retracted her wings and shooed him out the door. He looked behind him to see the massive doors close behind him, but not before he saw a tear rolling down the princess's cheek, and heard her whispering,
"He's all grown up, soon he won't need me..."
Spike cheerily skipped over to Carousel Boutique, Rarity's home and work place, saying "Good morning," to everypony he saw. Soon he arrived at the building and knocked at the door.
"Come in!" He heard the sweet voice of his beloved ring out. Spike opened the door to see Rarity frantically working on a dress.
"Oh! Spikey-Wikey! Would you mind helping me? Photo Finish sent an order for this dress a few weeks ago, but I only had time to start it a few days ago! And she wants it tomorrow!" Rarity bustled about the shop, grabbing fabrics, cutting them into the right shapes, sewing the pieces together, and stitching feathers into the headdress. Spike immediately started to help the unicorn, after a few minutes he piped up the courage to do what he came there for.
"Rarity?" he quietly requested her attention.
"Yes, Darling?" the unicorn replied, stillbustling about the dress, fixing a few things here and there. Spike couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer and burst out,
"Rarity, will you be my Very Special Somepony? Please oh, please say yes!" he fell on his knees and pleaded to her. Rarity stopped and gasped. She was utterly surprised at what he said,
"I-I'm s-sorry, b-but I have never felt that way about y-you," She managed to stutter when she regained her conduct, "You have always been a little brother to me! Besides, you are too young and not mature enough for a pony my age!"
Spike barely heard her last words, as he had walked out of the door, heartbroken, at the thought that he would never be able to gain her admiration and love. He silently walked back to the castle, ignoring anypony who tried to say anything to him. Twilight greeted him gladly when he got to the castle, but he walked by her, oblivious to her presence. He slumped over to his room and fell on the bed. The dragon started doing something he had always entrusted himself not to do, cry. Spike cried in sorrow for over an hour, but when he finally regained his composure, his heart was still broken.
"Too young and immature," He whispered to himself as he grabbed his belongings and put them in a bag, "Well then, I guess to get my beautiful Rarity, I must seek growth and maturity!" He grabbed his bed-sheets and tied them together, making a rope. He tied one end to a post in his room, and flung the other out of the three-story window. He slid down the rope, getting his claws stuck in a few places, ripping the sheets, but finally reaching the bottom. Spike turned around so his back was to the town and started walking. He walked and walked into the unknown, with only one thought in his mind.
I must go on a journey... all for the love of a mare.