Chapter 1
"Spike! Spike! Get your scaly behind down here and help me!" The purple librarian unicorn named Twilight Sparkle yelled from the main room of her library/home.
"Sheesh, Twi. What's going on? You know I'm in the middle of dusting our room, like you asked me to..." said Spike, the scaly dragon assistant and adopted son of Twilight as he made his way down towards Twilight standing in the entrance to the library.
"The new shipment of books have arrived, and I need your help."
"But we always get new shipments every few weeks and you never needed my help before..."
"Well, this is an extraordinarily special shipment!"
"How so?"
"Oh? Don't you remember me telling you about the peace treaty between the Ponies and the Dragons?"
"Briefly, before I fell asleep."
"Well... basically it has been agreed that each race is to respect the boundaries of each other's lands in exchange for a free distribution of knowledge!"
"In other words?"
"In other words, Spike. Ponies finally get to see some of the writings, artwork, and knowledge that Dragons have made throughout their history!"
"So what you're saying is that we're getting a whole lot more books..."
"Exactly!" Twilight said in excitement too far into elation to recognize the sighing dragon behind her.
A few hours later, after Spike's morning chores were finally done, after the last of the newest books were neatly placed on the library floor for sorting, and after their afternoon lunch was pleasantly eaten, Twilight makes a shocking discovery, "Spike! I think you might want to look at this."
"What is it Twi?"
"Well, I was reading this draconic book about their youths and adolescence..."
"And?"
"And I found out two things. I'm sorry Spike, but you won't grow wings..."
"What?"
"Apparently, only the dragons that were born with wings will ever have them... and actually Spike, there is even more bad news..."
"I wouldn't really call that bad news..."
"Even so, this is actually the troubling news that I almost wanted to keep to myself..."
"What is it Twi?"
"Spike... according to the book, dragons age one tenth that of a pony..."
"Wh... What does that mean Twi..."
"Well... according to the book, it means that you're not only still a baby dragon, but you're still a two-year-old!"
"What! How can that be? I'm already Twenty! There's o way I'm only that... young... Give me the book!" He snapped, nearly ripping the book from Twilight as she understandingly held it out for him. "Bla, bla, bla. Yatta, yatta, yatta. Ah! 'but in order to relate a filly to that of a hatchling, it is most proper to say that for each ten years for that of a pony, only one year has aged for a dragon. But even with the difference of Draconic immortality, still a correlation is seen with how we both grow into our bodies by the same respective ages: a quick growth in the first tenth of their respective year, followed by a slow rise until that of the size of an average pony by the teens, which is...'
"Twi?"
"Yes, Spike?"
"Is this true?"
"I'm afraid it is. And even though it's wrong about pony maturity, It came from the draconic library itself, along with other books, stories, and even poems that confirm it... I'm sorry."
"Y... you mean, I'm going to be this baby dragon for... for..."
"Almost a hundred years... I'm so sorry Spike..." Twilight said comfortingly as she wrapped her hooves around the sobbing dragon.
The dragon cried through all of the thoughts that crossed his mind, he would never grow old with his surrogate mother, he would near always be considered a child to society, he would never be allowed to go to certain places by himself, he would forever be cursed to need a ladder to reach past the third shelf in the library!
And then he remembered his friends, they would understand him, they would treat him with respect and care. Sure Rainbow would make some fun of him for staying so small and puny for such a long time and eventually apologize with a meaningful hug and Spike-ruffling, and Pinkie would throw a party for whatever reason and probably let the whole world know that I'm different. Applejack would say it's a darn shame and give me half price on cart-fulls of apples for weeks in accommodation. Fluttershy, the caring dear, might be overjoyed in finding that I'd be a cute little dragon for the rest of her years, never to see me again as a snarling monster that he wishes he would never become again.
Then there was Rarity, the jewel of his eye, his morning and evening sun, the reason he liked living in the dainty little town of Ponyville more than the castle he called home. What would she say? What would she think of him? What does she think of him? Does she even feel anything towards him? That was the question. The question that kept him up for weeks on end. The question that had been burning into his soul, "Twi?"
"Yes, Spike?"
"Can... can I go and... and do something Twi?" he asked through his sniffles.
"Well, what is it?"
"I... I really need to know... about..."
"I don't blame you, go and ask her. You deserve an answer." She responded, watching the smiling face of her best friend nod his way out of the library, "I just really hope she says yes."
Rarity was in the middle of sewing one of the last main pieces of cloth to her newest dress when a quick burst of knocks shook Rarity out of her concentration, she knew she hadn't closed the shop, so there shouldn't be any need to knock. But regardless of the circumstances, she knew it was improper to keep anyone waiting, she quickly sew the rest of the cloth and raced towards the door, "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique and magnifique.... Oh! Spike, darling. What every brings you over here this afternoon?"
"Oh, um... hi Rarity... I was actually wondering if you'd like to come to a picnic with me this evening?"
"Hm... I don't really see why not. I don't have anything planned for tonight, and a picnic does sound delightful this time of year. Would you like me to bring anything?"
"Uh, no... not really. I mean It's fine, I'll pick you up at 6:30, alright?"
"Sure. That should give me plenty of time to finish up the dresses I'm working on. See you then, my little spikey-wikey."
He couldn't help but blush at the nickname, "yeah. See you then, Rarity."
The hours flew by quicker then he knew, as Spike ran through the marketplace, picking out the perfect delights for his date and setting up the whole thing on a secluded hill, just outside of Ponyville. Just as he finished the last piece of the picnic, he glanced over towards the clock, gasping at the time; 6:15, he only had just enough time to get over to Rarity's house!
"Co~~miing~," the fashionista replied, trotting towards the door that announced the 6:30 time perfectly. But as she opened the door, she saw the panting dragon, trying to catch his breath, "oh my! What ever happened?"
"Sorry... I... just... lost track... of the time..." he said, trying to calm himself down and breath. "Shall we go?"
"Well, if you're alright. I'd love to see the picnic you've set up for us."
"Right this way," he replied, showing the way for his date.
Their twenty-minute walk was a brisk and peaceful one, arriving at the draped cloth still perfectly arranged as he wanted, "oh my! Spike darling, this is..."
He placed his claw over her lips, silencing her shock, "lets not dwell on anything at the moment. Let's just enjoy the meal." She happily obliged, sitting comfortable on the pillow Spike had placed for her as he walked around to the other side of the blanket and began picking through the contents of the basket between them.
They ate in a peaceful silence, Rarity enjoying the exquisite gourmet meal that Spike had brought, and Spike enjoying the company before him as the sun slowly dipped down to meet the horizon to their side as it change into a beautiful twilight, "Rarity."
She tore herself from the sunset to meet Spike's gaze directly in front of her, "Yes, Spike?"
"Rarity. I'm not sure if you know this, but you are the most beautiful mare that I have ever seen..."
"I don't mean to brag, but... oh, I'm sorry."
"Well, ever since I had first laid my eyes on you, I had been struck by your beauty. Then I had the privilege to get to know you, to talk with you, to understand you. To learn about your caring nature, your sophisticated demeanor, your cheerful disposition, your ample intellect, your unequivocal fashion sense, your..."
"Spike..."
"Sorry. What I'm trying to say is... I I love you. I love everything about you. I want to be your special some-drake. So will you be my special some-pony?"
She could only stare in shock, she had always known of his affection, but she had never imagined that he would be so forthright, "S... Spike... I... I don't... I don't know what to say."
He lifted her forefront hoof within his claws, pleading towards the love he hoped she had towards him, "just say that you love me too."
She couldn't met his gaze, nor did she want to. The sheer affection within his eyes, the desperate plea to show her the love he contains, she couldn't even bare to think about what she was going to do, "Spike." She said as firmly as she could, retracting her hoof from his claws, "you know you're one of my best friends, you're always so polite and kind to me, so helpful and generous... but I... I'm sorry."
"You're... sorry?"
"I'm sorry Spike, I can't be yours. I can never be... You have your entire life ahead of you, and I don't want to be the old mare with her head in the clouds, holding you down."
"I... I see."
"Please don't take it the wrong way, Spike. I really do like you... a lot, but... maybe when you're older and have your place in the world, and maybe if you're still in love with this crazy fashionista, I won't give it a second thought to be yours."
His eyes were shut as tightly as he possibly could make them, he didn't want to hear what she had to say, especially in those words, "I... I understand, Rarity." He tried to fight it, but a single tear fell from his eye as he turned from her, "if you see Twilight, please tell her I'm taking a walk."
"Spikey..." she whispered, watching the dragon walk down from the hill and out of her sight.
"...and that's what happened Twilight. I didn't want to break his little heart, but... he... he's just so..."
"Young?"
Rarity paused for a moment, partially surprised by her response, but lowered her head in guilt, "yes. I really do care for the dear, but I can't help but feel he'd be better off with my little sister then me."
Twilight could barley contain herself from the swell of emotions from just the hear-say of his confession, "can you gather the others? There's something I need to tell you all..."
"Wh... what's wrong? Is Spike..."
"I'll tell you when everyone else is here," she interrupted with a harsh tone, insisting Rarity to get out of her library/home.
It took a bit of time, but Rarity got the four others to come to the library, entering to see a slouched over Twilight, sipping on a cup of tea on the couch, "alright Twi, what all's going on here? Callin us down here in the middle of the night..."
"Yeah, what AJ said! Rarity said something about Spike, so spill it! What's going on?" Rainbow dash exclaimed, thrusting herself into Twilight's face.
The effort didn't phase her, she still starred into her cup as she asked, "we've known each other for a few years now, right?"
They all paused at the sudden and random question, replying all at the same time with a "yeah."
"And you've all known Spike quite a bit, right?"
"Yeah, the little darlin's always glad to help me out on the farm when he's got the time..."
"Always there to cheer me on when I do some awesome new trick..."
"Always bubbly to eat any of my sweets..."
"Always there to help me design and make a new dress. Not to mention gathering gems..."
"He even helps me take care of the animals... When he's not busy that is..."
"But let me ask you. How old do you think he is?"
They all took a quiet pause, they had never really questioned his numerical age, not even questioning why it was never mentioned at his birthday parties or talked about in the slightest, they even started to question why they had never questioned it before. But Applejack, assure of her thoughts, asserts to Twilight as if she were talking for the whole group, "I've always reckoned he's about seven or eight now. But why you asking all of a sudden?"
The rest of the group was silent, in the back of their mind they agreed that he was just a young little drake, but something about Twilight's question made them bite their tongue before she spoke again in a whisper, "you're wrong." She looked up at them for the first time, still clenching her tea in her hooves, eyes forming fresh tears over the dried remains of recent ones, "he's... twenty."
It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop a whole street over, shocked by the knowledge that their little, innocent dragon they'd come to know and love, was only a short stretch away from them, "oh... oh my... When... when he..."
"I know Rarity, I know..."
"What? What happened?" Applejack shouted, getting the attention of the now crying Rarity.
"He... He con... con..." Rarity tried to speak, recalling every second of it over and over in her mind.
"He confessed to her." Twilight stated blatantly, "because of what we both learned about the dragon race just today..."
"Just today?"
"Yes, we had gotten a shipment of books from the dragon-lands this morning, and a number of them talked about the growth and development of young dragons... Particularly stating that before their thousandth year, dragons are considered one-tenth of their pony age."
"You... you mean..."
"Yes, Fluttershy. According to dragon standards, he's only a two-year-old."
Another silence drew itself over the room, at least until Rainbow broke the silence, "so... I'm guessing you didn't say yes, then."
"N... no." Rarity said, barley able to hold herself upright, "even worse... I told him it was only because he wasn't old enough..."
Pinkie gasped in shock, her hair now fallen flat from its unpoofed state, "wh... where is he? Do you all think I should..."
"It wouldn't hurt, but I'm afraid he's gone for the moment. He said he'd be out on a walk... but knowing about his state, I don't know when he'll be back," Twilight answered, trying to keep her from getting even more depressed.
"Well, he can't be gone for all that long, he does need his sleep..." Applejack replied.
"I doubt he'll be back tonight though, especially with what he's been through..."
Spike had walked along a long path, not really caring to know where he was going, only desiring to run as far away as he could. But his little legs refused to let him, even from the start, worried what it would do to his love, seeing him run away from her so vehemently, "O' mourn the day of wretched thoughts, to learn of one's true fate! O' why be it me, to have been born with such a horrendous curse, to forever be lost to the hand of time, the devil's advocate."
He didn't know how long he'd been walking nor how far, all he knew was that his emotions had dulled to a manageable point and his thoughts had not dwendled or swayed in any way, "what should I do? No dragon would ever want anything to do with me, just because I'm affiliated with ponies, and no pony could live long enough for anything to really matter." He let out another long sigh, looking up to finally notice where he was, "wow... Did I just walk all the way to Canterlot?" And just as he looked at the castle he once called his home, he saw something from out of one of the castle windows, something so small at his distance, that he thought he would never have noticed; a langthy white figure, tossing its head up, just as the sun began to shine over the horizon.
"Hm... I haven't seen Celestia in a while anyway, might as well give her a visit," he said with a sigh, already being this far from his home, he might as well go just a little further and talk to a pony he knows will listen to him at true value.
"Spike! What are you doing here?!" Celestia astonishly asked as she sat on her thrown.
"Oh, you know... I just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing..."
"If I had known you were comming, I would've sent an escort to the station for you two..."
He couldn't help but chuckle at her statement, "I appreciate the jester, but I'm afraid you're wrong on both accounts."
"Both?"
"Yes. I did not come by train, baloon, or even carrage and Twilight did not accompany me."
"Then h... how did you get here?"
"I felt like taking a walk and my feet took me here..."
"You transversed the entire distance by yourself?"
"Took from dusk to dawn, but yes."
"I see, and I can tell your visit is not one of either intent or pleasure. Would you like to speak in private?" Spike nodded his head at the princess's question, "guards! I am taking my guest to my personal chambers and no one is to disturb us, do you understand?"
"Yes mam!" The dozen or so guards replied in sync, escorting the princess and Spike through the labyrinth of hallways until reaching the Princess's chambers, signified by the guilded frame around the door with decoration relating to the sun.
Spike had been here many times before; the princess's private section of the castle, complete with study, lounge, recreation room, and sleeping chambers, all directly visible from the hallway they walked into, "So Spike, tell me. What are you doing here of all places?"
They had entered her lounge before he answered her, thinking how he should explain himself, "you see, Twilight had recieved a new shipment of books yesterday..."
"Doesn't surprise me, they ship new books near every month."
"Yes, but this shipment was filled with books from the dragon lands," Spike said, looking at her shock from fear of what purpose he now had to come. "And I... we, had found out that even though I've been alive for these twenty years, and have an endless number left, I have only aged but that of two, according to the books."
A strong sigh escaped her lips, "I've dredded the day you would find out Spike, but yes. It is true."
"You... knew?"
"I knew that you would physically age slowly..."
"But because I ate the ruby..."
"Yes, because you ate 'The Ruby of Knowledge' when you were just a few months old, you gained such a vast intelligence that even I was surprised..."
"That I aquired knowledge that near rivaled yours..."
"Until its power regulated itself into a manageable level within your body and allowing you to live a normal life..."
"Pretend to live a norma life... You know that I can't tell anyone about the real me, my influence, my power, my wealth, my royalty... thank you by the way..."
"It was your mother's final wish, to see that I raised you like my son, but I didn't want to be a replacement mother..."
"I know... and I apreciate it, but I still couldn't help but feel the need for a mother..."
"And so you turned to Twilight, for she was the one who hatched you..."
"Mostly, but I could tell that she needed me back then, just as much as I needed her..."
"And now she has friends, and you're just an assistant," she said with a low, caring tone, desperately trying to be kind while being honest to the only person she could ever talk to, fully and truthfully.
"Yes, and I've come to accept that, while making friends of my own..."
"And one of those friends, you were coaxing one of them with free gems, the very thing you've dug up to gain your fortune..."
"I wasn't coaxing... plus the whole vally only had about fifty-million bits worth at most, nothing big enough for me to go after..."
"True, but it didn't stop you from giving her every last gem so she could make a big profit..."
"Oh, that reminds me, how's my stock been doing?"
"You need to check with your broker, but last I heard you were up a few point... but back to the point, Spike."
"Sorry, but I have made friends, good friends over the time I've lived there..."
"The other elements?"
"N... not just them... I've also made friends with... Applebloom... Sweetie Belle... um..."
"I think it's time you came back home."
"WHAT! Why?"
"I think you already know."
"But... I still have to help them all," he defeatedly replied with the only thing he could think of.
"Do they really need the help, or are you just looking for a reason to stay?"
He took another pause, looking down at his hands in realization, "can... can I at least say goodbye?"
"Of course, you still have to go back and gather your stuff after all. That is, if you still want it."
"Yeah, it's not worth much, but it means a lot to me... Plus I still have that empty bureau by my bed that'll look nice with those things on it..."
"I know... but it's a shame you don't have a single photo with you and all of them together to 'top it off', so to speak..."
"I... I know... But I still have one that they gave me with the six of them..."
"Yes, I saw it when I was picking up Peewee for you."
"How is he, by the way?"
"He's been growing splendedly, Philomina has been a great mother to him... and I bet he'll be excited to see you as always..."
PS
I'm not sure when I will continue this fic, but It is an idea that I have been thinking of for a long time...