Princess Spike

by Daelyx Len Auphydas

Heart Exposed

Spike closes his eyes while Twilight uses her telekinesis to dry him off with a towel. While he is able to use telekinesis himself now, precise enough control to dry off his soaking wet fur is... Still pretty outside of his wheelhouse.

"You know, maybe we should get a bigger tub." Spike suggests. "It's a bit cramped in there."

"Well, it's not usually being used by two ponies." Twilight points out, but Spike just shrugs.

"Sure, but Alicorns get bigger as they grow older, right? So you're going to get bigger at some point anyways." Spike points out, before awkwardly shuffling in place, blushing slightly. "Besides... I wouldn't mind making a habit of this, either. Its fun."

Twilight just laughs. "We'll see." She states noncommittally, throwing the door open. "C'mon, lets go see if everypony is here yet."

---

Spike and Twilight open up the door to the throne room, to find all of their friends there- With the notable exception of Starlight, who is nowhere to be seen.

"Finally!" Rainbow Dash shouts from where she is slouching on her throne. "You sure took a long time, we got here like fifteen minutes ago!"

"Not me!" Pinkie Pie shouts. "I got here sixteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds ago! Ooh, now its sixteen minutes and forty-two seconds! And Now it's-"

"That's enough, Pinkie." Applejack interrupts her before she can keep going. "What's this about, Spike? Ah heard ya wanted to talk to all of us about sumthin or 'nother?"

Spike takes a deep breathe, steeling himself. Remember. You need to be honest about your feelings. "Well, first of all, I don't think I can have this whole conversation without Starlight here. She's our friend too, and she needs to be present." Spike announces.

Rainbow Dash groans. "Really? Can't we just get this underway? What's this all about anyways?"

"Don't worry about it, Spike, I'll go find her." Twilight tells the Alicorn, before vanishing in a flash of violet fire. Spike settles in at one end of the throne room to wait- His usual throne is a bit too small for him to sit on, presently, even if he is not quite a full grown pony.

Thankfully the wait isn't very long, as Twilight strolls into the room with an uncomfortable looking Starlight Glimmer. Since Starlight doesn't have a throne to use either, she just sits down on the floor opposite from Spike. "I hear you were waiting for me?" Starlight asks after a moment, awkwardly breaking the silence.

Spike takes a deep breathe and stands upright. "Yes. Because, if you weren't here, I never would have had this conversation. And just like how I often feel, I know you are used to feeling left out, too." Spike explains, turning to face everypony in turn. "I wasn't going to tell anypony this, but when I talked to Starlight the other day, I realized that I had to be honest with my feelings. She could tell something was on my mind, and she took the time to understand what it was, even if she wasn't sure she could help."

Starlight blushes and looks down at the ground, embarrassed. "Eheh, it was nothing, I'm sure anypony would have done so."

"I don't think so. Because I know you have felt the same way I do, the way I've felt that has brought me before everypony today." Spike takes in another deep breathe; His friends are all watching him with varying degrees of concern, now. Even Rainbow Dash was leaning forward, and had stopped fidgeting impatiently, at the sound of the somber dragon's serious tone. "Ever since I've arrived in Ponyville... No, even before that. I've felt like I didn't belong. Everywhere I went, I saw how ponies looked at me. They didn't think of me as another pony, but just as Twilight's little dragon assistant." Spike starts his explanation.

He doesn't get any farther before he is interrupted by Rarity. "Why, that's not true at all, darling! You know we all love and cherish you! Don't you?" Rarity sounds somewhere between offended and worried.

Spike nods his head. "I know you do. I know everypony here truly cares about me, just like I care about all of you. But it doesn't change the fact that as a non-pony, I'll never quite fit in. I went to the dragon lands to try and find myself, but I came back just feeling even more lost and confused. The other dragons were nothing like me at all! I don't know if anypony knows this, but I even wrote to Celestia trying to find my..." Spike pauses, wincing at the heartache he was about to cause. "...My real family. Or at least, my flesh and blood family. She wasn't able to help, because it turned out they'd abandoned me before ponies ever found my egg."

Twilight gives Spike a devastated look, and the dragon gulps nervously before continuing. "But here, this situation where I've become a pony... Not just that, but a pony like Twilight. It's opened me up to a whole new world of possibilities, and I realized how much everypony does care about me. How Applejack and Pinkie Pie came over to help make food since I couldn't cook as well, how Twilight and Starlight spent so much time researching this spell and taking care of me when I could barely walk straight, how Rainbow Dash took time out of her schedule to help me learn to fly, how Fluttershy and Rarity comforted me and did their best to keep everypony else from overwhelming me. And that's when I realized that, its not everypony else who treats me differently, its me who treats you differently. I felt that I was an outsider because of my heritage, and so to an extent, I made it real. I know now that the only family I've ever had... Is all of you, and this is where I belong."

Spike chokes up a bit, feeling tears coming to his eyes, but he pushes through. "And that's why... I don't want to change. I want to stay exactly how I am, right now, forever. Because I want everypony else to see what I can see now, that I belong right here, with my friends- no, with my family. That I really am one of the group. And..." A tear leaks from Spike's eyes, and he has to take a moment to rehearse himself before continuing. "So anypony who sees me with Twilight, knows that she's my big sister."

There is a long moment of silence as everypony stares on in shock. Finally, Rarity speaks up. "Oh, Spike, darling... Why didn't you say anything about how you felt? We're always here for you, any time you need us."

Spike looks down at the ground. "I didn't want to seem ungrateful. I owe so much to everypony here, if it wasn't for all of you I would have been born alone in some rocky crevice. But instead, here I am- in a castle, surrounded by love and everything a dragon could ever ask for. So I told myself that I was just being selfish. But I realize now that I was doing a disservice to all of you, letting something hurt our relationship without even telling you what it was. So... For that, I'm sorry."

Twilight frowns, and walks over to where Spike is. She doesn't look upset, Just pensive, as she lays a wing across his back comfortingly. "Spike... Are you sure about this? You know this is a big decision, you can have as much time to think it over as you want. You don't need to change for any of us. We all count you as one of us no matter what form you take."

Spike nods, a tear sizzling with a spark of dragonfire as it falls to the ground. "Yes... Yes, I am sure. And I'm not doing it for you, or for anypony else for that matter. It's for me. So that I know I'm part of the group. Because I've always felt more like a pony than a dragon, and now I'm both. Because now I'm... Now I'm your little brother, for real. Even in flesh and blood, because the spell didn't just make me a pony, it made me a pony in your image. And nothing else could be... Could be more special to me than that."

There is a long moment of silence as everypony processes the speech Spike had just given. Eventually, Applejack is the first to speak up, climbing up to her feet and removing her hat to give Spike a long and serious look. "Well, ah for one am proud of you. It takes alot of courage to own up t'your feelings like you just did, Spike. An' I support you all the way, if this is what you want."

One by one, everypony else in the room stands up and repeats similar sentiments. Spike, eyes brimming with tears, falls back on his haunches. "Everypony... Thankyou." His eyes shut, green-tinted tears falling to the ground, sizzling with little sparks of dragonfire as his magic pours out with his emotions. "Thankyou..."

Twilight sits down beside Spike, wrapping one hoof around him. "If... If that's what you want, then I'm right there with you, little brother." Twilight says the last word more loudly than the rest, as if to make sure everypony heard. "You won't be the only one transformed, after all."

Spike blinks his eyes open and looks back up to Twilight with shock. "I-I won't? You mean..." Twilight just nods her head in response. "But, Twilight... You don't have to do that for me..." Spike utters, slowly. "You're a princess, you shouldn't change yourself just for me. You're more important than that."

Twilight puts a hoof up to Spike's lips to halt his speaking, cocking her head to the side. "And what is the sibling of a princess, hmm? I think it's another princess." Twilight teases. "It's only fair if one sibling changes to be like the other, that I'd do the same."

Spike can't handle the emotions anymore, throwing himself into Twilight's waiting hooves, and thinking about all that awaited them from now on. Now, they'd be able to share in all their struggles, understand eachother so much more than had been possible before. He could join her in her magic studies, she could join him in lava baths. Everything is... Everything is just right. Like it was meant to be.

The sentimental moment is broken by the gasp of one Pink Party Pony. "No WAY! This calls for the FIRST EVER Dragon-Alicorn celebration party! I need to start planning, right away!"

Comments

[Fox Jones]

D'awww!

[Basketface123]

Tears. Literal tears.

[Daelyx Len Auphydas]

11902907
I'm glad you liked the ending, I hope it lived up to your expectations. Hope to see you around on future stories!