-1-

The Dragon in Twilight
By Streak The Fox

-1-

“Hi Rarity!”  Twilight said with an exuberant smile as she trotted into Carousel Boutique, carrying an overstuffed saddlebag.  “How are you today?”

“Oh, why hello Twilight!”  Rarity replied.  “I'm doing just fine, thank you.  Oh, and hello Spike!”

“H-hello Rarity!”  Spike said with a slight blush on his face.  “How are you doing my lady?  Do you need any help with your clothes today?”

“No, not today deary, I'm taking the day off from designing clothes so that I may spend more time with Sweetie Belle.  I did promise her a sister-to-sister day today, and a good mare always keeps her promises.”

“Oh, well, if it's not too much to ask,” Twilight said, “I was wondering if you had any sort of strong stain remover.”

“Stain remover?”  Rarity questioned.  “What sort of mess did you manage to make this time?”

“Well...” Twilight rubbed the back of her head with her hoof.  “I sort of spilled tea on one of my bed sheets, and I was wondering if you might have something for that.”

“A tea stain you say?  My, that is a bit of a harsh one, but I do believe I have just the thing!  Just show me the sheet in question please Twilight.”
With a nod, Twilight pulled out a dark blue blanket that seemed just large enough to fit snugly around a fully grown mare.  Upon closer examination, there was an obvious splotch of darker blue on the sheet, presumably the stained spot.

“Is this it?”  Rarity asked, pointing to the dark spot.

“Yes, that's it alright.  Do you think you have anything for it?”

“Hmm...” Rarity hummed, taking a closer look at the blanket.  Her eyebrow perked up as she noticed something... unusual about the stain, then reared back at surprise at her recent discovery.  “Uhm, darling, c-could you, come to the back area over here for a minute please...?”

“Uh, sure thing Rarity,” Twilight replied with a smile, her eyes darting side to side as if seeming guilty of something.

“Twilight...” Rarity began as the two reached out of earshot of Spike.  “This isn't a tea stain...”

“W-what?  Of course it's a tea stain, I just, spilled some while studying the other day... yeah.”

“Now twilight...” Rarity scolded.  “I know fabric, which means I also know fabric stains.  I've seen many tea stains, coffee stains, caramel stains,” Rarity takes a moment to swear at Pinkie Pie's pastry antics under her breath for a moment before continuing, “just, all sorts of stains darling.  And this isn't a tea stain...  is it?”

“Well...” Twilight turned her head for a moment, trying to hide her shame,”  No... I-it's not...”

“Were you getting a bit too excited from one of those romance novels I let you borrow?”

“SSSHHH!”  Twilight hushed, taking a look at Spike off on the other corner of the room before looking back at Rarity.  “T-that's, well...  I, I guess you could say that...”

“Oh Twilight,” Rarity giggled.  “It's nothing to be ashamed of.  After all, if I know what this stain is so well, then surely it won't be hard for a smart pony like you to figure exactly how I know of this type of stain...”

“Oh, o-oh!  Oh... right...  um,” Twilight stammered.  “S-so, can you get it cleaned?”

“Why of course darling, I have just the right detergent for it.  I'll get you some right away.”

“Thank you Rarity.”  Twilight said as she stuffed the blanket back into her saddlebag.  “Oh, and one more thing...”

“Yes?”

“Well...” Twilight blushed again as she looked down, kicking a hoof on the floor a little.  “You... you got any more of those books...?”

Rarity giggled, “Why yes, I just got two new ones in the other day.  I only recently started reading the first one, but you can borrow the second if you'd like.”

“Oh, that would be lovely!”  Twilight beamed.  “If I could have the book with some of that detergent, then I will be a very happy mare!”

“Oh, I know you will,” Rarity smirked at Twilight as she turned around, beginning to head to her laundry room.  “I'll just get those things for you so you can be on your way~!”

“Alright, thanks Rarity!”  With that, Twilight turned around and walked back towards Spike who was poking at a pony manikin with his claw.

“You done?”  Spike asked.

“Not yet, Rarity's just getting the few supplies for me.  Did you enjoy seeing Rarity again?”

“Of course!  She's as beautiful as ever...”

“well we're going to be going soon, but don't worry, you'll get to see her again soon probably.”

“Yeah...” Spike sighed.  “Though I wonder if there's any way I could get a girl like Rarity to like me...”

“Oh Spike...” Twilight giggled slightly.  “I hate to break it to you, but you're a dragon.  Ponies and dragon's just don't work that way.”

“Yeah they do!”  Spike protested.  “I know they do, I saw that Shrek movie, and they do it in there!”

“Spike, that was a donkey...”

“Yeah but-”

“Are you calling Rarity a donkey...?” Twilight grinned menacingly as she looked at Spike.

“A DONKEY!?”  Rarity gasped as she walked over, carrying Twilight's supplied with her magic.  “Who in all of Equestria would have the nerve to call me a donkey!?”

“N-n-nopony, Rarity!”  Spike jumped as he heard Twilight chuckle.  “Nopony said anything like that, I swear!”

“Hmmm....” Rarity perked her eyebrow in suspicion at Spike, but soon decided to let it go for now.  “Very well... oh, Twilight, here's the things you wanted.”  Rarity floated over a bottle of detergent along with a neatly wrapped object in the shape of a book.

“Thank you so much Rarity!”  Twilight said as she floated the items into her saddlebag.  “I gotta go now, but we'll see you again soon!”

“Of course deary, take care!”  Rarity waved as Twilight and Spike walked out of the building.  “And you too Spike!”

“Bye Rari-OW!”  Spike yelped as the door shut on his tail.  With a quick tug, it was free, and Spike rubbed it with his hand as he walked beside Twilight.
Twilight and Spike walked back towards the library home, both looking forward to the day ahead of them.  However, Twilight was more interested in the night ahead of her and her new book.

After a productive day, Twilight sent Spike up to bed as she finally pulled her blanket out of her drier, smiling as she saw that the stain had been fully removed.  She then remembered the book that Rarity had mentioned walked towards her saddlebag, taking her blanket and laying it over her back.  Pulling it out and undoing the wrapping, she closely examined the cover as she also put the book she had been studying earlier away.

“The Dragon in Twilight...” Twilight read aloud as she looked at the cover of the book.  
The cover displayed a dragon just larger than the size of a pony that was shrouded by darkness with its eyes glowing a bright yellow.  He seemed to be in a dark forest with a mountain in the distance that blocked an almost complete sunset.  The mountain was on the left side of the cover with the image of an elegant mare's face on the right side, seeming to look up diagonally at the sky.  Twilight turned the book to the back and read the short summary displayed there.

On a cool spring morning, a lonely mare finds a stallion with a heart as pure as the whitest light.  But the stallion holds secrets with him that still haunt him every day, and every night...
Can Rosalina see past the his menacing form at night, or can she truly see the stallion for what he really is?
Pony by day,
Dragon by night...
A story of love and pain,
To be settled at Twilight...

“Wow...” Twilight whispered to herself as she re-examined the cover.  “This sounds amazing... I can't wait to read about what happens to Rosalina.”  A thought crosses her mind as she imagines some of the situations that may play out in the story.  “And I wonder if she actually has him while... while he's a dragon...” She blushes a bit with a soft smile as her imagination runs while.  “Oh my...”
After a few more moments of daydreaming, Twilight lays down with her blanket around her and opens the book before her.  Getting snug in her blanket, she uses her magic to open the book and turns to the beginning of chapter one.

Chapter 1: Sir Rubin Morneigh

-2-

-2-

“But sir Rubin!”  Rosalina gasped as she found her flank pressed agianst the side of her uncle's barn.  “I-it is still mid-day!  Surely we can pursue such... endeavors, at a better time?”

“But my body and soul ache for you this instant Rosalina!”  Rubin said as he touches his nose to hers, his right hoof brushing against her light pink mane.  “This power overcoming me is controlled by the force of love, and nothing can halt true love from finding its way!”

“Oh... Rubin~!”  Rosalina whispered as Rubin pushed her back against the barm while her arms flung around him.  His face approached quickly to hers as their lips met, the kiss as sweet as their love was strong.  Their bodies pressed together firmly as their hooves glided over each others' coats, gliding slowly so as to savor every touch.

Twilight read on slowly, saying each individual word in her head using her own made up narrator's voice and the made up voices of the two characters.  Her eyes were wide with a small grin on her face as she realized she had just reached the first spicy scene in the book.  She had been reading on the lower floor of her library with her blanket for a couple of hours, but it was all going to be worth it as her eyes processed the highly detailed scene.  Taking a quick glance at the clock, she noticed it still was not past her usual studying hours.  She thought for a brief moment, and then decided that if she kept her voice low this time, Spike would not hear her.  
As Twilight continued to read on, her right hoof slid down beneath her, sliding past her stomach and running between her haunches as the scene got more intense.  As if keeping in pace with the story itself, she began to gently stroke herself while the two characters did the same in the story, staying to moderate foreplay at that time.  As the scene got hotter and the actions got more drastic, Twilight either sped up the pace or added more pressure, soon beginning to draw out her own little pants.  She bit her lip a little, trying not to get too excited until the good part, which was quick to arrive.
As soon as the stallion in the book had entered the mare, taken her body in full embrace, Twilight drove the corner of her hoof between the lips of her pussy firmly.  She gasped out at first, and then bit her lip harder as she continued to read, pushing her hoof harder against her as she stroked faster.  Her body twisted and turned as she serviced herself while still diligently reading on through the book, taking in every last sentence and playing it out in her mind.  She closed her eyes for a moment as she let out a low, hot moan, her moist breathe making the pages of her book flutter slightly.  She re-opened her eyes then and continued on, her mouth ajar with her tongue flopped out as she continued to exhale breathy moans.
Before long Twilight could no longer take it, the two lovers in the book reaching their climaxes just as she was about to reach hers.  Twilight rolled over onto her back, her blanket laying flat beneath her as she moaned freely with both hooves pressed down between her haunches.  Both hooves pressed their edges down between the moist, tender lips of her slit, pulling them apart for deeper access while they stroked at an incredibly rapid rate.  All the while the pressure of her hooves were strong as she jerked her hooves up and down, each push making her upper body jump up and down slightly while her head flopped backwards and she moaned out in ecstasy.
Finally her climax came, and it came strong and hot.  Her juices suddenly poured out of her with force, covering her thighs and the base of her tail as a hot, messy puddle formed against her rear.  Simultaneously, Twilight moaned out as the orgasmic waves of pleasure wrecked throughout her entire body, the shock wave fierce and overwhelming as her limbs began to spas and twitch lightly from the sensation.  Her face had a big, vibrant, and almost drunk smile as her tongue laid out against the side of her lips, her eyes shutting halfway after the initial effects of her climax.  After a few more jerks and twitches from her body, her limbs flopped down lazily onto the floor.
Twilight laid sprawled out on her back, gasping loudly for breath with the same goofy smile on her face.  The puddle had soaked into the blanket and her coat, yet it still provided a bit of warmth against the cool air around her that began to brush against her.  It was colder at night, which is why she brought her blanket, yet she often forgot how cold it usually got, especially while indulging herself in such obscene pleasures.  After about a minute of panting and coming out of her orgasm-induced high, she gently rolled herself over, steering her body clear of the puddle on her blanket.
She then froze and laid silent as she heard a noise, a sound that penetrated the recently returned calm in the air.  Her ears perked as she heard the noise again, and only moments later a third time.  The sound was rhythmic, fluid, constantly repeating over and over like some sort of broken record.  Twilight imagined the possibilities, but nothing she could think of at the moment sounded like this.  Yet it seemed so similar, so native to her every day life, it sounded as if it was...

“Oh Spike...” Twilight whispered to herself as she closed her eyes, a soft smile appearing on her face.  “You do snore really loud sometimes...”
With that, Twilight slowly got up onto her hooves and examined the mess she had made on her blanket.  Her flank was easily cleaned with a good shower, but her blanket now needed another wash.  Twilight sighed at the realization, but decided the time to be too early for another wash.  She still desired to read the book some more before bed, and simply decided to put it in the washer again before calling it a night.  
She laid down before the book once more and used her magic to pull her blanket over herself, being careful so that the wet part would be slid down far enough not to touch her.  She turned her eyes again to her book and began reading where she had left off, ready to take on the next chapter.

Chapter 4: The Dark Dragon Knight

AUTHOR NOTE: In case you haven't realized it just yet, this is indeed going to be a full on clopfic.  But don't think I'm just going to be writing clop to be writing clop...
There will be plot.
There will be suspense.
There will be conflict...
and things will get tense.
There are many ways this story could progress,
From turning to darkness to making things bright.
But whether it's with friends or characters bot h real and fake,
The conflicts of this tale will be revealed as they all revolve around Twilight.

-3-

-3-

“Oh no...!”  Twilight whispered to herself as she read through a dramatic scene in the story.

“Do not listen to this fiend's lies Rosalina!”  Rubin cried as he pulled a dagger out of his saddlebag, Rosalina cowering behind him.  “Come any closer and I will make quick work of you!”

“A fiend, am I?”  Markus Malcom growled as a smirk slid its way onto his face.  “Oh dear Rubin, are you once more attempting to find this 'love' emotion that you have so dramatically failed at obtaining so many times in the past?”

“I have failed so much because of YOU, monster!”  Rubin yelled as he took a step closer, only a few feet away from the black coat and dark purple maned stallion with maroon eyes ahead of him.  “Time and time again you have spliced yourself into my life, ruining all that I had tried to work for!  Your tyrannical ways will be put to an end right here, right now if you do not back off!”

“A monster am I?”  Markus' smirk widened to a grin as he took a step closer towards Rubin.  “Mr. Morneigh... have you not told this damsel the truth yet?  Have you not told her that I am only as much of a real monster as you?”

“I said enough!”  Rubin yelled as he took another step, his dagger blade nearing Markus' nose.  “Foul demon, return to the shadows from which you crept!  Another word of lies and I shall make the work of this blade meet the core of your throat!”

“Hmph, you seem odly serious about this... very well, I shall concede for now.  But remember Rubin...” Markus lowered his head and stared straight into Rubin's eyes as he began to back away.  “You cannot hide... what lingers inside!  You may be normal in the day's light, but you shall transform come every twilight!”  With that, Markus truned around and trotted slowly into the shadows of an alleyway, disappearing into the darkness.

“What...” Rosalina began, her voice still shivering in fear.  “What does he mean... S-sir Rubin?”

“It is nothing...” Rubin replied, putting his dagger away.  “Nothing at all... he is only trying to scare you, do not fall for his tricks, my love...”

“Oh Sir Rubin...” Twilight whispered in a dreamy voice as her eyes continued to read through the story.  “How I wish to have such a strong, protective stallion like you in my life...”

“Who?”

“Sir Rubin...?”  Twilight asked, her ears perking up as she looked side to side.

“Who?”

“Wait, who is...” Twilight looked over to the coat and hat hanger on the far end of the room and saw Owlowicious there, his eyes staring straight at her.

“Who?”

“Oh, it's you Owlowicious... back from getting your midnight snack?”

“Who.”  The bird said as it fluttered its wings a bit, Twilight recognizing it as a sign of confirmation.

“Hehe, alright...” Twilight giggled slightly, then turning back to her book.  “This story is amazing Owlowicious!”  Twilight beamed as she floated the book up with her magic.  “I can't wait to see what happens to Sir Rubin and Rosalina!”

“Who?”

“Oh, just the two main characters,” Twilight said as she put a bookmark into the pages and closed up the book, setting it back into her saddlebag.  “I'm going to be going to bed now... it's awfully late.  I'll leave the rest up to you now, alright?”  She smiled as she turned to her nocturnal assistant.

“Who.”

“Alright, the night's all yours then!”  With that, Twilight magically lifted her blanket off of her and folded it up, setting it next to her saddlebags and then turned to head up the stairs.  
As she entered her room and crawled into bed, she began to play through the scenes that happened in her story as she speculated what would happen next.  She snuggled into her sheets, her eyes slowly closing while the only sound she could hear was the snoring of her #1 assistant on the other side of the room.

“I wonder who that other stallion is...” Twilight whispered to herself as she slowly began to drift to sleep.  “And I wonder what his past is with Rubin... oh, I can't wait to see how it all ends...”

~That Night, in Twilight's Dreams~

“Oh Sir Rubin Morneigh~!”  Twilight squeeled as she found herself pinned back against a pile of hay with Rubin's hooves up against her hips.  “This is so sudden... so devious!”

“Only for you my dear Twilight Sparkle...” Rubin whispered as he lowered his body down onto Twilight's, connecting their stomachs as their hooves slid around each others bodies.

“Oh please take me...” Twilight whispered back, her eyes beginning to shut.  “Take me oh sweet prince...”

“Take you where?”  Rubin asked suddenly, his tone out of line with the situation.  “I just came to tell you I did all the chores...”

“W-what...?”  Twilight asked, her eyes opening up to see the face of a dragon staring down on her.

“EEEEK!”  Twilight screamed as she jumped out of her bed, her body scrunched up like a frightened cat as she balanced herself on the bed's headboard.  “Spike!”

“What!?”  Spike asked, leaning away from the bed.  “What did I do?  I just came to tell you the morning chores were all finished!”

“My... wait!”  Twilight's eyes opened widely in realization, now able to process the current information.  “Oh, um, silly me, hehe... I seemed to have been dreaming...”

“What in Equestria were you dreaming of?”  Spike asked with a confused face.  “And why did you call me a prince...?”

“It wasn't you Spike, it was... just, nevermind.  It was nothing, really!”

“Were you dreaming about Princess Celestia being a stallion again...?”

“Spike, I told you not to talk about that...”

“But the big stuffed animal thing you made was really realistic!”

“Spike!”  Twilight yelled as she returned to her bed, sitting normally.

“Sorry...”

“Anyways... so, you got the chores done?”

“Yup!  All taken care of.  Would you like to go out into town for some breakfast?”

“No thanks Spike.  If you could just prepare me a small salad, that would be nice.  I have a really good book I would like to continue reading.”

“Does it have a prince in it?”  Spike chuckled.

“Hush Spike...”

“Sorry.  But anyways, I'll go get your salad done now.  Would you like any daisies on it?”

“Sure Spike, and thank you!”

“No problem,” Spike said with his usual grin as he left the room.
Twilight smiled softly and sat there for a moment before she remembered exactly where her book was.  She left the room and went to her saddlebag, pulling her book out of its wrapping with her magic and then trotting back into her room.  She casually flipped the pages open to where she had left off and took a seat on her bed, laying the book in front of her with her magic.  After a quick reminder of what had just happened last time, she was off to reading again.

-a couple hours later-

“Do not come closer!”  Ordered the low,booming voice from inside the cave.  “If you dare follow me into this cave, then I... I will eat you!”

“No... no you will not,” Rosalina said in an unusually calm voice, staring into the dark cave on the side of a mountain.  The dark forest surrounding her did not fear her anymore, even at night, and her courage grew as she desired to see the one she loved.  “Please... I know what this is, I know what you're trying to hide... Rubin...”

“I am NOT this 'Rubin'!”  The creature snarled loudly.  “Do you know what I am!?  Once I show you, thou shall fear me like all others!  I am not a stallion; of earth, magic, or the sky...”

“T-then what are you...?”  Rosalina asked, taking a step towards the cave.

“I... AM A DRAGON!”  The voice boomed as the creature emerged unfurling its large wings as it displayed its teeth while it emitted a loud roar.  In the nearby area, all the creatures in the forest scrambled and either ran away or ducked into their shelters, all except for Rosalina, who didn't even take a step back.

“No... don't do this Rubin...” Twilight whispered to herself, her eyes locked onto the pages.

“R... Rubin...?”

“WHY must you insist on calling me such a name!?”  The dragon snarled angrily, now bearing his claws.  “Do you wish to become my next snack, little mare!?”  Deep down in the dragon's chest, his heart was already tearing him apart from the inside out.

“Sir Rubin... why are you doing this?  Why do you not wish to come back to me?  I already know it's you...”

“F-for the last time...” The dragon growled, though it began shaking slightly as it lowered its stance.  “I am not this 'Rubin' you speak of...  I am only a nasty, horrid, bloodthirsty dragon!”  And in a voice too low for Rosalina to hear, the dragon added something else.  “Just as I always have been seen as...”

“No Rubin, she won't see you that way!  She loves you!”  Twilight seemed to attempt to plead with the book,a tear beginning to slide down her cheek.

“You were never a beast in my eyes...” Rosalina whispered softly before turning around, tears now flowing from her eyes.  “If you really wish to be left alone, then I will do so to make you happy...”

“Begone my little pony...” The dragon sneered as he began to turn back into the cave, tears forming around the lids of his eyes.  “Go back to the safety and comfort of your bed, and know this to only be a bad nightmare...”  
The dragon turned his head slightly, able to see the whimpering Rosalina walk slowly through the forest, tears dripping from her face to the ground.  In only a few moments he himself began to cry, slamming his fist down on the floor.  He growled, his voice angry – at himself, at what he just felt he had to do.  He did his best to convince her, he tried his hardest to keep her from realizing who he really was, but she still seemed to find out.  He knew this night would come, it always came... there was always a point where his would-be lover found out about his curse, and then left him... just like they all did.
His only hope, was to scare them off when they saw him as a dragon, and hope that they didn't realize it was really him.  After all... what kind of pony would love a dragon?

“I would...” Twilight whispered to herself softly.
After a few moments, she rose her head up, coming to a full realization of what she had just said.  Would I really love a dragon like that?  She asked herself.  Could I...?  I don't even know any... The image of her assistant appeared in her mind, but she quickly shook it out.  No, he's too young for that... for me, I would be a foal to think otherwise.  With a light sigh, Twilight placed a bookmark in her book and closed it up.  She took a look at her clock, and decided it was best to get back to studying.
She walked out of her room and down the stairs, seeing Spike organizing a few pamphlets on the far side.  Thinking nothing of it, she casually wrapped up the book and placed it back into her saddlebag, then began to head to her bookshelf to find the book she had been studying yesterday.  What she didn't see, however, was her assistant watching her place the book into her saddlebag, even taking the time to wrap it up.  Spike was always the curious type, and if Twilight took the time to wrap it up, perhaps it was something she didn't want him to see.

“Hmm...”

-4-

-4-

Spike spent most of the day either cleaning or going around Ponyville to hang out with a couple of his friends.  A few hours had passed by the time he returned to the library, wondering what Twilight was up to.  He casually strolled inside, only to find that Twilight wasn't around.  He took a few steps before noticing there was a note laid down on the table in the center of the library.  When he walked up to it and picked it up to read it.

Dear Spike,

I have gone with Fluttershy to help her document some new plant species she claims to have discovered on the edge of the Everfree Forest.  I may be gone for a while, so there's some gemstones in the kitchen in the #3 pantry as well as a few books for you to put away before I get back, if you get back before I do, that is.  Please take care of those things if you can get the chance!

~Twilight Sparkle

Spike looked over to his left after placing the note down, noticing the stack of books Twilight had mentioned.  He was just about to go organize them when he then noticed Twilight's saddlebags sitting next to her coat hanger.  Spike began to recall what he saw earlier in the day, that mysterious book that she took the time to wrap up and quickly stuff away.  He figured it could just be an older book, but it didn't seem that way from the quick glimpse he got.  He contemplated sorting the books real fast, but there weren't that many, and a short investigation wasn't going to take long.  Ultimately he went decided to see what the book was about, and if it was some old, delicate book, he would simply put it back and it would be over with.
Spike approached Twilight's saddlebags and opened one of them up.  Immediately he found what he was looking for; a square shaped object wrapped up in the same material he saw Twilight wrap that book in.  Spike hesitantly took the book out, fearing that he might be getting himself into something that Twilight would scold him for later.  But he figured he just might be able to get away with it if he simply took a quick peak.  No harm done, right?
He removed the wrapping material and dropped it back in the saddlebag before he took a good look at the book.  It wasn't large, but it was thick and had a soft cover to it, meaning it was probably another one of Twilight's fiction novels that she liked to read.  When he turned to the cover, he found the title to be a bit perplexing.

“The Dragon in Twilight?”  He read aloud.  “Is Twilight reading a story about dragons?  That actually sounds kind of cool... I wonder why she wouldn't tell me about it.”

Spike opened the book and took a look at the first few pages before he turned to chapter 1 and began to read.  When it comes to reading, Twilight and Spike were different in a few areas.  Twilight usually reads slow, almost as if she was speaking every word out in her mind as she read along which allowed her to analyze the words she was taking in better.  Spike was a faster reader, he was able to almost skim through paragraphs and be able to retain most of what had happened or been explained.  
This is exactly what he did for the few couple of pages, reading through them at a quick pace in order to figure out what the book was really about.  He didn't read many fiction books, let alone novels, so he never thought to look on the back for any sort of description.
The first few pages were, in Spike's interpretation, boring.  It was mostly filled with descriptions and boring scenes of some mare going about her daily life.  In the midst of his rising boredom with the book, he remembered the note, and most importantly his task that he had to complete.  
He was about to forget about the book when he  reached a part in it about a dragon, and how the villagers had said that they saw a dragon terrorize one of the outlying farms.  Spike was a bit curious once more, but decided he would do his chore first, maybe have a snack as well, and then continue reading the book at a later time.  He hoped that dragons weren't the bad guys in the book though, he didn't like some of the negative thoughts that some ponies seemed to aim towards his kind.
After re-wrapping the book and putting it away, Spike got busy putting away the few books that were left out.  Once done, he got into the kitchen, grabbed the small pile of gemstones in the cabinet, and took them out to the main library as his snack.  He worked on just sweeping up the place and tidying up in general while eating his gems for about ten minutes before Twilight finally got back.

“Spike, I'm home!”  Twilight called out as she came through the door, levitating a few pieces of paper with her.

“Hey Twilight, welcome back.”

“Thanks,” Twilight replied as she floated the papers to her desk and looked around, noticing the books she left out were gone.  “I see you got my note, right?”

“Of course!  All the books are back in place and I already ate those gems you left me.  I just decided to start tidying things up around here while you were gone.”

“That's very thoughtful of you, Spike,” Twilight smiled as she approached her assistant.  “I'm so lucky to have such a good assistant as you!”

“Aww, shucks Twi,” Spike smiled as the two hugged lightly.

“So, did you have fun around Ponyville?”  Twilight asked as she pulled back and began trotting toward one of the book shelves.

“Yup!  Spent the day hanging out with friends, eating a few cupcakes with Pinkie, ya know, that sort of stuff.”

“Good!”  Twilight beamed as she levitated a few books out and brought them over to her desk.

“How was your documenting plants thing with Fluttershy?”

“Oh, it went very well.  Turns out it wasn't a new species of plant, but actually a very rare one that didn't have much data on it,” Twilight said as she levitated up the pages she had brought in with her.  “I got all the pages with me right here, each with detailed descriptions, illustrations, and other notes.”

“Neat, sounds like you had fun.”

“Sure did!”  Twilight smiled happily as she began reading one of her books.
Spike and Twilight went about their own things for a few minutes before Spike began to think about what he had read in Twilight's book.  Twilight was studying, as usual, but Spike was cleaning, so his mind was allowed to wander and think while he performed such methodical tasks.  
It didn't take him long for his mind to revolve around what he read about dragons, but he wondered what Twilight was thinking.  Maybe Twilight deep down thought the same way about them, but just wouldn't tell him.  Maybe the reason she had him cleaning so much was because she thought she didn't really like dragons.  No, that couldn't be it, it was obvious Twilight loved him, but still, Spike wanted a few answers.

“Hey, Twilight?”  Spike asked as he walked up to the lavender unicorn.

“Yes Spike?”  Twilight replied, still looking towards her book.

“I was wondering, what's your opinion on dragons?”

“My opinion on dragons?”  Twilight looked at him in slight confusion.  “What do you mean?”

“Like... do you think we're, I dunno, kind of mean and scary?”

“Mean and scary?  Well, there are some mean and scary ones out there... but not all of them are like that I'm sure.”

“What about other ponies?  Do you think I, or another dragon would just come to a farm and start wrecking everything?”

“Um, I don't think so...” Twilight paused, thinking for a moment before looking at her assistant.  “Spike, what are you getting at?”

“Uh, nothing really, just a thought I had for some reason...”

“Um, alright then...” Twilight had her eyebrow raised as she watched Spike walk away and continue his cleaning.  
She was curious as to why Spike would come out of the blue and ask such a question, but then again, it wasn't too uncommon for him to come out and start asking some crazy things every now and then, so she let it slide.
The rest of the day went like any other sort of day, nothing too out of the ordinary for either of them.  Spike turned in early, just like he always did, and Twilight was left alone downstairs to her studies.  Owlowiscious came down soon afterwords to help with the night shift, and everything was still normal.  That is, however, until Twilight finished her studying.

“Hey Owlowiscious, could you do me a favor?”  Twilight asked, looking up at the owl with an unusually innocent look.

“Who?”

“Could you fly over to Fluttershy's cabin real fast and see if you can't find a piece of paper about some new plants her and I went to document earlier today?  It should be somewhere outside still just around her cabin.  Think you can get that for me?”

“Who.”  Owlowiscious promptly spread his wings into the air and left the library, off on his mission to find Twilight's paper.
What he didn't know was that the paper Twilight was talking about was already in her possession.  She just wanted to get him out of the library for a while so she could read her new novel, which was turning out to be a very interesting story.  Owlowiscious doesn't like it when he disappoints Twilight, so she figured he will probably be out there for maybe even a couple hours searching for that paper.  Twilight felt bad for a moment tricking her other assistant like that, but in the end determined that the fresh air would be good for him.
Twilight cantered over to her saddlebags and opened one of them up, pulling her special book out of its wrapping and setting it beside her.  She went and got herself a blanket, a small drink, and a candle, and set them all around her as she dove right back into her story.
For half an hour, Twilight read on in peace.  However, she was not alone.  Up the stairs to her bedroom, Spike was not sleeping.  In fact, he was wide awake and peeking out the door of the bedroom which he cracked open ever so slightly.  Spike knew something was up with Twilight and that book.  She had never seen her take such an interest in a book of fiction before, and wanted to see if he could find anything more about it.
He had never fallen asleep when he went upstairs.  He wanted to go to bed, but for some reason he didn't feel like sleeping.  It was bothering him, and he decided to start writing in his journal up until he heard Twilight talking to Owlowiscious.  Listening in, Spike heard what she said, and immediately got suspicious since he saw her with all the papers earlier that day.  That was when Spike knew something was up, and sure enough when he peeked out of the door, he saw her open up the cover of that same book he had looked in earlier.
From then on Spike watched in silence, determined to figure out what the big deal was with that book.  If it was secret enough for Twilight to trick Owlowiscious out like that, he knew it had to be something big.  So he watched as she read on.  It was incredibly boring, Spike nearly dozing off a few times right up against the door.  He was about to go back and try to get some sleep, which would have been easy by then, but something caught his attention.
Twilight began to shift a bit in her blankets while she whispered to herself, a smile creeping onto her face.  Spike's interest peaked again, his eyes opening fully to see what was going on.  He listened closely, and he was able to hear a bit of her mumbling.

“Y-you... you came back for me...” Rosalina whispered, looking up at the dragon who had her craddled in his arms.

“I'm so sorry Rosalina, I never meant for this to happen...” Rubin replied as he carried Rosalina away from the burning barn and into the cover of the dark forest.

“I thought you didn't love me Sir Rubin... I thought you had ran away from me...”

“It myself I was running away from,” Rubin replied as he looked up past the canopy to the night sky.  “I tried to run from who I truly was... I couldn't accept myself on the outside, I appeared to everypony to be a monster...”

“Oh Rubin...”Rosalina lifted her hoof and placed it on his scaly cheek.  “You know I only care about what's on the inside... about what's in your heart.”

“Rosalina...” Rubin whispered as he continued on into the forest.  
The two nuzzled for a while as he kept walking, eventually coming to a stop next to a creek.  The ground was soft there, just moist enough to provide comfort while at the same time not getting their bodies damp from sitting on the grass around it.  Rubin had set Rosalina down, but she did not leave his grasp.  He curled his scaled body around her, cradling her close to him as they embraced each other.

“I Love you, Rubin...” Rosalina whispered as she brought her muzzle up to his chin.

“As I love you, my dear Rosalina...” he replied, bringing his head down and kissing her lips deeply.
The two continued kissing, their lips locked in a deep, passionate embrace while their bodies began to feel around against each other.

“Mmm, Rubin...” Twilight whispered softly, sliding her hoof down between her haunches as she read into the following sex scene.  A vibrant blush appeared on her face as she kept reading through the story, a soft smile still present.  Slowly her hoof began to fiddle lightly with the lips of her sex, pushing and feeling them around as sort of a response to the foreplay in the story.  
She sighed softly as a warming wave of pleasure swept through her, biting down on her lower lip as she continued to play with herself.  Her hips moved and adjusted to her hoof while the other hoof gripped onto the blanket.  Her rump bobbed up and down a little as she slid the corner of her hoof in between the lips, making it stroke against her at whichever speed she liked.  She moaned softly, careful not to make too much noise with Spike asleep upstairs.

But Spike was not asleep.  He was watching Twilight, watching with the biggest blush he had ever had on his face.  He watched Twilight squirm around in her bed, and heard her low moans and mumbles.  He didn't quite understand everything he was feeling, only that it was sort of similar to how he felt around Rarity.  It was because of this that he continued to watch and listen to Twilight as she continued to please herself on the floor.
Spike was young, but he wasn't completely ignorant to too many adult things.  He had heard a few jokes and some slang from the guys, but he simply never really gave it too much thought.  It was a whole other thing to watch one of the things he had heard being played out, and not by just any mare, but by Twilight Sparkle herself.
His mind was acting strange, going against him as it plastered pictures and short scenes in his head as to what was going on under those blankets.  His blush intensified as Twilight moaned louder, watching her use both hooves down under the blanket.  It was then that he felt something on himself, a tight pressure between his legs.  Looking down, he saw that he was beginning to grow from watching the display.  He didn't think it possible, but he imagined that what Twilight was doing might actually be infectious!

“D-don't stop, oohh...!”  Twilight allowed herself to moan just a bit louder as she repeated a line from Rosalina in the book.
Her magic was focused on her tail as she rubbed it against her slit, trying her best to use it to mimic the motions of a long, slithery dragon tongue.

His tongue swirled and lapped against her tender pussy, the forked end tickling at the tips of her lips while he worked.  One of his claws kept a firm grasp on one of her legs while the other slid gently up and down her belly, soothing her further while seeming to allow the waves of pleasure to travel further throughout her.

“Ah, Sir Rubin, it's, it-Aaah!”  She moaned out sharply, feeling the dragon's tongue slither into her suddenly, feeling its way against her inner walls.  
She dug her front hooves into the ground, her breath heavy as her eyes squeezed shut.  The sensation poured through her like a raging river, splashing over every part of her while her hips turned and bucked slightly, never before experiencing such pleasure.
He didn't stop, and it seemed like he wouldnt for the longest time as he continued to lather her inside and outside, her wetness dripping down as she could feel a premature climax beginning to stroll in.

“Y-you're not the only one...” Twilight whispered under her breath as she did her best to work her magic on her own tail, forcing it to slither around inside herself as she laid on her back.  
The feeling was uncomfortable at first, but her wetness coated her tail quickly and made it slippery, allowing it to be used much like a long tongue as she had desired.  Her hips bucked a bit while her moans continued, mixed with her hot, moist breath as she tried her best to hold in her orgasm.  
She never thought of trying this before, however the feeling was pleasing her more than her hooves ever had.  But as she imagined the dragon's tongue more, her thoughts began substituting Spike in place of Rubin.  She had tried filter it out, but the thought of him and his long, slithering tongue kept invading her mind.
Twilight eventually slid the blanket off of her, unable to take the heat her own body was putting out.  She was covered in sweat, her coat dripping in some places while her cheeks stayed a rosy red.  She moaned and wriggled her body more, absolutely loving the experience she was giving herself.

Spike couldn't help but feel himself as he watched.  He had never seen Twilight like this before.  Heck, he had never seen anypony do anything like this before!  All he knew was that it was happening, with Twilight, and that his member was feeling so amazing when he stroked it with his claws.  It was so tender, so sensitive to the touch that it pushed a shiver through him with almost every stroke.
He continued watching Twilight; he couldn't take his eyes off her.  He ran his gaze over parts of her body, the scene before him making his tummy and lower body feel like they were going to squeeze into a tight ball, and the only thing he could do to relieve it was to stroke himself.  It felt strange, but good.  Very good in fact, much better than anything he had felt before.  This wasn't the first time he had his member do this, but all the other times he just let it die down without touching it after feeling how sensitive it was.
But when he saw Twilight do it to herself, he tried to experiment on his own.  His touch was gentle, but as he got the hang of it and saw Twilight get more rough with herself, he in turn picked up the pace as well.  He began panting, his other claw braced against the wall right up against the side of the entrance as he continued to watch diligently.  Whatever this book had in it to make Twilight act like that, Spike really wanted to know what it was then!

R-rubin!  Oh, oooh!”  Rosalina cried out in ecstasy as she bounced up and down.  
Her rear slapped loudly with every bounce, every thrust that the dragon made up against her.  She kept her balance on his lap, her front hooves held onto his chest while she worked her hips the best she could.  His member was large, almost too large, barely able to squeeze into her all the way.  But as it filled her up, it sent intense waves of pleasure through every inch of her body.
Sweat rolled down both their bodies, Rubin finding himself unable to hold back anything.  His hips pounded up into Rosalina's tender pussy while his claws gripped onto the ground, holding his body firm in his overpowering fervor.  His tail flopped down on the ground as his wings flapped and beat at the air, doing whatever they could to aid in the sexual motions.

“I'm close, I'm so close, Nnnnaah!”  Twilight couldn't help herself, she hardly held back much of her moans as she worked on herself.
Both hooves were down between her haunches and stroking as hard as they could.  Her tail was still inside, except instead of slithering her magic was forcing it to thrust inside of her in a rhythmic motion.  She pounded it into herself while her hooves kept her lips pulled open and actively rubbing what they could, sending wave after wave of pleasure.
Her tongue dripped off the side of her mouth as she drooled lightly, her mind unable to comprehend much of anything except her own sexual fantasy.  All she saw in her mind was Spike against her, embracing her, driving his large cock into her over and over.  She couldn't reason with herself, her body overriding her mind and forcing that picture into her brain as it was the best image of a dragon she had.

Spike's hips were pushing back and forth, keeping pace with his claw that only stroked harder.  His teeth grit down as he pumped harder, his cock pulsing each time.  His breath was hot and his mouth was wide open, a bit of drool sliding down his chin along with beads of sweat that covered most of his body.
And yet he still watched, unable to look away, and he even found himself mentally picturing himself with Twilight.  He connected his movements with hers, seeing his own body up against her and pounding himself in.  He didn't know why, and he couldn't stop it.  He experimented the same thought with Rarity, but he didn't like it that way.  
Rarity was sweet, delicate, the gem of all gems to him.  What he was imagining with Twilight was rough, it was coarse and beastly, a desire he thought only found in the most primal parts of his mind.  But with Twilight delving her own thoughts into the matter, that was what allowed him to use her.  It allowed him to follow in her hoofsteps in a sense, finding comfort in doing it and picturing himself with her because she was doing it herself.

“T-Twilight...”

“Oh Rosalina,” Rubin gasped between breaths.  “I can't hold it, I'm going to, I'm, I'm...!”

“Give it to me Rubin!”  Rosalina cried out in ecstasy.  “Give it all to me, every drop!  Oh yes, Yes!”

“Ah...! Mmm, don't stop, I'm so close...!”  Twilight almost screamed as her body undulated violently, her rear slapping against the ground from the force as she felt her climax just a few moments away.

“I'm gonna, I'm gonna...!”

“Oooohh... ah!”  Spike whispered under his breath, his whole body trembling as a new feeling pushed its way through him.  The back of his nether region seemed to give in, as if a tube inside of him was beginning to release a pressure he had been building up all this time.  There was no way he could stop it, it just came pushed through as he prepared for it to come out.

“Aaaaah!  Rubin!”

“Oooh, Rosalina!”

“Mmmm, S-Spike...!”

“T-twi... Twilight!”

Without even realizing it, they both released their juices at the same time.  Spike's shot out against the wall as he managed to turn it away from the door just in time.  Twilight's pushed past her soaked tail and sprayed all over the floor and a few parts of her blanket.  Both their backs were arched as they released, gasping as hard as they could while at the peak of sexual bliss.
Twilight laid back after a few long seconds, breathing as hard as she could as her limbs flopped against the floor.  Her tail slid out and her magic stopped, her slit drenched and still dripping with her hot juices.  She laid there for several minutes recovering, an exhausted smile on her face as she simply savored what she had experienced.
Spike leaned forward against the wall, hardly able to believe what he had just done.  His shaft pulsed and quivered below him for a minute before it began to shrink, finally relieved after such an ordeal.  He looked down at the mess he made on the wall, then looked around for a way to clean it up.  He spotted a tissue box on one of the desks and quickly stepped towards it, still keeping his movements quiet as he got the tissues to clean the wall.
Twilight sighed in content and rolled over, looking at the mess she made.  She blushed a bit in embarrassment, even though she knew nopony had seen what she did.  She floated her blanket over the mess and used it to clean it up, then balled it up and tossed it to the side for later, intending to wash it tomorrow.  She looked then at her still open book and flipped forward a page, seeing she was already just about at the end of the next chapter.  Feeling herself pleasantly satisfied and at a relatively good stopping point, she memorized the page number and closed up the book.  She then got it wrapped up back in the wrapping and yawned softly as she put it back in her saddlebag.  It was time for her to go to bed.
Spike finished cleaning just in time to see Twilight put the book back in her saddlebag and turn towards the stairs.  He panicked inwardly, grabbing the door and closing it as gently as he could in his haste.  It didn't make any noise, but he hoped dearly that Twilight didn't see it.  He then tiptoed back to his little bed, threw his blanket over himself, and curled up to look as asleep as he could.  Only a few moments later he heard the door of the bedroom open and Twilight walk in.  He heard Twilight pause, then her hoofsteps approaching him.  He feared the worst; he feared that she had seen the door close, or maybe he missed a spot on the wall.
Twilight looked down at Spike, a soft smile on her face.  She knew her earlier thoughts were foalish, that her little assistant couldn't do what she had just fantasized.  Regardless, she wanted to do something for the little guy, even though she couldn't exactly figure out why.  She leaned her head down over him, finding a part of his head exposed and giving it a soft kiss.  She then pulled herself away and got herself into bed slowly, trying to be as quiet as she could.
Spike heard Twilight shift into bed, but that did not register in his mind.  All he kept thinking about was the kiss... Twilight's kiss.  It warmed his heart in a way he had never felt before, sort of like when he's with Rarity and she compliments him, only this not only warmed, but it tingled as it faded away.  It left him with a smile at the end, his nervousness from before fading away as he quickly fell asleep soon after.

-5-

-5-

Morning came, and Spike awoke with a start.  He looked around, noticing that it was still dark outside.  He looked across the room towards the clock on the wall, able to make out the time with his night-eyes still active.  Five o'clock, still very early.  He thought about going back to bed for another hour or so, or perhaps even getting a head start on his chores.  But as he sat in his bed, the events of last night began to take focus.  That book... Spike thought to himself.  Twilight's still going to be asleep for a couple more hours, so maybe...
Spike got up quietly and slid out of the bedroom without a sound, not even bothering to make his bed.  He slowly went down the stairs and got to Twilight's saddlebags, still set on the floor from last night.  Spike wanted to know what was in that book now more than ever, especially after what it did to Twilight.  Whatever she read, he really wanted to know, even if it was something he wasn't supposed to look at.  He proceeded to open up the saddlebags, pulling out the cover to the book and unwrapping it again.  It was too dark to read the small words of the book, so Spike casually walked over to one of the lamps on the far side and turned it on as he set the book down onto a nearby desk.
Spike flipped through the pages eagerly, trying to find where he left off.  After a couple minutes, he found it.  It was a conversation with what seemed to be a main character and a friend of hers.

“I tell you, those dragons from the North-lands are nothing but trouble!”  Merry tried to convince her friend.  “Did you hear about how one of them just flew down here and slaughtered six of farmer Wheatlin's pigs!?”

“But, that doesn't sound like anything they would-” Rosalina was interrupted by the bartender who leaned over the bar towards them.

“You don't understand lady, ponies and dragons don't mix!” the dark brown worker hissed.  “If you wanted my opinion, I say buck'em!  I don't care if they're some sort of ancient and magical creature, if they come by here again, for whatever reason, just kill'em on sight!  We don't need'em!”
To Rosalina's horror, there were several mumbles of concurrence from around the pub.  Could dragons really be such a problem?

“But, I'm sure they're not all bad...”

“They're monsters Rosa,” Merry stated flatly.  “They're nothing better than the wild animals in the forest.  Give'em a chance, and they'll eat you too without a second thought.”

“Vile creatures they are...”the bartender added as he leaned back, content with his addition to the conversation.  “If I could run things around here, I'd have every one of those beasts hunted down.  Kill the eggs and the babies too!”  At this the bartender brought out a large knife from beneath the table as he eyes a lone olive sitting on the counter.  He quickly swung the knife down, splitting the olive clean in half.  “Just like that!  Slice those monsters right in two!”

Spike began to feel his stomach squeeze in on itself.  The images that were beginning to slip into his head made him feel ill, and he almost threw the book aside in disgust.  Is this what Twilight had been so engaged in reading?  Surely this is not what got her so aroused last night... no, there must have been something else.  But still, the thoughts he had the day before came back into his mind... what if Twilight was making him work like a slave, just to keep him under her control?  What if she secretly hated dragons, and always kept Spike occupied so she wouldn't have to deal with him as often?
Spike felt so confused, but even still, he continued to read on through the story.  Perhaps he would find some answers as he continued on... but to his dismay, he did not.  The story took a turn soon afterwords towards a strange stallion that the character Rosalina apparently was in love with.  Then it went to some scene at a party, and then a while later to this little colt who lost his arm, and then to-

“Spike?”
Spike's body jumped so much right then that the book almost literally flew out of his grasp. Oh no, Twilight!  Spike looked to his side, just noticing the beams of sunlight beginning to stream in from some of the windows.  He turned his head some more, peering over to a clock on another wall...  Eight O'clock!?  It's been three hours already!?  How the heck does Twilight manage to read so much and not take up her whole day!?

“Spike, are you downstairs?”  Twilight asked from the bedroom upstairs.

“Um, yeah, I am!”  Spike said as he quickly tried to wrap the book back up in its cover.  
He then dashed over to the saddlebags and quickly shoved it inside, closing the bags immediately afterwords and then rushing over to a random dusting brush on the far side of the room.  No sooner than the moment he got to the duster did Twilight step out of her room, turning her head to see him dusting the bookshelves.

“Oh, there you are, good morning Spike,” Twilight greeted with a smile.

“Uh, morning Twilight!” he replied.

“I thought you would be down here cleaning,” she continued.  “But I saw you didn't make your bed this morning, so I was wondering if there was something going on.”

“Um, no, not really just uh, ya know, cleaning as always!  Sorry about the bed, I'll get to it in a minute!”

“It's no problem, I got it for you already,” Twilight said as she began down the stairs.
Spike sighed in relief, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead before going back to dusting off the bookshelves.

---

Spike still wanted answers, and he wanted them more as the day progressed.  He wanted to know why Twilight was reading a book that made dragons look like monsters, and more importantly, what Twilight thought of the idea itself.  He knew he shouldn't ask her himself, for not only would it be incredibly awkward, but it would also let Twilight know that he was looking in her book, which would probably turn out bad for him.  So, he decided on an alternative idea...
Spike never really knew what those books Twilight got were about, but he knew where she got them from.  Later that day, some time just past noon, he decided it was time to go and pay a visit to Rarity, telling Twilight it was merely another 'go out and help Rarity' bit.  But in reality, it was much more than that.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique!”  Rarity sang as she heard the door open and the bell on top chime.  “How may I help – oh!  Spike, welcome!”  Rarity greeted as she watched Spike walk in.

“Hey Rarity!” he replied with a wave.  “I hope you don't mind me coming over to help you work today.”

“Not at all, Spike!  I always appreciate your generosity!” Rarity smiled.  “Let's get started then, shall we?  I need some help with this dress I'm working on, and I need somepony – or, some dragon – to help me get the proper knits in the proper place.  So could you please help hold certain parts down while I work on it?”

“Sure thing!” he said as he eagerly approached.
Spike had not forgotten about the real reason he had came here for, but going straight out to help with Rarity did two things... first, it allowed the whole situation to not seem so abrupt when Spike would bring it up.  Secondly, Spike always enjoyed helping her, so... win win.
Time passed, and after an hour Spike had helped Rarity to complete the outfit she had been helping her with.  Then came the part where Rarity would begin transitioning to work on another project, thus her mind would be open and always an the outward thinking side... perfect for Spike to make his move.  While Rarity looked over her desk, Spike approached slowly, still nervous about what he was about to ask, but knowing that he had to do this, for his own piece of mind.  He needed answers.

“Hey um, Rarity,” Spike fiddled with his claws slowly as he stood beside the white unicorn.  “Can I ask you something?”

“Why of course you can Spike.  What do you want to ask?”

“Well, what do you like, think of dragons?”

“Dragons?”  Rarity stopped what she was working on and turned her head to look at Spike.  “Well that's a rather peculiar question, what do you mean?”

“I mean, like, what do you – or more, other ponies – think of the dragon race as a whole?  Like, do you all think we are just some grumpy beasts or perhaps some sort of dangerous creatures or-”

“Spike,” Rarity stopped him as she turned her body away from her work desk to face him, placing a hoof on his shoulder as she did so.  “What's wrong Spike?  Nopony – or dragon – simply goes up and asks a question like that.  Is something going on with somepony?”

“Well... no, there isn't, I just need to uh... know your opinion,” Spike bit his lip.

“Spike...”

“Please?”  Spike gave Rarity a pleading look.

“Well...” Rarity knew something was up, but judging by Spike's reactions, it seemed as though the topic had some sort of deeper meaning.  Though she definitely wanted to know what was bothering the young dragon, she decided not to press in much further.  “I, I don't think they're necessarily bad creatures, of course.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, dragons are often looked up to as very powerful beings, and also very smart.  They are very exotic, and seem to represent the highest tier of strength and independence.  They're also magical, so their mere presence brings a sense of brilliance to any setting.”

“But what about interactions with ponies?”  Spike started being more specific.

“Well, uh, dragons and ponies don't usually interact that much and-”

“Why not?”

“Well, deary, we're just two different species and-”

“But so are griffons, and cows, and even zebras, but they still get along fine.”

“Spike, please!” Rarity stopped him, taking a deep breath.  “Spike... what's wrong?  Please, I want to help, can't you just tell me what's bothering you?”

“Just...” Spike looked down, giving out a small sigh as he thought up his next words carefully.  “Well... what do you think Twilight thinks about dragons?”

“Twilight?”  She raised an eyebrow.  “Well, I don't really know, but why don't you ask her?”

“Because, well...” Spike thought again, knowing this might be his only chance, and decided to go for it.  “I, I know about the book you gave to Twilight a few days ago, and it got me thinking...”
Rarity's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she took in the words Spike put out.  Her heart skipped a beat, realizing just what the baby dragon had gotten himself into.  Rarity has already read the entire book, and her mind focused on all the erotic scenes spread throughout.  And if Spike somehow got to it and read it, then... oh no, Spike must be wondering what Twilight must think of dragons in that way!  And judging by the questions Spike was asking...
Rarity immediately gathered a theory within only a few short moments.  Spike, apparently, somehow got the notion that dragons and ponies don't get along – probably due to how the town reacted to the last time a dragon visited.  Also, after reading the love story, Spike may be growing some sort of affections towards Twilight, of all ponies!  That would explain why he was asking about her specifically.  Lastly, he must feel ashamed or guilty for starting to feel that way for a pony, so he's coming to her for some advice perhaps.
Rarity's mind raced, caught between two opposing sides.  One wanted to tell him that a book is just a book, and that he shouldn't get his mind so focused from an idea brought out from paper.  At the same time, another side of her wondered just how deep his new found feelings went, and wondered if she should somehow help the little dragon in his endeavors.  What am I thinking!?  Rarity thought to herself.  This is Spike here, not just some pony who would make a good gossip story!  I need to tell him something... generic, perhaps.  Something that didn't quite answer him exactly, but perhaps got him thinking on his own... I really don't want to affect the poor dear too much in this...

“...Thinking about what, exactly?”  Rarity managed to get out.

“Well... just tell me this, what does Twilight think about the book?”

“Umm...” What does she think?  I'm not so sure but, she usually loves all the books I lend to her, so I can only assume...  “Well, I know she really enjoys it,” Rarity said finally after a seemingly long pause.  “Probably one of her favorites so far, in fact!”  She hoped this would perhaps raise Spike's hopes a bit, just to give him some sort of piece of mind.
Spike's heart sank after hearing Rarity's words.  So it's true... He thought. If Twilight likes the book, then she likes everything that went on in there... which means that she hates dragons, and probably hates me too... Spike's body slumped slightly, and he fought back the tears that began to surface.

“S-spike...?”  Rarity became concerned, not expecting the suddenly depressed response that she got.  “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I guess...” Spike sighed as he started for the door.  “Rarity, if it's okay with you, I need to stop short for today...  I need some time for myself.”

“Uh, well, of course!  I mean, I hope you figure out what you need to Spike!”  Rarity called out as Spike was leaving the door.
Rarity, for some reason, couldn't help but feel that she had just done something horrible to her friend.

---

Twilight had been sitting down on the floor again, the novel of interest spread open in front of her.  It had only been about thirty minutes since Spike left, and she had just reached the climax of the story, the turning point where everything came together and the hero made his final stand.

“The castle guards will be here any moment, Rubin!”  Markus Malcom announced, his voice thick with crazed laughter.  “Oh, in only a few moments, they will come here and kill us both!  The only possible chance for you to escape is to accept what you are!”

“Never!”  Rubin cried as he looked between his brother and his love.
The castle courtyard burned around them, the once beautiful garden charred black as the walls seemed to sweat fire and smoke at every crack.  The night sky was covered in a shroud of smoke, making the moon and stars above invisible.  Everything around them glowed red, threatening to destroy them at any moment.  But Rubin had to stay, he couldn't leave Rosalina trapped underneath the collapsed gallows.
Just then Markus jumped down off his perch, his dragon wings spread out fully as he landed before him.  Rubin stared at him, readying his own claws in case his brother attempted to strike.  But he did not, instead he merely stood there, a wild grin still painted on his face.

“Look at you, Rubin... so lost you are!” Markus laughed.  “You were dragon from the start, and you will always be that way!  Some spell by a crazed scorcerer – hah! – will never change that!  You are an outcast, a creature of destruction and chaos!  Us dragons don't belong in the pony world, no matter how strong your so called 'love' is!”

“SHUT UP!”  Rubin yelled, flaring his wings.  “I love her, and nothing can change that!  I don't care what society says, or what society thinks, dragons and ponies don't always have to fight!”
Rosalina watched from beneath the pile of splintered wood above her.  She dare not move from fear of being skewered at any attempt made by her to escape.  She looked up just then, noticing the top of the pile beginning to catch flame.  She looked back at Rubin and Markus, the two dragons squaring off against each other.  Rosalina didn't care about her love being a dragon, she just wanted him, for who he was inside.  He cared for her, he was there for her, he would do anything for her, he loved her, and she loved him.

“It's fate, my brother!  It's always been, and will forever continue to be!  Dragons and ponies are meant to be enemies, that is all set in stone!  You cannot begin to hope to change that!”
Rubin looked down at himself, and then over at Rosalina.  The thoughts of them together filled his mind, all the joys, all the wonderous times together... and then he looked at Markus, at his brother.  His mind brought forth all the pain and suffering in his past, about his parents' deaths and the ones responsible.  About the past lovers in his life, and how he had lost them because of what he was...
But now, he is what he is.  And he has somepony who finally accepts him for that, and he will never leave her now.  Even as the sounds of guard ponies are heard gathering around the outer edges of the courtyard, Rubin stands his ground.  He reaches over quickly and grabs a stone sword – one that fell off of a statue of a pony knight that was destroyed earlier – and points it directly at Markus.

“Mark my words, brother...” He begins slowly, his voice clear and his words definite.  “Fate does not affect me.  I can make my own decisions, because I have the ability to make my own choice in the world.  Anything is possible as long as you believe, and I believe that I can make my choice... no matter what stands in my way.  My life is my own to control, and nothing can take that from me.  I love Rosalina, and she loves me... so I choose...” He stands back in a ready position, the sword pointed upwards beside him.  “I choose to fight for my choices, and for what I believe is right!”

“Wow...” Twilight whispered to herself.  “What an amazing dragon...”
Twilight read further into the story, passing the part with the great escape, the last confrontation with the main villain, and finally, the end-of-book sex scene.  The book was just about finished, and Twilight felt it time for one last session before she gave it back to Rarity.  She could already feel the tingles in her stomach as she began to shift around a bit on the floor, moving her rump against it.  The first thing that came to mind was a dragon, at first, and then that image morphed into Spike.  Twilight didn't know why, exactly, but that was the closest thing she could really find.  The only other dragons she knew of were the one from atop the mountain and the one in the forest, and they were both much larger than Rubin was in the book.  Her cheeks flushed red as she thought about how the dragon she had been living with for so long was going to be used in her most private fantasies... gosh, what twist of life.
The door opened suddenly, causing Twilight to yelp out in surprise.  It was Spike, and he seemed to walk in with his body slumped.  Twilight didn't really take note though as she was too busy hastily wrapping the book up with her magic and getting herself off the floor.

“H-hi Spike!”  Twilight greeted with an awkward grin.  “I didn't expect you back so early!”
Spike stopped.  He looked first at the book as it was placed back into Twilight's saddlebags, and then at Twilight and her weird looking grin.  He frowned... he knew what she was doing.  And now he knew that she didn't want him to see!  Spike's mind began to cycle around what had happened in the past few days, running over what he just realized, back to when Twilight was acting weird around the book, then to what happened last night, and finally to what Rarity had told her.  Then, he thought about the book.
The Dragon in Twilight... probably about some dark, evil dragon of the night like nightmare moon, and about how this mare and stallion come together in some big mushy romance story to stop, no, to kill the dragon and end up falling in love.  And just last night, Spike had began to feel... well, feelings for Twilight, ones he hadn't had before, and then he finds this out...

“Spike...?”  Twilight spoke up, seeing him just standing there with a frown on his face.  “Are you alright?”
Spike looked down and sighed.  He wanted to ask her straight out, but decided against it, thinking of another approach.

“I read it, Twi'...”

“Read what?”  Twilight tilted her head.

“Your book...” he pointed his claw to the saddlebags.  “THAT book... The Dragon in Twilight.”

“Y-you, you what...?”  Twilight began to breath faster, her body shifting swiftly into a state of shock

“Yeah...” Spike sighed, adding bit of a low growl in his voice as he continued.  “And I can tell why you tried to hide it from me.”

“O-oh no, Spike, I didn't mean to-”

“Heh, it's kind of funny too,” Spike interrupted, using a sarcastic tone that Twilight didn't catch on to.  “I was actually liking it myself.”

Wait...
Twilight began to contemplate what was going on.  Was Spike... having the same thoughts she was?  No, there's no way he could, but... if he read the story too, then...

“And ya know what else?”  Spike said, the rage building inside of him making him apathetic of the secrets he held, and ultimately allowing him to decide to tell her.  “I liked what happened last night too.”

“L-last...” Twilight could hardly form words as she began to stutter uncontrollably, her face turning bright red.
So Spike was watching her... how should she feel about this?  How should react?  Wait... how did he react?  

No, he didn't...

“And to think...” Spike paused for a moment, curling his claws into a fist.  “That I actually joined you too...”

He did!
This was her chance... Twilight knew the risk, but... he just admitted it.  There were more to these feelings she had for Spike, she knew it, and now she knew that he had the same for her.  Her heart fluttered a bit at the idea, but perhaps she could have him... Spike, to be her dragon savior.  At that point Twilight didn't know whether or not to feel selfish, she didn't know if these feelings were hers or from the book, but she wanted to find out.

“Spike, I-”

“No!”  Spike suddenly yelled back.  “I'm done with this Twilight, I don't want to be around ponies anymore if they just think I'm some monster!”

“W-w-what!?  S-spike, that's not... how did you-”

“Don't lie to me!”  He screamed, tears streaming down his cheeks.  “I don't know why you even kept me if you thought this way about me!  What was I some sort of pet to you?  Some little creature you thought you could boss around until I got old enough, and then... and then do away with me!?”
At this, Twilight began to feel her own tears coming up.  This is not what she had thought was happening, and her heart was breaking before her as her number one assistant continued to scream.  Her mind worked its full capacity to figure it out, but if Spike read the book, then why did he think all ponies thought of them as monsters?  It didn't make sense, and she had to stop this before it got out of hand.

“Spike!” Twilight finally said, stopping his rant.  “I, I don't know what you're saying!  I never thought of you as anything like that...  you're my number one assistant, and you're not a monster!”

“LIES!” Spike took a deep breath and blew a large burst of flame, Twilight moving out of the way just in time.  “You USED me, and you all HATE me!”

“No, please!”  Twilight cried, hardly able to believe that Spike just tried to burn her.  “It's not like that!”

“Buck you!” he growled as he turned around and started for the door.
Twilight's heart beat ferociously against her heart.  Her mind told her to move, to stop Spike, to try to talk to him, but her body didn't reply.  She felt so conflicted, her emotions tilted so much so rapidly that she had a hard time thinking at all.  She was able to find the coordination to run up to Spike, to try to embrace him in a hug, but before she could he turned around and swiped a hand at her.  His claws met with her cheek, slicing four lines through her fur and drawing blood as the force knocked her head back.

“Go away!”  He yelled again, smoke puffing out of his nose with each breath.

“S-spike... no!  Spike, you can't go, I won't let you, please!”

“YOU'RE NOT MY MOM!” he screamed, his rage almost overtaking him.
Twilight didn't reply.  She stood still, her eyes puffy and red with tears flowing down her cheeks and to the floor as she watched Spike open the front door.  She tried to form words, tried to come up with something to say to stop him, but nothing came.  She stood there, helpless, hopeless, as her lifelong companion slammed the door behind him...

...and he was gone.

-6-

-6-

Spike didn't know where he would go.  Just away, far away, from Twilight, from Ponyville, and ponies in general.  He made his way to the forest, ignoring the strange looks he got as ponies stared at him running with tears in his eyes.  Some became concerned, but did not react fast enough as he sprinted by before they could say anything.  Spike ran, almost blindly, even going as far as the Everfree forest.  He knew he was in the forest, he knew there were strange creatures there, monsters, plants, and anything that could harm him, but he didn't care.  If anything this would just  distance himself from what he knew hated him back at the library.  He kept on running, and he did not stop.  He just went on into the looming darkness of the forest, not caring if he ever came out again.

---

Pinkie Pie bounced down the streets of Ponyville, her destination being the library.  She happily made her way to the house of one of her best friends, carrying her saddlebags with her that contained a fresh batch of orange-mango cupcakes.  She was so excited to share her confections with her friends that she didn't even bother knocking, and barged straight into the door.

“Hey Twilight!  Guess what I-” Pinkie stopped, realizing Twilight wasn't in the main room.  “Huh, must be in the kitchen!”  Pinkie checked the kitchen, still, no Twilight.  “Hm, the basement then, some sorta cooky experiment, yeah!”  She checked the basement, poking her head halfway down the steps and calling out for her, but still, no Twilight.  “Hmmm... oh, oh, I know!  She's up in her room!”  Pinkie bounced towards the stairs, making her way up to Twilight's bedroom which was currently closed.  With her excitement still high, she simply barged straight into the bedroom to show her friend, “Twilight!”  Pinkie called out as she saw her friend sitting on the bed facing away from her with her head tilted downwards.  “There you are, you'll never guess what I got!”

No response.

“Twilight?”  Pinkie asked, tilting her head.  She listened closely for a few seconds, and could make out... sobbing?  And, was that her body trembling?  “Twilight, are you okay?  What's wrong?”
Pinkie approached her slowly, no longer bouncing, and made it to the edge of the bed before she stopped, with Twilight on the opposite side.

“Twilight, why are you crying?”  Pinkie asked, able to see the tears just barely on the side of Twilight's cheek.  “Did... did something bad happen?”

“Mhm...” Twilight replied with a slow nod.
Pinkie gasped just then, realizing it might be something serious.  She leaped across the bed to see Twilight from the front, but was horrified by the sight of her friend.  Twilight's eyes were closed with tears that had run down from her eyes all the way down to her chin and dripping to the floor with a large puddle already accumulated.  Pinkie almost felt herself deflate, but kept her composure in order to help her friend.

“Twilight, what's wrong?  Why are  you so sad?”  Pinkie asked as she gently pulled Twilight into a hug.  Twilight didn't reply, she didn't even return the embrace, she only continued to cry.  “Twilight, please tell me what's wrong?  Pleasy weasy squeezy measy lemony weetzy?”
Twilight still didn't talk, but she nodded slowly in return.  Pinkie pulled back as she saw Twilight open her eyes some and look first at her, and then something off to the side.  Twilight raised one of her hooves and pointed it across the room, Pinkie looked over to see Spike's bed with nothing in it.

“Spike's bed?”  Pinkie asked, confused.  She looked at Twilight again, and then at the bed, and then Twilight, and then the bed one more time, then it hit her.  “Hey wait, where's Spike?”
Twilight's foreleg dropped.  She just stared at Pinkie pie, a stare that Pinkie pie returned with a look of confusion.  Pinkie analyzed Twilight's look, it was... pleading.  Twilight's eyes were wide and her bottom lip puckered up as she took a quick glance at the bed, and then back at Pinkie.  Pinkie could see it just then, and her eyes widened with the sudden realization as she let out a small gasp.  Hoping she was wrong, she slowly and calmly asked Twilight again...

“Twilight... wheres' Spike?”

Twilight simply dropped her head at this, her eyes closed as she cried openly, her sobs the only thing that filled the room.  Pinkie's suspicions were confirmed, and she knew then that only Twilight knew the exact specifics, and she would have to try to coax them out of her, but the main issue remained the same...

Spike was missing.

---

About about four hours had passed since Spike left the library, he could tell by the position of the sun.  It was getting late, and the sun would be setting in just another hour.  He had long since stopped running, and simply walked further and further through the forest.  This time to himself had given the adolescent dragon plenty of time to think about what had happened in the library, and more importantly, what he was going to do next.  That was the only home he had, really.  
He thought about going back to Canterlot, but somepony would surely recognize him there and send word to Twilight, and she would find him.  Perhaps other towns like Trottingham or Manehatten, but at that point he had no way to find which way to go to get there.  He was effectively lost in the forest, and as he looked out from atop a hill, all he saw was forest across the horizon.  The only sign of civilization was the far-off castle in Canterlot, just barely visible by that time.  Spike took a long look at it, sighed softly, and simply continued walking away.
He really had no further plan than this, his actions were impromptu.  But as his stomach began to grumble, he figured he had to find some food if he wanted to maintain himself.  His thoughts just then took him back to the last time he ran away, and how he stumbled upon a gem-filled cave. But just as he thought about looking for such a cave, the memories of the dragon afterward made him rethink his decision.  He sighed in frustration as he realized he had nowhere else to go.
Finally, he stopped.  He took a seat in a semi-clearing, with some sunlight filtering through the fanned out branches above him.  He rested his head on his hands and began to think.  What am I doing out here​?  Spike asked himself.  I can't go back to the library, Twilight's just... ugh... Spike shook his head, not allowing himself to think about the lavender unicorn.  Something to him didn't seem right about the whole thing, about him, and her, like... perhaps he was missing something.  Like there was some sort of detail that he didn't catch... but before he thought about it too much, he dismissed the thought, and moved on.  Maybe... nah, I can't go to Zecora's... she would tell me to go back home too.  But what if... he looked straight forward, an idea coming to mind.  Would if I could go back with other dragons?  Like, return to them I guess... maybe I can even find my family.  My REAL family...  but, where do I start looking?
Spike decided that the best way to find a dragon would be to see it fly across the sky.  And in order to do that, he would have to watch the skies.  So, Spike managed to climb on top of one of the trees on the hill he was on and sat down on a branch atop the canopy.  He stared outwards, sitting back against the main stem of the tree as he watched... and wait...

...and still kept thinking...

---

Most of Ponyville was already very active with ponies searching high and low for the town's only dragon resident.  After Pinkie Pie's confrontation with Twilight, she immediately went around Ponyville and started getting ponies to go around searching for Spike.  Twilight, after taking the time to regain her composure, had joined in on the search.  While most of the ponies looked around the town itself, some of them – including Twilight – thought that Spike would venture out to the Everfree forest.  There was already a party entering out through the forest, including all of the mane 6.  Pegasi like Rainbow Dash were out giving a birds-eye view while other ponies like Fluttershy provided safe navigation through the dense forest.  They even hooked Zecora into this, using her knowledge of the forest to aid in her search.
But amongst them all, Twilight Sparkle was traveling through the deepest.  Though she was still heavily effected by her emotions, her logical side was able to step in and make an educated guess as to what Spike had done.  If it was anything like last time, Spike would have probably just kept going into the forest, especially with the fit he was in.  Twilight knew this, and just kept going straight as well, galloping the entire way as she used all of her senses – magic included – to search the immediate area around her.
Twilight pressed on, going so fast in one direction that her friends soon lost track of her.  She didn't mind though, she knew she could handle herself in the forest, it was Spike she was worried about.  All alone in the forest, anything could happen to him!  She had to find him before it was too late, and with the sun setting in about an hour, she knew she had little time before her chances diminished drastically.

“Please Spike...” she to nothing in particular.  “Please be okay...”

---

Spike watched the sun from his treetop seat.  The sky was orange as the sun was nearing its setting point, the bottom of the fiery circle just barely sitting above the horizon.  He hadn't seen anything the whole time, and decided to turn in for the night.  He slid himself down the tree and began to dig into the dirt, thankful that his claws were able to effectively pierce through the soft ground and scoop out ample amounts of earth with it.  In only a few minutes he had burrowed several feet down and began making a widened expanse.  It was like his own little cave, and though it was filthy, it would keep him safe.  He jumped out and began collecting some large leaves from a few bushes, setting them beside his hole to use as cover in the night so nothing finds it.  As he finished that, he stopped an sat  down to relax.  
He had calmed down a lot by that time, and he was no longer angry, just... sad.  He was hurting inside, and constantly felt the urge to break out to tears.  How could the pony who he lived with all his life read a book like that?  The only explanation at the time was that she did think he was some sort of monster, that dragons were just... creatures.  Destructive, evil creatures that only wanted to hurt other things, just like the ones he met during the great migration.  He sighed at this, and simply laid back as he tried to clear his mind.  

Then he heard it...

He sat up, listening more closely.  There it was, it was soft, but he recognized that sound...  Spike immediately took off on a short jog in the direction of the noise, and just as he suspected, there was a river nearby.  Upon closer inspection, there were even some berry bushes nearby – and they looked edible.

“Oh wow, just my luck!” he said aloud as he rushed to the river.  He dove his head into the water, washing his face first.  A feeling of refreshment washed over him as he pulled his head out, aiding to clear his mind.  Next on the list was not to clear, but to fill up – more specifically, fill up his stomach.  He rushed to the berry bush and began picking out berries, munching them down as rapidly as he picked them off.  They were delicious!  The taste was like that of raspberries mixed with strawberries sort of...  neat.
He continued eating, but noticed that It was getting much darker faster than he expected.  Thinking quickly, he grabbed a low-hanging branch from a nearby tree and tugged it off.  He drew in a quick breath, and blew his fire on the tip, careful not to ignite it and send it off to the princess.  If it just burned like regular fire, and was not fully engulfed, then his fire would simply act like a normal red one.  Satisfied with the extra light, Spike quickly stuck the stick upright in the ground and continued to feast, his belly progressively filling up.
But in his haste to eat more, Spike failed to set the lit stick in firmly enough.  The stick, without him realizing, tipped over and fell right onto a bush on the opposite side, away from Spike's field of focus.  The bush quickly caught fire, this time with red flame, not his green one.  Only the fire that derives from his throat is green, fires that come from that and shift to different materials turn to regular fire.  The bush burned, and soon the tree next to it did as well.  Spike, taking note of the extra light, turned around to see a whole tree set ablaze.

“Oh crap, fire!  Forest fire!” he yelled out as he flailed his arms.  
He tried rushing to the river to splash water on it with his claws, but it was no use.  The tree burned furiously, illuminating the entire area around it.  Spike could only stand back and watch, realizing that he may have just started a devastating fire.  The flames began to lick at the leaves and branches of other trees, beginning to char at their bark and smolder their greens.  It was only a matter of time before-
Without warning, a stream of water magically flew over him and to the fire, putting half of it out immediately.  Spike was dumbfounded, but watched as another stream came in, spraying down the rest of the tree and effectively putting out the flame.  But he saw the water well enough that time, and he was able to see the purple aura around it.  He knew what that meant, and as he turned around slowly, his suspicions – once again – were confirmed.

Right there, not ten feet away, stood Twilight Sparkle, her horn going dark as a pillar of water receded back into the river.  Her mane was a mess, her coat covered in bits of plants dirt while her eyes were baggy and red.  She stood there, her expression shifting from the excitement and relief of finding him, to one of pleading and resentment.  She parted her lips slightly to speak, but stopped, not feeling any words form for her to give out.  She looked down for a moment, and then up again at the stunned and surprised Spike.  She couldn't say anything, but she could still move, so she took one hoofstep towards him...

And he took one backwards.

Twilight gasped inwardly at that, but she followed up with another forward step.

Spike took another back.

“...Spike...?”  She finally managed to get out.  But as soon as she had closed her mouth, Spike had turned around and dashed off into the forest.  “Spike, no!  WAIT!”
Twilight took off in a dash towards him, moving at full speed.  She couldn't lose him again, not when she was so close.  She had the book with her, in her saddlebags, if he could just get him to sit down and read it for a bit-
A clearing came up ahead as she gained on Spike.  She was only a few steps away from them when they came upon the clearing, and Spike went airborne.  There was an immediate break-off from a large canyon, and Spike was mid-sprint when he went over it.  He yelled out in surprise as he flew across, just barely managing to catch onto the edge of the other side with his claws.  But that was not enough, he didn't have a good grip and he was slipping.  Twilight was able to stop herself in time, and she saw Spike about to lose his grip and fall.  Thinking quickly, she fed magic into her horn and pushed him up, enabling him to get onto the edge and be safe.  She sighed slightly in relief, but then saw Spike continuing to run away.

“S-Spike!  Please, stop!”  Twilight cried out as she backed up a few paces, and then made her own running dash over the large crevice.  She made it – just barely – and continued on after Spike.
She pursued her dragon assistant further, dashing through the rapidly darkening forest.  It was almost pitch black, and they were just barely dodging the trees in front of them.  She could hear Spike ahead of him, he was constantly running through bushes and giving out short yelps of pain as he bashed into trees and other hard objects along the way.  He was going to knock himself out at this rate!  Reacting to this, Twilight lit up her horn brightly, feeding light into their surroundings.  She even sent a bolt of light forward, making the spell hold the ball above Spike to provide him with some illumination.
Even with Twilight's obvious assistance, Spike didn't stop.  Twilight continued to call after him, but he would only reply with words like “NO!” or “Go away!” each time.  Twilight was getting desperate, she wanted to use her magic on him to hold him down, but she knew if she did that then he would never give in, it would scar him forever!  She did her best to plead to him, while help him any way she could.
The two eventually came to a small clearing, and Spike dashed straight into a cave right in a mountainside.  He swatted at the light above his head, dispelling the orb and turning out the light so he could hide himself.  Twilight followed close by,  shining her light brighter than ever in order to find him.  She slowed her pace as she went through the cave, realizing it had to end somewhere.  She could hear Spike's steps echo through the cave, but suddenly, they stopped.  Twilight figured he had reached such a dead end and hurried forward.  But as she reached the dragon, she realized the situation was not what she anticipated.
Before her was a large collection of large webs strung further into the cave.  Spike was stick in the middle of the mess, his limbs restrained by the sticky elastic substance.

“Spike!”  Twilight called to him as she approached.  “Don't worry, I'll get you out!”

“Gah!”  Spike cried out as he looked down into the cave, suddenly struggling with all his might.
Twilight looked down as well, and was able to see a countless number of red orbs floating through the darkness.  Then she heard it, little pricks and prods at the dirt, as if a million things were tapping against the ground.  She and Spike both knew what it was...

“Cave spiders!”  Twilight gasped as she saw them beginning to come into the light of her horn.  “Oh no, Spike, hold on, I'll get you out!”
Twilight worked her magic on Spike first, attempting to pull him free, but the elastic was too strong, able to hold down even a  fully grown mantacore with merely one layer of web.  Twilight focused more, feeding more magic into Spike, trying her best to yank him off, but to no avail.  The spiders got closer, with some running ahead of the pack to get to Spike.  Twilight quickly refocused her magic and blasted the few at the front away, sending them back into the depths of the cave.
The mass continued though, and Twilight knew she couldn't blast them all back.  Her heart raced as she adjusted her focus to the web, trying to use her magic to sever it.  Time was running out, but the web gradually became thinner around Spike, and soon began to sag down.  Another spider leaped for the dragon, landing right on his bag just as Twilight grabbed onto it with her magic.  She pulled it off as the very tip of its fangs touched his back, leaving a slight trail of purple, poisonous venomous dripping down his scales, and used it as a bat as she swatted away several more advancing spiders.  She grew desperate, feeding as much magic as she could just then into the web.
Finally, with a soft sloshing sound, Spike and the piece of web on him fell to the ground just as the whole mass of Spiders reached the outer web layer.  Twilight picked him up with her magic and carried him out of the cave, galloping as fast as she could.  In only a few seconds they were out of the cave, and away from the spiders within.  But, just for a safe measure, they traveled further alongside the mountain to ensure they were out of the spiders' grasps.
Twilight used a spell on the terrain, and was able to quickly find another, smaller cave, one that only went in for about thirty feet.  She carried Spike in there with her, who was still mostly immobile from the web stuck on his body.  She gently set him down on the ground, her magic working again on the bindings between him and the web.  She focused with only small spots at a time, tugging them off and working on the web as a whole.  Twilight looked at Spike's face; it was blank, expressionless, he just stared off into the distance.  She wondered what was going through his mind, but stayed on task.
Finally, the last piece was being worked off.  She gave it a good yank, and off it came... and off he went.  Without warning, Spike made a mad dash for the exit.  He almost made it out when Twilight pounced on top of him, holding him down with her hooves.

“LEMME GO!”  He growled, breathing out fire in random directions, singing the edge of Twilight's hair.

“No Spike, wait!” Twilight pleaded desperately.  “I have to talk to you, this is all a big misunderstanding!”

“Oh right, so now you're gonna tell me you don't hate dragons, huh!?”  Spike fumed with anger, turning his head to look Twilight straight in her eyes as he continued.  “What, ya miss me being your slave all the time?  Is that the only reason you keep me around!?”  Spike knew deep down that Twilight didn't really treat him like a slave, but he didn't care, his anger was getting the best of him as he just poured out what came to his mind without much thought.

“Spike, that... that's not it at all!” she replied, feeling tears come to her eyes.  “How... how could you even think of such a thing?  You a... a slave?  That's... that's not anything close to it at all...  you're my number one assistant...” Twilight sniffled lightly as she tried to hold back her tears.

“Right, I was your assistant!” he emphasized, trying to justify his anger.  “Not your personal duty boy that would always run around and do this and do that for you while you just sat on your flank and read books all day, making a bunch of messes for me to clean up!  How fair that?  You never clean up after yourself, you just leave me to do it!  ALL of it!”  Spike struggled further, even going as far as digging his claws into one of Twilight's legs, making her yelp in pain.

“Spike...!” she gasped as she bit onto her lip to stop from screaming out in pain.  “That... you're hurting me...!”  Tears continued to well up into her eyes until they overflowed, dripping down her face.  “Y-you've never hurt me before...”

“Yeah well you-” Spike wasn't paying attention to Twilight's expression before, but when he felt a tear drop on his face, he immediately stopped, turning his gaze straight up to look at her.
Her eyes leaked tears rapidly as she continued to look down at him, her eyes filled with sorrow, regret, and depression.  Spike's emotions practically turned over on themselves, and his anger at here practically dissipated in seconds.  He could see it... he could feel it.  The words she said, what she was saying to her, they... they were true.  She was telling the truth, all of it, and now she could see.  Sure he was still upset at her, but he quickly realized as he looked down at his claws and saw the bits of blood beginning to drip down her leg.  With a gasp he pulled away, not intending to hurt her so much, just he just wanted to get her off of him.  He looked up again, suddenly feeling a heavy weight of regret as his look changed from surprised, to pleading.

“Twilight, I...” Spike stopped, pulling up his claws to look at the bits of blood on them.  “I... I didn't mean to... your leg, and...” an epiphany struck him.
If Twilight was telling the truth now... then perhaps she had been the whole time.  He thought about the recent events, back in the forest when he ran into several dangerous situations, and each and every time Twilight helped him out of it.  From the forest fire to the canyon, and from the light to the tunnel of deadly spiders, Twilight didn't care if he was trying to run away from him, or that he might hate her, she wanted to help him.  She... she cared for him, just as she had always said.  He then turned his mind to only a few moments ago when he persecuted her of using him as a slave... he knew it wasn't true, but he said it anyways... why?
But, he knew why.  He read parts of that book... that book that Twilight had read, and obviously seemed to love so much.  The Dragon in Twilight... just, what was it exactly?  Did he miss something?  He didn't read the whole book, he never had the chance, but... should he have?  The parts he read all pointed to dragons being evil, bloodthirsty monsters of destruction, but was there more to it in the story?  Was there, and Spike was just a complete, misunderstanding idiot this entire time?
He looked back up to Twilight, her face unchanged as more tears began to drip down her eyes.  Spike knew he did wrong... he knew he did very wrong.  He returned his arms to himself, holding them tight to his body as he no longer fought Twilight back.  He closed his eyes and lowered his head, keeping his chin to his chest as he curled his tail and his limbs up against himself.

“Twilight...” Spike said with a slight whimper.  “I... I think I made a big mistake...”
Twilight, streams of tears still flowing from her eyes, allowed herself a slight smile as she realized she just might have gotten through to him.

“Spike...” she said softly amidst light sobbing.  “It's okay spike... I'm here for you...”

“But, why?”  Spike asked as he opened his eyes to look at her.  “After I, I mean... I thought, I thought you hated me...”

“But why?”  Twilight tilted her head.  “Why did you get so mad all of a sudden, and where did you get the idea that I hated you...?”

“The book...” He replied slowly, his voice conveying his inward pain.  “I, I told you I read it, and all the parts I read had ponies just... hating dragons, calling them mean, evil, dangerous things that would cause nothing but trouble.  I just, I think that, after I read that and with how I noticed you liked the book so much, I just...”

“...you only read those parts of the book...” Twilight continued for him, suddenly realizing the spawn of his rage.  “So all you thought, all you knew was just that it was about hating dragons?”

“I... mhm,” Spike mumbled with a hesitant nod.  “Is it... it's not like that at all, is it?”  He asked, wondering if his newly found fears were true or not.

“No, it's not...” Twilight replied as she saw Spike flinch at this.  “Spike, did you by chance, like, ever bother to read the back?”
At this, Twilight floated the book out of her saddlebags.  Spike watched as the book floated down to him, its back already turned and the words coming into view.  Quickly, he scanned over the words on the back, reading each in his head as if he were saying them aloud...

On a cool spring morning, a lonely mare finds a stallion with a heart as pure as the whitest light.  But the stallion holds secrets with him that still haunt him every day, and every night...
Can Rosalina see past the his menacing form at night, or can she truly see the stallion for what he really is?
Pony by day,
Dragon by night...
A story of love and pain,
To be settled at Twilight...

“Wait...” Spike stopped, feeling his heart skip a beat.  “This is a love story... between a female pony and a male dragon?”

“Mhm...” Twilight nodded, the tears no longer streaming from her face.
Spike suddenly felt a shiver run up his spine as he realized everything was indeed a big misunderstanding.  How stupid of me... he thought.  I... just just hurt Twilight, I cause her so much pain, and, and earlier at the library... she looked eager before I went off on her.  Were her feelings just then... and last night, and the book, does that mean...
All the pieces fell into place, and everything came together.  Spike's feelings... Twilight's feelings... the book and what it was about... he suddenly realized what it all meant.  He suddenly had a very good idea of what Twilight read last night, and what she may had been visualizing in her head in place of any other dragon...

...it was him.

Author Note: Though this chapter is over 5,000 words long, for some reason it feels rushed to me...
anybrony else get that feeling?  I hope not.

-7-

-7-

The sun had long set by now, and the moon was already well on its way to taking its position high in the sky.  The Everfree forest is even more dangerous during the night then it is they day, so instead of heading back to home, Twilight and Spike decide to stay the night in the small cave they had ended up in.  They already checked it out, no spiders, no bears, and no other sorts of dangers lurked inside the cave.  It only went into the mountain thirty feet after all, and it was only taller than Twilight by an addition of half her height, so most large creatures wouldn't even think to use it as a home.
The events of less than an hour ago had driven Spike to seek more accurate answers, and wished to see himself where in the book the relationship between the dragon and the pony grew, and just how the hate against dragons that he read tied into all of this.  Twilight, though hesitant to show Spike a novel that has such intimate scenes, ultimately agreed as she sat down beside the young dragon and read the book alongside him while providing illumination with her horn.  She was nervous about Spike perhaps running into an intimate scene, and had already managed to convince him to skip the first one when Rubin was still a stallion.  But as they read on, Spike became more and more stubborn when it came to skipping content.  He wanted to read everything, including the few parts with gore and violence.

Fires had broken out all over the small village of Canterville as the rogue dragon raged through without any resistance.  It breathed fire at anything, carts, stands, homes, ponies, it didn't matter to it.  All it seemed to desire was the total annihilation of the pony settlement for its own entertainment.  Screams and cries for help echoed through the night air as the illumination from the fires gave a dreadful red glow to everything in the area.
Rosalina was caught between a mixture of terror and disbelief.  She heard the rumors, but she never thought them to be true before... could his Rubin truly be a dragon, the same one that is destroying her beloved home town?  She couldn't think straight at the time, and found such a truth almost impossible to believe, yet it was all right there in front of her...

“Wait...” Spike said, interrupting the story.  “I thought you said-”

“Just keep reading, Spike... you'll see,” Twilight replied with a soft smile.
Spike sighed slightly, feeling a bit unnerved by what he was reading, but decided to continue with Twilight's reassurance.

Rosalina tripped suddenly, her back left hoof getting caught by an exposed tree root.  She stumbled to the ground hard as a jolt of pain shot up her front right leg.  She feared that it might be sprained.  As she cringed over her hurt leg, a crashing sound erupted behind her.  She turned over only to look at death in the face; the dragon destroying the city was there, no less than twenty feet away from her.  Her pupils dilated as her heart seemed to try to pound out of her chest.  Was this creature really her Rubin?  Was this what he was really like inside...?

...No, this... this wasn't him.  Those eyes, the color of its scales, that... that wasn't her Rubin.  Rubin had eyes of brilliant gold that shined in the darkness, not a dark crimson.  And Rubin's scales were green and yellow, not brown and charcoal.  This certainly wasn't him, so she suspected it immediately to be a real, natural dragon, but as it drew closer, she saw a grin appear on its face.

“Ah, what do I have here?” It said with its tongue slithering out of its mouth as it approached Rosalina.  “I see I have found myself quite an unexpected treat...”

“W-wha...” Rosalina tried to form her words, fear still scrambling her mind as she tried to form a rebuttal.  “Who... who are you?  How do you know my name you scoundrel!?”

“Scoundrel?  Oh ho ho...” it chucked as it brought itself almost directly on top of her, its long neck craning its head down in front of hers.  “So you think I'm a scoundrel, do you?”

“I...” Rosalina gulped, her body shivering uncontrollably. “Y-yes...”

“Am I just a scoundrel, or a monster too?”

“...Mhm,” she nodded.

“What about a beast?  A fiend, a death-dealing abomination, or a scourge that should be whiped out from the face of this planet!?”  The dragon suddenly found itself screaming at her.  “Am I all of that too, Rosalina!?”
Rosalina did a double take... how did this dragon know her?  She stared again into its eyes, not able to look away, when suddenly... that flicker.  She could see it in its eyes, that flicker of malice, of the desire to do malicious deeds, she only saw that flicker in one other being...

“...Markus Malcom...” Rosalina said after a long pause.

“Oooohh...” Spike said with a sudden realization.  “I think I know where this is going...”

“Starting to understand now, Spike?”

“I think so...”

“Hehehe...” he replied, pulling his head back away from hers.  “So you figured it out that quick, have you?”

“Why, Markus?  For what reason do you have to destroy this village!?”  Rosalina asked as she felt tears form up in her eyes. “Why would you come down and attack my home and my friends...?”

“Fool,” Markus sneered as he turned his body to the side.  “I'm only doing you a favor now, before he does it later...”

“He...?  No, how can-”

“Rubin, yes, him...” Markus looked at the burning buildings around him, and then back at Rosalina.  “He's going to destroy you, you know.  He's going to attack your emotions first, and then your physical body... you will die, because of him.”

“D-don't say that, Rubin would never-”

“Never talks about his past or where he's been, has he?”  Markus interrupted.  “He's done it so many times before, it's as if he just can't help himself.”  He paused to look at the surprised face of Rosalina, and then gave off a hardy laugh before continuing.  “Did you really think he would be your knight in shining armor!?  I'm doing this now to show you his ways... the dragons' ways.  We are all like this, in the end, which means Rubin too, is like this...”
Markus turned away from her fully as his wings flared out, flapping a few times in preparation to take flight.  He looked back once more to examine a completely crying and broken down Rosalina on the ground, a smirk showing on his face as he watches her for a few moments.

“One day you too will learn to hate dragons, just as all ponies do...  Goodbye, Rosalina.”  And with that, he gave a powerful flap of his wings, and off he went into the night sky.

“So wait, why would Rubin do something like that?”  Spike asked as he flipped the page to the start of the next chapter.  “I thought that-”

“He wouldn't, Spike,” Twilight interrupted.  “Markus is the primary antagonist, the real bad guy in the story.  He's the one that wants to make the dragons seem bad to everypony so that they, and Rubin, will all be hated.”

“But why?”  Spike asked.  “What good is it to make dragons so hated?”

“You find that out later on, actually,” Twilight said as she thought back to when she read about Rubin's and Markus' pasts.  “But for now, just know it has something to do with what happened to Rubin and him a long time ago... a grudge sort of thing.  Okay?”

“Okay...” Spike sighed as he continued on to the next chapter.  Though he did not like all the hate towards dragons, he was at least starting to feel more comfortable with the information that was given to him.  There was a reason this book had anti-dragon scenes, and it was because of the main villain... now he really wanted to know how it would all play out.

Over half an hour later and Twilight was starting to think about getting some sleep.  She has already stopped reading along with Spike for a while, but he still seemed very infatuated with the book.  With his nonstop reading at a surprisingly fast pace, Twilight has taken her time to mainly blank out and think about a few things.
Her thoughts sometimes travel to her home, and how she hoped Owlowiscous has everything under control while he's away, even though there's really not much to maintain there in the first place.  Then she thinks about her friends, and silently wonders if they are still out searching.  She'd been so worried about Spike that she somehow spaced that they had followed her in to the forest to help her, and that made her feel bad... she made a mental note to forgive them for their troubles when they get back, and hoped that they didn't find themselves in any sort of bad situation.
But then her thoughts would travel to Spike, and how he was taking in the story.  Would he really understand what exactly was going on, or would he still feel uncomfortable, or even angry that Twilight would read a book with stuff like that in it?  At the same time, with what he told her earlier today, could his thoughts perhaps swing towards the side of acceptance?  Or perhaps even...
Twilight looked over to Spike and the book to see what part he was on, but suddenly noticed a bright blush on his face.  Twilight's ears perked up, and immediately she began scanning through the words on the page he was reading.  Oh no... she gasped to herself.  He's on the love scene between dragonified Rubin and Rosalina!  It's the same one from last night!  Twilight thought about interrupting Spike to keep his eyes off such content, but it was too late, he was already deep into the intimacy scene and there was no turning back.  Oh no, he's never going to forget this, it's going to scar him for life...

Or...

Another thought popped into Twilight's mind.  This one came bearing much resemblance to the same one she had just before Spike stormed out of the library earlier that afternoon.  She could use this... it was her perfect chance.  She thought about it already, and she still so desperately wanted to 'experiment' with things – putting it scientifically – with Spike so that she could really tell if they both shared similar feelings, or perhaps... even more.
Twilight leaned her head just besides Spike's, her gaze set upon the book but her focus on her peripheral vision to allow her to watch his movements.  Slowly, she brought a hoof over him, settling it down against his stomach.  The touch jolted him out of his deep immersion as his body jumped ever so slightly.  His eyes darted to look at Twilight's hoof, then at her, and then at her hoof again, the blush still burning strong on his cheeks.

“Twi...?”  He asked hesitantly, his breathing starting to get heavy.

“Are you enjoying it?”  Twilight asked as she tried to seem focused on the page still.

“H-huh?”  Spike almost did a double take as she watched her read along with him, even going as far as turning a page in the book once she had gotten to the end of the page, which he had already reached.

“The book, are you...” Twilight took a quick, yet deep breath as she started to feel her own cheeks flush red.  “...Enjoying it, Spike?”
Twilight allowed herself a loot at the young dragon, who in turn looked back at her.  They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before Spike looked away, trying to press his focus back on the book.  He was extremely nervous, his heart racing as thoughts began running through his mind.  What happened in the story...  was Twilight trying to edge him into something?  More specifically, was it that something!?

“Uh, I...” he stammered, trying to stay composed.  “I, I do, actually...  I do like it, a lot.”
Twilight smiled at hearing this, and she then began rubbing her hoof gently on Spike's stomach in small circles.  Spike didn't move his head, but his eyes peered down at the hoof that caressed him.

“That's good...” Twilight whispered to him as she leaned closer.  “I enjoyed this book a lot myself you know, it was a very... enlightening experience.”
Spike's breathing got heavier at this, realizing the seductive tone in Twilight's voice.  His eyes darted over to look at her, and he could see the seductive smile on her face, her eyes half-lidded while her head tilted slightly.  A shiver ran up his spine as he felt her hoof stop rubbing in circles, and begin rubbing in more of an up and down motion, drawing dangerously close to his lower abdominal area.

“En... enlightening?”  He asked, the words on the page becoming harder and harder to focus on as Twilight continued to lean closer.

“That's right Spike...” She whispered again, her hoof sliding gradually lower down his body.  “It made me realize some things, some things about us in particular...  some things we should perhaps try to... experiment with...”
She leaned in closer as her breath intensified more as well.  Spike could feel her breath getting stronger, its warmth spreading through his scales as he passively found himself starting to get more energized.  He was a reptile, a cold-blooded creature, and with Twilight's body up against his with her hoof and breath providing even further additions to his temperature gain, it was only natural that he would become more active as a result.

“E-.... Ex, Experi-ment...?”  He was stuttering, his mind unable to focus properly as his senses came to him.  “What..  whadya mean?”  He gulped, realizing he asked a question he knew  already knew the answer to.

“Experiment, with you and me... I mean, well, it's all in the book,” Twilight began as she took a quick glance at the novel, with Spike following suit.  “The mare and the dragon, getting so close they can feel each other's breaths...” Twilight gave another hot breath that flushed heat through Spike's body.  “Feel each other's embrace...” she leaned into him even more, her neck and chest pressing against his side as her other hoof slid around his back.  “And experience each other's passion...” with that, Twilight's hoof slid all the way down Spike's body and between his legs as she pressed against two particular scales.
Spike gasped softly, closing his eyes as he felt his dragonhood come out and quickly begin enlarging.  Spike leaned back a bit as well, his upper body supported by Twilight's other hoof as he gave out a long sigh, feeling Twilight's hoof press against his member.  He couldn't believe it, he was with Twilight, and she was about to start servicing him... and for some reason, it felt so right to him, like it was something he'd wanted for a long time.  He couldn't explain it, but the fact that he lived with her all his life, the fact that she's always been there, always supported and comforted him, it just... he felt comfortable with her, comfortable enough to allow her to share her love with him, and his love to hers.
Twilight looked down as she stroked Spike's member, taking in everything about it.  It was still growing, she could see it throbbing slightly as her hoof stroked up and down its length.  She leaned closer to it, wanting to know more about it.
The look; It was pink and rigid along the sides, its tip somewhat pointed.  The feel; it was soft on the outside, but as she pressed down it quickly became firm as she felt it become fully erect.  The smell; she leaned down, taking a big whiff of Spike's member.  It was a musky stench, and it stunk of his hormones that only aroused her further.
And finally, the taste... Twilight licked at her lips, giving the shaft one last look-over before closed her eyes and pushed her head down, taking half of it in all at once.

“Nyah!” Spike gasped out as his eyes suddenly shot open.
He felt his shaft pulsing as Twilight's tongue began swirling around it, leaving no spot untouched as she worked her lips against it.  He wiggled his hips slightly from the sensation, unable to control some of the movements his body was making.  It felt so good, so very good, he couldn't even begin to describe what it felt like, even as Twilight lowered her head further, taking the entire length into her mouth.
Twilight continued to work her tongue on Spike, enjoying the taste of his throbbing member.  She could still smell his musk, and it continued to arouse her even further.  She pulled up her head slowly, getting about half way up, and then down again.  The action coaxed a moan out from Spike, once that made her grin a bit even with her mouth already wrapped tightly around him.  She pulled up again, and pushed down, and up, and down again, over and over.  His bulging cock continued to slide in and out of her mouth, sending waves of pleasure through Spike's body.
Spike could only moan out loudly as his muscles began to spasm.  He reached over and grabbed onto Twilight's head with one hand, gripping it firmly while his hips bucked up to meet her at each descent.  His moans increased as his legs began twitching from the jolts being sent through his nerves.  He continued moaning out, sometimes whispering out Twilight's name as she continued to suck on him.
After a while Twilight pulled off, saliva trailing from her lips as she looked wide-eyed at his fully erect member.  She licked her lips again, her pussy growing moist from the desire to feel him inside of her as deep as he could go.  But before she made her move she looked up at Spike as she was still leaned over him, seeing his heavy panting as he laid back against her leg.

“Spike?”  She asked calmly.

“Huh?  Wah?”  Spike leaned up a bit, trying to regain full sense of things

“Are you... alright?”  Twilight leaned up a bit , her face coming over to his.

“Y-yeah, I was just... I...” Spike took a deep sigh as he shook his head just a bit.  “I never felt something like that before... it was amazing Twilight.”

“Do you... want to experiment more?”  She asked, leaning over him with the intent of progressing further.
Spike wanted to say something, but he couldn't.  He just stared at her as she stared back, their gazes locked together.  After that brief pause Spike suddenly lunged his head forwards, putting a claw softly against Twilight's cheek as he pressed their lips together.  Twilight was surprised at first, but quickly returned the kiss, their lips massaging together as they both closed their eyes.  Their tongues pushed out and against each other's, their kiss turning more passionate while their bodies got up and pressed closer together.  In another moment Twilight was on her back with Spike on top of her, the two still making out furiously as his legs clamped against her sides.  He tried humping her, but his size didn't allow his member to go low enough.
Twilight broke the kiss, pushing his body down a bit with her front hooves to encourage him to go forth with his desire.  Spike quickly caught on, climbing down the short distance it took to get himself between her haunches and firmly clamped onto her again.  Twilight looked down at him as he looked back, the tip of his cock already pressed against her moist lips.  She gave him a quick nod, her hips swaying lightly in anticipation.  Spike proceeded hesitantly, first pushing in his tip and getting a feel of Twilight's wetness.  Twilight moaned softly, and then pushed her hips to him after he paused, pushing him in slightly further.
Spike prodded himself against her for a few moments, getting himself in a sort of preparatory rhythm before he tightened his grip and thrust his hips forward, gasping out along with Twilight as he slid in deep.  Spike's body seemed to begin moving on its own just then, his hips pushing back and forth over and over as he continued to tighten his grip.  Twilight's head flung back, her body writhing as she felt the intense waves of pleasure course through her.  Spike picked up the pace, jerking his hips in over and over as each thrust slapped his body against Twilight's.
Twilight's moans picked up as her back hooves wrapped around Spike, holding him as close up against her as he could while he continued driving in.  Spike's cock went in as deep as it could, the ridges on the side adding even more pleasure that Twilight would have dreamed.  Her mouth hung open with her eyes half-lidded as she drooled slightly, overwhelmed by the intense sensation.  With so much rocking through her so fast, she already had her climax beginning to build up.
Spike was trying to stay as concentrated as he could as he still pushed in more, not letting up for even a moment.  He panted hard, and though he didn't moan as loud as Twilight he still gave off his own grunts and short gasps as their heat overtook them.  He had never experienced such passion in his life, and he was also nearing his climax, feeling the pressure building up low between his legs.
And then, after a few more hardy thrusts, Spike couldn't hold himself in.  He gasped out loud as he held his member inside of Twilight with his last thrust, his hot juices pouring out of him and filling her up completely.  Twilight, as soon as she felt Spike's climax, released her own as she moaned out as loud as she could, practically to a scream.  Her juices mixed with his and caused her to overflow, the mixture gushing out of her.  Their bodies trembled together as their climaxes held on for a few more moments, and then began to subside, draining the energy from their bodies.
Exhaustion quickly gripped the two as they tried to catch their breaths.  Twilight laid back with her limbs spread out while Spike laid forward, his head resting on her belly with his member slowly retracting out of her.  They were both hot, messy, and depleted of energy, but still they kept themselves awake, even for a bit longer.  Twilight fed magic through her horn, lifting Spike up gently to sit on her stomach to allow his face to come up to hers.  Spike looked at Twilight, and she gave him a soft, sweet smile.  Spike smiled back, but then yawned slightly as he felt his eyes get heavy.
Twilight knew he was tired, as she was also tired as well.  She kissed Spike on the lips before gently turning onto her side, wrapping her tail around him  as he curled up against her.  There the two lay, their bodies resting as they minds were about to follow suit.  But before Twilight felt herself slip out of consciousness, she felt spike move his head up.  She looked down to seem him looking at her, one of his arms reaching out to wrap around her waist as best it could.

“Twilight,” he said softly.  “I love you...”

“I love you too, Spike...”

---

The morning light fed into the cave as it just so happened to be facing towards the rising sun.  The light was quick to creep in and shine over the two that slept near the back, tingling their bodies slightly with the additional warmth.  The air was cool with a light wind, and there were hardly any clouds in the sky.  In the distance a few birds could be heard chirping as the sound of morning nature began to spread its music across the forest.
The sunlight spread its rays into the cave, and began bearing down on Twilight's face.  Slowly she awoke from her sleep, and batted her eyes a few times as her senses came to.  She was still in the cave, with Spike, after the wonderful events of last night.  She looked down at her assistant and smiled, giving him a kiss on the cheek before she carefully got up off the ground.  She stretched out her limbs for a little bit, getting the stiffness out of her joints while aiding her wake-up process.  Once comfortable, she slowly trotted out to the entrance of the cave.
The scenery was beautiful.  The sun was just over the horizon, and their cave was a bit elevated over the majority of the forest, giving her a view of the foliage-covered valley before her.  She never really noticed just how beautiful such a wild place could be sometimes, but it seems that you just need to get past the darkness of under the canopy to see the brilliant light to show off its beauty...
Twilight's train of thought cut off as she heard a noise from inside the cave.  Turning around, she saw Spike leaning up while in the middle of a big yawn.  Twilight smiled and turned to go back into the cave with him.

“Good morning, Spike,” Twilight greeted as she leaned down and gave him a nuzzle.

“Oh, good morning Twilight,” Spike replied with a smile as he nuzzled her back, a slight blush on his face.

“How did you sleep?”

“Great!” he said as he jumped onto his feet, seeming full of energy.  “I don't think I've ever slept so great before.  How about you?”

“I slept very well myself,” Twilight smiled back as she leaned a little closer to him.  “Thanks to you sleeping with me...”

“Heh, yeah, hehe...” Spike blushed more, rubbing the back of his neck with his claw.  “By the way, I really enjoyed, um... last night...”
Twilight could see Spike blushing hard, and she felt her own cheeks get warm as well as her thoughts briefly traveled to last night.  The love, the passion... she wanted to repeat it again, but she didn't think it would be best to push Spike into that again so soon.

“I did too, Spike...” Twilight giggled a bit.  “And ya know, you are really adorable when you blush like that.”

“H-hey!” Twilight's comment only made Spike's face turn even redder as he turned to try to hide himself.

“Oh don't worry about it,” Twilight hoofed at him playfully before turning towards the entrance of the cave.  “By the way, I think we should get back to Ponyville now... I know everypony must be worried sick by now.”

“Oh yeah, right...” Spike lowered his head, feeling guilty as he realized that his running away would certainly cause distress amongst his friends.  “Twilight, I'm sorry for running away like that...  it wasn't right of me, I just assumed the wrong things and,” Spike sighed, trying to hold back a few tears that started to work their way up from the back of his eyes.
Twilight lightly kissed Spike's cheek before nuzzling him again.  He looked at her as she gave him a comforting smile, the kind of smile that told him everything would be forgiven, and that it was going to be alright.  Spike smiled back, and gave her a big hug.  He broke away after a few seconds and began walking towards the entrance of the cave, the spectacular sight of the landscape before them coming into view.  He looked out in aw at the scene just as Twilight had.  It was gorgeous, and the only thing he seemed to find more beautiful at the moment was the mare that had just began nuzzling up his side and up to his cheek again.
Spike smiled and closed his eyes, sliding an arm around Twilight's neck and hugging her tight as he nuzzled back.  Nuzzling soon turned to a few playful licks, and that turned into light kissing, which then evolved into making out passionately.   The two pressed themselves against each other again, their breathing getting heavier as their heat began to rise.  It had just been last night since they did it, but both Spike and Twilight were ready to get at it again...

But just then, they both heard something.
A strong whooshing sound came from overhead, and both Twilight and Spike looked up to see what it was.  They couldn't see anything, but the sound of flapping wings became audible.  Something was flying around near them, something big.  And before they knew it, it was upon them.
From above descended a large orange dragon, its wings fully expanded as it landed on the ground with its back legs.  Judging from its posture, it seemed to be a dragon that prefers an bipedal stance rather than being on all fours.  The dragon was twice the height of the tunnel, its wing spread was incredible, and its tail holstered a few thin protruding spikes.  Smoke could be seen lightly seeping from its nostrils as it glared down at the pair at the entrance of the cave.
Twilight and Spike stayed frozen where they stood, their eyes wide as dinner plates as they could only stare at the sudden intruder.  While Twilight's thoughts were filled with fear and uncertainty, Spike's were filled with a reminder of last night.  This was a dragon... just the thing he was searching for last night.  And now, he had gotten his wish, one had appeared!  But... did he want it now?  Did he want to go back to the dragons after the events last night, now that he knows he was wrong to get mad at Twilight, and that she really loves him?

“Well well well, what do we have here?”  The dragon said with a grin on his face.  “A dragon and a pony... getting intimate?  My my, what has the world come to these days?”

“Who-who are you?”  Twilight spoke up as she placed a hoof defensively in front of Spike.

“Me?”  His grin grew wider.  “I'm just a lonely dragon passing through... that isn't a problem, is it?”

“Uh, well no,” Twilight stammered a bit, wanting urgently to leave.  “Well, actually, me and my assistant here were just about to get going back home so if you wouldn't mind we'd like to get going now okay thanks, haha,” Twilight chuckled nervously as she attempted to play off the encounter.
Unfortunately for her, it wasn't that easy.  The dragon smashed its fist down in front of her, blocking where she had just began to trot towards with Spike.

“I'm afraid I can't allow that...” it said in a low voice.

“What?”  Twilight felt her heart skip a beet, sensing trouble.  “Why not?”

“I think it's obvious what's gone on here...” the dragon craned its neck down and looked first at Twilight, and then at Spike.  “This pony has you brainwashed, young one...  it appears as though she's just using you as her own personal toy.”

“U-using me...!?”  Spike asked hesitantly.

“Yes...” it said through its teeth as he leaned his head back a bit.  “You're so young, and this pony here is of adult age, obviously.  And by that, I can only assume that she's been raising you for quite a while... perhaps even taking you in as some sort of guardian.  She did say you were her assistant, did she not?”

“I, I did.. yes,” Twilight replied, her voice shaky.

“Well then I'm right,” his grin turned to a frown as he crossed his arms.  “You, little pony, are just using him as a tool it seems, like your own little pleasure toy-”

“What!?”  Twilight blurted out, her mouth agape for a few seconds.  “I-no, no no no, that's , that's completely incorrect!  I would never-”

“Oh really?”  The dragon interrupted this time.  “So then you weren't just about to take advantage of him like he was your own little sex slave?”
Spike gasped just a little, that last word getting to him.  Slave...  no, he was over this, he wasn't her slave, not at all.  Spike fought back those words with the knowledge and assurance that Twilight truly did love him.  He wouldn't accept such slander from anyone else, even if it was another dragon.  In a few moments, all the lingering ideas of him leaving Twilight for dragons had vanished completely.  There was no way he would leave her for some jerk like this!
Twilight on the other hand quickly became furious on the inside.  She had just gotten through helping Spike get rid of that notion last night, and here this thing comes, trying to befoul his thoughts once again.  She had taken on bigger things than him before, so she wasn't afraid to do so again if it pissed her off enough.  She wouldn't stand having that dragon try to split the two apart at all.
And in an instant, Twilight had a sort of epiphany.  Here they were, dragon and pony... Rubin and Rosalina... against a dragon that seemed to threaten their very relationship... Malcom....  but this time, she wouldn't let the evil dragon get between the two lovers.  This time, she knew what to do, and what was right.

“No, no I was not, actually...” Twilight seethed through gritting teeth.  “Now, if you don't mind, we would like to get back home now... we had a long night and-”

“HAH!” it suddenly blurted out a hardy laugh after Twilight's last words.  “A long night, yes, and I bet you thoroughly enjoyed the rutting, didn't you little pony?”

“HEY!”  Spike yelled as he too became enraged.  “You leave Twilight alone!  Not let us through, or else!”

“And what are you going to do?”  The dragon grinned again as it leaned down to him, pointing a finger right in front of Spike's face.  “You're just a little hatch-ling, you probably can't even breath fire yet, ahahahaha!”
Oh yeah!? Spike thought to himself as he growled low.  I'll show you how much fire I can breath!
With the finger still in front of him, Spike leaped at it, taking the entire thing into his mouth and biting down hard.  At the same time he summoned flame from his throat, burning the sensitive flesh that his gem-busting teeth were able to expose from under its scales.  Spike pulled away just as quickly as he bit onto it, managing to break away just before the larger dragon pulled his finger back and yelped out in pain.  It took a few seconds to look at its finger, the holes in it already cauterized from Spike's fire.  It immediately followed up with a very low, angry snarl as it showed off its teeth to the two.

“Bad move, squirt...” it growled as he lowered into an aggressive stance.

“Spike,” Twilight whispered as she took a step back, pushing Spike back as well with an extended hoof.  “Get behind me... this looks like it's going to get ugly.”
The dragon took a deep breath, breathing a heavy wave of red fire down on the two.  In an instant Twilight's horn flared up, projecting a magical barrier around the two.  The fire subsided after a few seconds, as did the barrier, and Twilight stood firm as she glared at the bigger dragon.
Her opponent growled angrily at his failed attack, and instead brought his claw up and lunged it down at the two, only to have it blocked by another force field,  But instead of the force field just fading away this time, Twilight pushed back, sending a burst of energy that sent the dragon crashing back against some trees.
It got up almost immediately, its wings spreading as it took flight.  As it passed overhead it breathed more fire down on them, but Twilight easily countered with another barrier.  Barriers for her were simple, and she had practically mastered them, so she calculated that she could hold up her barriers for longer than the dragon would be able to muster fire.
But then the dragon did something she didn't expect.  It dropped straight down from the air, bringing its tail crashing down over them.  Twilight barely had enough time to form another barrier as it came down.  She grunted as the strength of the impact took a toll on her energy.  Twilight retaliated by grabbing onto the tail, using more magic to pick up the dragon and swing him into the mountainside, hard.
The dragon yelled out in pain as a few trees broke from his back flying into them.  He got up again, even further enraged as he breathed fire from his nostrils.  He charged again to take another swing at them, but was beat back by a barrage of magic projectiles that Twilight had shot at it.  Every point of impact sent an intense jolt of pain through its body, making the dragon yell out even more as it was hit in three places, its chest, its left shoulder, and its right hip.  The impact areas smoked a little as the magical residue began to fade away.
Now he wasn't going to hold back.  He got back up and burst fire from his mouth, sending three return fireballs back at the two.  Twilight summoned another shield, and deflected each.  But as her barrier disappeared she saw the dragon lunging out to both of them, swinging its arm down to strike.  She was barely able to form a force strong enough to push them both back enough to where its claws wouldn't catch them.  Spike and her stumbled backwards from the sudden force as the dragon cursed under its breath for missing.  It brought up its arm to strike again, but as it swung it again felt the resistance from Twilight's magic.
This needed to end, and Twilight knew it.  With Spike still safe beside her, she gripped her magic onto its arm, squeezing onto it from the outside.  She held on still, holding it place as she gradually applied more pressure.  The dragon, unable to move from its spot due to its immobilized arm, quickly realized the pony's intentions.  He yelled out in surprise as he grabbed his arm, trying to tug it free, but to no avail.  He felt the grip tighten even more, his scales starting to wrinkle and his bones beginning to ache.  That little unicorn was going to try to break his arm!
The orange dragon thrashed about wildly, both in pain and in a frantic attempt to get free, but all was futile.  His bones ached more, and he began to feel his arm cracking.  He cried out even more, the sound echoing throughout the expanse of the forest.  He tried breathing fire at Twilight, but at each attempt she would simply summon a barrier to deflect it.  It seemed hopeless to get free, and in only a few more seconds, a sickening crack was head as the dragon's arm bent a full ninety degrees.
The pain was excruciating, and out of reaction, the whole dragon's body jolted drastically.  His tail suddenly swung around straight to Twilight who, caught off guard by the sudden move, only had the time to put up a weak barrier before impact.  It knocked against the barrier, breaking through it partially as pushed Spike and Twilight a good five feet before they landed on the ground in a small daze.
The orange dragon grasped his arm, pain jabbing through it like a million knives tickling his nerves.  He didn't care about the two whelps anymore, he had wasted enough on them, and this arm was going to take months to heal.  Deciding he had enough, he turned away without a second glance, and flapped his wings to take flight, swiftly leaving the area while still emanating low howls of pain.

Spike groaned a bit as he got up, rubbing the side of his head.  He looked up and saw the assaulting dragon from before flying away, grasping its arm tight.  Spike smiled and jumped to his feet as he pumped out his fist in victory.

“Twilight, you did it!” he cheered as he gave a few happy jumps.  “You really showed that dragon not to mess with you!” Spike waited for a reply, but nothing came.  “Twilight?”  He asked he turned around, and then froze as he saw Twilight on the ground.
She laid on her side and gasped for air as her hooves clenched onto a spot on her side.  Spike looked closer, and to his horror he saw a steady flow of blood flowing from Twilight's waist, along with some blood beginning to drip down from the corner of her lips.  In an instant, Spike figured out what had happened.  The tail that the dragon swung out of impulse had broken through Twilight's barrier.  She had enough to protect herself, but instead, she must have used all that she could conjure to... to protect him instead, and she paid the price...
Spike rushed to his side, practically diving to his knees as he come upon Twilight.  Tears quickly surfaced to his eyes as he surveyed the damage, realizing just how badly hurt she was.

“T-twilight, no, oh no, this...” Spike didn't know what to do.   He held his claws over her, but didn't dare touch, tears streaming freely from his face.  “Twilight, talk to me, Twilight please!  Just, just hang in there!”

“Spike...” Twilight whispered weakly as her eyes shifted to look at him.  “Spike...”

“Twilight!?” He leaned close to her head, his whimpers beating his lungs against his chest.

“Spike, I...  I-” Twilight coughed up a blotch of blood that splattered against the ground.  “I lo-... lo-...”

“Please, don't give up, I need you Twilight, I need you!” tears fell from his face onto Twilight's cheek as he stayed close to her.

“I... l-love, you...” she took another gasp of air before she suddenly exhaled deeply, her eyes closing slowly...

...and she ceased to move any further.

Spike's eyes darted around frantically.  This couldn't be happening... not to him, not to her!  He shook twilight's body, but she didn't respond.  Spike feared the worst, he knew he had to do something, he had to help her, but what could he do?  His head darted left to right frantically, trying to find something, to use, something to help, even though he knew there would be nothing.  But then, an idea...
Spike shot up to his feet and ran over to the nearest randomly laying stick, picked it up, and engulfed it with his fire.  He went to another stick, and sent that away as well.  He pulled off more sticks from trees, from bushes, even bits of grass, anything!  He had to get Princess Celestia here, he had to get help.  Twilight was dying, if not already... no, he pushed that thought out.  It only made his tears flow harder, and his progress slower as it only pounded his heart against his chest more, making it ache.  He didn't stop sending random pieces of the forest to the princess, for he knew if he didn't it would only lower the chances of her coming in time.
He allowed himself a quick glance over to Twilight, seeing her body unmoved.  His heart skipped a beat, as he feared he perhaps wasn't quick enough.  He didn't save her... he wasn't able to protect her just like Rubin had in the story.  He dropped to his knees unable to progress any further.  He failed her, when she had given up so much not to fail him.  It was his fault... everything that had happened from the beginning was his fault.  He had only himself to blame, and as a pressure began to build up in his chest, he wished that it was him that had fallen under death's veil, and not Twilight...

...And just then, a letter with a locator spell appeared from a fiery burp, and moments later, a white flash filled his vision...

Celestia had arrived... but was it already too late?

Author Note: So what else would I do just before I leave for a while other than create a cliffhanger?
Create a BIGGER cliffhanger, of course!  Lol.  I love ya'll, and i hope to see ya again soon!

Will say hi from germany!

-8-

-8-

“Rubin... you saved me...” Rosalina whispered, her voice hoarse as she lay injured and cradled in the dragon's arms.  “You, you really do love me...”

“The word love...” Rubin began, kneeling down while he held the mare close to him.  “...it is only a mere word to me, for it does not even begin to describe how much my passion, my desire for you burns, dear Rosalina...  I would transcend from life's path without a second thought if it meant your happiness, for I am your protector of life, and of requisite.  Nothing will stop me from keeping you happy...”

“But, your brother...  he is...” Rosalina visibly cringed as the scene on the outer wall of the castle replayed through her mind.

“I had to, my sweet... Malcom was the agent of my undoing, the divider of our infatuation... only with his death could not only the kingdom of ponies stop their hate in dragons, but also allow us to join together once more.”

“Oh Rubin...” Rosalina let out a soft sigh as she nuzzled against his chest, enjoying the protective feel of his naturally armored body.  She then looked down at her saddlebag, eying the potion inside.  “So, now that we have the potion, how do you plan on using it?”

“Why, when the sun comes up, of course!”  Rubin puffed out his chest as he raised his head up to daydream a bit.  “I will finally be a stallion, permanently a stallion, to stay my form throughout the night so that I might be with you always...  does that not sound wonderful, Rosalina?”
A pause, Rubin waits for a reply, but gets none.

“...Rosalina?”  Rubin looks down to find her staring up at him, her lower lip puckered up and her eyebrows flared outward as if she was... pouting.  “Rosalina, what's wrong?”

“It's just...” she sighed, pawing at his chest scales with her hoof.  “I love you being like this... being such a big, powerful dragon...”

“But, sweet-heart... my dragon form, it is just a beast side of myself... a mere veil placed over my form, how could you see it more appealing?”

“Because...” Rosalina smiled sweetly as she stared up into his reptilian eyes with a dreamy gaze.  “You already said it.  You are my protector... and you know how much I enjoy feeling protected with you... in your arms...” She rubbed her muzzled against his chest again, taking in a slow, deep breath of his scent.  “And against your body, especially when mine is so weak...”

“I...” Spike began, curling his arms around her more while bringing her up to his face.  “I would do anything to see you better again... it pains me so much to see you like this.”

“Please, never change for me...” Twilight whispered as she pushed the potion down further into her saddlebag.  “I always want you to be my strong, powerful, dragon protector...”

“But... It's all my fault in the first place, If I hadn't have...”

“Just stay with me, please...”

“I, I will, Twilight... I will, just please, wake up for me...”

“Wake up...?”  Rosalina lifted her head in confusion.  “Whatever do you mean-”

“Please Twilight, I beg of you, just wake up, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!”

“Rubin?”

“I shouldn't have told you I hated you, or ran away from you, or gotten you hurt so bad...”

“...Spike?”

“Please wake up Twilight, wake up...”

Spike...

Wake up Twilight...!

Spike, is that... is that you?

“Twilight?”

“I...  S-spike...”

“T-TWILIGHT!”
Twilight opened her eyes slowly, taking several moments for them to get halfway, where she kept them for a while as she examined her surroundings.  Her vision was blurred, and the feel of tears coming from her eyes was the first thing she noticed.  The next thing was the feeling of her body laid on some sort of soft surface with what seemed like some sort of fabric draped over her.  After that, the soreness and overall lack of mobility of her body became painfully noticeable.  She couldn't even think right, her mind still transitioning from seeing her dreams to seeing what her eyes allowed her to.
But as she turned her head to the side, she saw him.  His face was the only thing that came into focus.  Of the bed sheets that adorned her, of the white room with the medical devices all around, and even of all the presents and gifts piled up in the room from her friends, all she was able to see at first, was Spike.  His eyes were surrounded with reddened scales, stained and outlines from long-dried tears while his cheeks down to his chin were covered with fresh ones.  His mouth was slightly agape, and he just stared at her with wide eyes, eyes of concern, of desperation, of the need for something so close to one's heart.
But as he saw her eyes opened his mouth began to crease ever so slightly at the corners.  His eyes opened even wider still as he gave an open smile, albeit small, a very real smile still.  His sobbing only increased then, and his smile went away as he closed his eyes and buried his face next to hers, tears spilling onto her sheets against her head while the sounds of his open crying filled the room.  His whole body shook against the bed while his chest heaved from the heavy intakes of breath.  For a while, Twilight couldn't tell if Spike was happy, or for some reason sad.  But as he looked up at her again and she became more cognizant, she realized just how he was feeling.

“Twilight...” he whispered, biting his lip in a vain attempt to hold back his weeps.  “You...  you're alive...”

“Spike...” Twilight whispered back, her voice unable to go any higher than that as each word was said between soft breaths..  “Where...  where am I... what happened...?”

“You're in The Canterlot Hospital right now...” Spike said as he brought up his arms and rested them on the bed, his claws settling lightly on Twilight's upper leg.  “I... I thought you didn't make it, we thought you were dead, even the princess did, but...” Spike sniffed loudly a few times as he tried to compose himself.

“The dragon...” Twilight whispered as the memories slowly began to come back, shock flowing through her body, but her physical self unable to display the surprise she felt.

“You drove it away,” Spike continued, leaning closer to her.  “You saved my life Twilight... you saved me from, from...”

“Markus...”
Spike reared his head back slightly, a confused expression on his face.

“Who...?”

“Markus Malcom...” a very faint, yet still noticeable smile appeared on Twilight's face.  “We did it... he challenged us, and we beat him, just like Rubin... and Rosalina...”

“We... we did?”  Spike lowered his head, thinking about Twilight's comparison to the book.
Spike... she obviously meant to compare him to Rubin.  But, why would she do that?  It's not like he yelled at her, raged at her and stormed off like.. he... did...

“Do not come closer!”  Ordered the low,booming voice from inside the cave.  “If you dare follow me into this cave, then I... I will eat you!”

“No... no you will not,” Rosalina said in an unusually calm voice, staring into the dark cave on the side of a mountain.  The dark forest surrounding her did not fear her anymore, even at night, and her courage grew as she desired to see the one she loved.  “Please... I know what this is, I know what you're trying to hide... Rubin...”

“I am NOT this 'Rubin'!”  The creature snarled loudly.  “Do you know what I am!?  Once I show you, thou shall fear me like all others!  I am not a stallion; of earth, magic, or the sky...”

“T-then what are you...?”  Rosalina asked, taking a step towards the cave.

“I... AM A DRAGON!”  The voice boomed as the creature emerged unfurling its large wings as it displayed its teeth while it emitted a loud roar.  In the nearby area, all the creatures in the forest scrambled and either ran away or ducked into their shelters, all except for Rosalina, who didn't even take a step back.

“R... Rubin...?”

“WHY must you insist on calling me such a name!?”  The dragon snarled angrily, now bearing his claws.  “Do you wish to become my next snack, little mare!?”  Deep down in the dragon's chest, his heart was already tearing him apart from the inside out.

...he did act like Rubin.  When he ran away, it was all a misunderstanding.  He thought she hated her, when it wasn't the truth... just like Rubin thought Rosalina would hate him.
And Twilight.  She came for him, followed him no matter what, no matter what was in her way she helped him out and saw to take care of him and his wounded heart, just as she had done in the forest, and just as Rosalina did for Rubin.
And that dragon... the one that befouled their love, the one that tried to bring back the feelings Spike had against Twilight.  Using the same words Spike said... just as Malcom used the same words Rubin said.  

"Yes...” it said through its teeth as he leaned his head back a bit.  “You're so young, and this pony here is of adult age, obviously.  And by that, I can only assume that she's been raising you for quite a while... perhaps even taking you in as some sort of guardian.  She did say you were her assistant, did she not?”

“I, I did.. yes,” Twilight replied, her voice shaky.

“Well then I'm right,” his grin turned to a frown as he crossed his arms.  “You, little pony, are just using him as a tool it seems, like your own little pleasure toy-”

“What!?”  Twilight blurted out, her mouth agape for a few seconds.  “I-no, no no no, that's , that's completely incorrect!  I would never-”

“Oh really?”  The dragon interrupted this time.  “So then you weren't just about to take advantage of him like he was your own little sex slave?”

And in the end it all came down to a narrow escape...  a narrow victory... but with their love preserved.  Spike knew then just what Twilight meant about everything... about them.
Just then a doctor came through the door, his horn shining as he held a clipboard out in front of him.  He looked up to see Twilight's eyes open, and sighed in delight.

“Ah, miss Sparkle!” he exclaimed cheerfully.  “You're wake.  This is very good news, all of your friends – and even Princess Celestia herself – have been so worried about you.  And as you can see by the gifts...” The doctor motioned towards the strikingly large pile of presents stuffed in the corner.  “Well.. that's self explanatory.”

“My friends...” Twilight whispered loud enough for the doctor to hear.  “Are they... where are they?”

“It's actually not visiting hours right now...” the doctor scratched his hoof on his head.  “The only reason Spike is here is because he would just flat out refuse to leave your side the whole time, no matter what we said or did.”  He winced a little as he held up his left hoof, seeing if the scars were healing up well.  “...And dragons apparently have some very sharp teeth...”

“How long... have I been out?”

“Umm... a good 3 days or so.  You're lucky to be alive right now, miss Sparkle.  I just wonder what it is that attacked you.”

“Don't worry about it,” Spike waved a claw in dismissal towards the doctor pony, eliciting a sigh from him.

“Well, anyways...” the doctor flipped through a few pages on his notes, scanning over them quickly.  “Given your recovery course, we'll check up on you in about a week to see if you're ready to leave miss Sparkle.  Until then, you're not going to be leaving that bed.  Do you understand?”
Twilight nodded slightly.

“Good.  I'll be just down the hall if you need me, take it easy now, and get plenty of rest.”  And with that, the doctor left the room.
Spike watched the door to the room close before he turned back to Twilight.  Twilight was smiling at him, and he smiled back.  He carefully slid onto the bed, coming up against her and hugging her gently.  Twilight's smile widened a bit as she used one hoof to slowly go around his side, returning the hug.  They both laid there for a bit, enjoying each other's embrace, their comfort, and their warmth.  They had each other again, and as far as they both could tell, they were home free as soon as Twilight got out of the hospital.

“Spike...” Twilight whispered lower than she normally did.

“Yes Twilight?”  Spike asked as he kept his eyes close and his cheek up against hers.
Twilight turned her head a bit and planted a small kiss on Spike's lips, making the dragon blush a bit.

“I love you...”

“...I love you too.

Right there, Twilight and Spike both felt something.  They felt something that only the two in the story felt, that they knew they felt, yet the words in the novel failed to describe.  They felt what their love did to them when they were close, and when they were at peace.  They felt... whole.  They never wanted to leave each other again, and so Spike stayed there for hours, eventually falling asleep in the embrace.  Twilight carefully brushed his spines with her one hoof, making sure not to wake him.  She kept herself to him as her mind seemed to come to a conclusion.
He would be there for her, from then on out.  Like the two in the novel that she so adored, that same novel that changed their lives, they were going to be complete.  Twilight would always be with Spike, in his heart, just as Spike would always be in hers.  
He was her dragon, her companion, her lover...

He was, The Dragon in Twilight.