The Long Vacation Ch. 12

Chapter 12

Spike sat at his desk, his eyes closed, his head tilted back as he leaned back in his seat. It had been two weeks since the romantic candle lit dinner and things had grown tense in the house, at least in Spike's eyes. He had commonly stayed in his room during this time, his door locked and his curtains closed. He knew Twilight knew that he was up to something, but as such, she respected him enough to not confront him about it... at least not yet.

Spike was resting now...he had finally, finally completed it, his final Surprise. On the desk in front of him was the completed gift, the long rectangular wooden box, carved with such delicacy that Spike himself could hardly believe that he had done it himself. The design on the box depicted his and Twilight's love, the centre of it embossed with a picture of a heart, created by two pictures, those of a pony and a dragon, the two with their heads angled toward each other along with their tails. The edges of the box were carved into the relief of a forest, the trees and vines twisting and twinning around it, A gold clasp holding the box shut. Spike sighed and looked back down at it, all his hopes and dreams riding on both it and Twilight.

He picked it up and inspected it once more, looking it over. He was glad to see that there were no faults on it at all. "Well, I guess its time." Spike sighed again and stood from his desk, his legs and back popping in relief from the movement. He used his magic to store the box away and unlocked his door. Leaving his room, looking around the quite house, he felt a strange sense of calm wash over him. His own fanatic actions had finally ended, now all that remained was the wait. He had already arranged the specifics of this day with Tetran and Celestia and now...

Spike stopped in the hall outside Twilight's room. He felt slightly sick, despite his feeling calm, underlying nerves made him queasy.
Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door. A minute later, the door opened and there stood Twilight, looking lovely with her mane brushed out and a light scent of lilac coming from her. He wordlessly cupped her face in his claws, stroking her cheek with his thumb He leaned in and kissed her gently, she let out a soft sigh and returned the kiss with as much passion as he gave. The two of them were as one in their love, this much was certain, but this moment of intimate contact wasn't why he came. As he broke away from the kiss she blinked and asked, "Spike, are you ready to talk now?"

Spike smiled and nodded in agreement, "Yes, I am. But I want to talk somewhere else than this."
Twilights eyebrow raised and she looked out the window in the back of her room, the window full to the brim with snow, the house was pretty much the only place to talk. She looked back at him and expressed her concerns. He nodded and took her left fore hoof in his claws, lifting her onto her hind legs. He looked into her eyes and whispered in her ear, "Trust me, love."
Twilight looked hesitant for a moment before smiling and nodding in agreement. Spike closed his arms around her and teleported out of the house.

They landed on the bank of the same pond where they had had their first kiss, despite this winter being the snowiest in ten years, the air was balmy, the ground dry, and the pond unfrozen, at least for fifty feet in every direction from where they landed. Twilight looked around stunned at the fall like scenery, her mind racing while trying to compile a reason as to why this was like this. Spike sat down on the edge of the pond and patted the ground next to him. Twilight, confused, dropped down beside him, observing her surroundings with a quizzical look. Spike scooted closer to her and asked, "Do you remember our first kiss?"

Twilight let out a snort of laughter before responding, "Of course I do, how could I not?"
Spike smiled as he put an arm around her, "Yeah, kinda silly of me to think that, its just, that one moment changed both of our lives." He turned his head to look her in the eyes before continuing, "A moment that I will forever cherish." Twilight blushed under the intensity of his stare and smiled happily before saying, "I will cherish it forever as well, your love gave me new found purpose and I will always be grateful for that." Spike smiled a bit wider and put his lips to hers in a sweet kiss. When he broke it, he got up and pulled Twilight to her hooves.
Offering a claw to her he asked, "Would you care to dance?"

Twilight let out a light giggling laugh before standing on her back hooves and placing one of her front hooves in his claw. With more grace and elegance than their last dance, Spike spun Twilight around before closing the distance between them and holding her close. She blushed as they revolved, twirled and dance with such intimacy and precision that even the celestial dance of the stars paled in comparison.

The exuberance of the movements, the grace, the closeness brought to Twilight a burning feeling in her heart, a sensation that spread up her spine and echoing with the heat she felt in her body. Spike stopped the dance suddenly and caused a groan of disappointment to eek from Twilight as the powerful feeling slowly dissipated from her. Spike pulled away gently and looked into her eyes, correctly interpreting what he saw in them.
He kissed her gently and said, "Twilight, my love, the two of us have come so far together, we've grown so much." Spike took a claw away from Twilights hooves and puts it behind his back, summoning his gift to Twilight with magic. Twilight was catching on rapidly to what was happening and a gasp escaped her when Spike descended slowly to one knee.

Twilight began tearing as Spike produced the box with a flourish. Without a word Spike opened it to finally reveal its contents. There on a satin pillow lay a truly magnificent necklace of platinum and gold, structured in a similar fashion to Celestia's own necklace. The centre of it bore a design similar to the one on the box itself, of a dragon and pony forming a heart shape with their bodies, a flawless amethyst carved into the likeness of a heart set in the centre between them. Every individual section of the necklace was inlaid with a lining of diamonds and the whole thing bore an intertwining pattern of vines and leaves, making it look like nature itself had grown it.

Spike looked up into Twilights eyes, his own eyes Sparkling as he asked the one sentence Twilight desperately wanted to hear, "Twilight Sparkle, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"
Twilight choked back a sob of joy as she used her magic to pull her mane back, allowing Spike to place the precious item around her neck, the clasp snapping shut gently as he hooked it together.
Twilight threw her forelegs around him and screamed it out so that all the world could hear, "YES!"

Spike wrapped his arms around the half laughing, half sobbing Twilight as he felt tears sliding down his own cheeks. After so much time working so hard on this greatest of gift, the gift of his eternal love, the promise of a future they'd share, embodied in a work of art that at that moment was as nothing in comparison to the precious gift of eternal love that he and Twilight had given one another.
Spike pulled away from Twilight and looked deep into her eyes, feeling her heart beating as he closed the distance and kissing her passionately. In this moment, they were as one, lovers bound eternally by love.
Spike knew, now more than ever, that the rest of their lives were bound only to get better from here.