As Spike began to wake up the next morning he seemed to have trouble getting out of bed. His body urged him to just go back to the comforts of his nice little bed, but as usual Spike did not and continued to do his daily routines. After that he started to cook breakfast. It wasn't anything too fancy. It was just a breakfast of omlets and hashbrowns with a little bit of spices and seasonings.

Once the meal was done Spike had set the table and began to eat his share of the meal and waited for Twilight to decend the stairs. On cue the lavender unicorn began to come down the stairs with half closed eyes. As she struggled to sit down Spike quickly poured a cup of her favorite tea for her.

"Thank you Spike." Twilight said as she took a sip of the tea. With the warm liquid flowing down her throat and the sweet yes slightly sour taste starting her brain Twilight began to eat her breakfast.

"Your welcome Twi." said Spike. Before he could put another fork full of food into his mouth there was a knock at the door. "I got it." said Spike as he hopped out of his seat. When he answered the door he was met by a griffon, but not just any griffon. Gilda to exact.

"Hi Spike." she said as she reached inside her bag and pulled out two letters. "Here is your mail." she said. Then as quickly as she came she went. She flapped her powerful wings and took to the skies leaving a certain young dragon questioning her actions. "Why didn't she just put the mail in the mailbox?" he asked himself, but soon shrugged his shoulders as he went inside.

He handed Twilight the mail and continued with his breakfast. After a while Twilight spoke up. "Spike looks like you a letter." She said as she gave the dragon an envelope with his name on it. "How could I have missed that?" asked Spike.

Ripping open the envelope Spike saw the piece of folded paper inside of it and pulled it out. It read:

Dear Spike,

I'm off work for the rest of the day. Meet me at the tree at three o'clock this afternoon. Don't think about ditching me though. Or I might just hand deliver you another letter, this time with a little 'surprise' inside it.

Signed, Gilda

Spike was curious and kind of shocked as to why the griffon would want him to meet her and why would she go to the trouble to write a letter and hand deliver it. Although Spike never found out the reasoning behind it all he still wanted to know why Gilda was doing this. Spike looked at the clock that hung in the library and saw it was ten o'clock. He then finished his breakfast, collected some bits that he had been saving, and headed towards the door. Before he could open the door something stopped his movement.

Spike looked behind him and saw that a light purple magical aura was gripping his tail. "Where do you think your going mister? You have to wash the dishes." Twilight said. Spike sighed heavily as he tried to move towards the door. "Twilight...you do realize...argh...that its your turn to do the dishes right?" Spike asked as he struggled to move foward.

Twilight then quickly looked at her chore list and saw that Spike was right. It was her turn to do the dishes. With that she released the little dragon, only for him to stumble over and crash into the front door. "Hehe...sorry." Twilight apoligized. With a huff Spike got on to his feet and left.

The day continued with Spike going to the market to by some supplies that he needed at home. Then he helped at Sweet Apple Acres for a while. By the time he was done he looked at a clock that Applejack's family kept in their dining room. It was have passed two o'clock. Spike decided it was time to go on ahead and get his daily bag of bread buns and jam. As he walked out the home of the Apple family he ran into Applejack. "Leavin' so soon Spike? Ah haven't got a chance to thank ya yet." the farm girls said.

"Well you can. Can you give me some apple jam please?" Spike asked. "Well of course I can. Just hold on a minute while I fetch if for ya." Applejack said as she went inside the house. Then within a few minutes Applejack was outside again with a small bowl of apple flavored jam. As she gave it to Spike he said his farwells and headed into town.

Then a thought came to Applejack's mind. 'Ah wonder what Spike does in the afternoon?' she thought. As soon as that thought came into her head the memories of rumors started to resurface again. Rumors about how ponies saw Spike going into the Everfree Forest in the afternoon. Though she quickly ignored those rumors. "Heh. Ah'm pretty sure Spike wouldn't go in there. Heh, those ponies must be more blind than a bat." Applejack said to herself as she started to take inventory.

As Spike made his way through the small town of Ponyville he made a quick stop by Sugarcube Corner and bought his daily bag of bread buns. Then as usual he went towards entrance of the Everfree Forest, making sure that nopony was looking at him.

Spike followed the trail that he had made during his first visit to his special place. He remembered it like it was yesterday.

After getting into yet another agruement with Twilight. Spike decided to go for a walk. He was unaware of where he was heading exactly, until he found out that he had walked right into the Everfree Forest. Scaried out of his mind the little dragon tried to find a way out of the forest and get back home. After a couple of minutes of searching his efforts seemed futile. Realizing that he was lost in the jungle of twisted vines Spike hung his head in defeat. He had let his tail hang low to the ground as it created a small trail, then he happened to have stumbled upon a clearing that held a giant oak tree in the middle. The grass was softer that the grass that covered the rest of the Everfree Forest, the flowers added to the beauty of it too, and along with the light of the afternoon sun the place looked wonderful.

Then a calming sensation consumed Spike. It was as if he was being sung to sleep by a magistic lullaby. With the last of his strength Spike had settled down next to the oak tree and closed his eyes. After a while Spike was awakened by the sound of a pony calling his name. A certain pony that he knew would have his head if she found out that he was in the Everfree Forest.

After that it was a short journey through the Everfree Forest and a couple of apologies followed by a week long punishment for coming home so late.

Spike sighed as he finished with his flashback. 'Hmm. I wonder what I should call this place. How about... The Garden of Peace. Yeah that has a nice ring to it." Spike thought. Soon he found the exit to The Garden of Peace. It was there that Spike saw something the he never though he would ever see in his life. Gilda was wearing a dress.

Before Spike could say anything Gilda quickly said, "Not one word Spike. Not. One. Word.". Obeying the griffon's order Spike didn't say anything and quietly walked over to his spot next to the tree and settled down. Reaching into his bag to grab a bread bun Spike heard a small growling. He then turned around to find out what was making that noise. He soon found his answer as he saw Gilda clutch her stomach. "You hungry?" Spike asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Gilda answered. Spike then grabbed two bread buns and reheated them to were they were soft and fluffy. Then using a spoon he put a half a spoonfull of jam onto the two bread buns. "Here. I know its not much, but it makes you feel satisfied." Spike said. Without a moment's hesitation Gilda quickly grabbed the two jam covered treats and devoured them within a minute.

Spike had to make sure that his hand was still intact from the griffon sudden food frenzy. "For a second there I thought I lost my writing hand. You do know I need that hand right?" Spike asked with a worried tone. Gilda sighed for a moment.

"Sorry. I was just so hungry. I had to go to my cousin's ballroom dance and all I had to eat was cheese on a stick. Because for some reason the guy who was suppose to deliver the food some how disappeared." Gilda said.

"Why would you go to a ballroom dance?" asked Spike.

"It was either that or have my parents cut off my monthly allowance."

"Yeesh why don't they just kill you."

"Thats what I said."

After some silence and some eating Spike began to think. "Hey Gilda." he said. His statement was responded by the griffon starring back at him. "Why did you want to hang out with me?" he asked. The griffon merely scuffed and said, "Because I didn't have anything else to do. Besides your the only person I can talk to who I haven't gotten all protective over."

"What do you mean be that?" asked Spike. At that moment Gilda realized what she just said and slightly blushed, but not to a point to were it was noticable. "Did I really just say that?" Gilda asked with her head hung low. Spike nodded his head in responce.

"Then I guess there is no way out of this. Okay what I am about to tell you is only to be kept between the two of us. And nopony else. Got it?" Gilda said. Before Spike could say anything Gilda interupted him. "I might as well warn you about what will happen if you do tell anypony. Do you remember anypony by the name Extreme Blitz?" She asked.

"No." said Spike

"Exactly." said Gilda

Now that Spike was wide eyed in fear Gilda began to tell her story. "It all began a long time ago. When me and Dash had our first day of Flight School."