The train soon pulled into Ponyville, and Rarity hurried towards Spike.
"Oh Spike, since everypony will be wondering how you got so tall it's okay to tell them the truth." She said. "That is as long as you're comfortable doing so."
"I have been thinking about that, and yeah I decided that it would be best to just tell everypony the truth." Spike nodded before chuckling awkwardly: "Might as well get your parents' and Sweetie Belle's reactions out of the way anyway."
"Oh yes, I didn't think of that...well I do know that Sweetie Belle will be okay with it since she and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders are very fond of you. My parents...I guess if nothing else will tolerate it due to you being close to the princesses. But I am sure they will accept it, they are very open-minded."
As they all left the train and started to enter the town portion of Ponyville the citizens stared jaw-dropped upon seeing Spike. They also started to look nervous, but didn't panic due to noticing that Flicker and the Mane Six were calm and even smiling near him.
"Hey Twi- Whoa Spike!" Minuette exclaimed as she approached them. "What the cornstalk has happened to you?"
"Growth spurt, kinda a long story." Spike chuckled.
Hearing this, the other ponies gathered nearby to hear better. More ponies came as well due to word of Spike's new height quickly spreading through the town. This time the town's potential for gossip was turning out to be a good thing, since having the entire town gather near Spike meant that he only needed to tell the story once. Not that he would mind repeating the story, but in this case he had other things on his mind.
Reconnecting with his mom for one thing, plus the fact that his feelings for Rarity were officially out in the open between the two. Meaning that sooner or later Rarity was going to have to make an official decision about the matter, especially now that Spike was even going to let the town know the truth. This meant that Rarity will soon have to deal with questions from the other ponies, and obviously the less of that the better.
So once he was sure the whole town, or at least most of the town, had arrived Spike spoke up:
"First of all, I know you all remember the last time I...had a growth spurt. I do as well, and the memory of it is probably more unpleasant for me than it is for you. So I want to reassure you that this growth spurt is nothing like the last one, in fact it's the complete opposite. My last growth spurt had to do with greed, due to not having been used to getting a lot of presents at the time."
"Which means that the last growth spurt was partially my fault." Twilight added. "Before coming to Ponyville Spike would only get one present from me, which was why getting so many presents had such a big effect on him. Learned the hard way that day that I should've studied dragons when we were both a lot younger."
"Never mind that, everything was resolved in the end and none of us hold a grudge about it." Mayor Mare smiled. "Now, what about this growth spurt?"
"This time it has to do with selflessness. After my growth spurt Princess Celestia explained to me that my growth is controlled by my wants and desires, and just recently I made two decisions based on very selfless desires." Spike explained. "The first one started when Rarity and I went into the mountains surrounding the Crystal Empire to collect gems..."
Spike continued, explaining how he and Rarity ended up trapped in a cave and how they dealt with it before being rescued.
"You see I was willing to sacrifice my life for Rarity because...because I love her." Spike admitted. "I have ever since we first met, the first day Twilight and I came to town."
All of the other ponies were stunned, mostly due to never having heard of a dragon being in love with a pony before.
"That was my first selfless desire, wanting Rarity alive and well no matter what. Even at the cost of my own life." Spike continued. "The second one happened when Rarity and I talked a bit about my feelings for her, and I told her that I'm okay with her ending up with somepony she loves as long as he makes her happy. Because I want her to be happy more than I want to be happy. I ended up growing overnight...and panicked a bit the next morning after I woke up before Twilight explained to me what had happened." Spike then chuckled.
A few of the other ponies chuckled a bit as well, not blaming Spike for having panicked.
"I know this is unusual, a dragon falling in love with a pony, but I did grow up amongst ponies and...well, Rarity is so kind and generous that I couldn't help loving her." Spike finished. "So I hope you all will accept this someday, even if you might not now."
Rarity couldn't keep from blushing a little.
However, the other ponies just smiled and quite a bit of them applauded. Despite the species difference they could already tell that Spike's feelings for Rarity were at least sincere if not true, plus they were very fond of Spike. Besides, if nothing else they didn't want to get into trouble with Twilight by not accepting it. They knew how protective of Spike she is after all...
Spike, Flicker, and the Mane Six smiled and relaxed. The crowd then started to thin and Minuette and three other ponies drew closer.
"Well I think this is great!" Minuette grinned. "I was always hoping that you and Twilight would get your special someponies someday - well some-dragon in Spike's case but since he found a special somepony instead then never mind. Actually that's why I'm here, same with Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Moondancer. We wanted to meet Flicker Sentry- Ah you must be him! Picked a handsome one Twilight." Minuette winked.
"Hey Minuette, don't embarrass them." Lemon Hearts smirked. "It's nice to meet you Flicker, I'm Lemon Hearts."
"Same, been wanting to meet you all as well but I wanted to get to know Cadance a bit first." Flicker smiled back. "After all, she is Twilight's sister-in-law. So if you're Lemon Hearts, then these must be Twinkleshine and Moondancer."
"That's right." Twinkleshine smiled.
"Hello, it is very nice to meet you." Moondancer said politely, though with a smile.
As Flicker got to know Twilight's old Canterlot friends Rarity's family showed up.
"We've been thinking about things." Rarity's mom Cookie Crumbles said. "And while we haven't heard of a dragon loving a pony before you are a good one, so we accept this."
"Yes, especially since you were willing to sacrifice your life for Rarity." Rarity's dad Hondo Flanks agreed. "We're very grateful to you for that."
Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles then hugged Spike, who was a little surprised but smiled and returned the hug. Sweetie Belle joined in on the hug too.
"In my case I'm very happy, I love the idea of you and Rarity ending up together." Sweetie Belle grinned. "This means you really will become my brother."
"Heh, not yet Sweetie Rarity hasn't even returned my feelings yet." Spike chuckled, ruffling Sweetie's mane.
"What?" Sweetie Belle turned to Rarity with shock. "Why not?"
"Well...I..." Rarity flustered, not sure how to answer that.
"Now Sweetie dear you are forgetting that Spike is still a dragon." Hondo Flanks pointed out. "I'm sure Rarity is still figuring things out because of that."
"Yes, give your sister time to think things over." Cookie Crumbles agreed.
Rarity sighed with relief. Even though her parents were a little embarrassing at times she was grateful that they mostly understood her, even though they didn't completely understand her love for high fashion and the upperclass life.
"Fine." Sweetie Belle pouted.
"Spike come on, it's time to head home and unpack." Twilight said.
"Coming sis." Spike said. "See you all later."
"Bye Spike!" Sweetie Belle waved.
"See you later Spike." Rarity smiled.
"Hey sis, can I help you carry your luggage back?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Well..." Rarity hesitated, knowing that Sweetie Belle still wanted to know why she won't accept Spike's feelings; however she did want to talk with somepony about the situation, so she gave in. "Of course you can."
"Great. I'll be home later mom and dad." Sweetie Belle smiled.
"Very well." Cookie Crumbles smiled back before she and Hondo Flanks left.
"So, you love the idea of Spike becoming your brother?" Rarity said.
"Oh yeah, he's been like a brother to me for a long time." Sweetie Belle smiled as she gathered the lighter pieces of Rarity's luggage. "Remember Shining Armor and Cadance's wedding? Spike and I had a lot of fun talking about the wedding and other subjects. He didn't tell me about his feelings for you though, but I guess he thought that you wouldn't want me bringing it up."
"He is right, before today I was only comfortable with Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash knowing about it. And that was only because they already figured it out due to his feelings for me being kind of obvious to them."
"Ah."
They remained silent until they went into the Carousel Boutique and started putting Rarity's things away.
"Okay, now that we're alone...well I understand if you can't really explain it but I still can't figure out why you would have a problem with dating Spike. I don't even see the dragon detail as a big deal." Sweetie Belle said.
"I know, it's just...before today I always saw Spike as a baby dragon and so thought it'd be wrong to date him because of that." Rarity sighed. "But now that he doesn't look like a baby dragon anymore, it's become clear to me that he really is close to the maturity of my generation. But he's still a dragon, and I don't want to risk ruining any chance I have of ending up with a noblecolt."
"What? But you haven't met a decent noblecolt yet, apart from Fancy Pants but he's already married to Fleur Dis Lee." Sweetie Belle frowned.
"Yes...I know but...well...Spike still is a dragon..." Rarity stammered.
"*Ugh!* Sis!" Sweetie Belle cried frustratedly before singing:
You've always had this problem
Going for appearance first
Haven't you learned already
That what looks the best is sometimes the worst
What about when you got your Cutie Mark
At first all you saw was a rock
It took a boom of friendship
To stop you from your balk
And I haven't forgotten
That tale you told me before
About a prince who was handsome
But otherwise he was a total boar!
Forget that Spike is a dragon
Forget that he isn't a pony
Because when it comes to a heart of gold
He's certainly no phony!
Now I'm not forcing you to love him
That's entirely up to you
But the point of my song is
Sometimes you need to get a clue
As to what is more important
And what doesn't matter as much
What will only hurt you in the end
And what will cause your heart to be touched
Rarity teared up during the song, realizing that she was being shallow and foalish. It doesn't matter what species Spike is, what matter is that he has a good heart and truly loves her. And after thinking about all the times they spent together, and all that he's done for her...
"Sweetie...thank you. You're right, it's what's on the inside that counts and...well, what Spike has on the inside I have to admit I love very much." Rarity smiled, now knowing that she really did love Spike.
"Yes! I knew it! You have to tell him!" Sweetie Belle cheered.
"You're right, but first I have to get something..." Rarity smiled, looking as if she was thinking of a plan.