The next day, Spike was feeling much better. He decided to walk, in order to stretch his muscles, instead of riding Twilight, as usual, or even Rarity who offered to give him a ride. The walk was awkward for most of them at first, since no one knew what to say about Spike's confession the day before. Rarity didn't notice the awkwardness of the others, as she was still thinking about her and Spike becoming a couple. She was weighing the pros and cons, and discovered that there weren't that many cons. Mostly, the cons were just about Spike being a dragon and her being a pony, and the fact that Spike was still a baby for his species, even though he acted more like a preteen at times. Then she thought of another detail: dragons live for thousands of years.

"Twilight?" Rarity said.

"Yes?"

"Do you know how long dragons live?"

Twilight used her magic to pull out a book. Everyone stopped so that she wouldn't read while walking (obviously not a smart thing to do).

"Well, as it says here wild dragons live for tens of thousands of years." Twilight explained.

Everyone stared at her, surprised. Spike started to look a little nervous.

"But tame ones only live for about a couple thousand years." Twilight continued.

Spike was still nervous, but Rarity and Twilight were relieved.

"Uh Rarity, how long do unicorns live?" Spike asked awkwardly.

"About the same as tame dragons." Rarity smiled. "Give or take fifty years."

"Really?" Spike smiled, relieved.

Twilight nodded before putting the book away.

"Pegasi live a long time too." Rainbow Dash added. "Except we live about a thousand years less than unicorns and tame dragons do. Say Applejack, what about Earth ponies?"

"Oh, only about a hundred at most, though some made it past that." Applejack said.

"Oh."

There was an awkward silence as everyone realized that Applejack and Pinkie Pie wouldn't live a very long time compared to the others. Even Pinkie Pie became a little down when she realized it.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it, and the real issue here is to get that dragonsnap for Princess Celestia." Twilight spoke up.

Everyone nodded.

"Yeah, and this journey doesn't require sad mopey-mopes." Pinkie Pie perked up. "Come on gang, let's cheer up and mosey along!"

She bounced ahead.

"I think Pinkie Pie was made out of sugar." Rainbow Dash muttered jokingly.

Applejack chuckled and Fluttershy giggled.

They continued along, not meeting any more dangers to everyone's relief. During the journey Spike and Rarity continued to talk and Rarity found that they had a little in common.

Even though Spike wasn't as into cleanliness as she was he did like a tidy room, and would often be annoyed by Twilight taking down many books at once since it always created quite a clutter. He wasn't bored by fashion like some other guys were, and even enjoyed dressing up for a special occasion (unless his clothing was being made by Twilight, like a rock into a top hat...). He enjoyed watching clothing being made as well, as he found it cool that weird shapes cut out of cloth could become a beautiful gown or stylish jacket. He especially liked gem-decorated clothing, obviously, but despite his huge appetite he would never eat gems off clothing. For one thing the clothing was often too pretty to eat, and for another he knew that he would get into trouble if he did. Also, despite his being a baby dragon he did have a sense of maturity, and definitely knew how to treat a lady as well as a friend.

During the journey and talk Rarity ended up looking into Spike's eyes and, to her surprise, her heart melted! Rarity then realized that she had fallen in love with him. However, she didn't tell him right away. Instead she decided to wait until they got to a pretty area where they could be alone.

A few hours passed and they found a clearing to have lunch and rest for a few minutes. Spike decided to explore the area, and after a couple minutes came back.

"Rarity, I gotta show ya something!" Spike smiled excitedly.

"Okay I'm coming." Rarity smiled, getting up.

Spike lead her to a beautiful waterfall.

"Wow Spike, this is a marvelous site." Rarity looked around admiringly.

"Yes but wait." Spike picked up a rock and skipped it toward the waterfall.

The rock went through the waterfall and hit something, making a high pitched sound.

"What on Earth..." Rarity said.

"Follow me." Spike smiled.

Confused, Rarity followed Spike to the waterfall to find that there was a cave behind it.

"Take a look." Spike gestured into the cave.

Rarity dropped her mouth open: the walls and ceiling of the cave were adorned with thousands of gems! There were even some gems stuck into the floor.

"Oh Spike...I had never seen so many jewels in one place before." Rarity gazed into the cave. "Not counting when I got all those gems from the Diamond Dogs I mean."

"I knew you'd love it." Spike smiled.

"It's not all I love." Rarity admitted. "During our walk earlier today I realized that I had fallen in love with you."

Spike looked at her as if he thought his ears were playing a trick on him.

"What did you say?" Spike's eyes started to widen emotionally.

"Yes Spike, I love you." Rarity smiled.

Spike, tears in his eyes, hugged her.

"I was scared that you never would." He said.

"Well, while we were talking I looked into your eyes and saw what a kind and selfless gentleman you would become." Rarity hugged him back. "And...my heart melted. Just like I was hoping it would back when I fantasized about ending up with Princess Celestia's nephew."

They continued hugging for a bit, then Rarity drew back.

"We'd better head back before the others start to worry about us." She said.

"Of course, but we should also gather some jewels for you while we're here."

"Certainly, but not too many." Rarity gathered some jewels with her magic. "And feel free to eat as many as you want."

Spike took her up on her offer, and ate about thirty of the gems. They then headed back. Everyone was amazed when they heard about the cave, and even more amazed when they were told that Rarity returned Spike's feelings. Twilight was the first to recover.

"I'm just glad things worked out for the two of you." She smiled.

Pinkie Pie was next to recover and eagerly offered to compose a song for the couple. Embarrassed, Spike suggested that maybe Pinkie Pie should make the song about the whole journey (that way his relationship with Rarity wouldn't be as centered). Fluttershy was next and congratulated them, and was also very glad that Rarity had found her gentleman. Applejack and Rainbow Dash recovered about the same time, and had no objections though Applejack stated a slight fear for how Ponyville would react. Rarity, not having thought of this, grew a little worried herself, but Spike stated that he would love Rarity no matter who objected, causing Rarity to stop worrying and smile. Applejack then smiled, honestly stating that a love as strong as Spike's can't be wrong. Rarity agreed, adding that her love for Spike is now as strong as his love for her. Rainbow Dash, in her usual blunt way, thought out loud about offspring. Applejack lightly hit her on the head with a hoof while Spike and Rarity blushed furiously. Rainbow Dash, realizing her mistake, apologized, embarrassed. Rarity and Spike forgave her, though were still a little unsettled by her statement.