Spike orders a How-To guide book to win Rarity's heart. Will Spike be able to follow all the steps like a true gentlecolt? Will any of the steps actually work? And just what is Rarity looking for in her friendship with Spike, anyway?

Image by VanilleCream at DeviantArt (used by permission).

Totally awesome fanart by Multiversecafe found here: http://multiversecafe.deviantart.com/art/How-to-Woo-your-Lady-in-9-Easy-Steps-285329019

Twilight Sparkle is a gifted student and scholar. When she attempts to harness her creative side by writing a science-themed sensual romance novel, however, things rapidly get out of hoof. Can her friends stage an intervention before she humiliates herself (and them) at a prestigious literature recital?

No. No, they cannot.

When Spike returns home early from a gathering he sees something that causes him to go running from their little home...the sight of Twilight and Caramel together.

Once Twilight finds him, shivering and cold, she decides to try to address his fears...by giving him The Talk.

But, to Twilight's surprise, it may not be a talk about basic biology that Spike needs...perhaps something far more important is on his mind.

Poor Spike, all he wanted to do is spend time near the pony he adores. Now, because of one little lie, he's in real trouble. A geography bee, a macabre doppelgänger, and an icebox all play their part as Spike and Rarity once again find themselves on pins and needles...

Pony Joe awakens before the dawn each morning, readies himself for his day, and then walks through Canterlot's cold and silent streets to his doughnut shop.

Life has become pretty mundane for Joe, but as he serves his customers and chats with his regulars he realizes that he has come to rely on that repetition...he relies on it to keep from remembering.

As a casual utterance by a new customer sends Joe into a spiral of haunting memories we learn about his life...and what he must give up if he wishes to move beyond his past.

An alarm sounds. There's a planet nearby. I wonder if anyone can hear me.

Nightmare Moon visits Twilight in the night, and things get biblical.

Featured on Equestria Daily, 1 May 2012.