The CHS's library was where most of the students read books or study for classes. The Mane Six and the Drake Bros. were there to catch up on some homework. As time passed, some of them started to get tired, especially Rainbow.
"Argh!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "I'm already getting sick of algebra!"
"Come on, Rainbow." Twilight nagged. "We got to get ready for midterms and no offense, but I think you need a lot of work."
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Well, it's only because I have soccer practice that brought victory for the Wondercolts for a whole year!" Rainbow crossed her arms in anger.
"If you don't pass these midterms, then you won't be allowed into another team without a passing grade. That means you can kiss those victories goodbye!" Twilight huffed.
"Argh!" Rainbow Dash groaned once again as she slammed her head on the table.
"Maybe we should take a break from studying," Fluttershy suggested. "it does wonders for your mind."
"Flutters has a point." Applejack said to Twilight. "Even I take breaks when I work on my family's farm."
"Music to my ears." Scales claimed as he stretched his arms and kicked back on his chair.
"Fine," Twilight sighed as she put her book down. The friends were able to get some off time before it was time to head home. As the friends walked out of the school, Twilight was too focused on a clipboard she held.
"If we can merge our lunch time and our study time together, that would increase our chances of passing our midterms!" Twilight was mumbling to herself. Twilight's friends looked at the bookworm with concern.
"Umm...Twilight," Rarity said. "Maybe we can figure out another time for studying." The rest of Twilight's friends nodded in agreement.
"B-but how?!" Twilight stammered. "We all don't have study halls together and we're so busy with other activities!" The friends try to think of a solution for this.
"How about a study session at our place?" Spike suggested. The girls felt off guard from Spike's idea.
"What?" Pinkie asked.
"Our place is only a walking distant from the school so we can hang out there to study. Plus, our house has plenty of room for our study sessions." Spike said.
"Unless...it's a bad idea." Spike pouted for thinking he came up with a bad suggestion.
"No!" Rainbow Dash claimed, making Spike flinch.
"That would be a great idea!" Pinkie said.
"It will definitely help us with our studying." Applejack added.
"Would that help, Twilight?" Rarity asked. Twilight looked at her clipboard for a moment.
"I don't see a problem with your suggestion, Spike." Twilight nodded.
"Great!" Spike smiled. "So, when should we have the study session?" Twilight looked back on her clipboard to find an opening.
"Friday should be a good day. We don't have anything on that day." Twilight said.
"Sounds like a plan!" Spike claimed. "Scales and I will set our place up for you girls. See ya!" Spike said as he and Scales walked home.
"Bye Spike!" The girls hollered at once. 'We are so looking forward to this!' The girls thought.
Friday finally arrived and the girls met up with the Drake Bros. at the front of the school.
"Hey girls!" Spike said as they approached him and Scales.
"Hey guys!" The girls said to the brothers.
"Got everything ready for our study sessions?" Spike asked.
"Uh-huh!" Pinkie said as she brought out a large paper bag. "I got loads of snacks for us to munch on!" Applejack unzipped her book bag to pull out some glass bottles.
"I brought some of my family's famous apple cider!" Applejack said.
"Yum!" Rainbow said as she licked her lips. "Now that is what I'm talking about!" Twilight rolled her eyes.
"While you guys brought things to stuff your faces with, I took the liberty of bringing the necessary books and supplies needed for maximum studying!" Twilight puffed her chest with pride, while the rest of the group groaned.
"Alright girls, just follow us!" Spike said as he and Scales led the way to their house. Just like Spike said, it wasn't that far for the group to walk to the Drake Bros' house. It was an average-sized house in the middle of some woodlands.
"Well girls, welcome to our humble abode!" Spike said with open arms.
"Simple, yet comfy." Rarity complimented.
"Reminds me of my family's farm." Applejack said.
"Come on in!" Spike said as he opened the door. "Mom, we're home!" Spike then ushered the girls to enter first.
"What a gentleman you are." Rarity winked before she entered the house. As Scales closed the door behind him, the girls took a look around a large living room with some long couches and the table was pushed to the side, probably for their study sessions.
"Welcome!" A woman's voice called out. A woman with long green hair walked into the room while wearing a pink apron. "I'm Jade Drake and it's a pleasure to meet all of you!"
"It's quite an honor to meet you, Mrs. Drake." Rarity replied.
"Oh please," Jade waved her hand. "just call me Jade! Spike has told me a lot about you girls!"
"Really?" Twilight asked.
"Of course," Jade replied. "you're Twilight, Spike says you're super smart." Twilight blushed from the comment.
"Then there's Pinkie Pie, the fun one!" Jade said as she saw Pinkie.
"True and true!" Pinkie nodded. Jade then looked at Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
"You two must be Applejack and Rainbow Dash."
"The one and only!" Rainbow claimed while Applejack rolled her eyes.
"My guess is that you're Fluttershy." Jade said.
"Yes, Ma'am." Fluttershy said quietly.
Jade then saw Rarity and gasped. "Spike, is this the famous Rarity you have been talking about?!"
"Mom!" Spike hollered. Jade then took Rarity by the hand.
"What Spike said was true! You do look like a fairy tale princess!" Some of the girls giggled while Spike collapsed with shame. Rarity just blushed with joy.
"C'mon honey!" A man's voice said from the distance. "Don't make Spike die from embarrassment!" The person entering the living room was a tall man with long brown hair and a mustache.
"Girls," Jade said. "this is my loving husband, Scorpan."
"It's also a pleasure to meet all of Spike's new friends." Scorpan said as he offered handshakes to the girls.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Scorpan." Twilight said while the girls agreed.
"Welp, my wife and I better head back to the kitchen while the rest of you start hitting the books. Good luck!" Scorpan said as he and Jade went back to the kitchen.
"You guys have such loving parents." Rarity said.
"I know." Spike smiled. The group began with their studying for their midterms. Twilight was able to help the group with their studies from complicated equations to very detailed history of certain events. It only took a couple of hours till the group took a break.
"Whew!" Applejack said. "I never thought I get exhausted from not moving around a lot."
"That is because the only muscle we need to pull is from our brains!" Pinkie said as she appeared with a graduation cap no one knows where she got it from. Jade popped her head out from the kitchen's opening.
"Dinner is ready!" Jade hollered.
"Yay!" Spike cheered as he and Scale got up and went to the kitchen.
"That means you girls are joining us too!" Jade added.
"Oh no," Twilight pleaded. "we shouldn't take too much food from you, Jade."
"Oh, don't worry." Jade assured. "We made plenty of food for all of you, plus I made some red velvet cake for desert!" Immediately, Pinkie rushed inside the kitchen with her usual cheer. The rest of the girls shrugged and followed Jade into the kitchen where the dining table was all set up for not only Spike and Scales' family, but for also the Main Six as well. The girls sat down and helped themselves to the tasty dishes made by Spike and Scales' parents. As everyone ate, Scorpan talked about a story when he and the boys were out to fish.
"and when we weren't looking, a pelican just swooped in and stole Scales' caught fish!" Scorpan laughed along with some of the rest of the girls. Scales just pouted from that story.
"I tried taking it down by throwing rocks at that stupid bird." Scales replied. Fluttershy gasped from what Scales said.
"You shouldn't hurt a bird for eating!" Fluttershy argued. Some of the girls were quite shocked from Fluttershy's sudden anger.
"Well, I caught that fish and that winged pest was lucky. I could've eaten a fried pelican for dinner." The girls saw Fluttershy was starting to growl and her face turned red from built up anger. They knew that Fluttershy takes animals very seriously.
"S-so Scorpan," Twilight said to reduce tension. "you said that you enjoy camping, is that right?"
"Oh yeah!" Scorpan replied. "The boys and I always go on a camping getaway to spend some quality time together."
"But what about Jade?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, I always spend my time with some of my friends for the time being." Jade replied. Luckily, Fluttershy was able to calm down, but part of her felt angry for Scales. Even though Spike cares for his brother, that was no excuse to treat animals like pests. After dinner, the guys cleaned up the kitchen and Jade brought the girls to the living room for something important. The girls noticed that Jade made a cautious look as if she was hiding something from the boys. When Jade thought the coast was clear, she went over to a book shelf and pulled out a large, leather binder. Jade then ushered the girls to join her on the couch.
"I really want to show this to you girls since the boys are busy." Jade said. The girls noticed the title of the binder was read: Family Photos on it.
'Oh, this ought to be good!' Rainbow thought. Jade opened the book to reveal a baby Spike laying on a carpet.
"Aww, he is so adorable!" Pinkie cooed.
"This photo was taken right after the day Spike was born." Jade said as she turned the page. The next photo showed Spike dressed up as a big, purple dragon while holding a small pumpkin bucket. The sight of the photo made Fluttershy blushed a dark red while Rainbow chocked up from laughing.
"Pfft!" Pinkie said before she laughed out loud.
"This photo was taken on his first Halloween!" Jade said before she turned the page again. The next page showed a young Spike with a girl who had light blue hair and both of them were asleep on a bed.
"Who is this?" Rarity asked.
"Oh! That's Ember, she used be our neighbor before we moved to Canterlot. She would often visit our house and play with the boys when they were younger." Rarity took another look at the photo and felt strange. The sight of Spike sleeping with another girl made Rarity very uncomfortable. For a while, Jade shown every photo of Spike and the rest of the family. From Spike and Scales sharing a bath together to the Drakes' vacation photos, the girls had a good time looking at Jade's photo album.
"Before I turn the page," Jade said as she caught the girls' attention. "I want to you girls to promise not to mention or show the photos you're about to see. Got it?" The girls saw Jade's face was stern to show how serious it was.
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie sang before she poked her eye while it was closed. The rest of the girls agreed except for the gesture Pinkie made.
"Good. Prepare yourselves, girls." Jade said before she slowly turned the next page. The girls mentally prepared for what could be on the next page.
'What could be more shocking than the last photos?' The girls thought. Little did they knew, it was something really unexpected! One photo had a younger Spike except he was wearing a long, green wig and a pink, frilly dress with a short skirt. Below the photo had writing that said: My dearest Barbara! There was a mix of reactions from the girls. Twilight's jaw dropped from shock, Rarity covered her mouth while blushing as she was also shocked, Applejack covered her face with her hat to prevent anyone from seeing her chuckle, Pinkie just smiled and looked closer at the pictures, Fluttershy quickly covered her face from embarrassment, and Rainbow burst out laughing.
"Bwaah ha!" Rainbow laughed as she fell to the floor to roll around.
"Oh my!" Rarity fanned herself from being so flustered.
"Aww, he's even more adorable in a dress!" Pinkie cooed once again.
"Even I'm impressed he can pull it off!" Applejack said as she kept chuckling.
"Mmm!" Fluttershy mumbled as she continued to cover her face.
"Sometimes I dress up Spike to see what's it like to have a daughter!" Jade explained. The next photo showed 'Barbara' in a blue dress and sat on Scales' lap while giving him a hug. Scales' face showed discomfort as he had to take a picture with his 'sister'. The photo read: Barbara with her big brother! The girls blushed and cooed from the picture. The next picture showed 'Barbara' with pigtails and wore a purple nightgown. The photo read: Slumber Party with Mommy! The girls cooed even harder and their blushes were brighter. The next photo had the most impact to the girls. It showed 'Barbara' dressed up as a French maid with a silver-plate on hand. This photo read: Maid Barbara serves her mother for Mother's Day! That photo made the girls cooed so loud that the whole city could've heard it. Suddenly, Scorpan, Scales, and Spike rushed out of the kitchen.
"What's going on?!" Scorpan asked.
"Did a fire happ-" Spike was cut-off when he noticed what his mom was holding. Spike's blood suddenly turned cold as he was afraid of what his mom had shown the girls.
"H-how much did you see?" Spike hesitantly asked.
"Not much, 'Barbara'." Rainbow said as she bumped an elbow on Spike. Spike just stood there without any reaction, causing the others to worry a bit from the boy's sudden stillness. It wasn't till tears started pouring from his eyes and he ran to his room while bawling. The others stood there as they felt shocked and guilty from what happened. Scales ran to the hallway entrance before he turned around.
"Nice going!" Scales yelled then followed Spike in pursuit. It wasn't long till Jade put the album down and went after Scales. The girls and Scorpan joined in. They saw Scales was blocking his mom from coming any further to Spike's door.
"Scales! Let me see Spike!" Jade pleaded.
"Just stay out of this! You've done enough!" Scales yelled at his mom.
"Scales!" Scorpan said sternly.
"She was the one who let the girls look at those pictures!" Scales barked back.
"Please, Scales." Jade said with guilt. It took Scales a long time before he moved aside to let his mom talk to Spike from the locked door.
"Spike, sweetie." Jade said as she placed a hand on the door.
"Go away!" Spike whimpered as he continued to cry. Jade tried to figure out the next words she needed to say to her son. Before Jade could do anything, Twilight came up to Spike's door.
"You didn't look that bad, Spike." Twilight said as she gestured to the girls to help her out.
"Yeah!" Pinkie added. "You looked so cute in that dragon costume!"
"Not to mention you looked adorable in those gowns!" Rarity said.
"Yeah," Applejack said. "so what you're not as masculine as most guys. That is what we like about you, Spike." The door creaked open to reveal a teary - eyed Spike.
"Really?" Spike sniffed.
"Spike, I'm so sorry for showing the girls those photos." Jade said. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just wanted to show the girls how much you mean to me."
"Plus, we Pinkie Promise not to show or tell anybody about those photos!" Pinkie said. "And nobody breaks a Pinkie Promise." Pinkie said with a serious look.
As Spike opened the door to leave, Jade went up to hug him.
"That wasn't a motherly thing for me to do, please forgive me." Jade said. Spike slowly returned his mom's hug.
"Okay." Spike said. "But please don't show those pictures to anybody else."
"I promise." Jade replied. The girls awed from such a loving moment. Scales just smiled as his little brother wasn't upset anymore.