One day at Rainbow Dash's place, Spike was in the girls backyard while standing before a soccer net. Rainbow Dash herself was standing before him with her foot on a soccer ball. She looked at the young boy with a smirk, “Are you ready, Spike?”
Spike gulped, “As ready as I'll ever be.” Spike answered with a gulp.
“Here it comes!” Rainbow kicked the ball right for Spike who dodged it making it go in the net, “Spike, you're supposed to block my shots.” she reminded him.
“Sorry, it looked like it was coming in too fast.” Spike answered, while feeling ashamed of himself.
“Well, this time, don't be afraid to block.” Rainbow said.
“Ok, I think I'm ready.” Spike said, retaking his position.
“Alright, round two!” Rainbow called, as she kicked the ball at the goal again. Spike tried to stop it, but wasn't fast enough to catch it.
Rainbow kept kicking ball after ball into the net, while Spike tried to stop them but was proving unsuccessful.
“Come on, Spike, is that the best you can do?” Rainbow laughed tauntingly.
Spike frowned feeling determined to block Rainbow's next hit. When Rainbow kicked the next ball, Spike caught it in his hands, much to the older girl's surprise.
“I got it! I got it!” Spike cheered, as he held the ball above his head.
Rainbow smirked, as she walked up to him, “Ya sure did, and it only took you twenty tries,” Spike pouted in response, “But hey, at least ya stopped my twentieth one.” she commended him putting a smile back on his face.
“Next time I'll stop all of them.” Spike told her with determination.
“We'll see about that little man,” Rainbow ruffled his hair, “Come on, let's take five.” the two sat down on the back porch while enjoying a water bottle each.
“I may not be into sports as much as you Rainbow, but I appreciate you helping me improve my speed and reflexes with this.” Spike said.
“No problem. Way I figure, we get you in shape now, come middle school you'll be very fit. Maybe even a hunk.” Rainbow replied.
Spike raised a brow, “What's a hunk?”
“Twilight says it's what Cadence calls her brother.” she whispered.
“Then it must be a good thing.” he said.
“Yeah, but until that day you can settle for being my towel boy.” Rainbow snickered.
Spike looked disgusted, “I ain't handling any towels of yours. They're probably covered in sweat.”
Rainbow smirked at Spike, “How about I cover you in sweat?!” she grabbed Spike holding him close to her body.
“Rainbow, stop! Let me go!” Spike laughed, as he tried to get out of Rainbow's hold.
“You like it! Admit it!” Rainbow teased, as she hugged Spike's head close to her.
“No!” Spike laughed, as he kept trying to break free.
Eventually Rainbow let Spike go allowing him to breathe, “You know you can either be my towel boy, or my cheerleader.”
“Cheerleader?” Spike asked sounding just as shocked from the first choice.
“Oh, yeah. I even have Rarity making you an outfit for that.” Rainbow grinned already picturing Spike in a little cheerleader uniform.
Spike shook his head, “Forget it! Towel boy it is!”
“I knew you'd see it my way,” Rainbow said, as she kicked back, “But in all seriousness, Spike, you can always count on me to be there for you to give you that pick me up when you need it the most. I would never think about leaving you hanging.” she promised.
“You mean it?” he asked.
“I sure do.” Rainbow nodded in confirmation bringing a smile to the boy's face.
Later on, Spike was at Fluttershy's place and was helping the girl feed some of her animal friends. Fluttershy poured some bird seed in the bird feeder, and watched as several birds flew to it and began eating the seed. Spike was putting in some nuts in a squirrel feeder and watched as two squirrels crawled up to the feeder and started eating some of the nuts.
Fluttershy walked to Spike and patted his head, “That was very good, Spike. The squirrels look very satisfied.”
“I'm glad to see them happy,” Spike admitted, before looking up at her, “I'm amazed you feed so many different strays on a daily basis.”
“I know it's not an easy thing to do, but I just can't stand to see them starve themselves,” Fluttershy said, “One day I'm gonna work at the animal shelter in the city and make sure no creature goes hungry and finds a good home.” she said determined.
“If anyone can do it, it's you, Fluttershy.” Spike smiled.
“You think so?” she asked with a blush.
“You sound so confident and determined with what you want to do. I'm sure you'll do so many good things for all animals when you grow up.” Spike said in admiration.
Fluttershy continued to blush in embarrassment, “Oh, Spike. That's so sweet.”
“I really wanna have that kind of confidence in myself in whatever I wanna do with myself.” Spike said with a sigh.
“Oh, Spike,” Fluttershy began, as she hugged the boy, “I believe you can do anything you set your mind to.”
“You think?” he asked.
“I do,” she nodded, “If someone like me can have such confidence in what I want to do, then there is certainly hope for you too.”
Spike hugged her back, “You're the kindest person I've ever met, Fluttershy. I hope that part of you never changes.”
Fluttershy continued to hug Spike close, and thought to herself, 'I hope Spike grows up to be a wonderful person.'
That night at the Drake Family dinner table, Geki spoke to his son, “So, Spike, how was your day today?”
“Great. I did soccer with Rainbow Dash. I was the goalie and I managed to block one of her shots.”
“Oh, dear, I hope you two weren't playing too rough,” Elsa said in concern, “Soccer is a violent sport.”
“Hey, be glad he wasn't playing football. Now that's a violent sport!” Geki laughed.
“Geki, you're not making this any better.” Elsa scowled.
“Come on, Elsa. The boy could use a little push to get him tougher. After all we don't want him to go through life feeling like a wimp.” her husband spoke.
“And I'm not a wimp.” Spike added.
“I know, just be careful with contact sports.” Elsa warned him.
“I will, mom.” Spike said, as he enjoyed dinner with his parents and thinking about what he would do tomorrow with the rest of his friends.