One afternoon at Canterlot High, Spike and Featherweight were walking through the halls heading for class, "So I'm thinking of taking Sweetie Belle out for ice cream after school," Featherweight began explaining to Spike, "Wanna invite Rarity, and we'll double date?"
"Can't, Featherweight," Spike answered regretfully, "Twistin' gave me this new remix CD and wants me to listen to it and practice some dance steps to it. After all Spring Fling is right around the corner, and I wanna have some new dance moves to show off."
"Point taken." Featherweight nodded.
Suddenly they were blocked off by Fido, Rover, and Spot, as the leader spoke, "Well afternoon geeks."
"Yeah afternoon." Spot joked.
Featherweight looked nervous, while Spike scowled at the three, "What do you guys want?"
"We're collecting hall fee." Fido answered.
"Hall fee?" Spike asked, while crossing his arms.
"That's right," Rover nodded, "We're collecting fee to all those students who have to come down this hall for classes."
"Are you serious?" Spike asked in annoyance.
"What do you think?" Rover asked as he got into their faces.
"That looks serious to me." Featherweight answered nervously.
Spike frowned as he got into Rover's face, "We ain't paying."
"What did you say?" Rover growled.
"You heard me." he smirked.
"You got balls talking to me like that, shrimp." Rover said firmly.
"I've dealt with worse than you before in my life." he replied.
"I'll bet." Fido shot back skeptically.
"What is going on here?" a voice spoke up, breaking the group up. They looked and saw a woman with long blue hair approach. It was Vice Principal Luna, the Vice Principal of the school and younger sister to Principal Celestia.
"Vice Principal Luna!" the five gasped, while the three juniors were in bigger shock to see her.
"I'll say again, what is going on here?" Luna asked while crossing her arms.
"Oh nothing, Vice Principal Luna," Spike answered cooly, just the way Twistin' taught him when faced with problems, "These three were just clearing the way for Featherweight and I to get to class."
Luna looked to the three, "Is this true, boys?"
The three were trembling before her. As scary as Principal Celestia could be whenever you were sent to her office for disciplinary reasons, her little sister was just as scary. Rover answered, "Yes, Vice Principal Luna."
Luna gazed at both groups before speaking in a sigh seeing no harm was around, "Very well get to classes." she dismissed them.
Spike and Featherweight walked on down the hall leaving the three juniors to grumble.
As Spike and Featherweight walked to class, the tech boys spoke up, "Spike, you truly were something back there."
"Thanks. With Twistin' and Rainbow giving me some confidence boosts I've learned not to run and cower, but to stand up to tormentors." Spike replied.
"By the way is it true what you told Rover, that you've put up with worse than them?" Featherweight asked curiously.
Spike looked to Featherweight with weary eyes and answered, "I'd rather not talk about it."
"Huh?" Featherweight asked wondering what suddenly got him all dreary about it.
"Bad memories." Spike answered. Rather than pry on it, Featherweight decided to let it go.
After school, Spike was walking home with his new CD from Twistin'. He walked through the city, until he suddenly heard mocking laughter coming from down an alley. Curiously Spike went down to investigate it and came across a shocking sight.
He saw three seventeen year old boys, ganging up on a younger boy. The first of the three older boys wore jeans, sneakers, and a red hoody, and had orangish hair, the second boy had blondish hair that covered his eyes, and wore sneakers, black slacks, and a purple shirt with a pocket on the chest part, and finally the third boy was a big chunky boy, with a bald head, and was wearing sneakers, jeans, and a brown shirt. Spike frowned as he approached them, "Hey jerkwads!" he called.
The three older boys looked over to Spike, and the one they were tormenting ran for it. The one in the red hoody spoke up, "Well-well, if it isn't our old little rookie Spike."
Spike scowled and motioned to the one I the hoody, the blonde haired one, and the chunky one, "Garble, Rad, and Glut. Still tormenting the helpless I see."
"This one deserved it." Garble answered.
"Three against one, that's awfully fair." Spike retorted in sarcasm.
"Well who asked you?" Glut asked as he used his size to try and intimidate Spike.
"Yeah why're we even talking to you? You betrayed us, bra." Rad spoke in a surfer like accent.
"You asked me to steal from an old man!" Spike reminded him.
"It wasn't personal. It was part of your initiation!" Garble shot back.
Spike growled in frustration, "Why did I ever think joining the three of you was a good thing?!"
"Because you wanted to be somebody." Garble replied.
"Yeah I mean you were nothing back when we knew ya, and you know what you probably still are." Glut mocked him, and the other two laughed hysterically at his joke.
"How wrong you are," Spike answered firmly, making them shut up, "I'm not the same Spike from Junior High that you could easily manipulate. I'm better than I ever was. And smart enough to know the biggest mistake of my life so far was thinking you three were where I belonged with."
"I'd watch your tone, Spike. Otherwise I might get angry, and you know what I'm like when I get angry." Garble warned him while clenching his teeth.
Spike scowled before answering, "Whatever, talking to you three cramps my style." he walked off.
"You never would've had style if it weren't for us!" Garble exclaimed, but Spike didn't even turn around to dignify his claim.
Soon Spike arrived back home, and entered the apartment. He saw Twilight on the couch, while enjoying a bottle of soda, "Hey Twi." he greeted her.
"Hi Spike, welcome back," Twilight greeted him, but noticed he looked as if he was just got dumped, "Are you ok?"
"Fine, just ran into some unwanted faces." Spike answered.
"Who?" Twilight asked.
"Garble, Glut, and Rad."
Twilight gasped, "Those three again? Spike, I hope they weren't trying to get you to join their gang again." she said hopefully.
"No nothing like that," he replied, "I just saw them, said hello, and left."
Twilight sighed, "I know you moved on from those three, Spike, but sometimes I worry about you getting drafted back into the wrong crowd again. You remember what happened when you ditched them?"
"Of course I do," Spike answered as he recalled the memory, "They beat me like hell and I came home with a black eye."
"You're lucky mom didn't call the hospital!" Twilight noted.
"I know. Well don't worry Twilight I'm never associating myself with those three again." Spike promised her, as he left for his room, while Twilight watched recalling how beat up her brother looked when he came home that night.
The very next day after school inside the Hip-Hop club's room, Spike was practicing with some of the other members, with Twistin' leading them on, as Vinyl was playing some beats. Soon the music stopped and the club members caught their breath as their president spoke, "Well that about concludes today's lesson folks. Club dismissed, and keep practicing."
The members nodded and started leaving. Spike was packing his stuff as Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity entered, "Hey, Spike!" Rainbow called.
"Hey girls, what's up?" Spike asked.
"We were planning on grabbing a drink, and we were wondering if you'd like to join us?" Rarity offered.
"Sounds cool to me," Spike admitted and turned to Twistin' and Vinyl, "I'll catch you to tomorrow."
"Later, Spike!" Vinly called as she and Twistin' waved.
So, Spike, his sister, his crush, and his parkour instructor were on their way to Sugarcube Corner, "So how was your club activity today, Spike?" Twilight inquired.
"Never better. With the moves I'm learning I'm gonna party hard at the Spring Fling." Spike answered.
"That's gonna be an awesome sight." Rainbow noted as she playfully punched Spike's shoulder, as he chuckled.
"Quite so." Rarity agreed, until they started hearing the sounds of fighting.
"What the?" Rainbow asked, as they heard the sounds.
"Sounds like a riot." Twilight noted, while Spike could tell full well the grunts sounded like to him.
"Oh no!" he gasped, and bolted for the nearest ally.
"Spike!" the three girls cried as they ran after him.
Spike came to a halt and spotted Garble, Rad, and Glut pounding on who else, but Rover, Fido, and Spot who looked like they were caught in a prison riot, "Hey!" he shouted, grabbing their attention.
Garble seeing him chuckled, "Spike, you just can't stay away from our work can you?"
"What the hells going on here?" Spike demanded as he saw the three juniors from school trying to get up.
"These guys crossed into our territory." Glut began, while motioning to the three.
"We told them to leave, but they refused." Rad added.
"So we challenged them to a little spar, and they lost more than their matches. They lost these." Garble held up three wallets.
"You jerks!" Spike shouted as the three girls arrived.
"Spike, what is?" Twilight gasped, as she saw the three boys Spike tried to pal around with.
"Well look here boys, if it ain't Spike's namby pamby sister." Garble mocked as the two laughed hysterically.
Spike frowned, "Don't you dare talk that way about my sister."
"Oh yeah, what're you gonna do about it?" Garble challenged him.
Spike glared at Garble for a bit, until an idea crossed his mind, "You like contests right, Garble?"
"More than anything." Garble admitted.
"Well how about a contest between you and me?" Spike offered.
"What'd ya have in mind?" Garble asked in interest, while his boys and the girls were curious and confused.
Spike spoke, "A round of parkour between you and me tomorrow after school. We meet here."
"WHAT?!" the girls gasped, while the mutt trio were shocked.
"Parkour huh? Interesting choice," Garble smirked, "So what're the stakes?"
"If I win, you give those three their wallets and everything inside them back." Spike began.
"Very well, but if I win, which I will," Garble began, "You have to roll with us from now on, and this time there won't be any quitting."
The girls were shocked and worried at such stakes, as Spike answered, "Deal." he shook Grable's hand while, Garble tried to intimidate Spike with his tight grip on his wrist, but Spike gripped his hard as well.
When they broke, Garble turned to his flunkies, "Let's go." he walked off.
"Adios, ladies." Rad mocked Spike, the mutt trio, and the girls.
Glut let out a loud belch in mockery, as he followed Garble and Rad. Spike looked to the three defeated juniors and spoke, "You three better get home and come up with good excuses why you look like a mess."
"Why're you doing it?" Rover asked.
"Huh?" Spike wondered.
"Why're you challenging them just for us?" Rover asked.
"If you think we need rescuing then you're mistaken." Spot added.
"We don't need any of your pity." Fido put in.
Spike frowned, "You three seriously are so closed off in the mind! You think I'm doing this for you out of pity? I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do!"
"Right thing?" Rover asked.
"Yeah. I don't always need to be asked to do stuff for others. I have just as much beef with those guys as anyone they know. So go on home and get cleaned up. And show up here so you can see exactly what I intend to do."
The three turned to each other having nothing else to say but left. Spike sighed knowing he got himself into something really foolish. Twilight spoke up, "Spike, what were you thinking making a challenge like that?!"
"It's something that had to be done, Twilight." he answered.
"But against those three brutes? You could get clobbered." Rarity said in worry.
"How do you even know those three, Spike?" Rainbow inquired.
Spike looked up at the sports girl and spoke, "You really want to know? Well let's go to Sugarcube Corner and I'll tell you about the gang that almost costed me a good slate." he walked with the girls following him, concerned at how serious he was acting, while Twilight knew more about it than her friends.