Spike reached up behind his head and preened his spines for the billionth time. His reflection stared back at him with every possible expression, say for confidence. No matter how many times he wanted to leave the washroom, he continuously found some microscopic detail that could be fixed. A scale was out of place on his neck, and his overly-rehearsed smile was beginning to make his cheeks sore with no signs of improving. He quickly took a swig of mouthwash and shook his head back and forth, trying his best to shake the jitters.
“Dinner at Arty Heart’s. Nothing new, nothing to get so nervous about,” he said to himself after spitting the mouthwash out. Thankfully his reflection did not reply. He sighed and exited the bathroom with a nervous sping in his step. He made his way over to his bed, above which his clothing bag from Rarity hung. He walked over to it and reared up on his hind legs, reaching up and unzipping the black canvas cover. What he saw took him by surprise.
“A little something extra? Jeeze Rarity,” Spike babbled as he looked his clothes over. Along with the very nicely crafted shirt and belt he asked for, Rarity saw fit to throw in an entire suit jacket for him as well. It was a light grey color with smooth and flexible fabric. A dark violet neck tie lined the shirt as well, clipped in at the chest to keep it from swaying. Spike eagerly took it down from the hanger and threw the shirt and jacket on. He ran back into the bathroom and finished buttoning himself up staring at his reflection.
“Hmm,” he pondered aloud. “Not bad.” The suit fit him perfectly, accenting his tall shoulders and slender figure without making him look too thin. The whole ensemble was way out of Spike’s pay grade, he guessed, and much more of a gift than Spike was expecting. He looked cool, and it was the first time he ever used that expression to describe himself. At least, not since Twilight’s mustache spell.
He looked at the clock by his bed and noticed that they only had a few minutes to leave for the restaurant. He excitedly walked down the steps from his loft and exited the library to wait by the door. He looked from the main entrance down the corridor towards Twilight’s room, and patiently waited for her to emerge.
“Spike? You almost ready?” he heard from the door behind him. Spike’s face twisted in confusion and turned towards the main door of the castle. He quickly opened the door and peeked his head outside.
“Sorry Twilight! I was waiting for you inside. I thought you were still . . .” he began, and lost his train of thought. If he had been holding something, he would have dropped it. Twilight was in a pale blue dress that drifted down her shoulders and across her backside. Her mane was smooth and wavy and tied back behind her head. She was wearing a simple thin necklace that rested snug against her neckline. It was a much more casual dress than her gala dress or coronation gown, but for some reason she was more beautiful then Spike had ever seen her. That was despite her hoof being planted on her face.
“So we have been just standing here for the past few minutes?” she said with a groan. Her expression quickly jumped as she noticed what Spike was wearing. Her blush grew before she could even put her hoof back down. The dragon cleared his throat and walked down the steps to join her.
“Yeah, sorry about that. Are you ready?” he asked and fought back a blush of his own.
“Do I look ready?” she asked sincerely.
“You look beautiful,” he responded, and thanked his lucky stars that she replied with a smile.
“Well look at you Mr. suit and tie! I’ll need to add ‘thank Rarity’ to the checklist for tomorrow because you look quite handsome,” she complimented.
“To be honest, I just wanted a shirt. She threw in the rest herself. So I’ll need to thank her too,” he said and smiled. “Shall we?”
“Hold on,” she said and floated a small spiral notebook from her pocket along with a miniature quill. She crossed a few lines off from the first few rows and gently placed it back in her dress. Spike sighed.
“A checklist? Why am I not surprised,” he said and gave a hopeless smile. She began walking and he happily followed.
“Well, neither of us have been on a date before, so I did a little research. This way I know exactly what to do,” she said and confidently placed the notebook back in her pocket.
“So what’s next on the list?” Spike asked curiously.
“Walking to dinner and exchanging passing glances at each other with only minimal eye-contact. Then, once we get seated, I’ll immediately excuse myself to the restroom to re-prune my mane. Then we’ll eat quickly, but not too quickly, and then we’ll ‘get lost in the wondrous abyss of each other’s eyes’. Finally, we’ll end the night with you walking me home and, if the date was enjoyable, giving you the ‘hints’ to lean in for a quick kiss. Anything more than a polite peck is too much and means my partner is rushing things and is evidence for a bad relationship.” She was reciting the information like she was listing ingredients to an apple salad.
“What books have you been reading?!” Spike said with a loud chuckle. He held in a snort as she scoffed at him.
“I . . . well the books I was reading seemed a little dated, so I picked up a magazine with some first-date tips,” she said defensively.
“Oh please tell me you did not read Cosmoponyton Magazine,” he said and nearly choked on his own laughter.
“What? Isn’t that where everypony learns how to go on a date these days?”
“Oh my Celestia, that is hilarious!” he cackled and she groaned in response.
“Ok then, Spike. If you’re such an expert on dating, then why don’t you tell me what we’re supposed to do?” she challenged and shot a coy smile in his direction. He continued to laugh for a second before stopping and holding out an open hand.
“Give me that checklist,” he said and waved his hand towards himself. She rolled her eyes and lifted the book out of her pocket again and floated it to his claws. He flipped through, the first few pages, which were all crossed out already. He found the parts that they haven’t completed yet and swallowed a few more chuckles. After reading the length of the checklist, he took the pages in his hand and tore them out of the notebook in one rip. He crumpled the list in his claws and blew a green torch of flames at his open palm, incinerating the pages and casting their ashes to the wind.
“Spike!” she protested, but Spike was not listening. Instead, he was furiously scribbling something down on a blank page and quickly closed the book and handed it back over to her.
“Here,” he said and began walking again with a goofy smile on his face. She followed and flipped through a few pages, looking for what he wrote down. After looking through the torn section, she found one page with a few words hastily jotted down.
Checklist for Twilight and Spike’s first date:
Have fun
She looked up at him and tucked the book away. He was still giggling as he remembered a few of the items on the checklist he just burned up. Normally she would be angry with him for burning pages of a perfectly good checklist, but she had to admit he had a point. No need to overthink it when they’re already in love. Spike seemed to notice her glare and smiled at her.
“What?” he said, “I’m having fun. How about you?”
That dragon’s cheeky smile was enough for her to spill her own chuckle into the evening air.
“Yes,” she said honestly and laughed again as they walked through town.
“Right this way,” the hostess beckoned, and they followed the bright blue mare through the tables. A few ponies occupied each table. Some were discussing business, others were enjoying the company of visiting friends. Their chatter filled up the restaurant in comforting ambience, and the entire room was lit comfortably dim. The hostess led them down the end of the restaurant to a small booth table by the window. They each sat on one side and thanked the hostess before picking up their menus.
“Also add ‘Thank Applejack’ to the checklist too. This place is amazing,” Twilight remarked.
“Yeah, it’s . . . wait, have you never been here before?” Spike asked.
“No, actually. I hear the food is great though,” she said, then cocked her head. “Wait, have you been here before?”
“Uh-huh,” he nodded.
“When? And with whom?” she asked in surprise.
“Oh, I bring my other marefriends here from time to time,” he said with a smirk. She smirked back at his sarcasm and narrowed her eyes.
“Does that make me a side-mare?” she asked.
“You’re side-mare number one, if that makes you feel better,” he said and continued to skim through his menu.
“How flattering, I’m honored,” she countered, which made him laugh loudly enough to get a glance from a pony sitting two tables away.
“No, I really came here for lunch once with Rarity and Fluttershy. I was helping her out in the boutique and she asked me to come along their lunch-date, which was nice of her,” he noted and put the menu down.
“That probably made you go nuts at the time,” she pondered. Spike simply stared at his menu blankly in response.
“Yeah,” he muttered. Twilight realized she must have hit a soft spot, and immediately lightened her gaze.
“I’m sorry Spike. I forgot that you used to have a crush on her,” she confessed. “It must have been hard for you,” she said. That made Spike pick his head back up.
“What do you mean? ” he asked.
“I mean having Rarity turn you down,” she suggested timidly.
“She never turned me down,” Spike said with a scoff.
“Wait really? So what happened?” she asked and dropped her own menu. Spike put his claws in the air as if surrendering.
“Nothing! Why?”
“Well . . . I had always assumed that the reason you were interested in me was because things did not work out with Rarity,” she said in a hushed tone. The gears in Spike’s head finally clicked and he smiled at her.
“Twilight, I never confessed my feelings to her because they weren’t like what I felt for you.”
“What are you talking about? You were crazy about her! There were days where I could not get you to shut up about her,” she recalled.
“There are days when you can’t get me to shut up about comics too,” he countered.
“So what kept you from saying anything?” she asked, a little in disbelief.
“Twilight, I fell in love with you, and not because you were my second choice. The fact is, you were always my first. It just took a while for me to wake up and see it.”
At that moment, their waiter snuck up on the two of them and made them both jump.
“What can I get for you two this evening?” the waiter said graciously. Twilight scrambled for a moment and then looked over her menu again.
“Uhm, sorry I will . . . I will have the garden lasagna with a fruit salad,” she said politely. The waiter nodded and turned to Spike.
“I’ll have the tuna steak, and burn it to a crisp please,” he said.
“Freshly seared meat for the dragon, right away sir,” the waiter said, and then bowed before leaving them alone again. Twilight scowled at the waiter’s remark and turned to see Spike smiling at her.
“I’m sorry I brought that up,” she began again. “But I’m glad you never got your heart broken.”
“And I’m sorry you thought you were my ‘silver medal’. If I got you a gold trophy with ‘Spike’s #1 Marefriend Choice’ engraved on it, would that make you feel better?” he said with a smile, which made her laugh a little.
“Just have it say ‘Side-Mare #1,’ and I’ll be happy,” she said with another laugh and Spike tried to muffle his giggle, which came out in a hiss.
They continued to banter and talk as the night continued on. The sun was already down by the time their meals arrived. Spike had to resist the urge to tear the seared meat apart with his teeth. He remained polite and tempered as he slowly savored his food, listening closely as she continued to talk about her latest research. They were nearly done when the waiter emerged once more, this time with an empty tray cart in tow.
“How is everything this evening?” he asked and giving them both a polite smile.
“Beautiful,” Spike complimented and pushed his plate towards the end of the table. The waiter scooped it up before giving Twilight an expecting look.
“I’m still working on this,” she said, and the waiter excused himself with a nod. Spike sat quietly, watching her poke the remains of her food around with her fork. The candle on the table between them cast a warming glow about her face, and her usually bright shade of purple was now a dark violet. Just then he noticed her shiver slightly, snapping him out of his daydream.
“You cold?” he asked.
“Maybe a little,” she confessed. “Fancy places always keep it very cold inside for some reason. I’m fine though.” Spike sighed and got up from the table. Twilight eyed him curiously as he shuffled out from the booth and walked to her side. She looked at him in confusion, which made him smile. He waved a hand at her as if shooing a child to bed.
“Scooch,” he said and shuffled his way in. He squeezed into the soft felt seat beside her and sat down so that his shoulders were inches away from her. She looked up at him sweetly, before she noticed how satisfying his warmth felt to her. His fire-filled chest radiated pleasantly onto her shoulder and she shuffled closer. She gently pressed herself against his form and immediately started feeling much more comfortable.
“Are you sure this isn’t too conspicuous?” she said in a hushed tone.
“We said we were just going to let pony’s figure it out, right? Besides, what’s the point of loving a fire-breather if you can’t take advantage of it from time to time?” He said.
“Mmmm, you’re right,” she said and rested her head against his shoulder comfortably. With her belly full and her fur so warm, she wanted to sit there until she fell asleep. Then she remembered something that was bothering her, and looked back up at Spike.
“Hey, Spike? Do you think my family will be okay with this? With us, I mean.” she clarified.
“Uhmm,” Spike stumbled, a little nervous about the question. “I think so? I mean, it might be a bit odd with me being a dragon. But I know they love you, and want to see you happy. If you can convince them that I make you happy, then I think we’ll be fine,” he reassured her. She smiled at him, but then picked her head up as she watched his face contort into worry and panic.
“Oh crapples,” he quietly cursed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shining Armor. What if he doesn’t think I’m good enough? What if he gets all ‘protective brother-y’? He’s a super powerful unicorn trained in combat who could totally turn me into a newt! What if he squashes me? I don’t wanna die right now, I just molted yesterday!”
“Hey hey, Spike. Calm down, okay? Shining Armor is not squashing you. He’s terrible at transfiguration spells anyway,” she shrugged him off.
“Oh, right, because he spends all his time learning how to demolish evil demons and such! Look at these teeth, Twilight! And the eyes and claws and stuff? I’d look perfect above his fireplace,” he babbled and shrank down a little in his seat. His eyes were wide and trembling as he imagined what it would be like to be killed, stuffed, and hung like a trophy. Twilight rolled her eyes and lightly clopped a hoof down on his head to shake him out of his panic.
“No one is getting squashed or stuffed, and you’re not a demon. This is Shining Armor we’re talking about, remember? You’ve known him for so long he’s practically your brother too. I’m positive he’ll be happy for us. Just like you said, right?” she said attempting to corral him. He still looked a little shaky but he still managed to nod to her, albeit timidly.
“If it really does bother you that much, then why don’t we go see them?”
“You mean go to the Crystal Empire?” he asked.
“Why not? Cadence is due any day now. I was planning on being there to see their foal as soon as it was born anyway, so why don’t you and I head down there and visit? We could call it a royal summoning officially, but we’ll really be down there to talk everything over. We could take the train tomorrow afternoon and get there by the next morning. Does that sound okay?” she suggested. Another wave of fresh dread splashed on Spike’s face, but he quickly sighed and shrugged it off.
“Sure. I guess they deserve to learn the truth straight from us. But should it really be just us two?”
“I think so. Everypony else has got their own lives to worry about, and I wouldn’t want to drag them away unless it was an emergency, which is bound to happen eventually considering our record.”
That last comment made him chuckle, breaking his fearful grimace for the first time since he first mentioned her brother. She took comfort in seeing him lighten up as he raised his head back up and sat comfortably next to her. She resumed her position beside him, resting her head against his warm figure. He turned his head to the side and rested his chin atop her head just behind her horn. The two of them sat quietly enjoying each other’s company.
“Hey Spike?” Twilight started.
Before he could respond, a bright flash of white light sparked from the window. Despite having his eyes closed, Spike’s eyes still held a bit of after-image from the light in the shape of the window beside them. They both shot up and stared expectantly out the window for more signs of movement, but none came. After a second of processing, Spike realized what had just happened.
“Did you see anypony?” he asked.
“No. Do you think that was a camera?” she replied.
Spike didn’t answer. He couldn’t know for sure, but that was the only explanation that made sense. Here he was enjoying his first date in the comfort of Twilight’s presence, and somepony sneaks a photo. It took him all of 3 seconds to regret the decision of letting everypony else figure it out for themselves.