The Chocolatier

by LordBucket

4 - The Princess

"You asked him on a date?!?!" Bonbon shrieked. "For real?"

"I'm sorry Bonnie," Lyra whispered. "I didn't mean to. It just kinda happened, you know?"

"Is that even legal?" Bonbon wondered. "How old is he, six?"

"Seven years in Canterlot with Twilight after he was hatched, plus three more since they came to Ponyville," Lyra counted. "That makes him ten. Unless you count the couple centuries he says he spent as an egg, which makes him older than Granny Smith. He's a dragon. They age differently."

"What about the princess? What will she think?"

"I don't know that either, Bonbon. But if the Princess of Magic thinks I'm taking unfair advantage of her ward, the fire-breathing dragon with claws that can carve through stone, I'm pretty sure one of the two of them will be able to defend his honor from my wiley feminine ways. If anyone, it's me you should be worried about."

"Maybe," Bonbon considered. "I suppose knowing our princess, the worst that'll happen is that she'll make you write a friendship report about how not to take advantage of young dragons."

"Be serious, Bonnie!" Lyra giggled.

"Ok, ok. But you should at least talk to Twlight to make sure it's ok."

---

"So let me see if I understand you correctly," Twilight deadpanned. "You came to ask me for permission to take Spike on a date you already asked him on and that he already agreed to?"

"Well, when you put it like that..." Lyra stammered.

Twilight frowned. "No, it's alright. If it were anypony else, I'd suspect you were just trying to take advantage of him as some sort of twisted attempt to gain social status. But you and Amethyst Star were our friends back when we were living in Canterlot. You've known Spike for longer than almost anyone in Ponyville, and I know you both consider each other friends. I believe you're acting in good faith."

"Yes!" Lyra cheered. "I'm not a bad pony! I knew I wasn't a bad pony!"

"Not so fast, Lyra." Twilight levitated tea into both of their cups. "There's still the issue of legality."

"Oh."

"Fortunately for you, I've looked it up, and the legal precedent for interspecies romance seems to recognize that different species have varying rates of maturation. if he were a pony, Spike would be considered underaged, but apparently there's no legal precedent when it comes to dragons. No case of a pony-dragon romance anywhere on the books, and the relevant laws only state that the 'age of adulthood' should be used as a guiding rule. The thing is that 'adulthood' doesn't mean quite the same thing where Spike is concerned. Age isn't what makes a dragon grow up. Mentally and emotionally, Spike's a reasonably mature adult no matter what his chronological age and his size might indicate. So as far as I can tell, there'd be nothing illegal about you becoming romantically involved with Spike, much less going on a simple date."

"So there's no problem then?" Lyra downed her tea in a single gulp then sat staring, looking hopeful.

"Legally, no." Twilight merely stared into hers. "But Spike is like a little brother to me, and I've already seen how much it's hurt him to waste all these years fawning over Rarity. I don't want his heart to be broken a second time, Lyra."

"Me neither," Lyra agreed. "And it's not like I planned this, but I don't wanna see him hurt any more than you do. Is there anything I can do to set your mind at ease?"

"Yes, actually," Twilight sipped her tea. "I'd like for him to have a chaperone on your date."

Comments

[OmniFox]

Can an owl be a chaperone?

[Inferno demon Dash]

This should be fun.