Twilight is desperate for love—and that desperation dooms her chances for it.
Hence The Love Protocols. Rules set in place to stop her feelings from making a mistake. Desperate enough to nearly date anyone, she needs the rules in place from getting with the wrong pony—or messing things up with the right one.
Spike assures Twilight she's not so shallow and that, given dating experience, her tastes would narrow. Yet she requests his aid in finding love at a bar.
How will our wingman fare in helping Twilight find somepony to love?
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Chapters (1)
First, but now to see how good this story is.
Update: It was glorious, greatly detailed and I enjoyed every moment of it. Great work as always.
Yes.
Why do spilights or twispikes always get bad reviews?
10333518
Speaking as a huge fan of Twilight and Spike's relationship, I think it comes from most people having a firmly entrenched idea of a mother/son or sister/brother relationship for the two. So romance just seems... odd, maybe even a bit gross.
I personally don't care. I'm a die-hard sis/bro adherent, but if done well, acknowledging the complications of their existing familial relationship, like this one does, I can dig it.
Fantabulousome! Great work B!
10333518
Because Twilight is literally a mother figure to Spike, and the obvious age gap doesn't help. It's all a bit... Icky? The fact that a writer may account for this with a time jump is moot to most people.
It just flies in the face of cultural norms that are in place for some very good reasons.
Someone in a position of authority, like a teacher or legal guardian, has no small amount of influence on the younger party. Any move towards romance can, and should, be questioned, as there is the very likely possibility of the romance being one sided, especially if the other party isn't emotionally mature for such a turn in the relationship.
Then there's the fact that most Twi/Spike fics are trash?
Dunno, to each their own.
10333773
Age gap? Its like at worst 5 years max difference, Twilight was a filly when Spike hatched.
As for mother figure, ehh. That's how you interpret it. Cause I really doubt a little kid knows how to be a parent or have time for that. Her parents obviously did the raising or Celestia if you go by other sources. But hey, maybe Twilight somehow did raise him because Spike wouldn't let anyone else. Its up to you and your imagination.
10333784
Although never expressly stated, Twilight was likely 8-10yrs when Spike hatched, making him a minor by our standards in season 1, reaching adulthood by season 8/9.
Age also has two components. The literal age, and their emotional maturity. Anyone who works with children knows this. I've met adults who shouldn't be left unaccompanied, for any reason, while some children I've met I'd feel fine leaving in charge of a business. The point is age is just a number and can be rendered moot by the emotional development of the individual.
To the down voters
i.imgur.com/gWJrC4B.png
10333794
ehh, i doubt she was that old.
I disagree that Spike or Twilight aren't emotionally mature. They fully know what they are doing.
At least it got featured
10333588
I think of it as a secret arranged marriage that they're not aware of
10333821
She was old enough to test for magic school, and to get her cutiemark. We've seen Sweetie Belle at age five, and she looks much smaller than Twilight looked when she got her mark.
Best rule in here!
This was real sweet but also made me sad. Sometimes I find the dialogue a little hard to follow, like who was talking. But still. Very sweet.
I hate it when people just downplay a story because it features a ship they disagree with. That is literally just telling the author, "Hey I don't care about the hard work you put into the structure and writing of this story. It has a romance I no like >:( UNACCEPTABLE!!" Listen guys, Spike is young compared to any character in the show at this point; by your pathetic logic, we can only get Spike X Cutie Mark Crusader stories. Let's just ignore the age here guys. It really isn't that big of a problem when it comes to dragons in the show. If it's a minor pony and an adult pony, go nuts. But there really isn't the same standard with Spike. It's just something you need to accept.
This story handled the romance with such a great deal of respect. It's slow, it builds, it's believable, and both Twilight and Spike feel natural to their characters instead of forced to carry the romance. The writing is beautiful and the dialogue as well as the atmosphere compliment the romance perfectly. Twilight's anxieties come off as heart wrenchingly true, and Spike's transition from friend to lover is perfectly captured with slow burning beauty.
This is an incredible romance story and it deserves respect for that. It isn't about biases about ships, for God's sakes, curb your self righteousness!
And as for you, you know who you are, get a grip and learn some basic respect you bloody idiot. Don't denounce a whole community of ships because you're an oversensitive tool.
*Servin', not severin' - I highly doubt the bartender is going to slice'n'dice him, after all.
The ship itself isn't what turns me off of this story, it's the environment. The emphasis on casual dating/implied casual physical intimacy feels like what incels think the outside world is like: all sexuality and flirting. It's jarring, and more than a little uncomfortable.
The writing itself I didn't see any issues with, as far as I managed to read in before giving up. No pacing issues, no constant grammatical errors or spelling mistakes, nothing egregious in any foundational talent. Just the world itself. I don't want to undermine or underappreciate the very obvious talent that went into this, but that doesn't change that the results are... questionable.
11537381
Fair criticism! Been a while since I wrote this, so... I forgot what even happens, lol.