"Spike, dear? This isn't working."
"What isn't?"
"This, Spike. Us."
After a second date cut short, Spike spends a night out on the town (read: seedy bar) with Big Mac to commiserate the loss. After deciding that he wanted a final snack before bed, he heads to the best bakery in town to find something to take the edge off of his buzz.
Think of this as a spiritual successor to The Days Passed, in the same family as the premise of the first one: Who would Spike seek out after a break with Rarity? This time, instead of ending up on Fluttershy's doorstep, he finds himself at Pinkie Pie's. And this time, it will be more focused on the character growth of Spike while keeping up with the relationship growth between the ship. I hope it lives up to the standards that TDP grew to have, and I had for it 
Cover is spliced together pics from TG Weaver , used with permission (careful with that link, while the pic is SFW the Twitter is not!)
EDIT: Already featured, 2-9-2021! Thank you so much 
First comment, I want to see how this story of these two lovebirds continues
Oh shit! INSTANT READ!!!!
I find myself hoping for a dash of meta-humor whenever two characters with the same voice actor are written separately. Should be a good read!
Here we go!
If my memory is correct, this first chapter hits the feels harder than, TDP first chapter did, but I could be wrong.
Anyway! That's it for the comparisons!
Really good start. The interactions with Big Mac, was Bro-tastic, Pinkie was caring and fun, Mr. Cake was strong and cautious, and Mrs. Cake was mature, light and experienced.
I know the pairing is for, Spike and Pinkie, but, Mrs. Cake does feel more right to have a good, needed, cry with.
Really looking forward to more of this story!
As somebody who's currently also writing post-Rarity Spike and Pinkie related relations (although on my end it was after a mutual letting-each-other-down-gently as opposed to a breakup), I am incredibly stoked to see where this goes. Really enjoyed the first chapter, eyes open for the next.
Oh yeah bud
Perhaps the Cake Twins could cheer Spike up.
Look, Spike going out with any of the Mane 6 would be like Goku going out with Bulma in Dragon Ball. It's that level of an age gap.
Spike had an unrealistic crush, instantly idolizing Rarity the instant he saw her, which could only be possibly requited if he waited another 5-8 years, depending on what the actual timeline of the show is.
Even Fluttershy called him a BABY DRAGON. He wasn't even a teenager in the show, and we actually did see teenage dragons, so we KNOW Spike is STILL VERY MUCH UNDERAGE. Pairing him with ANY of the Mane 6 has exactly the same problem.
Had Spike waned himself off of his childish infatuation with Rarity and hooked up with Sweetie instead, that would've had potential in time.
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I don't watch Dragon Ball, but from a fandom wiki it seems like Goku is 12 when he starts, and Bulma is 16, which fits nicely in with my headcanon that Twi was around 5 when she hatched Spike. And while that gap is absolutely enormous at those ages, it's not that great about ten years later, 22 and 26. Considering Spike is easily old enough to drink, he's probably at least 19, considering the legal age of Canada. Seeing as how he didn't have a shown method of traditional schooling outside of whatever Twilight taught him, it's hard to argue about predation between someone aged 23 and someone aged 19, since Spike isn't just leaving school and has been (stubby) hips deep in the real world for the last 9 seasons.
If we're going with the show's timeline, then Spike and Sweetie would likely have around the same rate of growth as they stayed around the same size from when they were first introduced, which seems to state that the show's timeline is not 1=1 as, even if the children were five, they'd have been 14 by the time the show wrapped, and everyone here can agree that's well past the (human) period of Puberty, and the show would've had to change their form in some way to show this change. So in short, we can't reliably ascertain the show's timeline in real years, 'cause we have no idea how many seasons or other landmarks the showrunners skipped to keep the show new and interesting.
We can, however, see the beginnings of puberty if we assume that the start of a molt is a hormonal thing, so if Spike follows the human rules of puberty, he's likely between 10 and 14, perfectly in line with the ages above...
Wait, I think I've lost the plot of the complaint. I'll summarize by saying that while I agree the age gap between a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old is far too large to be gapped easily, the one between a 20-year-old and a 24-year old is waaaaay narrower, and it gets narrower the older you get. If this story was cannon and written in the period of time that the show was airing, then any pairing between Spike and any pony not in Cheerelee's school or older would be weird if not outright gross, but it's Not.
All that gunk said, if you don't like it or don't want to try it, then don't read it. I understand that every story and every ship isn't for everyone and I don't need every person on this site to love every word I write. I do hope you find one to enjoy though!
Oh snaps! Here we go again! \o/
Aggressive Pie is the best kind really.
Amazing
Now i want a calzone, its been a while. Also great chapter.
I got this joke!
...Is it sadder that I got this joke, or that this plant has become so much of problem to be used as this joke in the first place?
Yeah I'll keep an eye on this one for a bit. Good stuff so far.
Interesting background ships
Well except Starlight x Trixie
Been done more times than possibly AppleDash.
Still no complaints here. Always a good pair-up.
Silver Quill(s), you punctual peregrine, ink costs finally get too high to bear?
This is a nice story so far! And I do enjoy me some Spikepie.
Really liking the character line up, and the time frame already! It's not a Pinkie story, if she doesn't break into your house without breaking anything!
Missed opportunity: "The ceiling." It's cute, but it feels a little ... off, in a way. Like Spike and Pinkie are a foregone conclusion already, with how forward Pinkie has been. Prior to a first date, he slept with her in her bed, she flashed him doing her yoga exercises, and she flashed him again in the library, without any admonishment or bashfulness and fully aware of what she was doing. Just my nitpicky two cents.
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well, she DID say that he was dense. Maybe she tried before he dated rarity and he didn't notice, so now she is going all out.
this is great, keep the ball rolling on it.
Alright. *breaks out wallet* What'll it take for you to update this?
Seriously, tho. I'm at the point of begging, if necessary.
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I'm just a bit busy with both other projects, and being in the middle of a depressive fugue. I'll get back on this, promise <3
no not, no begging or money throwing
Spike. Bro. You will find the perfect Mare for you
Doesn't Flurry Heart count as one of the hearts?
Could that be send one to his pen-pal?
I have no idea who Pinkie is talking about.
Damn, I could guess, but there really is to many mares in that pool to count!
Let's go for the mystery date chapter!
Coco pommel? Sassy saddles? A ripped tomboy gardsmare gf? (Pls)
Wait. But if its coco would that mean cathy selfscest?
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out of those I say sassy saddles but I don't think its her
Gonna guess Luna. I really liked this chapter, it steamrolled my nitpick and felt really genuine. Flowed from start to finish smooth as butter. Also, I can't stop seeing Spike with his jaw dropped waaay down in the cover image, even though I know it's his arm.
This is good so far. Can't wait for more.
This is really sweet.
Now there's an interesting pairing that I might like to see more of in the future. Hmmmmm...
Great chapter. I wonder whether or not we're gonna actually make it very far down this list of Spike's before either he or Pinkie decide to take a chance on each other instead. I don't mind the build-up to that point, since Spike needs a bit of time to heal, anyway. Though it might be nice to see a bit of what Pinkie is thinking and feeling over the course of this story, particularly as the names continue to be checked off the list and we see more of Spike's reaction to such. Need to see how Pinkie comes to love Spike, just as much as seeing what leads him to Pinkie.
Looking forward to the next update! Keep up the good work! ^_^
Aww man
I thought she'd at least kick him out the next morning.
Aww!
This is speed blind dating!!!
Sunset was a pretty good choice from Pinkie, given how she's got the most experience with non-pony forms and equivalent brains to Twilight. Hit in the feels at the end, seemed like everything should have lined up for him but it crashed and burned through no fault of his own. Major hit in the feels. Good chapter!
Aha! Now this makes sense, he got it from Sunset!
i.ibb.co/kHFdt9t/1314766520053.gif
Great content. Hope that more comes sooner rather then later. Unless it is sloppy. Can't rush perfection and all that.
Great update, and even greater choice! Real interesting going with Sunset. Didn't see that coming!
Let's just hope Spike's heart can weather the cold.
I'm hooked
eeeee it begins
Well, assuming Moondancer doesn't turn out well. But judging by the title of this fic...
Cute. Good chapter. Hopefully the wait is not as long for the next one. But still take time as needed.
Make sure you ate and make yourself a sandwich.
Do iiiitttt!
Unbeknownst to Spike, Pinkie sends Moondancer some tips for her date.
M: "Hey there Spikey-wikey, how is Twilight's baby brother doing? Are you still rocking that adorable little basket for your bed?"
S: "I'm doing great, you just helped me make an important decision, thanks!"
Sunset, you're a bad influence!
#shotsfired
I was going to quip here about how their "no strings and no expectations" rule just got shattered a minute after it was made, but my reaction was changing as I was typing it. It may not have been intentional, but Spike just added a penalty to one side of Pinkie's decision.
Reading on a bit, and I'm glad Pinkie was being observant of everything and got Spike to consider his actions in a different light. She definitely needed to call him on that. Legitimate!
Air* and were*, I believe.
It's a shame I can't Favorite this story again. This is very good.
It seems like spike is older relative to the mane 6 in this than he normally is. Maybe that accounts for the the alt universe tag. Maybe dragons mature faster than ponies. Maybe they're just all older. Probably better not to think about it
Poor Spike. If he can just figure out where he went wrong, everything will be fine going forward! It's a self-destructive path but one we all keep walking down.
A step forward, a pratfall back.
I get that pinkie saw the wine price as a date lesson, but spike did say as buddies. And money is no concern around best buddies. She coulda told him later.