Advice

“You can do this, you can do this,” Spike said to himself as he paced back and forth in the library. It was the big day at the end of the week; it was the day he had been both dreading and looking forward to for the last two weeks. To the dragon, it was a day unlike any he had ever experienced, and what it was truly about was giving him a severe case of anxiety.
The day of his date with Sweetie Belle; Saturday night, six o’clock sharp.

It hadn’t been much time into Sweetie Belle’s third year of high school before she started to blossom into a beautiful young mare, though in her family’s eyes she had been well on her way to adulthood a few years before. Spike had been a friend of hers for many years, and had partly asked her to be his semi-girlfriend so as to try and protect her from the numerous colts in her class. They had many ill-intentioned desires to be with her, so the young dragon had taken it upon himself to protect her honor from such potential predators. The growing mare had thought it rather sweet of him, to do such a thing for a good friend, but the whole idea of going out on an actual date had made Spike reevaluate his life.

Ever since he had gotten over his crush on Rarity a few years back, he had always had this nagging feeling that he’d never find happiness until he looked past the things he didn’t have and instead focused on the qualities and traits he did. Forget the moustaches, the clothes, the fake accents or the jewels he hoarded; it had been about time he focused on his innate charm, his sensitive side, his courage, compassion and generosity. He was intelligent, a decent conversationalist, undemanding and loved being friends with others. So, naturally, he was what Twilight had called “ideal date material” for somepony of Sweetie’s age.

Right now, though, he felt as though all of his more desirable dating characteristics had been flushed down the drain. He was going to mess this up, he was going to ruin their friendship, he was going to-

“Snap out of it, Spike; the date’s not for a few more hours,” the dragon said, slapping himself lightly to hopefully knock some sense and courage back into his brain. “You can do this, Sweetie Belle likes you, you’ve been friends for years, and-,”

“-and you just need some courage is all,” Twilight said, walking down the stairs an over to the growing dragon. Hard to think he had once been small enough to ride on her back; now he was just a hair taller than her, though his overall length was a bit more than she thought he’d grow into. It was the tail, to be sure; it was nearly a foot longer than his torso was. “Come on, Spike; you can do this. All you need is a bit of confidence, and everything will turn out fine. It’s just a date, after all.”

“It’s our first date, Twilight,” the dragon said, checking himself in a small mirror. His spines had grown in nicely, but still no wings; he’d likely never get wings, but then again, flying looked rather dangerous to him. He preferred lolling around on the ground and walking with his friends, since it was easier to talk with them when he was amongst and not high above them. “Something’s bound to go wrong eventually.”

“Nonsense, mister dragon,” the purple unicorn said, magically turning Spike away from his mirror to face her. “You just need some advice on how to properly behave, and you’ll sail through this date without any troubles whatsoever.”

“Oh really?” Spike asked, arching an eyebrow in surprise. “And how would you know this? Last time I checked, your last date was a little over six months ago.”

“Yes, well, one can never be too careful about who they date in this day and age,” Twilight said with a small frown. “Just because my last date was that long ago doesn’t mean I can’t give you some helpful advice, Spike. Trust me, you’ll thank me when you put it to good use.”

“Uh, okay,” the dragon said simply, scratching his head. “What should I do when I get to her house?”

“Ring the doorbell once and wait; a good, proper date is both patient and faithful that his date will respond within a certain amount of time,” the unicorn said slowly. “Compliment how she is dressed; her mane’s style, perhaps. Give her flowers and chocolates, let her decide where you want to go, discuss things you find interesting; you know, stuff like that.”

“Well, I kinda guessed at some of that, but what about the other stuff? What about while we’re on the date?” Spike asked, absentmindedly scratching his chin.

“Well, there’s a proper etiquette to be used whenever the date involves food; I know I have a book on the subject somewhere,” Twilight said, her magic shuffling through several shelves. “Complimentary gifts being exchanged can be a good thing, though it can also be bad whenever the gifts are one-sided in nature, seeing as whole relationships built on such a form of exchange usually end in disaster. I’ve found that-,”

Spike let the librarian ramble on and on as he slunk out the door, making sure to quietly shut it so she wouldn’t hear him leave. If she stayed true to her past actions, she’d likely keep on talking and not notice he was gone for a good twenty minutes. It helped that her back was to him as he left, or else his escape might not have been so flawless.

“Maybe I should ask some of the other colts in Sweetie’s class about dating,” the dragon muttered to himself as he walked away from the library. The only reason he wasn’t in school was that, true to form, Twilight had homeschooled him pretty much the day she was able to take care of him without an adult stepping in. Inasmuch, he was on par, if not above in education level, as Sweetie Belle and those around her age.

Socially, though, he had rather slim pickings when it came to interaction with those around his age. More often than not, after all, he had been hanging out with Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo whenever the Elements of Harmony were needed for something or needed to be somewhere, so it was natural that he identified them as friends, and they did the same for him. However, when it came to the colts of his own age, he didn’t really know them. Well, he knew them, such as their names, likes and dislikes, overall personality and such, but other than that, their conversations never really went much beyond “hey, what’s up” and “not much, how about you” and stuff like that.

So, when he spotted one of the aforementioned colts, he just casually walked over to him and coughed slightly, just to rip his attention away from the flanks of several passing mares. Spike didn’t want to admit it, but there were plenty of single, attractive mares in Ponyville.

“Oh, hey Spike,” the colt said as he sipped some juice, his lightweight frame giving him away as Featherweight. Seriously, that guy needed to eat more, or else a strong breeze might shatter him like glass. “How’s it going?”

“Not too bad, except for tonight,” the dragon replied. “I just feel so helpless.”

“Ah, so I heard. Managed to snag a date with Sweetie Belle, eh?” the pegasus asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. “Who’d have thought she’d go for you? I mean, I knew you were friends and all, but... a date? That's a pretty big step for any friendship.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t believe it either half the time,” Spike said, leaning against a wall. “So, you’ve been on dates before, right?”

“A fair few, depending on who’s asking,” the lightweight colt replied, finishing his juice box and tossing it in the trash. “Why?”

“I could... use some pointers, to be honest. I’ve never actually had a date, and play-dates from when I was younger don’t count,” the dragon said with a huff. “Any tips on how to, well, make the date go right?”

“Well, first off, how interested is Sweetie Belle in you? As an individual?” Featherweight asked.

“Well, I, uh.... I’d say fairly interested,” Spike said. “Does that matter?” Spike didn’t like to focus on how good-looking he was; he had heard plenty of gossip through both Twilight and Sweetie Belle’s circle of friends that more than a few of the opposite sex in Ponyville thought him awful cute. Thankfully, most were fillies who strangely thought he had a cute butt, but a few of the older mares had said something about him being a young, strapping dragon. Thankfully, the fact he was a dragon had seemed to keep many of them at a distance, though if he grew any “hotter” as he had heard it put (his dragon heritage notwithstanding), then he might have some problems.

“Dude, it always matters,” the pegasus replied, snapping the dragon out of his line of thought. “Think about it; if some lady think’s you’re a bore, you’re not gonna have a good date, even if you do everything right. If she thinks you’re hot stuff, then the date will likely go great, even if you think you messed it all up somehow. Why? She’ll be more focused on you and not the date, which means some things can be skipped in favor of sealing the deal.”

“Well, okay, I guess that does make sense in a... weird sort of way,” the dragon replied, thankful at least some colts knew something about dating; or else this all would have been one great big waste of time. “How would one tell just how interested their partner is?”

“I usually can tell by the way the ladies look at me,” Featherweight said. “A lot of times I need to look at them the way I think they want me to be looking at them in order to know if the date is to their liking. Call it an intuition, if you will; reading mares can open up whole new paths for a date to take. Whenever I think they really like me, I just give them ‘the look’ and they fall at my hooves in droves.”

“The look?” Spike asked, arching an eyebrow. He’d seen the ways stallions had looked at mares in the past, but he’d never heard of one specific look that any and all stallions could make.

“Yeah, the look,” the pegasus replied. “It’s all the rage nowadays for desperate mares. Here, I make mine like this.”

The slender pony contorted his face into something resembling the face of a stallion on the cover of some fancy magazine; seductive and smooth. Or at least, that may have been what Featherweight was originally going for. To Spike, it just looked like the poor guy was trying to hold in an absolutely massive fart. “I’ll... take your word for it that this look of yours works,” Spike said a bit hesitantly. “Have you seen any of the other colts in your class around here? I’d like to ask them too, just to increase my chances, you know? More sources, more options for the date: you catch my drift?”

“Yeah, sure, no problem Spike,” Featherweight said, letting his face spring back to its normal position. “I saw Snips and Snails over at one of the park picnic tables eating lunch a while back. If you hurry, you might catch them before they go somewhere else.”

“Thanks,” Spike said, hurrying off. He didn’t exactly want to keep asking Featherweight more questions, as the colt would undoubtedly insist he try a look of his own, and the dragon wasn’t for wasting time making himself look like a fool. He’d done enough of that when he was younger.

“You’re welcome!” Featherweight called after him. Sadly, the lightweight leaned forward a bit too far, and since his head was likely the heaviest part of his body, he fell forward and landed right on his face. “Ow,” he muttered. “I gotta gain some muscle mass.”

As Spike trotted alone, swinging his tail from side to side, he thought back on Featherweight’s advice. “Well, paying attention to them does seem like a good idea,” he began, muttering to himself as he continued on his way. “But... that whole “look” thing just sounds dumb. I mean, I know Sweetie Belle, and she knows me; there won’t be a lot to look for, since this should just be a date between good friends, right?”

Approaching the park, Spike looked around and found the two colts he was looking for. Snips and Snails were indeed finishing up a late lunch of dandelion sandwiches and apple juice boxes, though seeing as how they weren’t in a hurry, he wouldn’t have any trouble talking with them.

“Oh, hey, it’s Scaly!” Snips called out, pointing at the approaching dragon. “Haven’t seen you around for a few days, Scaly; Twilight Sparkle been holding you prisoner with her lectures again?”

“How’s your date with Sweetie Belle?” Snails called out, his rather pronounced speech impediment making him sound either a tad slow or possibly drunk. If he were both, with Spike’s luck, he’d sound like a perfectly normal pony, and then everypony in town would be absolutely shocked and/or confused.

“Snips; Snails,” Spike replied, trying not to be antagonized by the annoying nickname. They’d come up with it ever since sometime around middle school, whenever Spike would be around at the end of the day to walk the (now former) Cutie Mark Crusaders home. It wasn’t some term of endearment or technically even a put-down, but Spike almost saw it as a way of signifying he was so different from everypony else, being a dragon and all. Separation from “normal” society and all that through just a nickname; Spike didn’t really want to believe it since these two likely weren’t smart enough for it to be that meaningful. “I just got done talking with Featherweight, and he told me you two would be here.”

“Yeah, just finishing our lunch,” Snips said, his stature as short as ever, even by high school pony standards. Snails was as tall and lanky as ever, his proportions almost reminding the dragon of a very odd-looking giraffe. “What about it? It’s not every day the local dragon comes looking around for us. We’re not in trouble, are we?”

“I just wanted to ask you a few things about dating,” the dragon said. “That is, if you’ve been on dates before.” Spike wasn’t always in the loop when it came to matters such as these; he didn’t like listening to gossip and never liked spreading it.

“Oh, me? I’ve been on loads of dates; scores!” Snips said, walking around Spike like a short, chubby hawk circling a (comparatively) bodybuilder rabbit. “Why? Need some advice on how to treat the mares, right? I’ll bet that’s what it is.”

“More or less,” Spike said with a shrug. “Got a bit of advice from Featherweight, but I was hoping you two could tell me something he hadn’t.”

“I always like to take my dates to fun places, like a movie or the ice cream shop,” Snails said slowly. “They usually like it when I pay for them too. My mom always said it’s a mark of a true gentlecolt to do that.” He grinned sheepishly at that, as if he had just let Spike in on some great secret.

“Nah, don’t believe him,” Snips said with a tad of frankly immature scorn. “He’s only been on, what: four dates? I’ve been on a good five times that!” He puffed out his chubby chest as if to show how tough and proud he was. The poor colt just looked even more obese; he should get some blood work from a doctor to check for diabetes or blood clots.

“Okay then, so, how do you behave on a date?” Spike asked, wanting to see where this went. For a colt with not a lot of brains, Snails seemed to have the right idea on how to be a good date. Snips must know something, if the number of dates he’d been on signified anything.

“Oh, well, I just pick them up and take them somewhere cool, like the arcade or the bowling alley,” Snips said, walking over to his friend and sitting down on the bench. “Tell them what to do, we go do it, have some fun, you know: stuff like that.”

“Really?” the dragon asked. He wasn’t so sure about that; it sounded awfully... simple. And brusque: Twilight would be proud of him for using that word in the correct context.

“Yeah,” the pony replied. “Ladies love it when you’re a real jerk to them. Boss them around, make them do this or that; it shows inner confidence. Plus, when it comes to having a good time, everypony knows only the stallions can be the ones in charge.”

“Oh, really? That’s how to properly treat a mare?” Spike asked, taking a few steps forward. “Treat them like dirt, and they’ll just... land at your hooves?” Something here didn’t seem quite right...

“Y-yeah, s-s-sure,” Snips said, suddenly looking a bit uncomfortable. “Inner confidence can only be projected by avocado and selfless revealing of one’s true self!”

“Avocado? You mean bravado?” Snails asked slowly, craning his head to look at his shorter friend. Even though he sounded slow, he was by no means stupid; it just took him longer to realize, process and respond to most stimuli. Likely all caused by a blow to the head when he was younger, or a difficult birth; either way, Snails was Snails because he was slow.

“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah that’s what I meant!” Snips said, looking back and forth between the dragon and his friend.

“I thought I read that line in of Trixie’s books,” Snails said slowly. “Or was that at one of Iron Will’s seminars?”

“No, uh, I came up with it all by myself, through lots and lots of observation!” the smaller unicorn said in a rather defensive tone. “Quit grilling me for answers, you guys! You’re making me feel nervous.”

“Snips, have you ever... actually been on a date before?” Spike asked slowly.

The unicorn looked from the dragon to his friend and back, and then let his head fall in disgrace. “No, not really,” he said simply, swinging his rear legs to and fro beneath him.

“Never ever?” the dragon asked. He wasn’t terribly surprised, but surely Snips had gone out on at least one date, right?

“No, I’ve never been on a date. Unless they’re weird like that, mares don’t like it when you’re a real jerk to them,” Snips said. “I’m so lonely,” he added, hugging himself in a rather pathetic fashion; Spike felt like puking out of pity.

The other two sat in silence for a few moments. “So, you’ve never had a date? Why?” Snails asked. “I’ve had a few dates: why haven’t you?”

“I’ve never been on a date before because... because... because... I’m scared of girls.” He spoke in such a whisper, that if not for their proximity, Snips’ two companions may not have heard him at all.

“What?” Spike and Snails asked at the same time, the former arching an eyebrow in surprise. “What did you say?”

“I... I... I said I’m scared of girls, all right!” Snips cried out for all the world to hear. “I’m scared! So very, very scared!” With that, he tumbled off his seat and landed on the grass, curling up into a whimpering ball. The crying was either due to his fear of girls, or the fact he had landed on a small and rather pointy-looking rock.

If it wasn’t for the fact he didn’t like hurting other’s feelings, the dragon likely would have laughed his ass off at the poor unicorn’s problem. Scared of girls, at this age? Being intimidated was understandable, but being outright scared? “Well, I’ll be... seeing you guys around then, okay?” Spike said, not wanting to spend any more time around Snips. Being around Snails was okay; he was slow, sure, but okay. Snips? He had deep-seated issues that the dragon didn’t ever want to deal with, and hoped he never had. This kind of self-confidence issue wasn’t contagious, was it?

“Okay Spike: seeya around,” Snails said, looking down at his friend as the dragon walked off. “Hey, Snips, why are you crying? Did you hurt yourself?”

As Spike walked off, he couldn’t help but think this had been a waste of time. Sure, he had learned what definitely not to do on a date from Snips, and surprisingly a good piece of advice of what to do on a date from Snails, but other than that; useless. “How many colts in this town have actually gone on legitimate and meaningful dates besides Rumble?” he muttered, thinking of the colt who held the record for the longest running relationship with Silver Spoon. Why those two were together, he had no idea; maybe she actually liked him. He hadn’t technically heard anything bad about Rumble from Diamond Tiara, a well-known gossip girl and malicious bully, but maybe she didn’t care that the two of them were together. Rumble did have a brother who was a rather well-connected weather pony; perhaps it was all benefitting her social status. It seemed none of the other colts around his age knew much about both dating and treating a mare right. What to do, what to do...

“Hey, wait a minute... my age!” Spike said to himself, a revelation hitting him in the head like a sonic rainboom. “Why ask colts my age when I can ask an older stallion!” But his new brilliant plan faltered slightly; who should he ask? There were countless stallions he could indeed ask, but just who remained a tad out of his reach. Big Macintosh had about as much dating experience as Snails, though he had been far more successful with multiple dates to the same mare than the younger colt had. Thunderlane was currently dating some bimbo pegasus from out of town, Caramel was off doing some work out of town, Braeburn didn’t even live in Ponyville, and Mr. Whooves was undoubtedly... undoubtedly...

Wait just a minute...

“He’s perfect!” Spike exclaimed to himself, rushing off as fast as he could towards the good doctor’s house. Why didn’t he think of this sooner? Dr. Whooves was perfect advice-asking material; he practically gave it out without even needing to be involved in a conversation. He was calm, confident, had a knack for saying the right thing at the right time, knew a lot of different ponies and had the intuition to guess when something was wrong. If only Spike had thought of asking him sooner, than all of this wasted time could have been better spent preparing for his date later that night.

Arriving on the doctor’s doorstep, he paused for a few minutes to catch his breath. Pressing the doorbell once, he waited, listening to the peculiar jingle it sang out after he pressed it. It reminded him of the tune of some song he had heard long ago, before he had started hanging out with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. There was some movement behind the door, and when it opened, Spike saw...

“Derpy? What are you doing here?” he asked, slightly confused for a moment.

“Why, I live here, silly!” the wall-eyed mare said with her characteristic goofy grin. “Want a muffin? I just baked some a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, um, no thanks, Derpy, I already had something to eat,” the dragon said, trying to peer past her into the house. Her wings kept blocking the view, however, so he quickly stopped that approach. “Have you seen Doctor Whooves? I need to ask him something.”

“Oh, no, he’s been gone for a few hours,” Derpy replied. “Him and that magic blue booth of his, off doing some magical adventure far away from here. I’m just glad he comes home to me every night.”

Oh, right; Derpy and the Doctor were living together. “Probably won’t be long before I hear wedding bells,” Spike thought to himself.

“Why? What did you need to ask him?” the blonde-mane pegasus asked, cocking her head to the side and looking at him; with one eye, at least.

“I... I needed to ask for some... advice,” the dragon said, unsure why Derpy was interested in what he wanted to ask the Doctor. “I... I have a date this evening, and was... and was hoping he could give me a few pointers. You know, stuff to do properly on a date?”

“Who’s the lucky mare?” Derpy asked, smiling as brightly as ever. Her seemingly unending happiness really could lift anypony out of the dumps, just like Pinkie Pie.

“Sweetie Belle,” Spike said with a sigh. “We’ve been friends for a long time, but I want this date to go well, if for her sake. I... I want to treat her right, you know?”

“Oh, that’s so thoughtful of you!” the pegasus replied, pushing gently on his left cheek in what ponies would think of as a pinching gesture. Only problem was, a singular hoof can’t pinch, so it was more like a deep-tissue massage. “Well, I’ll let you in on a secret; a secret on how to really, really have a great date.”

“What is it?” Spike asked, leaning in closer.

“Have fun, silly!” the mare said in reply, her grin splitting from ear to ear. “Dates are supposed to be for fun and having a good time with a close friend. Don’t get yourself so worked up over it; it’s not the end of the world if it goes badly. You wouldn’t believe the number of dates I had with the Doctor other ponies might have called terrible!”

“Such as?” Spike asked slowly.

“Well, there was that time we were chased by a manticore and a hydra through a swamp, and then there was that time we both got sick from eating at a Manehattan restaurant, and then there was the time the moon exploded, and then there was-,”

“So, what you’re saying is, just be myself and have a good time?” Spike asked, absolutely stunned by how simple and yet perfect Derpy’s advice was. He’d always liked her, since she was nice to him and all, but now... he could see why the Doctor seemed to be so infatuated with her. She lived life to the fullest by focusing on the good and simply ignoring the bad as best as she could. What an idyllic life; maybe he would try that tonight!

“Exactly!” Derpy said, not seeming upset over the fact that Spike had interrupted her ramblings. She patted him kindly on the head. “Go on now, go have some fun!”

“Thanks: I will!” Spike called over his shoulder as he ran off, a great weight lifting from his heart. The sun was reaching the horizon, and his date would begin in a little over an hour; perhaps now he should go back to the library to freshen up and get ready.

Getting ready took longer than he had anticipated, seeing as how Twilight had rounded on him for just abandoning her mid-speech when she thought she had some great advice to give. Receiving none of the aforementioned advice and just a lecture on decency, Spike managed to clean himself up in the shower, shine his spines a little bit, and make sure his breath was nice and minty fresh.
Setting off across town with a purpose in his step, it was not long before the dragon arrived at Carousel Boutique. Rarity’s parents were out of town once more, this time on a business trip to Los Pegasus, and as such Sweetie Belle was staying here for the next few weeks. Politely ringing the doorbell once, Spike sat back and waited for his date to arrive.

The door opened, and there she stood: not Sweetie Belle, but Rarity, resplendent in a dress she was currently fitting for herself. “Oh, hello Spike!” she said, her words at one point having an intoxicating effect on the dragon. Now, they were merely the words of a good friend to him; nothing more. “What brings you here this fine evening?”

“I’m here to pick up Sweetie Belle for our date; is she ready, by chance?” Spike explained politely.

The briefest flicker of confusion, followed by a longer flicker of understanding and embarrassment, shone on Rarity’s features. “Oh!” she said. “Sweetie had told me somepony was coming by to pick her up, but I didn’t know it was you!”

“We tried not to tell too many ponies, if only because gossip in this town spread like wildfire,” the dragon said. “You’d know all about that.”

“Oh? In what way?” Rarity asked.

“Remember the Gabby Gums debacle?” Spike replied.

“Oh, yes; all of that nonsense,” the unicorn replied, looking back over her shoulder. “I’m just glad ponies were able to accept my sister’s co-apology with as much tact as they did. Sweetie Belle, your dashing date has arrived!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” called out a voice, and Rarity stepped aside to let her younger sister pass. To say that Sweetie Belle looked absolutely stunning would have been a severe understatement to Spike. Her mane was done up in a way he couldn’t believe was possible; surely there was some magic involved to keep it so fluffy and shaped? Her pelt was of a fine sheen, and Spike could smell the faint scent of... lavender?

“Oh, hey Spike; ready to go?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” the dragon said, his confidence still high but a tremor of terror still penetrating his mental defenses. Was he truly ready for this? They were good friends, after all; what would she like to do? “So... wanna go see a movie?” he asked as they walked away from the boutique.

“Don’t stay out too long now, you hear?” Rarity called out to the pair. “I expect you both of you to be back here before ten o’clock!”

“Don’t mind her,” Sweetie Belle said. “Sure; what movie do you want to see?”

“How about... Ramsformers?” the dragon asked. The newest film in a set all about shape-shifting sheep, Ramsformers was big at the box office and drew a hefty crowd every night across Equestrian theaters. The director, Michael Baah, was known for magic explosions and little else, but luckily the co-director Flint Westwood had given the series a great storyline and truly developed characters.

“Sure!” Sweetie Belle said with a smile. “Will we be getting refreshments?”

“Only if you want to,” Spike said. Yes, this night was going to be a good one.

Several hours later...

“Well, the movie was good, the food at that restaurant was decent, but this weather stinks,” Spike muttered to himself as he and Sweetie Belle walked back home. It was pouring rain, as the weather ponies had decided it was time for Ponyville to receive a good downpour. Luckily there wasn’t any wind, but the cold and heavy rain still made it difficult to see far ahead of the pair.

“I’m sorry I spilled that soda on your scales,” Sweetie Belle said softly to Spike as the streetlights shone through the rain like miniature lighthouses. “I didn’t know the waiter would fill my glass that much.”

“Bah, don’t worry; it can’t stain them,” Spike said, with a short laugh. “Sorry about your mane, though; it must have taken hours to get ready.”

“Yes, well, rain can ruin even the prettiest of manes,” the unicorn replied with a slight sigh.

“I still think it is pretty,” the dragon said softly.

“Really?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking at her date as they found themselves on the Boutique’s doorstep. “You do?”

“Yeah; you have one of the prettiest manes in all of Ponyville,” Spike said, puffing out his chest slightly as if to look brave and honorable. Truly, though, he felt rather afraid to be telling the unicorn that; it almost sounded like a line out of some cheesy or old-timey romance movie, like Casabronco or Gone with the Whinny. Not that he’d ever seen those, of course.

Sweetie Belle giggled at his compliment. “Even with all this cold rain, I did have a good time tonight, Spike,” she said.

“You did? I’d hoped so,” the dragon replied. “I worked myself into a frenzy getting ready today, and it turned out better than I had expected.”

“Why would you work yourself into a... frenzy, was it, over something so simple as a date?” Sweetie Belle asked, sounding slightly confused. “I thought this was just a nice evening out on the town with you.”

“Well, you and I are pretty good friends, I should think, and I wanted this date to be, well, a good one,” Spike said a bit sheepishly. “I went around asking some of the colts your age for tips on how to make a date great, or at least, how to not mess it up.”

“Did that work?” the unicorn asked, arching an eyebrow and giving a little sneeze. It was a good thing they hadn’t been caught out in the rain for a while, or else she’d have undoubtedly caught a nasty cold. Spike wasn’t immune to cold rain, but it would take significantly longer exposure for him to fall into the same state as his date.

“For the most part... no,” Spike said, extracting yet another little laugh from his date. “A few good tidbits here and there, but overall, it was a waste of time. I was going to ask Doctor Whooves after them for some real advice, something I should have done from the beginning, but he wasn’t home; so I asked Derpy instead.”

“The mailmare with the adorably goofy eyes? What did she have to say?” Sweetie Belle asked, steeping a little closer. Spike would have noticed if he hadn’t been looking into her eyes; they were so pretty. Why hadn’t he ever noticed before?

“She said ‘go have some fun’ or something along those lines,” the dragon said softly. Since when did Sweetie Belle look so good with a soaking-wet mane? It really did frame her face nicely, and brought out her eyes to boot. “I’m glad you had fun; I did too.”

“Well, I’m glad about that,” Sweetie Belle said, closing the gap as the lights to the Boutique’s deck came on. Rarity must have been spying on the pair through a curtained window. “I’ll see you next Saturday then, for our next date? Maybe at the park if the weather ponies don’t cause a snowstorm?”

“Oh, um, sure thing,” he said, wondering why he felt breathless all of a sudden. The door swung open, though, and his thoughts were driven away.

“You may go home now, Spike: I am sure Twilight is expecting you,” the older unicorn said, looking between the pair as if making sure nothing “funny” had transpired. “Come in, Sweetie Belle dear, before you catch a cold,” Rarity added, walking off to get her sister a towel for her mane. “You know cold rain is the perfect environment for you to catch pneumonia and other terribly unfashionable diseases. I shudder to think how much medicine we’d need if we both were sick.”

“Well, I gotta go now, or else Rarity’s gonna give me a hot bath like I’m some dirty little filly again. Goodnight, Spike,” the younger unicorn said, and then she did something her accompanying date had not expected. She kissed him right on the cheek; it was brief, but it was meaningful and had just a smidge of emotion behind it. Sighing happily, the unicorn trotted into her home and magically shut the door behind her, leaving the dragon standing there in shock.

Spike might have stood there for a few minutes, or maybe even an hour; all he could do for the longest time was just think about what had transpired. As if in a trance, he raised one hand up to his cheek and rubbed the spot where she had kissed him, feeling as though his scales had been warmed substantially through that little gesture.

“She... she gave me a kiss,” the dragon muttered. He’d been kissed on the cheek before, by Rarity no less, but that had just been thanks of a simple sort. Sure, he had made an absolutely huge deal out of it at the time, but looking back on it after all these years, it held little in his imagination. This... this was the kiss of a good friend as thanks for an evening well-spent, and there was something more to it, so much more than any of the other kisses he had ever felt.

With a growing spring in his step and a similarly growing smile on his face, Spike set off for home, the chill of the rain no longer seeming so cold. He had a new and exciting warmth flowing through his body, mind and his heart, one the young dragon wasn’t so sure would go away anytime soon. If he didn’t know any better, he could have sworn he wanted to just... burst out singing.

“A dragon, singing in the rain; imagine that,” Spike said to himself with a little chuckle.