> The Drake Bros.
>  by BrawnyBold
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> New Boys on Campus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A majority of students were coming in to Canterlot High's entrance while some were standing outside to hang out before the morning bell rang. Two particular teenage boys were approaching the school grounds. One of the boys was named Spike and he was fifteen years old. He has green, spiky hair and was shorter than most boys his age. He wore a purple dragon hoody and blue jeans. The other boy was named Scales and he was sixteen years old. He had dark blue spiky hair that was combed back and he stood taller than Spike. What made Scales stood out was his long black jacket with matching black jeans and boots. 
As both of the boys made their way towards the school entrance, they caught the attention from a few of the students. 
"Are those new students?" one of the students whispered. "I never seen them before." 
"I think the small one looks so cute!" one girl giggled from Spike's adorable appearance. 
"That guy with the blue hairdo looks kinda intimidating," a boy whispered nervously. Scales heard the whisper and decided to have some fun. He turn to the boy and gave him an wild growl. The boy yelped and fell on his butt. 
'Hmph, too easy.' Scales snickered as he turned to catch up with Spike. It wasn't long till Spike stopped in front of a door labeled: Principal's Office
"Come on, Scales!" Spike called out. "I found the principal's office!"
"Coming," Scales replied as he reached towards Spike. Spike knocked on the door a few times before a older female's voice called out, "Come in!" 
Spike and Scales entered the room to see an older woman sitting in a desk. She had long blue hair that was wavy. Her choice of clothing was a violet shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. 
"Good morning, boys." the woman said. "You must be the new students?"
"That's right," Spike smiled. 
"I'm Vice-Principal Luna," Luna said before she got up. "I'll let my sister know that you have arrived." Luna went to the door behind her. After a few seconds, Luna returned and said, "Principal Celestia is ready to see you now,"
Spike and Scales made their way into the next room, where they saw a woman taller than Luna standing in front of them. This woman had hair with a mix of pink, blue, purple, and green. She wore a yellow jacket and purple dress pants. 
"I'm Principal Celestia," the woman said as she offered to shake the boys' hands. 
"It is nice to meet you boys," Spike took both of Celestia's hands and gave them a nice shake. 
"The honor is ours!" Spike replied with a smile. Scales just gave a small shrug. 
"Okay," Celestia said in confusion. "I have your class schedules all set and the locks to your new lockers." She handed the boys the papers and the locks. 
"Luckily, both of you will have Ms. Cheerilee for homeroom." Principal Celestia said. 
"Yay!" Spike cheered childishly. "I'm in the same class with Scales!"
Scales just turned away, looking uninterested. Principal Celestia felt a bit uncertain when she saw Scales, but she shook it off as it wasn't polite to judge people based on his or her appearance. 
Once Spike and Scales exited Celestia's office, they followed Luna as she gave a brief tour of the school. Spike was amazed as there were so many places the school had to offer. Scales just nods and said 'okay' as if he didn't care. After the tour, Luna showed the boys to Ms. Cheerilee's classroom. 
"If you boys need anything, please contact me or my sister for assistance." Luna waved them goodbye before leaving. Soon, it was just Spike and Scales standing in front of the classroom door.
"So, " Spike turned to Scales. "ready bro?" 
"Fine," Scales replied before both of them entered the room. The first person they saw was a woman with maroon hair who the boys assume was Ms. Cheerilee. 
"Why, hello there!" Ms. Cheerilee said and turned to the other students. 
"Class! May I have your attention, please!" the students stopped and turned to Ms. Cheerilee. 
"Allow me to introduce our new students: Scales Drake and Spike Drake!" Ms. Cheerilee gestured to the brothers. 
"Nice to meet you all!" Spike squealed with excitement. 
"Whatever," Scales grumbled. 
"As you may guess, yes, they are brothers." Ms. Cheerilee said. "I hope all of you will get along for the entire school year!" 
After the introductions, Ms. Cheerilee began her class which was biology. Spike sat in the empty desk that was on the front of the class while Scales sat in an empty desk at the very back, which he didn't mind. The lessons went on while Spike paid close attention to what Ms. Cheerilee says. Little did he knew, the girls sitting around Spike were giggling and making goo-goo eyes at him. The girls shared the same thought, 
"He is such a cutie!" The other boys notice this and were ticked off for Spike getting the most attention from the girls. Just like the girls, the boys shared a common thought too,
"That runt is gonna pay!" The bell rang as a sign that class was over. Once Spike started packing up his bag, a girl with blue and periwinkle hair approached him. 
"Hi there!" the girl said to Spike. 
"Oh, hello!" Spike replied. 
"I'm Minuette! It's so nice to see a new student here at CHS!" the girl gave a smile that showed off her purely white teeth.  
"That's good to know," Spike said. It wasn't long till two more girls approached Spike. One of the girls had curly pink hair and the other had cerulean hair. 
"Hi! I'm Lemon Heart!" the cerulean haired girl said.
"I'm Twinkleshine!" the pink haired girl included. 
"I was wondering if you would like to walk together to your next class," Lemon Heart said with a blush. Minuette and Twinkleshine showed anger on their faces.  
"Yo, Bro!" Scales called out, interrupting the three girls from any conflicts from happening. "We got to head to our next class!" 
"Coming, bro!" Spike said as he picked up his bag and got out of his desk. "Sorry girls, but I have to go. See ya!" As Spike left the classroom with Scales, Minuette, Lemon Heart, and Twinkleshine thought, 'That stupid brother ruined my chances with my Spike!'
"So Spike, what class you have next?" Scales asked. 
Spike looked at his schedule. 
"I have Algebra next." Spike replied. "What about you?" 
"Home Economics," Scales replied. "looks like we'll be splitting up for now." Spike showed a nervous look on his face. 
"Don't worry," Scales placed a hand on Spike's shoulder. "We meet up at lunch time, just be yourself."
"Okay," Spike smiled before receiving a head rub from his brother. Once Scales went towards his class, Spike turned to go to Algebra. At a far distance, a girl with long, pink hair was hiding behind a row of lockers. She was staring at Spike and her heart started to beat faster. A small blush appeared on her face as she watched Spike walked away from her view. 
"So cute," The hidden girl whispered to herself.
> The First Day Experience
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike arrived to his Algebra class to see that most of the classmates were still talking to one another. Once the bell rang, everyone went to take their seats. All of the students were seated and Spike was able to find an empty seat next to a girl with long dark blue hair with pink streaks on it. The girl was really distracted with her reading as her face was so close to her book. The classroom door opened to reveal a short, middle-aged man with short, black hair. The man wore a dark green sweater and red pants. His expression was grumpy as if he really didn't want to be here right now. 
"Time to get started class, according to my attendance sheet we have a new student." The man looked around until he saw Spike. 
"Hello young man, I'm Mr. Doodle. Would you please stand up and introduce yourself." Spike did as Mr. Doodle said and stood up. 
"My name is Spike Drake and it's a pleasure to meet all of you!" Spike gave a smile and most of the class replied with 'hi' or 'nice to meet you'. Some of the girls started giggling to Spike's adorable face. 
"Love the enthusiasm, " Mr. Doodle replied. He stopped when he noticed the girl who was still reading. 
"Ms. Sparkle," Mr. Doodle cleared his throat but the girl didn't respond. He grumbled before he approached the girl's desk to slightly move one of her pencils.
"Gah!" The girl gasped, only to have some of the students snicker. 
"Sorry Mr. Doodle, I got too caught up on my reading." The girl chuckled nervously.
"It's alright, just don't do it again." Mr. Doodle said before he went to grab a marker and began writing on the board. "Now to start the lesson, class!" The lessons went on with Mr. Doodle writing equations and explaining them. Spike tried his best to write notes on the lesson and he was starting to have difficulties. Next to Spike, there was another girl who was giving him flirty glances. She had light blue hair with a purple star on it. When class was over, Mr. Doodle said, 
"Alright class, you have five minutes before the bell rings. Get your things packed up." The students did what Mr. Doodle said and started packing up their books and papers. The girl with dark blue hair noticed Spike struggling with his work and decided to walk over to see what was wrong. She saw that Spike was working on some of the problems Mr. Doodle showed during class. 
"Mind if I help?" Spike looked up to see it was the girl who was distracted from reading. 
"It's a simple problem if explained a little more," the girl showed her method of solving the equation and it wasn't long for Spike to solve it himself.
"Wow, thanks!" Spike smiled. 
"It's no problem," the girl offered her hand. 
"I'm Twilight Sparkle." Spike then gave Twilight a handshake. 
"I'm Spike Drake, the new guy!" Spike replied. 
"You must be really smart and nice to help me." Spike's comment made Twilight's face heat up with a blush. She usually gets praised for her intelligence by her friends or family. It was rare for a boy to not only call Twilight smart but also nice as well. 
"Well, I have my moments." Twilight said nervously. Before Twilight and Spike continued their conversation, the girl with light blue hair approached them. 
"Greetings, newcomer!" the girl said to Spike. 
"Call me the Great and Powerful Trixie!" the girl spun her hand around, only to have a purple wizard hat with stars and moons appear in her hand. She then placed the hat on her head and gave a wink.
"It's always a pleasure to see a new face," Trixie noticed the classwork Spike was doing. 
"Perhaps I could assist you with your studying. Trixie is quite a mathematician when it comes to it." Twilight rolled her eyes from Trixie's boast. 
"Thanks Trixie, but Twilight is helping me. Perhaps another time?" Trixie looked at Twilight before turning back to Spike.
"Very well," Trixie got closer to place a finger on Spike's nose. 
"See you around, cutie." Trixie giggled as she turned and walked away. Twilight felt a bit annoyed after seeing Trixie showed some affection to Spike. 
"I should get going too." Spike said as he and Twilight started to pack up their things. Spike and Twilight went their separate ways to their next classes. Spike turned and called out, 
"Bye Twilight! You're a great friend!" 
"I appreciate it!" Once Spike was farther away, Twilight sighed heavily. 
'I can't believe I acted all nervous near Spike!' Twilight thought. 'I know I don't talk to people that much, but Spike felt different.' She started to blush when Spike appeared in her mind. 
"It's probably nothing," Twilight said to herself before she continued towards her next class. 



Art was Spike's next class and he was able to find the art room in no time. He entered the room where he stopped to notice something near the corner. A girl with neatly brushed purple hair was sitting while talking to some of the female students. Spike couldn't stop looking at her as he was distracted by her dazzling blue eyes and sparkling complexion. 
'She looks like a princess,' Spike thought to himself. His attention was interrupted when the school bell rang. Everyone started to take their seats and Spike froze when he saw an empty seat near the purple haired girl. He gulped and slowly made his way to sit on his desk without drawing attention to the girl. Despite Spike's efforts, the girl noticed him right away. 
"Why hello there," the purple haired girl said. 
"Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before." The girl waited for a reply.
"I'm Rarity, what's your name? The only thing Spike could muster up was a nervous laugh and a nod. A blonde-haired man wearing glasses and a green sweater with an orange collar entered the classroom. 
"Greetings, class!" the man called out. 
"I'm so excited to start another great semester of expressing ourselves through our creativity." He then looked and noticed Spike.
"Oh! It seems we have a new student." Most of the students turned to Spike. 
"Would you care to introduce yourself to the class?" The man asked. 
Spike quickly stood up and said with a nervous grin, "Hi class, I'm Spike Drake." He then sat down with nothing else to say. 
"Okay," the man said before he cleared his throat. 
"I'm Mr. Trenderhoof and I'm Canterlot High's art teacher. Class, I hope you all will get along with Mr. Drake for this semester." The students nodded in agreement. 
"Now let's begin!" Trenderfhoof said with glee. 
"Take out your sketch books and sketch anything that you would consider beautiful. It could be an object, a person, or a place. Sketch whatever your imagination comes to mind," The students began sketching on their pads. Rarity  was already working on her sketches as it was filled with fancy dresses. She finds it odd that Spike often takes quick glimpses between her and his sketch pad. While avoiding getting spotted by Spike, Rarity leaned over to see what he has drawn. To the Rarity's surprise, it was almost a perfect drawing of her. 
"Wow," the purple haired girl said. "that looks amazing!" Spike jumped from the girl's comment and tried to cover his work.
"Sorry," Rarity said sheepishly, "I couldn't help but noticed it was me in your drawings. You're quite the artist." 
With Spike in such a nervous state, he did his courage and whispered, "You are very pretty." 
Rarity did a double take from Spike's response, "I'm sorry?" 
"You're just like a princess." Spike blushed after what he blurted out to Rarity. Before Spike could say or do anything, Rarity giggled with her hand covering her mouth. 
"No one has ever said that to me that before," Rarity replied. "I'm actually glad."
"Really?" Spike said curiously. 
"Indeed," Rarity nodded. "most of the boys this school are too shy or nervous to say anything to me. You sounded like you said that from your heart, is that true?" 
"Y-Yes!" Spike said.
"Thank you, Spike." Rarity then gave a small peck on Spike's head. He blushed with more red on his face. 
'I think I'm going to like this one,' Rarity giggled as she and Spike continued with their class. 



It was lunchtime and everyone went to the cafeteria. Spike made his way to the tables with his tray full of food. 
"Spike!" Twilight called out from the distance. 
"Hey Twilight, what's up?" Spike replied. 
"I thought I could introduce you to some of my friends. I think they would love to see a new student." Twilight said. 
"Sorry Twilight," Spike said. "but I have to find my brother. He promised to meet me at lunch after our classes were over." 
"Oh, okay." Twilight said. "See you later then." Spike scanned the cafeteria until he saw Scales sitting outside on one of the benches. 
"Hey Scales!" Spike smiled. 
"Oh, hey bro." Scales waved at him. While Spike and Scales were eating together, Twilight made her way back to her friends' table where Rarity and two other girls were present. One of the girls had rainbow hair and red eyes. The other girl had blonde hair and wore a cowboy hat. 
"Hey Rainbow, hey Applejack" Twilight stopped when she noticed her rainbow haired friend was in a grumpy mood. "What's wrong, Rainbow Dash?"
"Rainbow had a bad run with a new student at P.E." Applejack replied. "This new guy out maneuvered Dash in soccer and rubbed it in her face. Then, she got angry and tried to kick the ball at him but he dodged and it hit Coach Spitfire on the face! Rainbow now has to deal with a week's worth of detention."
Twilight felt uncertain when she heard 'new student' and asked, "Was this new student named Spike?" 
"No!" Rainbow Dash grumbled. "His name was Scales and he just pisses me off!"
"Oh! So you have met Spike?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah, we met in Algebra class. He needed help with his classwork and I offered some advise." Twilight said.
"Have you met him, Rarity?" Twilight asked. 
"Why yes," Rarity said. "and might I say he is the most adorable boy I have ever met! He said that I was like a princess."
"Really?" Twilight said in disbelief. A part of Twilight felt a bit jealous of Rarity, but the bookworm brushed it off. 
"Where are Pinkie and Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. 
"They're still waiting in line for some lunch." Rarity replied. It wasn't long till a girl with dark pink, puffy hair and the timid girl with long pink hair approached the others. 
"Hey guy!" Pinkie called out. "How were classes?"
"Quite interesting," Rarity replied. 



The final bell rang and everyone exited the school for the day. Spike met up with Scales and they made their way back home. 
"First day of school was amazing!" Spike said with glee. 
"That's good to know, bro." Scales said. 
"Now I can't wait till tomorrow!" Spike ran ahead of his brother. As they continued to walk, Scales caught of glimpse of something behind them. He turned to see no one there. A few more steps passed till Scales turned to see something pink dashing behind a wall. Scales started to grow suspicious as he felt like someone was following him and Spike. 
"Hey bro!" Scales called as he ran closer to Spike.
"What's up, Scales?" Spike asked. 
"How about we go this way?" Scales said as he led Spike to an empty alley. 
"Umm, ok?" Spike said in confusion. The brothers entered the nearby alley only for Scales to stop Spike. 
"Shh!" Scales shushed. 
"Huh?" Spike whispered. 
"I think someone is following us." Scales whispered as a shadow was approaching them. Once the shadow got closer, Scales jumped out of the alley and heard a shriek. A girl with long pink hair fell to the ground as she was scared from Scales sudden jump. 
"Why are you following us!?" Scales said with anger. The girl's eyes started to flood with tears as she quickly got up and ran away from Scales. Spikes slowly came out of the alley only to see a figure running away. 
"Who was that?" Spike asked. 
"Don't know, but I doubt she will bother us again." Scales and Spike resumed walking home.
"Another day of fun awaits, Applejack!" Pinkie said as she skipped along the streets. 
"Wait up, sugarcube." Applejack said. She suddenly heard crying behind her and turned to see Fluttershy with tears in her eyes. Pinkie stopped her skipping as one of her friends looked distressed.
"Fluttershy! What happened?!" Applejack as she and Pinkie comforted Fluttershy with a hug. 
"H-he scared me!" Fluttershy choked up. 
"Who did?" Applejack said with concern.
> Confrontations and Fun times!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning was the same as usual with students hanging around the school before the beginning of class. Scales and Spike were on their way to homeroom until they heard a girl calling out, 
"Scales!" The brothers turned to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash marching towards them. Both of the girl had angry expressions on their faces, specifically towards Scales. Before Scales could react, Applejack grabbed his collar and pushed him against a row of lockers.
"You got a lot of nerve scaring Fluttershy like that!" Rainbow Dash growled. Some of the other students noticed this and watched with curiosity, fear, and excitement. Scales raised an eyebrow and replied, 
"Who are you talking about?" Fluttershy quickly ran towards Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
"Applejack! Rainbow! Please!" Fluttershy begged. Soon, her other friends joined in to help calm Applejack and Rainbow Dash down. Spike face lit up when he saw Twilight and Rarity. 
"Hey Twilight," Spike waved but his face blushed when he saw Rarity. "and um...hi R-Rarity." Scales took a look at Fluttershy before he recognized her. 
"Oh, you mean her." Scales said and turned to Applejack and Rainbow. 
"It wasn't my fault your friend was stalking us. She kept hiding every time I turned and I just gave her a warning." Applejack's grip grew tighter on Scales jacket collar. Rainbow Dash cracked her knuckles to get ready for a beatdown. Before a fight was about to begin, Fluttershy bowed and said, 
"I'm so sorry for following you and Spike yesterday! I promise it won't happen again!" 
Scales nodded and said, "I accept your apology," Applejack sighed before she let go of Scales collar. But she pointed her finger at Scales and said, "You better not hurt any of my friends again, or you will be facin' a world of hurtin." 
"Noted," Scales replied with a straight face. 
"What is going on here?" Principal Celestia said as she and Luna approached the group. The crowd quickly dispersed and went to class. 
Before for anyone could say anything, Scales said,
"Ms. Applejack and her friends just wanted to welcome me and my brother to the school." Scales turned and smirked at Applejack. "Is that correct?"
"Yes," Applejack growled as she hates making up lies, but she also didn't want to get in trouble. 



The bell rang and Ms. Cheerilee's class was over. Spike said his goodbyes to Scales as they head to their other new classes. Spike entered the Home Economics classroom only to be stopped by Pinkie Pie as she ran towards him.
"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! It's nice to meet you!" Pinkie said as she shook Spike's hand. 
"Um...hi, I'm Spike?" Spike replied. He then recognized Pinkie. "You were with that cowgirl who confronted my brother this morning."
"Yeah, sorry." Pinkie said sheepishly, "I thought your brother wanted to do harm to Fluttershy."
"It's alright," Spike replied. "Scales tends to do that to protect me like most older siblings do."
'I can relate to that,' Pinkie thought. The tardy bell rang and everyone immediately went to their seats. Two classmates shared a stove table. 
"You can sit next to me if you want," Pinkie said as she offered the seat next to her's.
"Gee, thanks Pinkie!" Spike said as he sat down next to him. Mrs. Doodle came into the classroom wearing a yellow sundress and a white apron. 
"Hello, class!" Mrs. Doodle called out. "Today we will be baking cheese cakes. Please pull out the cook book from under your desks and follow the instructions." The class started making their cheese cakes. Pinkie and Spike gathered up their ingredients for their cheese cake. After that, Pinkie read the instructions while Spike mixed the ingredients together. Once the cheesecake was in the oven, Pinkie decided to make some small talk with Spike. 
"So Spike," Pinkie said. "are you liking Canterlot High yet?" 
"Oh, it's the best!" Spike said cheerfully. "This school was so many places, I get excited when I walk towards here every morning!"
The timer dinged and the cheese cake was done. Spike got the cheese cake out and Pinkie sliced a piece for Mrs. Doodle to taste. Mrs. Doodle bit the cheese cake piece from her fork and smiled. 
"Excellent job, you two! Both of you can have a slice for yourselves." Mrs. Doodle then went to the other students to check their progress.
"Yeepee!" Pinkie said as she bit a piece of her cheese cake. She noticed Spike doing something with his piece of cheese cake. 
"What are you doing, Spike?" Pinkie asked. Spike turned to revealed that he poked holes through his slice with a toothpick. 
"Check it out! Swiss cheese cake!" Spike joked. Pinkie giggled from Spike's little joke. She also noticed a piece of cheese cake on Spike's cheek. 
"You got some cheesecake on you, Spike." Pinkie carefully wiped it off Spike's cheek with her finger. "I got it!" She then licked it and giggled. 'I like this one.'



The bell rang and Spike went on to his next class which was Animal Care. He made his way to the school yard where the animals were kept inside comfy cages. Some students were talking to on another before class started. As Spike placed his book bag down, he noticed something pink hiding behind one of the cages. He slowly walked closer until he saw that it was Fluttershy who was hidden from the other classmates. 
"You're Fluttershy, right?" Spike asked. Fluttershy showed a scared face as she tries to figure out what to say. 
"Umm...yes." Fluttershy whispered. Spike noticed her shaking like she was looking at a ghost.
"What's wrong?" Spike asked. 
"It's just that after what happened this morning, I thought it would be best to not to anger your brother by seeing you."
"Oh, it's alright. My brother thought you were some stalker and he just wanted to protect me." Spike offered a hand to Fluttershy. "How about we start over? I'm Spike!" 
Fluttershy felt a different feeling toward Spike. She thought Spike was not only cute, but also kind as well. She then took Spike's hand and he helped her up. 
"Nice to meet you!" Fluttershy smiled. 
The class started with the instructor giving the students instructions on how to feed certain animals certain food. Spike noticed that treating the animals was nothing for Fluttershy as if the animals were attracted to her. 
"Boy," Spike said. "the animals must really love you if they're willing to approach you." 
"I just show them the upmost kindness as they need it." Fluttershy said as she petted a guinea pig. 
'Wow' Spike thought. 
"Do you want to pet Arnold?" Fluttershy offered Spike the guinea pig. 
"Sure!" Spike said as he gently rubbed the guinea pig's fur. Fluttershy and Spike continued to enjoy each others' company for the remainder of class. 



It was lunchtime with Twilight and her friends sitting in their usual table as they discussed about their day. Twilight stopped when she noticed Spike leaving the lunch line. 
"Hey Spike," Twilight called out to him. Spike made his way towards the girls' table. 
"Hey Twilight!" Spike replied.
"Want to sit with us?" Twilight asked. Applejack and Rainbow Dash grunted from Twilight's question. 
"Shouldn't he be with his 'brother'?" Rainbow sassed. Twilight gave a stern stare at Rainbow while Spike looked confused. 
"I would usual hang out with my bro," Spike replied. "but I can bring him here so we can all eat together." Applejack chocked on her apple from what she heard. 
"Sure, no problem." Fluttershy said. Spike went to find Scales while Rainbow and Applejack gave looks of disgust.
"Are you kidding me!?" Rainbow Dash ranted. "We're not letting that jerk sit down on our table!" 
"Oh come on, Dashie." Pinkie said. "Scales can't be that much of a bad guy if he is willing to protect his brother. You guys met Maud a long time ago and you gotten used to her." Applejack sighed as she now sort of understands as she would've done the same for Apple Bloom.
"But that's different!" Rainbow tried to defend her claim. "Maud just doesn't show her expressions that much. Scales on the other hand acts like a complete jerk and maybe Spike acts like that too!" 
Rarity scoffed from Rainbow's claim. "I have you know that Spike acts like a complete gentleman than any boy I have met." 
"Sure," Rainbow said sarcastically, "Spike may look pure and innocent, but there may be a chance that he really acts like a punk while no one is looking." Before another word was made between the girls, Spike came back with Scales who was holding tray of food. 
"Hey girls! I got Scales!" Spike smiled.
"Thanks for letting me be here." Scales said as he sat down next to Fluttershy. 
"Four of us are letting you be here," Rainbow said under her breath. The lunch hours went on with Spike getting along with Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Scales, Rainbow, and Applejack just sat there and ate in silent. After a while, Pinkie asked,
"So Spike, you have seen all parts of Canterlot High. Have you been around Canterlot before?" 
Spike thought for a moment. "No, it was a busy week as my family and I were trying to settle in our new house." 
"Then how about you hang out with me and my friends this Saturday? We could show you around the fun places in this town." Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. 
"That would be great!" Spike cheered. "Oh! Can Scales come?" 
"No way!" Rainbow interrupted, causing the whole table to look at her. 
"It's bad enough for you to be a pain in my butt in school, but there is no way I'm going to spend time with this jerk outside of school!" There was a moment of silence until Scales spoke up.
"How about this, I promise won't say or do anything that will ruin our outing. You have my word." Scales offered his hand to Rainbow for a handshake. It took about a few minutes before Rainbow groaned and shook it. 
"Fine," Rainbow grumbled. Everyone continued on with school until the weekend had arrived.
> A Saturday with Girls!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canterlot Park was a local spot for the townspeople to relax and unwind from the hustles of everyday life. The park was also where six girls were waiting for two specific boys to show up. Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were talking among themselves while Applejack and Rainbow were silent throughout the wait. 
"Hey girls!" Spike called out to the six friends. The girls saw Spike jogging towards them while Scales slowly walked. "Sorry about the wait," Spike said sheepishly. 
"Oh, it's alright darling." Rarity waved her hand. "You didn't keep us waiting that long." Pinkie wrapped an arm around Spike.
"Let's get the fun on the road!" Pinkie hollered as she pulled Spike to one direction while everyone else followed in pursuit. The main streets of Canterlot City were filled with a variety of stores and businesses. Spike felt shocked and awe as it wasn't often he sees so much life in a small area. 
"Alright Spike, since you and your brother are new here, you get to choose our first destination." Pinkie said.
"Hmm..." Spike tapped his chin as he tried to think. He then turned to Scales and said, "Where would you like to go, bro?"
The girls felt uncertain as they didn't know what the older brother would think of for fun. Scales looked around until something caught his view. 
"How about there?" Scales pointed at an arcade.
"Okay! To the arcade!" Spike said as they made their way inside. The arcade was packed with teens and kids who would usually come there to spend a Saturday. Spike grew excited from all of the games in the place. He gasped when he saw a retro arcade game called 'X Fighters'.
"Scales! Remember this?!" Spike said as he ran towards the machine. 
"Oh yeah," Scales said as he approached Spike. "We haven't played this game since we were kids."
"You guys played X Fighters?" Rainbow asked. 
"Only on every chance we had when coming to the arcades." Scales pulled out two quarters. "Up for a round, little bro?"
"Yeah!" Spike took the left controllers and Scales took the right ones. Scales put the coins in and the brothers began choosing their characters. Scales chose a tough, biker guy while Spike chose an anthropomorphic dragon. The girls watched as the brothers fought with one another with their characters. Rainbow was impressed to see Spike winning some rounds with almost all of the combos his dragon character had to offer. After a few rounds, Spike won by two rounds and the girls cheered. 
"Anyone want to fight a round with my bro?" Scales said as he offered his controls. Rainbow Dash stepped in and said, 
"I got this," Rainbow inserted a coin and choose her fighter. Once Rainbow choose a tough military girl as her character, the rounds began. Each of Rainbow's hits were blocked by Spike's dragon. It wasn’t long til Spike did a combo that made his dragon to breath fire to Rainbow’s fighter, causing her to be K.O. Spike once again won by two of the three rounds. Rainbow just slammed her fists on the controller out of anger.
"It's alright, Dashie." Pinkie patted Rainbow's back. "There are still more games to play."
"Whatever," Rainbow grumbled as everyone went to the other games. Twilight, Pinkie, Scales, and Spike played a four player, Western cowboy shooting game where they shot bandits who were invading a town. Rainbow and Applejack spent their time at a punching bag game where they tested each others' strengths through one punch. Rarity and Fluttershy were playing the craw machines to get at least one stuffed animal. Unfortunately, Fluttershy kept losing the craw game and she gave up. 
"Which stuffed animal did you try to get?" Spike asked as he walked towards Fluttershy. She pointed at a large, stuffed bunny that looked like it was impossible to get with the metal crane. 
"I'll get it." Spike said as he inserted some money and began moving the metal craw. He carefully moved the claw into a position that concerned Twilight. 
"Are you sure you should put the claw in that position, Spike?" Twilight asked. 
"Don't worry," Spike said as he pushed the button. "I got this." The claw went down and it grabbed the small tag that was attached to the bunny. The claw was able to carry the bunny far enough for it to fall into the hole where Spike picked it up. 
"For you, Fluttershy." Spike said as he gave the bunny to Fluttershy. Everyone, especially Fluttershy, were impressed to see Spike being able to pull a stunt like getting such a big toy from the metal crane. 
"T-thanks, Spike." Fluttershy whispered as she hugged the bunny.
"No problem, it's what friends are for." Spike said. The group exited the arcade and went to the next place of interest. 
"Oh! How about there!" Rarity pointed at a fashion boutique. 
"Seriously?" Rainbow whined as she didn't want to go somewhere girly. 
"You had your kind of fun and now it's my turn." Rarity huffed as she took Spike by the arm and entered the boutique. Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy followed in pursuit. That left Rainbow, Applejack, and Scales alone outside. 
"So..." Scales said. 
"Not...one...word." Rainbow demanded and they sat on different benches while waiting for the others. The rest of the girls and Spike explored the racks of clothing to see what kinds of outfits were for sale. 
"Oh Spikey," Rarity called out as she walked to Spike with some clothing. "I think these clothings might suit you!" 
"This place sells boys' clothing too?" Spike asked.
"So true," Rarity replied. "even boys have to dress fabulous. So will you please try these on?" Rarity pleaded with puppy-dog eyes. 
"Sure! No problem!" Spike replied. "My mom takes me clothes shopping all the time." Spike took the clothing from Rarity and went inside the dressing room. 
After he was done, he came out wearing a decent pair of black jeans, a blue button up shirt, and a brown leather fedora. 
"Ooh! You look great, my Spikey-Wikey!" Rarity cooed. 
"Thank you Rarity." Spike said as he blushed. After Spike changed back to his normal clothing, he waited for the girls to come out of the dressing room to show what they tried on. Twilight was the first to come out and she wore a short, dark purple dress that had a large bow on the waist. 
"How do I look, Spike?" Twilight said as she turned to show Spike every angle of her. 
"That outfit suits you." Spike replied. Just then, Fluttershy came out next and she wore a light pink dress with some colorful butterflies on it. 
"W-what do you think, Spike?" Fluttershy asked with a slight blush. 
"Whoa!" Spike said in awe. "That dress really makes you look pretty." Fluttershy's blush grew more red from Spike's comment. 
"My turn! My turn!" Pinkie interrupted as she came out with a short light blue dress on. 
"You look like you're ready for a party, Pinkie!" Spike gave a thumbs up. Pinkie squealed from Spike compliment. 
"They say 'you should always save the best for last'." Rarity called out from her dressing room. The door opened to reveal Rarity in a long white dress with golden pearls on her neck and hands that made her look like a goddess. "So what do you think of my dress, Spikey?" Rarity batted her half-lidded eyes. 
"Uhh..." Spike said as he blushed very red as he couldn't put the right words on how beautiful Rarity looked.
"I'll take it as a compliment." Rarity giggled as she sashayed back to her dressing room. Leaving Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy feeling ticked at Rarity for stealing the show. After the girls and Spike made their purchases, they came out to see Applejack and Rainbow still staying silent while Scales was throwing litter to a trash can. 
"So how was your time in the boutique?" Scales asked. 
"It was pretty good." Spike replied. "What about you guys?" 
"I enjoyed the silence." Scales smiled at Rainbow and Applejack. Only to get grumbles from the two girls. 
"Okay," Twilight said awkwardly, "now that it's noon, how about we get some lunch?" 
"That's a great idea!" Pinkie said as she walked ahead of the group. "Follow me! I know a great place to eat!" The group followed Pinkie until they reached a local diner. When they got in, they chose their table and ordered their food. 
"Sorry I didn't come in the boutique with y'all." Applejack said. "You know me and fashion, we don't come together like pear jam and pancakes." 
"Oh it's quite alright, Applejack." Rarity said. "there weren't many clothing that suited your interests anyway." 
"So guys," Pinkie turned to the boys. "are you liking Canterlot?" 
"Oh yeah, it's the best!" Spike said. 
"I think it's alright." Scales shrugged. "I would still prefer the forest area where we used to live." 
"You guys used to live in a forrest?" Fluttershy asked. 
"Yeah, we had lots of fun there when we were kids." Spike said. "we sometimes play dragons vs. knights with our friends: Thorax and Pharynx."
"Who were they?" Pinkie asked. 
"They were some of our friends who would come and play with us." Spike replied. "They were brothers so that's how Scales and I were able to connect with them." Some of the girls try to imagine two brothers who were similar to Spike and Scales. The food arrived and everyone began eating. Spike took a bite from his burger and asked, "What about you girls? How did you guys became friends?" The girls took a moment to remember. 
"Fluttershy and I have been friends since we were kids." Rainbow said. "It wasn't till around our freshmen year in high school when we met Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie at the freshmen fair."  
"That's right!" Pinkie said. "It was such a blast!" 
"Then after a few months, I transferred to CHS and I got to be friends with these five." Twilight finished. 
"And since then, we were together like a stack of cupcakes ready to be eaten. Hmm." Pinkie's mouth drooled from the thought of cupcakes. The rest of the girls laughed from Pinkie's usual food cravings. Spike felt glad that he and his brother have met these girls, they were exciting. 
The group then went to a movie theater to watch a movie. They had debates on what to watch until they agreed to  watch a Power Ponies movie. After they finished, the sun was setting and all of the stores were closing.
"Woo-wee!" Applejack claimed. "I can't believe today is almost over!" 
"I know, AJ!" Pinkie agreed. "I wish I could move the sun so the day would be longer. Then we would have more fun!" Everyone laughed from Pinkie's claim. 
"It's alright, Pinkie." Spike said. "I had lots of fun even with the amount of time we had today."
"You made it more fun when you showed off your skills on that fighting game and the craw machine." Pinkie replied. Fluttershy nodded as she still hugged her stuffed bunny. Rainbow just groaned from that memory of losing against Spike. 
"Not to mention you looked stunning in some of the outfits I suggested to you." Rarity winked while Spike just blushed.  At a far distance, a guy in a black hoodie ran passed the group and snatched Rarity's purse. 
"My goodness!" Rarity yelled. "Someone stop that thief!" 
"I'm on it!" Rainbow said as she ran after the purse snatcher. She chased after the thief until he ran into a narrow alley. Rainbow ran inside the alley to enter an empty lot. Rainbow turned only to be hit on the back by the thief's elbow, causing her to fall face down to the ground. 
"You shouldn't have followed me, little girl." the thief said as he pulled out a big knife. The thief rushed towards Rainbow, ready to stab her with a knife. Rainbow laid there in shock as she didn't know what to do. Her usual courage and quick maneuvering vanished when she was suddenly attacked. Before the thief could put an end to Rainbow, Spike jumped between the thief and Rainbow. Spike was about to get stabbed until he crossed his arms to form an 'x', catching the thief's arm that had the knife. 
'What?!' Rainbow and the thief thought at once. Both of them were shocked to see someone like Spike being able to catch a knife. Spike kicked the thief to the groins and threw the thief to a nearby wall. The wall's impact knocked out the thief as he crashed to the ground. Spike ran towards Rainbow to see if she was aright. 
"Are you okay, Rainbow?!" Spike said with a concerned look. Rainbow never felt more relieved to be recused from certain danger. If someone were to save Rainbow, she would usually feel upset as it made her feel weak. Something made this time different as she actually thought Spike was awesome even when facing a near-death experience. Rainbow looked in another direction and yelled,
"Look out!" Spike turned to see that the thief was back up and ran towards the two of them. Before Spike could react, a trash can lid flew and hit the thief on the head. The thief fell down to the ground, revealing that Scales threw that trash can lid. 
"Scales!" Spike called out. 
"Are you guys okay?" Scales said while the other girls came running to the scene. 
"I think we're fine, bro." Spike said. Scales then walked towards the thief and pulled out a belt. 
"I already called the police." Twilight said. " They should be here in a few minutes."
"This should keep him from escaping." Scales said as he tied up the thief. "And just to be safe." Scales then sat on top of the thief so that he wouldn't get away. Once the police arrived, they were surprised to see the thief tied up and sat upon by Scales. Each of the group members explained what happened during the incident. The policemen handcuffed the thief, put him in the back of the patrol car, and drove off. 
"Now that was one way to finish a Saturday, huh?" Applejack said as the others agreed. 
"I'm just glad you didn't get hurt, Rainbow." Fluttershy said with worry. 
"Well..." Rainbow sighed while rubbing her head. "Thanks Spike." 
"What for?" Spike asked.
"What for? You just saved my life from possible death!" Rainbow claimed. "Not to mention you stopped that thief with that cool move of yours. How did you learn that technique?"
"Scales and I have been taking martial arts since we were kids." Spike answered. 
"It was fun." Scales included. "I got to beat people up."
"Well, I thought that it was brave of you to save Rainbow and my purse." Rarity said as she gave hugged a tight hug. "As a token of my gratitude, I'll give you this!" She gave Spike a big kiss on his cheek, causing him to blush a very bright pink. 
"No fair!" Pinkie said as she also gave Spike a kiss on his cheek. It wasn't long till Twilight and Fluttershy joined in on kissing Spike on the cheek. Applejack just raised a brow from the attention Spike is getting. 
"That was for getting this fluffy bunny for me." Fluttershy said. Spike felt really dazed from the multiple kisses. 
"Well girls, it's been fun but I got to take Casanova home before our parents will start a search party." The girls and the brothers waved goodbye before going their separate ways. 
"So little bro," Scales said slyly. "how does it feel to be kissed by four girls in one day?"
"I'll never wash these cheeks again!" Spike giggled while rubbing his cheeks.
"Mom is gonna say otherwise." Scales replied with laughter. As the Drake brothers had their conversation, the girls were also talking while walking home. 
"I can't believe y'all were fawning over one boy who's brother is a complete jerk." Applejack said while crossing his arms. 
"Oh Applejack," Rarity said. "Spike isn't as bad as it seems when compared to Scales." 
"Is it possible those brothers exist for one to hold the good traits while the other one holds the bad traits?" Pinkie asked. The girls were stunned to hear such an odd question. 
"In any case," Applejack continued. "I just don't want y'all to act all gaga for Spike and I don't want anything involved with it." 
"It's not like that," Pinkie insured. 
"Yeah," Twilight included. "it's just that we like Spike as he is the first guy we can trust with our friendship." 
"You just need to get to know Spike more than his relations with Scales." Rarity suggested. 
Applejack sighed and said, "I don't now, what do you think Rainbow?" Rainbow turned and just shrugged. 
"I honestly don't know." Rainbow said as she looked up. "I'm not falling for Spike right know, I just now think he is more different than I thought." Before the thief took the purse, Rainbow thought Spike was some lackey little brother of Scales. But after Spike showed some guts, Rainbow was now starting to respect Spike and maybe wanting to spend more time with him.
> Applejack's Sick Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike came out of the lunchline and made his way to the Mane Six's table. He arrived to find that Scales and five of the girls were already sitting in their table. Spike also noticed that the girls had worried expressions on their faces. 
"Hey girls," Spike said which caught the girls' attention. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, darling." Rarity replied. "It's just that Applejack was called in sick because of an intense fever." 
"We were just concerned if Applejack will be alright." Fluttershy added. "It's not often she gets sick and has to stay home from school. But she does need the rest though. It could be worse as cider season is coming up." 
"What's cider season?" Spike asked. 
"It's when the Apple family make their well known apple cider that only goes on sale once a year!" Pinkie replied. "That's also when Applejack makes a lot more hard work on her family's apple farm."
"We also know that she will be too stubborn to rest when it involves her family's apple farm or cider season." Rainbow said. Spike remembered Applejack's family did run an apple farm called Sweet Apple Acres.
"So we're going to her house to cheer her up from her sick day!" Rainbow said with high spirit. 
"Rainbow is just saying that to make an excuse to get first dibs on the cider." Pinkie whispered to Spike. Rainbow stammered from what Pinkie said even though it was true. 
"Am not!" Rainbow tried to defend herself. "I just want to help a friend!" Four of the girls laughed from Rainbow's lie. 
"Yeah, that's your 'true' intention." Twilight smirked. Pinkie turned to the brothers and asked,
"Do you guys want to come along?" Spike and Scales looked at each other for a moment.
"Sure, if it means cheering up a friend." Spike replied. 
"Then it's settled." Twilight said. "After school, we will go to Sweet Apple Acres!" 



School was let out for the day and the brothers met up with the five girls before heading to Sweet Apple Acres. It only took a bus ride and a few minutes of walking before they reached the apple farm. 
"Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!" Pinkie said with a cowboy impression. At first glance, Spike was really stunned to see so many apple trees across the fields. It was as if the trees made up an entire forrest. There were also a pig pen and a chicken coop like any farm would have. The one thing that Spike thought stood out was the small carrot farm with the carrot-shaped shack. 
'Why is there a carrot farm there if the family's business runs on apples?' Spike thought. The friends made their way to the main house for Twilight to knock on the front door. It opened to reveal an old lady with her hair tied into a bun. 
"Good afternoon, girls!" the old lady said. 
"Hey Granny Smith!" the five girls said at once. 
"I reckon you're here for Applejack?" Granny Smith asked.
"Yep," Pinkie replied. "we're here to make sure she doesn't push herself too hard. Especially, when it's cider season." 
"Luckily for us, Applejack's fever made her fall asleep. She's resting in her room for now." Granny Smith said before she noticed Spike and Scales standing next to the girls. 
"And who are might you two be?" Granny Smith said as she eyed them. 
"These are our new friends, Spike and Scales." Twilight said. "They just moved-in to Canterlot awhile ago." Granny Smith took long looks at each of the boys before she gave a hardy laugh. 
"It's good to know Applejack has made some friends who look strong for hard work. Would it be alright if you boys help out with the farm? We need as much help as possible for cider season." Spike gave a smile and waited for Scales' response. Scales just shrugged his shoulders as a sign for an agreement. 
"Great!" Granny Smith said. "You boys and Rainbow can help Big Mac get apples from the fields while the rest of y'all can help make the cider!" The group nodded and began their chores. Granny Smith led Rainbow, Spike, and Scales out to the fields where a large guy with orange hair was carrying buckets of apples to a cart. 
"Big Mac!" Granny Smith hollered to get the large guy's attention. 
"Yep?" Big Mac replied. 
"You got a couple of new workers helping you out." Granny pointed at the three standing next to her. Big Mac easily recognized Rainbow but stopped when he saw Spike and Scales.
"These are Applejack's new friends, they'll be helping us for the afternoon." Granny Smith said. Once Granny walked back to the farm, Big Mac told Rainbow to get one bucket and pick some apples from a far direction. As Rainbow left from plain sight, Big Mac shot each of the boys with stern looks. 
"Y'all better not hurt my sis and her friends, ya hear?" Big Mac said. 
"I would never do such a thing." Spike said politely.
"Only if they strike first." Scales said with a careless expression. 
"Just get to work." Big Mac grumbled as he carried another bucket to the apple cart. Spike and Scales followed Big Mac's example and started picking apples from the trees. It was a straight-forward task for Spike and Scales as went from one apple tree to the next. It wasn't long till Spike felt like nature was calling. 
"Hey Big Mac!" Spike called out to get Big Mac's attention. "Where is the restroom?" 
"The outhouse is broken, so you'll have to go inside of the house to use the bathroom." Big Mac replied. 
"Alright! Be right back!" Spike said as he made his way to the house. Spike entered through the kitchen entrance where Granny Smith and the rest of the girls were making cider or apple pastries. 
"Hey Spike!" Twilight said as she was writing on a clipboard. "Having fun out on the fields?" 
"You bet!" Spike replied. He stopped when he noticed a new person was helping Granny with a large pot of cider. She looked younger than the rest of the girls and she had long red hair that was tied up with a large pink bow. She wore a plain green shirt with long blue jeans. 
"Oh hello." Spike said to the girl. When she looked at Spike, she suddenly blushed and turned away. 
"This here is Apple Bloom," Granny Smith said as she patted Apple Bloom's back. "She's the youngest of the Apple siblings." 
"Um..it's nice to meet you." Apple Bloom said while continuing to blush. 
"I'm Spike! I really like your bow." Spike said. Apple Bloom to blushed even more from Spike's compliment. 
"T-thank you!" Apple Bloom cried before she ran to the halls. The girls and Granny Smith looked at each other with confused glances. 
"Oh right!" Spike said in realization. "Where is your restroom, Granny Smith? I really need to go." 
"It's around the corner on the left." Granny Smith pointed to the hallway. 
"Thank you!" Spike said as he went to the restroom. After a few minutes, Spike came out of the restroom to feel relieved. Before he left, he suddenly heard a thud coming from upstairs. He curiously went upstairs to see what was causing that sound. He saw that Applejack was trying to move slowly across the hallway while Apple Bloom was trying to stop her. 
"Applejack! You got to go back to bed!" Apple Bloom hollered. Applejack still won't stop limping. 
"Got...to help....cider season!" Applejack gasped before she collapsed to the floor. The girls and Granny Smith heard the thud and hurried upstairs. They were shocked and carried Applejack back to her room.
"Gosh darn it, Applejack!" Granny Smith complained. "You always do this when you're ill." Unfortunately, Applejack was already passed out to hear Granny Smith's comment.  
"I did my best to stop her." Apple Bloom said with her head down. 
"It's alright," Fluttershy placed a hand on Apple Bloom's shoulder. "all that matters is that you're there for your big sister." Apple Bloom smiled from such a praise. 
"Maybe each of us should take turns to help Apple Bloom with taking care of Applejack." Twilight suggested. 
"I'll take first watch." Fluttershy said. "I have a lot of experience treating sick animals. This shouldn't be any different." The others looked at each other before nodded for approval. Fluttershy quietly sat with Apple Bloom as they watched over Applejack while she was resting. Everyone else went back to their tasks in hand. After each passing hour, the girls changed positions on who watches over Applejack. It wasn't long till Rainbow and the guys entered the living room from picking apples. 
"Woo!" Rainbow said from exhaustion. "Now that was a workout." She collapsed on one of the Apple family's couches. Granny Smith came into the living room while carrying a tray with mugs of cider. 
"I thank y'all for your hard workin'. How about some freshly made cider?" Rainbow immediately grabbed the first mug and drank the whole thing down. 
"So awesome!" Rainbow squealed. The guys just took small sips from their mugs. 
"This tastes great!" Spike praised. "No wonder this farm makes lots of profit!" Spike then saw Twilight coming down the stairs. 
"Is Applejack alright?" Spike asked Twilight. 
"Luckily, Applejack hasn't moved from her bed ever since her last attempt. When she is awake, she just grumbles out of boredom." 
"Is it alright if I took a turn in watching her?" Spike suggested. "Watching over a sick friend can be a good way to cool off from outside chores." Twilight thought about it before she agreed. Spike slowly walked upstairs to Applejack's room. He saw that Apple Bloom was reading while sitting next to her big sister.  Apple Bloom looked up and suddenly blushed when she saw Spike. 
"Hey Apple Bloom," Spike whispered. "I'm help with Applejack. Do you mind?" 
"N-not at all!" Apple Bloom whispered while she shook with nervousness. There was nothing but silence between Spike and Apple Bloom while they watched Applejack. 
"So, Apple Bloom," Spike said to break the ice. "I recall that you're a freshmen at CHS?" 
"Y-yeah," Apple Bloom replied. "I heard that you and your brother transferred to CHS not too long ago." 
"That's true." Spike answered. 
"I also heard from Applejack that your brother threatened Fluttershy. Why did he do that?" 
"It was a misunderstanding." Spike replied strongly. "He thought some stalker was after us and he just wanted to give a warning. He tends to be overprotective over me." 
"Are you kidding," Apple Bloom said in disbelief. "I couldn't handle some of the farm chores with Applejack trying to put a safety helmet on my head." 
"But hey, that what makes older siblings great!" Spike smiled. "They do things to help their younger siblings. You can say that we have that in common." Apple Bloom's face suddenly blushed more red from Spike's comment. She realized that she found a common connection with Spike. Before the younger siblings' conversation continued, Granny Smith slowly opened the door. 
"Apple Bloom," Granny Smith whispered. "I need your help with something." Apple Bloom was disappointed as she couldn't continue to talk to Spike. 
"It's alright," Spike whispered. "we'll talk later." Apple Bloom felt a little better as their interruption didn't go as bad as she thought. She left the room, leaving Spike alone with a sleeping Applejack. A few minutes passed before Applejack started to wake up. 
"Uhh," Applejack moaned while feeling groggy. She looked around the room and noticed that Spike was sitting next to her while she was asleep. She reacted by getting up and throwing one of her pillows at Spike. 
"What in tarnation are you doin' here?!" Applejack said with a hint of anger. 
"I heard you were sick so the girls, my brother, and I came to Sweet Apple Acres to help you with cider season."  
Applejack thought of something before she covered her chest and said, "You weren't doin' anything sneaky while I was asleep, did you?" 
"What do you mean by 'sneaky'?" Spike tilted his head. Applejack just then remembered that she was talking to a boy who wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. 
"Nevermind." Applejack grumbled. She looked at the window which showed that it was sunset. "Ah shucks! The day's almost over and I wasn't able to help with cider season!" Applejack tried to get out of bed, only for Spike to stop her. 
"You can't!" Spike pleaded. "You're still too sick to work!" 
"You don't have a say in the matter of my health!" Applejack talked back. 
"I thought I did since we're friends. And friends are willing to help out friends." 
"You're no friend of mine!" Applejack yelled. "Are you really a friend to us or are you just some desperate boy getting attention?" There was nothing but silence between Spike and Applejack. It wasn't long till Spike got up from his chair and walked out of Applejack's bedroom. Apple Bloom heard the yelling and saw Spike walking out of the room with tears in his eyes. 
"What's wrong with ya!" Apple Bloom hollered at Applejack. The girls, Scales, and the rest of the Apple family were enjoying some cider before they saw Spike crying and running out of the house. 
"Spike?!" Scales said with concerned as he ran after Spike. He got up and turned to the five of the girls. "What did you guys do!?" Scales said sternly before he ran after Spike. The girls looked at each other before they went upstairs to find out what happened. They saw Apple Bloom looking angrily at Applejack. 
"What happened here?" Twilight asked. 
"Applejack just yelled at Spike for trying to help her!" Apple Bloom yelled before she ran to her room. The rest of the girls looked at Applejack with disapproving looks. 
"Why would you do that?!" Pinkie asked with exaggeration. 
"Oh come on!" Applejack defended. "Spike could have done something to me while I was asleep." 
"No, he wouldn't." Twilight said with crossed arms. 
"How would you know that?" Applejack said. 
"Because we got to know him enough to trust that he wouldn't do such a thing." Rarity said. 
"I don't get why are you guys defending a boy whose brother tried to scare Fluttershy." 
"Did it not occur to you that Scales scared me because he was protecting Spike. Wouldn't you do that if it were for Apple Bloom." Fluttershy said with her serious stare. It took seconds for Applejack to understand that Scales intentions on that day could have been similar if she needed to protect Apple Bloom.
"Oh boy." Applejack said as the realization hit her. 



The next day arrived and everyone went on their usual routine at CHS. The only difference was Spike as he was feeling very sad from yesterday. Scales did his best to stay with Spike as he had to deal with such sadness. Even some of the girls tried to cheer him up when he was in their classes. Lunchtime came around and Spike sat with Scales outside. It wasn't long till Applejack and the rest of the girls approached the Drake brothers. 
"What do you want, cowgirl?" Scales said with a stern expression as if he was ready to kill. 
"I just want to apologize to you and Spike." Applejack said as she took her hat off. "Scales, I shouldn't have misjudged you for your actions against Fluttershy. You were just protecting your little brother." Applejack then turned to Spike. 
"I'm sorry Spike for judging you because of your older brother. You're nothing like Scales and that's okay." Applejack sighed before she continued. 
"Being girls and friends meant that we were easy targets for boys to flirt with us to see if they could score all of us. I guess that those past experiences made some of us prejudice against boys." the girls nodded in agreement. 
"But after remembering the times we spent with you Spike, it proves that you're more special than other boys. Can we start over as friends?" Spike took some time before he smiled. 
"I would love that!" Spike said as he gave Applejack a caring hug. 
"Group hug!" Pinkie said as she and the other girls joined in. Although one apology doesn't make the bad memories disappear, the best thing to do is to work hard to make up for it. Luckily, Applejack knows a thing or two when it comes to hard work.
> One Lucky Rabbit!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The halls of Canterlot High were covered with Halloween decorations as Halloween was right around the corner. It also means that the annual Canterlot High Halloween dance was also coming up and everyone seems to be excited to dress up and party. 
"Ohh! I can't wait till Halloween!" Pinkie cheered while walking with the rest of the group. "The costumes, the candy, and all of the sugary treats!" Pinkie licked her lips. 
"Same here, sister!" Spike replied. "I especially like Halloween because my brother and I always come up with the best costumes!" 
"The trick was that we dress up as dynamic duos." Scales said. "We dressed up as the Super Mario Bros., the Blues Brothers, and Batman and Robin." 
"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Rainbow said. 
"My brother and I used to dress up as a pair." Twilight said before she developed a sad expression. "Too bad he is in college."
"It's alright, sugarcube." Applejack placed an arm around Twilight. "Now you got seven other friends to spend Halloween with." 
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Twilight smiled. 
"So what are you boys going to dress up as?" Rarity asked. "If you need assistance with some costumes, I can offer you some help." 
"I thought you would be busy with costume requests since Halloween is coming up." Rainbow claimed. 
"Yes, but I'm willing to commit some time for my friends." Rarity responded. 
"We're not quite sure yet," Spike said. "but Scales and I will come up with something." The group went on with their day in classes. 
On one day before Halloween arrived, the Mane Six were enjoying some drinks at Sugarcube Corner. 
"So, did you guys find the costumes you will wear for tomorrow?" Twilight asked the others.
"Heck yeah! I'm going in as a pirate!" Rainbow said as she closed one eye and made her hand into a hook. "Argh ye mighties!" 
"I'm dressing up as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz." Applejack said. 
"Just like when you dressed up as the scarecrow last year and the cowardly lion from the year before that?" Rarity asked. 
"Y'up," Applejack replied. 
"I found this adorable puppy costume that will work well." Fluttershy said. 
"I'm dressing up as a mermaid!" Pinkie said. "I just love the big fish tail that helps you swim!"
"I'll be going in as Shadow Spade. I just love the outfits from the mystery novels." Rarity said. 
"Wonder what the boys are dressing up as." Rainbow said curiously. 
"Scales did say that he and Spike always dress up as a pair." Applejack mentioned. 
"Maybe something like a pair of wolves." Pinkie said before she howled. "Some wolves may look fierce, but some of them actually look adorable, like Spike!" 
'True for that' the rest of the girls thought at once.
"Whatever their costume is, we'll still have a good time at the Halloween dance." Twilight said. The girls nodded in agreement. The girls suddenly heard ringing from their phones. They took out their phones to see that Spike sent them a message. 
"What did the little runt send us?" Rainbow asked the others. They opened their messages to reveal Spike in a Roger Rabbit costume with red overall shorts, big yellow gloves, and a hood with bunny ears sewed on top. The entire outfit made Spike look like a toddler than a rabbit. Each of the Mane Six had a deep red blush as they saw the way Spike was dressed in that outfit. 
'So cute!' The girls thought all at once. There was silence around the girls before Rainbow got up. 
"I..er..got some last minute errands to do before the dance!" Rainbow said before she dashed out of Sugarcube Corner. 
"I just remembered...I got farm chores to do!" Applejack said before she too left in a hurry. It wasn't long till the rest of the girls came up with excuses and went on their way back to their homes. 



Halloween night finally arrived and the CHS students made their way into the gymnasium where the Halloween dance is taking place. Almost all of the students and teachers wore various costumes for the Halloween occasion. Twilight arrived to the entrance of the gym. She dressed up as Jessica Rabbit with a long red dress with purple, glittering gloves. Her hair was combed down with some of it covering one of her eyes. Twilight even wore red lipstick to match the entire outfit. 
"Twilight?" Pinkie said from behind. Twilight turned to see that Pinkie also dressed up as Jessica Rabbit, except for the hair as it was still a bit puffy. 
"Pinkie?" Twilight said in confusion. "Wh-why are you wearing-"
"Sweet!" Pinkie interrupted with a hug. "Now we'll match at the dance!" It wasn't long till Twilight and Pinkie saw Fluttershy approach them as she too dressed up as Jessica Rabbit. 
"Oh dear," Fluttershy whimpered as Twilight and Pinkie stared at her with awkward looks. 
"What in tarnation!" Applejack yelled from the distance. The rest of the group saw that not only Applejack dressed up as Jessica Rabbit but Rainbow too! 
"Why are you dressed up as Jessica Rabbit?!" Rainbow said angrily. 
"I should say the same for you! I thought Jessica Rabbit was too girly for you!" Applejack replied. Before Applejack and Rainbow's argument went further, Pinkie interrupted them. 
"Ahem!" Pinkie coughed to get the attention of the bickering girls. Rainbow and Applejack turned to see the rest of the girls dressed up as Jessica Rabbit. They were completely silent as each of the girls processed what was happening. 
"I can't believe this!" Rarity said as she approached the rest of the girls. They saw that Rarity also dressed up as Jessica Rabbit except for the angry expression on her face. "I thought we had already chosen our costumes for tonight!" 
"What about you, Rarity?" Rainbow claimed in a sassy tone. "As I recall, Shadow Spade didn't dress up like Jessica Rabbit." Rarity tried her best to come up with an excuse. 
"Well, I thought it would be nice to match with Spike as I thought his costume was impressive." Rarity tried to defend herself. 
"Guess we all had the same idea." Twilight said bluntly. 
"Well, one of us has to go change." Rarity demanded. 
"It's not like we carry spare costumes like you do, Rarity!" Applejack huffed. 
"I have you know I carry a spare costume in case if I get this one dirty!" Rarity replied. 
"Fine," Rainbow held out her hand. "I'll go get changed, what kind of costume is it?" 
Rarity bit her lips before she answered. "It's another Jessica Rabbit costume." It was then, the girls were bickering with one another about who should get changed. 
"Hey girls!" Spike said as he and Scales approached the girls. The girls stopped to see Spike in his Roger Rabbit costume just like in the text. Scales was following from behind and he dressed up as Detective Eddie Valiant with a long trench coat, a tie, and a fedora. The brothers stopped in their tracks to see that the girls were all Jessica Rabbits. 
"Whoa! You guys look beautiful!" Spike said with a smile. 
"Why thank you, Spikey-wikey!" Rarity said as she fluffed her hair to show off. 
"I'm quite surprised you guys agreed to dress up the same." Scales said to the girls. 
'Quite surprised alright.' the girls thought at once. 
"I really like your costume, Spike!" Pinkie said. 
"Thanks!" Spike replied. "I even added a cute bunny tail to the back!" Spike turned around to show the girls a small white ball of fluff was attached to where his butt was. Fluttershy blushed and covered her face from such embarrassment. Pinkie smiled with her mouth opened, thinking that the tail was the best part. Twilight also blushed with a twitchy eye. Applejack and Rainbow couldn't help but blushed and hold back giggles. 
'Oh my!' Rarity said with a blush as she fanned her face with her hand. 
"Well," Spike said as he turned around. "let's go party!" Spike and Scales made their way inside, leaving the girls in an awkward silence. It wasn't long till Twilight sighed to break the ice. 
"Look, I know that this looks weird right now. But we got to remember that this is the Drake brothers' first dance at CHS. Let's not ruin it just because of some bad costume choices." The girls thought about it before they hugged each other. The Mane Six joined Spike and Scales at the dance floor to have the time of their lives. There were some occasions where the students were staring at the six matching Jessica Rabbits. Most of the girls were enjoying the view of Spike in his rabbit costume, especially at his white cotton ball tail. 
The Mane Six and the brothers went to take some pictures at the photo booth, which was run by Photo Finish. She was dressed up as a disco diva with a long sparkling dress and long white boots. 
"Wait!" Photo Finish said which stopped the group. "I just came up with the perfect ideas for 'the magic'!" Photo Finish snapped her finger and one of her assistances took Spike and Twilight to the front of the camera. 
"Perfect! Now act like a cute couple like de real Rabbits!" Photo Finish demanded. Spike and Twilight held each other just like Photo Finish demanded. Twilight was especially nervous as this was the first time she was this close to Spike. After a few camera flashes, one of Photo Finish's assistance took Twilight out of the picture and replaced her with Applejack. 
"Now do what you did from de last time!" Photo said before she took pictures. It wasn't long till each of the girls had a turn taking pictures with Spike. For one last photo, Photo Finish had the girls together with Scales and Spike standing at the center. 
"Enough!" Photo Finish yelled. "You go! Photos are complete!" The group took the photos and made their way out of the photo booth. The dance went on until the music died down and Principal Celestia approached the stage. She dressed up as the fairy godmother from Cinderella. 
"Hello everyone! Are you having a good time?" Everyone in the gym cheered as a reply. "That's good to know! Now it's time to count up votes for best costumes for this year's Halloween dance!" Everyone cheered from the announcement. 
"Now, the awards are depended on these categories: most hilarious, most popular, etc.. Let's begin!" Celestia began reading the ballots that were given to her by Vice Principal Luna, who dressed up as a witch. The names were given out till one award caught the group's attention. 
"And the final award for most popular costume goes to...a tie between Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy!" The spotlight showed the Mane Six as they smiled and waved while receiving applauses. 
"Give them a hand for showing their friendship by wearing matching costumes! Carry on with for the rest of the night!" Celestia said as she left the stage, leaving everyone to continue to dance the night away.
> A Poetic Flirt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The students of CHS were enjoying each others' company while having lunch in the cafeteria. The Mane Six were in their usual table while talking among themselves. Scales was also in the table but he stayed silent for the time being. It wasn't till Rainbow noticed Spike approaching them. 
"Yo, Spike!" Rainbow hollered to Spike as he turned and made his way to the others. 
"Hey girls, hey Scales!" Spike said as he reached the group's table. 
"How was your English II class?" Twilight asked. "I bet you guys started reading Frankenstein! That book is such a classic!" some of the girls groaned from Twilight's enthusiasm for books.
"Not really," Spike replied. "but I did meet this really cool guy and we started hanging out with each other." Spike then waved to get someone's attention. The person approaching was a light-brown haired boy. There was a pair of black sunglasses over his eyes and he wore a blue t-shirt with a pair of matching blue jeans. He almost looked like one of those teen pop-stars seen on magazines. 
"Guys, meet my new friend: Feather Bangs!" Spike said as Feather Bangs flipped his hair to make his bangs move swiftly. 
"S'up girls, it's nice to meet you all." Feather said in a flirty manner. Any teenage girl would probably be swooned by that first impression, but the Mane Six didn't feel attracted at all. Rather, they felt grossed out from such a cheesy line. 
"Hello...Feather," Twilight said while trying to sound polite, "it's nice to meet you." 
"The pleasure is all mine! Especially with lovely girls such as yourselves." Feather Bangs said while he brushed his hair. Twilight gagged in the inside from what Feather said.  
"So...Spike," Rarity said to decrease some uncertainties, "how did you meet Mr. Feather Bangs?" 
"We were in English II together and he was really impressive with speaking poetry." Spike replied. "He mentioned that his inspiration came from Sapphire Shores and I told him I liked Sapphire Shores." 
"Sapphire Shores just knows how to bring out the inner poet in me, you know?" Feather Bangs said. 
"Feather also said he likes Power Ponies and circus tricks which are also my favorite hobbies!" Spike said. "That was when I realized that he and I were gonna me best friends!" 
"Amen, brother!" Feather said as he and Spike fist bumped each other. 
"Oh, I almost forgot! Feather, meet Scales, my older brother!" Spike said. 
"S'up," Scales said in a monotone. 
"Um...hey," Feather said with an awkward grin. 
"Well, I better get some lunch. Be right back!" Spike said as he made his way to the lunch line. Once Spike was away, Feather scooted his chair closer to the Mane Six. 
"So," Feather said in a curious tone. "are you girls single?" 
"I beg your pardon?" Rarity asked. 
"All six of you girls are so beautiful that any boy would be lucky enough to date any one of you." Feather replied. "You must have at least considered dating one or two boys to see if they were compatible or not."
"Sorry to break it to you Feathers," Rainbow said bluntly. "but we're not into the dating industry right now." Feather blinked while processing what Rainbow said. 
"Oh? Why's that?" Feather asked curiously. 
"You seem like a good gentlemen, Feather Bangs." Rarity said first. "It's just that you're not our type." The girls nodded in agreement. 
"Oh, then what kind of boys are you into?" Feather asked. Before the girls could give a response, Spike came back with a tray of food. 
"Hey guys!" Spike said as he sat next to Feather Bangs. "Did I miss anything?" 
"Not at all!" the Mane Six said at once, before they laughed awkwardly. Feather looked at Spike and then the girls before he thought of a possibility on why the Mane Six don't want to date. 



School ended for the day and everyone went home or to club activities. Spike and Scales made their way back home until they heard the sound of footsteps approaching. 
"Yo, Spike!" Feather cried as he caught up to the brothers. 
"Hey Feather, what's up?" Spike said. 
"Is it alright that we hang out for a bit?" Feather asked. 
"Sure!" Spike smiled. "That will be great!" Spike then turned to Scales.
"Want to come with us, Scales?" Spike asked his brother. 
"Nah, I'm good." Scales said as he rubbed Spike's hair. "Try not to get in too much trouble, you hear?" As Scales made his way home, Spike and Feather Bangs went to Sugarcube Corner to get some smoothies. As they got their seats, they chatted among themselves about topics like the latest music or which superhero were they favorite. 
"Hey Spike, can I ask you something?" Feather asked. 
"What's up?" Spike asked as well. 
"How are you such a great friend with the girls?" Feather said. 
"What?" Spike said with confusion. 
"It's just that you are always seen with those six girls and they are buddy-buddy with you. I wish I had more girls like them to talk to." Feather then gave Spike some puppy dog eyes. 
"If you want, I can let you talk to my friends more if you want to." Spike said. 
"That will be great! Thanks, Spike!" Feather cheered as he gave his friend a hug. Spike also returned the hug as it felt nice to be hugged by a friend.



Twilight was in her chemistry class and her class was in a middle of a lab assignment. As Twilight carefully poured in certain chemicals into one beaker, she noticed that a certain Feather Bangs was standing next to her with a flirty look. 
"Umm...can I help you, Feather?" Twilight asked. 
"No, I just have this feeling that you and I could possibly have good chemistry." Feather then winked which made Twilight felt really uncomfortable from Feather's presence. 
"Hey Feathers," Twilight said. "is it alright that you stand a little further away? You're disturbing my concentration." 
"Oh, no problem." Feather said as he moved a little farther from Twilight. Despite Twilight still noticing Feather looking at her, she continued to work on her lab assignment. 
Rainbow and her classmates started their gym class by jogging laps around the field. As Rainbow kept on going, Feather caught with her while jogging. She noticed that Feather was also giving her a flirty look as if he wants something...or someone. 
"Can I help you, Feather?" Rainbow said while she panted from the jogging. 
"Oh nothing," Feather replied. "even though you are sweating and exhausted, I still think you're cute!" Feather smiled. That line made Rainbow almost gag and shutter. 
'This guy is WAY worse than Zephyr Breeze!' Before Rainbow's agony went any longer, a whistle blew! 
"Keep up the pace Feather Bangs! No time to for flirting!" Spitfire yelled. Feather panicked and hurried with the running. 
Rainbow sighed in relief for Feather not there anymore. 
'For once, I appreciate Coach's demands.' Rainbow thought before she continued to jog across the field with the rest of her class.
It wasn't long till Feather attempted to swoon the rest of the Mane Six with his pretty boy act. During Feather's wood ship class, Feather told Applejack how much he loves a strong girl at work. Somehow, it made Applejack a bit ticked off despite Feather's compliment. Fluttershy was also in the same class and Applejack made sure Feather didn't make any attempts to the shy girl. Pinkie Pie didn't have a good time in her art class as Feather painted a portrait of her. She kept making grossed out faces to show how unpleasant it was. Rarity's home economics class was also unpleasant as Feather kept offering her a handmade handkerchief whenever she sneezed. 



Lunchtime had arrived and the Mane Six were exhausted from the day they had. Spike noticed the girls' slump once he and Scales arrived to the table. 
"Are you girls alright?" Spike asked. "You look tired." 
"What do you think?" Rainbow said sarcastically. "A certain pretty boy tried to flirt with us while in our classes." Spike tilted his head in confusion. 
"Who are you talking about?" Spike asked. 
"Who do you think," Rainbow replied. "that new friend of yours." 
"Feather Bangs?" Spike said in disbelief. "He was probably just expressing himself as a friend." 
"Oh yeah," Applejack said sarcastically. "he wanted to be real 'friendly' alright." 
"S'up Spike," Feather said before he noticed the girls. "and hello girls!" Feather flipped his hair again to attract some attention. 
"That's it!" Rainbow said as she and Applejack got up to lift Feather's arms and carry him out of the cafeteria. Before long, the rest of the girls got up and followed in pursuit. 
"We're just gonna make sure they don't beat him up." Twilight said to Spike before she left the cafeteria. After that, it was just Spike and Scales standing near the empty table.
"What just happened?" Spike asked his brother. 
"Who knows," Scales replied. "let's hope that blood won't be involved." 
Once the girls made it to the hallways, they surrounded Feather as if it were an intervention circle. 
"Come on girls," Feather said. "You all don't have to fight for my affection." 
"Excuse me?" Twilight asked. 
"I like all of you girls in equal ways." Feather replied before Rainbow stood very close in front of Feather as if she was a drill sergeant. 
"Cut it with the flirting!" Rainbow barked. "What's with you anyway?" 
"Lately you have been trying to make moves on us and we're sick of it!" Applejack complained. 
"What do you mean?" Feather asked in confusion. 
"Look Feather," Twilight said. "I know you're trying to attract us but there is such a thing as trying too much." Feather looked down with shame. 
"I...I'm sorry," Feather said. "I just thought that if I made more attempts, you girls could've at least considered me." 
"Why?" Rarity asked. "As I recall, there were other girls who gave flirty looks to you." As if on cue, a particular group of three girls gave Feather some winks and waved at him. Feather just froze and laughed nervously. 
"Yeah, but it's not the same!" Feather replied. The Mane Six looked at Feather with confusion. 
"Excuse me?" Rarity asked. 
"I prefer to do the flirting but being flirted back, that feels so weird and scary to me." Feather admitted. 
"Let me guess," Pinkie replied. "you prefer to hunt than to be hunted." The girls and Feather gave awkward stares from Pinkie's words. 
"Well, something like that." Feather replied. 
"Oh, sweetie." Rarity replied. "There's nothing wrong with accepting those girls' feelings, it just shows you don't need to flirt with anyone that often." 
"You really think so?" Feather smiled. 
"Totally!" Pinkie assured. "I would think you're pretty cute. Unfortunately, our hearts belong to someone else." 
"Pinkie!" The girls yelled at once. Feather didn't take long to understand that Pinkie was referring to a particular boy with spiky, green hair. Rarity coughed to change the topic. 
"If you want, we can help you out with returning those girls feelings." Rarity assured. 
"We are?" Rainbow said bluntly. Rarity then gave Rainbow a glare before turning back to Feather. 
"As long as we can start over as friends." Rarity offered her hand. Feather smiled as he felt hopeful of the future. 
"That will be great!" Feather said as he shook hands with Rarity. The girls and Feather returned to their table to see Spike and Scales talking to a musclebound boy with straw yellow hair covered with a winged white cap. 
"Hey guys!" Spike said. "I was a bit worried when you all left." 
"It's alright, Spike." Feather assured. "The girls and I were able to make up." 
"Cool!" Spike said. "Then I want you to meet this cool guy Scales and I just met. His name is Bulk Biceps!" 
"Yeah!" Bulk hollered before he went to give Feather a strong hug. "It's so great to make new friends!" Feather choked to death from Bulk's friendly grip. The girls laughed a bit from Spike's new friends.
> Study Time at Spike's
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CHS's library was where most of the students read books or study for classes. The Mane Six and the Drake Bros. were there to catch up on some homework. As time passed, some of them started to get tired, especially Rainbow. 
"Argh!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "I'm already getting sick of algebra!" 
"Come on, Rainbow." Twilight nagged. "We got to get ready for midterms and no offense, but I think you need a lot of work." 
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Well, it's only because I have soccer practice that brought victory for the Wondercolts for a whole year!" Rainbow crossed her arms in anger. 
"If you don't pass these midterms, then you won't be allowed into another team without a passing grade. That means you can kiss those victories goodbye!" Twilight huffed. 
"Argh!" Rainbow Dash groaned once again as she slammed her head on the table. 
"Maybe we should take a break from studying," Fluttershy suggested. "it does wonders for your mind." 
"Flutters has a point." Applejack said to Twilight. "Even I take breaks when I work on my family's farm." 
"Music to my ears." Scales claimed as he stretched his arms and kicked back on his chair. 
"Fine," Twilight sighed as she put her book down. The friends were able to get some off time before it was time to head home. As the friends walked out of the school, Twilight was too focused on a clipboard she held.
"If we can merge our lunch time and our study time together, that would increase our chances of passing our midterms!" Twilight was mumbling to herself. Twilight's friends looked at the bookworm with concern. 
"Umm...Twilight," Rarity said. "Maybe we can figure out another time for studying." The rest of Twilight's friends nodded in agreement. 
"B-but how?!" Twilight stammered. "We all don't have study halls together and we're so busy with other activities!" The friends try to think of a solution for this. 
"How about a study session at our place?" Spike suggested. The girls felt off guard from Spike's idea. 
"What?" Pinkie asked. 
"Our place is only a walking distant from the school so we can hang out there to study. Plus, our house has plenty of room for our study sessions." Spike said. 
"Unless...it's a bad idea." Spike pouted for thinking he came up with a bad suggestion. 
"No!" Rainbow Dash claimed, making Spike flinch. 
"That would be a great idea!" Pinkie said. 
"It will definitely help us with our studying." Applejack added. 
"Would that help, Twilight?" Rarity asked. Twilight looked at her clipboard for a moment. 
"I don't see a problem with your suggestion, Spike." Twilight nodded. 
"Great!" Spike smiled. "So, when should we have the study session?" Twilight looked back on her clipboard to find an opening. 
"Friday should be a good day. We don't have anything on that day." Twilight said. 
"Sounds like a plan!" Spike claimed. "Scales and I will set our place up for you girls. See ya!" Spike said as he and Scales walked home. 
"Bye Spike!" The girls hollered at once. 'We are so looking forward to this!' The girls thought. 





Friday finally arrived and the girls met up with the Drake Bros. at the front of the school. 
"Hey girls!" Spike said as they approached him and Scales. 
"Hey guys!" The girls said to the brothers. 
"Got everything ready for our study sessions?" Spike asked. 
"Uh-huh!" Pinkie said as she brought out a large paper bag. "I got loads of snacks for us to munch on!" Applejack unzipped her book bag to pull out some glass bottles. 
"I brought some of my family's famous apple cider!" Applejack said. 
"Yum!" Rainbow said as she licked her lips. "Now that is what I'm talking about!" Twilight rolled her eyes. 
"While you guys brought things to stuff your faces with, I took the liberty of bringing the necessary books and supplies needed for maximum studying!" Twilight puffed her chest with pride, while the rest of the group groaned. 
"Alright girls, just follow us!" Spike said as he and Scales led the way to their house. Just like Spike said, it wasn't that far for the group to walk to the Drake Bros' house. It was an average-sized house in the middle of some woodlands. 
"Well girls, welcome to our humble abode!" Spike said with open arms. 
"Simple, yet comfy." Rarity complimented. 
"Reminds me of my family's farm." Applejack said. 
"Come on in!" Spike said as he opened the door. "Mom, we're home!" Spike then ushered the girls to enter first. 
"What a gentleman you are." Rarity winked before she entered the house. As Scales closed the door behind him, the girls took a look around a large living room with some long couches and the table was pushed to the side, probably for their study sessions. 
"Welcome!" A woman's voice called out. A woman with long green hair walked into the room while wearing a pink apron. "I'm Jade Drake and it's a pleasure to meet all of you!" 
"It's quite an honor to meet you, Mrs. Drake." Rarity replied. 
"Oh please," Jade waved her hand. "just call me Jade! Spike has told me a lot about you girls!" 
"Really?" Twilight asked. 
"Of course," Jade replied. "you're Twilight, Spike says you're super smart." Twilight blushed from the comment. 
"Then there's Pinkie Pie, the fun one!" Jade said as she saw Pinkie. 
"True and true!" Pinkie nodded. Jade then looked at Applejack and Rainbow Dash. 
"You two must be Applejack and Rainbow Dash." 
"The one and only!" Rainbow claimed while Applejack rolled her eyes. 
"My guess is that you're Fluttershy." Jade said. 
"Yes, Ma'am." Fluttershy said quietly. 
Jade then saw Rarity and gasped. "Spike, is this the famous Rarity you have been talking about?!" 
"Mom!" Spike hollered. Jade then took Rarity by the hand. 
"What Spike said was true! You do look like a fairy tale princess!" Some of the girls giggled while Spike collapsed with shame. Rarity just blushed with joy.  
"C'mon honey!" A man's voice said from the distance. "Don't make Spike die from embarrassment!" The person entering the living room was a tall man with long brown hair and a mustache. 
"Girls," Jade said. "this is my loving husband, Scorpan." 
"It's also a pleasure to meet all of Spike's new friends." Scorpan said as he offered handshakes to the girls. 
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Scorpan." Twilight said while the girls agreed. 
"Welp, my wife and I better head back to the kitchen while the rest of you start hitting the books. Good luck!" Scorpan said as he and Jade went back to the kitchen. 
"You guys have such loving parents." Rarity said. 
"I know." Spike smiled. The group began with their studying for their midterms. Twilight was able to help the group with their studies from complicated equations to very detailed history of certain events. It only took a couple of hours till the group took a break. 
"Whew!" Applejack said. "I never thought I get exhausted from not moving around a lot." 
"That is because the only muscle we need to pull is from our brains!" Pinkie said as she appeared with a graduation cap no one knows where she got it from. Jade popped her head out from the kitchen's opening. 
"Dinner is ready!" Jade hollered. 
"Yay!" Spike cheered as he and Scale got up and went to the kitchen.
"That means you girls are joining us too!" Jade added. 
"Oh no," Twilight pleaded. "we shouldn't take too much food from you, Jade." 
"Oh, don't worry." Jade assured. "We made plenty of food for all of you, plus I made some red velvet cake for desert!" Immediately, Pinkie rushed inside the kitchen with her usual cheer. The rest of the girls shrugged and followed Jade into the kitchen where the dining table was all set up for not only Spike and Scales' family, but for also the Main Six as well. The girls sat down and helped themselves to the tasty dishes made by Spike and Scales' parents. As everyone ate, Scorpan talked about a story when he and the boys were out to fish. 
"and when we weren't looking, a pelican just swooped in and stole Scales' caught fish!" Scorpan laughed along with some of the rest of the girls. Scales just pouted from that story. 
"I tried taking it down by throwing rocks at that stupid bird." Scales replied. Fluttershy gasped from what Scales said. 
"You shouldn't hurt a bird for eating!" Fluttershy argued. Some of the girls were quite shocked from Fluttershy's sudden anger. 
"Well, I caught that fish and that winged pest was lucky. I could've eaten a fried pelican for dinner." The girls saw Fluttershy was starting to growl and her face turned red from built up anger. They knew that Fluttershy takes animals very seriously. 
"S-so Scorpan," Twilight said to reduce tension. "you said that you enjoy camping, is that right?" 
"Oh yeah!" Scorpan replied. "The boys and I always go on a camping getaway to spend some quality time together." 
"But what about Jade?" Applejack asked. 
"Oh, I always spend my time with some of my friends for the time being." Jade replied. Luckily, Fluttershy was able to calm down, but part of her felt angry for Scales. Even though Spike cares for his brother, that was no excuse to treat animals like pests. After dinner, the guys cleaned up the kitchen and Jade brought the girls to the living room for something important. The girls noticed that Jade made a cautious look as if she was hiding something from the boys. When Jade thought the coast was clear, she went over to a book shelf and pulled out a large, leather binder. Jade then ushered the girls to join her on the couch. 
"I really want to show this to you girls since the boys are busy." Jade said. The girls noticed the title of the binder was read: Family Photos on it. 
'Oh, this ought to be good!' Rainbow thought. Jade opened the book to reveal a baby Spike laying on a carpet. 
"Aww, he is so adorable!" Pinkie cooed. 
"This photo was taken right after the day Spike was born." Jade said as she turned the page. The next photo showed Spike dressed up as a big, purple dragon while holding a small pumpkin bucket. The sight of the photo made Fluttershy blushed a dark red while Rainbow chocked up from laughing. 
"Pfft!" Pinkie said before she laughed out loud. 
"This photo was taken on his first Halloween!" Jade said before she turned the page again. The next page showed a young Spike with a girl who had light blue hair and both of them were asleep on a bed.
"Who is this?" Rarity asked. 
"Oh! That's Ember, she used be our neighbor before we moved to Canterlot. She would often visit our house and play with the boys when they were younger." Rarity took another look at the photo and felt strange. The sight of Spike sleeping with another girl made Rarity very uncomfortable. For a while, Jade shown every photo of Spike and the rest of the family. From Spike and Scales sharing a bath together to the Drakes' vacation photos, the girls had a good time looking at Jade's photo album. 
"Before I turn the page," Jade said as she caught the girls' attention. "I want to you girls to promise not to mention or show the photos you're about to see. Got it?" The girls saw Jade's face was stern to show how serious it was. 
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie sang before she poked her eye while it was closed. The rest of the girls agreed except for the gesture Pinkie made. 
"Good. Prepare yourselves, girls." Jade said before she slowly turned the next page. The girls mentally prepared for what could be on the next page. 
'What could be more shocking than the last photos?' The girls thought. Little did they knew, it was something really unexpected! One photo had a younger Spike except he was wearing a long, green wig and a pink, frilly dress with a short skirt. Below the photo had writing that said: My dearest Barbara! There was a mix of reactions from the girls. Twilight's jaw dropped from shock, Rarity covered her mouth while blushing as she was also shocked, Applejack covered her face with her hat to prevent anyone from seeing her chuckle, Pinkie just smiled and looked closer at the pictures, Fluttershy quickly covered her face from embarrassment, and Rainbow burst out laughing. 
"Bwaah ha!" Rainbow laughed as she fell to the floor to roll around. 
"Oh my!" Rarity fanned herself from being so flustered. 
"Aww, he's even more adorable in a dress!" Pinkie cooed once again. 
"Even I'm impressed he can pull it off!" Applejack said as she kept chuckling.
"Mmm!" Fluttershy mumbled as she continued to cover her face.
"Sometimes I dress up Spike to see what's it like to have a daughter!" Jade explained. The next photo showed 'Barbara' in a blue dress and sat on Scales' lap while giving him a hug. Scales' face showed discomfort as he had to take a picture with his 'sister'. The photo read: Barbara with her big brother! The girls blushed and cooed from the picture. The next picture showed 'Barbara' with pigtails and wore a purple nightgown. The photo read: Slumber Party with Mommy! The girls cooed even harder and their blushes were brighter. The next photo had the most impact to the girls. It showed 'Barbara' dressed up as a French maid with a silver-plate on hand. This photo read: Maid Barbara serves her mother for Mother's Day! That photo made the girls cooed so loud that the whole city could've heard it. Suddenly, Scorpan, Scales, and Spike rushed out of the kitchen. 
"What's going on?!" Scorpan asked. 
"Did a fire happ-" Spike was cut-off when he noticed what his mom was holding. Spike's blood suddenly turned cold as he was afraid of what his mom had shown the girls. 
"H-how much did you see?" Spike hesitantly asked. 
"Not much, 'Barbara'." Rainbow said as she bumped an elbow on Spike. Spike just stood there without any reaction, causing the others to worry a bit from the boy's sudden stillness. It wasn't till tears started pouring from his eyes and he ran to his room while bawling. The others stood there as they felt shocked and guilty from what happened. Scales ran to the hallway entrance before he turned around. 
"Nice going!" Scales yelled then followed Spike in pursuit. It wasn't long till Jade put the album down and went after Scales. The girls and Scorpan joined in. They saw Scales was blocking his mom from coming any further to Spike's door.
"Scales! Let me see Spike!" Jade pleaded.
"Just stay out of this! You've done enough!" Scales yelled at his mom. 
"Scales!" Scorpan said sternly. 
"She was the one who let the girls look at those pictures!" Scales barked back. 
"Please, Scales." Jade said with guilt. It took Scales a long time before he moved aside to let his mom talk to Spike from the locked door. 
"Spike, sweetie." Jade said as she placed a hand on the door. 
"Go away!" Spike whimpered as he continued to cry. Jade tried to figure out the next words she needed to say to her son. Before Jade could do anything, Twilight came up to Spike's door. 
"You didn't look that bad, Spike." Twilight said as she gestured to the girls to help her out. 
"Yeah!" Pinkie added. "You looked so cute in that dragon costume!" 
"Not to mention you looked adorable in those gowns!" Rarity said. 
"Yeah," Applejack said. "so what you're not as masculine as most guys. That is what we like about you, Spike." The door creaked open to reveal a teary - eyed Spike. 
"Really?" Spike sniffed. 
"Spike, I'm so sorry for showing the girls those photos." Jade said. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just wanted to show the girls how much you mean to me." 
"Plus, we Pinkie Promise not to show or tell anybody about those photos!" Pinkie said. "And nobody breaks a Pinkie Promise." Pinkie said with a serious look. 
As Spike opened the door to leave, Jade went up to hug him. 
"That wasn't a motherly thing for me to do, please forgive me." Jade said. Spike slowly returned his mom's hug. 
"Okay." Spike said. "But please don't show those pictures to anybody else." 
"I promise." Jade replied. The girls awed from such a loving moment. Scales just smiled as his little brother wasn't upset anymore.
> Twilight's Project
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer class was a bit confusing and boring for Spike as he wasn't exactly the best at electronics. While the teacher was talking, Spike noticed that Twilight was working on something on her computer. Spike didn't know what it was but he can tell it was something scientific. Twilight's screen was full of math and pictures of devices. 
"Psst, Twilight!" Spike whispered. Twilight didn't respond as she was too fixated on her computer screen. Spike attempted to get Twilight's attention again by tapping on her shoulder. 
"Huh?" Twilight said as she looked to see who tapped on her shoulder.
"Oh, hey Spike." Twilight replied. 
"What's that you're working on?" Spike asked. 
"Oh this," Twilight said. "these are my digital blueprints for a side project I'm working on." 
"What's it about?" Spike asked again. Before Twilight could reply, the teacher cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention. 
"Is there something you want to share, Mr. Drake and Ms. Sparkle?" the teacher asked. Twilight and Spike felt sheepish for the moment.
"Just asking Twilight about a problem with my computer!" Spike pretended. Luckily for them, the teacher looked convinced. 
"Very well, just ask when I'm finished with lecturing." the teacher said before he continued with his lecture. Twilight and Spike sighed in relief as they avoided embarrassment. 
"Maybe it would be best if I showed you after school." Twilight said. 
"Really?" Spike replied. 
"Yeah, we can go to my house and I can show you what I have been making." Twilight said. 
"Sounds like a plan!" Spike said before he looked back on his computer screen. Twilight nodded and she continued with her work. It took a while before Twilight realized what happened: she invited a boy to her house!





The last school bell rang and everyone went home for the day. Spike already informed his family that he will be hanging out with Twilight before he heads home. As Twilight and Spike walked, Twilight felt more frightened than excited. No other boy had ever visited her house except for Shining Armor and some of her parents' friends. She was also afraid of telling her friends as inviting Spike might enrage them. She decided to play it cool and hope Spike's visit will be done and over with. They were able to reach to Twilight's house and to the front door. 
"Wow! Nice house Twilight!" Spike said. "Looks way better than my house." He then noticed Twilight paused while her hand was on the front door. Her faced looked nervous as if she was about to face a monster.
"Are you alright, Twilight?" Spike asked with concern. 
"E-everything is fine!" Twilight laughed nervously before she unlocked the door. They entered the house to and made their way to the stairs. 
"Welcome home, Twilight!" a woman's voice called out. 
'Oh boy,' Twilight thought. The woman had purple and white hair and wore a short grey dress with purple stars on it. 
"How was your day at school?" The woman asked Twilight. 
"It was good, mom!" Twilight said while showing a nervous grin. Twilight's mom then spotted Spike next to her daughter. 
"Oh! Who is this, Twilight?" Twilight's mom asked curiously. Before Twilight could answer, Spike interrupted. 
"I'm Spike Drake, ma'am." Spike said as he offered a handshake. "I'm one of Twilight's new friends." 
"I'm Twilight Velvet," Twilight's mom replied. "but you can call me Velvet." 
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Velvet." Spike replied. 
"Sorry," Velvet chuckled. "it's not often I see Twilight spending time with boys. I usually see her spend time with her five other friends." Twilight groaned from her mom's words. 
"So why is Spike here, Twilight?" Velvet asked her daughter. 
"Spike wanted to see some of my inventions that I've been working on." Twilight replied. 
"Well, it's so nice for you to be friends with my daughter and have an interest to her work." Velvet said. "I'm getting dinner ready before your father comes home. Have fun you two!" Velvet said before she got closer to Twilight and whispered: 
"But not too much fun!" Twilight only blushed as her mom went to the kitchen. 
"We should get to my room then!" Twilight said as she hurried to the stairs. Spike tilted his head in confusion before he followed Twilight upstairs. Twilight opened her door to reveal her room. One side of the room was made up of a huge bookshelf with various books that were well organized. Twilight's desk was also organized and had a small computer. Spike was especially amazed by all of the science awards that were mounted on all of the walls. Each award had a photo of Twilight receiving the award. Even though Spike looked impressed, Twilight still felt embarrassed for him seeing her room for the first time. 
"S-so," Twilight said to catch Spike's attention. "allow me to show you what I've been working on." Twilight went to her plastic drawers and pulled out some of her gizmos. Spike saw that most of Twilight's inventions looked similar to insects except for the wires and bolts. 
"I've been working on small drones that can blend in to anywhere. I choose to model the drones after insects as not everybody would expect insects to spy on others. Most people would expect helicopter drones as means for surveillance." 
"Whoa!" Spike said with excitement. "These things are like from a spy movie or something!" Twilight huffed with some pride. 
"Yep! Even small things can make big impacts!" Twilight said as if she was giving a speech. 
"Want to see a demonstration?" Twilight asked. 
"Heck yeah!" Spike cheered. Twilight plugged in one of her drones into her computer and she began typing some codes. She then placed the drone on the floor and continued to type on her computer. 
"Just watch the screen while I type." Twilight said as Spike observed. The drone began to move around the floor as if it was a real bug crawling. Spike was amazed as he saw what the drone saw while it was crawling around the room. When the drone crawled under Twilight's bed, Spike was able to see what was under Twilight's bed as well. The drone crawled out of the bed and went towards a wall. 
"Here is where the real fun begins!" Twilight said before she typed more code into her computer. The drone began to crawl on the side of the wall and went around the awards. Spike was completely blown away from the drone's unexpected ability. 
"Whoa!" Spike hollered as he watched the drone crawl from the walls to the top of the room. The drone then crawled back to the wall and then towards Twilight as she picked up the drone. 
"Best invention ever!" Spike clapped. 
"Oh, it's nothing for me!" Twilight said as she blushed and rubbed her neck. "For now, I'm working on making the drones smaller so they would look more convincing." Twilight said as she gestured to her other drones. 
"Oh cool! You even got one that looks like a ladybug!" Spike replied.
"Wait, what?" Twilight said as she turned to her drones. A small ladybug was already crawling on her fingertip and towards her arm. The very sight of the ladybug made Twilight shiver in fear. 
"Man, it's so life-like. It's almost as if it were re-"
"Yaaaah!" Twilight yelled as she jumped from her desk and landed on top of Spike. Twilight was able to regain consciousness in a few seconds and she slowly opened to her eyes. To her shock, she found herself laying on top of Spike. What made matters worse, Twilight's lips were kissing Spike's. Twilight quickly moved her lips from Spike's before he woke up. 
"Uhh," Spike groaned as he woke up to see Twilight blush really red. "Are you okay, Twilight? That was some fall." Twilight didn't answer as she was still processing what happened. She just received an accidental kiss for the first time. Twilight thought that only occurs in romance media. Her heart was pounding as not only that was her first kiss, but it was from a boy she liked. The sound of footsteps was reaching towards Twilight's door. It opened to reveal a startled Twilight Velvet as she breathed heavy from the running. 
"What happened! I heard a scream and-" Velvet stopped when she saw her daughter and Spike still on the laying position. 
"Oh my!" Velvet gasped as she covered her mouth while she blushed. 'You're so bold, Twilight!'
"It's not what it's looks like!" Twilight whined as she gave an explanation what happened. Spike nodded to confirm what Twilight said. 
"Oh right, the ladybugs." Velvet said as she nodded. 
"What's all that about?" Spike asked. 
"You see," Velvet replied. "Twilight gained this fear of ladybugs when a swarm of them came into our house."
"Shining Armor told me their spots were eyes that follow you wherever you go!" Twilight shivered. "It's so creepy!" 
"After I heard that," Velvet said. "I grounded Shining and gave him a stern talking about saying fearful stuff to his sister." 
"Wow," Spike said in shock. "I had no idea." 
"I know!" Twilight teared up with embarrassment. "It's so humiliating!" 
"It's not that bad," Spike replied. "at least you didn't dress up as a girl for your mom." Twilight stopped her crying and remembered those photos of Spike. It made her chuckle a lot. 
"Yeah, you got me there." Twilight said as she got up from the floor. 
"Sorry for the startle, mom." Twilight said. 
"It's alright, I'm just glad nothing bad happened to you two!" Velvet said as she went back to the kitchen. Spike picked up his stuff before he left Twilight's room. 
"Hey Spike?" Twilight said.
"Yeah?" Spike replied. 
"Did you remember what happened after we fell to the floor?" Spike did his best to recall what happened. 
"So far, I remembered waking up with just you staring at me while you blushed. That was all I can think of. Why are you asking?" 
"N-no reason!" Twilight quickly replied. Her mind calmed down as Spike didn't wake up when he and Twilight shared an accidental kiss. Twilight only hope that she and Spike share a true kiss one day.
> Dress Up Time with Rarity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike was reading another issue of the Power Ponies when he received a text from Rarity. It said: Hello Spike! I was wondering if you could help me at the Carousel Boutique tomorrow since it will be a Saturday. At an instant, Spike quickly replied with a yes and sent the message. Rarity replied, saying: Thank you! I'll send you the address. Hope to see you soon! Then, a picture appeared with Rarity's message. It showed Rarity puckering her lips as if she was about to kiss him.  Spike's heart raced as he tried to figure out what to do with the picture. Giving in to his temptation, Spike puckered his lips before his face got close to Rarity's picture. Before Spike made the kiss, Scales opened the door. 
"Hey bro," Scales said. "dinner is re-" He stopped when he saw that Spike was staring back while kissing his smartphone for some reason. There was a long pause between the two brothers before Scales slowly closed the door. Spike's face became red as he panicked from such an embarrassing moment. Scales was walking down the hall while keeping a straight face. Scales did his best to process what he just saw in his brother's room. 



Saturday morning arrived and Spike made his way down the main streets of Canterlot City. Spike kept looking at his location app to make sure he was following the right directions to Carousel Boutique. Luckily for Spike, he was able to reach Rarity's shop. Spike noticed that the sign on the door said Closed, so he decided to knock so someone will answer. 
"Coming!" Rarity's voice called out as she approached the door. The door opened to reveal Rarity with her beautiful smile. 
"Spikey!" Rarity cheered. "I'm so glad that you came!" Rarity took Spike's hand as she pulled him inside the boutique. 
"So what kind of help do you need, Rarity?" Spike asked as he guessed that the help involves clothing. 
"Oh, I'll show you soon enough!" Rarity replied as she opened another door. The small room had some background pictures, a long brown divider on one side of the room, and a small camera that was attached to a tripod. "Just wait right here while I go get a few more things." Spike waited patiently while Rarity left the room. He couldn't help but notice that the room was similar to those photoshoot rooms. 
"I'm back!" Rarity said as she returned to the room while holding some bags in her hands. She took one of the bags and gave it to Spike. "Now just put these on while I go change!" 
"Umm, Rarity?" Spike said with confusion. "What are we doing?" 
"After I saw those photos your mother showed us, it inspired me to come up with some new designs and I thought you would be perfect to try them out!" Rarity replied. 
"Oh, okay." Spike said as he looked at the camera. "But why are we taking photos?" 
"Well, my little sister and I used to dress up and take photos of each other in different costumes. We stopped when my sister says that she was too old for it. I just thought maybe you could cheer me up by taking some photos with me." Rarity said in a baby tone. Spike knew he didn't want to refuse because not only he was helping Rarity, he is also cheering her up in the process too!
"I'm in!" Spike said. 
"Splendid!" Rarity said as she went behind the divider. "You just change where you are while I change in here." 
"Okay!" Spike said as he and and Rarity began to change into the outfits. Spike noticed the fake suit of armor that was inside of his bag. Spike was finally done putting on his outfit and thought that he looked like a medieval knight. 
"I'm ready!" Rarity said as she stepped out from the divider. Spike's jaw dropped when he saw Rarity dressed in the most elegant gown he has ever seen. It was light blue with a long, puffy skirt that made Rarity look like a princess. She even wore a blue, pointy hat to match while holding a blue fan. 
"What do you think?" Rarity said with a flirty tone. Spike spoke gibberish as if his fantasy was coming true. Rarity giggled from Spike's response. 
"I take it that you like it." Rarity said as she went over to the camera to adjust it. 
"Would you mind if you change the background of the wall, Spikey?" Rarity asked. Immediately, Spike rushed to the background pictures as Rarity requested. 
"Which one do you want?" Spike asked. 
"The one with the castle and rainbow on it." Rarity replied while still adjusting the camera. Spike found the picture Rarity described and moved it in front of the camera. 
"Alright, everything is set!" Rarity cheered as she set the timer and walked to where Spike was. "Now let makes some adjustments." Rarity said as she wrapped her arms around Spike, making him blush very red. 
"Smile!" Rarity said as she smiled before the camera flashed. She went to the camera to observe the photo taken. 
"Perfect!" Rarity cheered as she gave another bag of costumes to Spike. "Now let's keep going!" Rarity and Spike began taking photos while wearing different costumes. Spike dressed up as a cowboy while Rarity dressed up as a damsel in distress like in old western films. Another photo shoot was made where both Spike and Rarity dressed up as kitties and they pretended to act like cats while the pictures were taken. They then dressed up as a couple of frogs and they made puffy faces in front of the camera. Spike was having the time of his life until he was given the next costume. He was dressed up in a pair of shorts that had leopard skin pattern on it. Rarity came out of the divider wearing nothing but a leopard skin bikini outfit that almost matched Spike. All Spike did was blushed and had his mouth opened as he saw Rarity in such an exotic outfit. 
"Now for a jungle theme!" Rarity said as she adjusted the camera again. She stood next to Spike and she kneeled with one knee to make their pose look like one of those barbarian posters where the girl holds the leg of the man. 
"Oh! One more thing, Spike." Rarity said as Spike turned his head to her. "To make this work, our faces must be facing each other and must be very close." Spike gulped as he needed to get closer to Rarity and in eye contact for that matter. 
"Umm." Spike said nervously. 
"Please," Rarity pouted with beady eyes. Spike didn't want to disappoint Rarity, so he sucked it up and stared intimately at Rarity. 
"Good! Now wait until the cameral flashes." Rarity said as her face got closer to Spike's. Just seconds before the camera flashed, Rarity moved in to give Spike a surprise kiss on his lips. Spike stood frozen as the camera flashed and Rarity moved back while placed her finger to her lips. 
"That was tasty." Rarity teased as she licked her lips. All of a sudden, Spike fell on his back as the kiss made him faint. 
"Spikey!" Rarity said as she rushed to Spike to make sure he wasn't injured. Spike slowly woke up while groggy from what happened earlier. He soon found himself on a couch while covered in a blanket. 
"Spike!" Rarity yelled as she ran to him while wearing a purple robe. 
"Oh, hey Rarity." Spike replied. "What happened?" Rarity got confused from what Spike said. 
"What do you mean?" Rarity asked. 
"All I remembered was that I was staring at you while the camera flashed." Spike said. "Next thing I knew, I woke up on your couch. Did something happened?" Rarity thought for a moment on what she should say. She thought it was too far for her to kiss Spike and she didn't know what would happen if he finds out about the kiss. 
"You fell over, Spikey." Rarity said. "When the camera flashed, you tripped over and hit your head." 
"Oh, okay!" Spike replied. Spike and Rarity changed back to their normal clothes and made their way to the front door. 
"Sorry if I wasn't able to finish all of the photo shoots with you." Spike apologized. 
"It's alright, darling." Rarity assured. "We made plenty of good photos of you and I." 
"Make sure to send me some copies, Rarity!" Spike said as he waved good-bye to her. Rarity was in her room with the printed photos of her and Spike in the various costumes they were in. She found a particular photo where she and Spike kissed. Rarity couldn't help but smile from what she felt from the kiss. 
"I'll keep you in a safe place." Rarity said to the picture as she put it in her diary.
> Volunteering at the Animal Shelter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every student of Canterlot High made their way inside of the school during the early morning. The Drake Bros. walked made their way to the school's entrance to notice Fluttershy and the rest of the Mane Six handing out flyers. 
"Hey girls!" Spike said as he hurried to his friends. 
"Hey, Spike!" Twilight said after she gave away a flyer. 
"What are you passing out?" Spike asked. 
"These are flyers for volunteers at the Canterlot Animal Shelter." Rainbow said. 
"There weren't enough staff to help take care of the many animals at the shelter." Fluttershy said. "That's why I'm asking some of the students to help out for the animals!" 
"We're actually going to volunteer at the shelter after school." Applejack said. "Do you guys want to come?" 
"I will!" Spike cheered. "I would do anything to help you guys and the animals!" 
"Sure, why not?" Scales agreed. The girls finished passing out flyers and joined the boys for their classes. 



School came and gone with the Drake Bros. making their way to the Canterlot Animal Shelter. Spike opened the door to see the various animals that were inside some cages. Spike then noticed Fluttershy sitting behind the desk.
"Hey Fluttershy," Spike said to get her attention. 
"Oh, hey Spike." Fluttershy said in a sad tone. Spike heard the sadness from her voice. 
"What's wrong?" Spike asked. 
"The girls and the other volunteers couldn't come because something came up." Tears flowed from Fluttershy's eyes "Now I feel overwhelmed from all of the work I'll have to do to make up for it." Spike hurried over to Fluttershy to give her some pats on the back. 
"It's alright," Spike assured. "we can still pull off the work with just the three of us." Fluttershy looked up to Spike.
"You think so?" Fluttershy asked. 
"It's no problem." Scales assured as he placed a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Just tell us your instructions and we will get it done." Fluttershy wiped some tears off and smiled to the Drake Bros. 
"Thank you." Fluttershy said. The brothers and Fluttershy began their work with Fluttershy telling the boys what food should be given to the dogs and cats. As they poured the food into the bowls, the dogs and cats chowed down to their hearts' content. The next task for the volunteers would be to give the dogs and cats baths. As the volunteers soaked and lathered the animals, it was getting difficult as some of the dogs struggled to get out while all of the cats tried to claw their way out because of their hatred of water. Scales and Spike did their best to keep the dogs in the water and avoid getting scratched by the cats. It took a while before the brothers and Fluttershy were finally done with washing the animals. 
"Great job, boys!" Fluttershy praised while closing the door to the cats and dogs. "Now on to cleaning the hamster habitat!" The brothers groaned before they got up. 
"It's alright, boys." Fluttershy said. "I've cleaned the hamster habitat many times before." Fluttershy said as she opened the door. "All you have to do is to take care of the hamsters while I clean up their cages." A large swarm of hamsters crawled out of the room and towards the Drake Bros. 
"Have fun!" Fluttershy said before she went inside the hamster habitat. An hour passed before the hamster habitat was clean and shiny thanks to Fluttershy. Before Fluttershy continued looking at her handiwork, she heard banging from the glass. She turned to see Spike banging on the window to get her attention. Fluttershy hurried out to see the hamsters running around while acting crazy. She also saw Scales running around while some hamsters were hanging on his face, ears, and even on top of his heads. 
"What happened here?!" Fluttershy asked. 
"I tried to play with them but they ended up getting wild and making messes everywhere!" Spike replied. "Also, some of them jumped on top of Scales." Some of the hamsters ran straight to Spike and crawled under his pants. 
"Whoa!" Spike yelled as he felt the hamsters crawling all the way up to his undies. Spike panicked and tried to shake the hamsters out of his pants. Fluttershy quickly ran to her backpack to pull out an instrument: a tambourine. She shook it once and the hamsters immediately stopped. The Drake Bros. were confused from the hamsters' sudden pause. Fluttershy began shaking and hitting her tambourine in a catchy rhythm while the hamsters followed to where her music was coming from. Fluttershy was able to lead the hamsters back to their habit and she closed the door. The brothers were left with shock and awe from Fluttershy's actions. 
"That was awesome!" Spike said with shock. 
"Oh, it was nothing." Fluttershy said with a blush.
"How were you able to do that?!" Spike asked. 
"The hamsters always act up when I'm not around. If that happened, I would calm them down with the sound of this tambourine." Fluttershy said as she showed the boys the instrument. 
"Just like the Pipe Piper." Scales responded. 
"In a way." Fluttershy said as she put her tambourine back into her backpack. "Now let's take care of the birds' habitat." The brothers followed Fluttershy into another room. The room had a large cage that contained a lot of yellow and green parakeets. 
"Now to take care of the parakeets!" Fluttershy cheered as she put on some latex gloves. 
"I'll replace the newspapers on the bottom of the cages." Fluttershy said. "You guys just keep filling up the parakeets' bird feeders." The brothers nodded as they each took a bucket of seeds and began their task. Scales and Spike took their time with pouring the seeds into the feeders before the parakeets got there to eat. Fluttershy was humming to herself while taking out the newspapers that were covered with bird droppings. The parakeets hear Fluttershy's hums and decided to join her by tweeting along. It wasn't long till all of the birds sang along with Fluttershy as if she was a fairy tale princess. Spike was so stunned in awe from Fluttershy's influence on the animals that he didn't notice that he accidentally pushed one of the feeders and it fell to the floor. 
"Uh oh!" Spike yelled. The sound of the impact spooked not only Fluttershy but also all of the parakeets, causing all of the parakeets to fly around in panic. To make matters worse, the cage's door was open and most of the parakeets flew out. Fluttershy and the brothers did their best to try and calm some of the parakeets down. Fluttershy noticed one of the parakeets leaving the room and she ran after it. Spike also saw Fluttershy leaving the room. 
"Fluttershy, wait!" Spike said as he ran after her. Fluttershy was able to find the parakeet inside of a walk-in closet and she slowly walked in so she wouldn't scare the poor bird. She saw the parakeet was flying around the ceiling. 
"It's okay, Mr. Parakeet." Fluttershy assured as she reached out to the parakeet. "It was just a fallen feeder. There is no need for you to panic." Fluttershy tried to reach the parakeet but the bird was too high. So she stepped on top of some boxes to reach for the parakeet. Spike approached the walk-in closet's entrance to see Fluttershy standing on some boxes while reaching for a parakeet. As Fluttershy was about to touch the parakeet, she lost her balance and was about to fall to the ground. 
"Fluttershy!" Spike yelled before he rushed in to catch Fluttershy just before she fell. Spike crashed first on to the ground with Fluttershy laying on top of him. Fluttershy was in shock from not only falling to the ground but also from the fact that her lips were kissing Spike's! It took about a few seconds before she reacted by getting up from Spike as he slowly got up as well.
"Ow," Spike complained as he rubbed his head. Footsteps were heard until Scales showed up to the closet. 
"Is everyone alright?!" Scales yelled before he turned on the lights. He saw Spike getting up while rubbing his head and Fluttershy was sitting up with her fingers touching her lips. She also had a small blush on her face as well. 
"I think I'm good." Spike replied before facing Fluttershy. "Are you okay, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy gave no response as she was too distracted from what just happened. 
"Fluttershy?" Spike asked again. Fluttershy quickly pushed Spike and Scales out of the room and locked the door behind them. Spike turned to knock on the door. 
"What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Spike asked. 
"Go away!" Fluttershy yelled out, startling both of the brothers. There was a silent moment between the brothers before Spike spoke up. 
"We'll just clean up the parakeets' room and head home then." The brothers were able to get the parakeets back into the cage and then they made their way home. Spike didn't say anything as he was confused from Fluttershy strange behavior. 
It was night time as Fluttershy was laying on her bed while taking in what happened that evening. She felt terrified about what was going to happen if Spike remembered their accidental kiss. 



The next day at Canterlot High, Fluttershy slowly approached her locker to get her books. 
"Hey Fluttershy," Twilight called out as she and the rest of the Mane Six approached Fluttershy. 
"Oh, hey girls." Fluttershy said as she closed her locker. 
"How was volunteering at the animal shelter?" Rarity asked. "I hope it wasn't too bad without us." 
"It was fine, Spike and Scales were able to help me get the job done." Fluttershy replied. 
"At least you got some help taking care of the animals." Applejack said.
"We're really sorry about not being at the animal shelter." Rainbow apologized. 
"Yeah, it made me sick to my stomach for calling out especially for a friend." Pinkie said as she rubbed her stomach. 
"Girls, please!" Fluttershy said in a louder tone. The girls were a bit shocked from Fluttershy's change in tone. 
"It's alright, you all had other responsibilities to take care of. I forgive you." Fluttershy said with a weak smile. 
"Fluttershy!" Spike yelled out to the Mane Six. Fluttershy blushed and turned her head to avoid Spike's gaze. 
"Look, I'm sorry I scared the parakeets." Spike apologized. "It was an accident." Fluttershy struggled to give a response before she replied. 
"It was fine since it was an accident." Fluttershy said. The school bell rang and everyone made their way to their classes. 
"We should get to class then," Twilight said as she and the rest of the Mane Six went their separate ways. Before Spike left, Fluttershy placed a hand on him to make him stop. 
"Hey, Spike." Fluttershy said. 
"Yeah, Fluttershy?" Spike asked. It took all of Fluttershy's might before she took the risk. 
"Did you remember anything when you ran into the closet yesterday?" Fluttershy asked as she prepared for the worst. 
Spike thought for a moment. "I only remembered catching you and then I hit my head. I couldn't see anything else probably because it was dark." Fluttershy felt a heavy weight came off her chest from Spike's reply. 
"It's nothing then." Fluttershy assured. As Spike made his way to his class, Fluttershy sighed heavily as he didn't recall their kiss. 
'It would be best not to tell the girls,' Fluttershy thought while making her way to class. 'Who knows how they will react about me kissing Spike!'
> A "Fake" Date
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike arrived to a local cafe and took a seat. He was confused from Rainbow's text saying to meet him at this cafe after school. Rainbow didn't include the reason for this sudden meeting. The cafe's door opened to reveal Rainbow coming in while looking completely exhausted. 
"Are you alright, Rainbow?" Spike asked. 
"Just keep quiet and do what I say!" Rainbow whispered before she sat down and hid her face in the menu. 
"Yo, Rainbow!" A guy's voice said as the cafe's door opened to reveal a tall guy with yellow hair that was tied to a bun. The guy also had a light 5 o'clock shadow on his face. He approached to the table where Spike and Rainbow were sitting at. 
"Oh! Hey Zephyr." Rainbow said with a pretend smile. "What are you doing here?" 
"That's what I'm wondering." Zephyr replied as he took a seat. "I saw you and called out your name, but you kept running like I was a skunk or something." 
'You are way worse than a skunk!' Rainbow thought. 
"Well, sorry for not noticing." Rainbow replied. "I was in a rush for another date with my boyfriend, Spike." There was a silent moment between the three. 
'What?!' Spike said in his mind. He noticed Rainbow was giving a desperate wink as a sign for him to play along. 
"Um, yeah!" Spike said. "I'm Spike, it's nice to meet you." Spike offered a handshake. Zephyr gave a glare before he shook Spike's hand. 
"The name's Zephyr Breeze." Zephyr replied. "No offense Rainbow, but I don't remember you mentioning anything about having a boyfriend before." 
Rainbow tried to come up with a reply. "That's because I kept it private! I don't want everybody to know that I have a boyfriend! They'll think I'm going soft because of a boy." Zephyr turned to Spike. 
"Aren't you a little bothered that Rainbow is keeping your relationship a secret." Spike thought about it for a moment. 
"Not really," Spike replied. "if Rainbow wants to keep it a secret, I will respect that." Spike smiled. 
"Besides, keeping this a secret actually makes our relationship more valuable." Rainbow couldn't help but blush after hearing what Spike said. She quickly tried to hide her face out of embarrassment. Zephyr sighed before he got up from his seat. 
"Alright, I'll stay away and say nothing about your secret relationship." Zephyr placed his hands on top of Rainbow's hands. "In return, I will be there to make you feel better if Spike ever breaks your heart!" Zephyr said dramatically, much of Rainbow's discomfort. As Zephyr left the cafe, Rainbow slumped back on her chair as she exhaled. 
"Woo! Thank goodness he's gone." Rainbow said. 
"Umm, Rainbow." Spike said. 
"Oh yeah. Sorry I had you playing pretend, Spike." Rainbow replied. "It was just that Zephyr was going after me and I thought going on a date with my boyfriend would make him leave me alone." 
"Oh," Spike said as it made sense. "if we're done then I'll just head out now." Before Spike left the table, Rainbow placed her hand on top of Spike's. 
"Hang on," Rainbow interrupted. "how about I treat you to a real date since you helped me out." Rainbow got closer to Spike ear and whispered:
"Also, Zephyr might be nearby. So we should probably keep pretending we're on a real date." Spike thought that made sense as Zephyr did promise Rainbow that he would be there to cheer her up if Spike did something. 
"Alright!" Spike said as he sat back down and took a menu. 
"Just pick whatever you want!" Rainbow replied. "It's on me!" After Rainbow and Spike finished their meals, they left the cafe to continue on with their date. 
"So, where are we heading to?" Spike asked. 
"You'll find out soon." Rainbow replied before she stopped in her tracks. 
"Here we are!" Rainbow said. Spike saw that Rainbow had lead him to a skate park where a lot of kids were riding their skateboards or bikes up the ramps while doing some air tricks. 
"Welcome to Canterlot Skate Park! Where the most daring people ride to become extreme!" Rainbow said as she went to one of the stands to pay for skateboard and helmet rentals. 
"But I don't know how to skateboard." Spike replied.
"That's is why I'm here," Rainbow said as she gave Spike a board and a helmet. "I'm going to teach you!" Spike put on his helmet and followed Rainbow to a small ramp. 
"Alright Spike, I'll tell you some of the basics." Rainbow said before she began her lessons with Spike. Once Spike was taught with the basics of skateboarding, he followed Rainbow to a small ramp for practice. 
"You can start off with skating up to that small ramp." Rainbow instructed. Spike dropped his skateboard and began riding it towards the target ramp. He was able to ride up the ramp and land on top of it. 
"Great job, Spike!" Rainbow hollered. "Now let's take things up a notch!" Rainbow lead Spike to an empty skateboarding pool. 
"All you have to do now is to skateboard down this pool and ride up to the other side." Rainbow said before she got on top of her skateboard. "Watch me!" Rainbow yelled before she rode down the pool and made it to the other side. 
"You're up, Spike!" Rainbow yelled. Spike took a deep breath before he stood on his skateboard. He rode down the pool just like Rainbow did before he rolled upwards. He jumped before he crashed on his stomach with his skateboard landing back inside the pool. 
"Ooh!" Rainbow said while cringing. She hurried to Spike while he was recovering from his fall. 
"You okay, Spike?" Rainbow said with concern. 
"Yeah, I'm fine." Spike said as he got up to fix his helmet. He saw that his skateboard was still rolling across the pool. 
"I'll go get my skateboard." Spike said as he made his way down to the pool. As Rainbow watched Spike get his skateboard, she heard a familiar voice. 
"Hey, Rainbow!" A girl's voice called out. Rainbow turned to see a small girl with reddish purple hair was approaching while wearing a blue helmet and riding a scooter. 
"Hey, Scootaloo!" Rainbow said before she was given a hug by the scooter girl. 
"How are you been, squirt?" Rainbow asked. 
"I've been great!" Scootaloo replied. "I've been practicing new scooter tricks at this park! Want to see them?" 
"I would love to, squirt." Rainbow replied. "But first, I'm teaching someone skateboarding." Scootaloo turned to see Spike attempting to do a skateboard trip but ended up falling on his back. A thought came to Scootaloo before she put on an excited look. 
"Is he your boyfriend!?" Scootaloo asked. Rainbow blushed from Scootaloo's question. 
"N-no!" Rainbow replied with embarrassment. "He just helped me out and I'm returning the favor!" Spike was able to ride up the pool and land on the other side. 
"Woo! I made it!" Spike said while wiping some sweat off of his forehead. He then made his way to Rainbow and Scootaloo. 
"Great job, Spike." Rainbow said. "I want you to meet, Scootaloo." 
"Nice to meet you, Scootaloo!" Spike said as he offered a handshake. 
"Pleasure is all mine!" Scootaloo replied as she shook Spike's hand. "I'm Rainbow's number one fan and president of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club!" 
"Really?!" Spike asked in surprise. "I know Rainbow is cool, but I didn't expect her to have a fan club!" 
"Oh it's more than just a fan club!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "It's where me and all of her fans praise about how awesome she is!" Rainbow could help but blush as Spike is hearing about this club of her's. 
"So Scoots," Rainbow interrupted to avoid more embarrassment. "you said you want to show me some of your new scooter tricks!" 
"Oh yeah!" Scootaloo said with realization. "I've been practicing not only the moves you taught me but also some new ones you might like!" 
"Can I watch too?" Spike asked. 
"Sure! Just keep your eyes on me!" Scootaloo said before she rolled her scooter down another skateboard pool. Rainbow and Spike took seats by the edge as they watched Scootaloo pulling some cool moves with her scooter. Spike stared with excitement as he saw how amazing Scootaloo was while riding with her scooter. It wasn't long till Scootaloo rode her scooter back to Rainbow and Spike. 
"How were my tricks?" Scootaloo asked. 
"They were amazing!" Spike said as he got up. "It makes me want to keep skateboarding!" 
"It was not bad, Scoots." Rainbow replied. "How about I show you a few more moves with Spike." Rainbow said as she rode her skateboard down the skateboard ramp, leaving Spike and Scootaloo cheering in excitement. Throughout the afternoon, Rainbow taught Spike and Scootaloo a few tricks with their skateboard and scooter. As Spike and Scootaloo did some tricks, it left Rainbow quite impress to see the progress she had made with her friends. The sun was setting when the rest of the skaters left home; leaving Rainbow, Spike, and Scootaloo the only ones left at the park. 
"That was some workout!" Spike said as he drank a can of soda. 
"After a few practice runs, you'll get used to it." Rainbow explained. Scootaloo's phone rang and she answered it. 
"I got to get going," Scootaloo said. "dinner is ready at my place!" Scootaloo rode out of the park with her scooter. 
"See ya, squirt!" Rainbow yelled before Scootaloo was no longer seen. Rainbow sighed before she sat back down on the pool's edge. 
"How about sitting with me while watching the sunset?" Rainbow asked while patting next to her. Spike shrugged before he sat next to Rainbow. It felt like a long time for the both of them as they watched the sun setting. Spike turned to Rainbow. 
"Hey Rainbow," Spike said which caught Rainbow's attention. "why does Zephyr keep going after you even though you have no interest?" Rainbow sighed before she replied. 
"Zephyr knows me for a long time since he is Fluttershy's younger brother." 
"Zephyr is Fluttershy's brother?!" Spike said with shock. "But he is so..."
"I know, the complete opposite of Fluttershy." Rainbow interrupted. "Since Fluttershy and I hang out very often, Zephyr developed this crush on me and believes that I will be his after time has past. Why can't he just accept that I don't want to date! Especially with him!" Rainbow groaned from all of her frustrations. 
"Sorry you had to go through that." Spike replied. 
"It's alright," Rainbow said as she continued to stare at the sky. "at least our 'date' wasn't too bad. You showed me the upsides of dating." Rainbow smiled. 
"Thank you." Spike said before he yawned very loudly. "Man, skateboarding has really tired me out." Rainbow suddenly came up with idea. She was hesitant as it was the boldest move she has ever made. 
"H-how about laying your head on my lap?" Rainbow said as she patted her lap. Spike looked confused from Rainbow's suggestion. 
"It's to not only rest your head, but also to make our 'date' look more convincing." Rainbow said with a blush. Spike thought it made since in case if Zephyr was watching. Spike slowly laid his head down on top of Rainbow's lap. 
'Hmm, cozy.' Spike said in his thoughts before he fell asleep. Rainbow's blush grew more red as she and Spike were in an embarrassing position. Rainbow was used to taking risks if it involved proving herself or helping out her friends; but this was a whole new experience for her. Rainbow always thought she was too tough or awesome to take part in girly things such as dating. Today was different as it felt more like hanging out with a friend at her favorite place instead of going to a restaurant and act feminine for a guy. Rainbow smiled as she saw Spike's sleeping face. 
'Maybe now is a good time to take another risk.' Rainbow said in her thoughts. She slowly moved towards Spike until their faces were at a close distance. Rainbow's heart was beating faster than she imagined as she closed her eyes and puckered her lips. 
'Here goes!' Rainbow thought before she pressed her lips on Spike's lips. Sparks flowed inside of Rainbow as she kissed Spike. She couldn't help of moan as she enjoyed every part of the kiss. 
'This is way better than the Apples' cider!' Rainbow said in her mind before she moved her head away from Spike. She took some deep breaths to calm down from her intense kissing. A smile appeared on Rainbow's face as she felt excited.  
'Best...kiss...ever!' Rainbow thought as she felt proud for kissing Spike. She then cradled Spike's head as he enjoyed the rest of his nap.
> Apple Family Hoedown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On one night at the Apple Farm, the whole barn was decorated with some apple banners and other country decorations. It was the Apple Family's annual farm hoedown where everyone can come and party like cowboys or cowgirls. Applejack put more effort in the preparations to make sure this shindig goes right since more people will come, especially a certain green haired boy. When it was time for the hoedown, people dressed in western clothing arrived to the barn. The band played all kinds of country music to get everyone to dance to the songs. Applejack was in the middle of carrying a barrel of cider before she saw her friends entering the barn. 
"Hey everybody!" Applejack hollered as she approached her friends. "Glad y'all made it!" 
"We wouldn't miss helping you out while having fun!" Pinkie said as she and the rest of the girls dressed up as cowgirls. "Oooh! The decorations look great!" 
"Thanks, Pinkie." Applejack replied. "I had to fix the decor up a bit." 
"Thanks for inviting us, Applejack!" Spike said as he approached Applejack. She saw Spike wearing a short blue button shirt, long brown pants, and brown leather boots that almost made him look western. On top of Spike's head was a brown cowboy hat that fit him perfectly well. Applejack couldn't help but blush from how adorable Spike looked. 
"Yeah, this place just screams 'apples and country'." Scales said from behind. He too whore country attire with a short, green button shirt, blue jeans, brown boots, and also a cowboy hat like Spike's. Applejack was confused whether Scales was complimenting or insulting her. 
"Just enjoy the party, everyone!" Applejack said as she continued with carrying her barrel. Everyone went their separate ways in the hoedown. Fluttershy was spending time with some of the farm animals and fed some of them with the party food. Twilight and Rarity were talking among themselves. Pinkie and Spike were having the time of their life as they danced to the music. Rainbow and Scales decided to take part in a cider drinking contest with other contestants. To no one's surprise, Rainbow won first place and got herself a large apple jug for a prize. Unfortunately, Rainbow ended up getting sick from drinking all of that cider and she ran to the nearest outhouse. Spike decided to take a break from all of the dancing and made his way to one of the food tables. As Spike drank some apple juice, he noticed that Applejack was busy looking at a clipboard. 
"Hey Applejack!" Spike said as he approached the farm girl. 
Applejack turned to Spike. "Oh, hey Spike." Applejack replied. 
"What are you up to?" Spike asked. 
"I'm just making sure everything goes right with this hoedown." Applejack replied. "My family has been hosting these parties for a long time and I wanted to make sure nothing goes wrong." 
"That sounds like something Twilight would do," Spike commented. At the same time, Twilight suddenly sneezed out of nowhere. 
"Oh! Bless you, darling!" Rarity said with concern. 
"Sorry," Twilight said as she rubbed her nose. "must be from the dust." 
"How about you take a break?" Spike suggested. "This hoedown is going great so far." 
"I would love to, Spike." Applejack replied. "But I'm not sure if it's the right time." Spike suddenly heard the band play a whole new song and more people made their way to the dance floor. Spike then thought of an idea.
"Maybe it is," Spike said as he brought out his hand to Applejack. "May have this dance?" Applejack was surprised for Spike making such a move on her. All of Applejack's stresses suddenly vanished as the thought of dancing with Spike made things better. 
"S-sure!" Applejack said as she blushed from nervousness. Spike took Applejack's hand and they made their way to the dance floor. Granny Smith was on stage as she sang instructions on square dancing. Applejack was a natural with square dancing but she also took it easy since Spike was struggling with the instructions. The rest of the girls noticed the pair dancing and felt a bit jealous. However, they decided to not intervene as Applejack worked very hard with this hoedown. Scales thought his little brother was having the time of his life with the square dancing. It wasn't long till the song was over and everyone clapped for the dancers' performance. Soon, Applejack went on stage while carrying a guitar. 
"Woo-wee!" Applejack hollered into the microphone. "I'm glad y'all having a blast with this hoedown!" Everyone cheered to show that they agreed. 
"Here is a little song that describes my daily life at this great farm." Applejack cued the band to start playing. 

Everyone clapped for Applejack and the band as they did great with their music. Later that night, the girls, the Drake Bros, and some of the guests were in a hay ride with Big Mac riding the tractor across the farm. They all talked among themselves while enjoying view of the night sky. 
"That was some hoedown, Applejack." Pinkie said as she stretched her arms. 
"It definitely topped last year's hoedown." Twilight included. 
"Not to mention the cider was perfect!" Rainbow said. 
"Says the girl who threw up from all of that drinking." Scales joked. Everyone in the wagon laughed while Rainbow blushed from embarrassment. 
"I'm glad that you invited us, Applejack." Spike said. "Can we come back next year?" Applejack smiled. 
"Sure Spike," Everyone continued to talk while the hay ride continued. The Apple Family, the girls, and the brothers cleaned up the barn when everyone left for the night. 
"I can't wait to see how you'll top next year's hoedown, Applejack." Rainbow said while putting some cups inside a trash bag. 
"Not sure yet, but it will come to me." Applejack replied as she picked up a haystack. Scales looked concerned as he looked around the barn. 
"Has anyone seen Spike?" Scales asked. The girls looked at each other and shrugged. 
"Maybe he's getting more trash bags?" Pinkie suggested. 
"I'll go check outside." Applejack said as she left the barn. She wondered around the outside area until she spotted something inside of the tractor wagon. Applejack got closer until she saw Spike sleeping on top of some hay. She couldn't help but chuckle from how adorable Spike looked when he was asleep. Applejack decided to lay next to Spike and watch him sleep. 
'Probably got too tired from all of that dancing.' Applejack thought as she watched Spike. She couldn't help but notice the moonlight was making Spike look more pure while he was sleeping. The very sight made Applejack blushed as she thought he looked precious under the moonlight. Applejack's eyes focused more on Spike's lips as an idea came to her. A part of Applejack was nervous as she had no idea what would happen. Without thinking a second thought, Applejack moved closer to Spike while moving some hair out of her face. She couldn't help but blushed before she closed her eyes and gave Spike a passionate kiss. Applejack moved her lips around to make sure she kissed every part of Spike's lips. Applejack slowly got up from Spike and she took deep breath to calm her heart rate. 
"Whew," Applejack sighed from all of that kissing. She left the hay wagon and returned to the barn. Little did Applejack knew, Apple Bloom got up from behind the tractor. Her face showed anger as she puffed her cheeks as she saw her older sister give a kiss to Spike. A thought came to Apple Bloom before she cautiously approached Spike and cupped his cheek. She too gave Spike a passionate kiss on his lips. Once Apple Bloom was done, she silently cheered as she pumped her fists in the air. Even though Applejack got to kiss Spike first, at least Applebloom got a kiss from him. Applejack entered the barn's entrance to see Scales approaching her. 
"Did you find Spike?" Scales asked. 
"Yeah, he was just sleeping in the hay wagon." Applejack replied. "It would be best not to wake him up." Scales nodded before he and everyone else continued with cleaning the barn.
> Cake Twins' Birthday
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pizza Palace was Canterlot's main spot for hosting kids' birthday parties. Pinkie was hard at work with blowing up balloons that filled up the entire party room. Before Pinkie got the chance to blow her 237th balloon, Mrs. Cake rushed into the party room.
"Oh! This is a disaster!" Mrs. Cake yelled in panic. Pinkie paused from her blowing and the balloon flew off in random directions. 
"What's wrong, Mrs. Cake?" Pinkie asked. 
"The actors for the party show got into an accident and most of the Pizza Palace's staff members are too busy hosting the other parties here!" Mrs. Cake replied. Pinkie gasped from the news. 
"That means there won't be a party show and there won't be enough people to help with the party!" Pinkie said as she placed her hands on her cheeks.
"Maybe it would be best to cancel the entire birthday." Mrs. Cake said in disappointment. Before Mrs. Cake turned to the entrance. Pinkie placed her hands on Mrs. Cake's shoulders. 
"No!" Pinkie yelled. "We will not cancel on your twins' birthday party!"
"B-but, how are we suppose to get more people to act for the show and host the party?!" Mrs. Cake asked. Pinkie tapped her chin as she tried to come up with ideas. She suddenly came up with a thought and began texting on her phone. 



The rest of the girls and the Drake Bros. gathered to the outside of the Pizza Palace. 
"Did you guys get the text from Pinkie?" Twilight asked the boys.
"Yeah," Spike replied. "from the way Pinkie typed, it must have been something really urgent."
"But why did Pinkie told us to meet at this place?" Scales asked as he saw the Pizza Palace sign.  
"Today must be Pound and Pumpkin Cake's birthday." Fluttershy replied. 
"Who?" The brothers said at once. 
"Mr. and Mrs. Cake's twins." Applejack replied. "If it's anything that involves the Cakes, Pinkie will put a lot of effort for them." 
"What are we waiting for?" Rainbow said as she was about to open the door. Before Rainbow reached the handle, the doors swung open to reveal Pinkie in an apron that says: Happy Birthday Pound and Pumpkin. Pinkie's hair looked more curly and messed up. 
"Thank goodness you're all here!" Pinkie cheered as she pulled everyone into the building. She led them down a long hallway with some glass windows. The windows showed a lot of parties being hosted in each room. Some of the rooms showed kids having fun while other rooms showed kids being loud and rowdy. 
It wasn't long till Pinkie opened a pair of doors into a large room that looked like a throne room. The only difference is that it was covered with orange and brown balloons, streamers, and banners that also says: Happy Birthday Pound and Pumpkin.
"Here is the situation!" Pinkie announced before she took a deep breath. "The actors weren't able to make it to the party and due to the increased number of parties here we don't have enough staff to cater for the party!" Pinkie then turned to one part of the group. 
"Spike, Scales, Rainbow, and Rarity!" Pinkie said while giving them bags and small booklets. "All of you put on these costumes and rehearse from those scripts! You will be part of the birthday show to entertain the kids!" Pinkie then turned to the other half of the group. 
"Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack!" Pinkie said as she gave them aprons that matched her's. "All of you will help me pass out food and drinks for the kids!" Everyone nodded in agreement. 
"Good, now break!" Pinkie yelled as she and the rest of the group went to work. 



The acting group were going over the script to the birthday show. Scales frowned when he opened his costume bag. 
"There is no way I'm putting this on!" Scales complained. 
"It will be fine!" Rarity responded. "No one will see your face since it will be covered in the dragon head." 
"That still doesn't change the fact of what happens after Spike and I fall to the ground." Scales said. 
"It will give the kids a chance to take part in the show!" Rainbow said. While the acting group rehearsed, the catering group was busy with preparing with the party food. Twilight was hard at work with organizing the plates and cups on the tables. 
"Um...Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "Is it really necessary to organize the tables like that?" Twilight stopped to give Fluttershy a glare. 
"Table organization is extremely important; especially to show how it's done to young children." At that moment, Applejack dropped a large plate of pizza on the middle of the table where Twilight was working. 
"Applejack!" Twilight yelled. "You messed up my perfect table arrangement!" 
"Oops! Sorry, Twi!" Applejack said as she picked up the plate. This allowed Twilight to reorganize her table arrangements. Pinkie panicked when she saw the time on the wall clock. 
"It's almost time for the kids to arrive!" Pinkie hurried to open the door to the stage. "Acting group! Get inside to change and prepare for the show!" Pinkie ordered as the group when inside. 
"The rest of us will take care of the kids with food and such!" Pinkie included. The rest of the girls nodded before the entrance opened to reveal a large number of kids entering the room. Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, were hard at work with passing out pizzas and pouring soda drinks into the kids' cups. Some of the children played around as they fought with plastic swords and wands. It wasn't long until Pinkie showed up while dressed up as a court jester with a long horn in her hands. She picked up the horn and blew on it to get everyone's attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to Pinkie.
"Here ye! Here ye!" Pinkie called out. "Presenting today's rulers of the Pizza Palace! King Pound Cake and Queen Pumpkin Cake!" Pinkie blew her horn again as a red carpet rolled out to reveal a boy and girl walking into the room. Pound Cake had brown hair and wore a long red cape with a gold crown on his head. Pumpkin Cake had orange hair and wore the same outfit as her brother. They slowly walked across the room until they say down on a pair of large chairs similar to thrones. The rest of the kids applause to the Cake Twins' grand entrance. 
"Alright, everyone!" Pinkie said through the microphone. "Enjoy your meals!" The kids cheered once again before they continued to chowed down on their pizzas. 



Once the children ate all of their food, Pinkie blew her horn again. 
"Here ye! Here ye! Now it's time for the party's entertainment: The Tale of the Two Dragons!" Pinkie signaled Twilight to turn off the lights. Lights turned on from the stage and the curtains were moved. It showed a background of a fairy tale kingdom. 
"In a kingdom from far away," Fluttershy said through a microphone. "there was an elegant princess who was loved by all!" At that moment, Rarity walked on to the stage while wearing dark purple princess costume. Some of the kids were struck in awe as they saw Rarity dressed as a princess. 
"Oh! What a lovely day to be a princess!" Rarity said in a dramatic tone. She pulled out a small fan and fluttered it. Suspenseful music started to play and everyone heard some loud footsteps. 
"Unfortunately," Fluttershy said. "the kingdom was attacked by a pair of monstrous dragons!" The loud footsteps got closer to the stage until Spike and Scales appeared while wearing dragon costumes. Spike's dragon costume was green while Scales' dragon costume was blue. Both of them made loud roars that startled the children. Spike pulled out a small teddy bear and took a bite out of it. He then shook the teddy bear around with his teeth and the bear's stuffing flew all over the stage. The children screamed from such a horrifying sight. 
"Spike!" Scales whispered to his brother. "What are you doing?!" 
"I'm adding more fright into my character!" Spike whispered while the bear was in his teeth. 
"You should have told me about that!" Scales complained. "I wanted to do tear up a teddy bear too!" When Spike threw the teddy bear away, he and Scales turned to Rarity as she looked terrified. 
"Hmm! Yummy princess!" Spike said in a brute tone. Spike and Scales roared before they began to chase Rarity. Rarity screamed as she ran around the stage while being chased by the brothers. 
"The kingdom's royal guards were unable to defeat these two beasts!" Fluttershy narrated. "The only person capable to defeating the dragons is the hero!" Rainbow jumped from the back of the stage while wearing an outfit that made her look like an adventurer. 
"Have no fear, my lady!" Rainbow hollered. "The hero has arrived to slay the dragons!" Rainbow pulled out a sword and shield before she ran in front of the dragons. Spike and Scales hissed and growled as they surrounded Rainbow. Spike charged in; only to be dodged by Rainbow. Scales swung his arm only to be blocked by Rainbow's shield. Soon, the brothers took turns making hits on Rainbow. She did her best to avoid each of the brothers' attacks. Spike then turned and jumped out of the stage. Once Spike landed, he made a loud roar to the audience. Some of the children screamed in panic. 
"The hero needs your help, everyone!" Fluttershy said. "While the dragon takes care of one dragon, you have the chance of defeating the other dragon. Who will join the hero to victory!?" All of a sudden, some of the children pulled out their plastic swords and began beating Scales with it. 
"Ow...ow...ow ow!" Spike whined as he collapse from all of the beating. The children cheered from their victory over Scales. Rainbow was also able to defeat Scales by stabbing him under his armpit. 
"Oh the pain!" Scales moaned before he fell to the ground and played dead. Rainbow walked up to Scales and placed one leg on top of him. 
"Hazah!" Rainbow hollered. "The dragons have been vanquished thanks to me and my fellow allies!" The children cheered and the parents gave applause while the actors got back on stage to give a final bow. The show was over and the actors joined in on the party. Some of the children gathered around Rarity to praise how pretty she looked. Some children met up with Rainbow as they praise about how cool she was. The brothers were also surrounded by children as they attempted to climb on top of the dragons or hit them with plastic swords. Pinkie blew her horn once again to get everyone's attention. 
"Here ye! Here ye! It is time for the rulers of the Pizza Palace to blow out their candles and make a wish!" Pinkie moved to the side to reveal Mr. and Mrs. Cake carrying a large birthday cake towards the twins. The children and the other guests gathered around to sing the twins' the birthday song. 
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!" Everyone sang. "Happy birthday dear Pound and Pumpkin! Happy birthday to you!" The twins closed their eyes before they blew out the candles. Everyone cheered as the Cakes began cutting the cake and passing it out. 



The birthday party was over and the guests were gone. Pinkie and the rest of her friends were busy with cleaning up the party room. 
"Thank you so much for making this party happen, Pinkie!" Mrs. Cake smiled. 
"Oh! It's what I live for!" Pinkie replied. 
"We better head home so the twins can take their nap." Mrs. Cake said. 
"We'll take care of the rest of the cleaning, Mrs. Cake." Pinkie replied as Mrs. Cake waved and left the party room. 
"I appreciate the help, everyone." Pinkie said to her friends. 
"It's no problem." Applejack said. "We were lucky since we had nothing to do today." Twilight looked around the room. 
"Has anyone seen Spike and Scales?" Twilight asked. 
"They must be in the back stage, they were pretty tuckered out from dealing with all of those kids." Rarity responded. 
"I'll go check on them." Pinkie said as she made her way to the back stage. She walked around until she saw Spike and Scales sleeping on one side of a wall. 
"Aw!" Pinkie cooed. "They look cute despite dressing up as fire-breathing dragons." Pinkie then noticed Spike sleeping in his costume. She slowly got closer to Spike as she carefully moved his head on top of her lap. 
"Even though you're a dragon," Pinkie then removed Spike's dragon head to reveal his face. "you're still a prince to me." Pinkie moved her head closer to give Spike a sweet kiss on his lips. Pinkie enjoyed every second of her kiss with Spike. For once in Pinkie's life, she actually found something more tasty than any sweet she has every eaten. That is coming from the girl who has eaten the Cakes' Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness! Pinkie slowly removed her lips from Spike's so she could lick her lips. A small blush was on Pinkie's cheeks as she savored Spike's delicious lips. 
'Yep, still better than the MMMM!' Pinkie said in her mind.
> Quality Time with Bro and Friends!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike felt excited when he woke up to another Saturday morning. This means that there was no school today and he could have fun. He checked his phone to see what messages he received. Spike read that the girls were busy with various activities: Rainbow is teaching soccer to middle schoolers, Twilight is attending a science awards ceremony, Applejack is visiting some relatives out of town, Pinkie is babysitting the Cakes' twins, Rarity is working on some designs, and Fluttershy is taking part in bird watching with some of her animal-caring friends. Despite Spike feeling a bit disappointed, he didn't care as he can still have fun without the girls. Spike got dressed and made his way to the dining room where his family was setting up for breakfast. 
"Morning, everyone!" Spike said as he entered. 
"Good morning, sweetie!" Jade replied as she placed a plate of pancakes on the table. "I've made your favorite!" 
"Yay!" Spike cheered as he sat down along with the rest of his family. 
"Any plans, boys?" Scorpan asked. "Your mother and I will be doing some errands throughout the day." 
"The girls are busy so I can't think of anything." Spike replied. 
"It's alright," Scales replied. "Spike and I can hang out around town." 
"Just make sure both of you get home before nighttime." Jade said cautiously. 
"Okay, Mom!" Spike said before he stuffed some more pancakes into his mouth. 



After breakfast, the brothers made their way through the streets of Canterlot to look for things to do. 
"It feels like a millennium since you and I spent some time by ourselves, huh Spike?" Scales asked. 
"Yeah," Spike replied. "it's probably because we spend most of the time with the girls. It almost feels strange without them." 
"We've been spending time with girls," Scales replied. "it would be good to hang out with some guys." Spike suddenly thought of an idea as he dialed on his phone. 
"Hey, Feather!" Spike said on his phone. 
"Any plans for today?" Spike listened for a reply. "My brother and I are out of our house and I was wondering if you want to hang out with us." Spike continued to listen. 
"Great!" Spike replied. "Meet us at the arcade!" Spike hung up and turned to Scales. 
"Let's go!" Spike said as he ran ahead of Scales. Scales put the pieces together on who was on the phone with Spike. When the brothers made it to the arcade, they saw Feather Bangs who was keeping his distance from Bulk Biceps. 
"Hey guys!" Spike hollered as he ran up to his friends. 
"S'up Spike!" Feather said as he gave Spike a high five. "Glad that you're here!" Feather then got closer to Spike to whisper. 
"You would not believe how many times this muscle-bound jock kept saying 'yeah', it was agonizing!" Spike raised a brow from Feather's weird comment. 
"Well, at least we're all here!" Spike said before Scales made his way to the guys. 
"S'up dudes," Scales said to Spike's friends. 
"Oh yeah!" Spike said. "I also brought my brother, Scales." 
"S'up." Bulk and Feathers said at once. 
"Let's get started on our guys' day out!" Spike said as he made his way into the arcade. 
"Yeah!" Bulk said as he and the rest of the guys followed in pursuit. The guys played a few of the arcade machines until Spike noticed a new game. It was a punching game that gives scores on how many points you can make when you hit the punching bag. 
"We have got to try this game!" Spike said as he inserted some coins to start the game. When the machine turned on, a robot voice was heard from the speakers. 
"Throw the hardest punch you can make to show your strength!" the machine said as the punching bag was lowered. The guys gathered to watch Spike as he took a deep breath. Spike swung his fist to make a direct hit on the punching bag. The screen showed that Spike made a score of 50 points from the game. 
"Not bad, bro." Scales said as he inserted his money into the machine. 
"I'll give it a go." Scales also took a deep breath before he punched the bag with all of his might. The screen showed that Scales made a score of 73 points. 
"Awesome, bro!" Spike said before he inserted more money into the machine. 
"Your turn, Feather!" Feather's eyes popped out when he was offered a turn. 
"I-I'm not really into these kind of games." Feather said nervously. 
"No worries! This is just for fun!" Spike cheered as he pushed Feather closer to the machine. Feather gulped before he threw his hardest punch on to the punching bag. The screen showed 10 points were made. The guys just stared at the screen while Feather blushed in embarrassment. 
"Umm...at least you tried?" Spike said with a nervous smile. Feather hung his head in shame as Bulk made his way to the punching machine.
"Yeah!" Bulk hollered before he threw a punch. The score was 100 points and trumpets were played from the speakers. 
"It's a new record!" The machine said as lights were flashing. The rest of the guys clamped from Bulk's amazing score. 
"Aw, it was nothing." Bulk said while he acted embarrassed. The guys were done with the arcade and decided to stop by a diner for lunch. 
"So how is it with you and those girls, Spike?" Feather asked. 
"Oh, it's been great!" Spike took a bite from his burger. "I got to help them with a lot of their occasions!" 
"I helped too." Scales included while he sipped his drink. 
"Man, you must be super lucky for being friends with them." Feather said with a sigh. 
"I just keep being me." Spike replied. 
"I have to ask," Feather leaned closer to Spike. "which one of the girls would you prefer to as a possible girlfriend?" 
"Um..." Spike responded. 
"I'm just asking if one of your friends became something more like someone you would date." Feather explained. "Who knows when a friendship can turn into something more." Spike pondered for a moment as he tries to figure out an answer. 
"It's really hard to say." Spike replied. "Each of the girls have their special traits: Twilight is really smart and cares for her friends, Rarity shows both beauty and generosity, Rainbow is really cool, Applejack is hard-working, Pinkie brings out my best smile, and Fluttershy shows kindness to animals and people." Feather smiled from Spike's response. Goes to show that Spike doesn't play favorites when it comes to the girls.
"Ahem," Scales interrupted with a fake cough. "I know it's normal for us guys to talk about girls, but can we get back into our guys' day out?" The rest of the guys nodded in agreement. 
"I'm still single because I don't need a girlfriend to keep me going, right Bulk?" The muscular guy nodded. 
"Yeah, " Bulk agreed. "even though I don't have a date, it gives me more time to lift weights." Bulk then gave a peck on one of his muscular arms. The guys chuckled from Bulk's response and decided to continue with their day. 



The Drake parents drove up to their home and made their way to the front door. 
"We're home!" Jade said as she opened the door. She was surprised to see her sons and two other boys play video games in the living room. 
"Hey mom!" Spike said while pushing buttons on his controller. 
"How was your day out?" Scales asked as he was also on his controller. 
"It was fine." Scorpan replied. "But I see that you boys and your friends had a good day?" 
"It was great," Spike replied. 
"I wished this could go on longer," Jade said as she looked at the clock. "but wouldn't now be a good time for your friends to head home? It is getting late." The boys hurried with their game before Feather and Bulk got up. 
"Thanks for hanging out with us, you guys!" Feather said to the brothers before he turned and held Jade's hand. "And it's was an honor to meet a beautiful mom like you!" Feather then gave a small peck on Jade's hand, much to Scorpan's jealously. Jade just giggled from Feather's silly gesture before he and Bulk left the house.
> Holiday Shopping
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The holiday season finally arrived in Canterlot City where everyone was rushing to make last-minute preparations before Christmas. It was especially busy in the Canterlot Mall as shoppers came and go from different stores. Spike and Scales exited one of the stores while carrying some bags in their hands. 
"Ohh! I can't wait for Christmas!" Spike squealed as he lifted the bags in his hands. 
"I'm just glad we got all of our presents while getting through this herd of people." Scales grumbled. 
"But the crowd shows how much people care about the holidays!" Spike defended. 
"Spike!" Rainbow hollered from a far distance. The brothers saw the girls standing in front an empty water fountain. 
"Hey girls!" Spike said as he made his way to his friends. "You're here for Christmas shopping too?"
"We already got it done!" Pinkie replied as she lifted up some shopping bags. "We're just here to hang out around the mall." 
"Care to join us, Spike?" Twilight asked with a hopeful smile. 
"Sure!" Spike said as he and the girls walked ahead of Scales. 
'This is going to be a long day. ' Scales groaned as he followed the group. Most the stores were almost full of last-minute shoppers who were desperate to get the right gifts and stuff. 
"Man, I almost feel bad for those employees." Scales said as he saw the stores. 
"You should've seen Twilight earlier." Rainbow commented. "She was a maniac when she rushed from one store to the next." Rainbow was given an angry growl from a ticked-off Twilight. 
"Just so you know, I was getting the perfect gifts for not only my parents but also for Shining Armor and Cadence!" Twilight replied with a huff. 
"Your brother and former baby-sitter?" Spike asked. 
"Yep," Applejack replied. "We tried to help out Twilight with her shopping but when we showed Twilight the items, she told us to go back and get something else." Spike chuckled a bit which caused Twilight to grumble. The mall's intercoms made a jingle which caught everyone's attention. 
"Attention shoppers," the announcer said. "there is a fifty percent discount at Shop Closet for all winter clothing! Get this deal now before the holidays are over!" The intercoms were hung up and there was dead silence in the mall. A few seconds passed before the group felt rumbling and heard running footsteps from the distance. A large stampede of shoppers rushed through the group in order to make it to Shop Closet. When the stampede passed, the group ended up on the ground from being shoved or pushed out of the way. 
"Uhh..." Rainbow said as she tried to get up. "Is everyone alright?" Scales was the next to get up.
"Well, all of my limbs are still attached. I say that's a good sign." Soon, everyone else got up from the sudden impact from the stampede. Fluttershy then noticed something was wrong when she looked at the group. 
"Um, where is Rarity and Spike?" The group looked around for the fashionista and the little brother, only to find them missing. 
"Oh no!" Fluttershy said as she put her hands to her mouth. "They must've got caught up in that stampede!" It wasn't long till Scales began running to where the stampede was going.
"I'm coming, bro!" Scales hollered as he and the rest of the girls ran towards Shop Closet. Little did the group knew, Spike and Rarity were getting up from behind one of the benches that was near the group. 
"Woo! I bet that reminded you of cattle, huh Applejack!" Spike asked, only to find out the cowgirl was no where in sight. 
"Applejack? Bro?" Spike said as he looked around the mall area. He then noticed Rarity was about to get up as well. 
"Rarity!" Spike yelled as he made his way to check on Rarity. "Are you alright!?" Spike offered her a hand. 
"I'm fine," Rarity replied as she took Spike's hand and got up on her legs. "I'm not surprised. People can become wild animals when it comes to shopping." Rarity also looked around to find that none of her friends or Spike's brother weren't anywhere in sight. 
"I wonder where did our friends go?" Rarity asked herself. Spike pulled out his phone to call Scales, only to get the voicemail message. 
"Scales is not answering." Spike said. Rarity attempted to call some of her friends but they didn't answer as well. 
"Oh dear," Rarity whispered. "I can't get to the girls as well." 
"I hope they will be alright." Spike said with worry. An idea came to Rarity as she thought about the situation. She then locked arms with Spike as she lead him down the mall. 
"Let's not get worked up from this delay, we can search for our friends while waiting for them to call back." Rarity said with a smile. Spike was a bit nervous for not getting a call back from his bro, but the thought of alone time with Rarity cleared all of his doubts. 
"Okay!" Spike said as he walked faster to stand side by side with Rarity. 
'This is going to be fun!' Rarity thought as she and Spike made their way to wherever they are in the mall. 



Rarity and Spike took their time to admire the dressed mannequins and decorations shown on the window displays. Spike was especially happy since his arm was locked with Rarity's. He could also smell her perfume which smelled similar to lavender. It wasn't long till Rarity noticed a particular boutique that sold women clothing. 
"Can we stop by here for a bit?" Rarity pleaded. 
"Sure," Spike replied as both of them went inside. The clothing store wasn't as crowded as the other stores as there were only a few women browsing the clothing racks. 
"Ooh!" Rarity said as she picked up one of the hanged clothings. "These outfits look wonderful! Just being in another boutique gives me so many new ideas!" Rarity picked up some clothings one by one to see if it will look good on her. Spike stood back to observe Rarity while she was in her shopping mode. He couldn't help but smile as Rarity was enjoying herself. It almost felt like he was on a date with her. Just the thought of a date with Rarity made Spike blush a bit. 
"Oh Spike!" Rarity hollered. Spike turned to where Rarity was. Only to see her holding a lacy purple bra and panties. 
"Would this look good on me?" Rarity cooed. Spike stared at the bra and panties before the image of Rarity wearing it made his heart skip a beat. Spike stumbled to find the right words. 
"U-uh...yeah...it would." Spike said while rubbing his neck. Rarity giggled from Spike's response. 
"Well, I'm going to try it on to see how it really looks." As Rarity went inside the dressing room, she poked her head out from the curtains. "No peeking, okay?" 
"I wouldn't do that!" Spike yelled in response while he blushed. There was a long silence in the boutique before Rarity chuckled. 
"I know you wouldn't, Spikey." Rarity went back into the fitting room, leaving Spike to recover from Rarity's 'no peeking request'. As Spike waited for Rarity, he started to hear some of the women whisper from behind him. 
'What a lucky boy he is, huh?' One of the customers giggled. 
'To have a girl try on underwear for a boy must be really something.' Another customer replied. Spike could help but feel embarrassed as the women continued with their gossip. 
"Spikey," Rarity whispered as her head popped out from the curtains. 
"Y-yes!" Spike responded. 
"I just wanted to let you know the purple bra looks fabulous on me." Rarity teased. "I just wished you could see-" Rarity stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed something from the window. Spike tried to see what Rarity saw before she hugged Spike and pulled him inside the curtains. Before Spike could respond, Rarity put her finger to her lip as a code to stay quiet as she peaked outside. Spike was confused about who was Rarity hiding from. Someone she hates? Her parents? An obsessed admirer? Those thoughts were instantly gone when Spike noticed that Rarity was still wearing the purple bra and underwear. Rarity's figure made the bra and panties look way better than Spike had imagined in his thoughts. What's worse was that Rarity was hugging Spike and he could feel her chest on his cheeks. Just the sight and touch of Rarity made him blush red all over his face. Rarity looked out for a few seconds before she sighed and turned to Spike. 
"I apologize for my sudden action," Rarity whispered, only to stop when she noticed Spike looking at her. Spike's embarrassed face made Rarity giggled as she wrapped her arms around Spike's head and pulled him closer to her chest. 
"Do you like what you see?" Rarity asked with a devilish smile.
"Uh huh," Spike said with a dumbfounded expression. The stare between Spike and Rarity lasted when the curtain was moved to reveal the girls and Scales who had angry looks on their faces. The sight of a nearly naked Rarity hugging a bewitched Spike made the girls' stares more menacing. Spike shivered from how scary the girls were glaring. Rarity was shaking in terror from the possibilities of what will happen next. 



Rarity and Spike sat on a mall bench while hanging their heads in shame. Facing the couple were the rest of the group as some of them crossed their arms in a disappointing manner. 
"So..." Twilight said to break the ice. "mind telling us why you two were in a changing room together?" Rarity sighed before she replied. 
"You weren't answering your phones and I thought a little outing wouldn't hurt." Rarity said sheepishly. 
"That doesn't change the fact you were hugging Spike while wearing nothing but those bra and panties." Rainbow growled. 
"You're lucky Scales used a locater app to track Spike's phone before you got the chance to do more with Spike." Applejack sternly said. 
"There was nothing else going on!" Rarity defended. 
"Yeah, Rarity was just trying on clothes." Spike included. All five of the girls gave Spike glares that made him silent. 
"Well, Rarity." Twilight said. "I think it would be best to come up with a suitable punishment for you." Rarity gulped for what will happen. 
"Ooh! I know!" Pinkie said while waving her arms. "Each of us should have a small date with Spike since Rarity had her fun!" The girls looked at each other and smiled as they thought it was a good idea. 
"With me included." Scales interrupted, which caught the girls' attention. "I'll just make sure none of you try something funny with Spike like what Rarity did." Scales gave a menacing look that spooked Rarity. The rest of the girls looked had nervous looks before they agreed with Scales' terms.
> Holiday Dates (with Scales)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike's first date was with Twilight as they walked passed the stores. Twilight thought it would've been the perfect date with Spike if it wasn't for Scales following from behind. Their first stop was at a bookstore as it was a comfortable area for Twilight's time with Spike. Twilight took a look at the new release section to search for any new books that could feed her never-ending hunger for knowledge. She started to hear an woman's voice from the far back of the store. Out of curiosity, Twilight made her way to the back of the store to see an elderly woman reading out loud to some small children who sat on the floor. Twilight noticed that the book the old woman was reading was The Polar Express based on the picture of a large train on the book's cover. Another thing that caught her attention was Spike as he was sitting with the children while listening to the story. Scales sat on a stool next to him. Spike turned to Twilight to pat on a spot next to him to signal that she could sit besides him. Twilight smiled as she sat down to listen to the part when Santa announces the first Christmas gift. 



After their trip to the bookstore, all three of the friends decided to relax at a coffee shop. 
"It felt nostalgic to listen to The Polar Express." Twilight said as she took a sip of hot chocolate. 
"I know!" Spike nodded. "The Polar Express has always been my favorite Christmas story!" 
"Whenever our mom gets done reading the story, Spike would wait by the door on Christmas Eve to be picked up by the Polar Express so he could meet Santa Claus." Scales said, which caused Twilight to chuckle. 
"I really wanted to!" Spike said in a pout before he sighed. "But based on the letters Santa gave me, the Polar Express picks up children who really needed the trip. Santa says that I've been a really good boy for letting those kids ride the train." Spike said as he puffed his chest with pride. Twilight lifted a brow from hearing that from Spike. She turned to Scales who quickly put his finger to his lip as a sign to not tell Spike that Santa Claus isn't real. Twilight just nodded before she took another sip of coco. 
"I'm glad to know that this will be your first Christmas in Canterlot City." Twilight said. "Any special plans?" The brothers looked at each other for anything special in mind. 
"Not really," Scales replied. "just eating food, spend time with family, and open presents." 
"We also get gifts from some of our relatives and friends from our old town!" Spike included. An idea popped inside Twilight's mind. 
"Why don't you guys come to our annual Christmas party?" Twilight suggested. Scales and Spike looked at Twilight with confusion. 
"Every year, the girls and I celebrate Christmas by having a small Christmas party at our houses. Each of us take turns hosting the party. I'm hosting the party for this year." Twilight said. 
"That sounds like a great idea, Twilight!" Spike cheered.  
"I guess it's better than our usual Christmas tradition." Scales said with a shrug. Suddenly, Pinkie popped out from under the table with a large pocket watch in her hands. 
"Ding Ding Ding!" Pinkie hollered which caught everyone's attention. 
"Your date is over, Twilight!" Pinkie said as she wrapped her arms around Spike's arm. "Now it's my turn." Pinkie batted her eyes at Spike before she pulled him to another part of the mall. 
"Hey wait!" Scales said before he got up to go after the couple. "Thanks for the invite, Twilight." Scales said before he followed Spike and Pinkie. Twilight sighed as her date was already over. Luckily for Twilight, the rest of her friends joined her on the table as they all spend some time together before their dates with Spike.



Pinkie skipped along through the mall while Spike and Scales were following in pursuit. 
'I wonder where Pinkie is leading us?' Scales and Spike thought as they walked behind the party girl.
"We're here!" Pinkie said as she motioned to a candy shop. 
'Of course.' Scales thought before he started to follow Pinkie while she pulled Spike inside. There were a lot of kids in the store as they ran around to get candy from right to left. Pinkie started to show the brothers all of the best selling candies and some of her favorites. It wasn't until one of the employees approached Pinkie and the brothers with a silver plate with some small chocolates on it. 
"May I offer you some free samples?" The employee said as she showed the plate. 
"Oh! Don't mind if I do!" Spike said as he picked up one of the chocolates and took a bite. Spike began gag from how awful the chocolate tasted. 
"Eww! What flavor is this chocolate!?" Spike demanded. 
"It's fruit cake flavored." The employee deadpanned. 
"Eww!" Spike repeated. 
"I know," The employee sighed as she left while Spike continued to gag and spit out the candy. 
"Hey Spike!" Pinkie hollered from another part of the store. "Come over here!" Spike made his way to where Pinkie was. She was holding up a very long piece of red licorice. 
"You have got to try this licorice! You can just taste the holiday joy!" Pinkie said as she offered one end of licorice. Spike began chewing the one end of the licorice. Spike thought tasted wonderful as he could kept chewing. 
"This is good, Pinkie." Spike said. He noticed that Pinkie was eating the other end of the long licorice. It was shortening which caused Pinkie to get closer to Spike. Soon, Pinkie was about one inch near Spike's face while chewing on the licorice. Spike started to blush from how close he was to Pinkie as her face looked like a hungry lioness ready to strike. Before Pinkie and Spike got any closer, a pair of scissors sudden appeared to snap off the licorice Pinkie and Spike were sharing. Pinkie turned to see that Scales was holding the scissors while giving her the look of a predator. 
"I don't think so," Scales said. Pinkie just gulped while giving a nervous laugh. Spike just stared in confusion. 



Pinkie and Spike left the store happily while carrying some bags of candy. 
"I'm going to have a major sugar rush when I'm done with this bag!" Pinkie said before she was interrupted by a ringing from her phone. Pinkie answered the call for a few seconds before hanging it up. 
"Looks like our date is over, Spike." Pinkie pouted, but then returned with smiling. "No prob, I had a great time! Your next date is with Rainbow Dash. Meet her at the center of the mall." Spike and Scales waved to Pinkie before they went off to the next date. The boys were able to make their way to the center of the mall; only to find a large stand with lots of carts that look like animals. 
"About time you guys showed up!" Rainbow hollered as she approached the brothers. 
"So, why are we here?" Scales asked. 
"I rented some animal carts for us to ride for my date with Spike." Rainbow said as she motioned to two animal parts nearby. One was a light blue pegasus while the other one was a gray hippo. 
"How come there are only two of them?" Spike asked. 
"Funny you should mention that." Rainbow said before she grabbed Spike's arm. "Spike and I are sharing one, bye!" Rainbow pulled Spike on to the pegasus cart where she was driving while Spike sat behind her. 
"Hey!" Scales yelled before he hopped on to the hippo cart and began riding to Rainbow. Unfortunately, Scales lost sight of Rainbow and Spike because many people were in the way. 
"Damn it!" Scales said as he continued to ride his cart. Rainbow and Spike were next to some vending machines while on their cart. 
"I can't believe that worked." Rainbow whispered to herself. 
"Um, Rainbow." Spike said. "Didn't Scales say to stay together?" 
"Yeah, but this is like a little game he and I are playing." Rainbow answered. "Okay, we can just cruise along the mall. You can just hold tight and enjoy the ride." Rainbow began driving the cart into another part of the mall. As they rode along on their cart, Spike couldn't help but look in awe of how decorated the mall was. Rainbow was also enjoying the ride as she has Spike's arms wrapped around her body. She also felt a little embarrassed as some people were looking at her and Spike weirdly due to the fact that both of them were teenagers riding a single cart. 
"How are you so good at riding these carts, Rainbow?" Spike asked curiously. 
"I started to ride these things ever since I was a kid. I was with my parents when I visited another mall where they had the carts out and I really wanted to ride them. So, my parents rented one for me and I was able to ride them like it was nothing!" 
"That sounds interesting." Spike replied as he continued to look around at the decorations. Rainbow suddenly had an idea popped in her mind. She slowly stopped the cart, which caught Spike's attention. 
"Hey Spike," Rainbow said. "Do you want to drive?" 
"Really?!" Spike said as his eyes lit up. 
"Sure, I had my fun already." Rainbow said as got up to let Spike move to the handles. 
"So, how do I do this?" Spike asked as he placed his hands on the handles. 
"It's easy." Rainbow said as she placed her hands on top of Spike's. "If you want to go forward, you turn the handles. If you want to slow down, you press the handle's brakes." Rainbow couldn't help but giggle as she felt the warmth from Spike's hands as she touched them. Once Rainbow was done with the instructions, she climbed behind Spike and wrapped her arms around him. Spike started turn the handles and the cart started moving. The cart stopped a few times before Spike was able to drive the cart without any problems. As Spike drove the cart, Rainbow was quiet as she was enjoying having her arms around Spike. 
'Spike feels so huggable, he is almost like a teddy bear: short and soft.' Rainbow thought. It wasn't long before Spike and Rainbow decided to stop the food court to get some pretzels. While they eat near the cart, Scales approached them while riding his hippo cart. 
"There you are!" Scales said sternly as he got off the cart and marched towards Rainbow. "Luckily for me, I used my locator app again to track Spike's phone. What do you have to say for yourself?" Spike approached his brother with a pretzel. 
"Will this make it up to you?" Spike asked. Scales stayed silent as he took the pretzel and took a huge bite from it. Rainbow got her phone out to read a text. 
"Looks like my date is up, next one is Fluttershy." Rainbow said with a sigh. 
"What about the animal carts?" Spike asked. 
"Don't worry, Pinkie is on her way to help me drive them back to the cart booth." Rainbow answered. "Meet Fluttershy at the ice ring near the west part of the mall." 
"There's an ice ring here?!" Spike gasped as he made his way to the ice ring with Scales following in pursuit. 



The brothers arrive to a large ice ring where a lot of people were skating across the ice. Scales spotted Fluttershy sitting by a booth besides the ring. 
"Hey Spike, hey Scales." Fluttershy said as she got up. "This is what we will do." Fluttershy said as she offered the brothers some ice skates. 
"Yay!" Spike said as he started to tie his laces to his ice skates. 
"I'm surprised that you of all people would suggest this place for a date." Scales said while putting on his ice skates. 
"I just thought it would be fun for Spike." Fluttershy replied. 
'Plus, I also have some other intentions of inviting Spike here.' A sinister-like voice said in Fluttershy's mind. The brothers and Fluttershy began ice staking around the ring along with the other skaters. Spike was having a good time while Scales skated while his hands were in his pocket. Soon, Spike noticed that Fluttershy was having difficulties skating along in the ring. 
"Are you alright, Fluttershy?" Spike asked as he skated to her. 
"I'm fine," Fluttershy said while trying to keep her balance. "It's been a while since I skated at all-" Fluttershy yelped as she almost collapsed on to the ice floor if it wasn't for Spike catching her. 
"Woo, that was close." Spike said as he helped Fluttershy get back up. "Should we leave this ice ring?" 
"Maybe there is a better way." Fluttershy said as she wrapped her arms around Spike's arm. "Can I hold on to you while we skate." 
"Umm, sure." Spike said while blushing. Fluttershy giggled as she snuggled in Spike's arm as they skated. As they skated, Scales was giving a stern look at Fluttershy for making such a bold move. But he let it slide as Spike might disagree with letting go of Fluttershy as she 'struggles' with ice staking. 



The final date was with Applejack and she told the brothers to meet her by the mall's large water fountain. When the brothers reached there, they were surprised to see that the area was set up for a small piano concert. 
"Over here!" Applejack hollered as she was sitting on one of the seats. The brothers made their way to sit next to Applejack. 
"Is there some kind of concert playing?" Spike asked. 
"Yup," Applejack replied. "the pianist plays a variety of Christmas songs to help people feel the holiday cheers." The pianist made his way to the piano and began playing a song.

As the song played Applejack blushed as she slowly placed her hand on top of Spike's without his or Scales' knowledge. Just the music and the warmth from Spike's hands made this a great date for Applejack. 



It was around nighttime when the group left the mall and it continued to snow. 
"Thanks for showing us a great time, girls!" Spike said to the Mane Six.
"No problem," Rainbow said. 
"It was the least we could do to show you boys a good time." Applejack included. 
"We better be going then," Scales said. "we got to wrap our gifts up and spend some time with our folks." 
"Merry Christmas!" Pinkie said as she waved the brothers goodbye. 
"You too," Spike replied. "See you guys at the party!" The brothers and the girls made their way home to enjoy Christmas with their families.
> Holiday Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike slowly woke up to see that the sun was shining. His excitement sky-rocketed as he knew what that meant: today was Christmas! Spike quickly got out of bed and hurried out of his room and into the living room where his family's Christmas tree was. Around the Christmas tree was Scales along with their parents as they organized their presents. 
"Merry Christmas, Spike!" Jade said as she showed Spike his pile of presents. 
"Merry Christmas, Mom!" Spike said as he ran to give his mom a hug. Scorpan picked up a video camera to record the unwrapping. 
"Alright Spike, let's see what you got from Santa!" Scorpan said as he gave Spike a present wrapped with paper with Santa Claus on it. Spike quickly tore the paper to reveal that inside the box was an action figure of a muscle-bound dragon. 
"No way!" Spike gasped as he picked up the toy dragon. "Burnferno: The Warrior from Within?!" 
"Guess Santa must've known how much you loved to read that story." Scales said with a chuckle. 
"Thank you, Santa!" Spike said as he rubbed the dragon action figure with his cheek. 
"Next, is my and your mother's gift to you!" Scorpan said as he gave Spike another present. Spike started to unwrapping the next present to pull out a hooded onesie that looked like a purple dragon. 
"Whoa!" Spike hollered as he moved the onesie around to get a better look. 
"I'm glad you liked it!" Jade clapped her hands. "I got it for a special deal." She pulled out a Christmas bag and gave it to Scales. 
"Here Scales, open this one!" Jade offered. Scales reached inside the bag to pull out a blue dragon onesie that was similar to Spike's. 
"Surprise! It was a two for one sale!" Jade cheered while Scales raised a brow as he looked at his gift. 
"Thanks, Mom." Scales said as he put his back into his bag. Spike reappeared while wearing his onesie with the hood on. 
"Ta-da!" Spike said as he showed everyone what he was wearing. 
"Oh! It looks perfect on you, son!" Jade cooed. Spike opened another present to reveal that it was a small red monster truck. 
"No way! It's the Beast Chomper!" Spike began rolling it with his arm. 
"That was my gift." Scales said. "You were giving a lot of hints about it." Scales said as he remembered all the times Spike was offering clues about the monster truck ever since he first laid eyes on it. 
"Thank you!" Spike said as he gave his brother a big hug. Spike then pulled out another present and offered it to Scales. 
"Now it's your turn! This is my present to you!" Scales started opening the box to find a new, black leather jacket inside. On the back was a large, red dragon breathing fire into the air. 
"Whoa, this is cool." Scales said as he put his new jacket and then gave Spike a hug. "Thanks, bro." Jade unwrapped one present to reveal some handmade hankies that had hearts and some poorly sewed dragons on them. 
"Rarity helped me sewed those dragons on the hankies." Spike said as he was given a hug from his mom. 
"I love it!" Jade said as she used one of the hankies to wipe some joyful tears. Scales took a look at his phone to see the time. 
"Spike and I better get going. We got a Christmas party to go to." Scales said as he and Spike got ready to leave. 
"Tell the girls I said hi!" Jade said as she and Scorpan were putting up the rest of the gifts. 
"I'm all set!" Spike said. Scales just looked at his brother as Spike was still wearing his onesie. 
"You're gonna wear that to the party?" Scales asked his brother.
"Of course!" Spike replied. 
"Alright," Scales said as he and Spike made their way to Twilight's house. 



It wasn't long before the brothers arrived at Twilight's front door. Spike rang the door bell to see Twilight at the entrance.
"Hey! Merry Christmas, you guys!" Twilight said before she saw Spike. She covered her mouth with a hand to hide her  laughter.
"Merry Christmas, Twilight!" Spike replied. The brothers followed Twilight inside the house to see that the inside was completely decorated with Christmas stuff. The rest of the girls were sitting on the chairs and couches in the living room. 
"Merry Christmas, you guys!" The rest of the girls said at once. They too stopped when they saw Spike in his dragon onesie. Rainbow burst out laughing and held her sides. Pinkie joined in with Rainbow on the laughing. 
"You look so hilarious!" Rainbow said before she returned to laughing. "And I thought of that when you wore that dragon costume for the Cake Twins' birthday party! But this really takes the cake!" Fluttershy ran up to Spike to give him a hug. 
"Oh! You look so adorable!" Fluttershy said as she snuggled Spike's head to her chest. Spike was then ripped away from Fluttershy by Rarity. 
"No fair, Fluttershy!" Rarity pouted. "I want to give this adorable dragon a hug too!" Rarity snuggled Spike to her chest. Scales cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention. 
"I hate to interrupt...whatever was going on, but don't we have a Christmas party to celebrate?" The girls looked at each other before they calmed themselves. 
"Time for our annual cider cheers to kick off this celebration!" Applejack said as she passed some mugs of cider to each of her friends and then to the brothers. All of the party members lifted their mugs.
"To another holiday season!" Pinkie cheered. 
"Let's enjoy every minute of it!" Rainbow added. 
"Especially with new friends!" Rarity said with a wink to Spike. Everyone clinked their mugs before they took some sips of their cider. 
"Wow! This cider is way better than the ones from Cider Season!" Spike said as he licked his lips. 
"I'm glad you liked it," Applejack said. "I added some secret ingredients into the cider to give it that holiday taste." Pinkie took another sip and formed a curious look on her face. 
"Eggnog was added." Pinkie said. 
"Pinkie!" Applejack yelled. 
"That what happens when you feed something to Pinkie," Rainbow said to the boys. "She will know what the exact ingredients were." The party went on with the gang playing party games such as Operation with Rarity being the winner. 
"I have a lot of experience with tweezers!" Rarity said with a smirk, much to some of the girls displeasure. The next party game was Battlecloud. Since there were only two sets of the game, the gang decided to make it like a tournament where the winner moves on to the next round. The first round was with Rainbow and Spike. It didn't take long for Rainbow to start winning. 
"Ha! Cloud 9, fire!" Rainbow said before she made an explosion noise. 
"No! You sank my last weather pony!" Spike said as he dropped on to his hands and knees. Rainbow on the other hand was jumping and pumping her fists into the air. After a few more rounds, the semi-finalists were Rainbow and Twilight. Rainbow was clenching her teeth as she had only one seagull left.
'Pull it together, Rainbow. You can still win this!' Rainbow thought while taking a deep breath. 
"Sky 3!" Rainbow yelled. 
"Miss," Twilight smirked. "Cloud 6."
"Oh! You sunk it!" Rainbow whined while Twilight chuckled. "Are you peeking!?"
"Nope, just good old strategy skills!" Twilight said. 
"Alright, on to the activity: snow ball fight!" Pinkie said as she pointed to the window that showed the snow-covered yard. 



The group split into two teams for the snowball fight. One team was made up of Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike while the other team was made up of Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, Scales. Both of the teams had about ten minutes to build up their snow forts before the snowball fight begins. After ten minutes, Pinkie popped out from her team's snow fort. 
"Let the snow ball fight commence!" Pinkie said before she blew a horn and everyone began throwing snowballs at each other. Rainbow and Applejack threw snowballs particularly at each other to prove who was better at snowball fights. Pinkie was throwing large amounts of snowballs to the other snow fort like she was a human machine gun. Suddenly, Spike whispered something to Twilight and Pinkie. Both of them nodded while Spike sneaked away, undetected. While on the other snow fort, Rarity and Scales were standing next to each other while throwing snowballs. 
"That's strange," Rarity said as she noticed something at the other fort. "There seems to be less snowballs being thrown from Twilight's team." Scales stopped throwing to see that Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack were the only seen throwing snowballs.
"Oh no," Scales whispered before he and Rarity were hit with snowballs. 
"Fluttershy!" Rarity whined as she turned to Fluttershy. 
"I-it wasn't me! I swear!" Fluttershy defended before her face got hit by a snowball. All three of them turned to see that Spike was throwing multiple snow balls at them. 
"How did Spikey get over here!?" Rarity yelled as she tried to throw snowballs at Spike. 
"He must've dug under the snow while his team covered him!" Scales answered as he threw snowballs at Spike. "Just keep throwing snowballs at the other team while I take care of Spike!" Scales began throwing snowballs at Spike. It wasn't until Spike threw one snowball and it hit Rainbow while she was occupied with her small snowball fight with Applejack. 
"What the-" Rainbow said before she turned to see Spike looking at her sheepishly. Rainbow's face turned red as she started to chase after Spike while throwing snowballs at him. 
"Aaaah!" Spike yelled as he ran out of the other team's snow fort with Rainbow following in pursuit. 
"Get back here!" Rainbow yelled as she kept throwing snowballs at Spike. 
"Oh boy," Applejack said as she got up from her post and ran to help Spike. "I'm coming, Spike!" Applejack said as she ran and threw snowballs at Rainbow. 
"Every man for themselves!" Pinkie yelled as she and the rest of the girls got out of their snow forts to throw snowballs in the open field. It took a while before everyone collapsed on to the snowy ground while the whole yard looked like a snowy war zone. 
"Woo!" Applejack panted. "I'm all tuckered out." 
"Indeed," Rarity agreed as she got up and patted the snow off of her clothes. "I believe it is best to head inside and warm up."
"I'll prepare us some more cider." Applejack as she got up next. 
"Aww yeah!" Rainbow cheered as she jumped back up while everyone else followed. The group decided to watch Rudolph: The Red-Nosed Reindeer while they enjoy another round of apple cider. 
"Thank you guys for inviting us to this party!" Spike said as he took a sip of cider. 
"It's what friends are for," Twilight said. 
"I'll be right back, gonna head to the restroom." Scales said as he got up and left the room. As Spike continued to watch the movie, he couldn't help but notice that Pinkie was suddenly next to him with lidded eyes.
"Hey Spikey," Pinkie said in a seductive tone. 
"Y-yeah?" Spike replied. Pinkie eyes motioned upward and Spike looked to see a mistletoe tied to the tip of her hair. 
"Do you know what this means?" Pinkie said while batting her eyes. Spike knew all too well that being under a mistletoe meant that someone will get a kiss. 
"I-I.." Spike was interrupted when Pinkie gave him a kiss on the cheek. 
"Merry Christmas, Spikey!" Pinkie whispered. 
"Hey!" Rarity yelled as she got up from her seat. "That's no fair, Pinkie! I want to kiss him!" Rarity hurried to grab Spike's head to kiss him on his cheeks as well. 
"Dibs!" Rainbow said as she ran to join in on kissing Spike on the cheek. Applejack appeared and gave Spike his cheek a nice smooching. 
"Consider that a present from me." Applejack winked. It was Fluttershy's turn to kiss Spike cheek. 
"And from me." Fluttershy said as she blushed in a bright red. 
"Merry Christmas, Spike." Twilight said as she was the last one to kiss Spike. The poor boy was so overwhelmed from being kissed on the cheek multiple times that he was giggling like a doofus. 
'Best...Christmas...ever!' Spike thought. Scales came out of the bathroom to see that Spike was acting all goofy while the girls pretended to act causal. 
"Alright, what did I miss?" Scales demanded.
> Scales' Secret Admirer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the way to CHS, Spike was doing his best not to drop a large pink box he was carrying. 
"Are you sure you don't need help, bro?" Scales asked as he walked next to Spike. 
"No, I'm good!" Spike replied as he lifted the box a bit. "I really want to bring these to our friends since it's Valentine's Day!" Spike smiled. 
"Of course you would." Scales commented. "By the way, thanks for the early morning Valentine's Day breakfast you made for us." Scales said as he remembered what his brother did earlier in the morning.



Scales slowly opened his eyes from sleeping on his bed. When Scales' vision cleared, the first thing he saw was Spike at a very close distant while grinning. 
"Gah!" Scales yelped before he slid from his bed and down to the floor.
"Happy Valentine's Day! I made everyone breakfast" Spike cheered as he held up a plate of heart-shaped pancakes. Scales grumbled from the way his brother woke him up. 



"That was one way to start off the morning, huh?" Spike said as the brothers arrived to CHS. Once Scales and Spike arrived to their lockers, the girls made their way towards them. 
"Happy Valentine's Day, Spike!" Pinkie cheered as she ran up to give Spike a hug. 
"Happy Valentine's Day to you, Pinkie!" Spike said as he opened the pink box to pull out a napkin-covered brownies. "I made these for you!" Pinkie just looked at the brownie in bewilderment before she took it and started chewing on it.
"It's so good!" Pinkie said while her mouth was full of brownies. 
"I especially knew you would, Pinkie!" Spike said as he started passing out brownies to his female friends. 
"Mmm! These are delicious!" Twilight said as she chewed her brownies. 
"Indeed!" Rarity nodded. "I appreciate the sweets, my Spikey-Wikey!" Rarity cooed as she pinched Spike's cheek which made him blush. She then pulled out a glittery bow tie from her purse. 
"Here you go! I made this bow tie especially for you for Valentine's Day!" Rarity said as she gave Spike the bow tie. 
"Thank you, Rarity!" Spike said as he tried his tie on. 
"Don't forget about us!" Rainbow said as she and the rest of the girls gave Spike and Scales some Valentine's Day cards and chocolates. 
"Ah, thanks girls!" Spike said as he hugged his cards and chocolate like a teddy bear. 
"You girls sure know how to charm a boy," Scales teased as he opened his locker to let a pink envelop fall to the ground. Scales picked it up to notice a red heart sticker attached to the front of the envelope's opening. He opened it and began reading the letter. 

Dear Scales,
Lately, You have been catching my attention and I couldn't help but feel very attracted to you. Since today is Valentine's Day, I think it would be best that you and I meet somewhere so I could express my feelings toward you. Meet me behind the school building by the end of the day. I really hope you will come!
Sincerely, 
Your Secret Admirer

Little did Scales knew, Spike and the rest of the girls were behind Scales and they too were reading the letter. Rarity and Pinkie formed excited grins on their faces.
"Oh my goodness!" Rarity said in excitement. "You have a secret admirer!" Rarity and Pinkie cheered in glee. 
"Isn't it a bit rude to read another person's letter?" Scales said bluntly. Rarity and Pinkie reduced their excitement to replace it with embarrassment. 
"I'm quite surprised someone has the hots for you, Scales." Rainbow smirked while she nudged Scales' arm. 
"Yeah, I guess certain people have their attractions." Applejack added.
"Are you going to meet this person?" Spike asked his brother. Scales responded by crumbling up the letter and tossed it in the trash can. Spike and the girls gasped from such actions while Scales picked up his backpack and walked down the hall. Spike quickly grabbed the wad up letter and followed Scales. 
"B-but you got to meet your admirer, Scales!" Spike said. 
"Why? It could be just somebody wanting to play a prank on me." Scales replied. 
"Psst, who would want to pull such a prank like that?" Rainbow said in denial. 
"Says the girl who went on a nonstop pranking spree and ended up doing school community service for a whole semester." Twilight replied with a serious look. Rainbow just laughed nervously. 
"But what if this isn't a prank and a girl wants to be with you?!" Rarity pleaded. 
"I'm not into dating." Scales said as he went into his class, leaving Spike and some of the girls with worried looks on their faces. 
"If Scales refuses, that is his choice." Applejack said as she, Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy turned and went to their classes. Spike, Pinkie, and Rarity looked at each other with determined looks on their faces. 



In Cheerilee's Biology class, the students were observing microorganisms through microscopes. Scales was observing through one microscope while jotting down his worksheet. Spike made his way to his brother. 
"Hey Scales," Spike said. 
"Yeah?" Scales said while looking through the microscope. 
"Are you going to meet your admirer?" Spike asked. Scales took his eyes off of his microscope and turned to his brother. 
"No," Scales said as he turned back and looked through his microscope. Spike just pouted and left his brother. 



Unfortunately, Scales takes Algebra class with Pinkie and they were sitting next to each other. While Scales was working on his math assignment, he was tapped on the shoulder by Pinkie. He turned to notice that she was showing a piece of paper that says: 

Scales + Girlfriend = Happy Life!

Scales turned to write something down on a piece of paper. When he was done, he pulled it up to Pinkie and it says NO. He then turned to continue with his work, leaving a hair deflated Pinkie feeling really sad. 



Scales' next class was Home Economics and the class was working on making chocolate since it was Valentine's Day. Rarity was in the same class and she thought she could convince Scales to consider meeting his admirer to hear what this person had to say. She approached Scales and was about to say something until Scales interrupted her. 
"If you're gonna tell me some gushy speech about returned a reply to my admirer, forget it." Scales said, making Rarity turn and walked away in defeat. 



School was over and everybody was heading home. At the back of the school, Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike were hiding behind some bushes. 
"Any luck?" Spike said to his two friends. Both of the girls hung their heads in defeat. 
"Man, I'm gonna feel sorry for the admirer when Scales doesn't show up." Spike said until he noticed someone was approaching. All three of the friends saw a short, teenage girl with long, black hair that covered her eyes. She was wearing a long black dress that had long black sleeves with spider patterns on them. 
"That must be the admirer!" Pinkie whispered. 
"Possibly," Rarity said. "why else a girl like her would be here." Rarity whispered as she and the rest of her friends watched as the girl waited for Scales to show up. Twenty minutes have passed and the friends noticed the girl started to look down. 
"Poor dear," Rarity whispered. "I can't believe Scales would just leave his admirer hanging like that!" 
"I'm gonna go and apologize to her." Spike said before he attempted to get up. It wasn't until he was pulled back down by Pinkie and Rarity. 
"What's-" Spike was cut off when Pinkie and Rarity hushed him and pointed to show that Scales was making his way to the area. 
"Scales actually came?!" Spike said in surprise. 
"Hey!" Scales said to get the girl's attention. "You wanted to meet with me?" The girl blushed as she did her best to pat her skirt and fixed her hair. 
"Y-yes, I was the one who sent you that letter." The girl replied. "I'm Cobweb, a freshman here." 
'She's so cute!' Spike, Pinkie, and Rarity thought at the same time. 
"So, what to do you want to say?" Scales asked. Cobwebs took a deep breath before she started talking. 
"I just thought that you look really cool since you first came to CHS. From how you dressed to the way you talked, you just give off that bad boy vibe that I like a lot."
"Umm....thanks?" Scales said in confusion. 
"I also like how you were always staying by your little brother's side like any great big brother would do." Cobweb said as she blushed while twirling her hair. 
"Yeah, he is my bro. I gotta stay by his side." Scales said. 
"With all of your traits, I just wanted to ask you something." Cobweb said before she bowed her head. "Will you please go out with me?" The friends in the bush were really shocked to hear Cobweb's confession. They looked at Scales who was trying to come up with an answer. 
"I'm sorry, I'm not into dating." Scales said as he also bowed his head. Spike, Pinkie, and Rarity had their jaws dropped from Scales' blunt response. Cobweb formed a face of shock from hearing the response. 
"W-why?" Cobweb asked. 
"Like I said, I'm not into dating." Scales responded. "It's just that I'm alright with what I have now. If you want to find someone to date, then you should probably find someone that isn't me. Sorry about the rejection." The bush friends turned to Cobweb who formed a smile on her face. 
"Alright, thanks anyway." Cobweb said as she ran off from the area. As Scales watched Cobweb leave, he turned to the bush where Spike, Pinkie, and Rarity were hiding. 
"You can come out now." Scales said which startled the three friends. All three of them came out with guilty looks on their faces. 
"How did you know?" Spike asked his brother. 
"I didn't, but it was one way to reveal yourselves." Scales said with a sly look on his face. 
"Are you sure you want to do this, Scales?" Spike asked. 
"It's like I said to Cobweb." Scales said as he patted Spike's head. "I'm okay with what I have right now. That involves you." Spike couldn't help but give his brother a tender hug. 
"Welp," Pinkie said as she clapped her hands together. "Time to make plans for Cobweb's Love Rejection Party!" Pinkie then skipped away while the rest of the friends made their way home.
> Spring Break Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the middle of the ocean, Spike used both of his hands to paddle while on a blue, bed floaty. He had no idea how he ended up there in the first place. Spike remembered falling asleep on the beach and next thing he knew, he wakes to find that he was in the ocean. 




Several Hours Ago

It was Spring Break and it was time for the girls and the Drake brothers to have a vacation. Rarity's parents have gotten the girls a good deal at a small resort near a nice beach. The girls also brought Spike and Scales so the boys could enjoy some beach fun. All of them rode inside of a large, white van while Applejack was behind the wheel. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Spike were playing the longest game of I Spy. Rarity, Rainbow, and Scales were all taking a nap in their seats. Twilight was busy reading up on a book about seashores. It took about a few hours before the van finally arrived to their destination.
"Here we are, y'all! We made it to Sandy Resorts!" Applejack hollered as she drove the van to a parking space big enough for the vehicle to fit. Everyone got out of the van to stretch their legs while enjoying the view of the beach. 
"Wow! It's so pretty!" Pinkie said as she jumped in excitement. 
"I know!" Spike agreed as he thought of all of the fun activities he wanted to do on the beach. 
"We'll have fun on the beach, after we get all of our bags into the rooms." Twilight said while she and Applejack began pulling out the luggage from the van. 
"Okay!" Spike and Pinkie said as they went to get their bags. The group was given four rooms. It made since that each room will be shared by two people. Twilight shared a room with Rarity, Rainbow shared a room with Applejack, Pinkie shared a room with Fluttershy, and Spike shared a room with Scales. Once everyone entered their rooms, they began unpacking and changed into their swimsuits. Scales put on a pair of blue swim trunks. 
"Are you all set, Spike?" Scales asked his little brother.
"Yep!" Spike said while wearing a pair of green trunks. Spike and Scales' phones buzzed. They saw that Twilight had messaged them. Her text read:

We'll meet you boys at the beach, just get the beach stuff set up.

Scales grumbled as he realized why most of the beach supplies were in their room. 
"C'mon Spike, let's bring this stuff over to the beach." Scales said as he picked up some of the umbrellas.
"Right behind you!" Spike said as he picked up two of the coolers. Luckily for the boys, they found a decent spot on the beach and began setting up the umbrellas and towels. The brothers took a step back to admire their handy work. 
"Great job, you two!" Twilight said from behind. Spike and Scales turned to see Twilight and the rest of the girls making their way towards them. Spike's eyes almost popped out from what the girls wore. Twilight was wearing a two-piece pink bikini with purple star patterns on it. Rarity's swimsuit was also a two-piece bikini but it was covered entirely with blue glitter. Fluttershy had on a simple, pink two-piece bikini with yellow butterflies on it. Pinkie had on a light blue, frilly two-piece bikini. Rainbow had on a rainbow bikini top and dark blue swim shorts. Applejack had on an orange two-piece bikini with yellow polka dots on it.
"What do you think, Spikey?" Rarity said as she struck a pose to show off her glittery swimsuit. Spike was lost for words, especially while he saw Rarity in a bikini. His jaw dropped so much that it was wide enough to let flies in. Spike quickly shook his head while regaining his composure.
"Y-you look great, Rarity!" Spike stuttered while he blushed a bright red. Rarity simply giggled from Spike's cute reaction. The rest of the girls looked at Rarity with ticked-off glares.
"Oh, um...you girls look great too!" Spike said to reduce the tension. The rest of the girls smiled from hearing Spike's praise.
"If we're done with giving and receiving praises, time to hit the water!" Scales said.
"Yeah!" Spike cheered as he and Scales were about to race to the sea.
"Hold up!" Twilight interrupted. "We got to put on sunscreen. We don't want to get sunburn on our first day at the beach."
"Spike and I have already put some on." Scales said. 
"Okay, but we haven't applied sunscreen yet." Rarity said as she laid down on one of the towels with her back exposed. "Spikey, could you be a dear and apply some to my back?" Rarity said while batting her eyes. Spike's heart raced from being requested for such a bold task. Next thing he knew, the rest of the girls went to lay down also with their backs exposed.
"We would like some sunscreen too, Spike!" The rest of the girls said at once. Spike quickly turned to Scales to see if he could offer him assistance. 
"They asked you, bro. Not me." Scales said as he patted Spike's shoulders as a sign for good luck. As Scales went out to swim, Spike took a big gulp before he approached Rarity first. He squirted sunscreen on one of his hands before he began rubbing Rarity's back. The texture of Rarity's back made Spike's hand shiver from how smooth it was. The more areas Spike rubbed, the more jittery his hands became. The jittering made Rarity giggle a bit. 
"Spikey, your trembling hands are starting to tickle me!" Rarity teased. 
"S-sorry!" Spike said before Pinkie grabbed his arms. "Pinkie! What are you doing?!" 
"Mind if I guide you?" Pinkie winked before she pulled Spike's hands all over Rarity's back to spread the sunscreen. Rarity yelped in displeasure from the sudden movements from both Pinkie and Spike's efforts. 
"Alright, all done!" Pinkie claimed. Rarity got up to glare daggers at Pinkie for her involvement.
"I didn't need your help, Pinkie!" Rarity said before she went to lift Spike's chin. "But I appreciate your efforts, Spikey." Rarity then gave Spike a peck on the cheek before heading to the water. 
"My turn!" Pinkie yelled as she laid down while waiting for Spike's rub down. Spike squirted some more sunscreen on his hands before he rubbed Pinkie's back. He did his best to remember where Pinkie guided him when he rubbed Rarity's back. 
"Oh Spikey, that feels so good!" Pinkie moaned as she enjoyed every feeling of Spike's hands. Once Spike was done, Pinkie jumped up from the ground. 
"Thanks, Spike!" Pinkie said before she skipped towards the ocean.
"Umm...I would like to go next." Fluttershy said quietly as she was still laying down.
"I'm on it!" Spike said as he once again squirted more sunscreen on to his hands. He slowly began rubbing Fluttershy's back. This time, it was Fluttershy who was jittering as she was not only rubbed down by a boy, but she was rubbed down by a boy who she likes. Spike's soft touch made Fluttershy's heart race as she enjoyed it completely. 
"You're done now, Fluttershy." Spike said. Fluttershy got up while patting the sand off of herself.
"Thank you." Fluttershy said as she went to the ocean.
"I call dibs!" Rainbow said while raising her hand. Applejack just grumbled due to lack of patients. 
"Okay, Rainbow." Spike then applied sunscreen on to Rainbow's back. 
"Ah yeah," Rainbow whispered as she enjoyed the feeling of being rubbed down. Spike couldn't help but blush from how strong Rainbow's muscles felt. Guess that what happens when Rainbow trains in sports. Spike finished up with Rainbow and she got up to stretch. 
"Thanks Spike! I owe you one!" Rainbow winked as she ran to cannonball into the water. Causing the others to get wet from the splash. 
"I'm up." Applejack confirmed as Spike began rubbing down Applejack with sunscreen. Spike felt how more muscular and thick Applejack's skin felt in contrast to Rainbow. He blushed even brighter from how much he was enjoying it. Spike was able to cover Applejack with sunscreen and she got up.
"Thank ya, Spike!" Applejack said as she went to join the others.
"Alright Twilight! It's your turn." Spike said.
"Finally!" Twilight joked as she prepared herself. Spike rubbed sunscreen on Twilight's back with ease thanks to his recent experiences with the other girls. When Spike was done with Twilight, she got up to take his hand.
"Let's go, Spike!" Twilight said as she pulled Spike into the water with the rest of the gang. Things started out with playful splashing among the group as they enjoyed being under the bright sun. Rainbow, Applejack, and Scales decided to to have a swimming contest to see who was the fastest. Pinkie signaled them to go and all three of them swam with all of their might from a far distant and back. Rainbow and Applejack reached the beach at the same time while Scales came in second. Both of the athletes argued at each other about who was the one who made it first. Rarity took this opportunity to catch up with her tanning while on the beach. Fluttershy, Pinkie, Twilight, and Spike had themselves a sandcastle building contest. Spike tried to build a sandy fortress for his sandcastle. Fluttershy made a castle with plenty of fields for animals. Twilight's sandcastle was messy as she was having a hard time keeping the sand together. Pinkie was the winner as her sandcastle was five stories high and the structure had accurate details. An hour passed before it was lunch time. Some of the girls and Scales went to get some food while Rainbow, Pinkie, and Spike stayed behind. As the rest of the group went to get some food, Spike was taking a long nap.
"Ah! Spike looks so cute when he is sleeping." Pinkie cooed. An idea came to Rainbow's mind as her face showed one of mischief. 
"Hey Pinkie, want to pull a prank?" Rainbow asked. 
"Oh! I love it when you come up with pranks!" Pinkie whispered. "What do we need?" 
"You still got that blue, inflatable mattress, right?" Rainbow asked Pinkie. At an instant, Pinkie pulled out the said air mattress from her hair.
"Great, now we need a long rope." Rainbow said as she rubbed her hands in an evil way. Rainbow and Pinkie slowly pushed the blue air mattress that had a sleeping Spike on it. Once Rainbow and Pinkie were at a far distant, Rainbow tied a rope around Spike's arm and the girls made their way back to the beach. 
"Oh man, this is gonna be sweet!" Rainbow snickered. "We wait until Spike wakes up and watch him panic while he thinks he got stranded!"
"Ha! That's genius, Dashie!" Pinkie said before a thought came to her. "But what happens if Spike drifts too far into the ocean?" 
"Don't worry, that's why I tied this rope to his arm. If he gets a little to far, I'll just pull this rope and he'll be closer." Rainbow said as she raised the rope.
"Oh, that's smart." Pinkie said as she pulled out some binoculars to watch Spike. "Looks like Spike hasn't woken up yet."
"Guess we'll just wait until Spike does." Rainbow said as she laid down. "Let me know if he gets too far offshore, I'll pull him back." 
"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie saluted before she resumed keeping watch on Spike. About thirty minutes have passed before Pinkie and Rainbow fell asleep from waiting and watching Spike. 
"Hey guys!" Twilight hollered from the distance. Pinkie and Rainbow started to wake up while feeling groggy from their nap. 
"Oh, hey guys. Did you get food?" Pinkie asked. 
"We did, sorry it took so long. There was some long line at the snack bar." Twilight replied. Scales looked around the beach.
"Where's Spike?" Scales asked.
"Oh, we're trying to pull a prank on Spike where we had him asleep on an air mattress in the middle of the water." Pinkie bragged. 
"What!?" The rest of the group said at once.
"It's no biggie." Rainbow defended. "All I have to do is pull the rope and-" Rainbow stopped when she noticed that the rope was no longer tied on her arm. She saw a long trail of the rope in the sand as it led to the ocean. The rope must've gotten loose and it caused Spike to drift off further into the ocean.
"He he...my bad?" Rainbow said with a guilty grin.



"Aaaaahhhh!" Spike yelled when he woke up and realized that he was stranded in the ocean.
> Spring Break Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow and Pinkie ran as fast as they could while Scales was chasing them. Both of the girls didn't slow down based on how angry Scales looked. 
"Get back here!" Scales yelled at Rainbow and Pinkie. 
"We said we're sorry!" Pinkie whined as she continued to run. 
"Yeah! Can't you take a joke!" Rainbow added while trying to pass Pinkie.
"I'll have your rear ends cut off and mounted over my fireplace!" Scales threatened. The rest of the girls ran in pursuit so Scales doesn't fulfill his threats. 



Spike laid on the mattress floaty while he breathed heavily from exhaustion. He attempted to paddle his way across the ocean, but there was nothing but endless ocean. What's worse, is that the sun was roasting Spike like sizzling bacon.
'I can't believe I'm stranded' Spike thought as he laid one hand over his eyes so the sunlight doesn't shine on it. His exhaustion was getting the better of him as he slowly passed out. While Spike was asleep, a large, white yacht was sailing at a far distant from him. The captain of the yacht noticed a strange object drifting somewhere far away. He took out a pair of binoculars to get a closer view. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a boy floating on a mattress floaty. 
"Man overboard!" The captain called out before he began turning the yacht's helm. The yacht began making its' way to where Spike was sleeping. 



Back at the beach, Applejack held on to Scales while he tried to break free from her grip. Rainbow and Pinkie cowered behind Fluttershy and Rarity as if they were human shields.
"Will you calm down, Scales!" Applejack grunted. "You're like Winona when it's her bath time!" 
"Not until they pay!" Scales responded while growling like a wild animal. Twilight came back to the rest of her friends.
"I just spoke with the coast guards. They'll have a boat out to search for Spike." Twilight said as some of the girls felt a bit at ease. Scales continued to try and get out of Applejack's grip.
"Enough!" Twilight yelled, which caught everyone's attention. "Scales, I understand what Rainbow and Pinkie did was extremely harsh-" 
"Hey!" Rainbow and Pinkie complained before Twilight glared at the both of them, causing the two to go silent.
"But what's done is done. The only thing we need to do now is to wait patiently while the coast guards look for Spike." Scales slowly calmed down and breathed heavily. 
"Fine." Scales said. Applejack thought Scales was telling the truth and let him go. 
"Whew, thanks Twilight." Rainbow said before she was interrupted. 
"That still doesn't change the fact that you and Pinkie were the cause of all of this! You still have to pay for your actions." Twilight said as she and the rest of the friends crossed their arms and looked at Rainbow and Pinkie with disapproving looks. Rainbow and Pinkie hung their heads with shame. Pinkie's deflated hair added to her guilt.



Spike slowly woke up to see some blurs around him. He noticed that the light he sees wasn't as intense as the sun because it was from a light from a ceiling. His vision became more clear and he sees three girls looking down on him. One girl had orange hair that was extremely poofy. Another girl had long, light blue hair that was tied into a long ponytail. The third girl had long, purple hair that was tied into long pigtails. Spike also couldn't help but notice how pretty the girls looked.
"Are you three mermaids?" Spike spoke out. The three of the girls looked at each in surprise before they chuckled.
"Of course not, cutie." The orange haired girl answered. 
"Although, it would be so cool to be one!" The blue haired girl said with a wide smile. 
"Keep dreaming, Sonata." The purple haired girl said while rolling her eyes.
"Sorry," Spike said while rubbing the back of his head. He looked around to see that he was inside some kind of room with a circular couch and a plasma screen TV. "How did I end up here?" 
"Our captain spotted you floating in the ocean." The orange haired girl said. 
"Why were you in the middle of the ocean? Did you party so hard that you collapsed and drifted into the sea?" the blue haired girl asked. Spike tapped his chin while he was thinking.
"I honestly can't remember. One minute, I fell asleep on the beach while my friends went to get some snacks. When I woke up, I found myself on a floaty and couldn't find any land." Spike answered.
"Oh, you poor boy." The orange haired girl said as she held Spike's cheeks, causing him to blush. "You must've been so scared while stranded at sea." The blue haired girl sat next to Spike to wrap one arm around the back of his neck.
"Don't worry, kid. We can take you back to where you came from. By the way, where are you from?" 
"Sandy Shores." Spike answered. The orange haired girl got up to make her way to the stairs.
"I'll let the captain know so he could set the course." The orange haired girl said. 
"I appreciate it, I'm Spike Drake." Spike said.
"I'm Adagio Dazzle and I'll be right back, sweetie." Adagio said with a wink before she left to find the captain. 
"I'm Sonata Dusk!" the blue haired girl said as she shook Spike's hand. 
"Aria Blaze." the purple haired girl replied. Soon, Spike and the two girls spoke with each other. 



The sun was setting and the rest of the group were gathered in Scales and Spike's room. Pinkie decorated the room with balloons and other party supplies she brought out of nowhere. She tries to make it up to Scales by throwing him a We're Sorry We Let Spike Drift Off into the Ocean party. Pinkie sang and dance to cause Scales to smile, but he frowned more from each of Pinkie's attempts. Pinkie decided to stop and just sat and eat party food with her friends, who were also silent from the awkwardness. Applejack approached Scales as he sat and looked out the window. 
"Hey Scales," Applejack said. 
"Hey AJ," Scales responded while still looking out the window.
"How are you holding up?" Applejack asked.
"I'm doing alright, I'm still itching to strangle Rainbow and Pinkie for what they did." Scales said in a calm manner. 
"I would feel the same way if it were Apple Bloom stranded out there. The best thing to do is to have patience." 
"I guess," Scales said before he noticed his phone ringing. He pulled it out to see an unknown number is requesting a video chat with him.
'That's strange, I don't usually get video calls from unknown numbers.' Scales thought as he accepted the call. 
"Hey Scales!" Spike said as he appeared on Scale's phone screen.
"Spike!" Scales hollered and all of the girls began gathering around to see Scales' phone.
"You're okay!" Scales said in relief.
"Yeah, I'm glad I'm okay too. Sorry if I worried you." Spike said while rubbing his neck.
"It's alright, bro." Scales said while smiling.
"Where are you? And how are you able to call?" Twilight asked.
"Well, I woke up to find myself in the middle of the ocean. I tried to swim with the floaty, but I got too tired and passed out. It was lucky for me that a passing yacht noticed me and brought me on board. The captain said he can drop me off on Sandy Shores by tomorrow afternoon." 
"That's great, Spike. We're see you tomorrow." Scales said as he felt more relieved that his little brother will come back soon.



Spike hung up and gave the phone to Adagio.
"Thanks for letting me borrow your phone, Adagio." Spike said.
"It's no problem. It's sweet of you to call your brother to let him know you're alright." Adagio replied. 
"Well, I didn't want to worry him." Spike replied. 
"Since you'll be on board until tomorrow, want to have some fun?" Aria asked. 
"What kind of fun?" Spike asked curiously. Spike and the girls played volleyball while in the yacht's pool. Adagio had on a dark purple two-piece bikini, Aria had on a light green two-piece bikini, and Sonata had on a light blue two-piece bikini. While they played, Spike got to know more about his new friends. Apparently, Adagio, Sonata, and Aria were sisters and they were riding their family's yacht while on spring break. Spike guessed that the girls' family was wealthy judging from how luxurious the yacht looked. After a couple of volleyball matches, the girls and Spike went inside for some dinner. Spike was delighted as he ate some freshly cooked lobsters. 
"Mmm! These are delicious!" Spike praised as he took a bite from his lobster. 
"Have you ever had lobster before, Spike?" Adagio asked. 
"Only when my family and I go to one of those seafood restaurants." Spike replied as he took another bite. Adagio moved a little closer to Spike to pick off a piece of food from Spike's cheek and eat it. She licked her lips in satisfaction while giving Spike a wink. Spike raised a brow as he didn't know why that piece of food was tasty to Adagio. Sonata and Aria gave looks of jealously as Adagio made a bold move. When dinner was done, the girls made their way into a hot tub where bubbles were foaming up.
"Care to join us?" Adagio asked. 
"Okay!" Spike cheered as he and the girls slowly entered the hot tub. Everyone sighed as they felt the bubbles and heat relax their bodies. "Wow, this feels so refreshing!" Spike commented.
"Especially after eating a fine meal." Aria said as she and her sisters scooted over until they were very close to Spike. 
"What's going on?" Spike asked in curiosity. 
"We just wanted to move closer to each other. It will cause more warmth in the hot tub." Adagio said. 
"Oh, okay." Spike said as he laid back on the hot tub. He saw how beautiful the night sky looked from the hot tub. It what made Spike feel more relax. His gaze went back to the hot tub to see that Sonata was no where to be found. 
"Where's Sonata?" Spike asked as he and the rest of the sisters looked around. 
"Huh, I could've sworn she was next to me a second ago-" Aria suddenly yelped and moved her body deeper in the water. Her face blushed in embarrassment. 
"What's wrong, Aria?" Adagio said before she also yelped and dipped her body deeper into the hot tub. Adagio's face also had blush on it.
"Did something happen?" Spike asked as he too was concern.
"Someone removed and stole our swimsuits!" Aria cried out. 
"W-what!" Spike yelled as he also blushed. Sonata splashed out from the hot tub while laughing hysterically. 
"You should've seen the looks on your faces!" Sonata continued to laugh while she held out her sisters' swimsuits.
"What was that for!" Aria yelled to Sonata.
"I just wanted to give our guest a little fan-service." Sonata replied innocently. 
"That's it!" Aria yelled before she and Adagio rose from the hot tub and went after Sonata. Luckily for Spike, he covered his eyes to prevent himself from seeing Adagio and Aria naked. Spike was able to hear the sisters fight among themselves as two of them tried to get their swimsuits back. Several minutes passed before there were less noises and someone was approaching Spike. 
"You can look now, Spike." Adagio said. Spike opened his eyes to see that Adagio and Aria had their swimsuits back on and they sat back down in the hot tub. Sonata looked gloomy as she sat outside of the hot tub while tied up in rope. Spike was confused from what happened while he had his eyes shut.



It was time for everyone to get some shut eye. Spike was going to sleep on the living room's couch as it can transform into a comfortable bed. Everyone said their goodnights and turned off the living room's light. As Spike attempted to fall asleep, he noticed that something was approaching him from under the blanket. It revealed to be Adagio while wearing a pink nightgown. 
"Adagio?" Spike said in response.
"Hey there, cutie. I thought it would be best if I lay besides you to keep you company." Adagio whispered. Spike felt his heartbeat increasing from laying so close to Adagio that he could smell her fragrance. It smelled similar to oranges with a hint of flowers. 
"Umm, alright." Spike replied as he relaxed for a bit. 
"Did you have a good time today?" Adagio asked. 
"Yeah, even though I was stranded in the middle of the ocean for some parts of it." Spike replied sheepishly. "Plus, I got to meet you and your sisters. All three of you are really nice for helping me return back to shore." Adagio giggled. 
"It's the least we could do. Plus, it's nice to get to know you too." Adagio replied. 
"Really?" Spike asked. 
"It's not often we meet a boy who acts so polite to us. Especially when you covered your eyes when me and Aria went after Sonata. Boys would usually take the first chance to see us naked." 
"I-I just thought it would be wrong for me to watch." Spike said while blushing. 
"And that's what I like about you, Spike." Adagio said with a smile. The two of them looked at each other while smiling as they were having a tender moment. It was cut short when Sonata and Aria suddenly appeared from behind Spike. 
"Aww! No fair for hogging Spike all to yourself, Adagio!" Sonata whined while snuggling closer to Spike. 
"Sonata?! Aria?! What are you two doing here?!" Adagio demanded. 
"We spotted you sneaking from your room and crawling in Spike's bed. We just came here to join in on the fun." Aria smirked. Adagio gritted her teeth in irritation. 
"Do you really have to leave tomorrow, Spike?" Sonata asked in a sad tone. 
"Sorry, I got to head back to my bro and my friends. They must be really worried about me." Spike replied.
"Can you hang out with us whenever they're not around? It's so fun to have you with us." Sonata said with puppy dog eyes. 
"Of course! We can even text or call each other if you want to." Spike answered. 
"Alright, could I at least give you a gift to remember me by?" Sonata requested. 
"What is it?" Spike asked before Sonata leaned in to give Spike a kiss on his cheek. Adagio and Aria gasped from the sudden kiss. Spike shook in confusion while Sonata giggled. 
"That's my perfect gift." Sonata said while blushing. Adagio quickly grabbed Spike by the shoulders and gave his cheek a big kiss. Aria joined in by also giving Spike a kiss on the cheek. 
"It's a gift from ALL of us." Adagio corrected. Spike felt so embarrassed from all of the kissing that he fainted into slumber.



It was afternoon when Scales and the girls were waiting by the docks. Scales was able to cool his head during the night and tried not to harm Rainbow and Pinkie. It was about 2 o'clock when they spotted a large yacht making its' way towards the docks. Everyone also spotted Spike near the front of the boat while waving towards them. 
"Hey guys!" Spike hollered while he continued to wave. 
"Spike!" Scales and the girls cheered as they ran on the docks. The yacht slowly approached the dock and the crew set up preparations to allow the passengers to exit. Spike was the first person walking off of the boat and went towards his friends. Scales gave Spike a strong hug when they reached each other. 
"I was so worried about you!" Scales said as he continued to hug his brother.
"Sorry about that." Spike replied while he also returned the hug. "I just suddenly woke up in the middle of the ocean." 
"It's alright now." Scales said as he let Spike go so the girls could also give him a hug. Pinkie and Rainbow were the first to give him a hug.
"We're so sorry, Spike!" Pinkie cried while her eyes poured out streams of tears. 
"About what?" Spike asked. 
"Pinkie and I wanted to do a small prank by having you float off and get spooked. But we got careless and let you drift off further into the ocean!" Rainbow admitted.
"We were such bad friends to you! Could you ever forgive us?" Pinkie pleaded.
"It's alright, I would've thought it was a good prank." Spike smiled. Pinkie and Rainbow hugged Spike harder as they felt joy knowing that he forgave them. Adagio, Sonata, and Aria made their way towards Spike and the rest of the group.
"I'm glad to see that you reunited with your friends, Spike." Adagio said. Scales and the girls turn to see the three sisters. 
"Um, Spike. Who are these three?" Rarity asked. 
"Oh right! Everyone, this is Adagio, Sonata, and Aria. They helped me make it here with their boat." Scales made his way towards the sisters and shook Adagio's hand.
"Thank you so much for helping my brother." Scales said politely. 
"It's no problem. It was actually a blessing to have him aboard our boat." Adagio said with a wink to Spike. The girls glared at the three sisters as they knew what Adagio's wink meant. Adagio, Sonata, and Aria just stuck their tongues out in a teasing manner. "We better be going now." Adagio said to her sisters. The sisters turned and made their way back to their yacht.
"Bye Spike! Thanks for giving us your number! We'll keep in touch!" Sonata yelled out while she and her sisters waved goodbye as the yacht sailed away. 
"I look forward to see you again!" Spike replied and waved back. He turned to the girls to see them glaring at him for some unknown reason. "Is something wrong?" 
"Nothing." the girls said all at once. 
"We should probably head back to the hotel and rest. I had one crazy day." Spike suggested. 
"Before we do, Spike, Pinkie and I need you to come up with our punishment." Rainbow said.
"Girls, it's alright. No harm came to me." Spike reminded. 
"But it was still cruel of us to let you get lost at sea. We just want to make up for it." Rainbow replied. "Just say the word and we'll do it." Spike rubbed his neck as he couldn't think of a proper punishment.
"Mind if I give you a suggestion, bro?" Scales said. Pinkie and Rainbow gulped as they remembered Scales' threats when he chased them. "I promise it won't be as bad as you think." Scales whispered something in Spike's ear.
"I don't think that is a bad idea." Spike replied. Pinkie and Rainbow felt worried about what they might have to do to make things right.



On the next day, everyone was in the ocean and splashed water at each other. Pinkie and Rainbow were buried in the sand with only their heads sticking out. They wore sunhats to prevent sunburn on their faces, but that didn't stop them from feeling so humiliated. 
"Well, at least it's not as bad as Scales cutting off our rear ends. Right, Pinkie?" Rainbow said before she heard a yelp from Pinkie. "Pinkie?" Rainbow said when she turned and saw a crab pinch Pinkie by her nose. The crab noticed Rainbow and made its' way towards her. "Uh oh." Rainbow said before she also yelped from the crab pinching her nose.
> Last Time When We Saw Our Heroes...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was nighttime where an old factory had its' lights on, indicating that it was occupied. Workers were busy with their tasks. What was strange about the workers was that they had green hair and they all wore white and purple striped uniforms. The workers' boss was approaching from the old catwalk. The workers knew it was their boss as they could recognize her purple and black jumpsuit. Another trait the workers recognized from their boss was her hair as it was green, extremely long, and it moves on its' own. The boss's face showed that of someone who has completely lost her marbles. This was none other than the hair raising supervillain, the Mane-iac! 
"Muah ha ha ha!" Mane-iac laughed in a sinister way. "It is almost ready!" The Mane-iac grinned as she was staring at a massive container filled with some kind of purple, gooey substance. The workers were emptying the large container into small blasters that were packaged into wooden crates.
"You will never get away with this, Mane-iac!" A girl's voice shouted. The source of the voice was none other than the Masked Matter-Horn, leader of the Power Ponies. She and the rest of the Power Ponies were currently stuck against a wall thanks to the same purple substance that was in the container and the blasters. Zapp tried her best to pull herself out from the substance. Radiance attempted to move her head to avoid getting the substance on her hair. Mistress Marevelous tried to bring out her magic lasso, but it doesn't work even when she tried to summon it with her mind. Filly Second looked really tired even though she wasn't moving as much. Saddle Rager was trying to get angry by thinking of all of the things that ticked her off. The Mane-iac used her long hair to move closer to the Power Ponies.
"I believe that I already have!" The Mane-iac gloated. "This special hair gel I've created not only makes you and your little team completely immobilized, it also drains all of your powers. The more my hair gel drains, the more stuck you will be!" The Mane-iac said as her hair retrieved one of the blasters. "I will have all of my minions armed with these special blasters that will shoot out my hair gel to anyone who gets in my way! With all of the cops, other superheroes, and other authorities getting stuck from my hair gel, all of Maretropolis will be mine!" The Mane-iac laughed once again as she could almost taste victory. The villainess's laughing was interrupted when she heard something crash from the windows. It revealed to be black motorcycle that had a sidecar attracted to the side. The person jumping out of the sidecar was none other than Hum Drum, the first junior member of the Power Ponies! The person jumping out from the motorcycle was none other than the Power Ponies' newest junior member, Bone Bronco. He wore a black helmet with a horse's skull painted on the front. He also wore black body armor that had a skeleton pattern on it. 
"Hum Drum!" The other Power Ponies members called out. 
"Sorry for being late, girls!" Hum Drum called out. "I had to get back up!" The Mane-iac and her minions began to surround Hum Drum and Bone Bronco. 
"You two dare to barge in here in attempts to ruin my plans!?" The Mane-iac said while glaring. 
"We can't help it, Mane-iac." Bone Bronco spoke. "We love to crash parties." Bone Bronco then pulled out a pair of batons that looked like long pieces of bones while Hum Drum pulled out a long, metal staff. "But we also love to crack some skulls!" Bone Bronco finished. The Mane-iac growled in anger.
"Get them!" The Mane-iac ordered. The minions began to charge at the boys. Both Hum Drum and Bone Bronco jumped over the minions. The duo landed and began to use their weapons to hit some of the minions. Most of the minions got knocked out or groaned in pain. It was going to be an easy win for Hum Drum and Bronco until the minions began to fire the hair gel filled blasters. The duo jumped and dodged the flying globs of hair gel to avoid getting stuck. Hum Drum launched a grabbling hook and he landed on the old catwalk where all of the minions were above him. He pulled out some pellets from his belt and threw them down. The pellets exploded into clouds smokescreens, causing the minions to lose sight of their surroundings.
"Great job, bro! Now we go in for the kill!" Bone Bronco said as he ran into the smoke cloud. Hum Drum nodded as he jumped and dived into the smoke cloud as well. Sounds of punching and screaming were the only things heard from the smoke cloud. When the smokescreen finally cleared, the minions were unconscious and tied up while the boys were standing triumphantly. 
"Yeah!" Hum Drum and Bone Bronco said as they gave each other high fives. They were interrupted when the Mane-iac made a superhero landing in front them. 
"Forget about little old me?" The Mane-iac said with a wicked grin. The Mane-iac began to whip her hair at the boys, making them dodge each of her attacks. 
"Hum Drum! I think it's time to bring out the big guns!" Bone Bronco hollered. Hum Drum nodded as he ran towards the motorcycle. The Mane-iac tried to go after Hum Drum until she was hit by bone-like projectiles that were thrown by Bone Bronco. The villainess tried her hardest to strike at Bone Bronco, but he kept avoiding all of her attacks. Hum Drum jumped inside of his sidecar and pressed some buttons. A rocket launcher came out from the sidecar and Hum Drum continued to press buttons to aim the rocket launcher at the Mane-iac. 
"Take this!" Hum Drum screamed as he fired the rocket and it flew straight towards the Mane-iac. Before the rocket was about to hit the Mane-iac, she used her hair to smack the rocket and it flew towards the wall that held the other Power Ponies. The rocket exploded in impact and blue smoke burst into the air. 
"Girls!" Hum Drum yelled out. The Mane-iac laughed as she used her hair to rip out the rocket launcher and grabbed the boys.
"Too bad your little rocket got rid of your buddies instead of getting rid of me!" The Mane-iac said as her hair to suffocate the boys. 
"T...The.." Hum Drum said as he struggled to breathe from the Mane-iac's hair grip. 
"What was that?" The Mane-iac asked curiously.
"The...rocket....wasn't...meant for you!" Hum Drum answered. An ice beam fired at the Mane-iac's hair strands that held Hum Drum and Bone Bronco. The frozen hair strands broke into pieces and the boys were able break free. The source of the ice beam was Masked Matterhorn as her eyes glowed light blue. The Mane-iac was completely shocked to see that the rest of the Power Ponies were free from their hair gel prison. The Masked Matter-Horn used her telekinesis to levitate the boys to the Power Ponies. 
"How are all of you still alive?!" The Mane-iac asked in confusion.
"It's quite simple," The Masked Matter-Horn replied. "The missile Hum Drum fired contained a solution that reverses the effects of your hair gel. He knew that you would change the course of the missile in attempts to get rid of us." Radiance ran up to Hum Drum to give him a big hug. 
"That was so clever of you, my little hero!" Radiance cooed and she kissed Hum Drum on his cheek. 
"Oh, it was nothing." Hum Drum said while blushing a scarlet red. 
"Time to Power Pony up!" Mistress Marevelous yelled as she lassoed her magical rope to the roof and began to swing down at the Mane-iac. The Masked Matter-Horn's eyes glowed and she fired her ice beams at the Mane-iac, but the villainess easily dodged the cold attacks. Filly Second ran all around the Mane-iac to cause confusion to the villainess. The Mane-iac was able to trip Filly Second and the speeding mare flew across the room. Filly Seconds was able to land safely on a fluffy mattress conjured up by Radiance's bracelets. 
"Thanks, Rady!" Filly Second said while giving a thumbs up. Radiance rolled her eyes and went back into the fight. She used her bracelets to summon a pair of beautiful butterfly wings on her back and she flew into the air. Radiance used her bracelets to summon a giant hair dryer. 
"It is about time I blow away that abomination you call hair, Mane-iac!" Radiance yelled before she activated the hair dryer. The hot winds were so strong that it caused the Mane-iac to get blown away. Zapp used her lightning necklace to form a tornado that caught the Mane-iac. The villainess screamed as she spun around in the tornado's winds. It only took about a few seconds before the Mane-iac was able to fly out of the tornado. The Mane-iac thought she was out of danger until she saw that she was falling towards Mistress Marevelous who looked like she was going to have some fun. Mistress Marevelous made a big jump and landed a powerful kick on the Mane-iac's face. The Mane-iac skidded across the ground until she slowly stopped. She struggled from getting back up, only to realize that she was completely surrounded by almost all of the Power Ponies. 
"Fools! You think you can defeat me!?" The Mane-iac said before she noticed a large shadow was behind her. The Mane-iac turned pale when she saw the Saddle Rager in her angry monster form. Saddle Rager let out a mighty roar that terrified not only the Mane-iac, but also the rest of the Power Ponies. Before the Mane-iac could get away, Saddle Rager grabbed the villainess's hair and she began to throw the Mane-iac to the ground. Saddle Rager kept swinging the Mane-iac to the ground until the raging superhero threw the villainess into the tank of hair gel. 
"Puny bad guy." Saddle Rager said while walking away from the Mane-iac. It wasn't long until the police have arrived and they began to arrest the Mane-iac and her minions. The Power Ponies spoke to the police detective about what happened. 
"Thank you, Power Ponies. All of you have done it again." The detective said with a smile.
"Yeah, all of you are the best!" A nearby policeman included.
"It's no biggie, really." Zapp bragged. The Masked Matter-Horn rolled her eyes until she noticed her watch was beeping. 
"We got more trouble in another part of Maretropolis!" The Masked Matter-Horn announced to the other Power Ponies. 
"Then what are we waiting for?" Hum Drum asked. "Time to Power Pony Up!" The Power Ponies were about to head out until they heard the sound of an alarm going off.  




Beep Beep Beep

Spike slowly got up to press the snooze button on his alarm clock. He yawned as he looked around to notice that his room was littered with cereal boxes and bowls of milk. Spike also saw that his TV was still on and it showed what looked like the end credits to a cartoon show.
"Man, that's the last time I watch an all-day marathon of the Power Ponies." Spike said to himself.
> A Great and Powerful Talent Show!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The halls of Canterlot High were bustling with students as they make their way to class. The Mane Six and the brothers were walking down the main halls to come across new fliers being displayed. The fliers showed an image of a curtained stage with the WonderColts logo at the center of it. 
"Ooo!" Pinkie said as she got closer to read the flier. "The Canterlot High Talent Show will be going on again!" 
"Too bad that I can't perform at that show anymore." Rainbow pouted.
"Why's that?" Spike asked. 
"Rainbow here accidentally caused a large amount of destruction when she performed at last year's talent show." Applejack answered, only to be startled by Rainbow growling at her. 
"It wasn't my fault!" Rainbow declared. "I only tripped over when I tried to perform my signature skateboard move!"
"Only to cause a domino effect that broke most of the other performers' props and maybe some of their bones as well." Twilight corrected. The others couldn't help but cringe from remembering that incident. Rainbow groaned while face palming herself.
"Since then, I was banned from performing in talent shows." Rainbow added. 
"Well, there is nothing wrong with watching the talent show to see how our other friends will do during their acts." Rarity said. The others nodded before they continued on to their next class. Unknown to them, Trixie was watching the gang at a far distance. A small smile formed on her face as she focused particularly at Spike. 



It was the end of Algebra class and the whole class was allowed some free time before the bell rang. Spike was in the middle of packing his stuff when Trixie approached him. 
"Greetings, Sir Spike." Trixie said with a bow. 
"Oh, hey Trixie." Spike responded. 
"How are things with you?" Trixie asked. 
"I'm doing great!" Spike replied. "I was able to skateboard better thanks to Rainbow we recently went to the skate park. I was also able to help Rarity hold some of her pin cushions while she sewed up-" 
"Yeah yeah yeah, Trixie will get to the point." Trixie interrupted. "As you may have heard, the Canterlot High Talent Show will be very soon and Trixie will once again take part in the show by doing her magical performances." Trixie said as she pulled out a hand full of cards from out of nowhere. 
"Whoa! That sounds cool!" Spike said as he was intrigued.
'He took the bait,' Trixie bragged in her thoughts. "Trixie may be a prodigy when it comes to magic and illusions, but Trixie admits that she is not able to perform certain magic acts without some helpful assistants!" Trixie said while she placed the back of her hand on her forehead in a dramatic way. "If only a certain boy I know can become one of my assistants and help me during the Canterlot High Talent Show!" Trixie said giving some winks at Spike. 
"A-are you asking me to be your magic assistant?" Spike asked while he was shocked. 
"It is your choice if you want to be part of something great and powerful!" Trixie spun her hand to pull out a card out of nowhere. "Contact the Great and Powerful Trixie if you want to accept, but hurry! Some are already offering their services to me." Trixie said as she went back to her desk. Spike looked at the card to see that it had a phone number on it and it was decorated with stars and a crescent moon. The card read:

The Great and Powerful Trixie!
She will wow you with magic!

Twilight overheard Trixie's conversation with Spike and decided to approach him. 
"Is everything alright, Spike?" Twilight asked. 
"Yeah! Trixie just recruited me into being part of her magic show!" Spike answered with excitement. Twilight bit her lips as she wasn't quite comfortable with Spike being involved Trixie.



During lunchtime, the girls and the brothers sat around their usual spot while Spike spoke about what happened with Trixie.
"Wait a minute," Rainbow interrupted. "Trixie recruited you to be her assistant?" 
"Yeah! I get to help her with her magic tricks when she performs on the talent show!" Spike answered. Rainbow was silent for a few seconds before she burst out laughing. "T-that has got to be the most hilarious joke I heard! You really crack me up, Spike." Rainbow said while wiping away a tear. She then noticed that Spike's face didn't show any signs that he was kidding. "Wait, for real?!" Rainbow said in disbelief.
"What's the big deal?" Scales asked. "So my little bro will help with some magic tricks, how bad can it be?" Scales then noticed that the girls acted uncomfortable when the topic was brought up. 
"There isn't exactly anything wrong, darling." Rarity said before she bit her lip. "Let's just say that Trixie has a rather long accident streak when she performs her magic." 
"Here are some of Trixie's past performances!" Pinkie said as she showed the brothers her phone's screen. It played a video of Trixie performing a magic trick where she inserted her hand inside of a top hat. Trixie pulled out what looked like a real rabbit. Everyone clapped in response to the trick until some rabbits hopped out from the top hat. It wasn't long until a swarm of rabbits hopped out and dog piled on top of Trixie. Another video showed Trixie attempting use her hands to levitate one of her assistants. The assistant was able to be lifted up in the air and there was no sign of strings or wires on the assistant. It looked like the trick went well, until the assistant suddenly flew up and crashed on the stage's ceiling. Spike gulped as he feared that could be him next. 
"Wow, that Trixie really is prone to magic accidents." Scales stated in disbelief. Spike was silent as he was conflicted with being part of Trixie's show.
"Even when Trixie made those accidents, how come I was the one who got banned!?" Rainbow complained. 
"At least Trixie's magic acts didn't cause as much damage as you did." Twilight reminded. This made Rainbow cross her arms and grumble.
"We're just worried that you might get hurt, Spikey." Rarity said as she placed her hand on Spike's. "It's up to you to decide if you want to help Trixie. If you do accept, we'll support you. Right, girls?" Rarity asked. Some of the girls nodded in agreement. Spike looked at Trixie's card as he thought hard on his decision.



The next day arrived and the girls were walking down the hallways. 
"Hey girls!" Spike said as he and Scales approached the Mane Six. 
"Hey Spike!" Twilight replied.
"Guess what? I'm an official assistant of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Spike said as he puffed his chest. The girls looked at Spike in shock once they have heard that announcement.
"Yeah, Spike called Trixie last night and she accepted him." Scales included. 
"Me, Trixie, and her other assistants will start practicing our magic acts in one of the club rooms until the talent show!" Spike explained. "I think it's going to be great!" The girls looked at one another before nodding.
"We'll be cheering you on during the talent show, Spike." Applejack said while giving an assuring smile.
"Thanks!" Spike said before he felt his phone vibrating. He took a look to read a text. "Well, I better get to practice! Can't keep the Great and Powerful Trixie waiting!" Spike said as he waved his friends and brother goodbye. 
"You think he is going to be alright?" Fluttershy said while concerned. 
"Spike will be fine." Scales assured. "If something were to happen, Trixie will be dealing with me." Scales said before he cracked his knuckles, making the girls shiver as they were glad they weren't Trixie.



Trixie first introduced Spike to her two other girl assistants by the names of Lavender Lace and Fuchsia Blush. Lavender had blonde hair and Fuchsia had dark pink hair. They all began to practice their magic acts in one of the club rooms whenever school was over. There were some mishaps that occurred during the practices, but Trixie was able to motivate her assistants to recover quickly and redo the magic acts. In the process, Spike was able to pick up on how to do certain magic tricks thanks to Trixie's tutoring. After each practice session, Trixie and her assistants were improving on the magic acts until they all knew how to do each act by heart. It was one day before the talent show when Trixie's group were rehearsing their magic acts for the talent show. They were able to perform each act without any mishaps. 
"Good job, everyone!" Trixie said as she clapped to her assistants. "Trixie is delighted that all of you have improved so much since we started. Now we must rest before tomorrow's show! Our spectacular magic won't wow the crowd unless we get a good night's sleep! Remember to meet at the school's auditorium at 4:00 p.m. The talent show won't start until 6 p.m. and it will give us time to rehearse our magic acts for one last time." Spike, Lavender, and Fuchsia nodded before they picked up their things and made their way to the exit. Spike was about to head on out until Trixie placed a hand on his shoulder. 
"Spike, can I speak with you for a moment?" Trixie asked.
"What is it, Trixie?" Spike asked.
"I was thinking of changing the final act with a surprise at the end and I want to hear your feedback." Trixie informed. 
"Okay," Spike said as he paid attention. When Trixie was done explaining her plan, a wide smile formed on Spike's face. "That sounds amazing, Trixie!" 
"You really think so?" Trixie asked. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't have the stomach!"
"I do!" Spike praised. "This act would leave everyone completely shocked! It will make your show so phenomenal!" Trixie smiled as she leaned in to give Spike a hug.
"Thank you so much, Spike!" Trixie said as she held Spike tight. 
"It's no problem." Spike replied. The hugging went on for a few seconds until Trixie broke it off out of embarrassment. "Oh right! We should text your other assistants about your plan." Spike said as he pulled out his phone. Only for Trixie to placed her hand on top of it.
"Let's just keep this between you and us. It would be more entertaining if this is between you and I." Trixie said.
"Oh, okay." Spike said as he picked up his pack. "See you at the talent show, Trixie!" Spike said as he waved goodbye. Trixie also waved goodbye while feeling really happy that she got to spend time with Spike.




The Next Day

People were coming into Canterlot High's auditorium before the talent show started. Parents also came to support their children whether they were performing on the show or not. At the backstage, the contestants were getting ready before they perform their acts for the talent show.
"Alright everyone, listen up!" Vice Principal Luna said to get everyone's attention. "I'm now going to call out the order of performers who will do their acts. When the show begins, be ready to come on stage and prepare for your acts. If any of you start to feel hesitant and want to forfeit, please let me know and we'll skip you!" Luna began to read the order of performers. Trixie's act was the last one of the show and this made Trixie feel relieved as she didn't have to feel so nervous. Luna checked her watch to see that it was almost time for the talent show. "The show will begin shortly! Please prepare to line up near the stage until we announce you!" The performers lined up as hey were told. Trixie was taking some deep breaths in attempt to calm down. 
"Are you alright, Trixie?" Spike asked in concern.
"Of course Trixie is alright," Trixie lied. "Trixie has performed many magic acts in front of large crowds. Yet, this time feels different." Spike placed a hand on Trixie's shoulder. 
"We'll do our best, right girls!" Spike turned to Trixie's other assistants who simply nodded in agreement. Trixie took one last deep breath before she smiled at Spike.
"Thank you, Spike." Trixie whispered. The stage curtains opened to reveal Cheerilee with a microphone in her hand. Cheerliee cleared her throat before she began to speak. 
"Greetings everyone! Welcome to the annual Canterlot High Talent Show!" Everyone clapped in response. "For this year's show, we have many students performing a variety of acts to show how amazing they are!" Everyone clapped again. "Contestants will perform their acts while Princpal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, and Mr. Trenderhoof will judge how well the contestants do!" The spotlight moved to show Celestia, Luna, and Trenderhoof sitting at the judges' table. "With all that said and done, let's bring out our first contestant!" The show started with students performing their acts. Snips and Snails were performing some kind of rap that made almost everyone cringe from how terrible it was. Pinkie didn't cringe as she was shaking her head to the rhythm of the music. The judges showed no facial reactions and just wrote things down on their papers. The next one was Bulk Biceps and he was performing by playing a violin. Everyone was shocked as Bulk was an amazing violin player. The judges looked impressed and wrote down on their papers. Feather Bangs's act was reading poetry that he wrote himself. When he was done, he did his iconic mane flip and some of the girls sitting at the front couldn't help but swoon. Octavia and Vinyl changed the pace by performing an orchestral remix that everyone enjoyed. Everyone gave loud cheers to the duo for their amazing performance. "That was quite a show, huh folks?" Cheerilee said through her microphone. "For our final act, please give a warm round of applause to the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Everyone clapped as they waited for Trixie and her assistants to come out on stage. Puffs of smoke appeared on the floor to catch everyone's attention. The smoke disappeared to reveal Trixie wearing her hat and cape. 
"Greetings, everyone!" Trixie yelled out. "Prepare to be shocked and awed by the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie nudged her head to the side of the stage. Her assistants immediately came out and began setting up the magic acts. Lavender and Fuchsia wore blue sparkling dresses that matched Trixie's outfit. Spike was wearing a formal vest that was also blue and sparkly. Trixie's first act was to have Lavender attached to a spinning wheel while Trixie wears a blindfold and throws some knives in attempt to avoid hitting the assistant. Trixie took some deep breaths before she threw all five knives at the spinning wheel. Spike and Fuchsia turned the wheel to reveal that the knives didn't hit anywhere on Lavender. Everyone cheered from how good Trixie aimed. The next act involved the assistants bringing out a pair of long boxes that were the size of a person. Spike and Fuchsia entered the boxes while Trixie and Lavender closed the boxes and locked them. Trixie then pulled out a magician's wand and began to wave it around. "Magic oh magic, don't make these two dead, the least I could do is switch their heads!" Trixie chanted. Trixie and Lavender opened both boxes to reveal that Spike and Fuchsia had indeed switched heads. Both of them and the audience were completely shocked from the magical switch. Spike and Fuchsia quickly went back into the boxes while Trixie and Lavender closed the boxes again. Trixie waved her wand once again and the boxes opened to reveal that Spike and Fuchsia were completely back to normal. The audience gave another round of applause from Trixie's amazing performance. "Thank you! Thank you!" Trixie said while bowing. "Now we will move on with the grand finale!" Trixie said as the assistants brought out a large object that was covered with some curtains. Trixie opened the curtains to reveal a large glass box with a chair inside. On top of the box was a large digital clock and a water tank filled with what looked like piranhas. "Spike, would you be a dear and come inside?" Trixie said as she opened the box. Spike bowed and entered to take a seat. The other assistants also entered the box and tied up Spike with some chains. "My wonder assistant, Spike, will have two minutes to break free of his chains and escape the box before the timer runs out." Trixie motioned to the large digital clock on top. "If he doesn't get out one time, he will become those piranhas' dinner!" Trixie announced. The audience was getting concerned from how dangerous that sounds. Scales specially was starting to panic from seeing his little brother in such a dangerous situation. The assistants exited the glass box and shut the door. "Are you ready, Spike the Brave and Glorious?" Trixie asked.
"Ready!" Spike said in anticipation. 
"On your mark....get set.....go!" Trixie said as the timer began counting down. Spike struggled as he did his best to get out of his chains. Everyone else watched in suspense as they weren't sure if Spike will get out on time. Seconds went by and there weren't any signs of progress with Spike's attempt in escaping. The judges weren't writing anything down on their papers as they were busy watching Spike trying to break free. The timer continued to count down until it goes to zero and those piranhas get unleash. Spike was able to break out of his chains right when the timer was ten seconds. He struck a pose and everyone cheered. As Spike was about to exit the glass box, he noticed that the glass box's door won't open. 
"Trixie, we have a problem!" Spike said as he was getting scared. Trixie and her assistants hurried over and tried to open the box's door. The assistants tried to slam against the door in attempt to break it open. When they hit the door a third time, the piranha's tank suddenly opened and spilled on top of Spike. He screamed in pain and the piranhas were swimming down and possibly chomping on him. Everyone screamed in terror as they saw the color red filling up the tank, indicating that it was Spike's blood. Trixie panicked as she rushed to the side of the theater and used a sledge hammer to smash the glass box open. All of the water and piranhas spilled out and Spike was nowhere to be seen. The entire auditorium was silent as they realized that they just witnessed a person's death. 
"Boo! That was terrible!" Spike's voice called out. The spotlight moved to show Spike all wet while sitting in the middle of the front row. Everyone was shocked from seeing Spike completely out of harm's way. The entire room cheered loudly from such a thrilling performance. Spike got up on stage to join with Trixie and her assistants in their bowing. 



After the stage was cleaned up, Cheerilee walked up on stage while carrying a small envelope. "The judges have made their votes." Cheerilee said as she opened the envelope and began reading what was inside. "The third place winner for the talent show is....Bulk Biceps!"
"Yeah!" Bulk said as he ran up on stage while everyone cheered. He received a small bronze trophy that he then hugged dearly. Cheerilee continued reading the results. 
"Our second place winner, or should I say 'winners', are none other than Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch!" Everyone cheered as the musical duo made their way up one stage and claimed their sliver trophy. "Now we will announce who will be the first place winner for the talent show." Everyone watched in suspense on who will be the winner. "And the first place winner is....The Great and Powerful Trixie!" Cheerilee announced. Everyone cheered louder than usual as they all agreed that Trixie and her assistants deserved it. Trixie and her assistants made their way to the stage as they were given a gold trophy for their performance. "Give another round of applause for everyone who have performed in this year's Canterlot High Talent Show!" Everyone continued to cheer and give applauses to the performers for doing their best tonight. 



The auditorium was almost empty as the show was over and people were already heading home. Trixie, Spike, and the girl assistants were still on stage as students were praising how spectacle the magic show was. The students ended up leaving along with Lavender and Fuchsia. From out of nowhere, Trixie gave Spike a big hug. 
"Trixie can not thank you enough for performing that last trick!" Trixie said sheer happiness. 
"It was no big deal." Spike said in embarrassment. 
"It is such a big deal!" Trixie countered. "Trixie feared for a bit that she might have ended up causing another magical disaster! That was until you helped Trixie out! It's as if you were a good luck charm to Trixie!" Trixie continued while still giving Spike a hug. 
"Ahem," Rarity cleared her throat. Spike and Trixie saw that the Mane Six and Scales were staring daggers at the two of them. Trixie reacted quickly and broke off her hug with Spike. 
"So umm....here for an autograph?" Trixie asked while chuckling. Twilight and Scales marched up to Trixie to confront her.
"I cannot believe that you put Spike at such a dangerous risk!" Twilight expressed. 
"You're lucky that my little bro got out." Scales included. "Otherwise, there were a few things I would've done to you." Trixie started to sweat in fear. 
"Guys, wait!" Spike interrupted. "It was me who agreed with performing the last trick. Trixie gave me warnings about the risks and I still wanted to participate!" The others looked at each other. "I'm sorry that I scared you guys, I promise it won't happen again." Spike said while bowing to his brother and friends. 
"Well, alright." Rainbow said while pouting. "Even I have to admit that was so insane." 
"Yeah!" Pinkie agreed. "I was afraid that I would have to make a funeral party for Spike if he did get eaten by those piranhas!" 
"Alright Spike, we forgive you." Rarity said before she wiggled her finger. "But no more putting yourself at risk like that!" Rarity then glared at Trixie. "Especially from the likes of you!" Trixie laughed nervously from Rarity's warning. 
"What are we waiting for?!" Pinkie asked. "Let's head on over to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate, my treat!" Pinkie lead the way while the gang followed. Spike was about to join in until he was stopped by Trixie. She pulled him in to give Spike a big smooch on his cheek. 
"Thanks for all that you have done, my number one assistant." Trixie whispered. Spike blushed a bright red from how flustered he was. He thought he should've been used to having girls kissing his cheeks by now.
> A Certain Visitor Arrives
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday at school was over for the brothers and the girls. They went to the Drakes' house to hang out together as a way to kick off their weekend. As everyone entered through the door, Jade and Scorpan were inside of the kitchen.
"Hey Mom! Hey Dad!" Spike called out as he and Scales entered the kitchen.
"Welcome home, boys!" Jade said as she was in the middle of cooking. "How was school?" 
"It was fine," Scales answered. "Glad that it was Friday." 
"Also, the girls are here to hang out if that's alright." Spike included. 
"Oh what a wonderful surprise!" Jade said as she entered the living room to see Spike's friends sitting on the couch. "Hi girls!" 
"Hi Jade," The girls said at once. Jade then turned to Spike and Scales. 
"Speaking of surprises, I think there's one in your room, Spike! You and Scales should definitely go there to see what it is!" Jade smiled.
"A surprise!" Spike smiled in excitement and turned to Scales. "Come on, Scales!" Spike said as he and Scales made their way to Spike's room. Spike pushed open his door to only be confused as he saw nothing new inside. Scales also entered the room to join in on Spike's confusion.
"So, where's the surprise?" Scales asked before he heard the door shut, causing the boys to turn around to see a shadowy figure. 
"Right here!" A female voice said before the figure pounced at the boys. 
The girls were enjoying some snacks Jade gave to them before they heard the brothers cry out from Spike's room. The girls looked at each other in worry before all of them hurried to Spike's door. Rainbow slammed the door open and the girls were surprised at what they saw. A tall girl with light blue, spiky hair had her arms wrapped around the boys' necks while giving them noogies with each of her knuckles. The girl had on a white tank top, blue jeans, and leather brown boots. 
"Come on! Submit to defeat!" The girl said while laughing manically. 
"Never!" Scales said as he struggled to get out of the girl's grip. Spike on the other hand was actually enjoying the noogies.
"Ha ha ha! That tickles, Ember!" Spike said as he also tried to get out of the hold. The girls just stood there while they watched awkwardly at what was happening before them. The new girl stopped her noogies when she noticed the others near the door. 
"Oh, who are these people?" Both of the brothers got up from Spike's bed and tried to straighten themselves up. 
"These are my new friends I made at Canterlot High, Ember!" Spike said as he started introducing the girls to the older girl. "Girls, this is Ember Bloodstone. We used to be neighbors at our old neighborhood." The girls said their hellos to Ember. 
'Ember, where have I heard that name before?' Rarity thought as she tried to think.
"It's so great to see that my little boys have made friends in this new town." Ember said before she was interrupted when Pinkie began to give her a fast handshake. 
"And it's so great to meet an old friend of Spike and Scales!" Pinkie cheered. When Pinkie let go, Ember tried to recover from such a handshake. 
"Wow, quite a friend you have, Spike." Ember commented. 
Rarity gasped which caught everyone's attention. "I remember! You were in that photo Spike was in!" The rest of the girls didn't understand until they began to remember. 
"That's right! I can't believe that I didn't realize the resemblance." Twilight said in shock. 
"So what are you doing here, Ember?" Scales asked. "Last time we saw you, you were at college." 
"The college I'm attending is near this town and your mom told me your family's new address. I was able to catch a break and decided to visit you boys." Ember answered. 
"That's great!" Spike said while smiling. Ember went behind Spike to wrap her arms around his gut and lifted him up in the air. Ember then slammed Spike on to the bed where he safely landed. 
"I can't wait to pal around like we used to, Spike!" Ember gave a devious smile. Spike just laughed despite getting thrown around like a rag doll.
"Just like old times!" Spike laughed. 
Rainbow excitedly ran up to Ember. "That move was amazing! How did you learn that!?" Rainbow asked. 
"I learned a lot about professional wrestling ever since I was little." Ember said while flexing one of her arms. "It was thanks to messing with the boys that I was able to get some practice before I trained more during college." 
"Woo wee, I would love to learn a thing or two about how you were able to perform those kinds of lifts." Applejack said while acting impressed. "It could be useful for when I carry heavy loads of apples."
"I could give you two some wrestling pointers," Ember suggested. "but we'll have to do it somewhere we won't accidentally break parts of the house." Everyone left Spike's room and made their way to the backyard which had plenty of space for Ember to teach Rainbow and Applejack some wrestling moves. Some time passed before Ember called for a break and everyone was enjoying some lemonade while sitting around a table. 
"I'll get more lemonade!" Spike said as he and Scales went inside the house. 
"I'm actually surprised that the boys made friends with mostly girls." Ember spoke to the Mane Six. "I guess some guys can't handle the brothers like I do." 
"Not true, actually." Twilight informed. "Feather Bangs and Bulk Biceps are two guys that are friends to Spike and Scales." 
"I'm very glad to hear that." Ember said. "I'm also impressed that you guys have already fell for Spike." The girls froze after hearing what Ember said. 
"W-what?" Twilight said while confused. 
"I know when girls are attracted to certain people and it looks like you girls have a thing for Spike." Ember smirked. The girls didn't know what to say as they felt like opened books. "It's alright, your secret is safe with me. It would make sense that you guys would fall for Spike. I mean, he's cute and very nice in contrast to most boys these days."
"Y-yeah, Spike is that special case." Applejack said while blushing. 
"Scales is a cool brother and I hope that he finds someone special.	Anyway, if you guys want additional information on Spike, let me know. I happen to have a lot info on me since I grew up with him." The girls laughed nervously as a part of them were glad that someone was supporting their love for Spike. 



It was getting late and the girls were exiting the Drake residence. The whole Drake family and Ember were also outside as they waved goodbye to the girls. 
"See you guys at school on Monday!" Spike hollered. 
"And good luck you guys!" Ember said which caused the girls to feel a bit embarrassed.
"What does that mean?" Scales asked curiously. 
"Sorry, that's a secret we girls swore to keep." Ember said while winking. "Now come on! Let's have a sleepover like we used to!" Spike cheered as everyone went back into the house. Ember spent the entire weekend with the Drake family until she had to return to college. 



On the day Ember returned to college, the girls received some text messages from Ember. It showed Ember cuddling with a sleeping Spike just like in the old photo. Some texts read: This could be you and Spike one day. The girls couldn't help but blush as the imagination of them snuggling with Spike felt so embarrassing.
> Accidents Happen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was night time when the Drake family were done eating at a family restaurant and they were now riding back home. Scorpan was behind the wheel while Jade was riding shotgun. Scales sat in one of the passenger seats while Spike was fast asleep on his seat.
Scorpan looked at the front mirror and smiled when he saw Spike sleeping. "Spike must be really full from all of those nachos he ate." Scorpan said. 
"Yeah, Spike wanted to enjoy all of what he ordered." Scales replied. 
"If Spike doesn't wake up, you and your dad will have to carry him to bed." Jade added.
"Yeah, I know." Scales said while smiling. 
"Oh God!" Scorpan yelled while turning the wheel very hard. Scales' mind suddenly went black after he heard the sound of cars crashing and glass shattering. Spike slowly woke up to be startled from what he saw. His family's car just crashed into another car and all of the glass windows were broken. Spike turned to see police sirens blinking and getting closer to where the Drakes' car was. Spike then turned to be horrified to see Scales completely unconscious and his head was leaking large amounts of blood. 
"Scales," Spike whispered in hopes that his big brother was hearing. Spike began to panic as he assumed that his brother might be possibly dead. "Scales!" Spike yelled out as he tried to wake his older brother.



"Spike...Spike?" A female voice called out to him. Spike's mind came back to reality from that terrible memory. Spike saw that he was inside the office of Vice Principal Luna and Luna herself was sitting in front of him.
"W-What?" Spike asked. 
"We were just talking about what happened two days ago." Luna answered. 
"Oh," Spike said as he looked back down.
"I apologize that you had to go through such an event, Spike." 
"Yeah," Spike said with no emotions.
"Is your brother making any progress?" Luna asked. 
"He's still not waking up at the hospital." Spike responded. "Mom and Dad come by daily to check up on him to see if he's alright."
"I see," Luna responded. "How are you doing?"
"I don't know," Spike replied. 
"I understand how you feel." Luna nodded. "I too would be devastated if anything were to happen to my older sister." Luna got up to lower herself to be at the same eye-level as Spike. "But you're not alone on this, Spike. Me and all of Canterlot High are praying and hoping that Scales will pull through. Just stay strong for Scales, he would want you to do that." 
Spike wiped some snot from his nose before he looked at Luna. "Okay," 
Luna nodded, "Come by my office if you want to talk again, Spike." Luna suggested. Spike nodded before he left the room.



As the day went by, Spike was silent while attending classes. Almost all of the students approached Spike to say that they hope that Scales will get better. Spike responded by simply nodding and focused on his schoolwork. It was around lunchtime when Spike made his way to his usual table where he met up with the Mane Six. All of the girls showed looks of concern.
"Hey Spike," Fluttershy said as she approached Spike.
"Hey girls," Spike replied sadly and took a seat.
"We heard what happened to Scales." Twilight said. Before Spike could say anything, Rarity went up to give Spike a much needed hug.
"The last thing I want is to see you so gloomy, Spikey-Wikey! I do hope that Scales recovers!" Rarity spoke dramatically. Pinkie joined in on the hug.
"Spike, I'm gonna hug you until all of your sadness goes away!" Pinkie said while hugging. 
"Me too!" Fluttershy claimed as she also joined in on the group hug.
"Don't worry, Spike." Rainbow assured. "I got to know Scales for a while and he's a tough guy. He'll recover before you know it!" Rainbow then gave a thumbs up as a sign of encouragement.
"The best thing you can do is to hang on for a little while until Scales gets better." Applejack advised. "These kinds of things take time." Spike just looked down and nodded in agreement.
"If you want, Spike, we could all go visit Scales at the hospital once school is out." Twilight suggested. "This could show Scales that we're all rooting for him to get better." 
"Oh! And I could bring Scales some balloons and some goodies to cheer him up!" Pinkie said. 
"Will it be alright, Spike?" Fluttershy asked as she and the girls looked at Spike in anticipation. 
"Alright, you can come." Spike said with a weak smile. The girls cheered as they couldn't wait to visit Scales at the hospital. 



When school was over, Spike and the girls went their separate ways to get gifts for Scales. An hour passed until Spike arrived to the hospital to see his friends there.
"I'm glad you girls made it!" Spike said as he approached them. "Do you have everything?"
"Indeed," Rarity replied as she pulled out a lovely looking vase full of flowers. "Fluttershy and I did our best to pick out the best flowers as a gift for Scales."
"I got Scales all the balloons I could get my hands on!" Pinkie claimed as she showed everyone that she went overboard by buying a whole bunch of colorful balloons that said: Get Well Soon! on each of them. 
"I went back to Sweet Apple Acres to get Scales a basket full of fresh-picked apples." Applejack said as she showed everyone her basket full of apples.
"I also went to Applejack's farm to get some bottles of apple cider." Rainbow said as she held up a case that contained some bottles of apple cider. "I just thought that Scales might get thirsty while staying in his hospital room." 
"And I bought a big Get Well card that Scales might enjoy." Twilight said as she pulled out the said card. "Make sure you all sign this." Everyone followed Twilight's request and signed the card. 
"What did you bring, Spike?" Twilight asked. Spike pulled out his Burnferno action figure.
"I just thought that Burnferno could help Scales stay strong despite the condition he's in." Spike answered.
"I'm sure Scales will appreciate it." Rarity assured. 
"Thanks," Spike said before he and the girls entered the hospital. One of the nurses escorted the group to the room Scales was in. As they all entered, Scales was resting in a hospital bed while being hooked up to some equipment. The heart rate machine kept beeping as a sign that Scales was fine. 
"Man, I can't believe that Scales would be out of it for this long." Rainbow said in disbelief. 
"Let's put the gifts at a far distant so it doesn't disturb the medical equipment." Twilight suggested. Everyone agreed and put their presents on a small table at the other side of the room. Spike slowly approached his sleeping brother.
"Hey Scales, I'm here for another visit." Spike said. There wasn't a response from Scales. "The girls and I came to bring you some Get Well Soon gifts. I bet you'll feel extremely happy to wake up to see how much stuff you got for just sleeping." Spike said with a small chuckle. He then pulled out his Burnferno action figure. "I'm leaving Burnferno here to help you get better. I'll be fine without him for a while as he will be by your side, Scales." Spike waited for Scales to respond, but got nothing. Spike then turned to his friends. "Hey girls, is it alright that I get some alone time with Scales?"
"No problem, Spike." Twilight said as she and the girls left the room. Once the door was closed, Spike continued to speak. "You actually remind me of Burnferno, Scales. I admire you both as you guys are strong and aren't afraid of a lot of things. I remember this one part from Burnferno's story where he was severely injured while rescuing some baby dragons. Although Burnferno was hurt, he stayed strong until those baby dragons were saved. I hope that you'll stay strong just like Burnferno, Scales. Have a good rest." Spike said before he exited the room. As Spike shut the door, he saw that the girls were staring at him. This was because large amounts of tears were pouring down his face as he began to cry. The girls reacted by giving Spike a large group hug in attempt to make their friend feel better.
> Slumber Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The days have passed and Spike continued to go to Vice Principal Luna for counseling. He was able to make some efforts, but still not enough for him to feel absolutely fine. The girls and Spike's other friends did their best to stay by Spike's side and let him know they're there for him. Spike felt a bit better to be with his friends. A part of Spike still wanted to see Scales awake. It was around lunchtime when Spike made his way towards his usual table with the girls. They all sat a little closer to Spike to make him feel a little more comfortable.
"Hey girls," Spike said with a straight face.
"How are things with you?" Fluttershy asked with a small smile.
"I've been fine." Spike replied while responding. "Classes have been good and I got to speak with Vice Principal Luna again." Spike took a fork and took a bite from his food.
"That's good to hear." Twilight replied.
"Scales hasn't woken up yet." Spike continued to speak. "The doctors say that he's still breathing, but they're not sure when he will wake up." The girls went silent while Spike continued to eat. 
"It's gonna be fine, sugarcube." Applejack assured while placing a hand on Spike's shoulder. "I believe that once Scales wakes up, he will want to see you all cheered up." 
"Thanks," Spike said before he got up. "I'm going to the restroom. I'll be right back." The girls nodded before Spike left the cafeteria. Once Spike was gone, the girls looked at each other with concern.
"It looks like Spike is having such a hard time with this." Fluttershy said while looking down.
"I know," Pinkie said as her puffy manes deflated. "I tried everything in my book to make Spike laugh! Nothing worked! Am I losing my touch?!" Pinkie used her hands to cover her face.
"You're doing fine, Pinkie." Rainbow said while patting Pinkie's back. "This is just a tough situation and Spike needs to deal with this."
"Yeah, and we need to figure out a way to really put him at ease from this crisis." Twilight said. The girls took a moment to brainstorm for ideas. Pinkie was the first to come up with something.
"Ooh! How about a slumber party?" Pinkie suggested. The girls looked at Pinkie before they looked at each other with smiles. 
"Pinkie, that's brilliant!" Twilight praised. 
"Why thank you," Pinkie said with confidence. At that moment, Spike came back from the bathroom.
"I'm back, what did I miss?" Spike said once he sat down.
"Nothing much," Rainbow responded. "Except that you're invited to our slumber party this weekend!" 
"What?" Spike asked in confusion.
"Every so often, we would host a slumber party and just have a good time." Twilight explained. "We want to invite you since you're our friend and you really need this."
"A-are you sure you want to invite me?" Spike said with concern. "I'm a guy after all."
"It will be fine," Rainbow said while wrapping her arm around Spike. "You're our friend and it doesn't matter if you're a guy. We're just going to eat, play games, and sleep. That's my kind of party."
"It would be so fun for you to join us!" Pinkie added. Spike took a moment to think about his decision. 
"Alright, I'll come." Spike nodded. The girls cheered from Spike's acceptance.
"So where should we host the sleepover?" Spike asked. The girls looked at each other as they haven't thought about where should the sleepover take place.
"We could have the sleepover at your home, Spike." Rarity suggested. "We already been there before and we could keep you company." 
"I'll ask my parents if it's okay." Spike informed.
"Perfect," Pinkie said. "just have your place ready while we bring everything to make this sleepover extremely fun!"



After a long week of school, Friday came around and students began to exit the school. Spike and the girls walked towards the sidewalk before they made their separate ways. 
"Alright, does everyone know what to bring?" Twilight asked. Spike and the girls nodded in agreement.
"My parents thought that a slumber party would be great for me and they're going out of town this weekend." Spike explained. 
"Ooh! A whole weekend with your parents gone? That sounds delightful." Rarity whispered while batting her eyes at Spike. The rest of the girls glared at Rarity as a sign for her to back off. 
"Anyway, we will be at your place around tonight, Spike." Twilight confirmed. 
"Great, see you girls there!" Spike said as he and the girls returned to their homes. 



Once Spike made it back to his house, he found a note from his parents saying that they hope he has a good time during the sleepover and they'll return at the end of the weekend. Spike then began to rearrange his living room's furnitures so there would be room for the girls to sit. He also went to his room to change into some comfortable clothes. Spike decided to put on his purple dragon onesie as it made him feel snuggly. Spike went to the kitchen to bring out any snacks for the girls to eat. Unfortunately, Spike could only find a bag of potato chips.
'I guess it's better than nothing.' Spike thought as he poured the bag's content into a large bowl. He placed the bowl on the table before his doorbell rang. Spike went up to the door to peek inside the door's hole. The other side revealed to be the girls while carrying some bags.
"Spike! Are you home?" Rainbow yelled out. Spike opened the door to let the girls in.
"Come on in, girls!" Spike said happily as the girls walked inside. 
"You're still rockin' that onesie, Spike." Rainbow said with a wink as she entered.
Applejack entered with a case of glass bottles in each of her hands. "I brought some apple cider in case if we get thirsty." 
"Perfect, you can put those in the fridge." Spike responded. Applejack nodded as she went to the kitchen. Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of Spike and she carried several bags filled with candies, board games, and other things.
"I brought everything we need to make this...the best slumber party...ever!" Pinkie said with so much enthusiasm. 
"That's perfect, Pinkie." Spike commented before he saw Pinkie rush inside. The next guest was Fluttershy who had a bunny in her arms.
"I hope you don't mind if I brought Angel along. I didn't want him to feel lonely all weekend." 
"It's alright, Fluttershy." Spike responded. "I don't mind at all." Fluttershy nodded and went to the living room.
"We appreciate your parents for letting us host our slumber party at your place, Spike." Twilight said as she put her bags on the floor.
"My folks trust you girls enough since you're all my friends." Spike replied as he led 
"It's good that your parents went out of town for the weekend, Spike." Rarity said as she moved closer to Spike and whispered something in his ear. "Now we can really have some fun without any interruptions." Spike blushed in response while Rarity giggled. 
"Ahem!" Twilight said while she and the other girls glared at Rarity and Spike. Rarity laughed sheepishly as she joined the others in the living room. Pinkie cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. 
"Alright everyone, I want to start things off by welcoming Spike to our traditional sleepover." The rest of the girls cheered in response to Pinkie. 
"Aw, thanks, girls." Spike blushed while rubbing his neck. 
Pinkie continued to speak. "Spike, could you please raise your hand? You must if you were to take the Pledge of the Sleepover." Spike was a bit confused before he lifted one of his hands.
"Here we go," Rainbow mumbled before Pinkie spoke some more. 
"Do you, Spike, promise to keep silent of what happens during the sleepover? As one rule of having a sleepover is 'What happens in a sleepover, stays in a sleepover'."
"I will." Spike said. 
"Do you promise to have the greatest time during this sleepover considering that this will be your first one with us?" Pinkie asked. 
"I will," Spike said again. 
"Will you also take me, Pinkie Pie, as your lawfully wedded wife?" Pinkie asked. 
"I will," Spike said before he did a double take. "Wait, what?!" Spike said while blushing. Pinkie couldn't help but giggle. 
"I'm joking! I'm joking!" Pinkie waved her hands. The girls showed looks that were not so pleasing to Pinkie's little joke.
"Anyway, I, Pinkie Pie, declare for this slumber party to commence!" Pinkie cried as she threw some confetti in the air. Everyone cheered as their night of fun begins. 



Spike waited patiently in his bedroom while the girls get changed in the living room. Spike wondered what the girls will wear for the sleepover as he had never seen them in pajamas before.
"Alright Spike, you can come out now!" Twilight hollered from the outside. Spike made his way to the living room to see what the girls were wearing. Twilight wore a set of yellow silk pajamas with a pink collar and pink heart patterns. Pinkie wore a light blue night shirt that had balloon patterns on them with light blue shorts to match. Rarity wore a dark purple nightgown with a blue ribbon on the front of her chest. Fluttershy wore pajamas were similar to Twilight's, but Fluttershy's outfit was green with a dark pink collar and there were pink butterflies on them. Rainbow wore a pair of blue shorts and a white and red shirt with a rainbow lightning on the front. Applejack wore a dark blue onesie with light blue apple patterns on them.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Rarity said while striking a pose. "Do I look fabulous, Spikey-Wikey?"
"Y-yeah," Spike said nervously. 
Rainbow interrupted "Alright, let's get this started before Spike drools up a river!" 
"What should we start with?" Fluttershy asked.
"How about we watch a movie?" Applejack suggested.
"I vote for Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapore!" Rainbow shouted.
"We've seen that movie fifty times already!" Twilight complained.
"Besides, this is Spike's first time at our sleepover." Pinkie explained. "He will get the first pick of the movie." Pinkie said as she showed Spike a bag full of DVDs. Spike looked inside to pull out one particular movie with a cover of people running while pudding fell from the sky.
"How about Stormy with a Side of Pudding?" Spike suggested. "It's one of my favorite movies!" Pinkie gasped in response.
"Oh my gosh! It's my favorite movie too! I love the part when the people had to use the giant bananas as life rafts during the pudding flood!" Pinkie licked her lips from the thought of riding one of the banana rafts on the sea of pudding.
"I liked the part when that cotton candy tornado appeared!" Spike mentioned. "It was a sweet but disastrous scene."
"I like that part too!" Pinkie said in excitement.
"How about we cut the food talk and actually watch the movie?" Applejack interrupted. Pinkie and Spike nodded as they prepared the movie watch. The movie went on with many scenes of food falling to the ground like it was common weather. Pinkie drooled when she saw how large the food was when it came crashing down. Spike could feel his stomach growling as watching a film about falling food made him hungry. The film ended with the people surviving the pudding flood and live happily on an island made of food.
"Wow, that movie never gets old." Spike claimed before he felt his stomach growling again. "And it never stops making me hungry." 
"Don't worry, Spike." Pinkie said while holding up her phone. "I too was hungry while watching the movie, so I ordered us some pizzas and have them delivered to your house." Pinkie looked at the time on her phone. "The pizzas should be here right about...now!" At the time Pinkie said that, the doorbell rang.
"How did you do that?!" Spike asked in surprise. 
"It's all about timing." Pinkie bragged as she went to the door to pay the delivery person. She and Applejack came back with pizza boxes and placed them on the kitchen table.
"Let's dig in!" Pinkie claimed as she and her friends grabbed their slices to take some bites out of them.
"Excellent choices of pizzas, Pinkie!" Rainbow praised. 
"I know my way around pizzas." Pinkie said as she took a bite from another slice. 
"So what should we do next?" Spike asked.
"I got the perfect idea for the next activity." Rainbow assured. After everyone was done with their pizzas, they went back to the living room. Rainbow opened her bag to pull out some video games."I brought some excellent video games for us to play!" Rainbow claimed. 
"Whoa! You got the Power Ponies: Power Pummel game!" Spike said in excitement. "Let's play this!"
"You're on!" Rainbow said as she pulled out her game console. Rainbow and Spike were playing video games together while the rest of the girls were doing their own things for the slumber party. Pinkie was updating her status on her MyStable page, Twilight was busy reading a good book, Fluttershy was brushing Angel's fur with a brush, and Rarity was applying make-up on Applejack much to the farm girl's discomfort. The video game round ended with Rainbow as the victor. 
"Oh dang it!" Spike said in defeat.
"It's alright, Spike." Rainbow said while patting Spike's back. "I thought you were impressive." Pinkie suddenly appeared between Rainbow and Spike.
"Slumber Party selfie!" Pinkie hollered before she took a picture with her phone.
"Pinkie!" Rainbow said with annoyance. 
"What? I'm capturing these precious memories." Pinkie said while acting innocent. 
"How about we move on to another group activity before we get bored?" Applejack suggested while wiping away the make-up on her face. 
"Oh! I know just the thing!" Rarity said as she searched inside of her bag before she pulled out a glass bottle. "Let's play Truth or Dare!" 
"Ooh! I love that game!" Pinkie said as she and the rest of the friends formed a circle while they sat down. 
"You all probably know the game." Rarity confirmed. "Someone spins the bottle and whoever the bottle points at has the option of telling a truth or do a dare. I'll go first." Rarity said as she spun the bottle until it stopped and it pointed at Fluttershy. 
"Truth or dare, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy tapped her chin until she decided.
"I'll go with truth." Fluttershy answered. 
"Which outfit I made for you is your favorite?" Rarity asked.
"I would pick that one dress with the cute bird earrings to match." Fluttershy answered. 
"Why yes, I remember that one! It was one of my earliest works!" Rarity said as she remembered. Rarity and Fluttershy giggled to show that they were having a good time.
"Alright, I think it's my turn." Fluttershy said as she spun the glass bottle. The bottle stopped and it pointed at Rainbow.
"It's my turn? Ha! I'll go with dare since I know Fluttershy can't think of any dare that could embarrass me!" Rainbow said with confidence. Fluttershy lifted up Angel in front of Rainbow.
"I dare you to kiss Angel on the nose." Fluttershy said.
"W-what?!" Rainbow said in shock. 
"Come on, Rainbow." Applejack said with a smirk. "You chose dare, that means you have to do what Fluttershy says." Rainbow was nervous as she and her friends know that she doesn't back down from a challenge. Rainbow took a deep breath before she moved her face closer to Angel. She puckered her lips until it touched Angel's snout. Once Rainbow was done with her dare, she moved away so she could start spitting out any possible fur that was on her lips. Her friends couldn't help but laugh from Rainbow's reaction. 
"Oh man, this is going to be a fun night." Applejack claimed. The gang continued with the truth or dare game. When Twilight spun the bottle and it landed on Pinkie, Pinkie chose dare and Twilight dared Pinkie to attempt to explain the square root of pi. Unfortunately, Pinkie began to say random numbers that even Twilight had no idea if it were true. Luckily, Twilight pulled out a cookie and Pinkie stopped to take it. Applejack spun the bottle and it pointed to Rarity. Rarity decided to pick dare to be a little risky. Applejack dared Rarity to do an impression of a chicken. Rarity bit her lip as she got up. She took a deep breath before she curved her arms to make them like chicken wings.
"Ba! Bac bac ba-ka!" Rarity hollered while kicking one leg back. Spike and the girls couldn't help but laugh from Rarity's chicken impression.
"Best dare ever!" Rainbow said before she fell on her back while still laughing. Rarity huffed as she never felt so humiliated. She sat down and spun the glass bottle. While the bottle was spinning, Spike felt the vibration from his phone and he pulled it out.
"My mom and dad are calling." Spike said to the girls as he got up. 
"Should we stop for now?" Pinkie asked. 
"Nah, just keep playing while I talk to my folks. It probably won't be that long." Spike said as he went inside his room. The bottle stopped and it pointed at Rainbow. 
"Alright, Rainbow, truth or dare?" Rarity asked. 
"I'll go with truth." Rainbow answered.
"I should warn you, Rainbow, this question may be too girly for your taste." Rarity mentioned. 
"C'mon, I kissed Angel on his nose. Lay it on me!" Rainbow said with determination. 
"Very well," Rarity said before she asked her question. "Who was the last person you kissed?" Rainbow went silent after she heard Rarity's question. A egotistic smirk formed on Rainbow's face as she could let her friends know about what happened with Spike at the skate park. 
"Are you sure you want to know that, Rarity?" Rainbow asked. "My answer might shock all of you." 
"Then tell us if you're so sure." Rarity encouraged. 
"Okay," Rainbow said before she prepared to answer. "My last kiss....was with Spike." There was dead silence in the living room as the girls were lost for words from Rainbow's response. "See, I told you it would-"
"WHAT?!" The rest of the girls hollered at the same time, much to Rainbow's surprise.
"Now I know that you're yankin' my chain!" Applejack said while feeling a bit angry.
"It's true, I kissed him when we were at the skate park. He was asleep from all of the skateboarding , so I gave him a nice kiss on his lips." Rarity couldn't help but feel betrayed by Rainbow for kissing her precious Spikey-Wikey while he was sleeping. It was then Rarity remembered her photo shoot with Spike and she decided to inform Rainbow about it.
"If you think you're so confident, then I got something to tell you, Rainbow." Rarity said before she confessed. "I also gave Spike a kiss on the lips as well!" Rainbow and the other girls were shocked from Rarity's statement.
"What?! When?!" Rainbow demanded. 
"When he and I took some pictures in different costumes! The difference was that Spike was conscious when I kissed him....before he fainted and didn't remember a thing." Rarity admitted. The girls were completely silent again as they were processing this information. 
"I got to come clean too if it involves kissing Spike." Applejack said. "You remember when we were cleaning up from the hoedown and I went to look for Spike? I may have kissed him while he was asleep in the wagon." Applejack couldn't help but blush from admitting that to her friends. There was another silence between the girls as they were more lost for words. 
Pinkie jumped up and spoke, "I also kissed Spike! When we were finished with the Cake Twins' birthday, I saw him and Scales sleeping with their dragon costumes on. I saw how cute Spike looked and decided to give him a nice kiss on his lips!" The girls looked at Pinkie with complete surprise from hearing what she said. Rainbow turned to Fluttershy and Twilight.
"I'm guessing you two stole some kisses from Spike as well?" Rainbow asked. Fluttershy and Twilight acted sheepish from hearing the question.
"It was more of an accident." Twilight admitted. She and Fluttershy explained their accidental kisses with Spike. 
"I just can't believe this!" Rainbow hollered as she raised her hands in the air. 
"Can't believe what?" Spike said as he returned from his room. The girls said nothing as they tried to keep calm.
"I-um...." Rainbow said as she tried to think of a good excuse. "I said that I can't believe that I did another embarrassing dare! A dare that was so embarrassing that I begged the others not to talk about it!" Rainbow turned to her friends and nudged her head as a sign to agree with her. The girls complied and nodded in agreement.
"Oh, okay." Spike said as he sat down. "So, are we going to continue with truth or dare?" 
"How about we call it a night?" Twilight suggested with a fake smile. "We'll need plenty of rest before we have more fun tomorrow!" 
"Alright," Spike nodded before he got up. "I'll go get a sleeping bag so I could sleep in the living room. It won't be much of a slumber party if I sleep in my room while you girls sleep here!" Spike said as he went to get his said sleeping bag.



Spike and the girls went to sleep in the living room until the next day. The girls and Spike just hanged out around the house. During that time, Spike noticed that the girls were acting strange as they weren't talking to each other as much. Spike tried to ask about it, but the girls say that it was nothing. It wasn't until the third day when Spike's parents came home and the girls went back to their homes. Each of them were too occupied with dealing with the fact that they now know that they all have kissed Spike.



School started again and the students were walking through the hallways. The girls ended up meeting each other near the horse statue by the school. They all just looked each other and not saying a single word. Twilight sighed before she spoke first. 
"I know what happened at that slumber party was very shocking and you all probably don't want to talk to each other." Twilight confirmed. Rainbow and Applejack grunted and turned their head away from each other. Rarity also turned her head and huffed as well despite it being unladylike. Fluttershy and Pinkie just looked awkwardly at their friends. "But I think it would be best that we put this matter to the side for later. Spike is feeling much better and we can't make him feel worse with all of us at each other's throats. Once Scales recovers and Spike is back to his usual self, we can discuss the other topic and figure out where to go off from that." Twilight offered her hand as a sign of agreement. "For Spike?" Rainbow and Applejack looked each other before they nodded. 
"Fine, for Spike." Rainbow said before she placed her hand on top of Twilight's.
"Yup," Applejack said as she also added her hand.
"For Spike!" Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie said at once as they also joined hands. The girls then formed a group hug as it shows that their friendship is still strong despite what happened.
> The Friendship Games Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike was sitting in his desk as he prepared for homeroom class. Before class started, the intercoms turned on and caught everyone's attention. 
"Greetings students and faulty of Canterlot High," Vice Principal Luna said through the intercoms. "I want to remind everyone that the annual Friendship Games will be coming up very soon. Principal Celestia and I will start picking who will take part in the competitions. The results will be displayed at the school's bulletin board by Friday. That is all." When the intercoms turned off, Spike notice that his classmates and Cheerliee looked bummed out. Spike was uncertain on why everyone started to act this way for these Friendship Games. 



Spike's class was over and he made his way to the cafeteria to meet up with his friends. The girls and Spike sat in their usual table while discussing about how things have been.
"So what are the Friendship Games?" Spike asked. This cause some of the girls to look down with annoyance.
"It's just a series of games that Canterlot High usually participates in." Twilight explained.
"Oh, that actually sounds fun." Spike responded with a smile.
"It's not so fun when we have to compete against Crystal Prep." Pinkie said while pouting.
"What's Crystal Prep?" Spike asked. 
"It's a prestigious school where the 'best' students attend." Rarity explained. "They think they're so much better than Canterlot High." 
"It's not technically a boast if they win every year." Applejack added.
"All of Canterlot High just got used to losing to Crystal Prep." Fluttershy said. Rainbow got up and banged her hands against the table. 
"Not this time!" Rainbow said with confidence. "I know Canterlot High will win and finally beat Crystal Prep!" 
"You keep saying that and we always lose, Rainbow." Applejack said bluntly.
"It will be different, you guys!" Rainbow barked. "Remember when we almost won last year?"
"Can we not talk about that, please?" Twilight said as she looked away in shame.
"Why not? You almost won the mathematic portion of the competition against that other student." Rainbow said.
"Only because I messed up one of the equations and costed CHS a win." Twilight replied as she looked down.
"But we didn't blame you, deary." Rarity said as she placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "We cheered for you for trying your absolute best." Twilight looked at Rarity with a smile.
"I'll help out in any way I can." Spike assured to Rainbow. "I know my brother and I transferred here some time ago, but it feels like we really belong here." 
"See! Spike is totally on board!" Rainbow pointed out. 
"We'll have to see when Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna pick out CHS's team members." Twilight said. 
"How does Celestia and Luna pick the players out?" Spike asked. 
"It depends on the grades and skills each student has." Twilight replied. "If the sisters think that you're capable of competing, you're in." Spike felt a bit nervous as he wasn't sure if he would be qualified for the Friendship Games.



Friday finally arrived and the list of the team members were finally displayed. Several of the students were gathered to see who made it on the team. Spike and the girls moved closer to also read the list.
"I made it in!" Rainbow cheered as she pumped her fist.
"Of course I'm also in." Twilight said while feeling a bit proud. 
"Me too!" Pinkie added while bouncing.
"Wow, I'm also in the games." Rarity said as she found her name.
"Oh my, I'm also on the team." Fluttershy said nervously. 
"Looks like Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna wanted us since we're a great team." Applejack said as she found her name on the list. Spike kept looking through the long list of names until he finally found his name.
"I'm on the team!" Spike said in excitement. 
"That's great! Welcome aboard, Spike!" Rainbow said as she patted Spike on his back. "Now that we got our team, it's time to think of strategies."
"Oh, and the welcome party!" Pinkie added as she started running off. "I got to prepare for the welcome party!" 
"Welcome party?" Spike said in confusion.
"It's a party that CHS sets up for Crystal Prep for when they come here." Twilight explained. "The purpose of the party is to introduce ourselves to Crystal Prep. But it's more like seeing who the competition is." Rarity was next to leave the group.
"I better prepare us some proper outfits for the party. I don't want Crystal Prep to think we dress like slobs after all." As Rarity left, the other girls also went their separate way to prepare for the Friendship Games. Spike was the last one standing and he started to feel a bit nervous. He wanted to help CHS win, but that changed when he started to remember how CHS just got used to losing to Crystal Prep.
'Scales would definitely tell me to not back down.' Spike thought as he made his way to his next class.



After school, Spike decided to head to the hospital to check up on Scales. Spike didn't feel as bad as the previous times he visited since he had the support of the girls and his other friends. A nurse led Spike to Scales's room before the nurse had to take care of other matters.
'Scales is probably still asleep.' Spike guessed as he slowly opened the door. Spike entered to see Scales up from the bed while eating a tray of food. Spike stood frozen in shock to see that Scales was up after all this time. Scales swallowed some food before he turned to see Spike at the door.
"Bro! It's good to see you." Scales said with a smile. Tears formed from Spike's eyes.
"Scales!" Spike said as he tackled Scales to give his big bro a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're awake!" 
"Sorry about worrying you, bro." Scales replied. 



A week had passed and it was the day of Crystal Prep's welcoming party. Spike and the girls were making their way to the gym where the party took place. The group also wore some formal attires that were made by Rarity.
"I'm so glad to hear that Scales is alright!" Twilight said to Spike. 
"I know! But Scales still needs to stay at the hospital for a little longer to heal up some more."
"I'll swing by the hospital to throw him a surprise awake party!" Pinkie cheered.
"I'm pretty sure he'll get more stress from that, Pinkie." Applejack said. 
"He won't be once I use my new party poppers when I surprise him!" Pinkie said with a sinister smile.
"Enough chatter, everyone." Rarity said. "We have arrived." The group stopped when they reached the double doors to the gym.
"Remember everyone," Rainbow said in a serious tone. "We're going to meet our competition. So try not to act so friendly around them." The girls automatically nodded in agreement. Rainbow opened the double doors and the group entered the gym. The gym was covered with colorful party decorations and a banner that read: Welcome Crystal Prep. One thing that stood out was the students of CHS were standing on one side of the gym while another group of students was standing on the other side. The other group of students wore dark purple uniforms and they didn't look so friendly while looking at the CHS students. Spike couldn't help but gulp as he could tell that the Crystal Prep students weren't seeking a friendly competition. He then noticed Twilight was looking at the group of Crystal Prep students as if she was trying to avoid getting noticed from them.
"Oh my," Fluttershy said as she shook in fear.
"I agree," Rarity nodded. "Those Crystal Prep students look more fierce than last year." 
"They'll be sorry once we wipe the floor with them." Rainbow said as she smiled with confidence. Principal Celestia was on stage as she tapped on the microphone to get everyone's attention.
"Hello everyone, I just want to welcome the students and faculty of Crystal Prep to our small celebration. The Friendship Games may be about competing, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't introduce ourselves to each other. I will now let the principal of Crystal Prep say a few words of encouragement before we start this party. Please put your hands together for Principal Cinch!" As Principal Celestia stepped back while clapping her hands, Principal Cinch made her way to the microphone. She was a tall woman with short, purple hair that was tied in a bun. Her eyes wore a pair of red half rim glasses that made her look completely strict. Principal Cinch's outfit was made up of a blue suit jacket and a dark blue long skirt that completed her strict look. 
"Thank you, Principal Celestia." Principal Cinch said before she spoke through the microphone. "I would like to remind all of Canterlot High that Crystal Prep has improved so much ever since the previous Friendship Games. This will result in another definite win for Crystal Prep while Canterlot High will remain in second place. Although some students of CHS may think that they can win this year, I say good luck for trying." As Principal Cinch was done speaking, the entire room was silent. Some of the CHS students started to look discouraged while some of the Crystal Prep students smirked. The party then resumed with the CHS and Crystal Prep students separated from each other.
"Wow, I'm all about honesty but that was just brutal." Applejack admitted.
"At least that principal is letting us try." Spike said in attempt to lift some spirit.
"That Principal Cinch will see another thing coming." Rainbow growled in anger. Twilight looked and suddenly flinched.
"Uh oh," Twilight said as she gulped in fear. Spike turned to where Twilight was looking to see one of the Crystal Prep students walking towards them. The student was a girl with long red and yellow hair. Her light green eyes were glaring at Twilight. The girl's uniform was the same as the other Crystal Prep students. When the girl was finally close to Twilight, the girl suddenly smiled.
"Twilight, it's so good to see you again." The girl said in a cheerful tone. Before Twilight could say anything, Rainbow moved in front of Twilight. 
"What do you want, Sunset?" Rainbow said as she glared at the girl.
"I'm just saying my hellos to Twilight and the rest of you girls. Isn't that the purpose of this party?" The girl then noticed Spike among his friends. "And I see that you have a new friend in your group." The girl offered a hand to Spike.
"The name's Sunset Shimmer. I go to Crystal Prep if my uniform isn't a dead giveaway." Sunset said.
"Oh, hi. I'm Spike." Spike said as he shook Sunset's hand. Spike was suddenly pulled away by Rarity and Fluttershy.
"Get your hands off of Spikey-Wikey!" Rarity said as she growled. Sunset only glared at Rarity before Sunset took a deep breath and smiled again.
"My mistake, I'll try not to be so friendly around you girls. I think it's best that I head back to my classmates and strategize for our victory. As Principal Cinch said, good luck for trying." Sunset then turned to Twilight. "That goes for you too, Twilight." Sunset then walked back to the crowd of Crystal Prep students. Rainbow and Rarity growled in anger from everything Sunset had just said and did. Spike turned to Fluttershy.
"Um, Fluttershy, how does Sunset know all of you? Specially Twilight?" Spike asked.
"Well, Sunset was always the leader of the Shadowbolts, Crystal Prep's team for the Friendship Games." Fluttershy explained. "She had won against Rainbow and most of us during the games. So we have a long history with Sunset. The reason Sunset knows Twilight well is because Twilight almost beat Sunset in a math challenge." Spike then realized that the student Twilight almost beat last year must've been Sunset.
"My guess is that Sunset must be really determined to defeat Twilight for almost winning last year." Rarity said. Spike looked at Twilight as she was really nervous from seeing Sunset again. Spike now understood that the Friendship Games were more serious than he thought.
> The Friendship Games Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today was the first day of the Friendship Games and everyone was gathered in the main hall of CHS while waiting for Crystal Prep to arrive. The doors opened and Principal Cinch was the first to enter the school. Then Sunset Shimmer entered along with the rest of the Crystal Prep students who will compete in the Friendship Games. 
Spike noticed that Sunset was standing near five other girls. He guessed that those girls are a part of the Shadowbolts. One girl had short, light purple hair with a yellow, pointy flower hairpin on it. Spike recalled that girl was named Sunny Flare and she acts high and mighty despite Sunset being the leader. He also recognizes the next girl as Sour Sweet as she had long pink and light green hair that was tied into a ponytail. Rainbow specifically warned Spike to stay away from Sour Sweet as her personality was as bitter as her name. The third girl had a pair of orange goggles on top of her dark blue, short hair. Spike remembered that her name was Indigo Zap. Rainbow really hates Indigo Zap considering that they are still bitter rivals. Another girl had long green hair and she wore pink headphones over her ears. The only things Rainbow told Spike about this girl was that her name was Lemon Zest and she is always listening to her music. The last girl had long, light blue hair that was tied into long pig tails. Her eyes were covered with a small pair of orange glasses. Spike recognized her as Sugar Coat and Rainbow mentioned that Sugar Coat has no filter when she speaks. 
Principal Celestia made her to the center of the hall with a microphone in her hand. 
"Now that all of Crystal Prep has arrived, we will begin the first day of the Friendship Games." Principal Celestia said before she approached Principal Cinch. "Principal Cinch, do you have anything to say before we start the games?"
Principal Cinch accepted the microphone from Principal Celestia "Before we start the first challenge, I would like to declare that my students will win with little effort. Canterlot High may have improved during recent years, but they are still no match against Crystal Prep as we are the best of the best." Principal Cinch then simply returned the microphone to Principal Celestia and returned to the other Crystal Prep students. Principal Cinch's words caused some mixed reactions. The Crystal Prep students acted smug as they agreed with their principal. Some of the students of CHS growled and glared angrily at Principal Cinch for saying such harsh things about their school. 
Principal Celestia laughed nervously. "How about we get started with the first challenge?"
"The first event will be...the Academic Decathlon!" Vice Principal Luna announced. "Each team will be scored based on how well they do on certain school subjects. The remaining six students of each team will move on to the next event."



The first part of the academic decathlon was chemistry. Each student had to follow a certain set of formulas to make a certain chemical. Almost all of the students of Crystal Prep and Canterlot High were able to follow the formula properly and they all created the same chemical. Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, and Principal Cinch took a good look at each of the students' test tubes.
"Well, it looks like all of the students have completed the formula properly." Principal Celestia said. "Looks like this resulted with a draw-" Principal Celestia was interrupted when an explosion occurred. The source of the explosion was Derpy as her test tube exploded in front of her. 
"Oops, looks like I missed a step." Derby said as she rubbed her head in embarrassment. She wasn't hurt but the Shadowbolts won the point.



The next part was home economic and the students have to pair up and bake anything that could impress Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, and Principal Cinch. Most of the student pairs baked some decent looking cakes while some of the students made cakes that looked like it came from of the trash. The three judges tried a cake that was made by Crystal Prep students Suri Polomare and Upper Crust. It was a purple, multi-layered cake with yellow frosted tulips on it. The judges took a bite from a slice and they expressed their feedbacks.
"This cake is quite delicious." Principal Celestia said.
"Indeed, I also like how decorative the cake is." Vice Principal Luna added.
"What did you expect from my students?" Principal Cinch remarked.
It wasn't until Pinkie and Fluttershy appeared with their cake which was dark red and had more layers than Suri and Upper Crust's cake. 
"Excuse me!" Pinkie said to get the judges' attention. "Allow me to serve you our cake." Pinkie said as she cut one half of the cake to reveal an exact image of the Mona Lisa inside. This shocked the three judges and it resulted with them giving a point to Canterlot High. Even Principal Cinch had to admit that Pinkie and Fluttershy's cake was good.



The third part of the Academic Decathlon was woodshop. Each student had to pair up again to make a birdhouse. The students of CHS and Crystal Prep first drawn up some blueprints for each birdhouse. 
"Man, building a birdhouse is tougher than I thought." Rainbow said as she scratched her head in confusion. Applejack placed a hand on Rainbow's shoulder. 
"Don't worry, y'all." Applejack said with a wink. "I got a lot of experience with woodshop from working at my family's farm. We will win this for sure." When the students were done with their birdhouses, the judges came to see how well the birdhouses turned out. Each pair of CHS students made a decent looking birdhouse. The only exception was Micro Chips and Sandalwood as their birdhouse ended up looking terrible. Vice Principal Luna poked the birdhouse with a pen and it ended up collapsing.
"Even a filthy pigeon wouldn't consider living in that abomination." Principal Cinch commented. 
"Then allow us to show you how a proper birdhouse is made." Sugar Coat said as she removed a red blanket to reveal the treehouse she and Indigo Zap made. Their treehouse was larger than the other students' birdhouses as it had two stories. There was also some painted flames on the birdhouse's front to make it look very flashy. 
"My word," Principal Celestia said as she looked at the birdhouse. "This is an excellent birdhouse." 
"See, goes to show that Crystal Prep goes beyond anything your school has to offer. I believe that my students get the point, am I wrong?" Principal Cinch asked. As much as Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna hated Principal Cinch's words, they had to agree that Crystal Prep earned another point.



The fourth part of the Academic Decathlon took place at CHS's auditorium. Each team had only seven students who were chosen for the challenge. The seven students of CHS were Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. The students of Crystal Prep were Sunset Shimmer, Sunny Flare, Sugar Coat, Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest. 
"The next challenge will be a spelling bee." Principal Celestia announced. "Each student from both teams must spell certain words correctly. The student who spells the most words correctly will score a point for his or her school and move on to the final challenge." Rainbow Dash was the first one to walk up to the microphone.
"I got this in the bag." Rainbow said to herself. 
"The word you need to spell is...hippopotamus." Vice Principal Luna announced. 
"Hippopotamus," Rainbow repeated. "H-i-p-p-o-p-o-t-a-m-a-s, hippopotamus." When Rainbow was done, a buzzer went off.
"I am sorry, but that is not how you spell that word." Vice Principal Luna replied. 
"Dang it!" Rainbow said as she stomped back to her team in anger. The next student to walk towards the microphone was Lemon Zest.
"The word you need to spell is... munchausenism." Vice Principal Luna announced. 
"Munchausenism," Lemon Zest repeated. "M-u-n-c-h-o-u-s-e-n-i-s-m, munchausenism." Lemon Zest finished, but a buzzer went off.
"I am sorry, but that is not how you spell that word." Vice Principal Luna replied. Lemon Zest breathed heavily as she made her way back to her team. Applejack was next as she made her way to the front of the stage. 
"The word you need to spell is...onomatopoeia." Vice Principal Luna announced.
"Onomatopoeia," Applejack repeated. "O-n-o-m-a-t-o-p-e-i-a, onomatopoeia." A buzzer went off after Applejack was done.
"I am sorry, but that is not how you spell that word." Vice Principal Luna replied. Applejack went back to her team and covered her face with her hat as she felt really embarrassed. The spelling bee continued on with students spelling most of the words wrong.
"C-y-m-o-t-r-i-c-o-u-s, cymotrichous." Sugar Coat said. A buzzer went off to signal that the spelling was incorrect.
"I-m-i-g-r-a-t-i-o-n, immigration," Fluttershy said. A buzzer went off.
"R-h-o-m-b-o-s, rhombus," Sunny Flare said. A buzzer went off.
"C-h-a-u-f-f-u-e-r, chauffeur," Indigo Zap said. A buzzer went off.
"E-s-c-h-u-a-r-y, estuary," Rarity said. A buzzer went off.
"I-s-o-s-c-e-l-e-s, isosceles," Twilight said. This time, there was a ding that went off.
"That word is spelled correctly." Vice Principal Luna. "Canterlot High has won the spelling bee." The students of CHS cheered as their team has won once again. 



The stage was changed so it only had two large chalkboards.
"The final challenge will be...mathematics!" Principal Celestia announced through a microphone. "Each team must pick one student from their team to solve a very long math equation. The two students must finish the math equation within 5 minutes. The student who solves the equation correctly wins the Academic Decathlon. So teams, pick your student!" Each team began to discuss who should be the one to solve the equation. 
"The obvious choice has got to be Twilight." Rainbow said as she and her other teammates nodded in agreement.
"W-what?!" Twilight said in shock. "I-I can't! I don't want to repeat what happened last year." 
"But you improved so much since then." Rarity said. "Remember that one time you were solving equations while practicing playing your clarinet?" 
"Yeah, but this is timed and I'm against Sunset Shimmer again!" Twilight said. Spike placed both of his hands on Twilight's shoulders to get her attention. 
"Twilight, you can do this." Spike said in a serious tone. "Not only because you're better at mathematics than all of us, but also because you can show Sunset Shimmer that you're not scared of her." Twilight took some time to think about it before she spoke.
"Alright, I'll do it." Twilight said in confidence as she made her way towards one of the chalkboard. Sunset Shimmer made her way towards the other chalkboard with a smirk on her face.
"Good luck, Twilight." Sunset said with a wink. Twilight gulped as she turned to her chalkboard that showed an extremely long math equation.
"Alright, the timer is set." Principal Celestia said while holding a stopwatch. "On your mark, get set, go!" Principal Celestia pressed the timer and the two students began to write on their boards. The other students watched in suspense to see who will finish the equation in time and answer it correctly. Sweat dripped from Twilight's forehead as she was putting all of her brain power into solving her math equation. Sunset didn't show any signs of nervousness or fatigue writing on her chalkboard. The timer continued to tick as the minutes went by. 
"One minute left," Principal Celestia announced. Twilight increased her speed as she was running out of time. "And...time! Put your chalk down!" Both Sunset and Twilight quickly put down their chalks to show that they were done. Twilight panted heavily as she had put most of her energy into solving her equation. Sunset sighed in relief as she too was able to complete her equation before the time was up. Principal Cinch made her way to the center of the stage as she is the one who will judge Sunset and Twilight's work. Principal Cinch adjusted her glasses as she carefully analyzed each part of the girls' boards to see if there were any flaws on their equations. When Principal Cinch was done, she returned to the stage's center with her eyes closed. 
"Incorrect," Principal Cinch said as she pointed at Twilight's board, declaring that Twilight's answer was wrong. 
"That means Crystal Prep has won the Academic Decathlon." Vice Principal Luna announced. Twilight looked down in shame while the Crystal Prep students cheered for Sunset. When the cheering died down, Principal Celestia spoke through her microphone. 
"Well," Principal Celestia said as she cleared her throat. "I have to say that both teams made good efforts during the Academic Decathlon. Let's not celebrate too soon as there are still more events coming up for the Friendship Games. The second event will start tomorrow, so be prepared and good luck." When Principal Celestia was done speaking, the lights turned back on and the crowd started to exit the auditorium. Twilight made her way back to her friends with an extremely sad look on her face. Much to Twilight's surprise, her friends all gathered around her while cheering. 
"W-why are you guys so happy? We lost the first event." Twilight said.
"Yeah, but at least we gave it our all. We were also able to steal some wins from Crystal Prep." Applejack said.
"Plus, we can still beat those snobs tomorrow during the second day of the games." Rainbow said.
"We also thought that you did a lot better than last year." Rarity said. "We knew you could do it." Twilight couldn't help but shed tears of happiness thanks to her friends.
"Aw, thanks you guys." Twilight said as she wiped off some of her tears. 
"C'mon," Rainbow hollered while pointing at the distance. "Let's get ready for tomorrow! Crystal Prep won't be in first place for long!" The rest of Rainbow's friends cheered as they exited the auditorium. Sunset and her other Crystal Prep students watched as the CHS student left the room. 
"Those guys think they're so great just because they won a couple of times." Sunny Flare commented. "I can't wait until we wipe the floor with them again on the second event."
"All in due time, Sunny." Sunset responded. "For now, let's head back to Crystal Prep and prepare to give it our all. If we want to prove to those CHS students that we're the best of the best, we have to go all out to show them why they will always remain in second place." The other Crystal Prep students nodded in agreement and exited the auditorium.
> The Friendship Games Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the second day of the Friendship Games and everyone was getting ready for the events. Spike and the girls were taking a walk through one of CHS's hallways while discussing certain topics.
"It's good to hear that Scales is making good progress on his recovery." Fluttershy said to Spike.
"Yeah, plus he and our parents will be coming to cheer you guys on for the next event." Spike replied. 
"I feel sort of bad you won't be competing with us for the next event, Spike." Rainbow said.
"It's alright," Spike said. "The second event required only six competitors and you girls are capable of winning. That won't stop me from cheering all of you on!" 
"Ah, thanks Spike. You're the best!" Pinkie said as she gave Spike a big hug. Rainbow opened the doors to the outside and everyone was shocked to see what was in front of them. The entire soccer field was completely renovated to not only have a motocross track, but also a roller-skating track and arrow targets. 
"Am I the only one who thinks that this is overkill?" Twilight asked as she looked around the field. Applejack took a closer look at the motocross track.
"Woo wee, it must've taken all night to set this up." Applejack said as she turned to Rarity. "I don't suppose you made us motocross outfits?"
"Oh don't be silly, Applejack." Rarity said before she pulled out two motocross outfits from out of nowhere. "Of course I did!" Applejack just rolled her eyes from Rarity's enthusiasm.



Everyone from Canterlot High and Crystal Prep gathered to the soccer field for the next event of the Friendship Games. Spike sat with his parents and Scales who was sitting on a wheel chair. As the Canterlot High students were getting ready, the Crystal Prep students gathered around Principal Cinch. 
"For this event, you will race in pairs." Principal Cinch explained to her students. "Indigo Zap and Sunset Shimmer will take part in the motocross event." 
"Yes!" Indigo Zap said as she pumped her fist.
"Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest will take part in the roller-skating race." Principal Cinch said. Sunny Flare and Lemon Zest high-five each other in response.
"The archery challenge will go to Sour Sweet and Sugar Coat." Principal Cinch said as she faced Sugar Coat. "Can I count on you and Ms.Sweet to fire with complete accuracy?"
"I can assure you that we will fire directly on each bullseye." Sugar Coat responded. 
"Well that sounds swell," Sour Sweet said before she frowned. "let's hope it will be enough to win against those goody-two shoes."
Principal Celestia stood up from the teachers' tent and she tapped on her microphone. "Welcome to the next event of the Friendship Games: The Trick-Cross Relay!" Everyone on the benches cheered. "All of the remaining competitors will take part in archery, speed-skating, and motocross. The competitors in the archery relay must get through each obstacles and shoot arrows at least two moving bullseyes to start their team's race in speed-skating. After the speed-skating race, the motocross race will be next. If everyone is ready," Principal Celestia pulled out an airhorn and blew it. "Begin!" Sour Sweet and Fluttershy were the first to run through the obstacles while Sugar Coat and Twilight waited for their turn. Sour Sweet had no trouble jumping over the haystacks, swinging over the mud pit, and rolling to grab her bow and arrows to fire a perfect shot at one of the bullseyes. This allowed Sugar Coat to proceed through the obstacles. Fluttershy was able to make her way through the obstacles and started shooting her arrows at the targets. Unfortunately, Fluttershy kept missing the targets due to her lack of experience with a bow. As Fluttershy kept shooting, Sugar Coat got through the obstacles and started shooting her arrows. Sugar Coat took her time as she had to make sure that she fired her arrow with complete accuracy. Fluttershy became nervous as she was running low on arrows and the Crystal Prep students were ahead of the game. 
"Fluttershy!" Twilight called out from the starting line. "You can do this! Just calm down and fire at least one bullseye!" Fluttershy nodded before she held her breath and fired her arrow. It flew and it hit one of the bullseye, allowing Twilight to run through the obstacles. Sugar Coat was still taking her time to fire her arrows, but each one kept missing the bullseyes.
"Will you hurry up already!?" Sour Sweet said impatiently. "The losing team is gaining on us!"
"I could be able to hit a bullseye," Sugar Coat replied. "if someone doesn't keep their sour mouth shut." Sugar Coat took a deep breath before she shot her arrow, hitting right on a bullseye. Crystal Prep was able to score one point from the archery event. This also allowed Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare to start their part of the race while Pinkie and Rarity had to wait. Twilight was able to make it through the obstacles and she started shooting her arrows. Just like Fluttershy, Twilight was also having a hard time aiming the arrows at the moving bullseyes. 
"Ha ha ha!" Sour Sweet mocked. "Looks like winning this event will be easy peasy!" Twilight felt irritated from Sour Sweet's words. Fluttershy placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder. 
"It's alright, Twilight. You got this." Fluttershy said with a smile. Twilight took a deep breath before she pulled the bowstring back and released the arrow. The arrow was able to land on a bullseye, allowing CHS to also score a point. With the archery completed, Pinkie and Rarity started skating on the track. Pinkie and Rarity did their best to catch up to the other two Crystal Prep students who were in the lead. However, Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare noticed this and started to skate faster to make sure they stayed in the lead. Pinkie and Rarity also weren't able to get ahead due to Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare keep blocking their way. All of the skaters have to skate one more lap before the motocross race would begin. Rarity and Pinkie grew frustrated as they were almost to the finish line but can't get through the other two skaters. Rarity suddenly came up with an idea. 
"Pinkie, grab my leg!" Rarity said as she lifted one of her legs. 
"Huh?" Pinkie said in confusion.
"Just do it!" Rarity demanded. Pinkie grabbed on to Rarity's leg before Rarity flung Pinkie forward, causing Pinkie to skate faster and get pass Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare. Pinkie skated through the finish line, allowing CHS to score a point before Crystal Prep did. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Sunset Shimmer, and Indigo Zap started up their motorbikes before they rode on the dirt track. Rainbow did her best to drive ahead of the other bikers to make sure she was in the lead. That wasn't until Indigo Zap rode passed Applejack and bumped into Rainbow. Luckily, Rainbow was able to keep her balance to prevent herself from falling. She turned to Indigo Zap who showed an arrogant face.
"Whoops, my bad." Indigo Zap said sarcastically before she moved further from Rainbow. 
"She is so going down!" Rainbow said under her breath before she twisted her bike handle to drive faster. Applejack did her best to drive her bike while watching Rainbow to make sure she doesn't get too short-tempered. 
"It must be hard, huh?" Sunset said as she drove next to Applejack. "Having to deal with that egotistic athlete, it must be really tiring. Indigo Zap is a bit like that, but at least she is still better." Sunset then drove ahead, making Applejack follow in pursuit. All four of the riders drove at full speed in attempt to take the lead. They were making their way towards a right turn in the track. Both Rainbow and Indigo Zap made sharp turns to allow themselves to make it further in the race. Sunset and Applejack also made sharp turns. Sunset's sharp turn was too sudden that it caused her and her bike to slide off from the track. Sunset was able to roll on the grass safely, but her bike crashed on one of the sign poles. This caused one of the large signs to collapse and land right on top of Sunset. Everyone on the benches gasped as they didn't know if Sunset was still alive under there. Spike immediately got off from his seat and hurried towards the fallen debris. 
"Sunset! Sunset!" Spike cried out. "Are you alright!?" He heard coughing and saw Sunset was trying to crawl out.
"Help...me!" Sunset whispered as she winced from pain. Spike got closer to try to lift some of the debris off of Sunset. He wasn't alone as some of the CHS students and the audience joined in on clearing debris. Rainbow and Applejack were shocked to see the sign collapsing. Indigo Zap on the other hand just turned away and continued riding her bike towards the finish line. Applejack quickly stopped her bike, making Rainbow stop as well.
"Rainbow, you go on ahead!" Applejack yelled as she turned her bike rode towards where the fallen sign was.
"What?!" Rainbow asked in surprise. 
"You need to finish the race! I'll take care of helping the others." Applejack said. Rainbow looked back to see that Indigo Zap was getting further ahead. Rainbow shook her head before she turned her bike to follow Applejack.
"What are you doing?!" Applejack asked.
"I'll feel more of a jerk for not helping out my friends." Rainbow answered. Applejack couldn't help but smile as she and Rainbow went to help rescue Sunset. Indigo Zap passed the finish line, but she didn't get any cheers as everyone else was busy helping Sunset. The medics arrived to help Sunset on to their gurney. 
"Thank you," Sunset said to Spike as she was taken to an ambulance. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna made their way towards the crowd. 
"Is everyone alright?" Principal Celestia asked with concern. 
"We're fine," Twilight responded. "The medics already took Sunset away."
"That is a relief." Vice Principal Luna said. "It was a good thing everyone here came to help Sunset."
"I'm sorry that Applejack and I went to help instead of finishing the race, Principal Celestia." Rainbow said as she rubbed her neck.
"It's alright, Rainbow." Principal Celestia said. "The games will be postponed for now."
"What do you mean the games will be postpone?" Principal Cinch said as she made her way to the crowd. "Indigo Zap passed through the finish line. That would be considered an obvious win for Crystal Prep." The crowd glared at Crystal Prep's principal for her comment.
"Principal Cinch," Principal Celestia said sternly. "Friendship Games rules say that if a competitor gets injured during an event, then the games will be postponed. If you're not following this rule, then I'll have to report this to the school board." Principal Cinch was shocked to hear Principal Celestia's threat. Principal Cinch responded by straightening her jacket and leaving the crowd. Principal Celestia turned to the crowd. "I apologize for Principal Cinch's behavior. All of you can return home. As I said, the Friendship Games will be postponed for now." Everyone in the crowd agreed and cleared the field. Although there wasn't any victory on this day, at least someone was saved.
> Conclusion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days passed and school went on at CHS. Everyone made their way through the hallways. Spike walked along with the girls and Scales to their next class. Scales was still on his wheelchair, but it didn't stop him from coming to school. 
"I'm so glad that you're able to make it back to school, Scales." Twilight said to Spike's older brother.
"You and the other students who have walked by me. They would congratulate me and hope that I will recover soon." Scales said as he pushed the wheels on his wheelchair. 
"Which is why I should host your 'Welcome Back to School, Scales' party!" Pinkie said in excitement.
"Please don't," Scales begged. 
"Can't blame a girl for trying." Pinkie shrugged.
"Do you think that we'll start the Friendship Games again?" Rainbow said. "I really want to settle the score with Indigo Zap."
"It depends on what the principals will decide." Twilight said. All of the friends arrived to the main foyer where they spotted Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna talking to a person. Much to the friends' surprise, the person was Sunset Shimmer dressed in an orange shirt with a black, leather vest over it, a short, purple skirt, and a pair of tall, black boots.
"Is that Sunset?" Spike asked.
"What's she doing here?" Rainbow said as she glared at Sunset.
"We can ask Principal Celestia." Twilight suggested as she and her other friends made their way to the principals and Sunset. 
"Ah Twilight, I have some excellent news." Principal Celestia explained as she motioned to Sunset. "Sunset Shimmer will now be attending Canterlot High."
"What?!" Some of the friends said in shock.
"When I came back to Crystal Prep, Principal Cinch lectured me for costing Crystal Prep another victory because of my accident. So I decided to transfer to here since it would make Principal Cinch and those other Crystal Prep students peeved."
"Speaking of Crystal Prep," Vice Principal Luna chimed in. "we decided to no longer hold the Friendship Games with Crystal Prep."
"What?!" Rainbow said in shock.
"The purpose of the Friendship Games was for everyone at CHS and Crystal Prep to compete and form good bonds with each other. The school board have noticed that Crystal Prep has been lacking in good sportsmanship in recent years and the best decision was for Crystal Prep to be banned from competing in the Friendship Games." Principal Celestia explained. Rainbow couldn't help but cross her arms and grumble for not being able to go up against Indigo Zap again. 
"It's alright, Rainbow." Applejack said as she patted Rainbow's back. "Maybe you and Indigo Zap will meet again and settle your rivalry outside of the games."
"I hope so," Rainbow mumbled. Spike walked over to Sunset.
"I'm glad that you have recovered, Sunset." Spike said. "It will be great to have you here."
"I should thank you for helping me out when I crashed." Sunset replied. "Speaking of which, here's your reward, little hero." Sunset placed her hands on Spike's cheeks before she gave him a kiss on his lips.
"Eh?!" The girls and Scales said in shock as they just witness Sunset kissing Spike.
'Whoa,' Spike thought as his heart skipped a beat. His high-school life just got a lot more interesting.


THE END