> Slumber Party
>  by CasualFanDontJudge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Afraid of getting to see a few girls in their PJs, Greenie?" his short, Rainbow-haired friend teased as the group of eight walked down the sidewalk which lead to the road most of them lived on.

"Yeah, right. More like I'll never live it down if Garble and his crew get wind of this! I get enough crap from them as is just hanging out with you girls at school, and I'm not feeding that fire even more!" Spike let out in a huff as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and gazed down at the pavement beneath his feet.

The lanky teen let out a frustrated sigh. 

"Besides, why do you even want a guy at your slumber party?" 

Rainbow had begun to open her mouth for some more bantering but was interrupted by Twilight before she could continue. 

"Because you're our friend, Spike. It's not right if you get excluded from something we do together regularly."

"I concur! What would it say about us if we continually left out one of our friends just because he happened to be a man!" Spike perked up at Rarity's comments, his resolve starting to fade at the insistence of both his best friend and crush. 

Spike nervously rubbed the back of his head as the group neared Twilight's house, a place he knew well from all the times he had visited to hang out with Twilight. He could have done without some of the experiments involving his person, but they were a small price to pay for the accomodations he had been given by the entire family. 

"C'mon Spike, what else could you be doing that's better than hanging out with friends on a Friday afternoon! Reading comics?"

Spike regarded Sunset with a curious glance, somewhat surprised the leather-toting girl would join in on their badgering of him for his presence, as they were the least closest pair among their friend group.

The group arrived at Twilight's house. Spike looked at the building as he silently mulled over the idea of participating in their slumber party. He could tell they were waiting for his answer with the expectant glances being cast at him. 

"It'll be super duper awesome, Spike! We always have the most fun at our sleepovers! We'll eat pizza, play games, watch movies, egg Principle Celestia's house, plan a heist, jump off the house in our underwear, and even destroy that -"  Pinkie Pie was cut off by an exasperated groan from Twilight, who offered a sheepish look at the now slightly confused Spike. 

"We won't be doing those things - well, most of those things, but it's definitely going to be a fun time!" 

Spike gave her a slight grin, ready to give an answer until he felt a hand touch his shoulder, "It's okay if you don't want to stay with us, Spike. Do what you're comfortable with," Fluttershy offered support to her friend's agency, politely ignoring the irritated look Rainbow Dash was aiming in her direction, who seemed about ready to drag the young man into the house.

Spike offered his demur friend a smile, which she quickly turned away from to hide the redness of her cheeks, and he turned to Sunset to give his response. 

"You know what, Sunset? You're right. I don't have anything better going on for the weekend." The sounds of approval from his friends surrounded him. Spike let out a slight chuckle, "Besides, I'm not going to let that jerk or anyone else dictate where and when I hang out with my friends." Sure, it would probably hurt the old social credit if word got out that he was slumber partying it up, but he could deal with that. Just so long as they didn't try and do anything too girly to him. 

"That's the spirit, partner!" Spike jumped at the firm back slap he received from the blonde farm girl, and Sunset seconded her friend, "You won't regret it, Spike. Pinkie Pie is right, we're going to have lots of fun together." There was something off about the way Sunset emphasized "fun" but he didn't have much time to think about it before Dash grabbed ahold of him, "C'mon, let's go, Greenie!" Before he could protest, Rainbow Dash had dragged him into the house, hoping to prevent any second thoughts from her green haired friend about ditching them for comics or video games.

Spike could see the amused and excited looks of his friends as they walked in behind the duo, and he couldn't help but begin to feel a little excited himself! Hanging out with Rarity in such an intimate setting was amazing already, but it had been a while since everyone hung out together as a group outside the walls of Canterlot High. He missed that. 

Spike gave one last glance at the closed door, but his decision to stay had already been settled. He looked around Twilight's living room, idly wondering when the last time he had been here purely for fun instead of work - which admittedly were often combined with Twilight, but he couldn't remember. The boy temporarily broke from his inner monologue to find a spot on the couch with everyone else. 

Spike settled on a spot to the right of Applejack and leaned back into the sofa's soft embrace. He felt far more comfortable here at the Sparkle residence than in his own "home," if it could even be called that. 

Twilight and the others were talking about the activities they had planned for the night, but Spike paid more attention to them than their words. As his gaze jumped from girl to girl, he couldn't help another smile from tracing his face. He had certainly lucked out meeting them. It was because of his relationship with Twilight that he had come to know these six, and although he wouldn't have been keen to openly admit it, he was incredibly grateful for their friendship and willingness to include him in everything they did. 

His thoughts drifted to a certain magical dragon who bore his name and appearance - somewhat, apparently. That Spike, him in the other world, had been living with Twilight for his entire life. Other Spike was also pony Twilight's assistant, which sounded familiar to him. Spike tilted his head, wondering if it would be completely accurate to call himself his Twilight's assistant, because that sounded way too formal for what the relationship was. He helped her out with experiments and other work, sure, but it was more out of a sense of obligation than anything else. And it certainly wasn't a job. 

Did the other Spike feel similarly? What was their relationship like, exactly? What were Spike's relationships like with the other ponies that bore the likeness of his friends? Well, whatever the case, he'd probably not have his questions answered anytime soon. It had been a while since the other Twilight and her Spike had visited their world, and almost everything he knew about the pony world was through second hand knowledge. Maybe he could borrow that magic book Sunset carried around with her...

"-isn't that right, Spike?"

"Huh? Oh, right. They were talking about something."

"Uh...yeah?"

A chorus of giggles emerged from the crowd of seven, and Spike's face flushed a light red. 

Rainbow laughed. "He's probably already fantasizing about sexy pillow fights and our night clothes, right, Greenie?" Spike rolled his eyes, "I was thinking about what I'm going to change into." He looked at Twilight, "Sorry, what was it you were saying?"

Twilight flashed him an understanding look, "No, it's fine. Just talking about pizza orders. You don't have a favorite topping, right?" 

"Yeah, not really. Whatever is cool with me." 

Rarity walked over to Spike's side of the couch and sat on the armrest the boy was using, "You know, I'm sure Twilight's father would be happy to lend you a shirt for the night, darling." Spike uncomfortably shifted on the couch but didn't dare remove his arm from such close proximity to Rarity's bare leg. 

"Right." Twilight nodded. "They just left to go visit some relatives out of town, but he wouldn't mind if you borrowed some of his clothes, Spike." Spike silently agreed, Nightlight and Velvet had always been more than willing to help him out, but would they have approved of him staying over for a sleepover with their daughter? Maybe when they were still little kids, but it wasn't hard to imagine why they might have reservations with a teen boy such as himself sleeping with their equally teenaged daughter and friends.  "Guess that's why they felt so comfortable inviting me to stay the night."

Twilight volunteered to order their food, so she headed toward the kitchen to place their order. Spike couldn't help but steal a look at his friend as she walked away, not understanding where the urge to stare had even come from. The boy had to admit, Twilight was objectively pretty attractive, despite her nerdiness, and she maintained her cute librarian appareance well. "Cute librarian? That's a new one. Those glasses are pretty cute though." Before he could fully take in the implications of his analysis of Twilight's cuteness and what that said about him, the boy's introspection was cut short.

"Or you could just take your shirt off. It's not like we - or, uh, I would mind." Spike looked across the room at the source of the scandalous comment, and was met head-on by one Sunset Shimmer, currently splayed out on the carpeted floor with a mischievous look in her eyes. 

"Uh, I don't - I'm not, I can't do -" 

"Sunset! Quit it. Spike, don't listen to her." Twilight called out from the adjacent room, sounding agitated. Spike tried to find comfort in the words of his old friend, but he noticed the...eager expressions of the others? 

Rainbow licked her lips as she shamelessly ogled him. Fluttershy's face had gone completely red, and she hid behind her arms as Spike looked in her direction. Applejack gave him a glance that could best be described as predatory. Pinkie Pie was squinting at him, holding her hands up in the form of a finger camera, presumably trying to visualize the younger male without a shirt. Rarity cast down a contemplative look at his now rigid form on the couch. Sunset smirked.

Spike suddenly felt like buttoning up his blazer. 

"Is this how zoo animals feel?" 

"Don't - don't be ridiculous, Sunset," the boy choked out through his suddenly dried throat. 

"Oh, big deal." Her expression quickly shifted to one of amusement, "You're a guy, Spike. Isn't that what you do at home anyway when you're getting ready to sleep?"

"Sure. When I'm alone!" Spike crossed his arms, "I don't usually go around stripping my clothes off for just anyone, y'know. Hard to relate, I'm sure." 

Sunset flipped a middle finger at him, much to his obvious amusement. Even Fluttershy couldn't help a few snorts from escaping her as the group laughed at Sunset's expense.

"I bet Twilight's seen you take it off, Greenie." 

Spike's eyes narrowed at Dash, but the boy was quick to relax back into his seat, "I didn't take you to be the jealous type, Rainbow." 

Rainbow Dash sputtered where she lay, "No I'm not - you - where - I never said -" Her stammering tirade was mercifully ended by Fluttershy wrapping an arm around her best friend's shoulders. "It's okay to like boys, Dashie." 

Even Sunset had to join in on the laughter again as Dash deflated into herself.

"Since when did Rainbow Dash do that!" Rainbow glared at Pinkie as the peanut gallery laughed even harder, but the girl had gone back to sipping on a...milkshake before she could notice Rainbow's hostility. Dash shook her head at the sight, trying to remember where Pinkie Pie got a milkshake.

"Oh, you shoulda seen Spike at the lake, gals. He's a little thin, but still easy on the eyes." She side-eyed the boy to her right, "I've always liked my men on the delicate side." 

Nervous laughter emanated from Spike as he ran a hand through his green tuffs, "Don't be silly, Applejack. I've only been to the lake with Big Mac and Applebloom that one time, you weren't there." 

"That's what you think." The grin the farmgirl gave him sent shivers down his back.

"I bet he doesn't have any chest hair!" Pinkie once again broke from her milkshake to insert herself into the discussion, but this time she aimed a small portion of the dessert drink at her green friend's white undershirt. 

Pinkie slipped away from the ottoman she was sitting on and began crawling toward the ice cream covered boy a few feet away from her, "Oh, boy! Looks like you got some of my cream on you, Spike! Let me take your shirt off so I can clean it!" 

Spike began to fidget again; he could feel a cold sweat starting to break out. The "oohs" and "ahs" from the crowd didn't help much either. Fluttershy hid her face away again, but she was not so subtly peaking from behind her arms at the unfolding scene. 

Much to his appreciation, Rarity intervened by blocking Pinkie's path when she left the armrest to dap away the ice cream smudge with a handkerchief. "There we go," Rarity finished patting him dry, never breaking eye contact with the boy as she did so. She gave him a wink before turning back to the instigator, "And you can go back to your seat!" Pinkie pouted and rolled her way back to the milkshake, "You're no fun."

Rarity sat back down, but the slow and deliberate way she crossed her legs so close to him made his head hurt. "Spike is too much of a gentleman to ever willingly expose himself in front of us, isn't that right, Spikey?" 

Spike gulped. The attention being cast his way was bad enough, but the nickname always made him weak. He looked up at Rarity, "Y-yeah." 

To the boy's dismay, the girls let out some more giggles at his flustered behavior, but before the teasing could continue they were interrupted by Twilight walking back into the room to reclaim her position next to Applejack. Her unamused expression chilled the rambunctious crowd almost instantly. 

"Anyway." She spoke in an unusually...venomous tone. "The pizza should be here in about twenty minutes or so. We should get changed out of our school clothes already. Spike, after we're done with that, I'll find you something to wear. Sound good to you?" Her tone had softened as she addressed her childhood friend. 

"Sure thing." He watched as the group made their way upstairs until the last of them, Fluttershy, had disappeared from view. The little wink Sunset had given him on their way up didn't escape notice, nor the little smirks Rainbow and Applejack had thrown his way. Spike leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, already feeling the anxiety from earlier returning in full swing. The boy wiped away the layer of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead over the past few minutes and moved to get water from the Sparkle house's tap. 

Spike quickly downed the water he had helped himself to. "Wonder what's up with them? Hopefully, that's the end of that - whatever that was." This wasn't normal behavior for the group. He had been teased by most of them before, but never at this level of frequency and aggression. 

Whatever had gotten into them notwithstanding, Spike did not need seven lightly dressed, older girls teasing him for the entire night. No thanks. He did not care for being labeled as some pervert by his friends. As is, he had to deal with much grief from pretty much everyone in his life over the fact that he hung out with a group of girls, and the outrageous insinuations and comments he dealt with from his peers were bad enough. But that would be nothing compared to his closest friends thinking he was just some weirdo who hung around to hit on and gawk at them. He briefly wondered if other Spike had to deal with the same worries...

"No. That can't happen. I won't mess everything up because of some dumb hormones." Spike began to steel his nerves as he put the glass in the sink and looked over at the stairway. He heard a door shut, followed by the sound of footsteps and excited whispering approaching from the stairs. Spike rubbed his left temple to help ease his tension; the food would be here in a few minutes, so maybe that and some idle chit-chat would calm everyone down for the remainder of the night. 

He hoped so, but something told him he was in for a long night. The boy let out a sigh and fiddled with his bowtie, "Maybe I should just leave. Pretend that something just came up." Spike looked at his phone, several excuses already coming to mind.  He closed his eyes; no, that wouldn't do. Not after he already told them he would stay. Spike wasn't one to go back on his word. 

"Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine. I bet they got the teasing out of their systems." Spike went to meet them as the group entered the living room and...it was not even close to being out of their systems judging by their pajama choices. Spike stopped in his tracks and took in his increasingly precarious situation, "Yeah, it's going to be a long night." 
> Chapter 2
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Spike eyed the t-shirt and shorts Twilight had loaned out to him courtesy of Nightlight's closet. They were clean, comfortable and, to his surprise, suited his style well. The purple shirt hung loosely on the boy's thin frame despite the difference in height between him and Twilight's father. And the black shorts that cut off right below his knees made for a sensible finishing piece to the makeshift nightwear. 

As he stared into the mirror, alone in the upstairs restroom as he was, the boy halfheartedly lifted an arm to flex, "Lookin' good, Spike. Lookin' good..." His forced grin faded, his arm fell. The self motivational talk had rarely fallen flat before, but the surge in confidence he was expecting failed to materialize. He looked down at the faded purple shirt, remembering who it belonged to.

Spike's face slightly tensed at the thought of Twilight's dad, uncertainty taking hold of him, "I don't think he would approve of this." His expression fell even further, "And I'm wearing his clothes while doing it. Great." 

He was stuck in a no win situation. Spike knew how disappointed Twilight's parents would be in them if they found out about the boundary-crossing sleepover, but he also knew how disappointed his friends would be if he had ditched them to be alone for the weekend. Spike stared through the window to his left and sighed, "We're going to be fine. We'll play games, hang out, and have a lot of good, clean fun..." Memories from the past hour inspired doubt about that last hope, his face reddening at the thought of his friends' nightime apparel. 

"If they want to keep it clean." The boy shook his head, trying to shake the dangerous thoughts away. The nightwear they had chosen was not obscene, but it wasn't the ensemble of loose shirts and shorts he was expecting either. "So much leg..." He briefly shut his eyes, picturing the vibrant display of legs he had witnessed several minutes ago.

"Concentrate, Spike," He stared into the pools of green reflecting at him in the mirror, "so what if your friends are super freaking hot and like showing it? Keep it together, dude. You're not twelve anymore. You can handle a little bit of skin." Spike closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. The breath relaxed the young man's physical tension, but the confusion remained.

He opened his eyes once more, but couldn't bring himself to lift his head from staring at the marble sink beneath the mirror.  A frustrated groan escaped his lips; Spike didn't understand where any of this was coming from.  He ran a hand through his hair, "Why are they doing this?" Contrary to what some of his teachers may have said about him, Spike was not dumb. He understood plenty, including the social dynamics of teenagers - he was one, after all. He also had eyes, he knew what flirting was and when it was happening. 

Was this all a big game to his friends? Why would they go as far as they had with their flirtatious comments and attire if it was just a game? What else could they be doing if not for that? They weren't interested in him, not like that. He was younger than them; he wasn't as cool or talented as them and, most importantly, they had never expressed romantic interest in him before. This must be some sort of get-back at the teen, nothing else made sense. "Look but don't touch, I guess." 

And look he certainly did. He couldn't help it! Spike bit his lower lip as the details began to mentally flood in. The way Rainbow's red shorts clung to her toned thighs and glutes left little to the imagination. She made a show of adjusting her shorts with a tug of their waistline, getting them to rise even further up her legs in an obviously deliberate way. He tried to play it cool, but the satisfied expression he received in response from Dash told him she knew the effect her outfit was having on him. 

"What's the matter with you, Greenie? Cat got your tongue?" Rainbow laughed. In the moment, Spike remained speechless. His brain had short circuited and all he could feel was heat. It was like all the energy in his body had been zapped as he stood motionless in the living room.

"Not so clever now are we, huh?" Rainbow Dash let out, her eyes filled with mischief, ready to take revenge for the earlier comment directed at her by the currently immobile boy. "If you like my legs so much, why don't you come over here and give 'em a little rub and -" 

"Give it a break already, Rainbow Dash." Sunset interjected as she walked toward the boy, a teasing smile outlining her face as she grew closer. Spike took in the tantalizing midriff left exposed by her tight black tank top and, to his shame, wondered what it might feel like underneath his hands. Sunset dipped a finger beneath his chin, slowly lifting it to make eye contact with her friend, "My eyes are up here, Spike." Spike blinked, "I - I, yeah, I know." Sunset giggled, "But since you seem to be very interested in my abs, maybe you can take a closer look at them later, perhaps when everyone is asleep?" Spike's throat dried. He could feel the blood rush throughout his body, his body involuntarily reacting to the stimulation and closeness of the older girl. 

"It's really nothing so out of the ordinary, dear." A voice accompanied by a sweet smell of roses mixed with lavender approached from his left. A hand lightly gripped his bicep, "We just wanted to remain as comfortable as possible for the nightly festivities, isn't that right, Sunset?" Rarity and Sunset exchanged knowing glances, both nodding along. Spike felt like he was going to explode being between both of his scantily clad friends; the midriff in front of him and the bare legs to his left were the epitome of a rock and hard place.

Spike forced a laugh and scrambled for a reply, "Don't - don't mind me, I was...I was a little thrown off. I haven't seen you guys outside of your school clothes in forever!" The unconvincing response was met with another wordless communication between the two girls, both giggling to themselves as Spike took a few steps backward to make more breathing room for himself. 

"I'm going for a quick smoke break, tell me if the pizza gets here!" 

"Hold on a minute, Spike," Applejack halted his backpedaling by wrapping an arm around him, "Twilight's looking for your PJs, do you want to get all ashy and hot before putting 'em on?" Spike didn't care for the way Applejack squeezed him when she said "hot", but he quickly forgot about his discomfort upon realizing how close he was to the...surprisingly soft farmgirl. They remained in an awkwardly positioned side hug, their bodies pressed tightly against one another, which the blonde seemed intent on holding. She smirked as he took in her outfit, which consisted of a white sleeveless shirt with exceptionally short and tight blue shorts. "Her legs are like golden bars." 

She began to lead Spike to the couch, "Now why don't we take a seat and watch some TV before the food gets here." Spike reluctantly allowed her to guide them, "I gue-guess." Applejack shot Rarity a smug look, only to be met with an eyeroll and arm cross, while Sunset gave a small chuckle. The duo sat down in the same places they had been seated minutes ago, and he noticed the rest of the group follow in behind them. Mercifully, Applejack released him from her grip as they sat down, but they remained centimeters away from each other on the couch. "Goodbye, personal space." 

There Spike sat, rigid as ever. The TV had been turned on by Pinkie Pie, who had taken to sitting on the left armrest of the sofa he was on. The TV droned on as he looked at the stairway, "What's taking her so long?" Before he could remove himself from the couch to find Twilight, he nearly lept into the air as he was grasped by two hands from behind, but a quick turn around revealed the culprit to be Fluttershy. 

"Hey Fluttershy, whatcha doing?" He made a strong effort to sound as un-startled as he could, hoping to not upset his kind friend. 

"Oh, Spike. Sorry for not warning you before grabbing you like that!" She turned her head slightly and smiled, "I just noticed how tense you were. I thought you might like a back massage." The normally shy girl spoke with an unusual amount of confidence, even meeting his questioning gaze head on with her own hopeful expression. 

"That's...not strange at all. But I guess that wouldn't be so bad?" Spike deliberated for a few moments, and the others watched with curiosity, not sure what to make of Fluttershy's brazen proposal. Fluttershy began to noticeably wilt with every passing second, afraid her request was too forward for the boy, but her fears dissipated when he gave her a nod, "I...wouldn't mind. If you're still okay with it, that is!" Fluttershy enthusiastically nodded back and began working on his shoulders, happy to finally put her masseuse skills to the test with someone she cared about. 

Applejack quirked an eyebrow, mildly impressed at her friend's boldness. 

Although Rainbow Dash tinged with mirth, she felt similary impressed with Fluttershy's antics. She let out a wolf whistle, "Oh, man, I knew you were a total softie Spike, but not as soft as Fluttershy's hands, right?" 

"I'll say! Fluttershy's hands are like the softest hands in all of Canterlot High! She even gave me some of the caramel scented lotion she uses, it tastes great!" 

"You mean smells great, Pinkie?" Rarity hesitantly asked. 

"Nope!" 

Rarity sighed.

"Wow, Spike. Looks like you're really getting into it!" 

Spike barely registered Sunset's comment as Fluttershy continued massaging the knots out of his upper back. He didn't know when Fluttershy learned how to be a masseuse, but he was on Cloud 9 right now. "Her hands are so soft..." 

Fluttershy did her best to ignore the banter, concentrating on loosening up the boy's tense shoulders. The focus on the task kept her from fully realizing just how intimate her contact with the younger man was, which allowed her to properly tend to the massage like a professional.

"Well, considering that he's literally speechless, I'm going to go out on a limb and say he is definitely enjoying it." Sunset rested her head on her palm, silently observing the massage. 

"He almost looks like Winona..." Applejack was bewildered at the level of serenity Spike appeared to be in, the evident joy on his face being comparable to her family's dog in the middle of a vigorous belly scratching session. 

The massage was interrupted by a cough from the stairway, a frazzled but annoyed-looking Twilight stood at the base of the stairs, glaring at the couple who were fast to part.

"Spike, follow me." 

Without a word, Spike made for the stairway. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and trudged toward Twilight, refusing to meet the scowl she was boring into him with.

The mood of the room had dulled with Twilight's entrance, but as they ascended out of view, the chatter started again. 

"What's Twilight's problem?" Rainbow Dash openly wondered as she brought her hands behind her head as a makeshift pillow. 

"Oh, I hope she isn't mad at us," Fluttershy spoke from her spot atop the ottoman. 

"If there's anything she's mad about it's that you're getting handsy with her boy toy, Shy." Rainbow teased. 

Fluttershy buried her face in her palms, the realization of what she had done fully sinking in. 

Applejack glanced at where Spike had sat less than a minute ago, "Why would she care about that? She don't own him." 

"Haven't you noticed how agitated she's been since we ordered the food?" Sunset spoke to no one in particular as she absentmindedly twirled a strand of blonde hair with her index finger, "She's getting so worked up over some harmless...fun." The girl rubbed her chin, donning a look of serious contemplation for a few moments before a wicked grin took its place. 

"I think someone might have a crush." Sunset's grin sharpened, "And I think that someone might be a little jealous." 

Rarity was quick to respond, "Twilight? You think...Twilight has a crush on Spike? What makes you think that?" 

Sunset nearly face palmed at the question but restrained herself; she turned to the fashionista and explained, "Haven't you seen the way she gets when we're around Spike? It's like she's always on guard..." Sunset trailed off, remembering all the recent clingy behavior Twilight had started demonstrating around Spike in the past couple of months. 

"Don't you see the looks Twilight gives him when she doesn't think anyone's looking! It's adorable! Or adorkable. They're both so adorkable!" Pinkie Pie shouted, loudly agreeing with Sunset's assessment of their friend's psyche.

Applejack rubbed her left ear to ease the pain Pinkie's shrill input had brought on, "I don't know 'bout all that, guys. Isn't she dating Timber? Also, ow." With an apologetic smile, Pinkie extended an arm toward Applejack with a piece of chocolate on her palm. The farm girl gladly accepted the apology chocolate and mouthed a silent thanks to her friend. 

"I don't think so, darling. I haven't seen them together since at least the beginning of the school year!" 

Fluttershy spoke up, her face still partially buried in her palms, "I remember Twilight saying something about going on a break a few weeks ago at the animal shelter." 

"So I guess this means the resident egghead is lookin' for a rebound!" Rainbow Dash shot up, her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face, "I see how it is. I love Twilight, but she's had like ten years to make a move on Greenie, she's lost her chance. What say you, girls?" 

Everyone tentatively agreed, but Dash's triumphant attitude began to crumble as she looked around. She noticed the nodding yet somewhat fallen countenances of her friends. Rainbow lightly cringed and rubbed her shoulder, "I'm not saying we need to steal Spike away from her or anything! They're still best friends, right? He's still her favorite assistant, none of that changes if he gets a girlfriend!" 

Rarity leaned back into the beige loveseat, "I suppose so, but I do wonder when this began. Twilight has known him for most of their lives, but I've never seen her express any romantic interest in him before, well, today!" 

"Maybe she's always felt this way about him, but she's repressed her feelings out of a fear that Spike would never reciprocate them, so she's forced herself to think of him as nothing more than a good friend who she just so happens to invite to her house all the time and never fantasizes about, not even when she's alone at night NOT thinking about his smooth skin or perfect hair and especially not the super dorky but cute way he rubs his hair when he gets nervous!" 

The girls looked at Pinkie, their mouths agape at their pink friend, who had taken to eating another chocolate bar on the armrest as if nothing had happened.

Sunset was the first to recover from their collective shock, "Well, I guess that is pretty cute." 




"Twilight, I -" 

"Here." 

Spike looked at the clothes that had just been shoved into his hands, not understanding the hostility emanating from his old friend. 
Twilight had walked them to her parents' room in complete silence, and now she was staring at him with an unreadable look on her face. 

The atmosphere in the room could be cut with a knife, but the boy was unsure of how to proceed standing there with the clothes in his grasp. He looked around the room, hoping for the words to come to him, but Twilight beat him to the punch.

"It's a shirt and some shorts. It took me a while to find something that I knew would fit you. You can change in the bathroom."

"Thanks, Twilight. But what was that down there? You looked really mad at Fluttershy. And I can tell you're still upset at me." 

Twilight closed her eyes and hugged herself, trying to calm her nerves. She took a moment to collect herself, finding the right words to explain her behavior, "I..I don't like it when they mess with you like that. That's all. They should know better than that. I'm not mad at you, Spike. But please, don't indulge them too much. It's only going to hurt you if you do." Her measured reply was offset by an undertone of uncertainty, as if the girl had more to say but was unsure of how to say it. 

Spike closed the short gap between them in two strides, and he reached his arms around the petite girl to encompass her in a tight hug. Unbeknownst to him, Twilight's face burned a deep red at the close contact, and she fought the urge to sink completely into the taller's boy chest.
"I'm glad you're not upset with me, Twilight. But Fluttershy was just lending me a hand, nothing to worry about. Promise." He gently squeezed her, much to her unspoken joy, and continued, "The girls are just being a little crazy tonight. It's no big deal. I'm sure it's just the usual slumber party excitement but even stronger because they got a boy around!" He let go of her to hold her by the shoulders, looking directly at Twilight to address her, "I should go change. I'll be fine though."

Suddenly feeling alone and cold as she was seperated from Spike's body, Twilight hoped that the dissastisfaction she felt as he let go of her had not shown itself on her face.
A smell of ash, coconut shampoo, and aftershave lingered around Twilight that she struggled more than she would have like to admit to not openly sniff. As the boy turned to leave, she called out, "Spike, thanks again for coming. To be honest with you, I've missed our sleepovers a lot. I love the girls, but there was nothing like staying up all night watching the stars and reading those scary sci-fi books together." 

Spike smiled, "I miss them too." 

"I've been wanting to invite you back over for a stay, but I always figured you'd have better things to do than hanging out with a bunch of girls for the night." Twilight fiddled with her glasses, "All of us have felt really bad about excluding you from our sleep overs, they really insisted we offer an invitation to you this time."

"I'm glad my presence is wanted!" He paused, "Although, count me out if you're planning on painting each other's nails or doing your makeup 'cuz I'd rather watch one of Trixie's shows than do that." 

They let out a few chuckles, "Oh, please. As if we'd waste nail polish or makeup on you. No promises we won't make you paint our nails though, mister." 

Spike gave one last laugh before exiting the room, leaving Twilight to herself in the bedroom. She stared out the doorway, watching her friend as he made his way to the family restroom. There was more to say, but it would have to wait for later. Twilight moved to return to her friends downstairs, now with a newfound energy in her stride. The conversation and hug had a rejuvenating effect on her troubled spirit, which she could always count on finding with her number one assistant. 

As Twilight descended the stairs, her ears picked out hushed whispers and feint movements across her carpeted floor. Determined to not get worked up again, she paid them no mind. "Spike is right, everything is going to be fine."
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A comfortable atmosphere had settled around the eight friends as they ate their pizza. For maybe the first time since he had arrived, Spike felt perfectly at ease with himself. Food always had a calming effect on him, especially when it was enjoyed in the company of people he cared about. 

Everyone settled throughout the living room with their pizza, with Spike opting to sit cross-legged on the carpeted floor between Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Light conversation interspersed between bites, everyone being too preoccupied with satiating their hunger for anything more. 

Spike bit into his slice of pizza, only half listening to the discussion between Dash and Pinkie over whether guitars or drums were the superior instrument. His eyes were drawn to the red and yellow flares of light flickering through the windows as night began to take its claim over the skies.  The boy inclined his head toward a window to his right and observed the dancing swirls of color. 

As Spike watched the sunset, a sense of finality came with the impending nightfall. 

"I guess I am staying the night then," he put his plate aside to check his phone, "Seven ten." Spike grinned, feeling a surge of excitement rush through him at the prospect of getting to truly wind down with his friends. "School's been such a drag lately," he flinched; his grades were doing fine thanks to Twilight, but dealing with Garble and his band of idiots never failed to put him a bad mood. 

Before he could lose himself in thought over his school woes, Spike tuned back into the casual group conversation at the mention of a few familiar names.

"I swear, it's been forever since we've had a boy over for the night! It was, like, ages ago when Twilight and, uh, the other Spike visited us that one time to help take down the Dazzlings!" Pinkie spoke while waving around her slice of pizza, sitting cross-legged and next to Twilight on the couch.

Twilight ducked her head to narrowly avoid the unintentional pizza attack, and after wiping a small droplet of tomato sauce from her sleeve, offered a response, "Ages ago? Wasn't that just last year?" 

Rainbow Dash took a break from eating and placed her pizza on top of the box she had turned into a makeshift plate, "Whatever! What matters is how awesome Princess Twilight and, uh, Spike were to hang out with!" Twilight and Spike shared a nervous glance with one another, the mention of their Equestrian counterparts striking a decidedly strange feeling within them. 

"Not that you guys aren't awesome too!" Fluttershy spoke as she placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder, offering her friend a reassuring smile. 

Sunset cast a sultry gaze at the green haired boy, "I agree." Spike threw up a finger gun and winked at the girl; Sunset rolled her eyes and offered a chuckle in response. 

Rainbow Dash continued, "Honestly, not sure the other Spike counts considering the whole, um, fire breathing...magical dragon thing." She rubbed her chin, internally debating whether dragons from parallel universes counted as regular boys. 

"He sure was cute though!" Pinkie spat out as she chewed. 

Spike rubbed a hand through his hair, not sure what to make of Pinkie's comment. 

Applejack uncrossed her legs and leaned backward onto the ottoman she was sitting next to, "You could say that again, Pinkie! For bein' a dragon, he sure was a looker!" Applejack glanced at the boy to her left, "In fact, he reminds me of this other cute guy I know." 

Spike locked eyes with Applejack for a moment before sighing, unable to feel anything but the faintest hints of embarrassment at his friends' shameless behavior at this point. 

Rarity beamed with glee at the talk of their other world friends, "I must say, they were both so precious! Watching them fumble around trying to adjust to our world was so cute! And the way Spike got so defensive around Twilight was to die for!" 

"Yeah! I swear, it looked like he was going to knock ol' Flashy-boy's block off at the dance!" Rainbow Dash chuckled, not caring about the particles of food that had escaped her mouth and onto Sunset's lap. 

Sunset's brow twitched, but she ignored the urge to flick her athletic friend on the arm. She wiped the crumbs away and looked at Twilight, "Spike and Princess Twilight were pretty much connected at the hip while they were here! He was always following her around everywhere they went, they even slept together at the library!" 

Twilight and Spike went wide-eyed and their faces flushed bright red. "They - they did what?" Twilight stammered out, nearly choking on a slice of pepperoni at Sunset's comment. 

Fluttershy's cheeks similarly turned a bright red. "Oh my," the girl squeaked out under her breath. 

Rarity looked at the chuckling form of Sunset, a dry expression on her face as she clarified for her, "Oh, Twilight. Not like that! They merely shared a bed for the night." 

"I don't know about that, Rarity. They couldn't keep their hands off of each other! Who knows what they did in that library together while they were all alone!" Rainbow said, laughing as she joined in on the teasing of the duo. 

"Oh, knock it off, Dash. I'm sure Spike was a perfect gentleman with Twilight - if he's anything like our Spike!" Applejack patted her friend on the back to show her sincerity, happy to defend the boy's proven chivalry. 

Spike perked up at the kind gesture, but on the inside remained conflicted. A part of him enjoyed the attention being given to him by his friends, but the lewd comments were inspiring too many hazardous thoughts for his liking. 

"I - he, he wouldn't have done anything she didn't want to." He nodded in Twilight's direction, hoping to ease her undoubtedly disturbed nerves at the innuendo, but she refused to make eye contact with him. Her eyes stared everywhere but at him; her face still burned red. 

Spike spoke again, "I don't know what their deal is, but I'm sure they're just friends though. Right, Twilight?" 

This time the girl was quick to agree with Spike, "From everything, er, Twilight and I have spoken about, I don't remember anything about her and the other Spike being romantically involved." The redness in Twilight's face partially faded away but her words felt strained, as if she were in pain. 

"Oh, haven't those two known each other for, like, their entire lives? That's crazy! Is it true that Princess Twilight hatched Spike? Did she raise him? Did Twilight give him the name Spike?" Pinkie gasped, "Spike! Did Twilight name you?!?!?"

"No?" 

"Not everyone or everything that happened in Equestria has an equivalent counterpart here, Pinkie Pie." Sunset reached for another slice of pizza, "Besides, it's obvious that our Spike hasn't been pseudo-adopted by Twilight." She focused her attention on Spike once more, "He's also not a secretary or librarian's assistant." 

Spike chuckled, "Yeah, glad that's one thing that's different in our world." 

A frown emerged on Twilight's lips, "What's that supposed to mean? What's wrong with libraries?" 

Before the two could continue, Rainbow Dash interjected, "The way I see it, we're all basically the same in every world. That means dragon boy over here is the same guy who likes to cuddle up with his best friend under the sheets." 

"That's not very fair, Rainbow Dash. They slept together because they were alone in a new world." Fluttershy pointed out, ignoring the eye roll she received in response from Dash. 

"That doesn't explain why he got so mad about Flash putting the moves on her, does it?" Sunset thought out loud, a hint of amusement in her tone as she watched this world's version of the pair squirm. 

Rarity took a sip of water to wet her throat, "I, for one, think it's quite charming if he does fancy the Princess. It's a classic tale of childhood friends falling in love without even realizing it!" 

Applejack gave Rarity a skeptical look, "Didn't we just establish that she's like his mom?" 

"I'm not sure about that, Applejack. She hatched him, but it was Twilight's parents and Princess Celestia who raised him." 

Spike took in Sunset's words, "That...makes sense." He thought about the many ways Nightlight and Velvet had played a parental role in his life, "They are the closest thing I have to parents." 

"So they aren't creepy freaks, got it. Do you think dragons and ponies can even do it?" 

"RAINBOW DASH!" 

"How inappropiate." 

"Oh my..."

"I don't wanna think about it." 

"Interesting..."

"Oh, what would their babies look like! Can dragons and ponies even have babies! I wonder what they're called!" 

Spike brought a hand to cover his face, "Where did this all go wrong?"

As Rainbow Dash rolled around the floor in laughter, Twilight hoped the couch would open up to swallow her whole. She struggled to come up with words to calm the crowd of rowdy teens, "I...think that's enough about Princess Twilight and her love life." 

Fluttershy vigorously nodded, eager to move on from the pony dragon love talk. 

"Oh, I see. You wanna talk about your love life instead right, Twi?" A devious glint appeared in Rainbow's eyes as she channeled all of her attention to the usually easy to tease young woman.

To the group's surprise, Twilight appeared undisturbed at the focus being drawn to her romantic endeavors. She gave a dry laugh, "Nothing to say." 

"You and Timber split, eh?" Rainbow pressed. 

Twilight bobbed her head back and forth, carefully reflecting on what she wanted to say about her ex, "Something like that. He's cute and all, but we just weren't compatible." 

"That's it? Anything else you'd like to share with us, Twilight? 

Twilight and Sunset stared at each other; Twilight's neutral expression refused to budge in the face of Sunset's knowing smirk.

"There wouldn't have been another reason why you split? Nothing like another guy, right?" 

"I...ugh..." 

Twilight's expression began to crack; her anxiety steadily grew beneath the surface at the thought that her feelings for her friend and assistant had somehow escaped the confines of her mind. 

Pinkie's comically loud gasp didn't help. 

The five other girls looked back and forth at their friends, sweat building on their brows as they awaited the resolution to the now tense standoff. 

Completely shattering the charged atmosphere without even realizing it, Spike stood to get another drink. As he poured the grape flavored soda into his cup, the boy looked over at Twilight, "Y'know, I never really liked the guy. He's rubbed me the wrong way since the first time I met 'em at camp." He took a swig of the fizzy drink, "I don't think he liked me much either. Sorry, Twilight." 

Twilight flinched at her assistant's revelation, "You two didn't get along? Why didn't you tell me?"

Spike shrugged, "You looked happy with him. I didn't want to say anything 'cuz I didn't think it was worth hurting your relationship." 

The girl's curiosity flared, "He...he didn't say or do something to you that I, we, should know about, right, Spike?"

As Spike deliberated on what to say, he was hit by a sudden chill in the room. He looked around at the various expressions of his friends, which could only be described as nightmare inducing. The looks on their faces, including Pinkie Pie's and Fluttershy's, looked like they were ready to separate someone's head from their body. 

"If he hurt you, I swear I will remove that boy's pe-"

Spike's hands quickly shot up, "Hold on, Rarity! It's nothing like that, I swear!"

"Evidently, Spike, something happened between you two that left you with a bad impression of him." Twilight grit her teeth together, "What. Did. He. Do." 

Fluttershy bared her canines, a low growl escaped her throat, "Tell me where he hurt you, Spikey. I'll rip him to shreds, I promise you!" Spike's skin crawled at the sudden onset of Fluttershy's feral-like condition. 

"Sugarcube, you don't need to protect him." 

"What she said! I'm with Fluttershy on this one all the way. I'm going to break every bone in his body if he laid so much as a finger on you Greenie, so help me -" 

"It wasn't anything like that, honestly!" Spike rubbed the back of his neck as he attempted to calm his friends, "We just didn't get along." 

"Did that meanie say something to you? I'll make sure he's never allowed inside Sweet Snacks ever again!" 

"I don't think that's how that works, Pinkie." Sunset glanced at Spike, "Can you explain yourself better, Spike? Before we go have a little chat with Twilight's ex about the wonders of Equestrian magic." 

Seven faces met his own. They silently watched him, waiting for an explanation. 

"I, I - I'm not sure what to say. We didn't talk to each other much. He avoided me whenever I was around and Twilight wasn't in the room, and, well, Twilight knows that he didn't like hanging out with us when I was tagging along!" 

Twilight looked down at her feet, "That's true. I did think it was pretty weird that he never wanted to hang out with Spike and I together." She motioned to her friends, "He was fine hanging out with you guys though!" 

"Competition." 

Everyone looked at Sunset, who had taken to stuffing another bite of pizza into her mouth. 

"It's simple. Timber didn't mind hanging around us because he didn't view us as competition."

A realization dawned on the only male in the room, "Because you're girls." 

"Astute observation, Spike." She cut him off before he could verbalize a response and continued, "You're basically the only non-relative guy in Twilight's life. You're literally almost always around her. You two have known each other since you were grade schoolers! Honestly, if I were in his situation, I would feel a little uncomfortable with you in the picture too, Spike." 

Twilight grimaced, "I can see why my relationship with Spike would have made him feel insecure." 

Spike agreed with his friend, but he wasn't prepared to admit that the insecurity and jealousy may have been a two way street in this instance. The sight of the couple together had always, for reasons unclear to him, inspired a deep seated envy within the boy. 

"You always got Flash as second pick!"

Twilight couldn't prevent a laugh from escaping her lips at the mention of her counterpart's would-be suitor. A part of her sympathized with Flash's plight, but she felt almost nothing in a romantic sense for her classmate beyond appreciating his good looks. The girl's facial muscles twitched as she barely held a grin from breaking out. She concentrated on the laid out form of Rainbow Dash, who had taken to conspicuously laying the lower half of her legs across Spike's lap, "Flash is nice, but I barely know him! I understand he has history with Princess Twilight, but I've never really connected with him like that." 

Spike considered protesting the invasion of his personal space, but the way Dash's toned, bare legs felt against his own bare skin was intoxicating. "I'm hopeless." The thought of stroking Rainbow's surprisingly soft and smooth calves crossed his mind; he violently shook his head to brake the leg induced daze, "Dude, that's creepy." 

Rainbow Dash's legs were abruptly shoved from their resting position atop Spike's lap, "Sorry, Dash! I'm not the masseuse here!" 

Spike ducked a half hearted kick from his friend and blew her a raspberry for her troubles, but his thoughts turned to the blue haired senior. The two were not close friends by any means, but he always enjoyed chatting with Flash when the opportunity arose. He figured that there was something about their mutual connection to Twilight that allowed them to get one another, but their shared love for listening to and playing music made them kindred spirits as well. 

"Y'know, Flash isn't so bad. He's pretty cool when you get to know him, if I say so myself!" 

"Ha! I see CHS's Twilight Sparkle fan club has two members already." 

Twilight rolled her eyes, but Spike played along with Rainbow's jibe, "Sure we are! We meet every Monday at 5, you should see our Twilight themed shirts! They're limited edition." 

"If there are Twilight shirts, count me in!" Pinkie lept to a standing position on the couch in one swift motion, "I'll throw you guys the biggest Twilight themed celebration there ever was! We can even invite Twilight! And the other Twilight too!" 

The group descended into laughter at the absurd notion, but Spike had to admit that there was something oddly...alluring about the idea of hanging out with both Twilights at the same time. "I wonder if pony Twilight is rocking the same hot librarian look. Wait, what?" The boy's thoughts came to a halt, a cold sweat broke out as the world around him went silent. "What did I just say? Twilight, hot? Since when has Twilight been...hot?" 

He couldn't help his vision from drifting to the sitting girl who was engaged in another conversation with their friends, "Hot. Twilight is hot. Like Rarity hot." 

His face burned; no, his entire body burned. What did this mean? Why was the sight of Twilight causing him to feel this way? He watched as she brushed a few strands of hair from her face, "That should not have been that cute." Twilight was his friend, nothing more, right? Uncertainty clouded his mind. The sudden realization of his attraction to Twilight hit him like an impact from Big Mac's truck. The only sound he could hear was the intense rhythmic thumping of his heart; the boy sat motionless, alone in his thoughts. 

"-sound good, Spike?" 

Like a bucket of water had been poured on him, Spike was jolted awake by the words of..one of his friends. He frantically looked around to find the source of the noise but was only met with the confused stares of his friends.

"You okay, partner?" Applejack spoke from his left, a concerned tone evident in her voice.

"No - I mean, yes! Perfectly okay! Nothing to worry about. Pinkie promise!" Spike plastered an uncomfortably large smile on his face, hoping his friends wouldn't pry. The confused looks remained. 

Rainbow Dash coughed, "Okay then...We were just getting ready to play a game of Truth or Dare!" 

The girl may as well have been speaking to a vegetable with the state Spike was currently in, but he knew he had to respond before even more suspicion was aroused.

"Truth or Dare?" 

"Yup." 

"Like...the game?" 

Fluttershy scratched her head, "Is there...some other thing that could mean?" 

"I - no, I guess not."

"Let's get this party started everyone!" Rainbow gestured at Pinkie, "Explain the rules, please." 

Pinkie pulled a gold trimmed scroll scroll from the depths of her hair and allowed it to unravel across the floor; she carefully studied the rolled out text for several seconds, a look of heavy concentration impressed upon her visage. 

"Pinkie, there's nothing there." A confused Twilight spoke as she peeked at her friend's suddenly materialized scroll. 

"Oh, right. Wrong scroll! But that's okay cuz' the rules are super simple," she haphazardly tossed the scroll away and loudly cleared her throat, "Everyone gets a turn to ask someone of their choosing a question they have to answer truthfully or they can give a dare." Pinkie looked at Rainbow Dash, "Except all the dares have to be fun - not meant to hurt anyone, cough cough!" Rainbow Dash cowered under the looks of contempt being directed at her and made no attempt to defend herself. 

"And there you have it! Simple as that."

Applejack slapped Spike on the back, "Ya' ready, Spike?" 

Spike felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had played Truth or Dare before, but never with his friends - certainly, never with a bunch of hormone-pumped teenage girls! The flirtatiously charged atmosphere gave him cause for concern at what the game might have in store for them. His throat dried, "This is a bad idea." 
Despite his mental protestations, he offered a stiff nod to the farm girl's question. The slight pain that came with another back clap barely registered; his mind raced with countless thoughts about the ways the game could end poorly, and his palms clammed up. 

"Maybe I can go hang out in the bathroom for the next hour?" 

"Alrighty! Let's do this!" Pinkie spun the arrow attached to a wheel with all eight of their names on it; time slowed to a standstill as the arrow slowly approached the last name Spike wanted it to. "Oh no."

"Looks like you're the first one up, Sunset!" 

Spike knew his fate had been sealed the moment the arrow settled on Sunset. He closed his eyes, a gut instinct telling him he would be the girl's first target of the night. 

"So, Spike, I've been meaning to ask you about Prom..."
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

...who did you plan on asking to go with you this year?" 

"Okay, not as salacious of a question as I thought it would be. At least it gives me something else to think about..." 

Spike contemplated Sunset's question, unsure if he even had an answer to give. He'd put almost zero thought into this year's prom, much less who he'd eventually ask - if he even did ask anyone. He rubbed his chin, going through the list of date candidates that sprung to mind. 

"There's Trixie, I guess. I have to admit, she's always pretty fun to hang out with and lately she's been super insistent on us going out together more often." His thoughts turned to another friend, "Maybe Octavia? We've already been to a few formals together...or maybe Wallflower?" He remembered her confession to him in art class about her hopes of getting to properly enjoy a school dance with  someone else's company. 

"Earth to Spike! Plan on answering anytime soon?" An agitated sounding Sunset spoke, shifting his attention back to the real world.

Spike looked at the girl and nearly did a double take, her usually confident demeanor appearing to crack as she chewed her lip and twirled a strand of hair. Despite his surprise at the uncharacteristic behavior, he couldn't help but notice the hint of a hopeful expression behind her uneasy body language. 

The boy raised his hands in a surrendering gesture, "Give me a sec, Sunset. Hadn't really thought about prom dates till now." Sunset's mouth twitched, her expression turning to one of frustration at the boy's response, but no words escaped her. 

Before he could go back to thinking about potential prom dates, he noticed the quietness that had enveloped the entire room. Although not all of his friends were staring directly at him, all of them had gone silent where they were.

Fluttershy stared at a ceiling corner with an intensity that confused him. Twilight went back and forth between staring at her feet and at him. Rainbow Dash looked at him with a blank gaze. Applejack tilted her head in his direction but refused to make eye contact with the boy. Pinkie Pie leaned forward, still sitting cross-legged, and squinted at him. Rarity met him with a smirk that sent a small shiver down his spine. 

Spike thought it over for a few more moments before breaking the suspense, "I dunno, Sunset. I'm not sure I wanna go. Maybe if someone asks me, I'll consider it."

The tension in the room dissolved almost immediately with the boy's words. Sunset sighed as her body began to relax back into her seat, "I see. You should go though! It'll be fun, especially if you're with the right person." 

Spike raised an eyebrow at the statement, "Real subtle, Sunset. She can't be serious, right?" He cleared his throat, "Is it my turn now or what?" 

"Sure is, Greenie. Do your worst." He stared at the Rainbow haired girl, the thought of daring her to be silent for the rest of the night crossing his mind. "Nah, that'd be too mean. Besides, I got a better idea." Spike rubbed his left shoulder and turned to face Fluttershy, "Hey, Fluttershy, I was wondering where you learned how to give massages. You were...really good at it." 

The unmistakable sound of palm meeting  forehead resounded throughout the room, "Boring." Rainbow Dash moved to lie down, pretending to sleep as she loudly simulated snoring. 

Fluttershy ignored her friend and gave the boy a sheepish smile, a dusting of red highlighted her cheeks as she addressed him, "Thank - thank you. I just watched a lot of videos online and stuff." 

"It was awesome, your hands are super soft!"

"Oh - thank you, Spike. I -

"Cut!" Rainbow Dash threw an arm into the air, frustration overcoming her,  "From now on, if you were given a truth, you need to give a dare!" 

"So impatient, Rainbow Dash. How unbecoming of you!"

Rainbow Dash glared at the fashionista across from her, "Whatever, Rarity. I'm trying to have some fun here, not play 20 questions all night!"

Applejack nodded, "I have to agree with Rainbow on this one." 

Rarity rolled her eyes, but made no further protest at the rule adjustment. 

Twilight similarly agreed, "It'll make the game more interesting, right?" She glanced at the girl to her right, "Are you fine with that, Fluttershy?"

"I think so...but give me a minute to think of one." Her brow furrowed as she thought of a suitable dare, "Twilight, I dare you...to remove your ponytail." A satisfied grin found its way onto Fluttershy's face as Twilight giggled and Rainbow Dash let out another groan. 

Twilight slid the ponytail band off her hair and onto her wrist, more than happy to complete Fluttershy's dare without an ounce of hesitation. Her eyes scanned the crowd as she decided on who would make for the best target. She briefly considered everyone, but her gaze settled on the seated form of Sunset Shimmer. 

Sunset nervously shifted under Twilight's mischievous eye, knowing full well how vindictive her friend could be under the right circumstances.

"Sunset, how about explaining, for everyone, your choice of attire for the night?" 

The question was directed at Sunset, but Twilight understood the impact it would have on the entire room. She had known about her friends' plan, orchestrated by Sunset, to entice her assistant by appealing to his baser desires with their bodies. An informal contest for Spike's affection had been proposed by Rainbow Dash weeks ago - a contest she refused to take part in, at least, not directly. Besides the fact that they were treating Spike more as an object to be won as opposed to a person with emotions and desires, the boy was hers. He was her rock, her ever-faithful companion. None of them knew Spike the way she did, they were practically already dating with how often they were in each other's presence!

She could grant the legitimacy of her friends' feelings for their mutual love interest - without knowing the particulars, she knew them well enough to know that none of them were so shallow as to pursue their junior merely for his boyish good looks. But it was inconceivable that any of them felt the same level of depth in love and devotion for Spike as she did, how could they? Their friends would have to deal with it. Now it was only a matter of finding an opportune moment to reveal her feelings to her old friend - feelings which she suspected were partially reciprocated. The little looks he would give her, the way he would insist on walking her home every time they stayed out late, it all betrayed that faux aloof attitude of his. 

Sunset and the others fretted about; nervous glances were shared and collars were tugged while Twilight reveled in their panic. Their short sightedness in choosing to play Truth or Dare had been to her gain.

The red-headed girl rubbed her neck, mumbling something under her breath. 

"Come again, Sunset?' Twilight spoke, her voice tinged with smugness. 

Sunset glared at her, not appreciating the invisible smirk on Twilight's face, but resigned herself to answering the question. 

"I just thought someone here might appreciate it," she paused, staring directly at the self-satisfied provocateur, before turning toward the young man in question. 

"And from the looks of it, I think he does." Sunset spoke, purposely stretching backward to accentuate her already exposed midriff even further, as Spike reflexively stole a glance at her figure. 

Confusion clouded Spike's thoughts as he took in the implications of Sunset's revelation. The admission that her outfit had been deliberately chosen to garner his attention answered a few of his questions while inspiring even more about the girl's motivations. The boy gave the group another once over, his suspicions growing at the fact that their outfits were no more or less revealing than Sunset's. "I wonder..." 

"Anything else you'd like add to that, Sunset?" Twilight pried, seeking to expose the bothersome little half-truth for the sake of her green haired friend. 

"She answered the question already, darling." 

Twilight and Rarity momentarily locked eyes. The former Crystal Prep student searched for a response, but she knew that the question had been answered on a technicality. The smug fashionista grinned as Twilight worldlessly conceded the point with a bow of the head.

"Movin' on, then! Sunset, you're up again! But from now on, you can't pick someone who's already gone unless everyone's had a turn. When that happens, we reset! It'll be like a round system."

"Good idea, Dash!" Rainbow Dash leaped in panic as the resident party master appeared behind her, causing a few giggles to emanate from the crowd. The girl rolled her eyes at the scene, but she couldn't resist releasing a few of her own chuckles as Pinkie lightly prodded her side.  

The group calmed down, but a devilish idea had implanted itself into the mind of Sunset Shimmer. She still had one more turn before the new rule went into effect, something she was absolutely going to take advantage of. A smirk threatened to betray her intentions, but the girl willed it down. The redhead spoke, a fake innocence lacing her every word, "Well, since I still can, I feel like it's only fair if I return the favor. Right, Twilight?"

Twilight began to sweat, not looking forward to what was in store for her. Everyone waited with bated breath as Sunset gazed at her nails and hummed a short tune to herself. The nondescript expression on her face kept the entire room on edge. 

"I was thinking..." Sunset broke the silence, the corners of her lips beginning to curve upward, "Wouldn't you prefer to sit on Spike's lap for the rest of the game? It looks a lot more comfortable than that old cushion you're sitting on." 

Twilight's eyes widened; a breath caught in her throat. Gasps echoed around her. Spike visibly wobbled in shock at the risque dare. The color drained from the boy's face as he imagined Twilight's shorter frame pressed so closely onto his. 

This is not what I need right now...

"No- No, it's okay- I'm fine- I..." the girl managed to choke out as her eyes wildly darted around the room. 

"Are you backing out of the dare, Twilight?" 

"No! I mean, yes. No. Yes...no!?" 

Rainbow Dash shook her head, trying to ease the Sunset induced shock out of her system. "You gotta..." she trailed off as she addressed Twilight, unsure of how she felt about the prospect of Twilight's backside and Spike's lap making each other's acquaintance. 

"Complete the dare, it's tha' rules." Applejack spoke as she stoically assessed the boy to her right, her eyes drawn to his soon-to-be sat upon lap. No off facial twitches or vocal inflections betrayed the farm girl's feelings on the matter, which couldn't have contrasted even more sharply with her friends' attitude toward the whole ordeal. On either side of Twilight, the reactions displayed exactly what her friends thought about her soon-to-be precarious position. Fluttershy had grown tense, but an unmistakable look of disappointment etched itself onto her face as she yearnedly looked at their shared love interest, while Pinkie jittered with barely contained excitement to her right. 

"You- you don't have to, Twilight." Spike forced out, hoping to avoid the guaranteed awkwardness the dare would bring if fulfilled. The girl sat in silence, staring at her feet as she contemplated the dare. Redness painted her cheeks, but no refusals were forthcoming. Spike couldn't help but take in his friend's soft, feminine form and how it would feel against him as stray thoughts flooded his head. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad?" 

"Unless, you want to..." Spike wanted to slap himself as the words left his mouth, but a jolt of excitement coursed its way through his body as the girl slowly nodded an affirmation in his direction. The teen involuntarily shuddered; self-loathing and arousal flowed through him in equal part.  Spike desperately wanted to find the will to refuse his part in the dare, but as Twilight stood to move his way, he couldn't even bring himself to offer a token veto anymore. He grasped the carpeted floor, hoping he could at least keep certain bodily reactions under control at the quickly approaching...stimulation. 

"Very gentlemanly of you, Spike." Sunset laughed, "But I don't think Twilight minds." 

Twilight slowly walked toward her young assistant. Spike could only stare at her bare feet as she crossed the distance between them in a matter of seconds. Twilight stood before him, tugging at the hem of her navy blue tank top. He tentatively lifted his head to face her, "You sure about this, Twilight?" The pair met each other's gaze, both feeling a tension unlike anything they had ever experienced with one another before. Twilight gave a slight nod, "It's...just a dare, Spike. Besides, you've already sat in my lap more than a few times. It'll be like the old days." 

Spike would have otherwise laughed at the fond memories he had of all the times Velvet and Nightlight crammed him into their family car for an outing, but he could barely think of anything other than the way Twilight's black shorts hugged her bottom. He gave his friend a thumbs up, still not fully believing what was about to happen. 

Twilight lowered herself onto her knees, coming face to face with the taller boy. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, the friends exchanged smiles with one another. Twilight spoke, "There's only one way this is going to work with us sitting on the ground..." Spike watched the girl knee-walk toward him, before elevating herself to straddle his center. Her breath tickled his neck as she settled into him, and the boy hissed as Twilight eased her body weight onto him. 

Spike tensed, unsure of how to respond to the contact; his body couldn't ignore the soft, snug feel of Twilight's bottom against his core. His arms briefly flailed around, but he forced them to remain glued to his sides. Twilight rested her arms on Spike's shoulders, her face burning with color at the intimate positioning. From the heat coming off of her assistant's body, she could tell he was feeling similarly. 

Twilight leaned her head back a few inches to go nose to nose with Spike, "It's only natural your body reacts in certain ways to this kind of touch. Don't think you're weird for...y'know." Spike's eyes closed, but he forced a quick nod in acknowledgment of Twilight's coolness with the situation. Twilight smiled, "Maybe you'd be more comfortable if you wrapped your arms around my waist..." 

Sunset coughed. 

Twilight, to the best of her limited ability, turned her head to meet Sunset and the others. Naturally, their reactions varied. Sunset looked vaguely amused. Rainbow Dash could only stare in shock. A perverse grin found its way on Pinkie Pie's face. Fluttershy bit her lip in envy. Applejack remained stoic. Rarity's face flashed through several different emotions within the span of a few seconds, but she watched on with interest.

"It's-it's my turn again. I..." Twilight slightly adjusted her posture, only earning another hiss from the boy she was straddling. "Sorry! I, I...choose you, Pinkie Pie."

"Pinkie Pie!" 

The group stared at the cury-haired girl in confusion, not understanding the girl's repetition of her own name. Twilight shook her head, "I dare you to not eat any desserts for the next hour." 

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Ouch." 

"Such cruelty, Twilight. Although I suppose it could have been the entire night?" Rarity looked at Twilight, a devilish glint in her eyes as Pinkie began to frantically rock herself back and forth on the couch.

Fluttershy rubbed her frantic friend on the back to soothe her, "Wait, wasn't Twilight supposed to ask a truth?" 

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin, "Hmm...rule suspended. This is too good to pass on." 

Pinkie stopped, one of her hands grabbing her chest, the other gripping the couch, before bellowing, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" 

Twilight laughed at Pinkie's over-dramatic outburst, but the slight gyrations that came with her laughter caused the boy she was sitting on to start shaking. 

"This shouldn't feel as good as it does..."

"Well, if I can't eat sweets for the next hour, I'm not going to be the only one who suffers! Rainbow Dash, you can't make fun of anyone for the rest of the night!" 

Rainbow Dash coughed out a laugh, again rolling her eyes. 

"Whatever...softies."

"Rainbow!" 

"Sorry, sorry; I'll play nice." 

The athlete looked around the room, trying to pick out the remaining candidates for her turn. Her eyes flickered between Rarity and Applejack, the last pair still available for the round. As tempted as she was to dare Applejack to run a lap around Twilight's neighborhood, she couldn't resist poking at the fashionista a bit. She grinned, "Hey Rarity, I dare you to give me twenty push-ups." 

Rarity recoiled at the dare, but begrudgingly made her way into position for the exercise. She looked up at Rainbow Dash, "Do they-"

"Real push-ups, yes."

Rarity groaned, already dreading the inevitable push up induced perspiration. 

"Sooner you get the started, the sooner you finish, Rares'." 

Resigned to her fate, Rarity began the mini-workout. To the mild surprise of everyone else, the push-ups were not overly difficult for the amateur fashion designer to get through. They were not the cleanest form Rainbow Dash had ever seen, and the girl began to noticeably struggle after the fifteenth one, but she gritted the last five out.

Rainbow Dash clapped as Rarity wiped some sweat off her forehead, "Great job Rarity! You're not as noodle armed as I thought you were!" 

"Oh, please. You don't maintain this figure without the occasional workout!" 

"And what a figure it is," Spike internally mused, but as he felt another weight shift from Twilight, he had to confess that Rarity had plenty of competition. He was starting to really enjoy the feel of Twilight's body wrapped around his; the girl felt so soft and the way she fit onto him just felt right. He felt the call to wrap his arms around her waist, but that was a line he wasn't ready to cross - it was too intimate, even if she was already clinging onto him like a second skin. 

"Very well then, it seems like you're the last pick, Applejack." 

The girl in question grunted, casually leaning back to await whatever Rarity had in store for her. 

Rarity studied the girl; Applejack's legendary honesty would surely need to be taken advantage of, but how so? More than a few revealing questions came to mind, but there was one that would certainly make her squirm. 

She smiled, "Applejack, I'm sure a girl as lovely as you must be constantly dealing with suitors of the romantic persuasion, but are there any that have caught your eye? What about that one boy you're always talking about? Who is he again? You said he was cute, a little on the tall side; not to mention, brave, loyal to a fault, and has a delightfully adorable stutter when nervous."

A few snickers echoed throughout the room; Applejack's crush on the junior had been well known for sometime - she barely bothered to hide it, even in front of the boy himself. 

Applejack thought of a way out, but outside of lying to her friends - a lie they would all instantly detect - there was no way out. She cursed her honesty and lack of emotional intelligence, but with some trepidation began to face the music. 

"There's one guy..."

Rainbow Dash leaned in, a smug look in her eyes, "And?" 

Spike watched on, interested in finding out who the mystery guy that captured Applejack's attention was.

Applejack balled her fists, her stoic resolve finally cracking. She looked down at her knees, finding the courage to push through it. 

"Oh, darn it. It's Spike. I have a little crush on Spike! There, you harpies happy yet?" 

"A what!?" 

Spike and Applejack locked eyes, their faces sharing a mutual shade of red. Applejack waved her arms around, "I, uh, think you're pretty cute, Spike. And, uh, the way you're always helping us out is really, um, sweet and kind of you. And, uh..."

"Spike and Applejack sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G in a tree!" Pinkie Pie shouted at the top of her lungs, enjoying the chaotic energy of the scene before her. 

"Aw, man, Twilight - you're gonna need to find yourself a new seat 'cuz Greenie's got a new squeeze!" Rainbow Dash teased, similarly reveling in the chaos. 

Spike was confused. Mentally and physically. He was confused at the way Twilight made him felt, sure, and his body was more than a little confused - among other things - at their physical contact. But he was just as, if not moreso, confused at the revelation that he was Applejack's mystery guy. Him? The scrawny, orphan kid who liked to smoke and read comics in his free time that had no amazing talents or abilities to speak of. How? 

"Me? She likes me? Like that?" The boy was on the verge of hyperventilating, "She's so much cooler than me, she's literally a superhero! And she wants to be, like, my girlfriend?" Sheer, unadultered happiness ran through his veins, "Applejack wants to be my girlfriend! But what about Rarity?" His thoughts darkened, "What about...Twilight? I...like her too." He turned his head to the side and stared at his oldest friend; yes, it was true, he liked Twilight as more than a friend. He had decided as much as he grew accustomed to her straddling his lap, a feeling he could and wanted to get used to. It made sense; the jealousy, the stray looks - what wasn't to like about Twilight? She was gorgeous, intelligent, and she had been with him threw everything. 

Spike's face darkened more, "I guess it doesn't matter. Applejack likes me. I should...try and do something about that. She doesn't deserve anything less." 

Applejack stared at the boy with concern, not enjoying the frown that materialized  on the boy's face at the news of her confession. 

"Spike? You...okay?" 

The boy's face instantly perked up, "Yeah, of course. I...think it's cool you think of me like that. We can talk about it later, I guess?" 

Applejack, now relieved, offered her friend a grin. A sense of hope bubbled up within her. The finish line was so close she could almost reach out to grab it.  Twilight was wrong; she loved Spike just as much as anyone else. He was so brave, almost dangerously so, and he was always willing to lend her or anyone in need a helping hand. She admired his sense of honor and loyalty, something lacking among many of her male peers. And he was pretty easy on the eyes...

Twilight's mind clouded with anger and frustration. She was not a fan of how things were playing out. She was so close, but remained so far from her goal. There she sat, literally pressed up against him like they were already a couple, but Applejack threatened to ruin everything. She needed to act soon, but the ideas escaped her. She shook her head, trying to calm her mind. Spike was hers.

As Pinkie moved to respin the wheel with all their names on it for the next round, Sunset leaned onto her side, cooly taking in everything. Things were not going precisely as planned, but she was glad Rarity had helped speed things along. The way Twilight was pouting was just adorable. And Applejack's nervous excitement was incredibly heartwarming. 

Yes, her plan was coming along nicely. No one was losing on her watch. Twilight wouldn't have to suffer for too much longer, just so long as everyone took to her resolution. She looked at her junior, the source of all this hormone fueled angst, and lightly chuckled. Yeah, he was worth it. After all of this was over, Spike was going to be eternally grateful to her - a gratitude she was sure he could find many ways of showing.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So, Greenie, why have you refused all of our invitations to jam out with us?" 

Spike ran a hand through his hair, trying to find a suitable answer to Rainbow Dash's probing question. Truth be told, he wasn't much of a fan of the type of music the Rainbooms typically played. Metal was more his style, and he'd even grown to appreciate orchestral music through his on and off again piano lessons, but girly pop was definitely not a regular feature on any of his playlists. He offered them a sheepish chuckle, "You girls are super great already! I would only bring you down if I played with you." 

More than a few skeptical glances were thrown his way, but he took solace in the fact that his answer had only been a half-truth. It was no lie that Spike felt a certain inadequacy when it came to his own musical abilities, especially compared to the literally magical skills of his friends. He was a self taught amateur when it came to the drums, and his piano playing skills were unrefined at best due to inconsistent practice. 

"I'm sure Octavia wouldn't mind helping with that though..." He thought, remembering how they met after school in the orchestra room. After the seven, she was one of his closest friends at CHS, right alongside Trixie and a few others. 

"Yeah, right, Greenie. I've heard you play the drums at school before; you're not half bad!" Rainbow Dash offered him a teasing grin, "It's okay if you just don't want to rock out with a bunch of girls; we're probably too cool for you anyway!" 

Twilight lightly squeezed the boy's shoulder, "You play beautifully on the piano, Spike. You're more than on par with any of us music-wise." 

Fluttershy nodded her head, "I agree; you're a natural with the keyboard, Spike!" The others vocalized their agreements with her assesment of the boy's piano playing skills, and his ego began to swell ever so slightly with the praise.

Spike rubbed the back of his neck, "Aw, thanks, guys." He slightly turned his head to meet Twilight's, "I try." But try as hard as he liked, he was unable to repress another blush from forming as he met Twilight's gaze. It didn't matter how long they had been like this at this point, her touch was like electricity. She returned with a bashful smile, also fielding more redness in her cheeks.

"Isn't it your turn now, Spike?" Applejack interjected, a slight edge in her tone.

"Right, yeah!" Spike noticed the uneasiness emanating from the farm girl; the predicament he was in was not lost on him despite the momentary diversion of thought. He really liked Applejack and the girl currently sitting on his lap - not to mention, Rarity - but his options were limited. "Just don't make it weird, dude." 

He looked around the room, trying to find something in the faces of his friends that would inspire his next move. Spike scratched his chin, barely noticing how tense Twilight felt against him; his thoughts drifted to the red and yellow haired girl sitting opposite of him on the carpet.

His mind went back to her cryptic remarks from earlier; the motivation behind her attire only served to deepen the mystery of the group's behavior toward him this night. 

"Is this a Pandora's box worth opening?" 

He coughed, "Say, Sunset. About Twilight's question from earlier - what was is it you said again? How you wore those clothes for...uh, me, I guess." Some of the color in the girl's face drained away as the adrenaline began rushing through her. The periphery of her vision blurred; her eyes locked onto the green haired boy as his mind grasped for a way to extract the truth from her. 
Spike returned a similarly focused gaze at her, "But...why? Why did you choose to wear, uh, that stuff for me?" The boy closed his eyes, finding the nerve to continue as the silence of the room inveloped him, "You said I appreciated it - I do. I think you - I think all of you are, uh, very...pretty. Y-you didn't need to dress up like this for me to notice that. Anyone with a working set of eyes could see how gorgeous you all are from a mile away." A few of the girls nervously shifted, others remained still, but all began to noticeably warm in the face as the boy continued, "I...I doubt you're doing this for my validation; it's no secret that, like, all of the guys at school would kill to score with you. So, why? Why invite me to this sleep over? The flirting? The touching? I just...I just want to know why." The boy's face tensed as he concluded his barrage of questions, but a sense of peace began to radiate through him. For better or worse, at least he would know the truth.

The silence remained. The world around the eight may as well have faded away into hazy realm of nonexistence, as no one could comprehend anything but the bare sensations of the room around them. No one wanted to break the silence; really, no one - least of all, Sunset - wanted to be the one to destroy the status quo. For all her planning, this was where the rubber met the road; so much potential for both joy and, to her sudden realization, destruction lay before her. 

Twilight turned her head toward Sunset, her glare screaming at Sunset to tell the truth, as it was coming out one way or another regardless of it if was on her terms or not. 

Sunset cast her gaze at the ground, a sense of resignation overcoming her. 

"I...Spike, we need to talk. All of us." 

Spike silently quirked an eyebrow at the girl, waiting for her to continue. 

Sunset audibly swallowed, "Listen, we - I, I did this because I wanted you to notice me, Spike. You're right, if I just wanted validation, I could find that with Flash or most of the other guys at Canterlot High, but that's not what this is about. I wanted you to notice me because I want you." Despite the emotionally charged atmosphere, she laughed, "It's a bit crude, but you can be a little dense, man. I wanted to make the signals as obvious as possible." A smile began to form on her lips, "That's about it, Spike. I really, really like you and I wanted you to notice that. I...can let the others speak for themselves. But, hey, it's fine if you don't reciprocate my feelings - I just want you to be happy, if that's with Applejack or some other girl - then you have my support." 

Time once more paused for Spike as his head simultaneously processed dozens of thoughts. In the haze, he was coming to realize that, on some level, Sunset's confession had been less of a revelation and more of a clarification of something he knew to be true already. He steadied himself, "I...wow. I don't know what to say to that, Sunset. You're awesome and you're super pretty and stuff! I-I think it would be cool if we started dating, I just don't..."

"It's okay, Spike. You don't need to say anything, not yet. This is a lot to take in. But, I think, in the interest of being open and honest about everything, I need to get something off my chest as well." Spike slowly turned to look at the girl currently pressed againt him, dreading what else might lay in store for him.

Twilight closed her eyes, "Sunset...Sunset isn't the only person with feelings for you. There's Applejack, obviously. But...I love you, Spike. More than a friend." She wanted to say more, but she stopped to wait for a response. When none was forthcoming from the boy she was straddling, she continued, "I don't know when this this came about exactly, Spike, but I do know that you're the most important man in my life besides my father and Shining Armor; you're easily one of the most loyal, beautiful people I know and I just...you just make me weak, Spike." 

Spike went numb. "Probably could have figured that one out, looking back at things." He slowly inhaled, "Y-yeah, me too, Twilight. You're..." He trailed off, lost in her eyes. "You're really something special, Twilight." 

"I guess if this is confession time, I-I got a few things to say too." All eyes focused on the rainbow-haired athelete who had taken to staring at the white draw strings attached to her shorts. "You're really cool, Spike. You're kind of a dork, but you're the cutest, coolest dork I know. I've never met a guy who's known me for as long as you have who actually respects me enough to not just treat me like another one of the guys. I...like that you can keep up with me, or at least try to, no matter what. But you make me feel...feel like a girl. What did Twilight say, you made her feel weak? Yeah, me too, Greenie." She finished, a note of her usual triumphant attitude returning as she met Spike with a steely gaze. 

Twilight sighed, knowing the avalanche had been started and there was nothing she could do about it. Her fate was in the hands of her assistant, and she would have to live with whatever he decided was best for him. 

Before Spike could acknowledge Dash's confession, another voice chimed in, "Y'know, it's kinda funny. I've always thought you were a cutie, Spike - ever since I met the other you." Fluttershy and Rarity silently nodded in agreement with their pink haired friend. "But since I've gotten to know you, you're one of the sweetest people I've ever met. I can always count on you to help me out, whether it's with baking or pranks or just life stuff, y'know? I don't know what this means to you, Spike, but you would make the most awesomest, amazingist boyfriend in the whole, wide world!"

Spike looked back and forth between the pair, struggling to find the right words to answer them, "Gosh, I'm flattered, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash. I think any guy would be lucky to call you their girlfriends." The boy was laboring to make sense of everything he was hearing, but none of it was adding up. This was either the cruelest prank his friends had ever played on him, or this was the longest and most vivid dream of his life. 

"Oh, well, I suppose it's my turn. You've always been such an extraordinary gentleman with us, Spike." Twilight cringed as the fashionista began her part in the group confession as it was no secret to anyone with a pulse that Spike was deeply enthralled with her. It was an obsession Twilight attributed more to physical attraction than anything else, but an obsession - and obstacle - it remained. 

"I've always thought you were quite adorable, Spike. And your little crush on me is just the most endearing thing I've ever seen!" Spike's cheeks burned a shade of red that seemed almost inhuman, "Rarity too? How is this even possible!?" 

"You're quite the helpful assistant, Spike." 

"More like 'pack mule' to you, Rarity." Applejack noted, cracking a grin at her own jest while the others silently giggled.

Rarity glared at the farmgirl before rolling her eyes and continuing, "But it's your heart I find to be your best quality, honestly! Really, any girl would be lucky to call you their significant other." The girl made no attempt to enhance her words with any flirtatious gestures or innuendo, opting to allow them and a small smile to speak for themselves. 

Spike's mind swirled as it processed everything up to this point. This was an unbelievable situation turned reality - as best he could tell, he was not dreaming or under the influence of any mind-altering substance - a reality that included most of his closest friends being madly in love with him. What was there even to say to that? He looked around the room, eyes wide, trying to find cameras or other recording devices that would let him on the joke. None could be found. 

His jaw slacked.

Several concerned expressions were directed at him, the group now collectively questioning their sudden decision to drop all of their confessions onto him in such an abrupt manner. 

Words filtered through his mind in an incoherent jumble of sentences and nonsensical wordage. But before he could even settle on something to vocalize, another voice broke through the mental fog. 

"I...I have something to say." 

Through the haze, Spike could recognize the voice of Fluttershy; on instinct, he found the will to concentrate on her words, even despite the slight pain that came with focusing on anything in particular.

Fluttershy was slow to speak, but an intensity radiated off of her as she gathered the courage to continue through clenched fists and rapid breaths, "You're...the kindest boy I've ever met, Spike. You're always there to help me when no one else can, whether it's with the shelter or homework or whatever!" She paused, steeling herself some more, "And you've always been so gentle and encouraging with me, no matter what!" 
She sat up straight, all the strain in her face appearing to fade, "I'll never forget that time at the mall, when those guys w-w-were yelling those awful things at me, and y-you stood up for me against all those...jerks! Even though we had only known each other for a little while back then, you were there for me when no one else was around! I...I love you, Spike." Silence fell as the girl finished. Fluttershy was flooded with relief, and she only hoped that Spike would be able to find it within himself to return her feelings. 

"Oh, Fluttershy..." Spike let out, recalling the incident in question. He frowned at the memory of what those idiots had said, "I...I was just doing what any friend should do." 

"It was pretty hot." 

Spike squinted in Dash's direction, "Thanks." 

He returned his gaze to Fluttershy, "And..." He knew what words wanted to come out, but he wasn't sure if they should come out. 

"Ah, what the heck. It's the truth, right?"

"I...I love you, too."

Fluttershy's face almost immediately lit up with joy as she struggled to contain herself from leaping across the room to be with her junior. However, almost as quickly as she ignited with utter bliss, the girl was brought down by the palpable feeling of devastation that echoed across the room.

Most of all, Twilight struggled to contain the tears that were on the verge of spilling out as she buried her face into Spike's shoulder. 

Noticing the fallen faces of his friends and the barely controlled quivering of the girl on his lap, the boy was quick to expand on his feelings about the preceding events, "W-w-wait a second, girls! If I didn't make it clear before, let me do it now. I...I love all of you. You're the most beautiful, awesome group of girls I have the privilege of calling my friends! I love all of you the same way you, uh, love me - I think." 

Twilight's quivering came to a quiet and steady halt as everyone else took in the news to mixed reactions. Fluttershy remained hopeful, but the others appeared confused and even somewhat apprehensive, save for Sunset - who now seemed to be taking everything in stride. 

Twilight brought her face to meet Spike's, but the two could only exchange more timid smiles with one another as they peered into each other's eyes. The silent communication was all that was needed to convey what could barely be expressed with words to begin with. 

No one was entirely sure how to proceed, but Rainbow Dash couldn't stand for another minute of the silence, "So, um, apparently we're all down bad for, uh, Spike. Isn't that, uh, kinda funny?" She forced a few short laughs out, "I g-guess this means he has to decide which one of us is going to be his girlfriend now, right?" 

"Spike doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to, Rainbow Dash." Twilight firmly addressed the athlete, not out of malice for her or any of her other friends, but to reassure her assistant of his agency in the matter.

"The least we can do is respect Spike's wishes, even if those wishes have nothing to do with any of us. And this has all been rather sudden, so it might be best to give Spike some time to think about everything before demanding a decision out of him." 

"I agree." Applejack broke her silence, agreeing with Rarity's affirmation of Spike's role in the decision making process. It wouldn't have been fair to expect anything otherwise from him. 

Pinkie cautiously stepped into the fray, "Okay, so it would be totally uncool and not awesome to force Spike to make a decision about anything he doesn't want to, but this is all super weird! We just got done confessing our love to the same boy in the past hour at a sleepover! We can't just ignore everything that's just happened and go back to eating pizza and playing games like nothing happened!" 

"You're right, Pinkie. There's no going back after this; things have changed." Twilight mulled over what to do next, but nothing came to mind. An awkward silence threatened to overtake the room as everyone sat. No one was sure what the appropriate next step should be; this was alien territory for the group of teens. 

Sunset stood up and tentatively began, "I, uh, have a few ideas." She raised an arm to stop Twilight from responding, "No, please. I think this is important." The girl steadied herself in the center of the living room for a moment, "So, like Pinkie was saying, this whole situation is a bit weird. But let's not make it weirder by beating around the bush. Rainbow Dash is right, we're all down pretty bad for green boy." 

"Hey!" 

Sunset sighed, "You lost the right to complain about any green themed nickname after responding to 'Greenie' without a complaint for the millionth time." 

"She's right." Twilight gently informed him with a whisper, much to his dismay. Twilight could barely restrain herself from leaning in to kiss the adorable little pout he was nursing in response to the teasing. 

"Anyway, to get to the point, I think I have a  solution to the mess we've found ourselves in. It's heartbreak free, too!" Sunset took a moment to let her words sink in, hoping to breathe life into a room that sorely needed it. 

Applejack crossed her arms in frustration, "Get on with it, girl!" 

"Yeah, the suspense is killing me!" Pinkie huffed out, eager to hear Sunset's plan. 

"Okay, okay! Patience, girls! It's really not that complicated, if a bit on the unorthodox side...I think we should form a herd!" 

Applejack nearly choked on her own spit, "A-A what?!" 

"You want us to...buy a bunch of horses?" A confused Fluttershy asked, unsure of what herds had to do with their current predicament. 

Sunset chuckled, "No, no, that's not what I meant. You see, herding carries a different connotation - some of the time - in Equestria than it does here. All though not as common these days as it was even just several generations ago, ponies have practiced the tradition of herding for centuries now! The mare-to-stallion ratio has always been heavily skewed toward the mares, which means Equestria has always had a surplus of mares left out of the breeding population. For the sake of promoting genetic diversity and societal cohesion, it became commonplace for multiple mares to share the same mate. That's herding in a nutshell." 

Everyone's face burned at Sunset's explanation, but one in particular appeared especially offended at the notion of sharing a lover as a collective unit. 

"T-that is so gross, Sunset! Why would you even suggest that!?" Twilight shouted from across the room, a mix of anger and frustration evident in her tone. 

Sunset immediately jumped to counter her friend, "How is it gross? I'll have you know, my grandmother was just one mare out of five in my grandfather's herd! They couldn't have been happier!" 

"So your great idea to fix everything is polygyny, really?! What the hell is wrong with you!?" 

"Ow! Twilight, calm down." Spike reached for his right ear to soothe the pain Twilight's increasingly loud shrieks were causing.

"I'm sorry, Spike, but this is completely inappropiate. I can't be the only person here who see's a problem with starting some crazy sex cult! This is insane!"

Sunset's eyes widened with outrage and shock at the accusations being levied against her, "Sex cult?! What are you talking about, Twilight? A herd only works when everyone involved wants to be there on their own accord. And what other viable options are there? Assuming Spike wants to date any of us, it's pretty clear most of us are going to lose out no matter who he picks! What's the harm in suggesting it? What if some of us were actually open to it? In a perfect world, this is the best option for maximizing everyone's happiness." 
Twilight was lost for words as her mind frantically considered the myriad of ways such an arrangment could end in total disaster for all parties involved. There were so many things wrong with the proposal that her mind struggled to find a coherent way of articulating even half of them! 

"Would it really be that bad, Twilight?" Rarity questioned, trying to cool things down before someone did or said something they truly regretted. She was unsure of the proposal herself, but there was nothing unusually outrageous about it given their already extraordinarily unusual lives.

"I-I kind of agree with S-Sunset, it w-wouldn't hurt to try, if e-everyone was okay with it, that is!" Fluttershy forced out, much to the surprise of everyone else. 
"Fluttershy? Rarity? You're not telling me you're okay with this, are you!?" Twilight's voice resounded with incredulity at her friends' tacit affirmation of the proposal's validity.

"I think it would be awesome! We'd all be one big, happy family!" Pinkie's voice rang out, unashamedly approving of the potential unorthodox relationship. 

"Pinkie..." Twilight stopped, a headache beginning to form. 

"I, uh, have something to say." The normally boisterous athlete of the group began, sounding as reserved as she ever had, "This would be super weird, no question." 

Twilight's face lit with joy at the prospect of another dissenter among their ranks, but Rainbow Dash continued before she could join her in a mutual group tongue-lashing.

"But I know something else and it's this: I really, really love Greenie. And all of you love him too. It kind of sucks that I'd have to split my time with him six ways, but if it meant everyone got to be happy in their own way, I could deal with it. It's weird, but we are weird. Hope I'm not breaking any news here, but nothing about our lives has been normal since Sunset stepped through that portal." The girl leaned back into the couch, resting her case.

"I'm astonished that any of you would even consider this...this farce of a solution." Twilight's voice softened, her will to protest slowly being sapped with every passing minute. A look of hope etched itself onto her face as she remembered that there was one more party in their group she could depend on to reprove their friends for the outrageous suggestion, "Applejack, surely you see the problems that would come with...sharing Spike, right?" Desperation exuded from the girl, who was now unconsciously clinging onto Spike with a vice-like grip.

Applejack sat motionlessly with a blank look on her face. Gradually, her cool facade began to break, as her face trembled and her voice shook, "I-I'm sorry, Twilight. If it means being with Spike, I'd do anything. Even...share him." 

Twilight's hopes had been crushed. By this point, she was convinced that her friends were all suffering from a temporary bout of madness, but her spirit was broken. 

"Twilight, I just want everyone to be happy. So, I'm not going to be a part of anything that I know will hurt you, including being with Spike. If that's what you really want, when we wake up tomorrow, it'll be like nothing ever happened. We'll all forget about this night." She stopped, taking a moment to compose herself, pain evident on her face, "But...I just want to know, what's really stopping you from joining us?" 

Twilight stared at the dark purple fabric of Spike's undershirt for a few moments, a look of resignation emerging on her face. She sighed, finally leaving her assistant's lap as she made to stand. The girl stood opposite of Sunset, but no words were exchanged. She looked around at her friends, who watched with trepidation at what she would say. 

"I...I think there are a whole host of logistical, ethical, and personal issues that would likely come with the arrangement you're proposing, Sunset. But...these are all issues I could mostly overlook; issues that we could probably overcome without too much headache. I would be lying if I said those were the real reasons I don't feel comfortable joining a herd with you guys, I...I just don't want to lose Spike. I just...I just don't want to fade into the background noise of his life. You're all already super amazing and talented as is, but I know if even one of you guys started dating Spike, you'd be the new center of his world. And for good reason! All of you are so pretty and talented and awesome! And I'm just...me." 

"Twilight, that would never happen."

Spike rose from his spot on the carpet, determination etched in his face. Twilight was taken aback at her assistant's sudden movement; she never made much of his height - the boy had a habit of slouching, after all - but moments like these reminded her of how imposing a figure he could be when he wanted to. His posture was straight, and his voice tempered with confident conviction as he peered directly into her eyes. 

"The sun would go out before I ever forgot about you, Twilight. Doesn't matter if you're my girlfriend or not; I owe a debt of gratitude to you and your family I could never repay. Your parents practically raised me - they fed me, clothed me, and gave me whatever I asked of them! Even Shining always made time for me! But you, Twilight, are my best friend. You're the most beautiful, intelligent person I've ever met! Through thick or thin, I could always count on you to be by my side. Whether it was encouragement, emotional support, homework, or even a plain old reality check - you've always been there, even when I was acting like a total asshole who didn't deserve your help or love. We've spent practically our entire lives together! Birthdays, play dates, movies, experiments, dances, good days, bad days, demon possesions - we've been through it all...together." 

Twilight felt like crawling into a hole at the memory of the Friendship Games, but Spike was right - they had always been there for each other, even in their more...difficult moments.

"There's no one else on this planet I care about more than you, Twilight. And that will never change, ever. No matter what - herd or not." Spike stopped, never breaking eye contact with Twilight - who seemed on the verge of bursting into tears. A streak of self-consciousness finally hit the boy as he became acutely aware of the fact that he had just dumped his most intimate feelings about his closest friend in front of six others in the most dramatic way possible. 

"Oh, S-Spike, I-I love you; I love you so much..." A trembling Twilight spoke as the tears broke through. Any embarrassment Spike felt vanished as he marched forward, ready to comfort his oldest friend with an embrace. As soon as her assistant wrapped his arms around her, Twilight melted into his embrace, leaning into him as she quietly sobbed tears of joy into his neck.

"I, um, hate to interrupt the moment, but...I think we should just drop my idea." Sunset interjected, reminding the hugging couple of the other people in the room. "It's obvious you two belong with each other, and I think everyone can see that." No one questioned her, but there was an air of sadness in the room. Sunset's pronouncement was obviously true, but the heartache remained for the other six. Sunset clenched her fists, determined not to show any of the hurt she was feeling for the sake of her friends, "Y-you two deserve each other, n-no doubt about it. I-I p-promise to never bring this up ever again; I-I'm sorry, Twilight." Try as hard as she might, Sunset couldn't help several tears from wetting her cheeks. Rarity was quick to embrace her friend in a hug, gently guiding her to the couch to sit.

Spike thought to say something to the heartbroken girl; thought to say something to all of the girls whose hearts he had apparently captured, but Twilight separated from him to address the crowd before anything could leave his mouth. 

"Sunset, wait - please, don't cry. You're...you're right. All of you. You were all right. If there's a way for all of us to be happy, I'll...I'll do it. I don't want a relationship to destroy all of our friendships. I want all of us to thrive, to be happy - if that's with Spike, then so be it." 

"Twilight, I...I don't know what to say. Thank you, thank you!" Sunset leaped from her spot on the couch to hug her friend, happiness radiating off her like heat from her namesake. 

"Twilight, you're the best friend ever!" Rainbow Dash screamed, rushing over to join their hugging session. 

"You could say that again!" Pinkie jumped into the impromptu group hug, giggling as she wrapped her arms around Twilight and Dash. 

"Ah, what the heck. I guess sharing a boyfriend can't be too bad." Applejack spoke to Fluttershy, grinning as the girl turned away to hide her blushing face. 

"I-I guess not." 

"C'mon, Shy - may as well join 'em!" 

Both headed toward the group hug, but Rarity remained seated. Much had transpired within the past hour, so there was much to process. There was nothing about the proposed setup that particularly offended her romantic or moral sensibilities, and it seemed like everyone else had already made peace with the idea of sharing Spike - so why not give it a try? She smiled, already moving to complete the group hug, but something struck her as she closed in on Rainbow Dash and Sunset. It was Spike. 

Spike. The one who had the ultimate say in this "herd" business. Nothing he had said to Twilight indicated his approval to go ahead with the idea. She stopped dead in her tracks, her heart racing as she detected his silent form watching the group hug from afar. 

She coughed. 

Spike's head tilted in her direction, but the others remained lost in their own world, oblivious to the pressing issue that was now literally facing them. 

She coughed again.

At once, her friends began to disengage with one another. They immediately took notice of their cross-armed friend's mild annoyance, much to their confusion. Fluttershy frowned, "Rarity, what's the matter?" 

"Yeah, dude. You're kind of killing the mood." 

"I can't believe I have to remind any of you of this, but I don't recall Spike ever giving his consent to proceed with this herd of yours! Isn't that right, Spike?" Rarity finished, hoping the boy would regain his agency before being swept up in the ecstasy and chaos of the moment. 

"R-right - Rarity's right! Spike, if this isn't something you feel comfortable with, don't feel obliged to do it for our sake. Whatever you decide, I promise to support you. Always." Twilight walked a few feet closer to Spike, a reassuring smile on her face as she stopped at an arm's length away from him. 

Sunset fell in a foot or so behind Twilight, to her right, and met the boy's emerald eyes with her cyan-colored ones, "What I said earlier still stands, Spike. If this isn't something you want to do, no hard feelings." 

The other five slowly but steadily made their way to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the pair. No words were spoken, but none were needed. The message was clear: the decision was in his hands now. 

Spike looked over the row of friends that had assembled before him as his heart pounded away with a vengeance.

"This is unreal." 

He ran a hand through his green locks, "No way this is real. Like, no way." He turned to stare through the window into the pitch-black night, "I don't get this. I've never even had a serious girlfriend before, now I'm supposed to have seven? At the same time?!" 

Spike closed his eyes, "Assuming this is real, I'd...have my work cut out for me. I bet it's hard enough having a single girlfriend, but seven's a whole 'nother ball game."

The girls exchanged mildly concerned gazes with one another while Spike remained lost in thought. 

Twilight's lips began to part, but before the air could leave her lungs to vocalize anything more than a syllable the silence was sooner pierced by her assistant. 

"I...I don't know how any of this happened, really. And I'm still not convinced this isn't some really long dream or something like that. But...if this is real, I think I'd be a pretty big idiot to turn down seven of the most stunning girls in the world. I can't promise I'll be the greatest boyfriend in the world, but...I'll give it my best shot." 

Before the boy could even react, he found himself being assailed by several warm and very soft bodies rushing to embrace him. Twilight and Sunset mutually buried themselves in his chest; Pinkie and Applejack took his right and left arms respectively; Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy made their way to his back to loop their arms around his neck, and Rarity managed her way into a space between Pinkie and Twilight. 

Spike did his best contortionist act to embrace what were now his girlfriends, and his eyes were drawn to the indigo-haired girl currently beaming into his chest, "Gosh, Twilight. For someone who was just talking about how terrible of an idea this was, you sure do seem pretty enthusiastic about it!" 

Twilight's eyes darted to meet his, daring him to continue. 

Spike recoiled, "I'll shut up." 

Twilight giggled, happy to bury herself into his chest once more.

"Y'know, Greenie - now that you're my boyfriend, I'm gonna expect for you to be my biggest cheerleader at all of my games." 

"S-sure thing, Dash. Not sure if competing with Scootaloo is gonna workout the best for me though..." 

"She'll get over it." Rainbow Dash mumbled into his shoulder, basking in the tranquility of the moment with her eyes closed.
Spike nearly moaned as Rarity ran a hand through his messy mop of green hair; the heavenly feeling only being enhanced by the feminine fragrances and touches currently surrounding him. 

"R-Rarity!" 

"Have I ever told you how pretty your hair is?" 

"Pretty?" 

Applejack silently chuckled, "You're the prettiest boy I've ever met, Spike!" 

"Very true, Applejack. But we still haven't confirmed if he's hairless underneath this shirt, have we?" Spike's breath hitched as Pinkie Pie's hand began to travel along his torso, feeling the contour of his chest through the thin fabric of the nightshirt.

Sunset sighed as she batted away Pinkie's hand and moved to gently separate herself from the pile of bodies. She laughed, "Okay, that was nice, but eight-person hugs were not meant to go on for longer than a few seconds!" 
One by one, the girls detached themselves from Spike. Except for Fluttershy - she remained clung to him; the girl appeared to be in nirvana as she nuzzled her face even deeper into his shoulder from behind, clearly content with the way everything had worked out. 

"Hey, Fluttershy, you-"

"Shhh." 

"I, uh-"

"Let me enjoy this for a little while longer."

Spike grinned, "Well, I guess there are worse things to put up with than a cute girl hanging off your back." 

The girls buzzed with excitement as the room came to life once more. The tension, the anxiety - it had all faded away as the reality of their new lives settled in. Pinkie Pie buzzed across the entire living room in excitement while Rarity sat back down to watch Applejack and Rainbow Dash fight over what instruments they were going to use for their video game.

Sunset wrapped an arm around Twilight's shoulder, leaning in slightly to place their foreheads together, "Thank you, Twilight. This wouldn't have been possible without you." 

Twilight's face reddened, but she made no attempt to pull away from the older girl, "I still have my doubts, but I'm hoping for the best. I think, after all we've been through, we can find a way to make this work." 

The two rested their heads together for a few more moments before Twilight broke away from the contact. She left Sunset with a smile as she made her way to join Spike, along with Fluttershy, on the couch. The two girls cuddled into either side of him, enjoying his presence and warmth. 

"Wow, this is great! What did I do to deserve this?" He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around both girls to bring them closer into his frame. There was no denying how amazing their bodies felt against his, and there was nothing left holding him back from fully embracing it. His fingertips traced Twilight's back where it had been left exposed by her tanktop, reveling in the feeling of her smooth, warm skin against his while his left hand palmed Fluttershy's silky soft hair as she hummed into his chest. 

"Yeah, this was definitely the right call."
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What's that supposed to be?" 

"It's a five - are you blind or something, dude?" 

"Maybe I'd be able to tell if you didn't write like a damn epileptic!" 

"And maybe you wouldn't have to copy Scootaloo's homework if you had done yours." 

Applebloom glared at Sweetie Bell. Her homework plans had been frustrated by a particularly busy weekend for produce delivery at the farm. She had accompanied Big Mac the entire day Saturday loading and transporting hundreds of crates packed to the brim with their family's signature apples. The work would have been difficult under the best of circumstances, but the absence of her eldest sister had increased the workload considerably for them; she was too sore and tired to do much of anything for the remainder of the weekend, including her physics homework. 

She rubbed a still-aching shoulder, “That's kinda funny, Sweetie. Last I checked, I wasn't the one asking for answers during last week's quiz.” 

Scootaloo snickered, “It wasn't even that hard!” 

“Oh, whatever.” Sweetie Bell rolled her eyes, more than happy to move on. To her mind, there were far more interesting matters to discuss anyway. She laid her pencil down on the hard plastic surface of her desk, “Hey, Applebloom, notice anything different about your sister when she got back from their sleepover Saturday night?”  

Applebloom and Scootaloo angled their desks' clunky wooden chairs in her direction. The redhead quirked her head to the side, “Yeah, now that you mention it, she seemed…giddier than usual, I guess.” 

Sweetie Bell perked up, “Yeah, same here! Rarity's been acting like she just scored first place at a fashion competition or something!” 

“Ah, to have an older sister. How you two wound me!” Scootaloo clutched her chest, a downtrodden expression on her face as she leaned back into the rickety seat. 

Appleboom cracked a grin at her friend's self-deprecating humor, “It ain't all sunshine and rainbows, Scoots. Older siblings can be a real pain sometimes.” 

“Tell me about it! Just last week, Rarity had me up till 3 am for a dress fitting!” 

“Ha! Lame.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes at the indignant look Sweetie Bell was aiming at her. 

“As I was saying, girls, something funny is going on with our sisters. Something to do with that sleepover, I reckon.” 

Scootaloo contemplatively rubbed her chin, “What could it be?” 

“Maybe…maybe something to do with a boy?” Sweetie Bell mused.

“What makes you say that, Sweetie?” Applebloom asked, an inquisitive glint in her eyes. 

“Well, I remember when Rarity was obsessed with that senior boy years ago…Fancy Pants, I think his name was. She always got all giggly and stuff around him. Kinda like she's acting now!” 

Applebloom rubbed her forehead, trying to glean from her memory anything to do with her elder sister's love life and the way it impacted her behavior, “Hmm…she used to have this massive crush on the lead singer of a boy band – I forget his name, but she did get all dreamy-eyed and red-faced whenever she'd bring 'em up.”

At once, the trio's attention was captured by the sound of their classroom door opening. The figure of a familiar green-haired boy walked into view as he sauntered into their classroom in his usual purple over-shirt and torn-up jeans combo. Their classmate flashed them a toothy smile when he noticed their presence and made his way toward them to find a seat. 

“Hey, girls. What's up?” He spoke as he took the desk adjacent to Sweetie Bell and right behind Applebloom. 

“Spike!”

“Good morning, Spike.”

“Hey, Greenie!” 

Spike dryly chuckled, “The one and only. What's happening?” 

Applebloom adjusted a lock of her red hair as she turned to face the taller boy behind her, “Oh, nothing much. Just talking about our sisters acting weird over the weekend, that's all.” 

Spike's grin slightly faded, “Oh, yeah. That's funny. Wonder why?” His voice was noticeably strained, and his smile wilted away. 

Scootaloo smirked at him, “You wouldn't happen to know anything about why, Spike? I thought I heard Rainbow Dash say something about inviting you to their sleepover.”

Spike rapidly tapped his pencil across the plastic surface of his desk, not sure of how to respond to Scootaloo's prodding. 

“Hey, wait a sec – Spike, what's that spot on your face?”

Spike felt a wave of relief wash over him at Sweetie Bell's momentary diversion from the question, “Ah, right. It's just a little bit of iron gall ink I whipped up earlier today. It got a little messy – must have missed a spot during clean up!” 

“I guess that's why your hands are more stained than usual?” Applebloom asked as she gently poked at the darkened skin of his right hand. 

“Yeah! I just ran out of ink a few weeks ago. It took me longer than usual to get my hands on some iron sulfate.” Spike let out, eyeing up the ink splotches on his hands. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Sweetie Bell begin to reach her arm toward his face. Her hand was carrying a small white cloth that she directed at the inkblot between his chin and lower lip. Sweetie Bell gently patted away at the stain, cleaning the boy's face as best she could with the simple cloth. 

“There you go.” 

“T-Thanks, Sweetie.” 

The two classmates shared a glance, their faces lightly dusted with red. Spike silently flinched, while Sweetie Bell shyly smiled at the older boy. More female attention was not something he needed right now. 

Applebloom coughed, an unamused expression on her face as she stared down Sweetie Bell, “What was it you were saying about Rainbow Dash again, Scootaloo?” 

Scootaloo blinked, the ink cleaning scene still playing on repeat in her mind. “Uh, right. Spike, you were at their sleepover, right?”

Spike fidgeted in his seat. “Where the heck is our teacher, anyway?” He tugged at the faded purple collar of his overshirt, trying to remain cool as he thought over what he should disclose from the events of the weekend. He forced a laugh, “Y-Yeah, I stuck around for the night. They invited me.” 

Scootaloo persisted, mischief in her eyes, “Continue.” The other two silently nodded.

“Nothing weird happened, promise! We just hung out, I swear. Played some games; ate pizza, the usual!” Spike spoke as he began to flare his hands around, sweat starting to accumulate on his brow as he did so. 

Sweetie Bell lightly squinted at him, “No one insinuated otherwise?” 

“Yeah, yeah – of course! Just a nice old-time hanging out; no funny business.” Spike strained out, a painful smile etched on his face. 

Applebloom rested her chin on her palm, “Right. That doesn't explain why our sisters are acting funny though.” 

“You sure about that “no funny business” stuff, Green?” Scootaloo smirked, “Just one guy hanging out with his seven best girl friends for an entire night; completely innocent, right?” 

Spike looked at his hands once more, avoiding eye contact with the purple-haired girl, “W-Well…”

Applebloom raised an eyebrow. Sweetie Bell wordlessly leaned in. Scootaloo's grin sharpened. 

Once more, the teens were diverted by the sound of someone walking through their class's doorway. The form of Scootaloo's athletic idol, Rainbow Dash, emerged from the hallway of Canterlot High. She casually strolled toward the group, hands in her pockets, with a slight slink to her step as she walked. 

“Hey, Scootaloo!” 

“Rainbow!” 

She fist-bumped her young friend, and greeted her friends' younger sisters with a smile and slight nod, before taking a seat on Spike's desk. She chuckled at the green-haired boy's reddened cheeks, savoring the ease it took to rile him up. 

“What's the matter, Spike? Not happy to see your girlfriend?” 

Spike could only recoil at the sound of a pencil snapping and three jaws dropping. 

Spike took a breath, “I…no, Rainbow Dash, I'm perfectly happy to see you.” He stared up at her, obvious annoyance in his eyes at the unexpected public reveal. 

Rainbow Dash laughed and hopped off the boy's desk; she rummaged through the pockets of her blue hoodie before pulling out a thin black piece of metal. She tossed it at the now wide-eyed junior, “Found it in my car. Thought you might need it. I'd put it away before you're caught with a knife on school grounds…wherever it is you put stuff away.” 

Spike clutched the small pocket knife in his hand for a moment, a look of fear in his eyes as he rapidly checked the room for adult supervision. He quickly tucked his knife away in his right jean pocket, nestled closely with his lighter and pack of cigarettes. 

“Seriously, how do you even carry anything for school without a backpack?” 

Spike sighed, “Easy, don't carry anything.” 

“Sure thing, Greenie. Anyway, have a nice day!” She leaned down to press her lips against his, surprising the boy. After a brief moment of shock, he attempted to reciprocate the kiss but was foiled as Rainbow Dash moved her face away. He chased her lips with his for a brief moment, but stopped after opening his eyes to the sight of her smirking down at him. 

“Let's finish that later!” Rainbow Dash turned to leave, “See you girls later!” The rest of the classroom stared silently as the senior girl walked out the room as confidently as she had walked in.

Spike stopped himself from touching his lips, but he couldn't stop himself from noticing the stares currently being directed at him by his classmates. He nervously chuckled, “W-Well, a few things happened at our slumber party…” 

Applebloom's jaw still hung wide open, and Sweetie Bell was clutching her chest, but Scootaloo's left eye furiously twitched. She rapidly looked between Spike and the doorway of the classroom where Rainbow Dash had just been, still processing what had just happened. Her mouth began to tremble, “What the fu-




Spike walked down the hallways of CHS with his line of sight firmly fixed on the ground. As he expected, explaining to three friends that he was now dating their older sisters had been a stressful endeavor, to say the least. He had taken the time between periods to explain to them, in as concise of a way as possible, the events of the preceding weekend. He couldn't cover all the details, but he had been able to effectively communicate the general outline of what happened – including whose idea it had been to start the multi-union affair to begin with. After learning that it was Sunset's plan, they had taken relatively well to it, but there was an unmistakable air of sadness around the trio that Spike couldn't help but notice. 

“That was pretty weird, but I'm glad they aren't mad at me. Sucks I'm gonna be late though.” Spike briskly continued his walk to the other side of the school where his art class lay. The room came into view, and he continued his trek with a jog for the remainder of the distance. He pushed the door open, hoping Ms. Bellweather wouldn't give him a hard time over his tardiness. 

“Mr. Spike! Glad you could join us today. Please, take a seat.” 

Spike nodded at the short, blonde-haired woman before making his way to the back of the larger-than-average classroom. He found the familiar sight of his fellow green-haired student and friend, Wallflower Blush, sitting on one of the class's many metallic stools sketching away on her drawing pad. 

“Hey, Wallflower! Whatcha drawing?” Spike sat to the girl's right, taking his own space on the large communal desk that could comfortably fit several students. 

Wallflower's eyes flickered to the source of the sudden interruption, her focus on the rough outline of the woodland landscape she was working on breaking. She smiled at him, “Hey, Spike. How are you?” 

Spike hummed as he brought out a quill pen that he had stripped of its feathers, “Could be worse.” He held the pen close to his eyes to inspect for any damage from carrying it in his pocket, “Just itching to draw s’more.” He lightly poked the tip of his finger with the pen before looking at her, “Speaking of which, got the stuff?” 

Wallflower nodded and drew her chair closer to his. She flung her backpack onto the table and dug out a small vial filled with black liquid. She ripped another piece of art paper from her pad and brought it between them, “There we go. Although, shouldn't you already have some more of your own?” 

Spike held up his hands, “I whipped some up earlier, but I wanted to see if you could get the hang of it by yourself!” He held the vial up to get a better look at it, “And from the looks of it, I think you did!” 

Wallflower sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, “Yeah, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.” She held up her own stained hands, “Kind of a messy process though.”

“You'll get used to it. Besides, how much messier is it than gardening?”

She laughed, “Good point.” 

Spike tapped his pen against the small glass vial and opened the container, “Let's get on with it!” He dipped his pen in the ink for a few seconds, “Just watch and learn…”

Spike's right hand swirled across the paper with quick and precise strokes, simultaneously captivating Wallflower and inspiring mild envy in her. The junior's skills in calligraphy were impressive. She had to admit, that was what primarily drew her to the boy in the first place; his rough around-the-edges attire and sarcastic personality notwithstanding, she knew artistic talent when she saw it. It didn't hurt that his smile made her knees weak, but, oh well. 

“Your turn.” Spike held out the homemade pen to his friend, “C'mon, you can do it, Wallflower. Easy!” 

Her deadpan expression spoke for itself.

Spike ran a hand through his hair, “Well, maybe not as good as mine but…practice makes perfect!” 

Wallflower sighed, “No, probably not. But that's what you're here for anyway. To help me get better.” She grasped the pen, “Still got to get you out to the garden though.” 

The teens smiled at one another, but Wallflower forced herself to break gazes with the younger boy sooner than she would have liked before she completely melted in front of him. She stared at a blank portion of their shared paper, a few inches down from where Spike had finished painting their names in cursive. Wallflower held her hand centimeters above the paper, quivering as she readied herself for her attempt. 

With some trepidation, Wallflower began to press her ink-filled pen onto the surface of the paper. She began to trace out her own name first, in standard font, for practice. The girl began to experiment more after completing a few words in the same plain style as her name, but her progress was quickly frustrated as she attempted to chain together the letters of Spike's name for proper calligraphy. Her letters smudged together into a gangly mess of lines and dots that vaguely resembled a spider web.

Spike observed, amusement evident on his face. He reached over to grab her wrist, “The angle's all off. And you're applying too much pressure on the nib. Let me show you!” He manually adjusted the girl's grip to fix her writing angle, much to her horror. Wallflower began to sweat, and her face burned, “Spike, I don't think this is –
“There you go!” He lowered her angle to the proper 45° necessary for his type of pen, and gripped her hand to apply the amount of pressure required for demonstration, “See? Not so hard. Let the pen and gravity do the work for you.” 

Wallflower closed her eyes. She could feel his upper chest and arms press into her, and his coconut-mixed-with-a-dash-of-smoke scent filtered through her nostrils. She felt her legs go weak at the smooth but surprisingly firm grip of his hands, “Spike, thank you. I think I get the point; you can let go of my hand now…unless, you don’t want to?” 

Wallflower's eyes sprung wide open as she realized what she had just said, and Spike appeared similarly bewildered at the suggestion, but before she could retract the offer a familiar voice approached them from behind, “Um, hi…guys.” The still hand-holding pair turned to meet the face of their friend, Fluttershy. The new arrival stared at the grip Spike had on her wrist, confusion apparent on her face. The two were fast to separate and turned to face Fluttershy. “Hey, Fluttershy!” Their voices morphed into one in their mutual panic and their faces burned the same shade of red. 

Fluttershy stared the pair down for a moment, with an eyebrow raised toward the green-haired boy she now called a boyfriend. The girl wasn't sure whether to laugh or sigh at Spike's inability to maintain a poker face, so she opted to simply shake her head and take a seat next to him. 

Spike scrambled his body in her direction, “Hey, why so late? Did you miss the bus?” 

She gently placed the two textbooks she had been carrying against her chest onto the desk, “Fortunately not. I had an animal science test I needed to finish.” She brushed a lock of pink hair from her eyes, “I'm glad that's over with.” She leaned closer in his direction, “And I'm glad you're here.” 

Spike couldn't help himself from moving forward to embrace her. Every fiber of his being practically cried out for her touch whenever she was around. There was something about her gentle spirit and feminine presence that had an intoxicating effect on him – he always felt like holding her and never letting go to shield her from the cruelties of the world. 

“As if - I'd be the one needing saving with her.” He thought, an undertone of melancholy seeping through his mind.

The couple held each other closely. Spike ran a hand through her soft pink hair and breathed in her floral aroma. Fluttershy nuzzled his neck, her face full of pure content. 

“Uh, are you two…okay?” 

Spike craned his neck at the source of the monotonous interruption, but made no effort to remove himself from the hug, “Who…?”

Wallflower's blank expression met his.

“Wallflower!” He pulled away from his girlfriend to explain himself, “Sorry for, um, just throwing that at you like that. I should have told you earlier, Fluttershy and I are dating now!” 

Fluttershy walked forward to join the conversation, “Y-Yeah. Spike and I are t-together!” 

Wallflower's expression remained neutral. 

Fluttershy continued, “The story's a little…complicated, but…” She pivoted her neck to peer into his emerald eyes, “We love each other, and that's what matters.” 

Spike and Fluttershy stood side by side, bashful smiles aimed at their friend. Wallflower took in the sight of the duo and looked down at her feet, but remained  motionless otherwise. Spike took a step toward her, “Wallflower?” Concern laced his voice. 

Wallflower, as if breaking out of a trance, calmly but suddenly held up her arm, “It's fine. I'm happy for you two. I bet you'll make a really amazing couple.” Her words were sincere, but there was a sadness beneath her eyes that Fluttershy could just barely make out. 

If Spike noticed it, he said nothing about it. He grinned at the girl, “Thanks! I think so too. Should we get back to work?” 

Wallflower could only silently nod in response, with all but the faintest traces of gloom visible on her features as they returned to their earlier seating positions. Fluttershy looked at the other girl, pity in her eyes. The soft-spoken teen could feel the pain radiate off her friend, and her heart broke for Wallflower. She had felt similarly after hearing Spike's public confession about his feelings for Twilight, so she more than well understood the pain Wallflower was experiencing.

Fluttershy rested her head against her palm; an idea was already taking shape – a plan to cure Wallflower's lonesome woes –  but she'd need the go ahead from the others first. She chewed on her inner cheek, silently observing the green-headed duo, and – to her slight shame - thoughts of little green-haired babies flashed through her mind. 



Spike's day had started off relatively rocky, but it had been an easygoing last few periods – Fluttershy had helped with that. It was not quite lunch, but he was free for the next period. The boy would normally make his way to the library or computer lab – Mr. Discord was always fun to hang out with – but he felt the urge to work on his piano skills today. It had been too long since he had played. 

Spike found the music room empty. He smiled to himself, happy to have the time and space to practice privately. Within moments, Spike located the school's piano.  The boy sat on the small wooden stool that accompanied the instrument, staring at the old piano, “Good to see you too, buddy.” Spike cracked his knuckles, “Guess it's time. Hope no one's around to hear this.” He began to play, trying to remember the right chord progression of his favorite song as he tapped away at the familiar black and white keys, “Okay, this is gonna take awhile.” Before he even realized it, the boy was playing time away, song after song, lost in his own personal world of sound and sensation. 

Spike's unbeknownst performance for two slowed to a halt as he felt his hands quake with a dull pain and beads of sweat dripped onto the keys of the piano. He stopped, closing his eyes to enjoy the silence. 

A loud clap jolted the boy back into full alert. He spun around, trying to locate the origin of the clap. A pair of purple eyes met his from across the room. His friend Octavia was sitting cross-legged on a stool, coolly observing him. She stood and offered a bow, “Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of hearing such a marvelous routine?” She raised herself, meeting his surprised gaze with a teasing grin, “It's been far too long since you've graced the music room with your presence, Spike.” 

Octavia glided toward him with a grace that would have put most ballerinas to shame. Spike could only wipe his brow as his friend neared him to sit. He shrank into himself as Octavia took her seat next to him on the brown stool meant for the user of the piano, and he wanted to positively sink into a pit when she crossed her legs. She smirked at him, “It's been far too long since we've made music together, amongst other things…” 

Spike shot up from the stool and moved to make distance between himself and the violin-playing girl. He glared at her, “O-Octavia, please! We are not a thing. Not like that! We're just f-friends!” The girl's smirk didn't waver as she inspected her nails, “You certainly didn't treat me like just a friend the last time we – 

“Octavia!”

She raised an eyebrow at him, “What? Can't a girl dream?” She stood, her smirk softening, “I'm not foolish enough to mistake passion for love, but I'd like to think we're still friends at least.” 

Spike regarded her with a nervous glance, “Y-Yeah, sure thing.”

She walked closer to him, her eyes scanning his body, “However, I wouldn't mind an encore.” He could smell something akin to a mix of roses and pine as she drew near, “You know what they say, Spike…practice makes perfect.” Octavia had cornered the boy; she slowly lifted his face by the chin with her index finger, “In fact, I think there's an old broom closet down the hallway no one ever uses, well, not for holding brooms anyways.” 

Spike flicked her hand away and sidestepped the girl. His glare returned with a passion, “What's gotten into you, Octavia?” 

Octavia laughed and adjusted her bowtie, “Just feeling a bit randy, that's all. It's all in good fun though.” She smoothed out her purple vest, “Maybe some other time?”

Spike's glare faded, and he sighed, “No, Octavia. I have a…a girlfriend. It's been fun, but I can't be with you anymore – not like that.” 

Octavia shook her head, “Oh, well. I suppose I can't be too upset, I have no one but myself to blame for not claiming you earlier.” She sat down on the piano stool, tilting her head back to continue her address, “Who's the lucky girl?” 

Spike stuffed his hands into his pockets and awkwardly twisted his body around at the waist, “She's…a close friend.” 

“As close as us?”

“Not exactly.” 

“Pity.” 

“Hey – 

“Spike, are you in here?” The voice of Sunset Shimmer rang out as she approached the half-open doorway. 

Octavia's smirk had returned.

Spike could barely finish turning his head before Sunset entered the room. He greeted her with a weary grin, “Hey, Sunset. How'd you know where to find me?” 

She leaned against one of the many tables scattered throughout the room, hands casually crossed across her chest, “Just a hunch.” She noticed the third occupant of the room behind her boyfriend, “Hi, Octavia. What brings you here?” 

“Spike insisted on telling me all about his new girlfriend in private; he hasn't stopped talking about her ever since we got here!” 

“Nothing bad, I hope.” 

“No, but he still hasn't told me who the mystery girl is!”

Spike looked between his girlfriend and former lover with trepidation. Sunset raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Wonder why that keeps happening?” 

Sunset chuckled to herself and rolled her eyes, “Sounds like him. This one's a real enigma sometimes.” 

Spike brushed one of his spiky bangs aside; he was growing weary of the innuendo, “It's Sunset. We're dating, Octavia.” 

Sunset pouted at him, “Spoilsport!” 

He rubbed the back of his neck as he turned to Octavia once more, “Listen, since you've been one of my, er, closest friends since I transferred to Canterlot High, I'm going to let you in on our little not-so-secret secret.”

“I'm listening.”

Sunset remained silent, tacitly giving her approval.

Spike felt the urge to recede into himself and drop the topic, but he persisted, “Sunset and I are dating, but it's way more complicated than that.”

“I prefer the term interesting.” 

Spike ignored her, “But I'm also dating my other friends. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and, uh, Twilight.” He waited for a response, but Octavia merely rubbed her chin in silence.

“It was all Sunset's idea. It's weird, and kind of crazy, and I don't know if it'll work out, but we're going to try anyway.” He stopped, hoping his friend would finally voice her thoughts on the unconventional arraignment. 

Octavia nodded her head, as if she were fully coming to terms with the news, “How…unexpectedly expected.” She shrugged at the couple, “I would call you a womanizer, but that would imply you had the intent to do any womanizing in that ignorant little brain of yours!” 

“Hey, I'm not an idi –

“If you ever feel inclined to add an eighth member to your party, feel free to give me a call.”

“I don't think that'll be likely, Octavia. I think we're going to be keeping him more than a little occupied as is.” Sunset's voice remained neutral, but her eyes cautiously scanned her would-be rival. 

Octavia smirked as she turned to face the piano, “We'll see about that.” 

Sunset straightened herself out and motioned to her companion to follow, “C'mon, Spike - we're leaving.” 

“But it's still not –

“We're leaving.”

Figuring it was best to not argue, the boy followed Sunset out without further complaint. 

“Don't be a stranger now, Spike.” A wink and sultry smile were the last things Spike saw before he was pulled through the doorway. 




“Derpy totally screwed it up for the entire class!”

“In hindsight, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to give her fire watch.” 

Spike passively listened to Applejack and Rainbow Dash regale the table with their tales of classroom misfortune, nestled in between Twilight to his right and Sunset to his left. He picked at the bowl of salad he had chosen in the lunch line, simply happy to be among his friends again. Both Twilight and Sunset had wrapped an arm around each of his, not caring about the odd stares their fellow students were occasionally giving them as they passed. For his part, there were certainly worse things to be doing in a lunchroom than being held by two of the most attractive women he had ever known, even if it did restrict his upper body movement a bit. 

Twilight gently squeezed his right arm, “I heard Rainbow Dash came by one of your classes earlier. She didn't do anything to make you uncomfortable, did she?” 

Spike bobbed his head back and forth, contemplating how to answer his oldest friend, “Just a little bit of PDA; it threw me off guard, but I'll live. I think it freaked out Applebloom and the girls more than it did me.” 

Rainbow Dash, overhearing the remark, grinned, “You're welcome, babe.” 

“Let's be a little more tactful about public displays of affection, Rainbow. Just because we're all dating Spike doesn't excuse gross behavior. That goes for everyone, girls.” Twilight directed at her boisterous friend, a stern look on her face. 

“Whatever you say, mom.” 

“It's okay, Twilight. I wasn't grossed out by it, just shocked. This whole girlfriend thing is still…new to me.”

Sunset leaned her head into the crook of his neck, “You'll get used to it.”

Spike gave her one of his signature toothy grins, “Used to cuddling a bunch of hot girls? No way, Sunny!”

Sunset giggled into his shoulder, “We're at the 'pet name' phase now, eh?” 

“But Spike is already a pet's name!” 

A snort escaped Spike's mouth at Pinkie's comment, “You're kinda right, Pinkie. I dunno what my mom was thinking when she gave me a dog's name.”

Rarity tapped her chin, “Perhaps she had always wanted one?” 

Pinkie Pie slammed her milk cartoon onto the table, “Spike was meant to be a dog! I just know it!” Her eyes flickered to his seated form, a seductive glint in them, “Bark for me, baby!” 

“Woof.”

“That's what momma's talking 'bout.” 

Twilight face palmed, “What did I just say, Pinkie!” 

Fluttershy interjected, “I just know that Spike would have been the cutest dog in the world!” 

After a moment of silence, the group burst into a collective laugh. As the laughing subsided, Rarity silently slid a piece of her sandwich toward Spike, wordlessly offering it to the boy. He nodded and took the piece, just as Fluttershy moved to hold out an apple-pierced fork to him. He hesitated, but a quick look at her expectant face convinced him to take the apple slice. 

Applejack laughed as she cut off a piece of an apple-based confectionary and similarly passed it down to their shared boyfriend, “And here I thought I was clever for bringing food to share with Spike.” 

Rainbow Dash grabbed the flaky dessert and brought it up to her face for inspection, “Looks good, Applejack. What is it?” 

Applejack side-eyed the girl as she watched her take a small bite, “Not your's, for starters.” 

The athlete rolled her eyes, “Just a bite, dude.” Applejack motioned for her to continue passing it to its intended destination, “It's some type of pie thing Granny is working on.” Rainbow Dash nodded and passed the remaining piece to Twilight, “If Spike wants more he knows where to find it, don't ya, Greenie?” The girl spoke, licking her lips.

Twilight gripped the apple treat between her thumb and index finger, “I'm not sure if I should be impressed or disgusted at how fast it took for you to get so comfortable with this.” 

Rainbow Dash smirked. 

“In fairness, what did you expect, Twilight?” Rarity asked her friend.

Sunset lifted her head from Spike's shoulder, “It's not that hard when you just stop caring about what other people think, trust me.” 

Twilight rubbed her forehead with her free hand, “Y-Yes, I get that, girls. Still, I…I hope we can manage to avoid unnecessary conflict with our other friends and families over this.” 

Pinkie Pie nearly leaped out of her seat with excitement, “My family already knows! They took the news well! Mom and Dad are already planning the wedding!” Spike began to choke on a flaky pie morsel, fear imprinted on his face. 

Sunset and Twilight patted his back, helping him cough up the stray bite of dessert. He thumped his chest to dislodge any remaining particles of food, “Thanks, girls. But, uh, what did you just say about a wedding, Pinkie?!?” 

Pinkie laughed, “Just kidding!” She smiled at him, refusing to break eye contact, “…or am I?” 

Sunset's thoughts had drifted to a certain violin-playing girl during the commotion. She now knew the girl pined for Spike's affection, but that had not been factored into her plans at all. Octavia spelled trouble for them, she just knew it. She shook her head, those were worries for later. 

Fluttershy likewise thought about another one of their friends. It had been fairly obvious to her that Wallflower desired Spike, and her heart went out to the other girl, but she was unsure of how to proceed with that situation. It would have to wait for another time; they still needed time themselves to fully adjust to their newfound relationship. 

“I still have my worries as well, Twilight. I'm not sure if my family will take the news of my joining…an octet as well as Pinkie's apparently has.” Rarity checked her hair in the reflection of her phone's screen, “By the way, Spike – for your sake, I'd avoid telling any of our siblings about our…relationships before we did.” 

Spike looked down at the bowl of half-eaten salad, “Funny you mention that…”

“Go on.” 

He sighed, “Sweetie and I have class together, remember? She was there when Dash, uh, kissed me in front of the entire class. I explained to them what happened over the weekend.” 

Rarity shook her head, “I see. I'll…talk to her about it later.” 

“So I'm guessing Applebloom knows too, right?” 

Spike offered a nod in response.

“Well, I'd probably avoid Big Mac for the foreseeable future, cuz' I'm sure word's gonna get around pretty quick with those three in the loop.” 

Spike frowned at the thought, “Big Mac is my friend. I…hope he doesn't take the news too poorly.” 

“Hey, the way I see it, this was gonna happen sooner or later. Better to the rip the bandage right off than wait around till something happens!” Rainbow Dash asserted, looking around at her friends. 

“Regardless of whoever does or doesn't hear about it, we'll be here for each other – for you, Spike. We won't let anything happen to you.” Twilight firmly reassured the boy she was holding; the others nodded in agreement, resolve in all of their eyes. 

Spike held Twilight and Sunset closer to him, savoring their touch, “Thanks, girls.” 




Trixie's fists balled as she walked the halls of CHS. Her eye twitched in frustration as she recalled her disastrous lunch period. Students walking towards her swerved to avoid crossing her path; anger and frustration aggressively radiated off of her. She walked without a purpose, completely beside herself. 

This would not do. She was not going to allow Shimmer and her gang of sirens to just take Spike away from her. Not without a fight. Trixie had no contempt for any of them on a personal level, but this meant war. In truth, she was actually quite fond of Sunset, but this bothersome little eight-some they had going on was an affront to her honor. Seeing those seven just throw themselves all over their junior during lunch drove her mad; it was completely unacceptable without Trixie in the picture! 

She was not going to be benched, especially not for Sparkle of all people. Spike would be hers. She would be the one feeding him and petting his perfect green locks soon enough. 

Without even fully realizing it, Trixie had made her way to the front entrance of the school – she was taking her leave, there was much to do after all.