The Ponyville library smelled like roses today, which Twilight Sparkle found strange, to say the least. She’d never liked using scented air-fresheners in the library, opting for the smell of paper and candle wax. She sat on the side of her bed, shedding her pajama top as she stretched in the morning light. “Spike?” she called, looking around her room, and noticing that he was already out of bed, though he had, as was the case on most occasions, save for those when Fluttershy or Rarity babysat him while Twilight was gone, neglected to make his bed. She often wondered if the boy had thought he’d make a good impression on the two older women simply by being neat or hygienic.
“I’m downstairs, Twilight!” Spike called, barely loud enough to be heard through the closed door of their shared bedroom. “I made you some breakfast, too! Pancakes, bacon, and some fried eggs!”
Twilight stood, lowered her pajama bottoms, stepped out of them, and selected her clothes for the day, taking a short sleeved violet shirt that showed her stomach just slightly, and her usual skinny jeans. She smiled to herself and wondered if any of the men in town had noticed how nice these jeans made her butt look, though she knew, or hoped, maybe, that she’d gone unnoticed, seeing as how she hadn’t been with a man, or with a woman for that matter, since leaving Canterlot to learn about friendship.
“Twilight!” Spike called, louder this time. “Your food’s gonna get cold! I didn’t wake up early so you could eat cold food, you know!”
Twilight giggled at her assistant’s annoyed demeanor, though she did wonder what had possessed him to make her breakfast. “What’s the occasion?” she called back, running her fingers through her hair a few times to straighten it out a little before opening the bedroom door and starting down the stairs.
“You forgot?” Spike’s voice seemed to lose its playful edge. He seemed… shocked. “You mean you don’t remember what today is…?” Twilight could barely hear him ask that, as he’d stopped yelling, and was now speaking in a normal, though almost quiet voice.
Twilight walked into the kitchen to see her assistant staring at her, eyes big, and brimming with tears. “Forgot what?” Twilight asked him, confused, and slightly worried.
“Today’s the fifth anniversary of the day you took me as an assistant, Twilight!” Spike’s voice was suddenly brimming with anger. “That was the day someone finally made me feel useful! Sure, we’d been friends since the day I was born, but you have never, never made me happier than the day you picked me as your assistant.” He drew in a ragged breath through his mouth. “And you think it’s so unimportant that it’s not worth marking on your calendar?”
Twilight froze for a moment before walking over to the boy and hugging him around his neck. “Why do you think it’s a day you need to pamper me on, Spike?” She tousled his green hair playfully, grinning widely at him. “If anything I should be the one cooking for you!” Nice save, Twilight, but you’ve just bought yourself a whole day of pampering Spike to save face.
“R-really?” Spike asked, trying to contain his tears, though some finally rolled down his cheeks to the tile floor. “I was gonna do a lot of nice stuff for you today.”
“I know you were, Spike.” Twilight hugged him again. “And that’s really sweet of you, but if anybody’s supposed to do nice stuff for a day like this, it should be me. I mean, you’re my assistant every day. You’ve made me breakfast a lot of times regardless, so it’s my turn to do some nice things for you.”
Sitting at the table, the two of them began to eat. “So what does my favorite assistant in the world want to do today?” Twilight asked, smiling at Spike. “You’ve gotten better at cooking, by the way. The eggs aren’t over-salted, and the bacon’s actually cooked.”
“Thanks, Twilight. How about the pancakes?” Spike asked, returning the smile.
“The pancakes need work, but you’re getting there. We’ll both make breakfast tomorrow, so I can show you how to do them just right.”
“Sounds great!” Spike exclaimed enthusiastically. “Now, about what I wanted to do today.” He paused to think. “I haven’t thought about things I want to do since my birthday rolled around. Give me some ideas, and we’ll do them together.”
Twilight tilted her head to the side, thinking. “You could use some new clothes.” she offered, looking at the boy’s raggedy, tattered outfit. His purple hoodie was more patchwork than hoodie now, and the green shirt he wore below it had moth holes in the neckline. “It’d give you an excuse to go see Rarity, too.”
“Rarity? Really?” Spike’s eyes went wide for a moment. “But I don’t need fancy clothes. The mall’s got cheap t-shirts and stuff. You don’t have to spend money on me.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious?” she asked. “You really do need some nice clothes, Spike. You can’t keep wearing the same stuff all the time. Dress nicer and I’m sure the ladies would be all over you.” she joked. “I’ve seen Applebloom look at you every now and then as is. She’d be swooning over you if you wore a nice blazer or something every once in a while.”
“For the last time, Twilight, I’m not interested in Applebloom!” Spike said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Applejack and Rainbow Dash almost constantly teased him about that, and Twilight new it was his trigger.
“Are you interested in anyone, besides Rarity and Fluttershy?” Twilight asked seriously, taking on the motherly role she so loved to play around him.
“Does that matter?” Spike responded, avoiding the question.
“Spike, when I was your age, I liked droves of boys. You’ve only shown interest in two women since you were born, and they’re both six years older than you.”
“I’m eighteen now.” Spike declared. “So it doesn’t matter how much older the women I like are. And that’s not important. What else should we do today?” he asked, attempting to return to the subject at hand.
“Well I’m sure Applejack wouldn’t mind making you an apple pie, if you ask her really nice, and I’m sure Pinkie’ll make you something too. Then I guess we could go the spa and get a massage if you’d like.”
“I’ve never had a massage before, and I hear Aloe and Lotus are great with their hands.” Spike said, snickering.
“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed, blushing slightly. “That’s disgusting!”
“No, it isn’t.” he retorted. “It’d be disgusting if I asked for the ‘Happy Ending’ special.”
They both laughed.
Author's Note
Here's chapter one. They might come a bit irregularly since I've got work to handle alongside my actual writing career, but yeah. Enjoy.
