Chapters All around him, Spike could see the multiple bodies of dancing stallions and mares. Every way he looked, he was surrounded by a sea of ponies who were moving to the music. Spike, being no different than every pony else, was also dancing along. After all, he was at of Pinkie Pie’s famous Sunday night parties and this one was one of her best. It seemed like almost every pony in Ponyville had managed to squeeze into Sugarcube corner to take part in the fun.
There was a chocolate fountain, flashing lights, and Vinyl Scratch was playing her latest track. To Spike, it felt like the perfect party, except that he was alone. Spike had originally showed up with Twilight Sparkle and the rest of his friends, but they had soon lost each other in the madness. Deciding to find his companions, Spike exited the dance floor and made his way to the massive snacks table. There, he saw Pinkie Pie was busy devouring every piece of candy in sight.
“Hey, Pinkie!” Spike yelled so she would hear him over the sound of the music. Stopping from her eating, Pinkie lifted up her head and smiled when she saw her dragon friend.
“Spike!” she called. “You have to try some of this food. It’s incredible!”
“Well, you did spend all day making it.”
“Oh yeah.”
“Anyways, do you know where any pony else is?”
Pinkie Pie brought a hoof up to her chin and pondered this for a moment. Finally, she turned back to Spike with another massive smile.
“Sure do!”
“That’s great!”
That pony is over there,” she said pointing to a random stallion. “And that pony is over here. And that pony is over...”
“Pinkie,” Spike interrupted.
“Yes, Spike?”
“I meant our friends?”
“Oh, well I know Fluttershy wen’t home because she wasn’t feeling to well. Poor Flutters, she had a tummy ache.”
“And any pony still at the party?”
“Twilight’s over there, but I have to warn you about something before you go see her.”
“What’s that?” Pinkie then popped up next to spike and leaned in towards him.
“She’s a little....intoxcimicated.” Pinkie whispered.
“What?”
“You know! Twily’s had a few too many drinks, but on the bright side, this is the wildest I’ve ever seen her before!”
“So she’s drunk.”
“Yeppers! Isn’t that what I said?”
“Sure it was. Anyways, I better bring her home then.”
“Oh, okay. Goodnight, Spike! Ooh, and tell Twilight that she needs to be drunk more often!”
Spike just chuckled at his friend’s remark and made his way over to where Pinkie said Twilight was partying. Sure enough, he soon found her under a table, debating magic with a bowl of chips.
“Uh, Twi?”
“And I’m telling you it is possible!”
Spike remained momentarily confused before he realized she was still talking to her nachos. “Twilight, I think we should go home now. I don’t think that getting drunk at a party would look good for a princess’s reputation.”
“Oh yeah? Well, the spell may be hard, but it’s still doable!”
“Alright, smarty pants. I guess I’ll just have to carry you home like last time.”
“Oh really!? Just watch this!”
Before Spike could react, Twilight fired up a spell from her horn. The magical energy shimmered around them and finally a bright flash of light drowned out Spike’s view of the party scene.
Opening his eyes, Spike could see that he wasn’t at Sugarcube Corner anymore. In fact, he appeared to be back in his own bed. Looking around, the dragon realized that it was morning.
“Uh, he thought, rolling over, “Another Monday morning... Wait, morning!?” Looking at the clock on his wall, Spike realized that he had seriously slept in. “Oh jeez, Twilight’s going to kill me!”
Spike leapt out of bed, threw his door open, and rushed down the massive marble stairs. The dragon jogged throughout the massive castle he called a home, eventually reaching the kitchen. Spike opened the kitchen door, expecting Twilight to be waiting for him.
“I’m so sorry, Twilight. I know I overslept, but it’s just that we got home so late and...”
Looking around, Spike could see that Twilight was not up from her bed yet. The drake let a smile creep onto his lips as he realized the explanation for this.
“She must still be in bed. I guess all that alcohol practically put her into a coma.”
Spike then got started on his daily chores. He began to make breakfast, but as he did so, he couldn’t help but think of last night’s party.
“Have to admit,” Spike thought, flipping pancakes, “Pinkie really outdid herself. It was like the whole town was there. I hope every pony had a good time; I know I did. Yep, dancing, talking to Pinkie, seeing Twilight drunk, and...”
Now that he thought about it, Spike couldn’t remember anything beyond seeing Twilight. In fact, he couldn’t even recall how he had gotten back home. However, before he could try and think harder, the kitchen door slammed open and Twilight hustled in.
“Hey, Twi,” Spike greeted. “How are you feel...”
“Oh my Celestia, Spike. I am so sorry!”
Getting a good look at her, Spike saw that Twilight appeared not at all hungover, but nervous instead.
“Sorry for what?”
“I know I overslept, but it’s just that we got home so late and I was really tired.”
Spike, hearing his own words flung at him, was utterly confused.
“What are you talking about?”
“Please don’t try and pretend like I’m not late for doing my chores. I...I’ll get on them right away!” With that, Twilight hurried back out the kitchen. Spike then could faintly hear the sounds of books getting reshelved.
“Uh,” Spike groaned. “I better go see why she has a screw loose.”
The dragon walked out of the kitchen and followed Twilight into the library. Once he arrived, Spike saw her hurrying around the room, dusting shelves, sweeping the floor, and placing books back into their proper places.
“Seriously, Twilight,” Spike called. “What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? Oh, Spike, did I do something wrong!? Did I put a book in the wrong place or did I miss a spot on the floor?”
“What? No. I just want to know what...”
“Whatever it is, just tell me. I’ll do it again right away! Just please don’t send me away.” At this point, Twilight was tearing up and had embraced Spike’s waist in a massive hug.
“Send you away? Why, and more importantly how could I do that?”
“B...because I’m your number one assistant and I was late for my chores.”
Something in Spike’s head clicked and he grinned at the sobbing mare. Deciding to play along, he answered her.
“Oh, Twilight. I’m not going to send you away. Like you said, your my number one assistant.”
“Really!? Then you don’t mind that I overslept?” Twilight asked, beaming.
“Of course not! You work too hard anyways.”
“Oh thank you, Spike.” she squeaked, tightening her grip on Spike’s waist.
“No problem, Twi. Now just finish your morning chores.”
“Okay!”
For the rest of the day, Spike smiled as Twilight pretended that she was his assistant. He let her make him breakfast, help him make a few checklists, aided him in practicing his fire breathing, and even wrote a letter to Princess Celestia. Finally, the day was over and Spike and Twilight made their way to bed.
“Hey, Twi?” Spike asked, climbing into his bed.
“Yes, Spike?”
“Thanks for pretending to be my assistant today. I really enjoyed it?”
“Well I’m glad you appreciated my help, but what do you mean by pretending?”
Spike just giggled, impressed at how long Twilight was intending to keep up the charade. “I think you know what I mean. Anyways, I’d like it if things could go back to normal tomorrow. Okay?”
“Uh, okay then.”
Spike then whispered the same line he heard every single night spoken to him. “Goodnight, my number one assistant.”
“Goodnight, Spike.”
As the first rays of light from Celestia’s rising sun reached Spike’s eyelids, the young dragon couldn’t help but awaken from his slumber. Unfortunately, the said whelp was not ready to greet the day and promptly rolled over to escape the light. After a few minutes of trying to return to his sleep, Spike realized slumber would evade him for the rest of that morning. Groaning, he laid up in his bed and looked around his and Twilight’s room, noticing she was not there.
“Why can’t I ever sleep in?” Spike asked to no one in particular. Just then, he remembered how he had slept in the previous morning and this, in turn, led him to recall all of yesterday’s events. This included Twilight sleeping in as well and her pretending to be his assistant.
“Well,” he mumbled. “I better go see if things are back to normal around here.”
Hopping out of bed, Spike yawned and stretched one last time before fully exiting his bedroom. The sleepy dragon made his way down the castle’s main hall and to the master kitchen. He knew Twilight would most likely already be cooking breakfast, but he was unsure if he would be her assistant again.
Walking through the door, Spike was instantly hit by the smell pancakes being horribly burned and a wall of thick smoke.
“Well, Twilight’s definitely up and making breakfast,” he thought. “I just hope we don’t have to put a fire out like last time.”
Spike made his way through the smokescreen until he reached the kitchen counter. Finally reaching clear air, Spike took in a large breath, refilling his lungs.
“Good morning, Spike.”
Looking up, Spike could see Twilight by the stove smiling at him.
“Morning, Twi. Hey, you see that half the kitchen is filled with smoke, right.”
“Well, it’s not exactly half, now is it?”
Spike sighed and looked back at the mountain of smoke. He aways hated when Twilight started talking about numbers.
“I’m pretty sure it’s half, Twi.”
“Looks more like a third to me.”
“Were not doing this again. Remember last Thursday?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, while we debated exactly how much of our breakfast was burnt, the fire you started spread to multiple wings of the castle.”
“Oh, right.”
“Anyways, are we back to normal?”
“Back to normal? Hey, if you want to talk about last Saturday, we can, but I thought we agreed to just forget it. I mean, I did see you...”
“That is not what I mean Twi! And yes, we did agree to forget that ever happened.”
“I know, but it was just so...”
“Drop it!”
“Okay, okay. Hey, do you realize how much of our conversations are about events that happened the previous week.”
“I guess you’re right. It would suck to be somepony just following our conversation without knowing about the events we have been discussing.”
“Yes, that would be pretty confusing. Well, now that I ruined breakfast, what does my number one assistant want for breakfast?”
Spike sighed in relief after hearing Twilight call him that name. “Actually, I’m going to head over to Rarity’s to see if she wants any help.”
“But you need to help me clean the kitchen!”
“Twi, you’re an aileron princess who has defeated countless evil powers. I’m pretty sure you can handle cleaning your own kitchen. Oh, and make sure to put out the fire quickly this time.”
“What fire?”
“I’m sure there will be one soon. Now, I’m off to Rarity’s. See you, Twi!”
“Bye, Spike!”
Approaching the Crystal Boutique, Spike couldn’t help but feel a mixture of excitement and nervousness. The beautiful fashionista had been the young dragon’s long time crush ever since ha had first laid eyes on her. He had tried multiple times to confess his feelings for her, yet Spike always failed to get the message across. He just hoped that one day he would finally have the courageous enough to tell Rarity he loved her.
“Oh, well,” he thought. “I guess I better start with just helping her make some dresses.”
Spike promptly walked up to the boutique’s front door and rang the doorbell. He then heard some shuffling from inside followed by a few items falling to the ground.
“Just a minute!” he heard Rarity call.
After a minute had passed, or fifty six seconds if you are Twilight, the door opened, revealing Rarity’s beautiful image to a gaping Spike.
“Oh, hello Spike,” Rarity greeted softly.
“Um, hi, Rarity. Are you okay?”
“Yes, Spike. I’m feeling fine, but what are you doing here?”
“Well, I just wanted to know if you needed any help?”
Spike was surprised to see a blush appear on Rarity’s face.
“So is that a yes or...”
“Yes! I would love your help!”
Spike jumped back a few feet at Rarity’s sudden outburst. The poor dragon ended up tumbling onto his back and before he could even comprehend what had just happened, Spike saw Rarity rushing towards him. The unicorn mare skidded to a stop near Spike and lowered her muzzle inches away his face.
“Spike!” she yelled. “I am so sorry! That was just so stupid!”
“That’s okay, Rares. It was an accident. It’s not like you did it on purpose.”
“Well, yes, but I would understand if you no longer wanted to help me.”
“What!? Of course I still wanna help you.”
“Really! Oh, than you, my Spikey-Wikey!”
While it pleased Spike to see Rarity so happy, it still disturbed him that her muzzle was still so close to his own.
“Uh, Rarity? Can I get up now?”
Spike’s question seemingly brought Rarity back into reality and only now did she realize the position the two were in.
“Rarity, why are you blushing?”
“No...reason......” Rarity trailed off as she looked into Spike’s emerald eyes. On Spike’s part, he was trapped on the ground by the unicorn above him, who seemed paralyzed by the very sight of him.
“Seriously, Rares? Can you just move a little?”
His words had seemingly no affect on Rarity, however, as she kept on staring at the young drake on the floor.
“Why is she looking at me like that?” Spike thought. “I mean, the only time I’ve ever seen a pony give that look was when...”
Spike’s train of thought stopped as he began to recall a picture take of him by Rainbow Dash. In it, the drake was staring at Rarity with hearts in his eyes and was unable to peel them away. Dash had taken the photo just to show Spike how weird he looked staring at Rarity. And here Rarity was now, giving him the same loving stare.
“Wow,” he continued thinking. “Rarity’s giving me my hopelessly trapped by love stare. Wait, yesterday Twilight’s my assistant and today Rarity has a crush on me. That’s too perfect to be anything else but a joke!”
At this realization, Spike’s face grew red with rage.
“Spike?” Rarity asked, finally able to talk after seeing the dragon’s face turn red, “Is everything alright?”
“No, Rarity, it’s not! I thought that when Twilight pretended to be my assistant yesterday, it was just her little joke. But here you are today, pretending like you have a crush on me!”
“You knew?”
“Well, maybe I’m not as dumb as you two think I am. Yes, I know you and Twilight are pulling some kind of joke.”
“Darling, what do you mean? I was asking how you knew about my crush for you.”
“Oh, give it up, Rarity. There’s no need to play along anymore! I figured it out, alright.”
Just like that, Spike squirmed his way from underneath Rarity and was finally granted his freedom. He turned towards the door of the boutique and started to leave, but Rarity’s voice caused him to turn around.
“Spike, please! I’m not making this up! Yes, I have a crush on you, but why are you being so mean?”
“Oh, I’m the one being mean? Twilight’s part of the joke was actually kind of funny and I even liked having an assistant for the day. However, using my feelings for you to mock me is just plain cruel!”
With that, Spike slammed the door to the Crystal Boutique and started to make his way home.
Wednesday Morning: Fluttershy 1
Morning had once again graced Ponyville with its presence. Most of the small town’s inhabitants began to wake up and start their morning routines. Smiles spread across the ponies’ faces as they greeted the rising sun. However, Spike found himself in no mood to greet anything. Immediately after waking up, the young dragon recalled the previous days events. He also remembered how mad he had felt the other day.
“I just can’t believe it,” he sighed to himself. “I never thought Rarity would be mean enough to do something like that.”
Spike turned over in his bed and pulled the covers over his head.
“I mean...I thought she was my friend.”
Just then, Spike heard a knock at the door.
“That’s weird,” he thought. “Why would Twilight knock?”
Spike wiggled out from under his blankets and looked around. Much too his astonishment, the dragon was not in his own room. Looking down, he realized that he wasn’t in his own bed either.
“Now that’s really weird.”
Once again, some pony knocked on the door to the mysterious room. Now that he was fully awake, Spike finally realized the situation he was in.
“Oh, Celestia,” he thought. “Some pony must have knocked me out and dragged me to their house! Oh, man. I bet that’s him at the door. He’s probably going to...”
Before Spike’s wild imagination could take him any further, the door opened and shy pegasus with pink mane walked in.
“Oh, Fluttershy,” Spike sighed with relief. “You scared me for a second.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Spike. I should have known you were sleeping. I’ll just come back later, is that’s okay?”
Fluttershy began to walk out the room, but Spike sprang out of the bed and stopped her.
“Wait a sec, Flutters. I need you to tell me a few things.”
“Oh, okay. Like what exactly?”
“Well, I just want you’re doing here and why I’m not in my own bed.”
“Oh, of course. I was walking home the last night when I passed the Crystal Boutique. I stopped when I heard some shouting from inside. I saw the door open and I got scared, so I hid in the bushes. That’s when I saw you leave, but you were looking really mad. I knew something must have happened, so I started following you home.”
“Okay? But that doesn’t explain what I’m doing here.”
“Well, Spike. You’re at home in the Friendship Castle, just in a different room.”
Looking around, Spike noticed that the room was nearly identical to his, but was missing only a few of his personal items.
“Oh, yeah. Probably should have known that. But why are you here? Uh, no offense.”
“Oh, none taken. I’m here because you passed out right before you got home. I had to carry you inside. Twilight was worried and told me to take you to your room. I wasn’t sure which one was yours though, so I just picked one.”
“Well, that does explain the room, but again, why are you still here?”
“I was worried about you, so I spent the night to make sure I could check up on you in the morning.”
“Awww, Fluttershy, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I just wanted to make sure a friend was okay. It was nothing.”
Spike then wrapped Fluttershy in a tight hug, one that she happily returned.
“So Spike, tell me, what had you so upset last night?”
“I...uh, kind of don’t want to talk about it.”
“But, Spike, I stayed here all night to make sure you were okay. You could at least tell me what’s wrong.”
“I guess that’s true, Okay, fine. The reason I was so mad leaving Rarity’s last night was...”
Just then, Spike’s stomach growled loudly and Fluttershy gave a slight ‘eep’ of fright.
“Sorry, Flutters. I guess I just need some breakfast.”
“That’s alright, Spike. Twilight’s in the kitchen anyways and she was worried about you too. You can tell us together.”
Spike and Fluttershy then exited the room and made their way to the recreational floor of the castle. They walked through a few hallways and finally arrived at their destination, the kitchen. Opening the door, Spike was hit by the smell of blueberry pancakes, his favorite.
“Good morning, Spike.”
Turning his head to the source of the greeting, Spike found Twilight sitting at the kitchen table. Near her was an empty plate covered in blueberries and crumbs.
“Hey, Twi. I heard you were worried about me.”
“Of course I was! It was late at night and Fluttershy walks holding your unconscious body. I was terrified! But then Fluttershy told me what she saw and I calmed down. You weren’t injured so I figured I would talk to you in the morning. However, I’m glad Fluttershy stayed the night just in case. By the way, Fluttershy, I hope you were comfortable last night.”
“Oh, I was fine. I slept in Spike’s room.”
“Wait. You said you didn’t know where my room was.”
Spike’s stomach growled again, prompting the dragon to drop his statement and turn towards the food. He loaded a plate full of pancakes and made his way to the table. The young dragon sat across from Twilight and Fluttershy took a seat next to her.
“So, Spike,” Twilight began. “Tell us what’s wrong.”
“Uh, okay. If you hadn’t already guessed, it has something to do with Rarity. When I went to help her yesterday, she started acting all weird. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Mostly because I was distracted by her big beautiful eyes, and her soft, silky mane, and her amazing...”
“Stay on topic, Spike!”
“Huh? Oh, right. A little later she was still acting weird, but in a way that was almost familiar to me. She started to get all clumsy and kept staring at me. Remind you of anyone?”
“I hate to say it Spike, but that sounds like what you do when you’re around Rarity.”
“Exactly! I questioned her about it and she said she had a crush on me! That’s when I figure out your little joke, Twilight?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, please. Don’t tell me you spending all of Monday pretending to be my assistant and Rarity pretending to have a crush on me is a little coincidental. Just give it up.”
“Spike, I have no idea what you are talking about. I was in Canterlot yesterday and got back late that night, I didn’t see you all day.”
“But...what...huh?”
“As for Rarity, I don’t think that’s the whole story.”
“Twilight, you can’t be serious. Seriously, what’s going on here?”
“I wouldn’t know. Spike, I think something maybe is wrong with you. Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine. What’s not okay is you denying this! I admit, your part of the joke was kinda fun, but Rarity went too far! I won’t be mad at you, but I just want to know you had something to do with this!”
“Spike Sparkle!”
Twilight’s harsh tone and use of his full name shocked him out of his rant. Looking around, he saw that Fluttershy was under the table and shaking. His plate of pancakes was flipped over and syrup was all over the table. Worst of all, Twilight had the look in her eyes that he knew meant she was disappointed.
“I’m sorry,” he began. “I’m so sorry.”
With that, Spike hopped down from his chair and ran out of the kitchen and out of the castle.
