A Nice Day Inside

Twilight woke up slowly. However, once up, she was ready for the day. Spike, however, was having none of that. As soon as she pulled the curtains open, he tugged the sheets over himself tighter, blocking out the offending light. She opened up the curtains further, awakening the lazy dragon at a more moderate rate. “Morning, Spike! Would you just look at how beautiful this day is! I know winter isn’t exactly my favorite season, but sometimes it’s beauty is just almost too much. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Spike grunted. “Can’t we appreciate it from the comfort of our own beds? Sheesh Twilight, some of us can’t be up at the crack of dawn like you.”

“It’s 10:30.”

“Oh. Hey wait, weren’t you supposed to go and have that reading date with Rainbow Dash today?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “You mean our prearranged get-together? If so, then yes. It’s just a little thing we’re having since the new Daring Do book came out. Anyhow, I have a list of chores for you to do today.” The checklist she pulled out fell to the floor, rolling out the window, and she smirked to herself. That should keep him busy for a while. Her smile gleamed in the sunlight while she walked away as her number one assistant scrambled to pick up the long scroll taking up his room. “I’ll see you later, Spike!”

Spike grumbled to himself, something about “revenge”, or whatever it is baby dragons mumble about.

Rabinow Dash arrived shortly after she got up. So around 1:00.

She flew in one of the open windows of the castle, a smug little grin on her face. “Twilight! Yo, Twilight! You ready to do that reading thing we had planned?”

“What? Oh, yeah. Let’s get settled in, shall we?” Twilight opened up her closet, and pulled out two velvet sitting pillows her and Rainbow could use while they read together. “Did you bring your book?”

“Sure did! It’s right here in my-” Rainbow looked in her saddlebags that were seated by the couch for her book, but it was nowhere to be found. “Hey! Who stole my book?”

Meanwhile, a certain baby dragon was snickering with a Daring Do book in his hand as he scurried away from the scene of the crime. He muttered to himself as he tucked the book safely in a little chest in his room, “Wake me up before noon, will you? Well, your reading date is about to get a little more hectic than you’d like it to be.”

Compromising to read Twilight’s book together, the two ponies got comfy and settled in close by the fire to ward off the chill that was in the room. Other than the fact that Twilight read so quickly that Rainbow had to often pause her from turning the next page of the book, things were going smoothly. “Hey, Twilight, I’m getting kind of hungry. You got anything to eat around here?”

“Oh, sure, let me just run to the kitchen and get some soup. Spike made some last night, I think I have some left over.”

Dash nodded absentmindedly and muttered a thanks as Twilight made her way into the kitchen. The cold tiles were still something Twilight couldn’t get used to, but oh well.

She grabbed the soup out of the refrigerator and turned to get a couple of bowls out from the cupboard, not noticing the purple blob that was hiding behind the island in the middle of the kitchen. While she was turned around, Spike ran to where the soup was sitting, pulling out a small bottle of hot sauce. He had to act quickly; she could turn around and see him at any moment.

The top of the bottle cracked open, Twilight’s ears perking up to the sound. She swung her head around in confusion, looking for the culprit. Spike hid behind the bottom of the island while a single bead of sweat rolled down his scaly face. Come on, Twilight, go back to getting the silverware. Shrugging it off, she turned around and pulled out the drawer. Spike practically flew over to the bowl, lightly tapping the back of the bottle to squirt the menacing liquid into the vegetable soup. The problem was, he didn’t realize how lose the top was, so it all poured in from the opening once the top of the bottle popped off and landed in the soup. The now reddish-looking soup was sitting there in front of the stunned dragon. But there was no time for going back now, he had to jet before Twilight realized what happened. He could apologize, but that was too much effort at the moment. He opted for running back to behind the couch in the living room to watch his plan unfold.

Twilight returned to her reading with Rainbow Dash, two bowls of soup hovering in her magic. “Thanks, Twilight. I thought I was going to have to break down and start eating my own leg before you came in.”

“Oh, don’t be silly. Anyway, Spike made this last night, so it’s bound to be even better today! He made it with those carrots that Fluttershy gave us, and there was these weird kinds of onions that Rarity gave him whenever she-”

She was quickly interrupted when Rainbow stuck a hoof in her mouth. “I get it, it’s super amazingly awesome and one of a kind. Enough talking about it, let’s dig in!”

They both smiled at each other before bringing the soup up to their mouths. The warm broth was a welcome visitor to their cold bodies. However, for some reason, the flavors were becoming harder to detect. Rainbow looked at her bowl in confusion, as Twilight did the same. They then looked up to one another as their eyes watered; and they slowly started to gasp for precious air. “Twi-Twilight! What the hell was in this soup!”

Still dry-heaving, she responded the best she could. “I-I don’t know! It was the most amazing soup I ever had last night! Spike! Spike!”

When Spike heard his name, it snapped him out of the silent laughing-fit he was having. “Coming!” He entered their presence trying to hid the growing smirk that was trying to invade his face. “Yes, Twilight? What is it?”

“Bread and milk! Now!” She coughed up what sounded like a lung soon after barking that order at her number one assistant.

Spike ran into the kitchen and grabbed some bread and milk, deciding not to tamper with it this time. Besides, he had other things to do.

When he returned, the fit of shouting and swearing had stopped, and the ponies were on the road to recovery once he gave them the bread and milk. “Here you guys go. That soup sounded spicy, you better be careful next time before you inhale it like that.”

Rainbow Dash only shot him a very dirty look, while Twilight spoke for both of them, “It was NOT inhaled! We only took a sip! Ughhhh!” Her patience was dwindling with him just standing there looking at him with his not-burnt mouth.

It was Rainbow’s turn to speak up, seeing Twilight’s tail twitch in annoyance. “Thank you for the help, but we’re going to go back to reading now. If you need anything, we’ll be down here. But try not to need anything.”

Leaving the room, Spike went to go sulk for a while. After all, he was only supposed to make their soup a little bit hotter, not the lava pit he swam in with those other dragons a few years ago. Deciding that the little inferno soup incident was going a little far, he took it upon himself to make it up to Rainbow Dash and Twilight.

Twilight and Rainbow were about halfway through the book. Their tongues still fuzzy, they set out to Sugar Cube Corner to buy some treats to snack on, (it was Rainbow’s idea, as she deemed every food item in Twilight’s house to be booby trapped). After they were gone, Spike took on the charge of cleaning the entire castle, sweeping it from top to bottom, and making sure everything was at 90 degree angles, just how Twilight liked it. However, while he was fluffing the pillows, his tail accidentally knocked the book corner into the fire, igniting the novel into flames. Panicking, he desperately ran into the kitchen, grabbing a pail of water to put out the flames with. By the time he got back into the parlor, he noticed that the rug and two pillows were also lit up. He threw the water in the general area, and by some miracle the fire was completely put out. Spike was panting and grasping his knees as he bent over and caught his breath, hoping and praying that he could come up with a way to tell Twilight when her and Rainbow got home. “Okay, Spike, keep it together. Just tell her the truth, that’s always what Twilight says.” The door creaked, and he looked over to see Twilight and Rainbow make their way inside. Before they could enter though, he pushed them outside and slammed the door behind him with a loud thud.

“Gah, Spike! What’s the big idea?” Rainbow asked, shooting him a look. “I almost busted my nose on that damn door!”

Twilight furrowed her brow and asked with a stern voice, “Spike, what’s going on?”

Spike replied, “Uh, nothing! Nothing’s going on! Everything’s normal, hehe.” Looking around, he searched for a change in subject. “So...what did you guys get from Sugar Cube Corner?”

Twilight beamed and let out a girly squeal as she temporarily forgot the situation at hand. “Ohh! I got you one of your favorite cupcakes - sapphire!” Twilight gleamed with pride as she got out his favorite flavored cupcake. “Also, Rainbow Dash and I were talking, and we figured out that it was you that put the hot sauce in the soup.”

“Wait, you knew it was me?”

“Of course! Who else was here between last night and today except us? After we calmed down about it, we just wrote it off as a prank gone bad. We love you, Spike, and we aren’t going to hold something silly like that against you.”

He started feeling a little woozy. “Hehe, that’s uh...that’s sweet of you guys, really. But um...think you could maybe not hold something else against me?” His voice cracked a little as it increased in pitch when he asked that question.

Twilight deadpanned. “What happened.”

Gulping, Spike replied nervously, “Well, you see, when you guys left, I was going to apologize by doing some chores around here. I even put everything back in right angles, just like you want it!” That last bit caused Dash to shoot Twilight a very peculiar look, which Twilight blushed at and shrugged off. “But, when I was cleaning the parlor, I accidentally knocked the book in the fire, and caused a teency weency fire in the parlor. But don’t worry! I put it out!” He bit his lip in anticipation as Rainbow approached him.

“And how do we know you didn’t just light up the place? You are a dragon, after all.” She started flying around him in smooth, slow circles. “Maybe, harboring hard feelings, you decided to get your revenge by lighting the place up! FACE UP TO IT, SPIKE! WE GOT YOUR NUMBER!” By the time she was finished, her nose was pushed up against his, causing him to shudder and tremble where he stood.

“Rainbow Dash, that’s enough!” Twilight had just about had it with this day all together. “Let’s just take a look and see what the damage is.” She slid by the two of them, and opened the door. Noticing the burnt up book and pillows in the middle of the room, the rest of the room looked fine. She closed her eyes and her horn glowed purple as she casted a restoration spell in the room, restoring everything to its normal state. “There, good as new. Now, can we please just put this all behind us? Frankly, I don’t care what happened. All I know is that we didn’t start the fire, and you were here when it happened. But, you reacted quickly and were able to save yourself, as well as the castle. Therefore, you’re only grounded until the end of the day.” Smiling, Rainbow Dash took the sapphire cupcake from the bag Twilight had on her back.

“And, as extra added punishment, I’m gonna eat this right in front of you!”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Rainbow, no! That’s-”

“Pfft, relax, Twilight. For just once, can’t you let me be awesome without me hearing a lecture?” With that, she opened her mouth and took a huge bite into the cupcake.

The cupcake covered in solid blue crystals, which promptly chipped at least one of her teeth.

“Gaahhhhh! Twilight! Why didn’t you say something! Ahh! This is SO not cool!”

Twilight smacked her forehead with her hoof and sighed.

After casting a restorative dental spell on Rainbow’s teeth, (as well as ordering her not to eat anything for at least another six hours), they were both back to reading, and Spike was confined to his room. Page after page, the light outside grew dim and the second half of the novel grew thinner. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the two girls finally finished their book.

“Finally! I felt like this day, er, uh, this book, would never end!” Rainbow dramatically threw up her hooves as she slowly rolled on her back, adjusting to the pillow’s fluffiness.

“Oh, I hear ya on that one. I’m about as tired as AJ is when she gets done working on the farm all day.” A silence took over the room as they sat and looked around, Twilight fixing her gaze on the fire’s flames. “Do you...do you think I was a little hard on Spike today?”

“What?”

“Well, what if he really didn’t start that fire on purpose. I have to admit, when you suggested that he started it out of spite, one of the reasons I punished him was because I believe you. But, now that I think about it, this book is pretty close to the fireplace. It sounds more and more like he was telling the truth.”

Rainbow sighed.”I don’t know. Maybe you should go talk to him? We all had a pretty crazy day around here, but it all turned out okay in the end. I mean, I’m still sorta glad I came over.”

“Sorta glad?”

“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t plan on having my mouth reduced to ashes and my teeth breaking. But other than that, it was pretty fun.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Okay, Rainbow. I’ll go talk to him.”

After a quick nuzzle, Rainbow flew out the same window she came in that morning, and Twilight Sparkle made her way up the stairs to Spike’s room.

Spike was sitting on the edge of his bed, a comic book sprawled out on the floor, most likely from being tossed. Twilight knew the sight of a book tossed haphazardly on the floor, and that was definitely what the comic looked like. She knocked on his door lightly and opened it with caution, calling for him in a motherly tone, “Spike, can I talk to you?”

He shrugged. She walked in, and sat down next to him. “Spike, I know that today was pretty crazy. We all had our ups and downs, but I have to ask: why did you act out so much today?”

Spike sighed. “Because, Twilight, I’m always your number one assistant. I just guess that you and I haven’t been spending that much time together lately; and it seems like we have any time to spend together, I’m always doing stuff. Just once, can’t we spend some time together like we used to?”

Her expression softened even more upon hearing this, realizing that he indeed has been working his little tail off for her more than ever. And, after becoming a princess, she really hasn’t spent that much time with him like when she was just a unicorn. “Alright, Spike. You pick a day, and I will officially deem that Spike and Twilight’s day, and nothing will interfere with it. How does that sound?”

He paused, considering her offer. “Throw in a gemstone cupcake of my choosing for that day, and we got a deal.”

His proposition caused her to chuckle. “Setting terms, are we? No problem, we have a deal then.”

They hugged, holding on for a few seconds before letting go. All was quiet in the castle for a few minutes, but Spike broke the silence. “So, other than that, how was your date with Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight let out a tired groan. “It was not a date!”

Author's Note

A huge, huge thanks to Soundslikeponies for editing and helping out.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this little one-shot I cooked up.