Spike was noticeably slow in his steps as he made his way down one of the many hallways of the Friendship Palace. His expression made it very clear that, whatever was going on, he was worried about it. As he breathed, it sounded as though he was doing his best to calm himself down. Eventually though, he came upon his destination; a door at the end of the hall. And after just a moment's hesitation, he reached up for the knob, turning it and entering the room within. The place in question was none other that Twilight's personal chambers, and the young Princess was already there, sitting on the side of her bed. Her eyes met his the moment he entered the place, and as he closed the door behind him, his lifelong friend broke the silence between them.
"Spike...we need to talk."
The youngster sighed, slowly making his way towards the large bed. As he briefly looked up, he saw Twilight patting the spot at her side, prompting him to give a nod. Once there, he hopped on, sitting beside her, though he still refused to look up at her. Twilight regarded him carefully, her expression one of concern, rather than anger. After a while, she sighed, looking down at the ground in a like-minded manner.
"You know why I called you here?"
Spike stayed silent, giving a nod to her question. And this, in turn, caused Twilight to look away from him. Her horn lit up, and nearby, a drawer of one of her dressing tables began to glow as well. It opened, and from within, an object was being levitated out. Spike didn't look to it, but he already knew what it was, judging from the blush that now crept upon his cheeks. As Twilight levitated the object into her hooves, she looked to her faithful assistant yet again.
"Spike...please look at me."
It was a hard request, that much was certain, and the child took great difficulty in doing it. But, ever so slowly, he finally glanced up to his friend. Her concerned expression remained, but it wasn't long before the drake's eyes drifted down to what she now held in her lap. It was a magazine. One that, even from a glance, looked very different from what Spike was usually known for keeping. He looked away again, his face one of shame, which prompted Twilight to look down at what she held.
"I had some spare time yesterday, so...I decided to do a bit of cleaning. Eventually, I got to your room, where I saw some of your comics were starting to fall off the pile you made."
She sighed again.
"When I put them back together...this dropped out."
Gradually, she turned her eyes back to him.
"Where did you get it?"
Herr tone was calm, but even so, Spike took a while before finally giving her an answer.
"...Snips."
To that, Twilight frowned slightly.
"I thought as much. I'm guessing it was when you, him and Snails were hanging out the other day?"
Spike said nothing, but nevertheless nodded to give her an answer. After another minute or two of silence between them, Twilight set the magazine aside, taking a few breaths before giving her full attention once more to her young charge.
"Spike...you're...of that age. It's only natural that you'd start to become curious about things like this."
But, despite this restrained tone she was taking right now, Spike now began to shake his head, looking utterly distraught. Twilight, naturally, looked on with worry as he did this, but said nothing as he looked her right in the eye and began to speak.
"I'm sorry! Snips just said he had this thing he wanted to show us! Something he wanted us to have! And so we went to see, but...I didn't think...I didn't know it would be...!"
He kept trying to get his words out, only to find himself unable to really say anything or explain himself. Instead, and after more than a few failed starts, he shut his mouth tightly, looking down at the floor again. He poked his claws against each other in a display of clear nervousness, all while Twilight looked on. Silence fell yet again, and through it all, the young Princess simply stared at her friend. She knew he was upset, that much would have been obvious to anypony, but for right now, she seemed to be at a loss as to what to say to him. After almost a full minute of this, she sighed, starting to bear a small smile, before gently placing her hoof upon his shoulder. This caused him to look up at her, just in time to hear her speak.
"Spike...you have nothing to apologise for."
This caught the youngster by surprise, as confusion now plastered his face.
"But...but...I should have that...thing! I shouldn't be looking at it!"
To this, Twilight nodded slightly.
"I agree. You're far too young to be looking at that sort of material, even if it is natural for someone your age to start to take an innocent interest in it."
She looked away, pausing for a brief moment before continuing.
"But sometimes...when we're faced with things we know we shouldn't do...there's always this temptation to do so all the same. There's...like a little voice in our heads that tells us that, just maybe...we should take a tiny step further, and actually look at what we're told not to."
Glancing back to him, she maintained her smile.
"Everypony comes across moments like this...so believe me when I say that I'm not going to condemn you for having held on to something like this."
Hearing that, Spike looked to her with wider eyes.
"I'll...I'll get rid of it! I swear!"
Twilight smiled warmly, reaching over and holding him close.
"I know you will, Spike. And I'm glad to hear it. But..."
She leaned in just a tiniest bit closer.
"...I need you to promise me...that you'll hold off on looking at things like this for a few more years. There may be a time when it's more appropriate...but now is not that time."
Spike nodded swiftly.
"I promise!"
Twilight smiled a little bit wider.
"Thank you, Spike. It give me peace of mind to hear it from you. And remember...curiosity in itself is never a sin."
Spike nodded, showing silent understanding, much to Twilight's relief. Turning, the Princess cast one more disapproving look to the offending magazine nearby.
"You made a mistake...at least for someone your age. But I've yet to meet somepony that's never made a mistake."
She laughed again.
"Goodness knows I've made a few in my time."
To that, Spike finally cracked a smile, giving a brief laugh of his own. Looking back to him, Twilight raised a hoof and carefully patted the top of his head.
"Now...we'll put this matter behind us."
For a moment, however, she took on a more thoughtful look.
"That is...after I've had a word with Snips' Mother."
Spike looked to her as she regarded him with another smile.
"Nopony tries to corrupt my little dragon and gets away with it."
Hearing that, the small drake at her side started to bear a slightly nervous tint to his smile.
"Um...you won't put him in too much trouble...will you, Twilight?"
The Princess considered that, responding to it with a small smirk.
"I make no promises, Spike."
