Good Morning, Class

Listening to the faint chorus of 'good-night's from the girls heading to bed while heading to his own room, Spike found himself chuckling to himself as his first full week came to a close. Surprisingly enough, it didn't take him long to get somewhat accustomed to being around so many semi and fully naked gals.

The flirting was still gonna take a while. He had a feeling Yearling's offer to teach him yoga was meant to involve a lot more than stretching. It didn't really help that Tempest and Strongheart had learned about his preference for showering late, and managed to catch him each time. Though, despite their slightly aggressive flirting and offers to help him scrub down, they never really went farther than marshmallowing him. Zecora...was almost as bad, namely with how she'd tease him with her lack of panties under the coat.

Thankfully, Bulk had noticed how uneasy he got due to it all and told him about his only starting week. Poor guy had been scared to get within five feet of any of the female staff or students. That lasted until Cadance talked to him, explaining that if it was honestly accidental, or just something like a pat on the shoulder or back, he had nothing to worry about. If anyone decided they wanted a slice of beefcake, though, that was HIS problem. (That last bit didn't really help much)

While the other teachers were proving to be somewhat eccentric, his class was the true handful. Granted, he'd found that if he made himself ignore it, he could take finding company in his bed in stride. However, it was their own quirks that stood out.

Twilight, for instance; for some reason she was acting oddly around him the last couple of days. She was almost bashful, and when he tried to talk to her, she would blush and squeak like an embarrassed little filly. Considering she had been one of the more composed of the class when they first met, it was really peculiar.

Since he had to go back to the sewing class for the fittings, he noticed Rarity and Coco were watching one particular student like a hawk; a mare named Suri Polomare. He wasn't sure what'd happened, but the two seemed hellbent on keeping her away. Even the others in the class asked them if they'd overreacted about it, whatever 'it' was.

And Gabby. While she loved helping him out sometimes, she could easily overdo it...to rather embarrassing levels; like offering to help him dress, saying two pair of hands would make it faster, or feed him while he was looking over papers. One moment stood out - fortunately it was just once...so far - when she offered to help him wash the last time he was heading to get a shower.

"Ah, could be worse." He thought, heading into his room. He had a few papers to go over before heading to bed as well. "Least that's all I gotta deal with."

Knock on wood...

As Saturday night rolled around, Spike found himself back at the store to restock. "Maybe I should start buying in bulk." He said to himself, throwing a few cans of peanuts into his cart. In doing do, he felt the need to look behind him. "There you...aren't." He muttered, seeing no one. In the last few times he'd gone shopping, Spike had found Gilda there, every time.

And each time she'd been wearing skimpier clothing. Last time she'd had on denim shorts that looked more like a thong, and bikini top under a mesh shirt...he had a sinking suspicion as to what was going on, but hoped her was wrong and it was just something about her. 'Maybe she's just proud of her figure. Sure as hell has one.'

Now though, it looked like she decided not to come today. He had yet to see her at all in the aisles. "Huh, guess she doesn't need anything today?" He asked himself, heading to the candy section to fix his sweet tooth.

"HEEEELLLLLPPP!"

He jumped when the scream hit him. "The hell!? That came from behind the store...and it sounded like Gilda!" Without a second thought, he left the cart behind and took off out of the store.

Five Minutes Earlier

"Man, kinda drafty." Gilda shivered a little thanks to her current 'outfit'. Consisting of just a couple wide belts to form a makeshift skirt and a strip of cloth that was barely holding her breasts in, it was one she was certain would get Spikes attention. Either that, or she'd just pounce him and show what a horny griffoness was capable of! "You better be ready, Teach, cause this time, you'll be learning a few things." She purred.

"Maybe you could teach me instead, sweet thing." A grungy-looking pony with a mohawk stepped onto the curb in front of her. The smarmy grin he gave her made her want to brain him on principal.

"Piss off, prick." She snorted, moving to walk past him...only to have a mare who looked like she'd gotten into a fight with a tattoo gun, and lost.

"If Murky wants to talk to ya, then ya talk to him." She sneered, as a half dozen others came up, blocking the sidewalk.

"Talk to this, asshole!" She flipped them off and headed the other way. Reaching the back corner of the store, she cut through the alley behind it, knowing she could come around the other end.

"Where d'ya think yer going!?" The mare demanded, having ran to catch up with her. "Murky-!"

*Crunch!*

"Do I look like I give a shit, bitch!?" Gilda hissed, delivering a back kick that caught her in the chin. The mare had a glass jaw, since she went down like an onion bag. "Shit!" Gilda yelped, quickly closing her legs and looking around wildly. "I hope no one saw that!" Fighting down the blush that tried to rise, she almost facepalmed at picking today to go commando in a skirt. Making sure no one else was around, she resumed her walk.

Unfortunately, the rapidly approaching footsteps ended the return of her good mood. "Aw, now why'd you gotta do that to Babytail?" 'Muddy' or 'Mungy' or whatever his name was called out.

She snorted. "She pissed me off. Now scrape her up and get lost!" She snapped, not bothering to look at them. She knew she could whoop them, but her current attire put her at a disadvantage. And there was on way in hell she was letting these lowlifes get a peek at her goodies. With that she picked up her pace a little, hoping they'd get bored or forget what they were doing.

"Wait up, baby! We just wanna talk!"

"And I told you to FUCK! OFF!" She yelled. "I got better things to do than hang with bottom-feeders!"

As she walked down the alley, the catcalls got a little more aggressive, with some of his friends joining in.

"Hey, Murk, maybe she needs a lesson in manners?"

"You might be right. We just wanna talk."

Reaching the other entrance, Gilda froze and swore; the other entrance was blocked off by a large delivery truck. 'Oh, fuck me with a brick! I'm stuck!'

"Well, well, well, karma's somethin', ain't it?" 'Murky' crowed, his gang spreading out to pin her in. "Now, how about you and I get to know each other?"

"How about I stuff this up your ass!?" She snapped, moving to grab a length of pipe leaning against the wall. In her eagerness to get it, though, she failed to see the broken bottle in her path...until she felt it pierce her ankle and heel. With a cry of pain, she stumbled against the wall. 'Dammit! Just my luck...shit, that hurts!' She'd never been the type to cry, but the burning sensation was testing her limits, plus the fact that it felt like a shard was still in there.

"Aww, the poor birdie's hurt." One of the other punks laughed. "Maybe we should kiss it better?"

"Heh, why not. Ain't like she can stop us now." Murky smiled, leading the way as they slowly advanced on her.

'Dammit! Now I really can't fight like this! And I don't have time to get the glass out.' Seeing how limited her options were, Gilda did the only thing she could think of. "Hope someone in the store hears me... HEEEEELLLPPP!" She screamed as loud as she could.

"Ain't gotta scream, baby." Murky replied. "We'll take care of ya."

Doing her best to keep her balance, she grabbed the pipe with her free hand. "You fuckers better be ready to pay out the nose!"

"Gilda! Hang on!" Another voice call out on the other side of the truck, followed by the sound of metal being ripped apart, then the side of the truck blowing out as Spike plowed through it into the alley.

"The hell!?" One of 'Murky's friends shrieked, falling back in shock.

"Okay....THAT'S new." Gilda said, staring at the hole. She'd seen how strong he was, but she never expected to see him go right through a vehicle!

"Gilda, what happened?" He went over her. "Oh geeze! Your ankle!"

"Hey! Piss off, runt! The bitch is with us!" Another one snapped, stomping closer to try and intimidate him.

"Excuse me?" He asked, stepping closer to him, the calm tone in his voice quickly reminding Gilda of how he responded to Svengallop. "You did not just call one of my students..." Growling, the punk ran up and attempted to give him a good kick.

Key word: attempted. There was a light thump as Spike caught the foot, quickly moving his grip to the ankle. "A 'bitch'"

"The hell!?" The punk tried to pull away, to no avail.

"Mooch, quit dicking around!" Murky ordered.

"I-I can't! It's stuuuaaaUGH!" He screamed when Spike hurled him back at his friends, knocking Murky and another off their feet.

"Nice shot..." Gilda commented while he returned to her.

"Ok, this might sting a little. We'll have to get you to Nurse Redheart to make sure it's all out."

"What about the others!?" She asked, looking at them as they stared in shock at the now concussed trio, before feeling him take hold of her foot.

"They don't really matter." He slowly pulled the shard out, doing his best to keep the pain to a minimum. Once it was out, and he made sure he didn't miss any other visible pieces, he pulled his shirt off and wrapped it around her foot. "You really need to wear shoes more often."

"I-I tried, but they're uncomfortable as hell." She said, blushing a little when she saw he had visible definition.

"Wh-what the hell are you, kid!?" One of the still standing punks yelled.

"A dragon, duh." He snarked, turning back to Gilda. "Ok...this may be a little awkward, just hook your leg under my arm and hold on. It might be a little more comfortable than trying bridal style." After a bit of wrapping limbs around him, Gilda managed to get into a piggy back position. "You ok?"

"Y-yeah." She replied, resisting the urge to rub against him. Looking back at the hole through the truck, she shook her head. "How...just, how??"

"You already know, but I'm stronger than I look."

"I think the whole class guess that." As he carried her out out the alley, she couldn't resist flipping off the punks again while they tried to drag their unconscious members away.

"All right, before anything else...Gilda, what possessed you to dress like...like that?" He asked when they neared the sidewalk. "I can feel you sitting on the base of my tail, and..." He didn't think he needed to say he could tell she didn't have panties on. Luckily, the circumstances surrounding that discovery was allowing him to ignore it.

"Well, I...I've been trying to get your attention the last few days." She admitted, tightening her grip a little when he stumbled.

"W-what??" He coughed on the inhale that snagged in his chest.

"Why do you think I've been wearing less and less when I manage to find you at the store?"

"Me? But I'm...I mean, look at me! I'm barely half your height!"

"Spike, I know your older than you look." She replied, leaning in on him. "This store takes carding seriously, and I saw you buy that bottle of booze earlier this week."

"Y-you...you saw that?" He blanched.

"Yep. I'm not sure exactly how old, but you're at least a year older than I am."

"Twenty."

"Huh?"

"I'm twenty right now. I'll be twenty-one in a couple of months."

"Well, that's not bad. Though...I'm still curious about..." She gestured to his height.

"Why I look like I'm ten? They still haven't figured out why exactly, but male dragons age at half speed. I won't look like a twenty-year old until I'm in my forties. Some think it's so we have a bigger window to find a mate, but I don't know. Either way, it's a pain when it makes you hard to be taken seriously."

"Wow, guess that explains why you didn't tell us at first?" She paused 'Wait...Ember...she's a dragon, so that means...that sneaky bitch!'

"Would you have believed me if I said 'Hi, despite my size, I'm actually in my twenties' without any proof?"

"Got a point there." Gilda turned back to look at the alley. "One more thing...how the hell are you strong enough to do, well, all that back there!? You tossed that jackass and Svengallop like they were footballs!"

"It's kind of a defense mechanism for us." Spike replied as they neared the campus entry portal. "To make up for our smaller size, we're a lot stronger than we look. The most I can lift right now is eight thousand, one hundred and twenty pounds."

"F-four tons!?" Gilda nearly fell off him in shock. "Holy shit!"

"That's why I eat a lot. That kind of power requires a high caloric intake."

"Hey, I'm not arguing. That's...that's...damn!"

It took a minute, since Spike didn't want to jostle Gilda's foot too much, but they finally reaching the campus entry portal.

"Spike, hang on a second." She said as he was about to step on through. "Um, remember when you asked why I was dressed like this?"

"Oh...yeah. You said something, but I..."

"Nice try, but you know." She rested her head against him. "I'm gonna be blunt about it; you're just about the first guy I've ran into since coming to this college that doesn't just take the 'tough girl' act I like to do. And...it's actually kinda new to me. Not many guys care much for a gruff attitude, so I'm having to adapt to it." She purred a little in his ear. "Frankly, the thought of a guy who can actually make me back down gets me pretty damn wet."

Spike glanced back at her, too surprised to really say anything.

"And, well, you know about my attendance record..."

"Kinda." He'd heard from a few other teachers about how Gilda, and on occasion Rainbow Dash, would skip classes. However, it was the classroom teacher's duty to enforce that, and his duty was to B-5. All he could really do is tell them they need to go more often. Besides, she still managed to keep decent grades.

"So, what do you say to a little deal? I'll work on improving my attendance, and in exchange, you give me a little..." Spike squawked in surprise when she reached down to grip him through his pants, "...incentive to keep it up." She blinked and gave him a squeeze. "Fuck me...what've you been feeding this anaconda!?"

"G-Gilda!" He yelped, turned bright red. "We're in public!"

Once they were back on campus, and he'd gotten her to stop groping him, Spike had made a beeline for the infirmary. Thankfully, that one shard was all that there was. Nurse Redhead was able to clean up the cut and make sure it wouldn't get infected. Though, she'd need a few stitches, and his shirt was beyond saving. Aside from that, Gilda was going to be ok.

As he left the building to let her rest up, what she said just before he left still echoed.

"The offer still stands; some incentive, and I show up in class more."

Now that he was alone, Spike found himself just kind of drifting around the grounds. It was obvious what kind of 'incentive' she was looking for, but...academic improvement in exchange for sex? Last he heard, that was still illegal! That and if the others found that out...he didn't know what to expect, except that it didn't look good for him at all.

He really needed a place to think...or someone to talk to at least.

He turned to the main building. " Please let her be awake...'