About an hour had passed.

Spike had just woken up and he felt refreshed, albeit slightly groggy. Although, he woke up specifically to a cold soggy diaper and a very weak but still noticeable pressure on his bladder, he felt great. He probably slept better then he had in a long time.

Without much hesitation Spike sat up in bed and relieved his bladder with a content sigh, warming his cool diaper slightly.

"I guess it's time for me to get out of this thing before I get a rash. I'm sure I'd have a wonderful time trying to explain how I got diaper rash to Twilight but I think I'll pass on that" Spike thought to himself amusedly.

As luck would have it, Spike's foal supplies were already out since he forgot to put everything away. He's also lucky Twilight didn't come back and see his supplies or end up with a leaky diaper.

As Spike lied down on his "changing mat", he took off his wet diaper and started wiping himself thoroughly with foal wipes. After completely cleaning off his lower half, Spike then grabbed a small bag out of his hiding place which he brought to his room in case of such a scenario occurring, put his foal supplies away, and put his used diaper and wipes in the bag. He then ran to the garbage and disposed of it, making sure it would be concealed perfectly.

While all this was going on, Spike carefully retraced his steps in his mind to find out if he made any mistakes which would get him caught. He did this every time he wore a diaper to hopefully come up with some sort of explanation to give should things suddenly go south.

"Lets see. Everything's put away, evidence is in a bag in the garbage, no nursery smell in my room, and I'm completely clear of any urine or foal powder sticking to me. Everything seems to be fine but... why do I feel like I made a mistake?" Spike thought to himself anxiously.

He then gave himself a mental pep talk. "C'mon brain, think! If you start slacking off now I'll get caught. I've come too far to suddenly get caught now. If Twilight finds out she'll probably–."

Spike then cut himself off at a chilling realization. "Oh no. The way I treated Twilight might buck me over. There's no way she's gonna let that go without questioning me first and even then she might start keeping tabs on me.

Spike then blushed madly and shivered in worry. "I've got a plan. It's going to be embarrassing but I really don't have any other choice. Hopefully I won't have to actually use this plan but if I do, all I can say is it'll be worth it if it keeps my foalish secret...

***

The girls finished up on the farm, preparing to speak with Spike. Each pony felt differently at the moment ranging from worry, suspicion, boredom, indifference, and happiness, yet all the girls were ready.

They entered the castle and immediately saw the very dragon they were hoping to talk to. Spike was sitting in a chair reading a "Power Ponies" comic book and looked clearly immersed in it, as he didn't seem to hear anypony walk in.

Twilight honestly wasn't sure how to start the conversation. Was she just supposed to ask Spike to reveal something he might not want to reveal? Was there even a secret he was hiding at all? If not then why was he supposedly stressed? "Ehem, Spike?"

Spike looked up at the girls smiling.He wasn't expecting to see the rest of the girls. However, while he was glad to see them all, Spike was sure what was about to unfold was not something he wanted to be a part of at all. "Oh hey girls, it's been awhile. How are you?"

Twilight was tongue tied. There were dozens of questions she wanted to ask him. How in Equestria was she supposed to choose what to say first. "Well umm Spike, the girls and I were talking earlier and, umm..."

Twilight then stood silent for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say and failing miserably. Moments a rainbow maned pegasus felt were taking decades.

"What Twilight is trying to say is, why have you been acting so weird? Everypony thinks your hiding something which is crazy, right? Rainbow Dash said to the Drake laughing at what she thought was a ridicules conversation.

Spike simply raised his scaley eyebrow. "Wow. That was blunt. I thought I'd have to let Twilight dance around the issue for awhile. Then again, I was only expecting to talk to Twilight. With the rest of the girls here I'll be forced to choose my words very carefully, especially with Applejack."

Spike then forced his face to look confused while trying to sound as innocent as possible. "Huh, what are you talking about? I didn't think I was acting weird. If for some reason I was acting odd, I honestly wasn't trying too. As for hiding something, what would I have to hide? You can ask me anything you know."

Spike's words were made to be simple and naive just like a slightly mature child. He easily disarmed some of the girls but a few weren't satisfied quite yet. "Well, from what Rarity had told me, you haven't been helping her at her boutique?" Twilight asked, simply and without judgment.

Spike inwardly grinned, this question would be easy to answer. "Oh, I've been really tired lately. I've been working alot lately and I've just needed some time to relax. "Heh, if only they knew the full story."

Rarity decided to give the questioning a try next. "Awhile ago, say three months or so, did you feel stressed at any point?"

Spike quickly thought about how to answer this question without making an excuse that could lead to unnecessary questions. "The way Rarity worded this... it has to be a trick question. They must've somehow figured out I was stressed. If I say 'no' they might call me out for lying." Spike answered calmly making his face look like he was trying to remember any time he was stressed. "Three months? I think I was a bit stressed around that time, yeah. Why do you ask?"

Fluttershy decided to answer with her whisper like voice. The information did come from her after all. More specifically, Angel Bunny. "Umm well, Angel said when he saw you, you seemed stressed. He didn't say much but all the animals seemed to agree with him."

Twilight quickly interjected after Fluttershy finished speaking. "So you were stressed. What about?

"Of course Angel told Fluttershy about how I lost it. I guess he didn't tell her the whole story to avoid getting into trouble." Spike then answered Twilight with a frown. "I really wasn't feeling great when I went over to Fluttershy's. I had a bit of a headache throughout the day and I just wanted to relax at that point."

Applejack's face was hard to read but Spike knew she would be a challenge before the questions even began. "Twilight told us you were pretty excited when she told you she was leavin today. What made you eager enough ta push Twi out the door?

Spike realized he'd have to try very hard to avoid detection and he knew it wouldn't be easy. "My best bet is to trick her inner 'lie detector' and keep from answering her questions directly. I can't make it seem too obvious though; otherwise the girls will catch on." Spike then looked at Applejack with a slightly disappointed frown. "Am I not allowed to let Twilight be happy and carefree every now and then? With all the work she does, don't you think she deserves a break? I'm sure if you were in my position you'd encourage Twilight to enjoy herself too. I'm sure you'd understand if you ever saw the stacks of paperwork she's had to fill out."

Applejack clearly wasn't pleased with the answer she was given but before she could speak, Pinkie Pie decided to hop into the conversation, literally. "Soooo Spikey, what do you do for fun other then reading comics? Any secret hobbies you enjoy? Not that I plan to throw a party about it for you or anything." Pinkie then whistled innocently, though it was obvious she was trying to either tempt the dragon with a party to spill his guts or she was simply trying to find a reason to throw a party in general.

"I'm... I'm not even going to assume she knows. Even for Pinkie, there is no way she could know my secret. I'll still have to be careful though. I'll just refuse to give her the satisfaction she's looking for. While I love Pinkie's parties, I have other things I need to worry about first. Spike looked at Pinkie making sure he looked like he was unable to hide his "sorrow" about being unable to provide her information she needed to make a party. "Sorry Pinkie Pie, I really don't do much else. With all the work I do, it's tough to find a time to do something I'd like doing without needing to sleep first. By then, I've already used all my time resting or something."

Pinkie's mane deflated slightly at the answer she was given before perking up again. "It's okay. I'm sure I'll find a reason to throw an amazingly, spectacular, and most perfectly Spikerific party EVER!

Spike couldn't help but smile. Pinkie really was the element of laughter since she always knew how to put a smile on his face. "Thanks Pinkie. I can't wait to see what you plan."

Spike stomach grumbled loudly as he then looked at the clock. He missed lunch, something he certainly would've enjoyed with a bottle... He didn't need a bottle though. He is just happy the opportunity to escape further questioning was given to him. "This is a perfect! I have a perfect excuse to leave before I'm asked anything else." Spike then scratched the back of his head embarrassedly as his rumbling stomach seemed to have a mind of its own. "Heh, umm I kinda missed lunch. I'm gonna go get a snack. Call me if you need anything." Spike then waved to the girls and left them to their thoughts before they managed to get out another question. Hopefully he was able to steer them off course. If not, then he hopped he bought himself just a bit more time.

"Thank Celestia I didn't actually have to use my risky backup plan. Yet..." Spike thought to himself, blushing.

Author's Note

Hi everyone!
To those who read both "A Stressed Spike", did you ever notice at any point in time how I used a few quotes and scenes that seemed familiar?
I used quotes and scenes from one of my favorite shows of all time. I plan to do the same thing soon in this story. Whoever guesses it first is gonna get a for being extra awesome so keep your eyes peeled.