"Um, are you guys feeling alright?"

It was a fairly simple question, or at least it seemed like a fair one. It had been running through Spike's mind all morning. In his defense, it was justified. All four of his roommates had been acting strangely all morning, as were Sunset and Starlight.

Their respective ears and tails had been twitching erratically, and their general behavior had either fallen under the categories of distracted, uncomfortable, or both. Even Pinkie Pie, the classically hyper morning person was remarkably subdued that morning. Currently, they were all huddled around the kitchen table, wither eating breakfast or drinking coffee. However, upon hearing Spike's question, all head immediately snapped in his direction.

Well...that's not a fantastic sign.

"W-were, uh, we're fine, Spike." Twilight answered, tapping her fingers rhythmically on wooden table. "It's just...well, um, well, it's complica-"

"We're in heat." Rainbow Dash interjected. Twilight immediately sputtered in surprise and embarrassment, which was the general consensuses from the rest of the girls as well. Spike, on the other hand, was utterly confused.

"I'm sorry, heat?" He asked, his gaze flicking between the girls for confirmation. "A-as in, animal heat? Like...mating?"

"Yes, Spike. Like mating." Sunset practically growled, clutching her coffee cup tightly, as though she was desperately trying to distract herself. "It happens one week a year on Equestria, it's official term is, "The Red Moon Effect" or some shit, but it's generally referred to as "Red Week". All female Equestrians are affected by it after the age of 18."

"I...see." Spike responded cautiously, even taking a few precautionary steps back. "So, should I be worried about locking my door at night, or..?"

While the question was mostly a joke, Spike was a bit concerned with the implications of this news. The look of unease on the girls faces didn't do much to calm his nerves.

"No, we...we should be fine." Twilight answered slowly, offering a smile to the green-haired human, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Just...if we ever seem a bit over affectionate, put some distance between yourself and us. Just for safety purposes."

"Oh, safety proposes! Well don't I feel safe!" Spike snarked, before shaking his head dismissively. "Why'd you guys wait so long to tell me about this? It seems at least a little important for me to know."

"Spike, it was in the paperwork for Twilight's citizenship application." Sunset sighed, before her gaze snapped back up to his. "You did read all of that, right?"

"Of course I did, Sunset! There was forty-plus pages on that application, I'm not gonna remember all of it off the top of my head!"

Suddenly, Spike's phone chirped, resulting in him glancing down at the device an sighing.

"Damn. I gotta get to work, are you guys gonna be ok?" He asked, unknowingly arising a series of blushes to rise on each girl's face.

"I-I think we'll be fine, R-right girls?" Twilight asked, turning to her friends for confirmation.

"Y-yup. All good." Rainbow grunted, while Pinky and Fluttershy both just nodded in confirmation.

"We'll be f-fine, Spike." Starlight confirmed, pasting on a thin grin.

Spike watched the girls for a few more moments, before shrugging his shoulders and smiling at them. "Ok then. I'll see you guys in a few hours, ok?"

After receiving a chorus of confirmations, Spike stared for the door. Really, if the girls were certain that this "Red Week" thing was nothing new, then he trusted their judgment.

Honestly, what could possibly go wrong?

Line Break

Very much could go wrong. Very, very much.

The first day wasn't so bad, but that's because Spike was at work for a majority of that day, having to pull a double shift due to Shiner being out for Red Week. He got home around 10:00, he headed up to his room and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Initially, Spike didn't notice anything out of the ordinary the next day, aside from the silence that fell over the mansion. He ate some cereal before heading back upstairs, deducing that the girls would probably just do their own thing that day. He made it halfway to his room before he heard a whisper from behind him.

"Psst, Spikie! Over here!"

Spike turned on his heel, and spotted Pinkie Pie leaning out from behind her door, he hair in a towel and what seemed like her normal wide smile on her face.

"Oh, hey Pinkie." Spike greeted. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeppers Peppers! I feel great!" She confirmed, still smiling. "Buuuut, I could use your help with something."

"Um...ok. What's up?" Spike asked, a slight feeling of unease rising in his chest.

"Well, my shower kinda just stopped working while I was using it." Pinkie explained, maintaining eye contact with Jaune with every word. "I figured you might know if anything was wrong with it."

"Oh, yeah. Twilight mentioned that bathroom's shower was a little finicky." Spike admitted, before taking a few steps forward. "Well, I guess I could che-"

Spike paused and stopped walking as he allowed the situation to register in his mind, the uneasy feeling in his chest rising higher. Something...something felt wrong here. Why would Pinkie come to him for this? Why not Twilight? Spike's unease didn't falter as Pinkie tilted her head at him, her smile widening as if she could sense his nervousness.

"Something wrong, Spikey?"

A spark of fear and slight arousal hit Spike with the way Pinkie practically moaned his name, her sharp blue eyes glaring into him, like a lion hunting it's prey.

"N-nope! I'm fine!" He stuttered, hastily retreating back towards his room while maintain eye contact with the pink Equestrian. "I-uh, I actually have something I need to do, I-I'll see you later Pinkie!"

Spike didn't miss the way Pinkie's eyes sharpened as he backed away, almost making him want to sprint back to his room. However, she simply shrugged her shoulder and slipped back behind the door with a final, cheery shout.

"Okie Doki, see you later, Spikey!"

With that, the door clicked shut. Spike let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. OK, so that was...weird. But it probably wouldn't get worse!

Then it did.

Wednesday was the day when things started to get bad. Once again, Spike ventured down stairs, only to happen upon both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the living room, both stretching on their respective yoga mats. Their attire was also a lot more...reveling than normal, tight in all the right places, resulting in Spike hastily averting his gaze.

"Wha-M-morning, girls?" Spike sputtered, a bit surprised to see them acting so normal. Both girls gazes immediately snapped up to meet his, smiles rising on their faces in seconds.

"Spike! I was wondering what you were up to!" Fluttershy said, rising to her feet and grabbing his hands, giggling excitedly. "I was hoping you'd come and say hi!"

Spike found Fluttershy's enthusiasm a bit off-putting, distinctly noting the lack of stutters or stammers in her speech. While this would normally be a welcomed change, her current personality change combined with her frazzled appearance wasn't particularly comforting. It wasn't helped when a pair of arms suddenly snaked around him, pulling him into an unexpected hug from behind.

"Yeah, me and Flutters were talkin' about you." Rainbow Dash added, pressing herself into his back. While the feeling of Rainbow Dash's breasts pressing into his back was distressing enough, Spike was hit with the secondary thought that he was now surrounded.

"Y'know...we could use your help with something, stud." She continued. "Flutters and I are feelin' a little...pent up. Mind helping us work it out?"

As the blue Equestrian spoke, Fluttershy's hands strayed lower, grazing chest before ending at the bulge in his pants.

That was around the time Spike panicked.

He didn't completely remember what happened next. All he knew was that he ended up in his room, his heart thundering in his chest and his breaths ragged and broken.

"You can't hide forever, stud!" Rainbow Dash called out from outside his room, making him jump. You'll have to come up sometime, and we'll be waiting when you do!

A few minutes of silence passed, allowing Spike to catch his breath, before raking a hand through his hair and releasing a shuddering sigh.

Jesus, how the hell do they deal with this on Equestria? He asked himself, before shaking his head. Well, at least I only have three days left. If I just keep my distance, I should be...I...I should be...

Spike suddenly felt very weak, his head was spinning and his chest felt tight. Everything looked...wrong.

What's...happening...why...is...everything...blue?

Then his world went black. A figure stepped out from his closet, allowing her magic to cease as she smirked at his unconscious form.

"That's right, Spike. Get some rest." The Equestrian whispered, leaning down and petting his head affectionately. "You're in for quite the ride when you wake up~"

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long to get out, school and work got in the way. You know how it is :p

Anywho, Spike is in quite the prediciment. Will he make it out of Red Week in one piece, or will his closest friends become something far, far darker?