The Horme Effect

As Minuette walked towards me, feelings of anxiety started to well up. I knew that the Horme Effect was occurring within me right now, but it was only postponing the inevitable. If these hormones come back, I could do something horrible to her and her friends. I could be executed and not even Celestia could save me. But right now, it's not taking effect and I'm safe. But if it occurs, I'll just go to the bathroom and jerk it. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Besides, it could only be for a brief moment.

"I haven't seen you since your last visit to Canterlot with Twilight! How have you been?" Minuette ask in a chipper tone.

Not wanting her to suspect a thing, I said,

"Oh, you know... same old, same old. I mostly came here to get away from all the stress that Twilight places on me. But then again, she's normally the stressful one."

"Hmm. Well, me and my friends are heading to the donut shop. Wanna come with?"

"Sorry, I've got some things to do and I just had breakfast this morning. So-"

"Oh no, not when we've just been bumped into each other."

She grabbed my arm and started dragging me with her.

"Uh, are you sure? I don't wanna take up any of your time." I said, trying to dissuade her.

"Nope~. I won't take no for an answer. Besides, I have the week off. Company's on strike right now for some weird reason. C'mon! It'll be fun!" Minuette said with enthusiasm.

Not wanting to be rude, I submitted to her demand and we went to the donut shop where her friends were waiting.

***

After meeting up with them and taking our seats, we started talking with each other as we ate. Mostly, I just stayed quiet because I was still nervous about the Horme. While it was still minimal at the moment, I was surrounded by a group of mares and, worst of all, they were Twilight's friends. If they wanted me to stick around for the rest of the day, there's no telling what I could do to them. I have to do my best in keeping quiet. If I don't do something, I'll-

"Spike?" Moon Dancer said.

I moved my head upwards and saw the girls giving me concerned looks.

"Is there something bothering you?" Moon Dancer asked.

"Yeah. You've been quiet when you first came in. What's the matter?" Lyra asked.

They leaned forward to hear what's bothering me. Don't they get it?! I'm having hormone problems and they're turning towards me?! Oh my- just how bad can this get?! Okay. Calm down. They don't know. Just act cool. If you act natural, they won't notice a thing.

"What do mean? I'm just happy to see all of you after so long." I replied with the calmness in my voice.

"The sprinkles on your donut were shaking off in your hand when you first started eating. Most ponies wouldn't do that. At least not this much concerning dragons." Lemon Heart said.

We all turned towards her with negative looks on our faces.

"N-No offense." she said.

"None taken. Just stressing over all the work that Twilight put me through."

"Well, you're not with Twilight now. You're with us! So don't we enjoy ourselves while it lasts." Minuette said, as jovial as ever with a beaming smile on her face.

It certainly felt good to be with Minuette and Twilight's other friends. Let alone a long time with another group of ponies outside of Twilight's current friends. When we were finished, we went around from place to place around Canterlot. We went shopping, then we went to see a few of the places that Twilight and her friends use to go to. Not that it mattered to me as I tried to keep myself covered. Anyway, we kept walking around until we went into the place that Twilight and me used to live when she was still a student.

"It must have been quite something when you started living under Twilight." Minuette said.

"Yeah. It was quite a life being her number-one assistant and all." I said, scratching the back of my head.

Just then, I felt her giving me a peck on the cheek. I backed away a little when she did that.

"Where did that come from?" I asked in confusion.

"Just think of it as a welcome-back gift from a friend. I've been busy half the time as well and I rarely ever get to do stuff like this as well. But then again, we rarely ever do. I hope you enjoyed yourself today. I can't wait to do it tomorrow." Minuette said, blinking her eyelashes at me.

I'm not sure if I'm beginning to overthink this or not, but it sounded like Minuette was asking me out on a date. I can't be too sure about this or not, but one can't be too careful.

"Sure. If I'm not too busy, maybe we can see each other tomorrow with the other girls."

"Great! I'm looking forward to it!" Minuette said, holding my hands together.

I'm happy that she's happy, but I'm getting this nagging feeling that she has a crush on me. If I told her about my relationship with Celestia, she would be disgusted and never talk to me again. Even worse, she could spread it all through gossip and everypony would want a piece of me. Either way, I'm screwed. But then she gave me this somber look on her face and she said,

But you know... you've been acting strange today. Is anything that's bothering you? You can tell me anything if you wish."

Not wanting to tell her anything, I said,

"It's nothing. I'm just glad that I got to see you and your friends again."

"Okay. But if there's anything on your mind and you have nopony else to turn to, just come to me. You won't hear a peep out of me if you have something to get off your chest. Anyway, good night! It was nice seeing you again, Spike!" Minuette said as she left Twilight's old room.

There was a lot on my mind as I spent the day with Minuette and her friends. Whether it be sex or anything else, I just couldn't shake the fact that I kept myself in control. It felt pretty creepy when my body didn't heat up. Not that it mattered anyway because I didn't break down one single bit today. After looking around the old room, I decided to head back to the castle. Upon making it to Celestia's room, I noticed that she was talking to some mid-thirties colt. I had no idea who it was but I felt something within me and it was ugly.