But First!! Here are Some Doubts....

Hey guys look! A new chapter! I guess Leslichu isn't a lazy bastard after all right?

Nah I'm still a lazy bastard. A sexy lazy bastard. Enjoy.

*WHUMP*

Twilight groaned as she released her hold on the books and dropped them down onto a chair. Not having Spike around was already taking it's toll on her back, how was he so capable? She groaned as she reached a hoof behind her and rubbed at the soreness around her spine. Clearly Unicorns were not made for strenuous labor, and unfortunately she couldn't spare any magic power at the moment to lift the heavy volumes as she was focusing it on making her tea in the kitchen.

Come to think of it, the kitchen was kind of Spike's property. Considering she barely went into the room at all, she had probably just levitated a teapot into the refrigerator. Nice.

She couldn't take anymore of this, she decided. She simply could not study under such conditions, especially considering that she had yet to eat anything! Blowing out the candles, Twilight was nearly out the door when she halted and peered through the crack. Down the road trotted a blue stallion with Spike on his back, the two laughing quite audibly to say the least. The second stallion behind them was Big Macintosh, easily recognizable due to his sheer size and slower pace he was traveling at.

Sighing, she closed the door and magically lit the lights again. She gently proceeded to kick a path through the books, making way to the couches so the boys would have a place to rest their hooves.

"...and then I said 'that(s a pretty big word for an eight-year old'!" an unknown voice was met with a hysterical fit of giggles from her dragon assistant. Oh great, just the influence she needed for the growing dragon.

The blue stallion and Spike's voices hushed as the dragon gently pushed open the door to the library, calling out to the mare he was sure to find inside.

"Twilight are you home? I wanted to check in with you," the dragon peered around the door, apparently expecting an angry slew of words from the mare. Twilight simply sighed and propped a book onto her shelf with the glow of her magic.

"Staying at AJ's again tonight?" she asked with an unenthusiastic voice, not looking at the dragon as she sat down with a huff on one of the couches.

"Uhm...yeah?" Spike drummed his claws on his belly, wondering if the unicorn was going to be cross with him.

"Ugh, Spike! Do you know how hard it's be-" the unicorn was cut off as the blue stallion from before kicked the door open.

"Say no more ma'am, Eiffel is on the case!" the blue stallion stood in a mock heroic pose in the doorway. For a second, the pose actually looked convincing due to the setting sun casting him in shadow, soft light cascading around his naturally broad shoulders.

Considering that Ponyville was one of the weirdest places a mare could find herself in, the bold nature of the stallion neither shocked nor concerned her. Not when she had friends like Discord and Pinkie Pie. Nope.

"So...," Twilight paused to take a sip of a 5-hour old cold cup of coffee, "who's your friend?"

Spike's spines positively jumped as he beamed up at the blue stallion.

"This is Eiffel, he's me and Big Mac's friend from town!" Said stallion took a second rest his hoof under his chin and give an exaggerated thinking face, as if he were modeling.

Big Macintosh calmly stepped up behind the odd stallion and pushed him further into the library with the bridge of his nose.

"T'aint supposed ta be loud in a library Eiffel," the large pony said softly, adjusting the wheat stalk in his mouth. The blue stallion turned about quickly and shoved his nose against the much larger stallions in mock anger.

"I was going to ask if she needed some quick help around the place, before someone so rudely interrupted," with that Eiffel spun about and faced the librarian, "So how bout it, need some muscle round the place real quick?"

The purple mare just looked at Spike and gave him a bewildered look.

"Uhm sure?" As soon as the words left the colts lips, he was next to Twilight polishing his hoof against his chest fur, a nonchalant look on his face.

"Well my services don't happen to come cheap. But I'll tell ya what, I'll cut ya deal," using his hooves to accentuate his words the colt continued, "I'll put these books back all proper-like, heck I'll alphabetize them while I'm at it. All I need in return is permission for my little buddy to hang out back at the farm for another night." The colt ended by pointing at Spike, who smiled widely.

Twilight couldn't help but grin back at the little dragon. Regardless of the irks she had at not having her assistant around, the little dragon was making a good situation out of a bad one by making friends, something she herself knew was a great way to solve one's problems. Even if one of his new friends was a loud-mouthed weirdo.

"If it's okay with Big Macintosh and AJ, then I suppose another night wouldn't hurt." (Well besides my back). Across the room, Big Macintosh gave her a nod and walked over to sit across from her.

The blue colt gave a whinny and raced to a corner of the room, getting started on making alphabetic stacks of each novel, volume and tomb.

"I'd offer you boys something to drink if I wasn't so sure my teapot was in the toilet," Twilight Sparkle said, earning her a raised brow from the large red stallion across from her.

"Thank ya ma'am but ah'm under the impression we'll be gettin' some ice cream here soon," Macintosh smiled down at Spike, who grinned excitedly.

"Eiffel offered to take us out for ice cream after we cleared the orchard," Spike said, looking at the pleasantly surprised Unicorn.

"So you've actually been helping out around the farm? That's very nice of you Spike," Twilight instantly felt a mother-like flush of pride for the little dragon sitting across from her. It was getting harder and harder to think that Spike had been the center of such grief and trouble in what felt like only hours ago.

"Well why don't you go help with the books while I have a word with Macintosh," Twilight shooed the dragon off, who took the cue that she wanted to talk about AJ and Rarity. He DID NOT want to talk about Rarity just yet.

As Spike scurried off, Twilight leaned in signaling Big Macintosh to get closer as well.

"AJ hasn't seen Rarity today right?"

"Nope," the large colt slowly shook his head.

"You've been watching her though right?"

"Eeyup," The large stallion had made sure that Applejack had a full workload that day, asking her to sort the bad apples out of each barrel he and Spike brought in that day.

"Okay good, because from what I understand Rarity seems to think AJ threatened her. And well, you know how dramatic she can be,"

The large colt simply sighed and gave his usual "eeyup", and leaned back slowly in his chair. It was a right hornets nest his sister had stirred up, and it would have to be dealt with eventually. Macintosh said a silent prayer for his personal savings.

"AAaaaand done. All books in perfect A to Z order as promised," the blue stallion said, his teeth flashing brightly at the mare. Twilight was about to scoff as she turned to view the colt's work, but of course everything was in order.

'Don't eeeeeeven question it Twilight, just smile. And nod.'

"Well I suppose a deal is a deal," Twilight turned to Spike and gave him a tired smile, "Just don't make too much trouble for Mr. Macintosh here,"

Spike nodded and ran over to hug Twilight's front leg, a gesture he hadn't done in months she noted.

"Ok so if we're gonna do this we're gonna have get double scoops of everything, Ooo and with those waffle cone things too," Eiffel mused as he walked through the door, feeling the baby dragon's stomach rumble on his back.  Late night ice-cream bars were a gift from Celestia itself so it seemed. The blue stallion turned to look back at Macintosh, who betrayed no emotion on his face.

"So Mac, what should I order for you?" Eiffel gave him a small smile, his old shyness about the larger stallion surfacing in his stomach again.

"Just a regular ol' scoop of strawberry would be nice," Macintosh returned the smile, albeit a bit less enthusiastically.

"Three scoops of strawberry, with sprinkles and a waffle cone. Got it!" The blue colt galloped off to the register before Macintosh could protest. The large red colt just sighed and turned to find a booth for the three of them to sit in. The Milky Way was apparently owned by a reclusive mare from Trottingham, which was a shame because she was never around to see how much the citizens of Ponyville enjoyed her shop.

The building was decorated in baby blue and light pink paintjobs, with white vinyl seats and strangely intimate candlelights. All-in-all, the perfect place to bring a date noted the stallion. He uneasily looked back at the colt ordering at the register, feeling suddenly very nervous. The colt had no discipline when it came to public shows of affection. As Macintosh settled into a seat, the vinyl squeaking under his weight, he thought back to multiple times the two had nearly been caught. Many ponies aren't as oblivious as Eiffel thought, his affectionate nuzzles and touches were going to be noticed at some point. The very thought made Macintosh's insides cold, and he quickly glanced about the room for any ponies that might recognize him.

Thankfully, there was only one mare whom he recognized, and she just so happened to be cross-eyed to the point where he was sure she wouldn't see him. Derpy, the town mailmare as he recognized her to be, appeared to be on a date with a brown stallion he had only seen a few times. Each time said stallion appeared to be in a great hurry, sprinting like his life depended on it with what appeared to be a piece of metal sticking out of his mouth. Strange fellow, although apparently he was pretty handy at fixing clocks for some reason.

Macintosh settled back into the booth and waited for the blue colt and his dragon friend to return. After about five minutes, the two came back with the cones, Spike carrying his and Macintosh's in his versatile claws. The two sat down, Eiffel smiling widely at the red stallion. Macintosh gave him a half-hearted smile of his own, his heart and his nerves in a tug-of-war. Spike handed him his abnormally large ice cream cone, and he said a silent thank-you to blue colt across from him. Never one to sit quietly, Eiffel struck up a conversation.

"So you're a single, good lookin' bachelor. What you got your sights set on now huh?" Eiffel asked Spike, who blinked at him a few times and thought about the question.

"Well...I suppose I could try my luck with other mares." Spike said hopefully.

"That's the spirit!" Eiffel reached across and gave him a light jab in the arm. "So what you looking for in a girl huh? A pretty mane? Smarts? A nice flank?" He accentuated the last one with a wiggle of his brow. Macintosh chuckled to himself silently.

"Uh well, I mean I haven't really thought about many girls. Mmmaybe I could talk to Fluttershy? She's pretty and smart...and I think she has a nice flank. I've actually never looked before," Spike picked at his cone, trying to remember the specific shape of Fluttershy's hindquarters.

  "Nice nice, but uh..." The blue colt's eyes flicked over to Big Mac for a second before settling back on Spike.       "You know you've technically already been invited into AJ's room ssssooo you know," Eiffel gave the dragon a very toothy grin, Macintosh just rolled his eyes.

Spike's face turned a bit red and stole a glance at Big Mac before he opened his mouth.

"I just think she's looking out for me. I mean uh-" he looked back at Macintosh, who nodded and smiled at him to continue, "She's really pretty and all but she probably would want a stallion right?"

"Wha- AJ? NNnnnaaahh," Eiffel leaned back and took an exaggerated bite out of his ice cream. "If she can ignore the charm of a stallion like ME well...," he chuckled before finishing, "You just might be her last hope if you know what I mean,"

Spike raised his brow and was about to question the colt, before he felt Macintosh kick one of the colts legs from under the table.

"YOWCH!! What? I was just sayin' that she's picky!" Eiffel rubbed at his leg, while Macintosh just rolled his eyes again. Spike smiled and nearly laughed before he noticed something else. His short stature kept him eye level with the table, so that he could easily peek under the table unnoticed. Pretending to be preoccupied with the cone in front of him, he spotted movement from Macintosh's side. Apparently he must have felt guilty or something because the large red stallion was gently rubbing at Eiffel's leg with one of his own, presumably where the blow had landed earlier. Rubbing perhaps wasn't the right word though, the touch seemed oddly...affectionate. And not just in the friendly sense, friendly rubs didn't go in small, slow circles.

But whatever, he thought, Macintosh was a pretty nice guy after all. He was probably just worried that Eiffel would take the strike to heart. No biggie.

The three finished their ice cream with casual talk (well Eiffel and Spike, Macintosh kept his usual "eeyup" or "nope"), with no interruptions. Derpy and her date apparently had finished and left, but she noticed Macintosh and gave him a cheery wave, which he returned with a friendly smile.

The three were nearly about to ask for the bill, when someone Spike really did not want to see just so happened to walk through the door.

Rarity's voice was unmistakable to the dragon, as he turned to see her walking a few isles down from them. She was dressed in a simple elegant light blue scarf and her hair was styled down in light curls. She didn't notice the three at the table, as she was turned talking to (who else) Thunderlane, who looked as casual as ever. Spike spun around and signaled at Macintosh and Eiffel, who took and cue and ducked their heads.

"Guys I gotta get out of here, I can't let her see me!" Spike said hurredly, in a harsh whisper.

"Ok gotcha, she doesn't know me so I'll go around the front and pretend to slip, make a distraction. Then you two get out okeedoke?" Eiffel was nearly out of the booth when Macintosh stopped him.

"This is silly, let's jes leave, they won't pay us no mind," Macintosh suggested.

Spike leaned back over the side of the seat to peek at the two ponies, who where thankfully still ordering their cones. He nearly made it back down into his crouch before a loud squeaky voice stopped him.

"Oh hey Spike!!" He had missed Sweetie Belle following the two into the store completely.

"Who are you here with?" She asked obliviously as Spike silently begged her to keep quiet. "I came with Rarity and her coltfriend, did you bring your marefriend? Oh wait, hi Big Macintosh!!"

Macintosh waved nervously to the little filly, noticing in the corner of his eye Rarity had just seen them. And her face wore a horrified expression. Macintosh tapped Spike on the shoulder and pointed out Rarity. The fashionista's eyes met the dragons for a few seconds before her date, Thunderlane, shouted something that didn't register in the dragon's mind. He mouthed 'sorry' to Big Macintosh and jumped from the booth, sprinting to the door as fast as his small legs would carry him.

Upon seeing the dragon flee, Thunderlane decided once again to try and play the hero to his marefriend and galloped after the dragon. Eiffel saw this and had nearly jumped across the table before Macintosh calmly put a hoof out to stop him. The red stallion slowly stood up, and followed the two outside.

"You might as well stop running you little prick, I already got you!" a harsh voice called to Spike from behind. Glancing behind him he saw the black stallion sprinting after him, Rarity trailing behind screaming something he couldn't distinguish.

Spike silently cursed his size, realizing that if he was caught he would surely be trampled to death. But he knew that he would be caught eventually, his legs in no state to outmatch that of the stallions. He came to a halt at the end of the dirt road and turned slowly, watching as the black colt barreled toward him.

"You let that crazy mare into the house and knock Rarity around!" the stallion slammed into Spike, forcing his face down to the ground with his forehead. "She told me what that apple farmer did, and there's only one pony who could have let her in!"

Panic bubbled into Spike's stomach as his felt the immense weight of the stallion bearing down harshly on his temple. His mind raced for something, anything he could do as he heard Rarity's cries for help only a few feet away. The stallion lifted his head only to bring it crashed back down onto Spike's, this time the point of impact being the center of his forehead.

Blinking his tears away, Spike locked eyes with the colt trying to crush his face. There was no pity, nor concern in those yellow eyes. Only contempt as he imagined why on earth he would be trying to hurt.

'Probably because Rarity told him what a jerk I am. That I'm a creepy little dragon that likes mares.'

The dragon felt a fire light in his gut, the fashionista who was probably the cause of this only a few feet from him. He felt that fire burn hotter and hotter, until he locked his gaze with the stallions and let out a ferocious roar he didn't know he had in him. Only this roar didn't make any sound. The only thing erupting from Spike's mouth was a plume of emerald green fire.

Thunderlane instantly shot back, the fur on his face ignited in several places. Rarity shrieked in fear as he flailed about, flinging himself face down into the dirt in order to douse the flames. Panicked, the stallion put his hooves onto his face, fearing that it had been scarred by the flames. He stumbled about for a second, his legs wobbly from the attack. Spinning and sprinting forward without thinking-

*CRACK*

The black stallion flew backwards a few feet, landing in a heap at Spike's feet completely unconscious. A headbutt from Big Macintosh was apparently fearsome enough to not only knock out a full grown stallion, but also shock hysterical mares into silence.

Big Macintosh craned his neck to the side and was rewarded with an audible cracking noise. Giving a small sigh of satisfaction, he switched the wheat stalk to the other side of his mouth.

"Damn featherheads. Always pickin' at folks."

Eiffel and Sweetie Belle had watched the whole thing go down from the booth window. The blue colt nodded as if he had just seen a nicely executed hoofball play, and had another bite from his leftover ice cream. He turned to Sweetie Belle, who had only been staring confused at the entire mess.

"So. You're a filly. What's that like?"

Sweetie Belle turned to face the colt with one eyebrow raised.

"Huh?"

**As always, be sure to list any grammar errors you notice in the comments section. I'm uploading with my phone so some stuff might look funny.

I'll be expecting some Smokey .gif's by the way...