Don't Fall in Love (With Your Former Assistant)

by B_25

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Original Character, Spike, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 13740

Twilight is desperate for love—and that desperation dooms her chances for it. Taken to a bar on an other-worldly night, her failure of flirting runs her into Spike. Gone for months yet a regular here. She requests his help in finding love.

Twilight is desperate for love—and that desperation dooms her chances for it.

Hence The Love Protocols. Rules set in place to stop her feelings from making a mistake. Desperate enough to nearly date anyone, she needs the rules in place from getting with the wrong pony—or messing things up with the right one. 

Spike assures Twilight she's not so shallow and that, given dating experience, her tastes would narrow. Yet she requests his aid in finding love at a bar. 

How will our wingman fare in helping Twilight find somepony to love?

[Cover by Maren]

Commission for Barbarity!

Want a story for yourself? Then check out my commissions page!

Published 2020-07-15 02:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2020-07-15 02:30:02 UTC

Rules and Tools

Love Protocols
B_25 & Barbarity

Twilight stumbled into the bar with the immediate feeling of not belonging there. Checking over her shoulder confirmed she was alone. No Rainbow Dash to greet the crowd to their presence. Applejack couldn't holler at the bartender for whatever was 'on the tap.' And it wouldn't be Rarity showing her how to walk and talk in a place meant primarily for stallions.

She swallowed as her chin tilted higher.

“My oh my! Princess Twilight Sparkle in our midst? But please!” Beyond the door stood the waiter that adjusted himself on the spot, wiggling his head and tightening his tie, silver eyes sparkling alive. “Where can I seat you? It's a bit of a rowdy night this evening.”

Both stood in a section set before the establishment. Before them loomed vast and long wooden planks, each ascending after the other, teasing the floor that would take her to another world. Music blared and chatter was the matter in the air.

“Perhaps we shall acquire you a booth?” The vested stallion reared as high as he could to see over the floor, bobbing to the sides, searching for a solution. His forelegs reared to the ground. “More enjoyable for you and your...”

Twilight smiled and blinked and took to the immediate and immense fascination of her hoof. Lifting it before the tuft of her chest, a press into the fur, rolling and rubbing it—fighting to repress the heartbeat behind it. “Just me today. It's not often a princess can get out for a night of fun... y-y'know?”

“A... night of fun?” His face shrunk into itself as his lips parted without purpose. “Ah yes. Yes yes! I do suppose that makes sense.” He nodded and nodded and hoped for it to take some tension out of his soul. “You are still a young princess after all! Yes! And where would the princess like to be seated?”

“At the... counter if that's okay.”

The waiter blinked. “Ah. Oh. Um. Yes! Yes yes! Follow me if you will.”

The stallion turned and began up the steps, a heavy rise of the leg required, taking them higher into the vastness of the building. Far walls and an unseen ceiling. The floor opened and sprawled in the collection of walking bodies. Light smoke drifted upward from the collection of smokers at one of the pillars.

This is so a mistake.

“What will you have?”

The counter spawned a mile and yet the stools touched each other. Shoulders pressed into her on either side, grey and black, two press that compressed her soft volume of lavender. Scarlet kissed her cheeks at the contact. Buff muscle smooth in roundness constantly grinding into her.

Already love touched her.

“Umm.” Twilight's smile rose her cheeks into clumps of fuzzy softness. “W-What do you have?”

“We have everything.”

“Oh. Uh. I-Impressive!” Twilight set her hooves on the surface of the counter, the wood smooth and warm—damp in the texture of alcohol. They fiddled with each other, quickening, as the tension became . “ W-What do you have on tap?”

“Everything again darling.” That voice floated from behind her as a white stallion sauntered in, a dip of a snout to the tip of his hat to cover his eyes. “What the fella is expecting you to say is what specials do you have on tap today.”

Twilight couldn't look back, for one the pushing and moving sides of the bodies on her and, second, due to the battle in fighting down her heartbeat. His voice. Cool and friendly. Collected in information on everything.

Maybe he's the one? Someone like that... s-should be able to get through them.

Twilight lowered her head, inhaling and exhaling, resetting mentally. Her face lifted from the counter with eyes concentrated in confidence as they shone in a glimmer. That deeper breath infused strength into her words. “What special do you have on the tap today?”

“Snow White at twenty-tree, a Bob and Peach at four-four, and High and Nile at nineteen.” Twilight's shoulders ceased to be bunched as, at the same time, those on either side of her rose. Hunched was she in returning to uselessness. “Can do a pint or a pitcher.”

Twilight's mouth remained open despite the inability to speak. In her hopelessness she turned around. Looking at the stallion having saved her before. He stepped toward her wearing a smirk—one dropping at the glance of her horn and wings.

“My oh my! A princess! My sincerest apologies to have disturbed you madam! I should be so ill-advised as to pretend to teach someone like yourself the customs to a place like this.” The stallion backed and took his dashing portrayal of messy golden bangs on a crisp white face with him. “It was my intent to have the lovely company of a lady throughout the night. I shall leave you to it. Please enjoy the rest of your evening miss!”

Twilight's jaw lowered further in seeing him go, unable to help a limp hoof going after him, falling to her side on leaving the counter. Her head fell to the side and her jaw did the same. That confident saunter of his rump betokened for her to go after it.

I could have been that mare for you.

“Miss? Your order? You're not the only one here.”

Twilight shot into straightness as wood creaked and the bartender's breath flushed on her back. Nervousness and anxiety irritated him and she wished for it to end. Before the mare could turn around, another had sat down next to her, a blur of purple, a presence that was towering.

Her heart caught into a trance of attraction, and once again, she hated herself for it.

“This lovely miss next to me will have a Pina Colada as creamy and sweet as you can make it.” That voice. Childish despite being grown. Kindness infused with power—evoking a dashing charm. No changes, though, couldn't hide its passing familiarity. “And here's a little extra so you can have one as well. No wonder why this place has been dying on mares. You'll lose 'em all with that attitude.”

Twilight turned to see the barkeep still leaning his forehooves into the counter, glaring up, the platform behind the counter still setting him beneath the newcomer. His glare narrowed and his mustachioed lips pushed to the side. “And why exactly should I even be servin' you after that mess you concocted last week?”

“So what if a vase and a couple of mirrors were lost in the craze of the party?” Twilight turned in astonishment on facing the chest of scales, forced to crane her neck back, her view now ascending him. “It's because of that class act you tripled sales and body count that weekend.”

“Now in what sense are you using that word body count?” The stallion's smirk teased out from the thickness of his golden moustache as he lowered beneath the counter. He rummaged for items and came up with various bottles. “You mean in terms of visitors or all the drunk folk we had to sweep off the floor?”

“Can't have a rise in the former without a rise in the latter.” Claws rumbled on the counter as they dropped on it. One rose another and the other skyrocketed. They kept as such for a few seconds. “But trust me it's a good ratio. Little bodies on the floor problem to plenty of hooves on the ground solution. So how about a drink between me and the marefriend?”

“Marefriend huh?” The bartender had turned with his wings dashing around the glasses, chuckling to himself. He faced the mare and slid a drink her way. Her hoof inched to catch it, but caught on its base—nearly tipping it over. “Don't even have her name yet and already you're sure you got her?”

“Got her? This is an unattainable kind of girl.” One talon hooked itself over the rim of the drink, holding it back from falling forward, tilting it back into straightness. Twilight looked up at the face hovering above. Her forced smile became natural. “And her name is Twilight Sparkle. For your information—she used to be my former boss.”

Spike's face turned to her with an inability to hold back any excitement. Mirth compounded at the corners of his lips at seeing her; an open smile teasing the glinting of his fangs. Twilight exploded the same in leaving her drink.

“Spike! Oh my goodness!” Twilight lunged into his body with spread forelegs, both wrapping around him as she crashed into his scales. Already his arms cast over her, set to hold the mare closer, her flanks resting on his thighs. “It's been so long! You were supposed to write! I-I didn't even know you were here! Why are you—“

“Why am I catching you with another mare?”

Twilight blinked from inside the nook created by the dragon's body. She leaned left, looking out from his side. Feet away stood a dashing mare, coat like the light blue of the sky, her wispy mane swirled in the delicacy of a cloud.

Twilight snuggled deeper into the dragon out of fear, knowing that, despite being a princess, she didn't stand a chance. Not to someone as refined as her. There was magic in her step as she came toward them, an eye hidden beneath her mane, the casual smile worn gorgeously.

“What? Old friends can't be intimate anymore?”

“So I find you're intimate now with other ladies?”

“Bah! None of that now.” The chest of the dragon pulled away to allow her to see the other mare. There was no hostility despite the narrowed eye. The stranger blossomed into a smile at seeing her worried look. “This is my old friend Twilight! She and I practically lived our lives together. Go on! Shake her hoof.”

“So you're the one the world can't seem to stop talking about? Never expected to meet one such of your calibre like this.” The mare cocked her head playfully as the blond mane cascaded down her neck. She offered her hoof. Twilight looked at it like a kid offered candy by a stranger. “Spike has talked endlessly to everyone about you. You are like the mare who got away to him.”

Twilight giggled nervously and leaned out from the dragon's lap to shake the hoof. She nodded more than needed. “T-Thank you, miss...”

“Wispy Cloud forever at your service.” Wispy nodded back, once, playing to the best enjoyment of the situation. Twilight hid into herself. All were loose and playful and intent on fun. Yet for whatever reason her anxiety failed to vibe with the general air. “You must tell me. Did you boot the poor sap or did he truly walk out in a huff?”

“Um.” Twilight shook her head. “Actually it was none of that. Spike reached the point where he was going out more on his own. Soon it just kinda reached the point where he left for good.”

“You failure of a sob story!” Wispy batted his shoulders with a brush of her hoof. “Just how much of an actor are you mister dragon? Telling that story, drunkenly, to the pouring of our hearts. To think I nearly shed a tear of vodka for you!”

“Hey hey! Woah now! The woe very much is there!” Spike's arm was still wrapped around Twilight, casual and lightly on her. In stallions passing with their smokes, drunk bodies flying above, the chaos of the place caused her to feel safe with him. “Just express it a lil’ differently when all of us were smashed. You tend to feel differently about stuff when you're wasted!”

His other arm shot around the mare, pulling her in close, far more weight and covering more of her. Pulled to his side, she snuggled into his scales, like a cat to a leg, evoking a purr from them both. She nuzzled above his belly in looking up to him. “Does that mean you feel different about me now then?”

“Hardly.” Spike dropped to kiss her cheek, it keeping the same creamy texture, the same, however, not the same for Twilight. She blushed intensely due to the proximity to the act. First she thought the mare to be invading what they had. Now she felt like the invader being so close to the dragon. “And even if I did—I would become an alcoholic to always feel that way about you.”

Wispy laughed in wiggling out and back from his grasp. “Try having yourself a drink before complimenting again. Wouldn't want your friend being treated to such twisted perversion of a wit.” Her glance caught on Twilight, who lowered her muzzle, prompting a smile from the other. “I shall leave you two to catch up. Celestia knows you'll need it. Ba-bye now!”

Frozen. Shocked. Everything deafened except for her breath. Twilight backed out from the dragon's hold, the warmth of his scales gone cold. She retreated to her stool and turned, stomach suddenly hungry, brain swarming in heat.

Her hooves fiddled onto the table and wobbled for the drink, shaking the glass on drawing it near. The shivering of her face brought difficulty in placing her lips to the rim. Suddenly everything raged inside of her. Hollowness. Defeat. The closeness of the dragon no longer her treat.

“...”

Twilight couldn't hear anything for a stimulus more would have blown her for sure. She couldn't take it: the bar the size of a casino. Bright lights on sunny wood as smoke puffed in the air and bodies strolled by endlessly. Her heartbeat quickened. Faster and faster. Soon pounding in her ears.

He'd been so close with that mare. Even with a former librarian on his lap, he was turned to another mare, holding her close and kissing her cheek, a casual affection to beauty despite her proximity. Nothing was special anymore. The dragon had developed into quite the gentledrake to be so casual with the opposite sex.

Spike's not like you anymore. He's moved on as well. Relax. Take your drink. Just be glad you bumped into him again. Twilight's lips went for the drink and missed, despite it being still, it was always wobbling in her vision. Our grand reunion and t-that happens. Nothing's special anymore. You should be the same. Those rules are for... are for...

“Tilt your head back.”

The suddenness and immediacy of the voice forced her into the order. Twilight leaned back to feel a claw on her neck, supporting her, the glass pressed onto her lips. Slowly the yellow slushie smoothly rushed into her maw. Its cold texture teasing to the heat of its flavour. It reinvigorated her. Yet the sense returned also did so the anxiety of the scene.

“That should be enough to get the tingle out of your hooves.” Spike's claw rested her forward before pulling down to her leg, able to hold it fully, one of the few creatures that could. His eyes closed in feeling their pulse, becoming tighter as its answer. “Though someone forgot to turn on a fan in here. Yo barkeep! Promise to not arrest me for leaving the tab unpaid? Need to take this lovely lady outside for some fresh air.”

Twilight felt another pair of eyes on her, and suddenly, her head dropped. Lethargic was she in needing to pull herself together. Eyes closed and head shaken. Reaffirm her character to stand on her own in the situation.

Yet the emptiness of her stomach caused an inability to follow through on what needed to be done.

“Call it my mistake for forgetting to turn a fan on.” Eyes left her, heavy ones, but ceasing to be threatening after that. Now only Spike's remained on her. That and the claw wrapped around the barrel of her foreleg. “Try the balcony on exit six. It's unlocked and the bouncers won't mind you.”

“I love you.”

“You're swinging for both sides now?”

“For how much that tab is worth? I'll do more than love.”

“I'm going to get fired at this point.”

Twilight laughed despite her daze.

The leading through the establishment continued to be scary, the passing tables of poker and the saucers of lights above, a constant and dozy flow across the floor, a smell in the air obnoxiously intoxicating.

But the dragon kept next to her, easily holding her barrel to his side, acting as a guide and a cover, his frame the shadow she needed from the heat. Though she was touched, thoughts floated in her mind. How often was he a sweetie for another mare?

Rule twenty-two. Guys do sweet things for everybody. Don't look too deeply for something not there.

The rules were made to keep her heart away. To not invest so easily into avenues set to lead her down. But the mare couldn't care. Wobbling into the dragon during their tour, snuggling into his sheet of scales, feeling them flex and shift, slenderness beyond compare.

Rule number two. Don't fall for those already close to you. Something would have already happened and you put a strain on everything after a confession. Former assistants are ESPECIALLY off-limits.

Towering doors with windows for panels were pushed forward by the dragon, everything about this place titanic, the force needed requiring several stallions. As Spike's head hovered above, looking out, expression determined and eyes burning, that glow of emerald was adorable.

His face flicked down to her, a smile and expression of assurance, his claw set in the middle of the frames. Spike pushed the doors opened without looking, the strength in his arms, while not bulking, possessed a power in their own right.

Rule nine. Falling in love with a different species is a gamble. You risk not having kids. That, and you might get destroyed in bed. Twilight's eyes shrunk and her blush grew. The dragon had grown... and to how more remained? Y-You may need to give up sex in romancing a dragon. Usual acts of romance become impossible once their bodies consume the size of a cave. T-Therefore... don't be swept by him.

The balcony expanded into vastness as smooth stone caressed the underside of her hooves. Twilight sauntered forward, each step a stumble over the other leg, the motion aided by the dragon. They reached the railing in the distance after a few, the cue to push away from him, forelegs thrown onto it—peering her head over the edge.

“Ten points if you hurl on that guy's hat below.” Spike lowered next to her on the railing, crossing his arms on it, feet backing, allowing him to lower to her eyes level. Twilight looked to him through the cover of her bangs. He pointed a claw downward. “You're not even looking. That guy. White suit. Might get the whole package if you aim your shot right enough.”

Twilight looked down and her lips tugged to the side. She turned forward, feeling her flanks spread in backing a step—entering a deeper lean. “I don't have to vomit Spike.”

“See! Now I was hoping you were going to say that.” Twilight looked back to see a tail curled before her muzzle, possessing her drink, booping her snoot with the cold glass. “Or else it would have been a waste to bring this. Well... no. I would have still drank it.”

Twilight exhaled a laugh and scrunched an eye. “You were going to steal a mare's drink?”

“How else am I going to get an indirect kiss?” Spike shrugged as his head tilted back, suddenly taken by the view above, stars brilliant and numerous, swarmed around the moon. “Or hurl on that guy? Can't throw up on an empty stomach.”

“Eeugh.” Twilight's shoulders dropped as well in rubbing her empty belly. “Tell me about it. I wished I thought to eat before coming here.” She shook her head and blew out the bangs over her eyes; they'd grown longer and the dragon noticed. “But then that would have been silly. You come to places like this to eat and drink, right, in a way you can't do elsewhere. So eating before is a waste to the experience.”

Spike nodded for the sake of nodding, thinking he agreed.

Or at least hoped so.

“But then you get here... and you get swamped! Pool tables and poker desks.” Twilight leaned her muzzle right but kept her eyes forward, sipping cutely from the drink, exhaling like a train engine through her snout. Then she parted from the straw. “Everyone knows everyone! Everybody is a familiar and everyone knows where to go! How to talk and how to act. How am I supposed to talk to ponies?”

Spike turned his head, slowly, in familiarity to the cues—like they were signs in the sky. “Twilight?”

“Because in order to get a life, one has to go out and get it, right? How do you do that? By going to bars and making friends.” Twilight dived for another sip of her drink, a chug taken instead, brain freeze not possible on a girl like her. “What about being a mare with a casual string of stallions? Well you date casually! Go to a bar and get into a situation. Strike it up with a nice guy. Have a decent discourse and see if it leads to intercourse!”

Spike eyes squeezed shut and attempted to merge into one. He did his best to smile throughout the effect. Needing to be there for her was a must. But sometimes he could feel himself bust during times like these.

“Because that's the goal of being a mare wanting to be in love right? You don't fall into love right away.” Twilight shook her head as the flow of logic washed over her. “Ponies can sense the desperation and become repelled by it. You get romantic first than expect love later. Loving from the start is the wrong idea.”

Spike's eyes opened at hearing the words come slow and the syllables drop weaker. He watched Twilight as her eyes never left the moon.

“Loving from the start has you feeling like a creep. Wanting to get that intimately deep with a stranger puts you at too much risk. None fulfill those needs of being loved right away. You're supposed to slowly fall into it.” Twilight tucked her lips into her mouth, biting, enough to tide the burning at the corners of her eyes. “So you casually date until you find the right one. You fall in love after a period restricted to romance. Then that feeling of love will make you feel whole.”

“Twilight? Are you—“

“Rule one.” Twilight swallowed and tilted her muzzle to the sky. “Attraction is okay but falling in love is not. Further testing is needed to know if someone is the right one for you. Your feelings will hurt you in this endeavour. Going to a bar to seek love will have you stared at. Seeking love from the start ensures you never get it. Therefore you need a series of rules to keep your feelings from thwarting the desires born from them.”

Spike's expression took to saddensess as his smile became weak. Rising from the railing, he stepped over to her.

“But much good all of that does you... when you go to a bar like this... alone on an empty stomach.” Twilight sighed and sobbed. “Unable to talk to strangers. Can't even order a drink like a casual. I-I... wasn't cut out for this kind of life.”

Her hoof slammed into the railing. “But I need to be! It's how I'll find a guy! Or even get into the mindset of talking to them like a flirtatious mare. Flicks of the tail to their faces and the like.” Her eyes closed. “No other way of finding someone works. If this keeps up... I'll... I'll be like them.”

Spike looked out to the moon to find his answer, the sisters without lovers, ruling the land without someone at their side. They found contentment in each other as most crave an equal. But if they were to try for love, with their status and stature...

“Rising too high and not being able to bring anyone up with you?” Spike spoke while still staring at the moon. “Hard to imagine a queen on a throne taking a trip to the bar afterward. Dating scene is going to be a lot harder. One night stands more so.”

Woe consumed her. Feelings unbeatable born from hopelessness. Everything within lowered. Spirit and soul. Willpower no longer a galore. What had she been expecting tonight? What could change in a single visit?

“Heheh... heheh...” Laughter spawned from her, weakly and loosely, the failings leading into defeat. “Some friend I am. Meet you after a nearly a year of being away, and already, I'm pulling you into my problems...” She laughed as her tears pelted the railing. “All of this must be the usual Twilight Sparkle nonsense to you.”

“No... not nonsense Twi... it's never been nonsense.” His form was over her and, in a second, he bent a knee and tucked her in. Swiftly and limply was her body taken into the motion, crashing and relying on him. The smoothness of his scales surrounded her with a blanket of heat. “Sounds and feels that way to most. Sure. But I'm not exactly most to you—am I?”

Twilight retracted. That statement slicing deeper into the cut etched into the heart from before. How easily close he was with the mare while she was there. How his embrace was no longer her sacred place. “I-I don't know... t-t-that mare...”

“Oh. That.” Spike chuckled weakly and exhaled longingly afterward. His claw supported the back of her head as she pulled away, not to prevent her from leaving, but rather to offer help as she fiddled in the middle between him and escape. “Took me a while to get used to that as well. Intimacy tends to be casual in these parts. Part of that 'learning it' you were talking about.”

“S-So... you're like that with most mares?”

“Nowadays? Surprisingly yes.” She could feel him looking down at her, a feeling not had in awhile, both in thanks to her height and the power of her magic. But in here and before him she felt weak. Rule forty. Date someone equal or weaker. Preferably weaker. Your lack of feminine charm is made up by the rest of you. Someone better than that, however, you are hopelessly inferior to. “Don't know what they see in a dragon like me. But keep reading the air and the mood and you tend to do alright—even in being yourself.”

Twilight nodded without looking at him. Until a claw settled on her chin. Lightly it pulled up into his calming smile. “And I'm not like most because I know those worries you called nonsense are legitimate. You're fearful of becoming like Celestia and Luna. Becoming so much yet having none to share it with. That's something real Twilight. And you tend to discount it because your anxiety doesn't express that as much as you wish.”

Twilight lost herself into his eyes in the hope they possessed some answer to her woe.

“And you've got to give yourself credit too! You realized a problem and explored it to its every extent! Knowing the full case you hurdled yourself toward an answer.” His other claw rubbed the back of his neck as the night-sky loomed above him. “Strangely of course. But at least you went after it. I know better than most that your rambles aren't born from nonsense. Always they come from something legitimate—and you still need to respect that part about yourself as well.”

R-Rule thirty-three. S-Sweet words are n-nothing to committed actions. Therefore don't fall for them. Twilight fell forward after the thought, into his embrace, resting the side of her face into the valley between his pecs. Curved and smooth rises and slopes of each muscle a cause to snuggle into.

“What you and I have...ah, what you and I had was special Twilight.” His arms wrapped over her barrel and squeezed, locking them together, now sure the mare wouldn't wiggle out from him. “There's no other mare I know better. That I wouldn't be there quicker for. Never did you stop being my best friend in my head. So of course I don't mind being swept into your world—especially if it means I can help you through a problem.”

Twilight laughed into his scales as the drunken breath washed across them. Seconds revealed a greater heat radiating from him. Bodily reaction to being outside? In any case, the dragon quickly covered, burning fire within, a tiny one, but heating his body like a furnace in the cool of the night. “Probably should have bought you a drink first. Caught up over some dinner. Then pull you into my issues again.”

“Now that wouldn't be possible.” She felt his grin without needing to look. “You can hardly speak to the barkeep—much less know what to order and how.”

“Hey! I know how to order.” Twilight swallowed and snuggled into him for comfort. Her insecurities, exposed, didn't hurt when coming from a trusted friend. “Just every place has its variation on the usual jargon! P-Plus there's the matter of saying the order without stuttering and—“

He chuckled.

“Shaddap! Not funny!”

“Little funny.”

Her head pulled from his chest to glare at him, one adorably annoyed, no hate within its gaze. “Not in the slightest!”

“What? That doesn't give you a kick? Twilight Sparkle trying to flag drinks at a bar? Imagine how cute you'd be after a few? Head wobbling around and hoof doing the same in the air, looking nowhere while facing someone, fitting through slurs to order another round?”

Twilight’s glare exploded in size like the laughter below.

Now Spike shook. “H-Hey! What? What's so funny?”

“Just how deeply you fantasize about me being drunk!”

“Because it would be silly and adorable and you would get so worked up about it later!”

“O-Oh! And just how long and deeply were you imagining me in this scenario?”

“I can't believe this! About to have a panic and jealousy attack seconds ago—and now you're flirting me into a state of surrender!”

“That's because I was worried things had changed you dummy!” Twilight planted her face back into his chest and drunkenly giggled at the embrace. This she craved. Sensations of being with another complimented by the physiological release of begin with another. “You weren't the dragon to be casual with so many mares! Much less so close to them. I was worried...”

“Because I was being special with everyone—that meant our special wasn't special anymore? C'mon Twi. I already know how your logic works for it to send me for a spin.” Spike leaned back until he was sitting on the ground, allowing the mare to rise on him, her shoulders throwing in a cross over his shoulders. “What you and I have is unique. I doubt I'd allow myself to be like this for most.”

Rule twenty-seven. Be careful of hearing white lies designed to make you feel better. His interactions with that mare have probably led to sex, so there... there... Twilight blushed hotter than her coat at the thought of the dragon losing that card, swallowing, deciding she didn't want the answer for it. “That's g-good. I worried you got away from me. And that...”

His claw swept her mane behind her ear, rubbing the spot afterward, a weakness few knew about. “You're never going to lose me Twilight. I might be out and gone in the world... but you can write anytime and I'll be there. But enough about that now. That rule you cited. What was it for?”

Twilight squeezed her eyes and hugged his neck tighter, evoking a cough but not a complaint from him—taking the pressure. Slowly was how she began to speak. “I'm uh. Not sure how to explain this. But, um, Spike? I'm not very good... at being a mare.”

He blinked in keeping his head straight. “There's a scorecard for that? I thought the only requirement was between your legs—“ her head jabbed into his throat “—which I'm totally not going to go into!”

Twilight smiled. Feeling the force and the volume of the air and words coursing through his throat, which vibrated pleasantly into her cheek. “Not in that way you dork. I mean being a mare in the usual sense. Like Rarity. Walking in and attracting the room. Being femininely attractive in how I act and talk and interact and respond.”

Spike clenched an eye. “You're not supposed to be like Rarity. You're supposed to be like Twilight, Twilight. Hehehe. Sorry. Couldn't help going for that.”

“I know.” Twilight's coat nodded in a rub across him. “Rule two. Don't duplicate a successful personality and way. Rather use them as a basis to bring out what is already inside. That way you will be unique in your charm.”

Spike closed his eyes as his lips pushed into each other. “Twilight.” He sighed. “Are you... making your own... how to date... guide?”

Twilight lowered her head to his collarbone and looked away in shame. “Is that a bad thing?”

“I'm... not sure?” Spike's muzzle tilted to the sky as he relied on the stars to power his thoughts. “Only that's stuff ponies aren't conscious of. Maybe they subconsciously act from them from time to time. But you should be careful about basing yourself within it.”

“I see.”

Spike looked back down at her. “Why the rules Twilight?”

“What do you mean? I just told you.” Her muzzle tilted up enough to rest its underside on one of his pecs. “So I can increase my luck in attracting a stallion without my feelings getting in the way. Being a bookworm outcast before becoming a princess didn't exactly help in matters like these.”

Spike looked back down in a sudden expression of seriousness. The glow of his eyes, still a kind green, burned all the brighter from it. “Is that all there is to them Twilight? Nothing more?”

Twilight couldn't lower her muzzle with it set on him. Cutely she looked up at him as her eyes turned to the side. With a defeated smile and a huff—she gave in. “I don't know how you do it Spike. But you're right. There might have been another reason for the rules.”

“And that is?”

Her mouth opened before words slowly came. “O-Over the years... I might have become... more and more desperate to find someone. Previous attractions never went well. And future ones seem downright impossible.”

“Hence the need to try now.”

“But... the problem is... I might very well throw myself at anyone now.” Twilight gulped and slid up on him. “It feels like I missed out on so much. You become different depending on who you're with. And I feel like I can fall for anyone given the smallest cue.”

“Oh Twilight.” Spike shook the seriousness out of his expression as the claw on her neck brushed down her hair. “Don't tell me you're making up rules to hold yourself back? You know you shouldn't do that.”

“But I have to! I have to I have to! Don't you remember how things went with Flash and the others? How easily I...” her voice croaked before the sentence could be finished, so, in reflection of that, she went onto another. “That's the purpose of the rules! Love protocols I like to call them. It keeps me from falling in love with the wrong guy and ensures I stand a chance in the right one. It's the perfect system to support my desire!”

“Ahhh faaaa.... Twilight... you can't...” Spike closed his eyes and his mouth in the prevention of saying the wrong thing. Couple of breaths allowed his brain to reframe that which he wanted to say. “Listen. It's good you know yourself well enough to plan for contingencies... but you shouldn't play romance like that. J-Just think about before?”

Twilight pulled away from him, out from his hug and his hold, standing at where his feet reclined. She was able to look into his eyes as he sat there. Already he fell back into himself in her absence. “ Before? You mean the whole screw-up and jealousy thing?”

“No no! Not that.” He dismissively waved a claw. “I mean that teasing thing. You were yourself during that—weren't you? Smooth and teasing and adorable. You nearly sent my heart for a whirl in how casual you played that.”

Twilight blinked in setting a hoof to her chest. “You mean I had an effect on you?”

“You're telling me you didn't feel that?”

Twilight neither nodded nor shook her head. “I... dunno. It was fun. I enjoyed playing off you. I thought maybe something was there, but one of my rules—“

“Ignore the rules!”

“—was not to get involved with a former assistant who would never look at you that way or to chance your luck on a guy that shops around.”

Spike's mouth opened as something was needed to be said to defuse the legitimacy of her system. But cowardice infused his vocal cords as his head dropped in the inability to deny her claims. “Okay fine. So maybe you can use them as guidelines. But you did evoke something in me Twilight. You were casual and teasing and pretty. You were yourself. Be like that in a room and you'll own it for sure.”

Twilight clicked her teeth in annoyance. “But I can't be like that Spike! You should have seen me when I got here! I have trouble being like that by myself.” She stepped toward him with a shy roll of the head. “It's only because it's with you, because you already know me... that I can be like that. Having a friend like that enables me to be something more.”

“That's not being more,” Spike began sitting up, “that's just someone making you feel like you can be yourself around others. Soon you come into that way naturally. But until then...”

“But until then what?”

Spike leaned onto his shoulder as his gaze turned away. Hurt was his expression but determined were his words. “Then I'll help you score someone tonight. I know this place and the crowd pretty well. Just do... what you were doing with me before... be open and free... and someone will fall for you easily.”

Happiness blossomed on her face as the mare reared onto her legs, chipping her forehooves together, dancing in place in the hopes of a date. “Oh oh! You think you think? What part about me worked? Was it the little flirt and tease? O-Or when I surrender myself to you? I need to know what components have the most power over a male.”

“It was everything Twi.” Spike draped a claw over his face as his chuckle came muffled through it. “I'm already back to being your test subject, aren't I?”

“Oh yes! That works perfectly! That means we can go back to how we were like before!” Twilight's forehooves dropped onto the stone, casting winds from the impact, self-assurance washing over her. “You'll be my experiment! You can let me know what mare parts about me work and don't work on a guy.”

Spike's claw passed over to an eye so the other could stare at her. “Twilight... do you have any idea of what you just said?”

“Oh oh! Parts parts! That's right! Body parts are the components of the first attraction!” Twilight twirled in the excitement in being viewed in a way secretly craved, never admired for beauty or sexuality, now teased to that duo actually meaning and evoking something in another. “How's my hair? Face pretty? Flanks tend to be viewed next. Bigger since becoming a princess. Are they plump or fat? And I mean fat in a bad way. Though sometimes I hear fat flanks in a good way? Maybe slender would be better overall? Ohhhh I have nooooo idea!”

“Twilight... you have really nice flanks.”

She bounced back to him. “You think so?”

“Yes I do.” Spike clenched his eyes. “So can we please stop talking about them?

“No no! We're just getting started! I need to see how I rate on every scale possible! What about them do you like and what do you dislike? How does it look in relation to my overall form? Ooohhh! Do you want a feel of them for quick testing? I can try shaking them to see if they bounce more than they jiggle.”

Spike narrowed his face as the absurd washed over him. He leaned back not for a better show rather that he needed more support from the ground. “Twilight... is this your first time realizing you have a butt?”

“This is my first time realizing my butt might actually be worth something! Do you know what it means to have a good butt? I can walk into the room and attract eyes to me! Stallions would come to me rather than me failing to talk to them. It completely changes everything!”

Spike cocked his head to the side. “Does it?”

“No longer will it be me trying to get something from them.” Twilight shook her head with renewed vigour as her gaze shot to the sky. “Now it will be them attempting to get something from me!”

“And you won't stutter during the flirting?”

“So long as my body speaks for me—I won't have to worry about failing!”

'Don't tell me that's a—“

“Rule forty! Rely on your assets on finding you have any.” Twilight snickered to herself to the closing of her eyes. Complete look of adorableness in discovering the possibility of being sexy. Of course innocent mirth would be her response to that. “Get it! Ass! Since it's a good one—according to you—now I need to find the most optimal way to rock it as common sexual language goes!”

Spike groaned as his face entered despair. “I'm not going to live through tonight.”

Twilight rounded back to the railing, grabbing her drink and toasting it to the sky, a passion born from drunkenness that allowed the mare to be free inside of herself. “Here's to me getting laid tonight!”

Pride and pain were in his chest, doing a swirl, as his eyes were on her. Feet away to another table in which she sat. Rump curved and compressed into itself, the softness rippling in her shifting, the fighting to get comfortable inside of nervousness.

He smiled at the effect as magic appeared next to him. Supported by his claw, his head turned onto his table. There laid the paper born of their communication. Purple text for her and green for him. Already she was panicking.

Things are going well, Spike, but it feels like there's a wall between us. He keeps glancing at my wings and horn. It doesn't feel like I have the charm to break him through that worry. Help?

Spike exhaled and, diving a claw into the inner-pocket of his jacked, pulled out a pen.

Lead in with that embarrassing story where you were a filly impersonating Celestia on the throne. It addresses your connection and status and makes it relatable to him. Especially the part when Celestia came in. That'll cause him to not be so scared concerning that side of you.

He blew fire over the paper and turned it again, watching it appear on her table. She'd left her menu standing and open, the paper appearing before it, the cover needed for this. His eyes returned to her flanks at watching how the bubbles of purple transitioned to her shifting.

“Any other mare would be upset over this,” the soft voice across the table teased, rattling the drake, taking him from his gaze. The blond mare smiled at him through the faintness of her mane. “Chasing purple flanks with those eyes of yours. Surely you hold more shame than that?”

“No no.” Spike groaned as the claw on his jaw rushed over his eyes, rubbing it, a cue for him to lean back in his seat. In the voluminous area were scattered tables more refined than elsewhere. Waiters walked through the sections with previous knowledge of the maze. Light swing played in the air. “Nothing like that at all. I can explain this. Promise you.”

“Oh? Now this should be interesting to hear.” Wispy leaned a cheek into a hoof as the elbow below rested on the table, allowing her to fall left and her head to tilt right, a casual blow from her lips to push away her hair. Smooth femininity dangerous to gaze at. “Well? Go at it. Let us enjoy your witchcraft in wordsmithing.”

Spike shook his head and sighed. “Twilight had a breakdown after you left. Turns out she came here with the hope of picking up a guy. She doesn't have much longer until the throne calls her and, when it does, it's doubtful she'll be able to score after that.”

“Mmhmm.” Wispy turned the fluff of white that was her muzzle to the side, allowing her bottom lip to find the straw of her drink, teasing how it pushed and impressed on her softness. She straddled it gently for a sip. The effect was hypnotizing. “Surely don't admire her for that. But I suppose most of us are on a timer in that regard.” She looked back at him. “But please. Carry on.”

“Then she got worried that I wasn't there for her in the same way because the intimacy we only shared—I now shared with more than her. I can get it though. Wound up in a stressful place like this, that one hope in it... also seeming lost to you as well. Sucks I put her through that.”

“If that doesn't take me back!” Wispy fell into her seat as well and looked up in memory. “The little drakey afraid of being smothered in a mare's coat! That hardly used to be the casual contact for you.” She shook her head with glee. “Now you're bringing your best friend into the same development as you. How touching!” She draped a foreleg over her forehead. “To think myself the former mentor of it all.”

“Maybe she would do better to have you as her trainer.” Spike waved his claw in the air to the feeling of magic appearing below. A return on the letter. Rule twenty-seven Spike! Embarrassing stories right away tend to repel rather than attract stallions! “She made up this silly system of love protocols she has to adhere to. Developed beforehand and followed religiously afterward.”

He took out his pen and started writing again as the mare spoke up. “Now if that isn't a fun way to find love? I wonder about the process that would compel a mare to it. Stranger than those who adhere to the advice in magazines I imagine.”

“Nah,” Spike replied. “It makes sense. She hasn't been close to many guys throughout her life, hence... the risk of throwing herself at anyone. But I already told her she has good senses! You wouldn't just become deeply attracted to anyone. Yet she hasn't gotten that sense yet—so she fears it doesn't exist.”

He wrote as he spoke.

You can only allow so much awkwardness between you before one side gives up. Dating and flirting and getting to know another is supposed to be enjoyable. Take the hit and tell the story. He'll find it cute even if you stutter. That'll melt the tension. From there it should be easier for you two to be natural.

He blew the paper back.

“Writing to another mare during our date...” Wispy covered her muzzle with a hoof and lowered it, eyes closing in her laugh, the mare in mirth. “Oh Spike! How lucky I am to have found you as my date throughout the years.”

Spike chuckled in leaning his cheek into a palm again, offering the mare a final glance, before looking back to Twilight. Already she retracted into her mane as she told the story, a blush wrapped around her front, little twitching in giggles.

On the other side was the stallion laughing. He was leaning forward instead of away. This saw Twilight doing the same. His advice worked. He knew it would. But a part of him was saddened but thankful for Twilight's success.

“Not the only one I'd imagine.”

“But you are! If we're keeping within the context of dating throughout the years.” His eyes drew back to her on that. But now the mare was smiling in looking over to Twilight. “I've had countless dates to be sure. But none that have kept for longer than a month. Yet we've swung ever since you were young.”

“Hey!” Spike turned his head, the couple staring at the other, the advanced swept to the past in seeing inexperience. “I've got another few thousand years of being young.”

“Not to the point of being barely taller than me as I rubbed your back while you vomited.” Wispy covered her giggle again. “You were so cute back then. So small and trying so hard. Most would have given up lacking the cause you did behind it.”

Spike scrunched his face. “I had a cause?”

“Don't tell me you don't remember? You spouted about it endlessly as you were drunk! How you wanted to become an experienced, dashing gent that could capture the heart of another.” The mare sighed longingly after that. “How lacking you were to her otherwise. But if you could grow in an environment like this—perhaps you could compensate for all you lacked to her.”

“No way.” Spike shook his head at that... and at Twilight's hoof being caressed by that of the stallion. “I wasn't that bad then.”

“Of course not.” Wispy smiled. “Most boys improve greatly after I get my hooves on them. But in you there was something special. So much that I came to trust you beneath the veneer of all that we portray ourselves as.”

Spike blinked as he turned to the mare. Still her eyes were on the other. It was like a loser starting at the victor, not upset or mad, but a sort of comfort in being genuinely outplayed. “I had something special about me? Even before I became like... well, this?”

“Indeed. Ironically enough it was your commitment to another mare that swooned me over.” Wispy's face didn't move though her eyes flashed to him. “All of this is experimentation Spike. Fun and games until pleasure is attained. But a part of this of practise for when one of us finds the right one.”

“And was I...”

“Don't flatter yourself.” Wispy turned to him fully with a knowing look. “It's only that I could be sure in you, Spike. Never did you lose your genuineness through the improvement. In that is refreshment. As well as another certainty.”

The paper spawned below his elbow. Spike. Please. I'm already falling in love. Don't let me break rule one.

Spike clenched an eye and wrote back.

Imagine he just had a bad case of the runs before the date.

He blew it back.

“And what was it?”

“That you and I liked each other,” Wispy said in a small voice, “and that both of us bore certainty it wouldn't develop into love. We could say and do as we pleased without the fear of love becoming the case. Soon the two of us will have to find one to use all we have learned. But at least we know everything between us is practice.”

Spike returned his focus to Wispy as she looked back to him, the nights before casual and never serious, fun and games with the occasional deep talk. One night of Twilight appearing, though, and suddenly their whole relationship is thrown into perspective. “Is that why you never date the same guy for long? Beyond me that is.”

Wispy smiled with a dip of her snout. “You've found exactly the hollowness there is inside of me. There hasn't been a boy to draw me into that compulsion yet. Perhaps you could be the one in that regard. If I tried, if both of us did, well, maybe there could stand a chance of something more.”

Spike turned his drink, downing the glass, needing the liquid courage as he slammed it back on the table. Wiping his lips to buy himself a breath, he went all in. “And is that what you want? The chance of us becoming lovers?”

“And take you away from the mare that got away? Nonsense! Not when you admire her rump so.”

“I-I wasn't admiring her rump! She was insecure about herself being enough to attract a guy, then I told her not to worry about it, because being herself was enough.” He threw his claw up to aid in his rage. “Of course she took it for a cliche—but it really does apply to herself!”

“Oh? And just how can you be certain? We are supposed to believe in our effects without acknowledgement of others—but secretly we crave those first few confirmations of our charms being the case. ”

“Because what she has... it all worked on me! Everything she does, it evokes something within, so the effects are there. Strong too.” He shook his head and exhaled his energy away. “And if I can feel it that much, then that means others can feel it as well. Of course Twilight worried about her dorky laugh not being as attractive as others. Or how her terrible dancing would only be appealing to me.”

“So the mare went to that which is appealing to all males—her rump?”

“You should have seen it too.” Spike fell back into his palm and actually looked away from everything this time. “It was like she realized she had an ass for the first time. And a good one too. Realizing its power over ponykind—she needed me to express and explain in all the ways it worked or appeared the most optimal. Hence the previous staring.”

“Weren't you glad to be given an excuse.”

“It's not like that.”

“Is it not? Do not lie to me.”

Spike closed an eye, turned his head, and was forced to commit. “Okay. Her ass is out of this world. It's a creamy purple of overheated dough topped in a soft coat over it. Plump without losing proportion to the rest of it. The fact she didn't realize she had a winning case on her all this time is mind-boggling.”

Wispy broke out into laughter. The genuine kind. Not the sort composed and collected, the right pitch to perfect volume, meant to be as appealing as possible. Rather this was a filly touched silly by the feeling in the air. Gently her hoof wiped a tear from an eye. “Oooooh Spike. Only you. In only being with you could I be so glad to be speaking of another mare's rump.”

“Hey hey hey! Just because I like hers doesn't mean I don't like yours too!”

“Already I'm competing for your heart with another? Surely that Twilight doesn't even know she's in a competition—ironic considering how desperate she is to find someone. Isn't this your time now, while she is weak, to get with the one that got away?”

Spike dropped his claw on the table. “Again you're going on about this! Twilight didn't get away! I left! If anything I'm the one that got away—“

“Got away because you knew you couldn't get with her.” Wispy leaned forward to prod his forehead with a hoof. “Found me and this life all so you could improve to become the dude to swoon her. It's because of that I had nothing to fear from you Spikey. Not a worry no matter how hungry those claws of yours rolled over my flanks.”

Spike slouched back in defeat and with nothing to say.

“You should chase after her Spike.”

He blinked and looked at Wispy. “What?”

“Don't play the fool as acting has never been your forte.” Wispy nudged her muzzle in the direction of the other table. But Spike refused to look. Not wanting to see how well the date had progressed since the last message. “Surely you've had your fun with the girls of this world. Now you are the composed dragon you hoped to be to previously claim her. You and I always were different. I would have to will myself into love before a compulsion came over me.”

Spike shook his head and kept doing so, unable to keep his stomach from churning, worried for all that was happening. He felt himself in a terrible dream for there was no waking. He could handle life on the outside. Being away from what he could not have. Fulfilled by the sense of living well and genuine improvement.

But now he'd been plucked to the past.

And he felt reduced for it.

“You've always been a caring dragon Spike. Much more than you give yourself credit for. You've always treated us mares well—out interactions with you always felt special.” She laughed and shook her head in a strange acceptance. “It's not possible for one to care about everyone—much less to an extent. That Twilight was wrong to think you could be that deeply close with everyone. Already you sacrificed yourself to be so kind.”

“Kind? You're crazy.” Spike leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, fighting to enter character again, of being the kind of dragon to playfully handle a situation like this. “It's more perversion than anything. Getting to indulge in all the reasons to like you girls. Hardly any sacred care in admiring your flanks.”

“But there is my dear dragon,” Wispy replied, “when you hardly think about yourself to invest all that effort into the rest of us. Already your focus is on my flanks and all you would like to do about it. But often do you imagine me on my knees sucking your di—“

“Okay okay! Point taken! I think about you a lot more than I think about myself.” He dropped his surrendered claws as he tried checking in on Twilight—but failed to follow through on the motion. “But Twilight is like the rest of you! I treat her special like—“

“That Twilight is a mountain none of us can hope to climb in that heart of yours.” Wispy rested her forehooves on the table. “Don't you feel it at all. That distance you have for us? The one you've always wanted is her.” She smiled. “Already you'd lost in that regard. It's why you were so confident around us. Never could you lose or feel defeated no matter what we did in response. Much the same to the other extent. You could never feel so elated in being with us.”

“No no. You're crazy. It's...”

Spike wanted to speak and he also didn't want to lie.

“You were able to do so well, darling, because you could never really lose.” Wispy exhaled. “It was no wonder to me why you and I always stopped short of intercourse. You were holding yourself back for a dream. Part of me admired you for that.”

“So what? I'm not going to give up now.”

“Spike darling. You know that compulsion we spoke of? Already you have that.” She smiled in turning to the table the dragon was unable to look at. “How you spoke of Twilight before. You already know her so deeply in reuniting less than an hour ago. Her entire state is comprised in your mind, and already, you're using a date with me to aid her.”

His eyes shut on that. “That really looks bad on me, doesn't it?”

“That you're looking at a mare's butt for the words that will help her feel more secure in it? Or how you're fighting yourself to ensure her date goes well? I'm charmed by all of the above. We never dared that intimate closeness as no compulsion brought us to it. So I cannot say I'm harmed in any way.”

Spike was silent and unsure.

“But you have that compulsion Spike. Something that compels you genuinely. Your care for that mare is truly special for nothing else has topped it no matter the years.” Wispy rapped her hoof on the table in seeing something interesting. “Something I either need to seek or force, you've had throughout your life, sending you through all this. You should act. Don't let her get away again.”

Spike closed his eyes and lowered his head, which he shook, but lost to the feeling within. He smiled at the horribleness of his next joke. “Want me to massage your flanks a final time before I go?”

“I'll find another boy-toy for that.” Wispy nodded at him. “Chase after those purple flanks. Your talented claws should allow them to be appreciated—before knocking out that fool first.” She nodded to the afar table and his gaze followed. “How grateful I am to myself for raising you right. There's always a jerk needing a helping claw.”

His gaze flew over to the table. Both rose from their tables. Twilight was smiling in glee and the stallion smirked in victory. His hoof wrapped around her foreleg, pulling her next to him, the duo set to leave the place... with very few other establishments to visit at this hour.

Hesitance struck. Half lifted from his seat but also not standing. Spike's claw curled without closing, twitching, unsure of what form it wanted to be—what it needed to be, what it deserved to be, and what it wanted to be. What was he even allowed to do here as the happy pair strolled away?

Twilight didn't even look back at him, coming to snuggle into the stallion's side, one of his wings reaching back, a gentle slide to the curve of her rump. It sparked molten fires burning even the dragon's veins. Yet what right did he have to act in all of this?

What was the code, in this, that decided the right or wrong action?

“If everyone truly cared deeply for each other... life as we know it wouldn't be able to function.” Spike's head yanked to the mare as she leaned back, forelegs crossed with a smile above, the assurance from her seeping its essence into him. “Hence why we are selective of our friends. Then those we decide are close to us. Then that one for which they are your everything.”

The dragon bolted from his seat and laid his claw on the table, holding it, a means holding him back from a mistake. Every muscle in his stomach clenched forward as his weight was bound in that direction. Her voice sang again. “You neglected yourself to treat us mares with a care that caused us to feel special. Yet she is the one you gave your life for. Nothing can top that. So will you let it go to waste? Or will you allow yourself this one indulgence?”

Spike closed his eyes and opened his lips to the glinting of a fang. He smiled. The final one for the mare. “Sorry about this. It's horrible manners to chase after someone else during a date.”

“Not at all! Rather I'd prefer if you were the first one to feel that magnificent rump of hers.” Her forelegs shooed him away. “Now go! I booked another boy after I saw your mare on that perfect lap to nap on of yours! And give that stallion a good toss.”

“Hey buddy... I don't mean to come off as a prick here, but...” Spike inhaled deeply to alleviate the tension in his chest. The next course of events were already dictated in the snarl of the turning stallion. He didn't like having the tips of his wings taken into a claw seconds before reaching a creamy flank of lavender. “What do you think you're doing?”

The stallion narrowed his face in staring up at him. “Get your claw off me! We've already picked our score for the night.”

Spike tightened his hold on the wingtips. “She's drunk!”

“So am I!”

The dragon closed his eyes and breathed. His head nodded in place and his lips tucked inward in knowing a mistake was soon to follow. Yet nothing could be done about it. His eyes opened to the side. Twilight stood a foot away, cutely and bewildered, stumbling in place, hiccuping to raises of her head—absolute adorableness that had to be protected.

“Then what a coincidence!” Spike grinned in looking over his shoulder to the counter. “Hey barkeep!”

The bartender's head peeked up from beneath the wood, his brows arched, a sense of bullshit already triggered. “I don't know exactly what it is you're planning. Only that it's a bad plan. And you should do the opposite of that.”

“Already a step ahead of you on that.” Spike slid his foot into a curve, keeping his lagging behind to grant greater twist to his torso, the perfect arch for a fastball. “But afraid this is something I have to do. Please charge me for double and greater fees on top of it.”

“H-Hey!” The stallion struggled to pull his wing from Spike's grip. “W-What do you think you're—“

The force was sudden and immense. The whipping of winds as the dragon shot the stallion forward in a throw. His strength hurdled him forward, over the tables and counter at terminal speed—smacking—into the wooden beam behind the latter. He fell and crashed into the shelves of drinks, bottles dropping and glass exploding, liquid dousing on those sitting on the stools, the drunkards turning to each other, forelegs raised, the first hoof starting the brawl.

One spreading easily across the joint.

“CELESTIA DAMN IT SPIKE!”

“Hey hey! Feel free to charge her for everything once this show is done!” Spike crouched before Twilight. Her eyes settled on him, widely and in wonder, a little snort a cause from her drunkenness. She wondered if this was still the same dragon she knew back when. “Now you. C'mon. We need to get out of here before the fight reaches us.”

“SPIKE YOU ARE NOT LEAVIN' ME WITH THIS MESS!”

“Say that the next time I roll with you and your cousins to the next fight!” Wrapping his claw around her wrist, he gently pulled her forward, next to him, keeping hurried in his walk, feeling the mare stagger behind. “Let's get out of here Twilight. This place isn't your style anyway.”

The heat rolling from their bodies cooled in the freshly chill of the night. Feeling their clouds of warmth combat the coolness of the air, the feeling was refreshing, a relaxation from previous tensions. Both panted on breaking through the towering doors of the monolithic building set higher on Canterlot Mountain.

“C'mon! We can break after we get away from this place.” Spike was looking down at the steps, his foot aiming for the one feeling less like an afterimage in his vision. Glancing behind him revealed Twilight, a wobble throughout her barrel, her foreleg raised above the next step, however, floating in a circle with her eyes narrowed. “Twi? Oh come on Twi.”

Twilight's face exploded in excitement in stomping her hoof down, believing to have gotten the right one, but yelped in jerking forward. Her hoof slammed onto the second step below the one of her aim—caught by a vast claw holding the front of her chest.

He could feel her. Softness of the coat to how it pushed in and out. How the texture of lavender fluff pushed and flattened beneath his hold. Heated were the furs and silky was the tuft. Perfection compounded into itself. Weight pressed into his palm as the mare was lost in her fallen fate. Long mane blanketed her face.

“Agh.” Spike lowered into a squat and allowed Twilight to fall onto his back. Her forelegs slid over his shoulders as the slender nature of her frame draped over his back. She giggled in pressing her softness into his smoothness, wiggling, blowing drunken breaths onto his neck. “Alright. You need to hold on now. Okay?”

That didn't happen.

“Weeeeee!” Twilight instead raised her forelegs and leaned back as though on some roller coaster. Spike groaned and rolled his eyes as his tail curled into itself, flying into her lower back, catching the mare before she could fall into stone. “That was fun! Again! Again!”

Sounds came from behind and above where the doors to the bar opened again. “Yo Cloud! I think I see them below!”

“Crud.” Spike twisted in place to look at the mare behind him. Twilight leaned into his tail as she snuggled with it, its length hugged into her barrel, kept in place by wrapped forelegs. Her cheek nuzzled the spade with a blush developed from love. “Damn it Twilight. Now's not the time to be perfect!”

Footsteps clattered from before, slow and quiet, soon numerous and louder, the crowd reaching outside to the shattering of windows. Maybe throwing that guy was a step too far. Okay. I was trying to show off with that. His arms reached over for the mare, claws settling on the length of her sides, raising her as though she was a kitty. If I'm already screwed after tonight...

Spike stood and cradled Twilight into himself, no struggles from the mare as she snuggled into his chest, neck and hind legs supported by his arms, those of which kept under her. Carrying the princess bridal-style, the dragon kicked it from the establishment, beginning down the many steps, ones spread over the area of a range—each narrowing into the vastness of the city that loomed below.

It didn't take the duo long to flee into the night. Rushing down the steps and passing through a large, black, metallic gate leading back into the streets. The pavement was empty of life. Only a water fountain in the spread of whatever district they were in. Spike slowed in his jog, jostling the one within his hold. She laughed the whole way, laughing and turning, something smacking his chest, lightly, with playful hooves.

“I... I think... we ditched them...” Spike leaned his head back and exhaled steam into the cold air of the night. Flame billowed within. Warming his frame for the sake of the one against it. “Oh Celestia. Gotta give it to you Twi. One day back with you and already I'm caught in a scheme. You'd never expect trouble to follow a girl like you so easily.”

He looked down at the mare in her arms, seeing how cradled she was, bunched and compressed into herself, if only by a little, long bangs cast over an eye. The other was open. Glowing and vibrant. It reflected him and the sky above. The feeling of being more, being something, due to being seen by another. “Guess it's about time I put you down now.”

“No! Nuh-huh! It's cold out and you took me from that warm place!” Twilight's body wiggled deeper into him. He was forced to readjust to hold the added weight. She was in mirth in being close to him. “Now you have to take responsibility! Keep your chest warm and get me out of this cold.”

Spike shook his head but was forced to commit. He kept next to the fountain, looking to the side, across the street that sprawled to the castle afar—one dazzled in celestial lights. He shook his head at that prospect. Then his face clenched at the alternative.

“I do have a place I'm staying in here.” Without the freedom of his claws to do the act, the dragon's tail flicked to the back of the neck, scratching there, his way of handling embarrassment. “It's a decent enough abode for me. Not sure how well it stacks up for a princess though.”

Twilight nuzzled the muscles over his heart. “Anyplace with you is good enough for me.”

And she must have done so to listen to its skipped beat.

“What's gotten into you?” Spike asked with a shake of his head, starting down the street, the rises and drops through his frame causing Twilight the same. Feeling her coat wash across him was a delight he still was unworthy for. “Why aren't you mad? I just ruined your date. Wasn't that the whole purpose of the night?”

Twilight closed her eyes and raised the back of her forelegs, snuggling her snout into them, enjoying the feeling of her furs fluffing. “Think I'm... too happy to be angry. Or too drunk. I-I've never—“ she hiccuped to the extent of a yawn “—had this much before.”

“Remind me to get you water at the counter to the hotel.”

“Not even Canterlot treasury can cover that.” Twilight giggled. “We can take water from the tap.”

“At least allow me to steal a fancy glass so I don't feel as guilty.”

“You'll feel guilty over that—but not tossing a stallion like a ball?”

“Now I do feel guilty over that... just not as much.” Spike nodded his head along with the thought. The light from the passing streetlamps shone faintly on the street and buildings that were blurred to his sides. “Doesn't help that I like you more than I did him. So I'm bound to feel more guilt having you drink 'meh' water than having him break through the glass.” He smiled. “Dragons are greedy creatures in that right.”

“So you liiiiike me huh?”

Spike arched an eyebrow in gazing at her face, finding everything else blurry, the ground below and the space around it. But her every detail shone in violet clarity to how pretty she was. “Of course I like you. Wouldn't have gone along with your protocols and problems after just meeting you again. Or tossed that guy.”

He cocked his head. “Okay. I probably would have done that anyway. I've become a bit of a worse dragon ever since I've been away.”

Spike went to raise his face but chasing lips caught him instead. Landing on his cheek and warming the spot his inner-fires couldn't touch. Love flourished. The mare rested a hoof on his shoulder to lean up. Eyes closed and kissing his scales. Seconds after she fell back. “Thank you.”

“Thank you?”

“For becoming a worse dragon.”

His tail wagged at the nonsensical compliment. He cut from the valley of Victorian homes into an alley, one narrowed and dark, the sides of the buildings towering up. It was a shortcut to the central district of the city. His hotel wouldn't be far from that. “You shouldn't really be rewarding behaviour like that... and speaking of which.” He leaned Twilight heavier into his other arm as to lower her. “Why did you even offer to go back with that guy?”

“Because I'm a bad mare! A naughty mare! A really bad naughty mare!”

Nothing else could kill a heartbeat like that.

“So you... wanted to go back with that guy?” His head lowered without seeing her. “I'm sorry about that then. I should have—“

“No! Nuh-wah-huh! I'm an evil mare because I wanted to see what you would have done!”

His eyes flicked over to hers. Nothing but darkness floated in the alleyway as their shadows had melted as well. Only in the distance ahead was there light. That, and the glow of emerald and violet existing between them. “What would I have done? But I was there to help you.”

“I know.” Another glow came. Hot pink. The flush from Twi's cheeks. “But that mare said differently. She came to me as you were getting everything set up. S-She said you've never actually been with a mare yet. And that... you cared for me more than a friend.”

Spike stopped walking to sigh. “That girl. She has threads in everything.” He glanced up above, taking his glow with him. The stars above offered bits of light inside the darkness. “Tell you anything embarrassing about me?”

Twilight sighed as she relaxed into his grip, now limp, resting into his hold. Her tail had rested between her legs, but it relaxed as well, sliding off her bottom and resting in the air. “Only those protocols weren't needed when you found the right one.” He felt her smile shrink—but still felt it there. “Because you don't need to act. There isn't a need to be anything. Yourself and all its desperation are good enough.”

Spike chuckled as his eyes were drawn lower. “I guess we're all hiding behind something. Maybe we're all a bit more desperate than we let on.” He shook his head. “Ah. Now I'm just talking silly. So that stunt with the guy then?”

“Obviously it was a mistake... but I... I... I wanted... I wanted to see... what you would do?”

Spike laughed. Harder than he should have. Feeling the mare bite her lips and turn her muzzle away, the dragon was deprived of that which her eyes cast. “Wouldn't you know it? Twilight Sparkle the drama causer! Takes me back to that incident with the doll.”

Groans followed by the feeling of her head rolling in his arms. “Ugh! Don't remind me.” She exhaled sharply. “I know I shouldn't have done it. But I suppose I was desperate to know. This is exactly why I made those protocols in the first place! Or else my desperation causes stuff like this to happen. That stallion—“

“Got led into a bait he chose to go for.” Spike shrugged as he walked forward again. “Decent lad wouldn't have gone for it. But still. You did all that wanting to know what I'd do?”

Twilight nodded as her mane rubbed into his palm. “I always know you'll be there for me. And I'm... r-relieved you'll be more there for me than any other mare. But. I-I guess. I guess I wanted to see how you'd react to me being with someone else?”

Spike blinked down at her. “And why is that?”

“Because seeing you with another mare was killing me inside.”

Spike was forced to stop again as he was stunned. Glitter floated in the alleyway. Snow descended from above. It sways in its fall sprinkling blue dots in the darkness. His claw curled into the bend of her back leg. Not meaning to grab her—but needing to hold something for support.

“I know I know! It's silly.” Twilight shook her head and didn't stop, the corners of her eyes glinting, sparkles one never craved to see. “It's because of you I made those silly rules anyway. I already lost you to being myself. And you were the only guy to be consistent in my life. So I—“

“No no! Don't you ever say something like that to yourself.” Spike's claw cupped the back of her head to raise the mare. She stared into his brilliant eyes. Powered by a new source of energy burning through worry and doubt and anything else. “That's not the reason I became distant! Farthest thing from the truth! Because that is... all of this... it's because I wasn't good enough for you Twi.”

Twilight wrinkled her snout in pulling away. “N-Not good enough? But Spike. For me you—“

“I was a dragon, I was tiny, I was unrefined, I was... me.” Spike exhaled in chuckles as irony struck. “It's funny. You were scared of never finding a date because of the princess you're becoming... and that's exactly why I was scared of you. You're so much better than most Twilight. Though you have... some inexperience and quirks in areas.”

Twilight took the jest and leaned back in again.

“But I... I dunno... I thought that if I went out there... out in the world... and explored it... growing and becoming more that, when I returned, somehow I would be good enough for you.” Spike breathed as everything left him. “That I would be able to guide you through the nightlife. I would be good enough to survive in any social context. That I could lead you through the nightlife you were inexperienced with.”

“Spike...”

“If I could teach you how to dance proper... to have a string of friends useful in a variety of social situations... if I could just be someone... then maybe I would be worthy of you then.” His smile came tragically. “Wispy helped me at the start. In the art of how to treat a mare and how to exist in the social scene. My adventures out in the world would take care of the rest. But... even though I progress in all the zones you were inexperienced in... even still... I never felt like I could reach you Twi.”

He looked to the sky and expected to keep like that for the rest of the night. It was twilight in the sky as all the stars were bright. He was in darkness. Regardless of his height and strength, ability to talk and dance, none of those attributes mattered in a space such as this.

“And maybe you're like the sky for me,” Spike cemented. “Always there and always out of reach. So beautiful that getting a look at it is enough. I always feel so calm, so refreshed in looking at it. Maybe that's enough for me. Maybe I don't need to reach you.”

Hooves reached for him instead. Claiming his cheeks and lowering him to her. Despite how highly he spoke of the mare, she was the one to force him to pull down, away from his admiration of the impossible—into the reality of the lips that claimed his.

The two kissed. Softness and firmness in love to each other. That sliding of sensitivity casting divinity into the pair. Everything relaxed. In the closing of their eyes was the ceasing of their light. Both were nothing in the darkness as nothing could be seen.

Yet they kissed each other. Loved for an existence that no longer could be seen. Vision wasn't needed. Only the feeling of the other was needed. The two kissed inside of the alleyway and were done the same as they came out. His head bent down as her hooves wrapped around it. Both of them caught in the loving embrace.

Knowing they would be okay.