Spike didn’t like this at all. He had learned way more than he wanted to know when Twilight had talked to him about the incident. He probably could’ve given Rainbow Dash information just from that conversation and it probably would’ve been enough. He wasn’t a child. He knew that was never going to happen again. Not only did it just feel wrong to be with Twilight, but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he ever hurt Twilight like that again.

But now he had to delve into that realm in order to help Rainbow Dash. He had to think about things that Twilight liked, which inevitably led to him thinking about what Twilight had liked in bed. And that led to how much he had liked it. How much he enjoyed tearing flesh. How much he enjoyed biting limbs. He shuddered.

“Are you okay, Spike?” Twilight’s voice caused him to nearly jump out of his skin. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He looked over. She was carrying a stack of books. Presumably from her private study back to the library. Her mane draped down the side of her neck, accentuating it's length and curve as she looked at him over her shoulder. The glow of her magic twinkled in her eyes, filling them with stars. They gathered him in, watching him with her natural curiosity. She was concerned about him, but not worried as a small smile played on her lips. She was beautiful.

“ARGH!” His outburst caused a small flinch, but she remained, “Twilight I need to ask you something.”

She turned to fully face him. "What is it, Spike? You seem really upset."

He paused a moment, "Do you have issues lingering from our...thing? Like, is that level of crazy the only way you can...you know...finish?"

"Oh." She set the books down and sat on the floor. Her gaze turned to her slowly shuffling hooves. Spike could tell her thoughts were going deep. He could tell she was considering a lot as well as weighing what to say.

"I can handle it, Twilight. I just need to know if I really messed you up."

Her hooves stopped and her eyes returned to his. She stood, crossed the hall, and wrapped her hooves around the dragon. After a couple seconds, she released the hug and looked into his eyes.

"Spike, you don't need to worry about me. Yes it was weird. Yes I had to go away for a while to deal with it. But I'm back because I'm able to live my normal life again. I can live normally. No extremes needed." Spike nodded, looking at the floor. Twilight placed a hoof on his chin and drew his gaze up to hers. “Spike, you’re my family. What happened wasn’t anypony’s fault. And it definitely wasn’t yours.”

Spike smiled and gave Twilight another hug. He stepped back and gave her his finger guns and a wink, “How ‘bout I help you out with those books?”

Twilight giggled, “Sure!”
_________________________________________

Many hours had been spent in the library. It had been like it was when they first moved to Ponyville. They had spent most of the time reading quietly, soft chuckles and smiles escaping as they both read through their humorous books. But direct sunlight pouring through the east window signaled that perhaps it was time to start thinking about dinner. Spike’s rumbling belly agreed.

“Gosh, we haven’t done that in a while, Spike. It was nice.”

“Yeah, it was.” He got up off his chair and stretched. Another loud rumble escaped his belly.

Twilight laughed as a rumble came from her belly as well. “I guess we should go eat something. What sounds good, Spike?”

Spike thought for a moment, “We haven’t been to Hay Burger in a while. It sounds kind of good.”

“Hay Burger it is.” She levitated a small purse over and tucked it under her wing. “Alright. Let’s go, Spike.”

The walk to Hay Burger was uneventful and soon enough they were sitting at their table enjoying the greasy goodness. They chatted about nothing in particular. Spike mentioned some of his more recent comics, Twilight gushed about some ancient Equestrian ritual she had been researching. They were having a great time. But it ended because Spike was facing the door.

The door is where Rainbow Dash appeared. She wasn’t there looking for them. Her eyes were glued to the menu posted up above the registers. But Spike had to stop listening to Twilight, because his eyes were glued onto Rainbow Dash. She ordered her food and stood by the counter waiting. Then she decided to look over. Spike gave her a weak wave.

“Who are you waving at?” Twilight turned around. “Oh! Hey Rainbow Dash! Come sit with us!”

Spike saw her gulp as she plastered a smile across her face. She grabbed her tray and walked over to sit next to Spike. Maybe it was because he knew what was going on, but Spike could swear she looked like she was about to pass out or something.

“Hey guys. How’s it goin’?” There was a definite shake in her voice.

“We’re actually finishing up a great day. Spike and I got to relax and read together just like we used to before these.” Twilight spread out her wings and pointed to them. “It was really nice. How was your day, Rainbow Dash?”

"Oh, you know, same old same old. Got up early to adjust the weather. Took a nap. Practiced some tricks. Took another nap. The usual." She sounded relaxed and cool just like she always did. She opened up her burger and grabbed the ketchup. She tipped it over her burger...and nothing came out. She shook it as hard as she could and still nothing came out.

"Here, let me help you, Rainb-”

“I got it!” Rainbow Dash had an intense look of concentration on her face. She wanted to get it done herself. She tapped it on the table a couple times and tried again, frustration slowly building in her features. With one last grunt, she got it out. She got all of it out. With the now flat squeeze bottle between her hooves, she glanced around the table. Her burger was swimming in ketchup. The table and Spike were splattered with profuse amounts. Twilight lowered her shield and escaped clean, though not without a look of concern on her face.

Twilight stood up, “I’ll get some napkins.”

Spike sighed, “I’m glad I was done eating.”

“So, uh. Spike. You get anything that could help me out, yet?” Rainbow Dash’s question came from the side of her mouth as she tried to get most of the ketchup off of her face. She succeeded in smearing it around.

“Yeah. How about you don’t explode ketchup all over the table?”

“Ha Ha, Spike. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“What?” Twilight’s voice caused Rainbow Dash to freeze.

“I...uh...didn’t mean to do,” She gestured to herself and the table, “this!”

Twilight giggled, “I know. Now this time, just hold still and let me help you.” She began using napkins in her magic to clear the large gobs of ketchup from Rainbow Dash’s face and neck. A small smile played on her lips as she did so. She was able to get a lot of it off Rainbow Dash’s face and front before she ran out of napkins, and she nodded to herself with satisfaction.

“I’m gonna go get a few more napkins, then you should be good to go.” Twilight stood and trotted away with a trot the Spike hadn’t seen since the last time she came back through the mirror. He looked to Rainbow Dash and elbowed her in the ribs.

She squirmed away a bit. “Ack! Spike! What was that for?”

“Twilight’s free tonight. Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.” He stood up from the table and started walking away. “Let her know I went home to take a bath.”

“Wait, Spike!”

He turned around and gave the pegasus a wink, “You’re as awesome as you want to be, Rainbow Dash. Have fun!” He waved and walked out of the restaurant.
____________________

Spike had taken an extra long bath. He had been able to keep it hot for hours with his fire and he was super relaxed as he munched on a small bowl of gems in the library. He looked up at the clock and it was way past his bedtime. Dumping the rest of the bowl in his mouth, he stood and stretched and walked to his room.

He heard the main castle doors open and close as he was climbing into bed. He was half tempted to go out to meet Twilight and see how the night went, but muffled voices made him think twice. He heard two voices giggling and thought for sure Rainbow Dash was with Twilight. As they reached the hallway, however, he began to hear that it wasn’t Rainbow Dash.

“So she was covered in ketchup and still asked you out?” Starlight couldn’t stop laughing.

“It was so cute. I had to say yes. I mean, you know I like athletic types. And Rainbow Dash is such a great friend already…” Twilight sighed.

“You’ve been waiting a while for this, haven’t you?” Spike could picture Starlight’s smirk.

“Maaaybe” Twilight giggled again.

“Oh my gosh, you’re acting just like a filly gushing about her crush brushing up to her in class.”

Another giggle was the only reply.

“Alright, Twilight. Go to bed. I’m glad you had a good time, but we need to get up early tomorrow.”

“Alright. Good night, Starlight.”

Spike heard some hooves walk away towards Starlight’s room. Then another set of hooves approached his door. He covered up and pretended to be asleep as his door opened.

A barely audible whisper brushed his ears, “Thank you, Spike.”

Author's Note

Yep. It happened.