Turning 18 years old marked the milestone where you trudged from your long and sometimes frustrating years of teenagerhood, into the time of being a full-fledged adult. New responsibilities, new opportunities, and a new awakening towards your very fantasies, whether it meant rising up to the challenge or simply wanting to lay with a love of their life legally, in a way.

For the half-dragon/half-human bud of excitement Spike Sparkle, he didn't know which side of the spectrum he wanted to examine first. Although he kept his mind clear on what goals he put forward years ahead of time, Spike had to stay honest with himself; what are the priorities of his incoming adulthood? Was the first thought of his mind supposed to be to succeed at his accomplishments and become as studious and intelligent as his best friend Twilight Sparkle? Or was it to settle down into some cute and enchanting romance with someone like Rainbow Dash or Rarity?

He didn't have an answer at all yet on the morning he woke up and reached the adulthood-jumpstarting age of 18, but when he arrived at Canterlot High less than an hour later, he was beginning to find his answer.

"Don't think about it too much, Spike. With what I told you about, I'm sure something new will open up for you that you probably didn't look into before."

"Yeah, yeah, I got the gist of it this morning, Twi."

"I'm just saying..."

Twi and Spike kept up a discussion on adulthood the whole way to school; clearly it seemed, in Spike's mind, he was 100% confident without a bookworm breathing down his neck so much, more so than before today.

Even through the double doors of Canterlot High, the Sparkle duo was still noticably audible, which attracted a nearby acquaintance of paled crimson and yellow.

"You seem like you're having the best time right now." Sunset Shimmer joked, ultimately breaking the comical bickering that Twilight and Spike were pretty much devoted to with a bit of humor on her own.

"Yeah. It happens." Twilight responded with a bit of an apologetic tone, as she was itching the back of her head. "Sorry about that..."

Twilight Sparkle's voice faded a bit as her vision kept a good lock on Shimmer's appearance. On most days recently, Sunset's signature leather jacket was topped by her sea blue-green dress, but this time, she was showing quite some black-clad legs, with a beautiful and shiny pair of leather jeans. To put it honestly, it seemed like she was gaining a bit more attention than usual.

"I... see you've changed up your look." Twilight noted, regaining focus on her target of discussion.

"Oh, these?" Sunset acknowledged the modifications to her usual look, as she showed the new threads off a little for her close friends. "Figured I wouldn't stick with just one pair of clothes all the time. You know, no longer being hated an all."

"I'm not too sure if that's the most acceptable thing in the school dress code, but... sounds fine to me." Twilight carried on with the discussion, not wanting to let Sunset Shimmer's interesting leather-based combination get the best of her imagination.

"I'm not really too worried about getting in trouble nowadays; besides, if I did get busted, it'd probably be for looking too good in these." Sunset voiced her lack of worries, humoring herself.

"Well, all that matters now is that you're here, we're here, and for all we know, no kind of trouble is brewing in this school for once." Twilight spoke on with a clear mind and focus.

However, Sunset Shimmer began to notice the lack of words that Spike had, as he was almost in a daydream-type state, his eyes just locked on Shimmer.

"Is... is Spike okay?" Sunset asked, her head turning to the side in an attempt to figure out Spike's problem.

"He's probably just deep in thought. It's his birthday after all, so who knows what he's thinking." Twilight gave her short hypothesis on Spike.

"You sure?" Sunset questioned Twilight's theory, her uncomfortability increasing by a slight with Spike's mentally vacant stare. "Hold on Twi, I'll try something..."

With little thought going into it, Sunset gave Spike a bit of a rough tap on the noggin that was not quite hard enough to hurt; needless to say, the percussive therapy had pretty easily knocked Spike back into reality.

"Sorry, what was that?" was an immediate question that Spike cluelessly sparked.

Sunset Shimmer looked proud of her successful yet slightly impractical solution to Spike's 'zoning-out' problem. "See, Twilight? Like fixing a radio."

"Look, do you wanna come with us up to class?" Twilight was starting to grow impatient with the lack of direction that the conversation was heading to. "It's kinda like we're gonna be here all day."

"Yeah, let's go; I don't think you and Spike can handle another late day..." Sunset got in agreement, beginning to drift off from the spot that the three of them stood at for what seemed like hours.

"You okay?" Twilight looked a bit worried, knowing that Spike was very silent for the most part.

"Yeah... yeah. Class still upstairs?" Spike sounded a bit drowsy and confused as he spoke. He felt the left temple of his head up and down, almost like something about looking at Sunset Shimmer and how she looked gave him a little bit of a headache. "I... don't think I had much sleep last night."

"Well, you are getting older; maybe something in your brain is causing a bit of..." Twilight began to explain.

However, Spike wasn't feeling any more lecturing from his sisterly figure, as he went following after Sunset. "Yeahyeahyeah, we're going, right?"

Twilight Sparkle followed suit, after her half-dragon life partner, a look of worry starting to come across her face. The purple-skinned bookworm caught up to Spike and Shimmer on the stairwell up to the second floor, still wanting to know if Spike's truely fine, especially considering his age.

"Spike, seriously. You're creeping me the hell out." Twilight whispered over to her #1 assistant.

"Twilight, I'm 18 now. I don't think you should be too clingy to another adult." Spike settled things bluntly, feeling a bit annoyed after regaining his composure. "You said that there's things I gotta figure out on my own, right? Like what road to take to success?"

"Well, that's true, I have reminded you of that..."

"And that there's always a special someone you'll come across in your life?"

"I understand that; besides, aren't you still trying to woo Rarity over before it's too late?"

"You seem worried about that. I'm sure as hell not, though." Spike seemed pretty smug about himself now, almost like a complete 180 from his cluelessness not long ago.

"What do you mean...?" Twilight's objections slowly got away from her as she stared into Spike's eyes, taking a good look at where he was looking. By the look of it, Spike was starting to really enjoy the view he got from walking behind Sunset Shimmer to their next destination. "Spike... I think I'm starting to see what you're implying."

"Wait, what's he implying?" Sunset turned around to Twilight and Spike, overhearing a bit of their discussion.

"Oh nothin'." Spike kept eye contact back up to Shimmer, ignoring Twilight's troubles with him.

For now, the colorful trio had to keep their mind on class, as they had reached their homeroom class—a world history class, no less—and this senior-year school day had to begin, now that things have settled.

However, inside the mind of Twilight Sparkle, she still hoped for the best for her now 18-years-old partner in studies. "Spike, don't get too caught up on what you're looking for; unfortunately, sometimes it just won't be your day."