Spike let out a sigh as he dropped his pencil onto the desk. Picking up the drawing of Twilight Comet in her Prench maid outfit, he quickly tore it up and tossed the remains in the trash. That was not what he had meant to draw. Admittedly, he was not entirely sure what he was trying to draw, but it most certainly not that. In fact, it was kind of the last thing that he wanted to be thinking about.
Ever since Twilight had rejected him (even if very politely) after learning of his crush, he had been trying to move on and get over it. Most of the time, he could keep himself distracted with something or other, and keep things from getting awkward between them. Spike had thought that her coming over to clean the library like in her bet with Rainbow would be the same, even figuring he would offer to help (and being turned down since it was not part of the bet).
Then he saw her in the outfit, which it turned out was custom made for her by Rarity. It was amazing how well the top showed off her lean, muscular form, and the puffy skirt that covered her lower half. It was also kind of cute how nervous and embarrassed she was.
And now the image was stuck in his mind.
"Spike?" Rainbow's raspy voice called out.
"Coming!" Spike called back. Hopping off the chair, he made his way to the stairs and down them.
Rainbow Burst stood at the base, brow furrowed as she looked up at the approaching young dragon.
"You okay?" she asked. "Normally only have to call you once?"
That brought Spike to a stop. She had called him more than once? He had not even noticed. Had Twilight really distracted him that much? How much longer would it have been until she had come up looking for him?
"Sorry," Spike answered. "I was drawing and guess I got a little distracted."
"Right," Rainbow said, shifting. One hoof came up to her mouth as she let out a cough, looking away.
"Uhm... look, Spike." She took a deep breath. "I wanted to give you space after uhm... you know..." She motioned a hoof. "What happened with Twilight, but... Well, after yesterday..." She shifted again, ears pulled back and tail flicking. "So... uh.. if you need to, like, talk about anything or anything... you know... I'm here to listen. Okay?"
Spike looked at Rainbow Burst a moment. He then burst into laughter, dropping to sit on the steps as he grabbed at his stomach.
Rainbow frowned, glaring at him.
"I'm serious," she snapped, stomping a hoof.
"I know, I know," Spike managed to say. He rubbed at his cheek. "I'm sorry." He let out one last chuckle. "It's just... that was super awkward looking."
"I'm not good with mushy, touch-feelie stuff," Rainbow huffed. Her face softened as she leaned closer, looking at Spike. "But I mean it. If you need to talk, I'm here."
Spike got up and smiled, making his way the rest of the way down the stairs. He then wrapped Rainbow in a hug.
"I know."
With a smile, Rainbow wrapped a hoof around Spike, returning the hug, and leaned down to nuzzle the top of his head.
"Okay," Rainbow said as she broke the hug, stepping back. "That's enough of that." She turned around. "Come on. We got stuff to do."
Spike let out a small snort of amusement, feeling a little better. He hopped up onto Rainbow's back, sitting down and ready to ride.
As the two of them left The Golden Oaks Library, they found that it was a clear, sunny day in Ponyville. It was calm and quite. As they continued on, it started to seem strangely so.
"Where is everypony?" Rainbow asked, looking around as she walked. "Normally we'd have seen a couple ponies by now."
Spike gave a nod, looking around as well. There was absolutely no other ponies out and around. None on the street. None around the stores. Just none.
"Maybe they're avoiding us?" Spike thought allowed. He turned more toward Rainbow. "Is my breath bad?"
"I'm not checking that," Rainbow huffed, pulling her head away before getting a face full of dragon breath. "Besides, if that was the problem, wouldn't we at least see them? They would have to be close enough to smell it first."
Spike gave nod, seeing the point.
"Maybe they were attacked by zombies!" he suggested.
Rainbow stopped, turning to look at Spike with her brow furrowed. She then let her gaze drift around to take in the buildings around her, and glance up at the sky. After a moment more, she gave a shake of her head.
"I don't think so," she said as she resumed walking. "I mean, it's all too clear and sunny. Those things normally happen on dark and stormy nights or during cloudy days." Her head then turned to look at the buildings again. "Besides, wouldn't we have heard moans and screams last night? Or find buildings with boarded up windows?"
"Yeah," Spike conceded. He looked around again, trying to come up with a reason.
"OH!" he cried out, straightening. "I got it!" He turned to look at Rainbow with a grin. "This is it." He held out a hand, motioning at the town. "Pinkie arranged a town-wide game of Hide and Seek, and we're 'it.'"
Rainbow considered the possibility. Was it possible? Pinkie did say she knew every pony in town, and it was kind of easy to believe after meeting her and seeing how friendly the town could be. Pinkie was also very fond of games and parties, so maybe she would set up something where the entire town was playing. But if that were the case, Pinkie would have mentioned that they were "it," and had to seek out her and the other ponies, right?
"Maybe?" she finally said, still trying to figure it out. "At the very least, we can go by Sugarcube Corner and see if she's there."
When the two of them reached Sugarcube Corner, it looked like it was just as empty as every other place in town had been. There were no lights, and no ponies could be seen coming or going. It was really kind of surprising to see the place looking so empty in the middle of the day.
"Rainbow," a voice hissed from inside, getting their attention. "Spike," it hissed again. This time they got a flash of pink from behind the doors. "Over here!"
"Guess it's not Hide and Seek," Spike whispered to Rainbow.
The confused pair made their way toward the peculiar perky pink party pony secretly skulking in the shops shadowy showroom.
The two were suddenly grabbed by the pink aura of Pinkie's magic and pulled inside. There, they found not just Pinkie, but the rest of their friends: Flowershy, Rarity, Applejack, and...
On one side of Applejack was a very unhappy looking Twilight Comet, glaring at the ponies around her and Applejack especially. A bandanna was stuck in her mouth and wrapped around it, tying it shut, but it was safe to guess she was scowling around it. The rest of her body was bound in rope, pinning her wings to her body and forcing her front legs together, as were her hind legs.
On the other side was Applejack's little sister, Apple Bloom. Although not tied up, she did not look happy to be there either.
"Why is--"
Pinkie reached out a placed a hoof on Rainbow's mouth.
"Shshshsh," she hissed out, before continuing in a whisper, "you don't want her to hear us, do you?"
"Her?" Spike asked in a whisper. "Her who?"
Grabbing the pair, Pinkie pulled them over to one of the windows.
"Her!" she whispered, pointing a hoof. "The Everfree Witch!"