“Okay, so let’s go over the plan once more time. I’ll make sure Rarity gets sent an invitation for the Friendship Summit’s reception dinner. There won’t be anything suspicious about that, we invite her to most of the big receptions and stuff at the castle anyway and she almost always comes. Unless there’s a big fashion thing, anyway, and I already checked to make sure that won’t be a problem,” Spike added.
“Do you plan on inviting any of the other members of Princess Twilight’s Friendship Council as well to avoid rousing her suspicions?” Raven Inkwell asked.
“That’s…actually, that’s a pretty good idea. You’re sure you won’t mind the extra fuss? I know some of our friends can be –”
“Living avatars of unnecessary stress and chaos?” Raven suggested.
“In fairness, that’s mostly Discord, and he is the Spirit of Chaos, so it kinda comes with the territory,” Spike replied.
“Applejack and Rainbow Dash don’t seem to have met a social convention yet that one or both aren’t willing to ignore. Fluttershy is mostly fine, at least until animals get involved somehow, in which case all bets are off. And don’t even get me started on Pinkie Pie,” Raven added with a shudder. “I’m still not entirely convinced that mare isn’t really secretly a draconequus in disguise or something.”
“That would explain an awful lot,” Spike chuckled. “But wait, if everypony is that much of a pain for you to handle, then why—”
“At this point there isn’t really much that could happen that could make this summit any more stressful than it already is, and if things go sideways while Princess Twilight’s friends are in attendance then I’m less likely to be blamed for everything. So, go ahead, invite all of the princess’s friends. Invite Discord too, if you think it’ll help. Bring it on!” Raven added with a slightly maddened look in her eyes.
“Okay, maybe we should move on a bit tow what’ll happen once Rarity gets here,” Spike said as he cautiously backed away a little. “So, I figured I’d probably start by letting everything start normally—”
“HAH!” Raven laughed before quickly calming herself down. “I’m so sorry, it’s just…I’ve been under a lot of stress and—”
“I’m going to talk to Twilight about getting you some time off,” Spike said. “Maybe set up a spa day for you or something. Anyway, we can talk about that later. Getting back to the plan, once I’ve given Rarity a few minutes to settle in and mingle, I’m going to invite her into one of the side chambers. You’ve had it decorated the way I asked, right?”
“Yes. Honestly, though there wasn’t much to your instructions. I don’t really see what’s so special about those sparkly ribbons you wanted,” Raven replied.
“Yeah, I guess its one of those things that wouldn’t really make sense to anypony else. You see, when I first met Rarity, it was back when Princess Celestia sent Twilight and me to Ponyville to check on the Summer Sun Celebration. Rarity was in charge of the decorations, and…”
“And you’ve had that room decorated in the same style she was using back then,” Raven concluded.
“I want it to be a homage to the first time we met,” Spike said. “I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but I really want to show Rarity how much she’s meant to me and for how long.”
“I think it sounds sweet,” Raven assured him. “Well, alright, maybe it’s a little cheesy, but I imagine she’ll appreciate it. So, what’s you plan for what happens after you spill your heart out to her?”
“I…don’t really have one,” Spike said sheepishly. “To be honest, it’s been hard enough just to get up the nerve to actually plan this much. I guess my plan for what happens next would be to hear how Rarity feels about me and, I guess, talk to her about what we should do from there.”
Raven shrugged. “I’ll admit, its not the worst plan like that I’ve ever heard, though that’s a low bar to get over.”
“Blue Blood?” Spike asked knowingly.
“Not so much him as the romance novel addicts who think he’s going to sweep them off their hooves,” Raven snorted. “Prince Blue Blood’s too self-absorbed to even think about making an idiot of himself like that. Not that I’m suggesting you’re—” Raven quickly added before taking a moment to compose herself. “What I mean is that I’ve watched a lot of lovestruck mares and stallions build up fantasies about how their romance is going to set the heavens ablaze and then have everything fall apart once they actually have to talk with the other pony. What I’m saying is, that talking to Rarity is probably a good first step. So, now that that’s settled, maybe we should talk about the rest of the plans for the summit itself.”
*********
“Alright, Pinkie, let’s go over the plane one more time. You’ll tell Spike that you need to speak with him about this whole Friendship Summit business. Then, you’ll casually bring up the subject of, well, me, and Spike’s past feelings for me and try to coax him into admitting to you if he still feels the same way. Now, did you get all that?” Rarity asked, prompting Pinkie Pie to roll her eyes.
“Relax, Rarity, I’ve got this. It’s not like I’ve never done anything like this before, this’ll be just like the time I helped Maud figure out if Mudbriar preferred igneous or sedimentary rocks. It actually turns out he likes metamorphic,” Pinkie added in a conspiratorial whisper. “So, how are you going to listen in on me and Spike talking? Ooh, I know, you could disguise yourself as a maid and eavesdrop on our conversation before throwing yourself into Spike’s arms when he admits he still loves you.”
“Pinkie, I know you excel at it, but don’t be ridiculous,” Rarity replied. “I’ve actually enticed a little help from Starlight Glimmer for that. She found a spell that will let me enchant an object so I can hear whatever’s going on around it. So, all I have to do is use that spell on a small, tasteful accessory and you can wear it and I’ll hear everything without even needing to be in the castle.” As Rarity spoke, she levitated a small hairclip decorated with a jeweled cupcake out of her saddlebag and passed it to Pinkie Pie. “Here, just make sure you’re wearing this in your mane when you talk with Spike.”
“Ooh, how secret agent-y,” Pinkie Pie said as she clipped the accessory into her mane. “There’s no possible way this could go totally wrong and lead to some wacky misunderstanding or anything. Well, I’m off to go talk to Spike about party stuff and definitely not ask him about his secret feelings for you,” Pinkie Pie said while winking at Rarity.
“Remember, Pinkie, you need to be subtle when you talk to Spike so he doesn’t suspect anything,” Rarity pleaded with her friend.
“Don’t worry, Rarity, Spike won’t suspect a single thing.” For some odd reason, however, Pinkie’s assurance didn’t seem to calm Rarity’s nerves down in the slightest.
*********
“—and that should pretty much cover how we’ll handle the delegations from the Dragon lands and Yakyakistan,” Spike said. “We really shouldn’t need to worry about any of the other delegates, and honestly these days the yaks and dragons are lot easier to handle than they used to be. You should have been there when Prince Rutherford first visited Ponyville, now that was almost a complete disaster.”
“You know, for the sake of my developing ulcer, I get the impression it was probably for the best I wasn’t there,” Raven replied.
“Hey, it all worked out in the end. Admittedly, that was mainly thanks to Pinkie Pie showing up in the nick of time, but still,” Spike admitted, just as the doors to the ballroom suddenly swung open.
“Did I hear somepony say my name?” Raven winced just slightly as Pinkie Pie cheerfully bounced into the room. “So, are you two talking about the big party Twilight’s throwing for all the leaders of the other kingdoms?”
“If by ‘party’ you mean the Royal Friendship Summit, then yes, we were just finishing discussing the details,” Raven said dryly.
“Eh, summit, party, they’re basically the same thing, right?” Pinkie Pie said, causing Raven’s eye to start to twitch.
“No, I can assure you, Missus Pie, they are in fact two quite different things,” Raven insisted with all the conviction of somepony determined to fight a losing battle to the bitter end.
“It’s a thing where a whole bunch of creatures get together to talk and make friends and stuff. That sure sounds like a party to me,” Pinkie Pie retorted.
“You know what, Raven, why don’t you go check to see if Twilight needs an update on our plans for the summit and I’ll take care of this,” Spike quickly interjected.
“Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea,” an audibly relieved Raven said before quickly turning to leave. “Just let me know if you need any more accommodations for you special plan.”
“Ooh, a special plan? What’s that about?” Pinkie Pie asked eagerly, causing Spike to let out a nervous chuckle.
“Oh, nothing important, just a little something Raven’s been helping me set up – so anyway what’s up? I didn’t think you usually got involved with these Friendship Summits,” Spike said as he quickly changed the topic.
“Oh, you know,” Pinkie relied evasively. “Like I said earlier, I realized that these Friendship Summits are basically big parties, and you know how I never miss a party, hahahaha. Besides, I am the official Royal Party Planner, after all, so I do have a responsibility to make sure that everything here is up to PPFFS.”
“Up to what now?” Spike asked.
“Pinkie Pie Fun and Friendship Standards ™,” Pinkie Pie replied proudly. “Sans Smirk is helping me put together an official rulebook and everything.”
“Wasn’t he the pony who put out that book on being funny, what was it called?”
“The Complete Guide to Humor and its Practical Applications,” Pinkie Pie replied. “I helped Cheese and Sans with the research.”
“That…explains a lot, actually,” Spike replied as he recalled Twilight’s attempts to use humor to ease the formality of some of her stuffier royal duties. It hadn’t ended particularly well.
“Anyway, I mostly just wanted to check to see how everything’s going, see if you needed my help with anything, ask if you’re still in love with Rarity, that sort of thing,” Pinkie Pie said.
“Wait, what was that last bit?” Spike asked.
“To see if you needed my help with anything! You know me, have party cannon, will travel!” To emphasize her point, Pinkie Pie promptly pulled out her cannon and fired a charge of confetti and streamers into the air. What Pinkie Pie failed to notice, however, was that as the force of the blast knocked her back, it caused the hair clip she had been wearing to fly loose and go skittering under one of the tables.
“Okay, I think I get the point,” Spike said, chalking up whatever he thought he had heard to a combination of nerves and Pinkie being Pinkie. “I guess I could use your help with how we’re taking care of the delegates from Yakyakistan. I’m pretty sure we’ve got everything covered, but it never hurts to double check. Especially when you dealing with yaks.”
“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie Pie said as Spike led her out of the room. “Hey, do you know what all this kind of reminds me of? That time we all went to the Grand Galloping Gala for the first time. Remember that?”
“Eh, if I remember it correctly, I pretty much bailed on the whole thing once everypony ran off on their own and spent the night at Doughnut Joe’s,” Spike said. “Though, from what you guys told me, it sounded like I might have had the best time out of all of us.”
“Tell me about it, the Grand Galloping Gala got a lot more fun once Princess Celestia started inviting Discord.” As Pinkie Pie followed Spike out of the room, a pair of guards, a unicorn mare and a pegasus stallion, entered from another doorway.
“Hey, Silver Spur, who was that with the Royal Adviser? She looked kind of familiar, but I can’t remember where I might have seen her before,” the stallion asked.
“One, if you ever bothered to read the notices General Moonwhisper issues, then you’d know that was Pinkie Pie. She’s the official Royal Party Planner and part of Princess Twilight’s Council of Friendship. Seriously, Cloud Cover, how do you not know this by now? You’ve been stationed in Canterlot for three months already. And two, stop trying to change the subject, I asked you what you’re planning to do about Crème Éclair. That maid has been pining after you for weeks now, and you’ve pretty much been just stringing her along. Just tell her how you feel about her already and get it over with. Out of curiosity, just how do you feel about her, anyway?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing, I’m not really all that sure,” Cloud Cover replied. “I mean, when I arrived in Canterlot I was head over hooves for her. But now that I’ve gotten to know her a bit better, I’m not as sure anymore. Yeah, she’s gorgeous, but she’s such a drama queen I don’t know if I’d really want to deal with her.”
“Well, you should talk to her pretty soon and let her know,” Silver Spur said. “And when you do talk to her, make sure that you’re crystal clear about what you’re telling her. Take it from me, you do not want to have to deal with the drama you can get from romantic misunderstandings.”
*********
“Gah! Pinkie Pie! What are you thinking!” Rarity cried out from her Canterlot Boutique workroom. Listening to Pinkie Pie’s clumsy attempts to wheedle a confession out of Spike had been painful enough, but something about the way Pinkie’s party cannon interacted with the eavesdropping spell had left Rarity’s ears ringing. What was worse, as Rarity soon discovered, was that whatever happened had left her spell’s reception spotty and faint. “Wonderful, I can barely even hear them now. Although, I suppose that might for the best. If I had to keep listening to Pinkie trying to be subtle, I might wind up with another gray hair, and two manestyle emergencies in one month is quite enough – oh, I think I can hear something!” Focusing with all her might, Rarity was just able to pick up a pair of distorted voices through the spell.
“…when I arrived…was head over…for her. But now…not as sure anymore…such a drama…deal with that.”
Rarity felt her heart drop into her hooves as she listened to the fading voice at the other end of her spell. I was all over, her worst fears realized as she sat there helpless. Rarity scarcely even noticed the listening spell wink out as tears began to well up in her eyes and she felt a bout of uncontrollable sobbing come on.
“NO!” Rarity suddenly cried out with a fierceness that surprised even her. “I refuse to give up this easily! If Spikey-wikey doesn’t feel…that way about me anymore, then so be it. But, I want to hear him tell me that to my face. The Royal Friendship Summit is coming up soon, it shouldn’t be difficult to get myself invited, and Spike is certain to be there. I’ll find an opportunity to get him alone and face this head on if it’s the last thing I ever do!”