//------------------------------//
// 404 
// Story: Lunch Dates 
// by paleowriter 
//------------------------------//


404


"I wonder…" Rarity tapped her chin thoughtfully.

From the other side of the table, Spike picked up a couple more hay fries from his basket. "You wonder what?" he asked.

Rarity set down her fork that she'd been levitating. "Well, A.K. Yearling was able to turn her life escapades into quite a profit in those silly books she writes," she began. Spike noticed she'd lowered her voice—probably just in case anypony else in the restaurant was listening in. "Do you suppose anypony would ever read anything I might write about all of our adventures? You know, with the Elements of Harmony and all that. Just as a sort of side business to the shop, of course."

Spike polished off his hay fries and took a swig of water. "I don't know, Rarity," he said. "I think most ponies sort of know those stories already. You probably wouldn't get away with pretending they're all made up."

"Hmm, true," Rarity replied. "Perhaps as an actual auto-biography, then?" She paused to consider the notion for a moment, then she shook her head. "Oh, who am I kidding? I don't have time to do something like that. Writing takes ages, and then there's all that editing, and goodness knows how many hours could end up getting poured into a project that size."

Spike nodded, only half listening. He really liked the way Rarity's mane looked today. Not that it looked much different than normal, but it had a nice bounce to its curl going on ever since she'd shaken her head a moment ago.

"Hmm," Rarity continued, looking at him sharply. "Spike, what's Twilight got you doing lately?"

Yeah. Wow. Her mane was glorious. He wondered if she'd ever let him touch it.

"Spike?"

Spike dragged himself out of his daydream. "What? Oh. Right. Twilight…mostly just the usual. Cleaning, organizing…"

"Would you have time to take on a side project?" Rarity asked.

Spike blinked. "For you? Uh…yeah! Sure! Anything!"

Rarity sipped at her iced tea. After her sip, she opened her mouth to speak again, but instead of words coming out, her mouth just dangled open in shock. She stared out the window, and Spike turned to see what she was looking at.

It was Rainbow Dash.

The pegasus stood outside, just on the other side of the glass, with a massive grin on her face. As soon as Spike caught Rainbow Dash's eye, she waved maniacally at him like she'd been taking lessons from Pinkie Pie, then darted indoors, skidding around a very confused waiter and flying straight to their table.

"Guys! Guys! Guess what!"

"Why, Rainbow Dash, how…er…nice of you to drop by!" Rarity smiled, setting down her drink. "What's the occasion?"

Rainbow Dash pulled over a cushion and had a seat between the unicorn and the dragon, beaming at both of them. The waiter shot a glare over her way, and Spike tried to give him an apologetic wave.

"Daring Do—or, you know, A.K. Yearling, whatever she wants to go by—sent me an autographed adventuring hat!"

Dash's grin got even broader, if that was possible, and from behind her back she pulled out a beige hat just like Spike had seen on each of the covers of the books in Twilight's Daring Do collection.

She put it on. "You like? You like?" Dash turned back and forth to both Spike and Rarity, gesturing at the hat. "Pretty awesome, isn't it?"

"It's a lovely pith helmet, dear," Rarity said. "Perhaps a bit on the drab side for my tastes, but if it makes you happy, then you should be proud to wear it."

Spike nodded in agreement. "Absolutely. Very cool! Wish I had one."

Rainbow winked at him. "Eh, I know the author. I'll see what I can do for ya."

"Really?" It was Spike's turn to grin. But then Rainbow Dash stood up and took a step back. Behind her, the waiter had to sidestep to avoid getting run into.

"Hold on," she said, eyeing Spike and Rarity. "Were you two…having lunch together?"

Spike's smile faltered. Oh no.

"Why yes, we were," Rarity said, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin.

"Just you two?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Spike felt his face begin to blanch. Please don't go there, Rainbow Dash. Please…

"Yes, in fact, it is just the two of us." Rarity held her head a little loftier. "Spikey Wikey and I meet every week for lunch."

Rainbow Dash threw two hooves in front of her mouth, snickering. "Like…for a date?"

Spike gripped the table in case he lost consciousness. This couldn't end well. If Rarity became embarrassed about what they'd been doing…

But Rarity just stared pointedly at the pegasus. "I believe that's none of your business, Rainbow Dash. But if you must know, today Spike and I were meeting to discuss arrangements for a book."

"Oh really?" Rainbow Dash asked, flapping her wings to fly up and stare down at Rarity. "What book?"

Spike shakily grabbed for his glass of water, trying to take a calming sip.

"My autobiography." Rarity turned to look back at the trembling dragon. "We'd just agreed. Spike is going to ghost write it for me, aren't you, darling?"

Spike spit his water all over the table.

One of these days, he'd stop being surprised at how he always managed to get roped into these sorts of things.