//------------------------------// // Betrayal's Price // Story: Earning Freedom // by Daxisle //------------------------------// Betrayal's Price News of the changeling invasion of the capital soon spread all across Equestria via mail courier. Major metropolitan areas conscripted every guard they could find and hired voluntary security forces in preparation of any kind of retaliatory assault while the smaller towns and villages simply waited with baited breath, doing what little they could in means of defending themselves. Luckily, the majority of the Changeling forces were eradicated in the initial assault, with stragglers being spotted along the Appeloosa corridor and Manehattan outskirts. Special teams of Changeling hunters were called in to investigate the claims and remove any potential threats from the area. Casualties were minor for the Equestrians, the dead numbering only in the sixties, with over one hundred severely injured and even more seeking minor medical treatment. The city of Canterlot didn't fair as well as its citizens, with millions of bits in property damage, the capital would see an economic down turn that would leave the city almost crippled. A new trading super center hold would need to be established while repairs were made and lives put back together. A boom to the repairing and construction sectors, but a loss for all others. Macintosh and his family, accompanied by a plethora of other Ponyville citizens, rushed to the Canterlot hospitals at the news of the attack. Luckily, Applejack was a tough mare, and was estimated to make a quick recovery, escaping the battle with only minor bruising, cuts and a twisted leg. Pinkie's family came to see her as well, her physical injuries were also minor, though her mental state was another story. She'd complained about nightmares and feeling very cold and empty inside. Doctors said it was a side effect of the trauma she'd sustained, having one of her most precious emotions that defined her most being pulled away from her. Luckily she'd been put on a sugar heavy and party oriented recovery regiment. Rarity and Rainbow Dash received the worst of it, the Fashionista's face was pummeled pretty badly, her face swollen and a cheek bone fractured; and Rainbow was hospitalized for two broken hind legs. As expected, both families had come to offer encouragement and support, but the former's face was almost unrecognizable due to the severe physical damage it received. While the latter was expected to make a full recovery in three to four months. Spike's back suffered a few slipped disks, luckily his species were extremely fast healers at such a young age. What would have been crippling for most ponies was a mere set back for him. In three days time, he'd but up and walking again, should prediction and X-rays remain consistent. Twilight Sparkle would over see both the recovery of himself and her older brother, along side the princess of love to be. Shining Armor, while drained of his magic, wasn't in any physical pain or harm, though he was very mistrustful of Cadance. Any signs of affection were cringed at and he'd tense up when she saw her magic come alight. Nothing green or black was permitted to be within his sight at any given time. Sin and Uppity shared a room in the hospital wing of Canterlot. Uppity's injuries were mild, first degree frost burns and minor magical radiation. Nothing sever. Sin's were a few broken ribs, a punctured lung and a severe concussion. His condition made worse by the pegasus, upon awakening from a nightmare, screaming and shouting about parasites the changelings used to infect the citizens of Canterlot. It took doctors an hour to calm him down enough to figure out what he was saying and another two hours for them to hunt down a specialist on the bugs to convince him that their reproduction came from eggs within a queen's lair, not from infecting other ponies. Once released of Chrysalis's control, Valiar fled the city, unable to cope with what he had done. Like Shining Armor, he remembered what had happened under the queen's control. The sins committed by his magic and the evil's he had partaken in were countless, and he sought seclusion to ponder redemption and hide his shame. Shade was by far in the worst shape. A fractured wing, broken foreleg, six broken ribs and ten cuts that required over fourty stitches. However, he was regarded as a hero to Canterlot, from the nobles all the way down to the peasantry. His "bravery" and strength had pulled away every changeling from their invasion, giving the Equestrians hope and time in order to mount a more effective defense and finally offensive operation. Word had it that there was hard pressure to officially declare him a knight of the city and have Luna award him the Myrmidon, the highest honor a servant of the lunar court could receive. Despite all of the injuries her little ponies received, Celestia was by far the worst to suffer. Not her body, but her reputation and public image. With the botched defense and her quick fall to Queen Chrysalis, ponies of political office began criticizing her relentlessly. Questions arose in mass about her capabilities to defend and rule over the empire reigned down upon her from tabloids, news papers and magazines of every genre, make and publisher. Three days had passed since the attack on Canterlot, and Celestia's attention was far too focused on the relief efforts of the city to concern herself with the tripe and filth of the media and bureaucrats. Her ponies needed her now more than ever, and she planned to make up for her mistakes. Reading the news paper, Sin groaned and tossed yet another hit piece aside. He leaned his head back onto the hostpial bed and slowly exhaled, the stink of over sanitized everything making him want to gag. He hated hospitals, did everything he could to stay out of them. Alas, he was stuck here, stuck until the royal pains in the ass gave him their permission to leave. He'd tried to walk out, oh boy did he try, but Uppity made it a point of keeping an eye on him during the day while a lunar guard observed by night. Curitsy of a complaint the unicorn had made to Celestia, making it an official order that he remain bed ridden until the doctors saw fit to grant his release. Aside from Machintosh's initial visit and Twilight or Cadance on occasion, he hadn't seen any of the ponies he knew. Mostly doctors and nurses who came to tell him just how messed up he was and lecture him on the luck it took for him to survive what he had. The worst part though was what they had to remove from him. They'd found the dragon scales in his chest and carved them out while he was under, claiming that their properties in magical resistance made it impossible to remove the rib that had lodged itself into his lung. He understood, and accepted it for what it was, but was making a mental note to replaced them once he was free of this accursed place. If for no other reason than to so have a defense against Uppity, who's magic gave her more than enough of an advantage to keep him in bed. "What's wrong?" Uppity asked, she picked up the newspaper in her magic and brought it over. As soon as her eyes hit the title, she made a sound of annoyance and tossed the thing away. "Fucking pricks." Sin spat. The paper in question was yet another headline about Celestia's failure to protect Canterlot. Royal Princess or Royal Failure? The DA sighed and took a drink of her coffee. "I'm a little surprised at you, I thought you hated Celestia and the government. I thought you'd be happy about all the negative press she's getting." Sin bit back his initial urge to laugh, by everything he's said so far, one would think her correct. After all, he hated the government, right? But the reality of the situation was much more complicated than 'individual good, government bad'. "As much as she may have failed here, Celestia has held Equestria together and peaceful for over a thousand years as Equestria's matriarch. While I was stuck with Twilight at the library, I looked through the history books and found minor revolts here and there, but those were solved with minimal violence." He turned his head to her. "Most countries have revolts and need to induce mass democide in order to keep the citizens in line. She doesn't. Matter of fact, most the citizens here are very kind and generous beings, tolerance and acceptance of others is the most important aspects of a decent society. So long as their ruler is just." Sin continued with a small grimace. "As much as I may not like to say it, it is because of Celestia's leadership that Equestria has been as peaceful and safe as it has been. Compared to most countries that have crushing laws and debts, this place is paradise." Uppity's eyes shot wide, was he really giving the government credit for what it was supposed to be doing? "Even if an Anarchist territory ever was established, it could never come close to the world that the princess has paved the way for... She may have failed in combat, but rulers are judged by so much more than just their ability to fight. I don't think these fucktards realize that if Celestia were to step down, just how royally screwed this country would be." Truth be told, he was actually looking into the history books to see if there was any clues to what had happened between Equestria's founding and the raise of the Alicorn Diarchs after his involvement with the Neo-founders. It was in that search he looked through the history books to see if he could find any large scale riots or other national emergencies that might look suspiciously staged in order to hide any secrets. Aside from the occasional revolt, typically having to do more with corrupt local officials, he found nothing. It wasn't proof that nothing did happen, but he couldn't draw conclusion by a lack of evidence where it was needed most. Still though, he had to judge by what he saw, and what he saw was wonderful, it was achievement of what other countries claimed to want. Peace. 'Maybe that's why she has you in the Ponyville council? Keep the peace in Ponyville by keeping the politicians honest and on track.' Maybe... I wouldn't put it passed her. "But don't tell her I said any of this." Sin immediately added upon seeing Uppity's knowing smile. Celestia would never let him live it down. The mare leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, promising that his admission would be kept between the two. It wasn't that Sin liked government, he just couldn't argue with the results, and so long as ponies worshiped the gods of government as they had, than it was better they be ruled by a being of benevolence than a hundred with varying agendas. A knock came from the door, pulling both of them from their conversation. The invitation extended, the door opened to reveal a wheel chair bound Spike being pushed in by Twilight. The two mares exchanged greeting courdually enough with each other, the males on the other hand simply stared at each other, their faces stone masks of observation and judgement. The room grew uncomfortably quiet, tension building between a pair of cold blue eyes and a single solid green one. "Sup, cyclops?" Sin deadpanned, electing a gasp of disbelief from Twilight. Another few moments of silence past. The dragon's face didn't show any signs of acknowledging the statement, not even a twitch of annoyance. "Me in three days." The drake quipped with a smirk, looking Sin up and down. "Good thing too, looks like you're going to play up your injuries to get out of work again." Twilight looked like she wanted to say something but bit her tongue. The smirk on Spike's face bordered on malevolent, probably still angry about his leaving for the wedding, but there was another aspect to it. One that made it clear that Spike's venom was mostly in jest. Any doubt on the matter was erased the moment the dragon began to laugh, and Sin right along with him. "Ms. Sparkle, are you going to let him speak to me in that way?" A wave of relief flooded the room, the bad blood between the two having settled for the time being. "Oh hush Sin, why can't you just enjoy your time off of work like a normal pony for once?" Uppity said with a light swat on his shoulder. "Because being normal is boring." The stallion sighed as he tilted his head forwards again to look at the bright, dull light above. "Three weeks of bed rest, hmph, like I've got that kinda time, I'd be fired for sure." Spike chuckled as Uppity contested the stallions ideas, sighting labor laws which Sin might or might not have scribbled out of the books. He wasn't going to argue for him, but also not against him. Fact of the matter was that his associate was in pretty bad shape, no where near ready to man his station at the mill. Not that he could talk for the next three days, but he'd be back there hauling logs long before Sin was. He could hold things together until the stallion's recovery. "How are the others doing?" Uppity asked, Sin having given up on their argument. All the others had either gone home or were being transported to Ponyville Hospital. Fluttershy would be checking around on all of them from time to time and encouraged Twilight and Spike to do the same upon their return. The lavender unicorn had tried to speak with her friends, but none of them could bear to look her in the eye or say anything passed formal greetings and shallow questions. Shade was being surprisingly cooperative and nice to the nurses, he wasn't even snarling or making death threats. "We'll be chucking up on my brother later, how are you feeling Uppity?" Twilight asked, forcing some upbeat cheeriness into her voice. "I'm fine, doctor says it'll take a while for the coat hairs to grow back, but I'm healthy as a horse besides that." She finished with her own over upbeat smile. It was weird watching two socially awkward ponies be friends. A few more minutes passed with the four of them talking before Twilight took her leave. Spike gave one last wave of good by to his friend before they departed. "He seemed alot happier to see you than you let on." The DA declaired, relaxing into her cushin. "You made it sound like he hated your guts." Sin chuckled, Spike didn't hate him, it was going to be a minor grudge and a joke for all the guys at work, but that would most likely be the end of it. He'd get heckled for a day, maybe too and every week or so past that. Everyone had a running joke about them at the mills, he figured he'd just gotten his own. Spike felt a relief wash over him, the boys at work would hear about it, but it did feel better to let things go as they were, rather than meet in a big confrontation about it. With all the time he had to think in the hospital, Spike couldn't really blame his friend for what happened. Twilight talked him through alot of it and what she said made sense. It was stupid for Spike to be angry at him. They passed through the hospital wing hall, he'd already poked his head in on Shade, who was currently fast asleep and on Rainbow, who would be stuck in Canterlot for another week before she was fit to be moved to Ponyville. Spike was worried about the pegasus, doctors said she hadn't eaten much of anything since she got in and showed no visible signs of what most considered healthy coping. Dash wouldn't even talk to either of them when they came to visit, she just sat there looking guilty. The drake made a point to speak to her after they'd finished up with Shining and Cadance. A quick trip later, they'd found themselves outside of Shinings bedroom chamber. With a knock, Cadance was summoned to the door, smiling through tired eyes to the duo. "Hey guys." She greeted, walking out and closing the door behind her. "How are things?" Twilight quickly relayed what the doctors said about Spike's condition, and Cadance brightened a little bit. "That's great news, I'm happy for you, Spike." She may have said she was happy, but any idiot could see the obvious running mascara and bags under her eyes. She denied their existance at first, giving the typical speech about being fine and not wanting anyone to worry about her, but a little poking and proding by Twilight quickly brought the alicorn's pain to the surface. "He... he wont let me touch him." Cadance said through sobs. "He's scared to death of me." Spike felt his heart break as one of his caretakes broke down infront of him. He knew things with Shining were bad, but this was a whole new level of messed up. Cadance had told them that her fience was becoming more and more paranoid over the three days since the attack. The first day he was fine, or fine enough all things considered. But on the second day he kept looking suspiciously at his wife, his eyes hard and judgemental. She'd figured a nice cuddle would help make him feel better, but Shining politely declined, saying that he just wasn't ready for that kind of closeness. By the second day, the white stallion would flinch at any signs of affection Cadance gave him and actively avoid her. Walking around the the room longways so that the two wouldn't get too close. And today he seemed to have taken to locking himself in the bathroom in order to keep away from her. The pink princess was feeling rejected and in pain. "How am I supposed to help if he wont even let me touch him?" She bawled into Twilight's shoulder. The unicorn did her best, but her old foal sitter was inconsolable. All she wanted was the chance to get the love of her life back, and he was terrified to even look at her. Spike asked Twilight to open the door for him and after a little convincing, she did. He entered the large bed chamber to speak with Shining Armor while his mother did her best with Cadance. He found the door and took a breath, trying to figure out what he was going to say. 'Oi! Shining, why you makin' da princes cry? Wasa madda wich you? Might be a good start.' Yea, something to that effect would work. He knocked three times on the door, and then three times again when no answer came. "Shining?" He called. "Go away, Spike!" He heard the unicorn bark from within. Well, that wasn't going to happen. "Shining Armor, can you please open the door?" Shining replied in the negative, stating that there was nothing to talk about. "Dude, you're locked in a bathroom and afraid of Cadance, I really think there are a few things to talk about." "Go away!" Spike took another breath, patience and tact would need to be exercised here. "I will as soon as you and I talk. We're worried about you man, you're freaking Twilight and me out here!" Shining again declined the drake's demand but Spike was persistent and continued to coax the stallion into opening the door. After a good ten minutes, Shining agreed to allow the dragon in on the very specific condition that Cadance not be present. Once the agreement was made, the door opened just a crack with the unicorn pressing hie eye to in order to see Spike alone. "Who was The pony Twilight first met in Ponyville?" He asked. Spike tilted his head, confused at the inquary. "I said, who was Twilight's first friend!" The paranoid pony barked again, a little more loudly again. "Pinkie Pie, that was the first pony she met in Ponyville. After that, it was-" In the blink of any eye, the door opened and a pink aura surrounded the dragon and his chair, pulling him inside and then slammed shut behind him. Spike was just about to lay into Shining for his lack of warning, but his words died as soon as he saw the pony. Dark brown bags hung under his wide, blood shot eyes. His once pristine electric blue mane was matted and dirty, the same could be said of his coat. That's when the smell in the bathroom hit the dragon and almost caused him to gag. It was sick thing to think about, but Shining must not have bathed, despite locking himself in a bathroom, ever since the wedding. "What?" He asked quickly, sounding like he had a little too much coffee this morning. Pushing past the funk, Spike quietly asked what was going on, why Shining had locked himself in the bathroom and why he was so terrified of Cadance. The stallion's eye twitched at the name and his breathing quickened it's pace. "Why? WHY!? Why do you think?!" She barked, making the dragon lean back in his chair. "Imagine if Twilight suddenly turned into a changeling right before your eyes! A pony you loved, trusted, shared your vulnerabilities with. Imagine if she suddenly doused herself in fire and turned out to be a hideous, disgusting monster! How do you think you'd feel seeing her again?!" It took the dragon a moment to register everything the frantic pony was saying. He couldn't reply, he'd never even think about such a thing in his wildest nightmares. "I- I don't know, but-" "But nothing!" Shining armor shouted before pacing around in a circle. "A changeling, Spike. I shared my bed with a Changeling for three nights! Do you have any idea how humiliating and disturbing that is?" He looked away, shivering a little. "The words she said, I was so ready to believe them, and I didn't question any of it. Not a single word, no matter how out of character it was for her." 'HA! Wait, is he doing this because he's guilty?' "Shining, she's not mad at-" Electric blue hair flashed as Shining cast his glare to Spike. "I know she's not mad at me. That's the entire point! She isn't mad at me! I slept with another mare, and Cadance is treating the entire thing like it's not a big deal!" He began to tremble, looking at the door. "Assuming that is the real Cadance." "What? You think that-" Again he was interrupted by self righteous fury. A pair of blood shot eyes stood mere inches away from his own, full of fear, apprehension and uncertainty. "Can your prove to me that is the real Cadance? Hmmm, well? How do we know it's really her? Huh? The reason changelings are such a threat is because it's so hard to see through their magic! And think about it for a second, if you had a marefriend, and she slept with another stallion, would you be all calm and forgiving about it?!" Now this was just getting ridiculous, what Shining was talking about and what had actually happened were two different things. "But they weren't, Spike, don't you get it?!" He turned away, his trembling becoming even more pronounced as small hiccups lurched his back. "M- My own sister told me it wasn't really her and I didn't listen. I knew Twiley was hurting about something, and I chose a lie over my own sister." Trembling with his own rage, Spike fantasized about jumping out of his chair and smacking the pony silly. He was being stupid! None of them could tell the changeling was a fake. She'd fooled everypony, Cilestia, Luna, all of the guards, Twilight's friends; everyone. He couldn't blame him for all of the confusion, paranoia and guilt the pony had, though. Spike wouldn't know how to feel if he were in such a position. Still, that left his question unanswered. "Yes." Shining's trembling stopped and he turned to face the chair bound dragon. "If she thought it was me, and took on my appearance, my voice and using an excuse like stress to act weird to cover her different personality, yes. I would forgive her." He slowly reached down to the wheels on his chair and pushed them forward, careful not to move to quickly and spook the pony into action. "It would hurt, I'm not gonna lie, but if I was making as much of an effort to reach out to her as Cadance is to you, only to have her hide away in the bathroom because she was afraid I was mad at her, than I'd feel pretty hurt and rejected, especially when I needed her most." Shining turned away again, his breath growing from frantic panting to angry huffs. "That's not the only reason I'm in here, what if she's not the real-" "And what if she is?" Spike cut him off, almost pushing himself from his chair. "If that is the real Cadance, if that is really the pony I grew up knowing loved you, and who you loved, if that poor girl out there who's been crying her eyes out, stressing herself sick over you, and making every effort to help you see it's her, where does that leave us? Huh? I'll tell you, it leaves you a coward. A coward who's too afraid to see what's right in front of his-" A quick jerk upwards stopped Spike's tirade as he was lifted up into the air. His claws reached for his neck, feeling the familiar tingle of magic. "Don't you EVER call me a coward!" Shining yelled, slamming his leg against the floor. "You don't know what it's like to feel that kind of betrayal! To lay with someone you thought you loved and loved you, only to find out the last few days had been nothing but the lies of a mad mare who used you and planned to kill you!" He jerked the drake down to eye level and glared into his good eye. "Do that, and then you can speak to me about cowardice." "And Twilight?" Spike wheezed. The magical grip around his neck dropped immediately at the word, falling the drake onto his stomach in a gasping heap. His back was burning now, but the dragon managed to crawl his way back to the chair, positioning himself to get his spine straight again. He looked at the horror that returned to Shining's face, feeling a mix of anger and pity for the stallion. "Twilight was fooled too. You're not alone on feeling betrayed there, but don't you think your sister's feeling betrayed most of all?" Shining clenched his eyes, fresh tears tearing down his face at the dragon's words. He'd chosen the lie, he'd abandoned her, knowing full well how hurt she was. He told her not to attend his wedding two days after offering to make her his best mare. And for what? Trying to stop him from being with the very lie that tormented him now. "After all of that, do you know what Twilight's been doing? She's been checking up on her friends constantly. Each one of them doing what you are now. And you know what? It. Is. KILLING HER!" Cringing, Shining stepped backwards, his threatening persona melting into a lost puppy getting a well deserved scolding. "She's mad at them, and rightfully so. They chose the lie like you did, and they aren't even giving her the decency of opening up for her to explain just how hurt she is. The only one who's apologized was Fluttershy, and she did so through tears. But you know what? Now Fluttershy and Twilight can be friends again, she has a chance to connect with Twilight that none of the others have right now." He turned his chair to the door and opened it, giving Shining one last look. "I don't know how long you plan to stay in here, but I'd figure something out soon. Because it's only a matter of time before Cadance stops putting up with this and leaves. You're a lucky stallion to have her, I'd hate to see you mess it up because you were too scared and guilty to sort it all out while you had the chance." His part finished, Spike wheeled himself out the door, taking care not to close it behind him. Soon enough he passed out the bedroom door and found both Cadance and Twilight staring at him wide eyed. Spike took a minute to look back and see the bathroom door still open behind him. "I think he's ready to talk now." Feeling extra confident and cocky, Spike sat outside Rainbow Dash's room alone. Cadance and Twilight were having a well to do conversation, and what was going to be said here was better said alone. He knocked on the door for the sake of being polite and slowly opened it. "Rainbow?" He asked, wheeling himself in. The pegasus in questions was laying in a bed on her back, both of her hind legs suspended in the air. Her face looked blankly at him before turning forward again. Spike closed the door and sighed, expecting this conversation to go just like the first one had. "Rainbow Dash, can we talk for a minute?" No reply, Rainbow just continued to look blankly forward. The one big difference between Dash and Shining was that her shock and reservation might be because of the broken legs more so than what she'd done to his mother. A more gentle approach was in order, but the point still needed to be made. "Talking requires that you make mouth noises too, you know." He teased, trying to lighten the mood... and failing miserably. He pushed himself closer and prodded the pegasus a few times, trying to get some kind of response that didn't revolve around blank staring or ambiguous grunting. Finally, he'd grown impatient and used his claws to pinch her shoulder. "Oww, what the hay, Spike?" She whine, rubbing her now irritated joint. 'You know, you should look into being a psychologist.' Happy to have her attention, Spike decided to breach slowly and asked how Rainbow was feeling. That's where all things gentle ended. "How am I feeling? I've got two broken bucking legs! How do you think I'm feeling?" She snarled, before folding her hooves and slamming her head back into the pillow. Patiently, Spike waited her out. Anybody who know Rainbow Dash knew she was a stubborn mare, a rare breed of too stupid to quit and too persistent to give up. But with the calm finality the dragon was feeling right now, he knew she'd break long before he did. A full hour of silence crept by as the dragon sat in wait, a small sliver of irritation pushing it's way to Spike's mind. He was slowly begining to wonder if his confidence in his own tenacity was misplaced. Though, just before the thought had a chance to be entertained, Rainbow mumbled something under her breath. A noise that Spike asked her to repeat. "What am I supposed to say to her?" Rainbow's head turned to his, the tell tale misty eyes of a pony who'd messed up looking at him. "After what I did to her, walking away like that? What am I supposed to say?" "Sorry would be a good start." The dragon replied thoughtfully. 'Crying, groveling and begging for forgiveness worked pretty well for Fluttershy.' Rainbow lifter he hooves to her eyes. "I walked away from her. Me! I saw she was hurting, that something was bothering her. And right there, when she needed all of us the most, we all just left her to rot. Angry because we thought she was trying to ruin her own brother's wedding because she was jealous..." She sobbed a few times before removing her hooves and breathing deeply to fight the urge to cry. "Some element of loyalty I turned out to be." Bitting his lip, Spike repeated what he said to Shining about them all being fooled. It was a cleaver disguise and ruse that caught even Celestia off guard. "I'm an Element of Harmoney, Spike. The Element of loyalty! Does abandoning a friend when they need you most sound like somepony who deserves to be called loyal?" She snarled through tears. That made her blunder all the worse, the Element of Loyalty committing betrayal. He wasn't sure how to approach that, aside from saying what he planned to say anyways. "Mistakes were made, Rainbow. You and I both know that you're not an unloyal friend." He pushed forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sin told me what you, Pinkie, Mac, and Discord were planning." Rainbow's anger melted into shock at the revelation. The small things some ponies get caught in when they talk a little too much. "He told me that you and them were willing to sacrifice your very lives to get me out. That even if you survived you were fully prepared to flee the country because you were loyal to me and thought that my punishment was unjust. You made a mistake, we all do and we all will. You're awesome, but you're not superpony, even if you'd like to be." "Twilight will need her friends now more than ever. She's a little mad at you, that much is true, but if you want to make it right, than shutting down around her will only make her angrier. Be the friends she needs when I'm not there for her, I think that's the best you can do, and that's all she wants." He removed his hand and shrugged. "You know, right after she chews you out for leaving her high and dry." 'Wow, way to send a mixed signal there, guy.' To his credit, Dash gave a weak chuckle at his words and nodded. "Thanks Spike, I needed that." "Hey, what are friends for?"