Spike stared at the letter he’d received via mailmare. It was written on expensive and well-to-do ivory-colored paper, same as any other scroll she’d send any other pony. The script was stencil-perfect, the words well-chosen and not too flowery, brief but as warm as possible.
There were only two imperfections, really; the first was that it lacked the perfume she usually imbued into the paper, a gentle smell of vanilla and lilacs.
The second was a thin black splotch, the stain not thick enough to have been an errant ink drop.
“Her mascara…” he muttered, running a thumb over the marked line.
And besides all that, I miss one of my best friends.
“Spike?” a pony behind him called. “Something bad in the mail?”
He turned into the library, looking blankly at Twilight.
“Dunno,” he muttered, looking back over the scroll. “Rarity sent me a letter.”
Twilight let out a gentle exhalation, looking into Spike’s face.
“She wants to have dinner at the boutique, ‘as soon as you’re comfortable’. Patch up our friendship…” He shook his head, smiling slightly.
“I don’t know if being alone with her right now is a good idea…” Twilight started.
With a chuckle, he looked up from the paper. “Neither does she,” he said, offering the letter. “She’s suggested to have a third pony act as a mediator, and left the choice up to me.”
He watched as she took in the page, her eyes dipping immediately to the water splotch before flying back to the top and speeding through the lines.
“Tonight then? Who’re you going to ask on such short notice?” she asked absently.
“Well… Any of the girls would be a solid choice.” His eyes widened a bit, and a small smile made his face its home. “Fluttershy’s been there for both of us already, though.”
“Would she be comfortable?” Twi asked, taking in the signature and rerolling the letter to float over to Spike.
“Probably not, but neither will Rarity or I. And even Applejack would feel a little awkward…”
Twilight hummed in thought, nodding as she thought through the same paths he had.
“Okay, then. You’d better go ask her, the letter asks you to respond by six.”
Spike looked at the clock over the fireplace’s mantle as he tucked the scroll into his scales, frowning at the hour and a half he had left. “I wish she wouldn’t get so lost, I hate it when the mail gets here late.”
“She does her best. Now go on, I can let her know you’re coming with Fluttershy.” She fluttered over to him, pushing him towards the door. Pausing, she pulled his head and neck down and wrapped her legs around him. Pulling her closer, he returned the hug briefly.
“Alright, I’m going. See you tonight, Twi.”
With a small jump, he took to the air and flapped towards Fluttershy’s, Twilight watching him go. Nodding, she turned around and closed the door, flipping the “Open” sign and locking it.
“Time for a quick visit to the boutique…”
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Fluttershy was sitting alongside the large creek in front of her house when Spike flew down to the dirt path that crossed the bridge. She’d been facing town and had seen him coming, so she smiled and waved as he walked over.
“Hello again, Spike.” She returned to dipping her hooves in the waters, swishing her forelegs through the greenish flow. “Your wings must be enjoying the workout.”
He smiled, but not as much as he should have.
“Maybe. I just wish I didn’t have to keep coming out here with a purpose.” She looked at him strangely, and he smiled a bit more. “I mean, I wish I could come out here just to visit, instead of always needing some favor from you…”
“Oh, I don’t mind at all,” she said, smiling up at him. “What did you need?”
He pulled out the scroll hidden behind one of his scales, before offering it to her. “Rarity wants to meet up for dinner and talk.”
Her eyes widened a bit. Removing her hooves from the stream, she dried them on the moss growing beside it, then took the letter Spike had unrolled for her.
He watched as her eyes dipped down towards the dried tear, her expression softening further as she returned to the top to actually read.
“This sounds…” she hesitated, biting her bottom lip. “It sounds like something you really shouldn’t miss, Spike. Even if you’re only reconciling to maintain the friendship you had.”
“Oh, I was planning on going,” he said, nodding. “Twilight’s letting her know right now that I’m coming. But… Well, I’m not sure that it would be a good idea to go alone, and Rarity’s not either. I was hoping you could… tag along?”
“Oh!” Fluttershy sat upright, blushing a bit. “Oh, uhm, sure, but… Well, why me?”
“Well, I figured it would be best to stay within our group for this, right?” He paused for her nod. “Well, Rainbow and Pinkie are out almost right away. Dash wouldn’t be interested, and Pinkie’s too much of a toss-up.”
Fluttershy nodded. “What about Twilight? She’s already going to be there.”
Spike made a face. “I really don’t want to go over my relationship with Rarity while my sister listens in. She can be a bit overprotective as well, and I don’t want her to go off on Rarity.”
Fluttershy looked up at him, stunned.
“Not that I think she would,” he said quickly. “It’s just… It’s an unwelcome possibility, you know?”
With an uncomfortable look, Fluttershy shrugged.
“Well, she’s not an ideal candidate, is all,” Spike finished, looking into the water and scratching the back of his head. “That pretty much leaves AJ or you, and... Well, you’ve been there for both of us for the past couple of weeks, and I think Rarity would be comfortable with you there.”
Fluttershy smiled to herself, looking over at Spike.
“That’s surprisingly eloquent, Spike. Rehearsed?”
“Only twice,” he quipped, before smiling at her.
After a moment, they broke into laughter, Fluttershy’s soft giggles almost hidden by the rougher chuckles of the dragon.
When they had calmed a bit, Fluttershy looked towards the large clock tower in town. “Should I be getting ready?” she asked, a small sigh escaping after her last word.
Looking to the same clock, Spike flinched. “No, I think it’s too late for that. You look ready as you are, and the flight can’t do much beside tousle your mane.”
With a short stretch, Spike popped his spine and let his wings droop away. “Ready to go?”
With a nod, Fluttershy tucked her hind legs beneath herself and stretched her own wings out.
With a simultaneous flapping, they were airborne and on their way.
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Twilight exited the door just as Spike dropped from the air, the strong gusting of his wings pushing the door closed behind her.
“Heya, big guy.” She walked over and nuzzled his cheek. “You ready?”
“Nope,” he said brightly. Fluttershy landed beside him, smiling as Twilight walked over to her. While they hugged, he continued, “But I doubt I ever will be, so as soon as Fluttershy’s ready, I’m knocking.”
Releasing each other, they moved in opposite directions; Twilight towards the library, Fluttershy towards Spike.
“Good luck,” Twilight said with a gentle smile. “Have a good time with your friends.”
Spike’s heart pulsed unpleasantly, his smile slipping a bit before he forced it back into place. He waved a claw as Twilight lifted her hoof, and they parted for a time.
Unfortunately, Spike no longer had anything to distract himself from his current task. Sighing, he finally looked up and into the face of the shop he had frequented so often. The door mocked him, the cheery décor suddenly too plastique, almost forced…
A gentle bump on his shoulder caused him to start and look down, into a gentle yellow smile.
Shaking himself, he smiled back and rested a paw on her head for a moment, anchoring himself with her.
“Thanks,” he said, surprised at the weak shaking of his voice. Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath before knocking on the door, the accustomed three times.
A blue glow encapsulated the doorknob and pulled the blockage away, revealing the seamstress herself.
Both Spike and Fluttershy were taken aback. He was the first to recover, having seen this before.
“You’re not wearing any make-up,” he said, his claw reaching forward to brush against her cheek. He stopped it, but all three of them saw the attempt, and all three colored slightly.
“I wasn’t sure it would stay on if I started…” Rarity swallowed, blinking rapidly. “I wasn’t sure it would stand up to any tears, I mean.”
Spike felt the same unpleasant pulse in his chest. Reaching up with his right arm, he grabbed his left and squeezed them both against the pain.
Fluttershy watched them for a moment before stepping forward, offering Rarity a smile and a hoof.
Returning the smile, Rarity lightly tapped her hoof against the offered one. “Hello, dear. Thanks for coming at such short notice.” Looking up at Spike, her smile wavered, but remained plastered on her muzzle. “Twilight let me know that the letter arrived late, so I wasn’t expecting you right at six. Thank you for rushing for me.”
“It wasn’t the first time,” he tried to joke, but flinched when Rarity twitched away with a small frown. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she said sadly. “Thank you for trying.” She sniffled before scowling, rubbing a foreleg across her eyes and moving away from the doorway. “But come in, please. No reason to continue this on the doorstep when there’s drinks inside.”
They both stepped inside, Rarity flocking them over to a side-room, one of the two with actual furniture in it: a plush white couch set in front of a long, rich ebon coffee table, with a matching plush chair opposite it. A slender red bottle sat between three crystal glasses, along with a tray of cold sandwiches.
“Wine?” Spike asked, surprised. “Are you sure alcohol’s a good idea?”
“Like you get anything from it,” Rarity teased. “It’s for my comfort and nerves, Spike, not so I can get sloshed and start screaming at you.”
Fluttershy was shocked at her blatant words, and shocked again when he laughed as though she’d told a joke.
“Yeah, Jet Set always did throw the best parties. Remember when he almost had that meltdown?” he asked as they sat down, him and Fluttershy on the couch opposite Rarity.
Rarity laughed, behind a hoof. “Oh, I thought for sure his poor wife would have been in the hospital with alcohol poisoning that morning.” She gripped the bottle in her magic, picking it up and peering absently at the label.
With a shake of her head, she placed it back on the table and looked into his eyes.
“Spike, I miss you,” she blurted, with a small blush. He flinched, and she held her hoof up. “I miss your friendship,” she clarified. “You were one of my few constants Spike. As a companion before, and as a…” She blushed deeply, looking at Fluttershy before finishing, “As a lover later.”
Fluttershy let out a quiet ‘eep’ that everyone except Rarity’s cheeks ignored.
“I want your company back. I miss the times when you would come over and help me with my craft, even if it was just letting me prattle away at you while you held my needles.” She sighed, looking into the red bottle’s depths.
“I miss you too,” he said. “I miss being here all the time. I’ve been sitting around a lot the last two weeks, at the library mostly.”
He shuffled awkwardly, looking deep into the floor. “I don’t think we can, yet.” He sniffed, wiping at his eyes with a claw. “I still haven’t given up on you,” he admitted. “Until I can, I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to hang out.”
Rarity sniffled heavily, hiding her face in her hooves and breathing deeply for a moment. Sniffling again, she nodded.
“I can understand that,” she murmured. “I suppose it’s selfish of me, but I… I just want my friend back.”
With a wavering smile, Spike leaned over the table and extended his paw. Slowly, she placed a hoof into his palm, and he squeezed it.
“You’ll have him back, I promise,” he said. “I just need a little more time.”
She nodded, eyes watering. “Spike? Would… Would a hug be too much?”
He hesitated, and looked at Fluttershy. Slowly, she nodded. Frowning, he looked back.
“Maybe,” he admitted, before letting a grin sneak onto his face. “But come here anyway.”
Slowly, they met at the end of the table. Sitting down so she could reach him, Spike pulled the mare to his chest, holding her tenderly as she wrapped her legs around his neck. They sat there for a minute, before Fluttershy cleared her throat.
“Uhm, sorry to interrupt, but…” she spoke, for the first time so far.
The two pulled away awkwardly, Spike pushing a paw to his chest and smiling down at the unicorn. She smiled up at him, her eyes red and puffy.
With a snort, he craned his neck and tapped the tip of her snout with his nose. “Chin up,” he said, smiling.
With a snort, she pushed his face away. “No, don’t remind me of that song, it always gets stuck in my head.”
They both retook their positions across the table from each other.
Spike snagged one of the small sandwiches from the table and popped it into his mouth, filling the room with a muted crunching.
He dipped his head towards Rarity, swallowing to say, “Wonderful dressing.”
She stared at him for a second before bursting into laughter.
Confused, Spike and Fluttershy shared a peek and turned back to Rarity.
“I-It-It’s the one you t-taught me to m-m-make, three years ago,” she said around her giggles, wiping her eyes as they overflowed. “The one with the chillies from Maredrid, the sweet ones.”
Spike looked at her, a small smile appearing as her chuckles came to a standstill.
“Uh oh,” she muttered, with another watery chuckle, before she buried her face again.
But it’s not laughter, is it? Fluttershy thought.
“I think it’s time for us to go, Spike,” she whispered, leaning over to him. With a pained look, he nodded.
Standing, he walked over to the mare and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her before he turned and left the room. Fluttershy watched him go, and walked over to Rarity for her own hug.
Sniffling, Rarity only shivered as Fluttershy’s wings folded around her shoulders for a brief moment. She heard the pegasus mare leave, but didn’t move until she heard her front door open and reclose.
With a last, hearty sniffle, she grabbed the bottle on the table and made her way to the bedroom upstairs, slamming the door behind her.
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Spike leaned heavily on the house, sliding down as Fluttershy closed the door beside him.
“Well, that was a thing,” he muttered.
Leaning down, Fluttershy wrapped a wing around him, bumping him with a shoulder. “Are you going to be okay?”
He shrugged, shaking his head. “Yeah, eventually.”
They sat on the stone doorstep for a while, watching the sun set while Fluttershy leaned companionably against him, the thoughts settling in his mind.
“I think it went rather well, honestly,” Fluttershy said cheerily. Spike let out a snort, and she gently shoved him with her shoulder. “No, really. No yelling, fighting, or hoof-pointing. You had a clear, albeit sad conversation about still wanting to be friends. It was good.”
“You think so?”
Fluttershy nodded, and Spike smiled up into the sky.
“Alright then. I’ll trust you, Flutters.”
She colored a bit at the nickname and had just enough time to wonder why before someone interrupted them.
“Aww, come on!”
Startled, they both glanced to their left, into the puffy pout of a pronking pink pony.
Spike flinched as the headache caused by such thoughts passed through his skull, brief due to the years of exposure.
“Heya Pinkie,” he said, smiling as he rubbed the top of his head. “What’re you up to?”
“Crashing your pity party!” she announced, rearing up and splaying her forelegs with an enormous smile. “I could feel it all the way across town!”
Spike chuckled, pushing himself to his feet. “I’m alright Pinkie. Promise,” he said, with a halfhearted crossing motion over his chest.
Pinkie’s cheeks puffed to an absurd degree, and her eyes closed to slits.
“You’re really lucky that wasn’t a whole Pinkie Promise,” she said, her cheeks bouncing with her warped words.
Spike ducked his head, blushing a bit. “Yeah, I know. I couldn’t get through the whole gesture. Really though, you should be more worried about Rarity. I think everything’s finally getting to her.”
Letting the air out of her cheeks, Pinkie nodded solemnly. “I was about to check up on her, actually.”
“Let her know I’m here for her too, please,” Fluttershy asked.
Pinkie nodded, before pasting on a sad smile and hugging Spike.
Chuckling, he hugged her to himself. “I’ve gotta get dumped more often if I’m getting all these hugs in exchange.”
“Aww, Spike! But you can have a Pinkie hug whenever you want! Just gotta ask nicely,” she said, before widening her smile slightly. “Of course, treating a girl wouldn’t hurt your chances either.”
With a deeper chuckle, Pinkie knocked on Rarity’s door twice before letting herself in and shutting the door behind her.
Fluttershy gaped at the door, blushing furiously; Spike gazed at it blankly, almost thoughtfully.
“Was I just propositioned?” he asked the pegasus, double-checking.
In answer, the locks on Rarity’s door slid audibly into place, and the two heard a retreating giggle from behind it.
“… Yes?” Fluttershy answered. “Although I doubt she expects you to take her up on the offer.”
Spike stared at the door, before shaking his head hard enough to make the spines clap against his head.
“I guess that’s one upside,” he said, walking away from the boutique. “Bucking mares throwing themselves at me out of pity, that’s…”
“Spike Ignis!”
Shocked by the sound of his title, Spike planted his feet and whipped around, looking wide-eyed down at a glaring Fluttershy.
“I will not hear you bad-mouthing one of your best friends for trying to cheer you up, even if she conveyed it in an unwelcome way,” she dictated, drawing herself up and fluffing her wings. Spike shrunk instinctively, laying flat with his belly to the dirt.
“Additionally, I will not stand by while you whine and monologue about how bad your life is, all because of one mare!” She stepped closer to him, towering over his head. “Do I make myself clear?”
“As diamonds,” he said without pause.
“Good,” she snapped, snorting derisively down at him.
A moment later, she swayed and blinked down at him, confusion flashing across her face.
“Oh dear. Did I go all ‘Iron Will’ again?” She blushed as Spike nodded, gazing reverently up at her from the ground. “Oh, I’m sorry Spike, I slip into it still…”
“No,” he gasped, shaking his head from side-to-side at her. “No, I liked it.”
She blushed down at him, and he blushed back up at her.
Standing quickly, he shook his head again, vigorously. “No, not like… I mean, it was very take-charge. Not like… that.”
They looked away from each other for a moment, before he sighed and pushed a paw against his eyes.
“Alright Flutters; it’s late, and I’m exhausted already,” Spike chuckled. “I think it’s best if I go home, see if I can’t talk my way out of talking with Twilight. I’ll see you later?”
“Oh, alright Spike,” Fluttershy spoke, nodding through her blush.
Spike dipped his head, then turned away and started walking towards the library. She watched him for a moment, paying attention to the way his tail bobbed back and forth as he walked.
He walks like an Iguana, she thought, bursting into giggles. Hearing them, Spike paused and turned his head, looking straight at her.
“Oh, I’m just having sleepy pony thoughts as well, it seems,” she said, trotting up to him and walking past a bit, spurring him into starting his walk again.
After travelling some distance in silence, she finally asked, “Spike, you’re sure Twilight will want to talk with you?”
With a groan, he nodded, frowning grumpily at the tree in the distance.
“You know, I have a couch, and I really liked that cocoa you made for us after the Kreelix. Would you like to stay the night?”
Spike cocked his head to the side, looking at her strangely. She started fidgeting after a moment, and had looked away when he gave his answer.
“Sure. That sounds nice, actually.”