Simple Dreams

by BlazzingInferno

Canterlot And Bust

The castle disintegrated from view. Tendrils of purple light raced around Spike faster and faster until nothing else remained besides a blinding glow, a sense of falling, and Twilight’s repeated warnings: “all you’re going to experience is an alternate possibility, something that might’ve happened but didn’t. Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s real. No matter what happens you’ll wind up back in reality when it’s over.”

Except what followed felt real. Suddenly he was back in the foothills outside Ponyville, on his knees with the accursed flower held aloft, the early morning sun glinting off the nearly-full gem cart, crushed grass staining his knees, and Rarity’s perfume wafting past his nose on the breeze.

Rarity stood there, barely three feet from him, smiling her frozen smile just like before. Any second now he would put down the flower, slowly get to his feet, and listen to their friendship unravel all over again. He swept over the scene with his eyes, on the hunt for even the smallest detail that he’d missed before. And then, just as his arms started to cramp again, instinct took over.

Leaping to his feet, he tossed the flower over his shoulder and forced a laugh. “Ha, just… kidding! Where should we dig next?”

Rarity blinked. “Ah, well… I suppose we could find a few more gem deposits, but…”

Her slight frown nearly stopped his heart. “We don’t have to! If something’s bothering you, you’d tell me, right? I-I got worried for a second that… that you—”

She took a step forward and touched her hoof to his nose. “Nothing is wrong, darling. Nothing at all. Did I tell you that I’m visiting Canterlot soon?”

He nodded vigorously and tried in vain to keep a straight face. Was this working? This was different, maybe even good different, but how was it going to help back in reality? “You… uh… you mentioned it.”

“I’m due to leave by train this afternoon, and strictly speaking my only business there is to check in with Sassy at Canterlot Carousel, but…”

Again she paused, and again his heart did gymnastics. “You can tell me, I swear.”

After a gasping breath from Rarity and no breathing at all from Spike, the words came at last: “Would you like to accompany me?”

“I… I… What?” Words didn’t make sense anymore. This wasn’t one of Twilight’s ‘alternate probabilities,’ this was a beautiful dream.

Rarity continued: “would you like to come with me to Canterlot for the afternoon? I realize a business trip isn’t exactly the most glamorous of excursions, but perhaps when the work is done we could stroll through the fashion district and have an early dinner?”

All of the sudden Spike was back on his knees and in danger of falling face-first onto the grass. “Really? Just the two of us?”

Her warm smile and a slow nod said it all: just the two of us.

Fireworks seemed to explode all around him, as if the air itself was celebrating this moment of a friendship not just saved but taking a romantic turn. Except they weren’t fireworks: Spike gasped as he recognized the magic lights, Twilight’s spell pulling him back, and leaped out of the way in the vague hope that it would make a difference. The lights faded, leaving him right where we wanted to be, and he breathed the world’s biggest sigh of relief. The real world could wait. It could wait forever.

“Spike? Aren’t you going to answer me?”

He turned back to Rarity, her wide-eyed surprise the surest sign that she hadn’t seen the light show, only his reaction to it. “Uh, yes, I-I’d love to. I’m just… so excited to get cleaned up before our big day together.”

She giggled and, to Spike’s continued amazement, blushed. “Shall we meet at the train station in an hour?”

Spike couldn’t nod fast enough, or get over her continued smiling as he replied “it’s a date!”

---

Watching the scenery roll by the train window was somehow blissful and nerve-wracking all at once. Spike pressed his hands into his jacket pockets, entranced by the hemline anecdote Rarity was telling him. She’d told him this one months ago, but she clearly didn’t remember and he didn’t care. He could still nod and smile at all the right moments while he willed himself to not screw this up. Real or not, he was on a date with Rarity, the fashionista extraordinaire and mare of his dreams, and all because in this crazy version of reality she liked him too.

“—and that’s why authenticity from the very beginning is so crucial to the final result.”

He nodded dreamily. “Absolutely.”

“Tell me, Spikey, have you considered—”

A bright flash of light suddenly had him on his feet and halfway across the train car, standing in the midst of a group of school-aged foals on a field trip. Not now. He couldn’t leave now!

“Spikey, what’s the matter?”

The light continued to dance on the ceiling, and a panic-stricken second later he realized it was just a reflection from the many jewels sewn into Rarity’s gorgeous dress. Blushing furiously, he paced back across the train car, now under surveillance by every pony in it, and sat back in his seat, his eyes on his own feet. “S-sorry, sorry! I-I’m just… I’m so nervous. We’ve never done anything like this, just the two of us.”

Rarity shifted in her seat until her shadow obscured his view. “Surely you’re not forgetting our gem hunting expedition this morning? I don’t remember seeing anypony else there.”

With the utmost caution he met her gaze. “I know we go gem hunting all the time, but we’ve been doing that forever just as friends, but now—”

Her perfectly manicured hoof touched his shoulder, the softest of gestures that sent a bolt of lightning up his spine regardless. “Spike, this outing doesn’t have to be more or less than either of us wants it to be. If you’d rather go home immediately after I attend to my business needs, please just tell me.”

Gasping, he gripped her hoof in his hands, its fur soft and its edges polished, and stared into her eyes. “I want to be here more than anything! I want to come with you, and to keep talking, and to have dinner together. Today is already the most amazing day ever and I don’t want it to ever stop! I’m so sorry I’m nervous.”

Whole seconds full of mutual blushing passed before Rarity took her hoof back. “Then we’re in full agreement. I only wish we’d done this sooner.”

“You and me both.”

With a lurch and a whistle, the train shuddered to a stop just as Canterlot Castle appeared in the window next to them.

“Our stop at Canterlot Carousel should be brief,” Rarity said, “just a quick visit with Sassy Saddles to go over the plans for the next few months, and then, my dear Spike, the rest of the day is ours.”

Spike’s nerves seemed to melt under her warm gaze. “I can’t wait.”

---

One look made it clear that Sassy Saddles and Canterlot Carousel had other plans. Rarity let out a small scream as they walked through the door, and Spike nearly did the same as he tripped over one of the many disembodied mannequin limbs littering the ground. Stacks of boxes lined the walls in place of clothing racks, the window display stood empty, and a barely-legible “Closed” sign decorated the front door.

Spike picked up one of the mannequin legs, keeping it at arm’s length in case whatever disaster struck the place was contagious. “What the heck happened here?”

Rarity’s magic aura struck a dozen targets at once, arranging and cleaning everything in sight. “Good heavens! Sassy! Sassy Saddles, I demand an explanation!”

A loud sneeze disturbed a stack of boxes by the stock room door, and moments later Sassy trudged around it, mane unkempt, hooves dragging, nose red, and in magic possession of a sopping wet handkerchief. “I’m here, Rarity, such as I am.”

A second sneeze sent the same box stack crumbling to the ground. Unsewn buttons and spools of thread burst out of one and raced across the floor to Spike’s feet. “Are you okay?”

Sassy gave a woozy nod. “Tip top. Never better. Battling a small head cold, but doing my best to prepare for the Canterlot Bridal Exposition. I might have overestimated how quickly my health would improve.”

Rarity rushed forward and wrung the handkerchief out with her magic. “Battle is a very apt choice of words; the shop looks like a war zone! Please go home and get some rest. We can meet in a few days to discuss bringing the shop back into operation, but until then—”

Sassy raised one shivering hoof, her eyes wide. “But the bridal exposition!”

“That isn’t for another week; we have plenty of time to replan our booth and bring in some extra help if needed.”

“It’s today, Rarity! Today! There was a misprint on our invite to attend, and I only found the corrected invitation this morning when I came in to retrieve my spare handker—”

Another sneeze rocketed her backward into the counter.

Spike stared, open-mouthed at Sassy teetering on her hooves and Rarity practically vibrating with panic on hers. “Do I even need to ask how important this bridal thing is?”

Rarity turned to him after a few seconds of hyperventilating. “It’s only the most important fashion event for months! If Canterlot Carousel misses it, we might as well keep the shop doors closed until Hearth’s Warming!”

Of course it was. The fashion world never did anything small or unimportant. Sighing, Spike took off his jacket and hung it on a nearby hat rack. At least now he’d be back in his natural element: helping a superhero stop doomsday. “Okay, so what do we have to do?”

“Time… There’s not enough time!” Rarity murmured. “Not enough time for our friends to get here, so that just leaves the three of us, minus Sassy, just two of us… on today of all days!”

Spike stepped forward, all too aware that a panicked unicorn bore many similarities to a lit firecracker. “I can help. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Rarity paced in a circle, wide-eyed enough to see through walls. “Boxes! If there’s a white or pastel-colored dress inside, it’s coming with us, and so is any mannequin with four hooves still attached! Gather as many of them as you can while I hail a whole fleet of taxis!”

Sassy sneezed in agreement.