Spike was eating a hamburger at a bar, overhearing a drunken ogre with black pants and matching black shirt acting like a dumbass. Everyone was trying to ignore him but failed to varying degrees. Some people were yelling at him to shut up while others, like Spike, had a tighter grip on whatever they were holding on to, but no one really wanted to fight him because it would almost assuredly start a bar fight. "Bulk, get out of my bar!" The dwarf with dark purple hair with a black apron, gray paints, and a black shirt screamed.

"Why *hick* should I, Berry?" He asked the dwarf.

"Why!? Because your drunk off your ass and causing a scene! Now get out!" She yelled, as she pointed to the door.

"Well, I don't want to. And there is nothing you *hick* can do about it," but just as he finished, Spike set down his burger and went up to face the drunk.

"I believe she said get out. I suggest you do it before I break both your arms," Spike threatened.

"Oh *hick* the Prince has some balls. And I *hick* I am still not going," he said, before Spike grabbed his arm and threw him down to the ground, just as Spike cast a spell and stomped on Bulk's arm, breaking it with a loud crack! Bulk streamed in pain.

"Get out now, or your other arm will be broken as well," Spike said, with an icy tone. Bulk grumbled a bit before leaving and heading to the hospital.

"Thanks for getting him out, Spike. Your meal's on the house," Barry Punch said, appreciatively, before Spike thanked her and went to eat the rest of his burger, with many patrons asking him how he did it.

As he walked out of the bar, he saw Iron Will in black pants, a white t-shirt, and his big compound bow; Lyra in red sweat pants and a red shirt, with her katana; and Gilda in a black hoodie and blue jeans, with her tomahawk, all with two other monster hunters he couldn't identify off hand, unloading the supplies. He also saw Shining Armor in black pants and a matching black shirt, a Quikinna’qu in a nurse’s uniform, and ten Bloodville guards around the crates, receiving the supplies.

"Ok nurse Redheart, here's some power medicine, so you don't have to keep plucking your feathers," Spike heard Gilda say to the nurse as he walked closer to his friends.

"Heya, Spike," Lyra said when she saw him. "Here's your crossbow." Throwing the weapon at him.
Spike caught it and asked, "How've your guys been? And what are the others doing?"

"We've been holding up just fine. As for the others, Film & Flam are dogging great, and your cousins are still at each other’s throats," Gilda explained as Spike put the sling on.

Spike chuckled at that before saying, "Are you needed at your shops? Because, if you aren't, you can hang around here for a while." Gilda, Iron, and Lyra all shook their heads. "Alright then, I guess I can help you guys out, and then I can show you some of the places around here." Iron, Gilda, Lyra, and the rest of the monster hunters nodded and hurried along, unloading all of the supplies, finishing just as Spike said, "Ok! First stop, the Carousel Boutique."

"Who lives there?" Gilda asked.

"Rarity, a fashionista vampire, who tried to make me her drakefriend," Spike said.

"So, did she take no for an answer, or will she be another Mary?" Iron Will laughed.

"I don't know. I'm pretty sure she took the second no like every other girl, but Mary," Spike said, as they walked, arriving just a few minutes later. When they entered, they saw Rarity wearing a black shirt, white pants, and her yellow hat, finishing up on the dress she was working on. "Hey Rarity," Spike said, waving.

She spun around to see Spike and his friends and exclaimed, "Hello Spike! Who are your wonderful friends?"

"This is Iron Will, Lyra, and Gilda," Spike said, pointing to them.

"Charming names. Now, I have a question for all of you," Rarity asked.

"What is that?"

"What are your uniforms like? And can I see them?"

The monster hunters tilted their heads in confusion before Lyra said, "We don't have uniforms."

"WHAT!? You don't have uniforms!? But you're from Canterlot!" Rarity shouted, completely shocked.

"Yeah, like we said, we don't have uniforms," Iron Will repeated.

"B-b-but WHY!? All the guards have them, why wouldn’t you as well?" Rarity explained, as the hunters gave her an annoyed look.

"We get shot by arrows, slashed by all of sorts of blades, have spells cast at us, and get torched sometimes. So, yeah. If we had uniforms, they'd be very ratty and in the shop more than half to time to repair the damages. Plus the guards don't go killing monsters that often."

"Oh," Rarity said. "So do you have any high class jobs on the side of being monster hunters?"

"We don't have high class jobs. We work around the middle class part of Canterlot," Iron Will said. "I'm a blacksmith, Lyra works at a general store, Gilda works at an inn, and another two of our friends work at a pawn shop."

"Oh. Well how is life Canterlot?" Rarity asked.

"Well, a day at the forge can be boring, but it can be cool to see who wants what. And when I'm not working, I go into town and try some new foods," Iron Will said.

"As for me," Lyra said, "it's really boring, but I do get into a lot of interesting conversations with some of the locals. But after my shift, I go club'n. They call me 'The Green Clubber'."

"At the Inn," Gilda stated, "you hear people play their music when there aren’t a lot of others around, but when there are a lot of people, you can here monster hunters talking about their adventures into distant lands. But when my shift is done, I do some parkour around the city."

"Oh, wow! Your lives are exciting. But if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to the clothing I was working on; it needs to be ready for shipping tonight," Rarity said, as she walked into the other room. “And you must let me make you some clothes, darling.”

"We’ll keep that in mind, Rares. Come on, let’s go. I want to introduce you to some of the others," Spike said, as they left.

"Spike, if you don't mind me asking, but can't we explore the town on our own?" Iron asked, "Because if we're just going to do what we did last time, I'm out."

"Well, alright. Let’s meet up later," Spike said, as he waved to his friends. About ten minutes later, he was walking down the street when Rainbow Dash crashed right in front of him. "Hey Dash."

"Hey Spike," She said as she got up. "How're you doing?"

"I'm doing well, despite almost being landed on. Are you doing anything today?" Spike asked, chuckling.

"Heh, sorry about that. And no, not really. Why?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could hangout," Spike said, as he rubbed the back of his neck with a slight blush on his face.

"Um, sure," Rainbow Dash said, gaining a similar blush on her own face. "But I doubt you'd be able to keep up with me without wings." Spike winced a bit before he cast a spell, making a pair of wings grow out from his back, and ripping part of his clothing.

"You think Rarity can fix this?" Spike asked, as he pointed to his back.

"Ya, she can fix anything like that," Rainbow Dash said, in a bit of shocked awe, before they flew off. "So, Spike. How do you like the town?"

"I like it here. It has its own little charm to it, ya know," Spike said.

"Of course it does. Do you want to race to Sweet Apple Acres?" Rainbow Dash said, slowing to a stop.

Spike stopped next to her and said, "I’m so going to win." As they both landed on a cloud, preparing for the race.

"Keep dreaming, dragon boy. Ready. Set… GO!" Rainbow Dash said, before they flew off. Rainbow Dash held an early lead, but Spike was quickly catching up to her. When they were almost neck and neck, Rainbow Dash still in the lead, watching Spike out of the corner of her eye. That is until Spike passed her. When they could see Sweet Apple Acres, they both were neck and neck again. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings harder and flew faster, getting closer to the gate, before screeching to a halt and shouting, "YES! I won!" Spike wasn’t as lucky and crashed into her, tumbling along the ground and causing the once cheering mare to end up on top of Spike, their faces just mere inches from each other. Once they realized what position they ended up in, they both flushed tomato red as Rainbow shot up and proceeded to help Spike up, both still with red faces.

"That sure was a good race," Spike said, trying to shift the conversation away from that embarrassing moment.

"Ya, that was. How are you so good at flying anyway when you don't even have permanent wings?" Rainbow asked, a bit curious.

"I’m a good acrobat. And I practice flying a lot. It’s fun," Spike answered, relaxing in each other’s company and watching the sun starting to set, the golden glow lighting up their faces.

"Hey, Spike?" Rainbow Dash asked, glancing sidelong at him.

"Yeah?" He said, glancing her way.

"Do you want to get some dinner?"

"That sounds wonderful."

Author's Note

A Quikinna’qu is a raven from Native American clutter with magical healing feathers.
Edits done by Beirirangu and Blazing Light.