Spike felt the tickling sensation of the frills mingling with his scales. Rarity hadn’t given him a protective covering for the dress, so those little additions were there to bother him for the rest of his trek. It peeved him that she didn’t even explain the general area of where this meeting place was. She just shoved the lengthy outfit in front of him, and then gave him a piece of paper to use as a way of finding the spot.

Those little annoyances didn’t even compare to that romp underneath the staircase. He never knew Rarity was that type of mare. Rarity’s been that type of gal to show some spunk when ponies didn’t get the memo that you don’t challenge a quirky fashionista, but those ponies don’t get to see that… sleek black leather get-up.

“Nonsense, I don’t do deathplay.”

And that line that she said. It made him feel worse than what he had felt before. He thought Pinkie had momentarily fixed him, but Rarity’s comment brought him down to the dirt again, not because he didn’t do deathplay, but the fact that she just waved off death as something to fantasize about made his stomach churn and his heart stop. Was it because of the fact that death was the endgame? Was it because Spike was just feeling that everytime he took a step and envisioned that last moment? Was…

Was it because he couldn’t see anything positive behind those purple eyes of hers?

He growled, those pearly whites showing in the final hours of daylight. His thoughts have lead him up and down on this crazy train ride, and now he’s hopefully going to his final destination, a station where he could rest, and give himself a breather. So far, it seems like it’s going to. It wasn’t some crazy errand like the others. It’s just delivering a dress, much like delivering a cake…

Spike gulped and pressed on, his claws carrying him through town. The day had been great, but now the excited fireball started to fall asleep, feigning rest with its orange glow. And so did ponies too. Spike had to make his escape, having to dodge ponies in order to get the cake delivered. Surely it wasn’t like the packed streets of Canterlot, but there were still ponies he had to worry about to get that package to Rarity’s place. That mission paled in comparison to this: only a couple ponies were out, and his body didn’t have the energy to just weave through the alleyways. Besides, Rarity didn’t tell him to be inconspicuous, so he just stuck out like a sore hoof.

So when Roseluck and Raindrops saw him walking with a dress slung over his back, he was sucked into a conversation that he didn’t know he had time for.

“Hey, Spike!” the two ponies said in unison.

He stopped, smiled, and waved. A technique practiced by male dragons since the creation of the dragon code.

“Glad to see you out and about, Spike,” Raindrops added with a smile. “Usually you’re cooped up in that castle, aren't cha?”

“Cooped up by choice, not by proxy,” Spike said. “I have to help the one who hatched me!”

Roseluck giggled. “That sounds like you.” She nudged Raindrops’ side as she spoke. “But Raindrops here is right. We don’t get to see you often. I thought Twilight just hogged you to herself to make sure she didn’t go insane.”

Spike tilted his head. Did Twilight hog him to herself?

But his thoughts weren’t heard. Raindrops just bounced off Roseluck’s comment. “Yeah, you gotta cut loose for yourself sometimes! I mean, if I didn’t take a moment to just kick back and relax on a cloud, I probably would’ve lost all my feathers by now!” She rolled her eyes. “That Rainbow Dash is such a slave driver.”

“That definitely sounds like her,” Spike mumbled. He shook his head rather rapidly, as if to make sure his brain wasn’t misfiring. “Look, um, I’d love to stay and chat, but I got this dress to deliver.” He looked between the two mares and smiled. “Would you two want to hang out sometime?”

The two mares surprised him. They nodded. “Sure!” they both said, releasing giggles into the air, a sound Spike would love to hear again.

“How about tomorrow night at Down the Hole? I heard they just added some hi-tech karaoke rooms!” Raindrops offered, her grin tenfold.

Roseluck looked at her friend, gobsmacked. “Karaoke rooms? I haven’t been to one of those since I visited Manehatten for a flower emporium!”

The two mares bickered back and forth, while Spike’s mind warped into a new dimension, where he had his claws around the two, having a great time. Words were popping up on a screen, their voices harmonizing together, and a share of drinks (his not alcoholic) all around—Spike couldn’t stop from getting the happy bug, grinning ear to ear for once in his two month battle with his inner Death.

“So, are you down, Spike?”

He heard Roseluck’s words, but his head had already nodded for him by the time he heard ‘down’. “Y-Yeah, sure!”

“Great!” Roseluck said, beginning to walk away. “Meet us tomorrow at the bar at seven, okay?”

“You bet,” Spike said.

The two mares gave him a wink, before they walked away, leaving Spike frozen, unable to comprehend that he just got a date with two mares while holding a dress.

Maybe he should hold dresses for a living and—

“Wait, did they say a bar?”

Time was a lost cause. Spike didn’t know whether it had been five minutes or twenty—he just knew he was at the location he needed to be, and he was the only one in the general vicinity of the property. The address had led him to a deserted mansion, located on the outskirts of Ponyville. It was stuck behind a large forest, whose old dead husks blanketed the landscape. He had to keep his eyes on the path sometimes, since the dirt had changed from brown to grey. It was like he was walking on gravel—something that he was definitely not used to walking on in a forest.

Now all he needed to do was wait. The plan was simple: lean against the rotting woodstock near the property, and wait until the informant arrived. But he wasn’t perfect, since the only dying lumber was right next to the entrance of the lot, where the gate swung creepily in the breeze, while he just sat there, leaning rather uncomfortably against the tree—he didn’t want to screw up the dress—wondering if his life was going to end right there due to a ghost coming out from the mansion just to haunt him for the rest of his life and—

“There’s no way!”

His ears perked up to the sound of a mare.

A mare with the raspiest voice in all of Ponyville.

“Rainbow Dash?”

The pegasus had paused in mid-flight, staring at Spike with an unhinged jaw. Spike could only help but think she was shocked at him being the only anything around. Or maybe…

Maybe she was the one who was meeting him?

And that made him nervous.

Spike gulped and stood up from his spot, his claw steadily holding onto the dress. “How are the clouds in Cloudsdale?”

“They’re always drifting…” Rainbow Dash said rather dejectedly, her hooves gently touching down while her wings sagged down to her sides. “Why the hay did Rarity send you?”

Spike kicked up some of the dirt. “I was over at her place, so she thought it’d be a good idea.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “I thought Poptart was still running for her?”

“Poptart?” Spike asked, tilting his head. “Who is that?”

“Somepony from Canterlot who is known as the King of Oddjobs,” Rainbow replied, shaking her head. “Look, could I get my dress? There’s this dance I got to prepare for tonight and—”

“Wait, you’re going dancing?” Spike said, eyes wide as can be. “Since when do you dance?”

“Since Rarity knew about my liking for…” Rainbow began, only for her voice to fail her. The poor pegasus sat down in the dirt. “It’s a long story.”

Spike smiled and turned to his tree. “Might I interest you in a little chat by the tree?”

Rainbow looked at the poor guy with him and laughed. “Spike that tree is really in rough shape.”

As if whatever was above wanted to pull time’s chair, the tree lost a branch, sending a hunk of wood crashing down onto what remaining fence was by it.

The two cringed as they heard the white fence shatter into pieces. Spike opened his eyes first and looked at Dash. “On second thought…”

Dash shook her head. “I don’t mind sitting under it.”

“But Dash we just saw the tree—”

“I know, I know,” Dash said, rolling her eyes. “But it would be rare for a tree to do that twice.”

Spike was about to open his mouth, but he couldn’t find a rebuttal that would work. Her logic was solid. “Whelp, can’t argue with that!”

So the two sat underneath the dying tree, whose branch had clobbered the remaining fence beside them.

“Any shards under me?”

“Nope, Dash, you’re good.”

She sat down, laying right next to Spike, while the dragon leaned against the hunk of bark, his eyes drifting to the dress draped over his legs.

“May I ask why you put the dress over my legs?”

“It just felt right,” Dash replied. “Besides it would look weird if I used it as a canopy, and I could possibly damage it.”

Spike just shook his head rapidly. He couldn’t and shouldn’t question anything anymore. This world was too dysfunctional for him to understand it.

And it was a little more interesting that way.

The two watched the world around them simply exist. Clouds passed them by, while a gentle breeze tickled the treetops of the dead and living. It was Nature watching over them, something that Spike hadn’t felt since this whole debacle started. He could just breathe for a moment, and just enjoy his time that he had left.

“Hey, Spike?”

And he could spend his break from insanity with a friend in need.

“Yeah?”

“Why are you running for Rarity? Are you short on bits or something?”

Spike chuckled. “No, Twilight doesn’t short-shot me on my allowance.”

“Then why?” Rainbow looked up to him. “Doing stuff like this is very risky and stressful. Don’t know why she’d send you to do this kind of work.”

Spike could only shrug. “Like I said, I was over at her place. Had to drop off a cake for to Rarity’s place for Pinkie so…”

Rainbow giggled, something that Spike wasn’t used to. “So you’ve been stuck doing other ponies’ errands?” She sat her head down on the grass. “Sounds like you’ve had a hayday.”

Spike smiled. She was right, he did have a heck of a hayday. But now he was spending it with a friend who still had a story to tell.

“I have,” Spike replied. “So, about that story you owe me.”

Rainbow Dash shakily sighed. “Yeah, I guess I do owe you one, huh?” She shifted under the tree, her eyes gazing out over the field in front of her. “Spike, how much do you know about skywriting?”

“Well…” Spike remembered that Twilight had mentioned it once before, but it was nothing remarkable. She was diving into some old pegasus traditions when she got her wings, so Spike got to hear about her findings including the less than appropriate traditions. “Just a little. I know pegasi start doing it after they get their—” He gasped. “What happened after you got your cutiemark?”

“A month or so after, Dad got me interested in skywriting. For a while, I tried it, only to fail miserably at it.” Her eyes glazed over the sky, while her lips jittered. “I… did feel the love for it, though. It felt like I was dancing in the sky, much like how the Wonderbolts do their routines. That’s why I like the Wonderbolts so much, and why I like stunt flying now. Makes me feel like I’m dancing again.” She craned her neck over to Spike, just to see his expression. And she was right, he was all sorts of confused.

“So how does this relate to you getting into dresses?”

She rolled her eyes and looked out at the fields. “I’m a mare, Spike. When the girls get all dressed up, I still want to do that. And when we went to the Gala in our dresses, it just felt… it felt right, which is something that I never felt before.” A red blush tinged Dash’s cheeks. “So I went dancing after that in secret. Rarity would give me a couple more dresses everytime I modeled with her, but eventually that deal fell through since she didn’t need my measurements anymore.” Her eyes closed and she blew deeply. “And ever since then, I go to this club now and again when I get the urge to dance. I mean, I can just fly to satisfy the urge, but… but it just isn’t the same as intensely dancing for six hours straight.”

Spike could get the sentiment, but not the six hours straight ordeal. Maybe three at most. He remembered when he was so enamoured with Rarity that he was head over heels with her. Every minute, every hour, every day he got to spend with her was like floating in a never-ending stasis of happiness. Now, it wasn't like that at all. Sure he felt a little closer to her, but Rarity didn't feel the same as him.

He just… moved on, he supposed. But a little time spent with her still gave him that happy high he looked for in life—

—except when she’s covering herself in buttercream.

“I get you, Dash,” Spike replied, cringing.

“You do?” she said, smiling at the drake.

If Dash didn’t see him grimace, she was blind as a bat. “Yeah, I had that sort of feeling when I was with Rarity.”

“But now?” Dash asked, raising a brow.

“Let’s just say, I need some bleach to filter some of the… more recent memories of her.”

Rainbow Dash flipped over and started laughing, and laughing, and laughing, until her body was fully captured in a never-ending loop of surreal happiness.

And boy was it contagious, even Spike was joining in.

The two’s laughter subsided, both panting with red smeared on their cheeks. Spike caught up first though, bringing the happiness to the forefront.

“Boy did I need that.”

Dash sputtered a chuckle. “Hehe, s-same.” She laid her head back down on the ground.

And now it felt like time was passing again. The two laid there next to each other, just relaxing in the world of a time where a mansion was once full of life. A time long gone.

Then, Spike heard the call.

“Hey, Spike?”

“Hmm?”

He didn’t even have to open his eyes to imagine Dash’s smile.

“Thanks. I’m glad you took that well.” Spike opened his eyes to see Dash standing on all fours, stretching her wings. “I’m happy that I can say that to somepony else without them judging me harshly.”

Spike nudged Rainbow Dash in the side. “No problem, Dash. We’re friends, so I’ll only judge you just a bit.”

That earned him a wing snapping on his head. “Dork.”

Spike faked a cry of pain and grinned at the mare. “Truly, but I’m not ashamed.”

Ashamed in death—

“So, what are you doing now, Spike?”

And for the first time, he didn’t know. No one needed his assistance. No one needed him to uncover the mystery of Pinkie Pie, or go deliver more ‘cake’ to Rarity, or delivering a dress to a closet dancer. He was free.

“I don’t know. I guess, lounging about?”

Rainbow Dash facehooved. “Come on, you don’t even have someone to hang out with?”

His reaction was almost immediate. He just shook his head. “Nope.”

“Ugh,” Rainbow said in disgust. She got up and started walking away from the tree. “Come on, we need to get you doing something with somepony, because being by yourself can be deadly.”

And so much for being free. “Who do you have in mind?”

“I know just the pony,” Rainbow Dash said, smirking. “Come on, hop on my back! We’re going to go visit a stallion I know!”

Spike sighed. “You mares and your stallions…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing! I swear it was a joke—”

Getting knocked upside the head never felt good.

Author's Note

Wraith is a great editor!