Running Late

Chapters

The Letter
Compromising is a Pain
Let's Get a Move On
Backfire
Improvise
To Delay And To Troll
What I Do For Love
Hanging By A Thread
Recovery
He Is Mine
Last Laugh

The Letter

There was a loud knock at Twilights library door. Twilight, reading a book as usual, motioned Spike to open the door. Spike let out a groan. Even with magic, she was much too distracted with that book to open a simple door. Once Spike opened the door, he was surprised to see Derpy floating there.

“Are you Spike?” Derpy questioned.

“I would hope so.” Spike joked.

Derpy let out a chuckle at his remark, “Well, I got a letter here that has your name on it.”

Spike eyed the letter Derpy handed him with interest. “Who is it from?” Spike asked.

“If the letter doesn’t say who sent it, I’ll tell you.” Derpy offered.

Opening up his letter, Spike was surprised to see a rather formal invitation inside. The invitation held a ticket inviting him to an orchestra, which would play many classical songs. Spike noticed there was a signature on the invitation with a note.

Hey Spike, was wondering if you can make it to Canterlot to see the orchestra play. I will be one of the cello players there. I really hope you make it!

Right at the bottom of the note was Octavia’s loopy signature. And right next to it was…an imprint of lips that wore pink lipstick. Spike felt the heat in his checks at the sight of this and fumbled with the letter slightly. Derpy tried to peer over Spike’s shoulder to see the letter and Spike quickly held it tight to his chest.

“Well, do you know who’s it from?” Derpy asked, still eyeing the letter with interest.

“Yep, I sure do.” Spike replied, trying to calm down his blushing.

“Alright, I should really be off. See ya later Spike.” Derpy called out as she flew off to deliver more letters.

No sooner had Spike waved good bye to Derpy is when Pinkie Pie popped over Spike’s head unexpectedly.

“Oh! You got mail!” Pinkie said, making a grab for Spike’s letter as she noticed it.

Spike held the letter out of her reach, “Pinkie, come on! There is a thing called privacy!” Spike said, obviously terrified that Pinkie will discover the contents of the letter.

“Privacy, what’s that?” Pinkie asked, popping under Spike’s extended arm and still trying to take a snag at the letter.

Spike held the letter over his head, Pinkie followed by making a jump for it, and Spike quickly pulled it down to his chest. Pinkie cart wheeled and landed perfectly on her hind legs. She then bounced back to Spike’s face, like a spring.

“At least, tell me who it’s from.” Pinkie demanded.

“Remember Octavia?” Spike mumbled slowly.

“Sure I do! She is that awesome cello player from the Gala! Once she loosens up, she is great to hang around with!” Pinkie said with her usual perkiness.

“What’s all the commotion about?” Twilight asked with curiosity etching her voice, finally emerging from the library.

“Spike got a letter from Octavia!” Pinkie blurted out, hoping around Spike by the end of her tail.

“She is the cello player from the Gala right?” Twilight asked.

“Yep, she wants Spike to attend where the orchestra she is in will be playing!” Pinkie said with her usual silly grin.

“She is right. The ticket says it’s in the Note Theater in Canterlot.” Spike said, showing Twilight his ticket but making sure the invitation was well clasped tight in his other claw.

“I went there once! But that’s back when I was a little filly though.” Twilight recalled, feeling nostalgic at just thinking of the fond memory.

Spike and Pinkie looked at spaced out Twilight with utter confusion. Pinkie waved her hoof over Twilight’s mesmerized face, but she didn’t react. Spike knew just the trick to get Twilight paying attention.

“HEY, PAY ATTENTION!” Spike announced in his Royal Canterlot voice.

“Ouch! You know my ears hurt when you do that Spike!” Twilight snapped at Spike, moaning as she rubbed her sore ears.

Pinkie’s head exploded in a shower of confetti and immediately her head popped back. “Who taught you that Spike?” Pinkie asked, slightly awestruck at the strength of his voice.

“Luna.” Spike simply replied with a strained smile.

It might have been a few weeks since his successful pranking spree at the Gala. But Luna coaching him on how to use the Royal Canterlot voice to its full extent made it feel like it was all yesterday, that’s how bad his experience was and he felt he wouldn’t be forgetting this anytime soon. It really did feel like Luna was yelling at him just yesterday...

FIRST, THOU NEED TO SHOW ME HOW LOUD THOU CAN YELL! LETETH ME HEAR YOUR MIGHTETH ROAR! Luna demanded of Spike, his ears popping at the sheer strength of her voice.

“ROAR!” Spike yelled out. Luna didn’t say a word; Spike took this as a sign to try again.

“ROAR!” Spike yelled again. Luna still didn’t react, not right away anyway.

IS THAT ALL YOUR LITTLE BODY CAN SUPPLY? YOU’RE A DRAGON FOOL! YOU’RE ANCESTORS CAN MAKE MOUNTAINS WILT TO ITS FOUNDATIONS WITH A SINGLE ROAR! YET, YOU CAN BARELY SCARE A CHILD WITH THAT FEEBLE THING YOU CALL A ROAR! Luna snapped, obviously growing impatient with Spike’s feeble efforts.

“Oh come on! You had years to practice this! I only have a few hours!” Spike responded with as much anger and impatience as Luna gave him.

I guess we give up now.

“No, we don’t.” Spike said with a determined grin.

Go yell yourself hoarse then.

Spike tried and tried to make his voice reach the magnitude that the whisper(Luna) was able to release. Yet he failed miserably and the whisper gave no tips or tricks to assist with the task. Spike rubbed his sore throat for a moment and that’s when the whisper voiced her disappointment again.

WHY MUST THOU FAIL AT THIS SO MUCH?

"QUIT BEING SO HYSTERICAL, YOU’RE WORSE THEN AN OLD HAG!” Spike snapped back angrily.

That’s what it took and Spike hoped he never had to go through something like that again.

“So, can we all go?” Pinkie asked.

“Octavia only gave me one ticket.” Spike replied sheepishly.

“Oho, you and Octavia got some alone time then? Or she just wants to see you?” Pinkie teased.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Spike lied, his face going red like a ruby.

“Whatever you say Spikey.” Pinkie said with a giggle.

“Anyway, you’re going to take a train to Canterlot?” Twilight asked Spike.

“It’s the fastest way and the show is in…” Spike looked for the date of the show and saw that it was in “TODAY!?”

“WHAT!?” Twilight and Pinkie said in shocked unison.

“Who delivered you the letter?” Twilight demanded.

“Oh, um, it was Derpy.” Spike replied uncertainly.

“Derpy, she is always making mistakes when delivering mail!” Twilight said in a high pitched controlled rage.

Spike felt is jaw going slack “So, you’re telling me…”

“That you’re running late to the show? You sure are!” Pinkie answered with her usual smile, oblivious with the problem at hand.

“What am I going to do?” Spike moaned sadly.

“I have no idea!” Pinkie answered happily.

Compromising is a Pain

Spike was running around in circles, Pinkie Pie was hot on his heels, yelling as he did so.

“I am doomed!” Spike said with a sad groan.

“Spike, you have to calm down! We can think of something.” Twilight coaxed.

Spike stopped in his tracks which made Pinkie crash into him. The two rolled into a ball and made their way to Twilight. As the ball came to a standstill, Pinkie broke apart from Spike and gave Spike a worried look. Even though Pinkie got up quickly from there little joy ride Spike’s spine wouldn’t straighten out, which left him stuck in the shape of half a ball.

“Sorry.” Pinkie mumbled with genuine sympathy.

“Hey Twilight, mind helping me out?” Spike asked in strained voice.

Twilight levitated Spike in the air and began stretching him out like taffy. With every occasional tug, Spike’s spine would give out a pop. Pinkie mimicked Spike’s body and ended up with her body looking like a big spring.

“Um, sugarcube, what in the hay are you doing to Spike?” Applejack asked, eyeing Spike with a look of mingled surprise and horror.

“He messed up his back and I am trying to straighten him out.” Twilight defended herself. As she said this, Spike’s spine gave another loud crack and pop. Applejack looked at Twilight in disbelief.

“It’s the honest truth!” Twilight said, her voice getting a little pitchy now.

“Riight, but you should give Spike a break from your “help”. He don’t look so good.” Applejack said.

Twilight looked at Spike and noticed she really did stretch him out. He easily looked as tall as Big Mac now and looked thin.
She stopped levitating Spike once she saw the damage she inflicted on him. Unfortunately, Spike hit the ground with a dull thud and let out a soft groan of pain.

“I’m sorry Spike!” Twilight said in a hysterical tone. She was terrified that she really broke his back or something.

“I wanted to get taller. This isn’t exactly how I pictured it would happen though.” Spike mumbled darkly.

“Don’t worry I can fix it!” Twilight declared, sounding a little unsure of how she could help.

“Sugercube, you should really-“ Applejack started to plead but was cut short when Twilight squashed Spike’s lanky form to the ground, Pinkie imitated this.

“OW!” Spike yelled, but was muffled with all the pain shooting through his back.

“I’m so sorry!” Twilight wailed out.

Applejack took matters into her own hand and tied a lasso around Spike’s lower neck. She tugged hard to ensure she had
tied him up good and lassoed another rope around Spike’s ankles.

“Pinkie, I need you here now!” Applejack commanded.

Pinkie promptly bounced to her like a spring and took her end of the rope.

“Alright, when I say three, you pull as hard as you can. You got that Pinkie?” Applejack said quickly.

“Okie dokie Lokie” Pinkie simply replied, but wore an oddly serious look on her face.

“1..” Applejack said, gritting her teeth on her end of the rope. She clenched so hard in her mouth the fibers of the rope
actually started to rip slightly.

“2…” Applejack said with a little more force. Pinkie made her end of the rope into a butterfly.

“3!” Applejack yelled out, immediately tugging hard on her end of the rope. Pinkie copied Applejack and soon engaged in a tug of war match and Spike was in the middle of it all.

“OW!” Spike yelped. His figure immediately stretched out, looking as tall as Discord by now.

“Okay, stop!” Applejack muttered in a defeated tone.

Spike didn’t return into his original size. In fact, they stretched him out even worse than Twilight did.

“Sorry bout that Spike. Just tryin to help, that’s all.” Applejack tried to reassure Spike, obviously upset that her good intentions ended in bad results.

“I’m fine…Okay, no, I lie.” Spike mumbled with a groan.

“Spike, just let me-“ Twilight said, her horn flaring up again.

“Twilight, you messed me up already.” Spike replied.

It seemed like Twilight didn’t care and shot a beam at Spike, which surrounded him. Once the purple mist stopped covering Spike’s body, the girls were surprised to see Spike back to his usual height.

“Why couldn’t you do that from the start?” Spike snapped impatiently.

“I was nervous.” Twilight replied, pawing the ground nervously.

“Okay, now that’s out of the way can we get back to how in the world am I going to make to Canterlot before the show starts?” Spike asked. His nerves and anxiety were making a noticeable presence in his voice.

“I would try teleporting you there.” Twilight muttered, making Spike have a hopeful smile. “But, it’s too dangerous from this
kind of distance. Canterlot isn’t around the corner.”

Spike’s felt crestfallen but felt another twinge of hope “How about the trains? They make it pretty quick to Canterlot! And the show starts at midnight and it’s pretty early in the morning.”

“Didn’t you hear what happened to the train, Spike?” Pinkie suddenly asked.

“No, I didn’t hear what happened to it.” Spike replied anxiously.

“The engine blew out! Only way you can get there is by using those old little pump carts.” Pinkie explained.
She remembered how she and Rarity had to pump there way all the way back to Ponyville one time. Rarity naturally complained the whole way while she tried to sing some happy to tunes to lighten up the mood. Thing was, it ate up a lot of
time.

“Wait, how bout the hot air balloon?” Spike asked, desperation clawing at his insides.

“I still use it from time to time. Why?” Pinkie asked.

“The hot air balloon is my only chance to get there. Can I borrow it?” Spike pleaded.

“Sure, Spikey! I’ll do it under one condition though!” Pinkie said with a devious giggle.

“What do I have to do?” Spike asked wearily. What kind of absurd and overly complicated things could be brewing in her head?

“Well actually, two things. First, you have to take me to the show. Second, show me whats in that letter.” Pinkie offered.
Applejack and Twilight also looked excited at Pinkie second condition.

Spike weighed his options. Octavia was part of the orchestra so getting another ticket for Pinkie wouldn’t be hard. No, the issue was letting her see the letter Octavia sent to him. He wouldn’t have minded so much if Octavia didn’t leave an imprint of her lips in the invitation. That wasn’t something he wasn’t going to share so willingly. But this would mean if he said no to spare himself, there would be no mode of reasonable transportation to get him to Canterlot. Spike finally made up his mind.

“Alright, I can do that. But, you can’t tell anyone about the letter.” Spike replied.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly; stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie exclaimed, a freshly crushed cupcake on her eyelid. The other girls looked slightly disappointed that seeing Spike’s letter was not going to happen.

“Okay, where is the hot air balloon?” Spike said, clapping his hands together enthusiastically.

“Rarity took it. She felt she needed to give it a new cover to make it look more...presentable.” Pinkie said with a shrug.

“Wait, why does she even have it?” Spike asked.

“She took it to a party at Canterlot. Rarity loves grand entrances you know.” Pinkie said with a giggle.

“Mind if you pick it up Pinkie? I’ll wait here.” Spike asked. He didn’t want to go see Rarity because he might make a fool of himself.

“Nope, you’re coming with me. After all, you are the one who wants it.” Pinkie pointed out.

“Don’t remind me.” Spike replied with a groan.

“We’ll tag along to.” Twilight announced. Applejack gave an approving nod.

“The more the merrier!” Spike said with biting sarcasm.

“That’s the spirit Spike!” Pinkie exclaimed with a big smile.

Let's Get a Move On

“Come on Spike just knock on the door already!” Pinkie whined.

“Maybe, she isn’t here. We should drop by another time.” Spike stalled quickly.

“Time is not on your side right now Spike. The sooner you get the hot air balloon, the better.” Twilight said.

Spike tried to find a clever excuse to avoid knocking on Rarity’s door, but none was available. Slowly, almost hesitantly,
Spike gave the doors of Rarity’s boutique store a feeble knock. No one answered.

“See? She isn’t here.” Spike quickly said. He was already walking back to the girls when Applejack shoved him back.

“Knock harder.” Applejack instructed.

Spike returned back to the door and, yet again, gave a feeble knock. Applejack rolled her eyes and pushed Spike aside.

“If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.” Applejack muttered, giving a glare at Spike.
Applejack knocked the door with authority. An audible gasp came from within the Boutique and soon, Rarity’s head popped from in between the two doors.

“Hello girls, how are you all on this fine day?” Rarity asked with a smile.

“Just dandy, Rarity we need Pinkie’s hot air balloon.” Applejack asked quickly, knowing time can’t be wasted.

“The hot air balloon, you’re in luck. I just finished giving it the proper finishing touches-“ Rarity started to say when Applejack cut her off.

“That’s great Rarity, but we need it now.” Applejack said, stressing the word now as much as possible.

Rarity pursed her lips, “Now? I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“You’re kidding.” Applejack said in disbelief.

“I kid you not. The hot air balloon is my only means of travel now if I plan to go with Fancy Pants to Note Theater in Canterlot today.” Rarity informed.

Spike grit his teeth slightly. The words Fancy and Pants were like taboo to him. Any mention of these two words would make
him angry and slightly moody.

“So, Fancy is taking you to Note Theater then?” Spike asked with a strained smile.

“Yes, he is. I must say, he really is a true gentlecolt-“ Rarity started to babble. Everypony soon started to daydream while Rarity went in depth about how great Fancy Pants was.

“And then we had a romantic dinner near a waterfall! He really is a charmer.” Rarity said with silly smile.

“Huh, oh, that he is.” Twilight barely muttered, finally snapping back from her trance.

Applejack shook her head a little bit before speaking “What Twilight said.”

Pinkie didn’t hide her boredom, drool dripping down from her mouth. Rarity took notice to this.

“Pinkie, were you even paying attention?” Rarity asked, slightly scandalized that Pinkie did not care much for hearing about Fancy.

“I lost you at gentlecolt.” Pinkie replied with a shrug. She sucked back her drool and looked slightly embarrassed.

“Anyway, couldn’t Fancy come here and pick you up?” Spike asked.

“Fancy probably could, but we might be risking the chance of running late.” Rarity replied thoughtfully. She didn’t want to admit that entering in a hot air balloon always made her look grander in front of Fancy and his friends.

“What are you going to do with the balloon anyway?” Rarity asked, interested in the sudden desire for the balloon.

“Spike has to go the Note Theater as well.” Twilight replied.

“Why don’t we go together then?” Rarity suggested.

Spike would have jumped at this offer in a heartbeat last week. But now, the desire wasn’t in him anymore. After meeting Octavia, Rarity seemed less wonderful to him. Yes, she was still pretty but he didn’t grow obsessive over it anymore. If anything, Octavia was his new found obsession. And honestly, at least with Octavia, he had a chance with her. Unlike with Rarity when the chances of them getting together was slim to none.

“Alright, I guess I really can’t say no.” Spike said with a forced smile.

“Good. Now if you don’t mind, I need to get dressed for the occasion.” Rarity announced before disappearing behind the doors.

“How long do you think she will take you get dressed?” Spike asked anxiously.

“Knowing Rarity, she will spend a few hours gettin ready. Half of which, will be wasted looking for just the right dress mind you.” Applejack said with a sigh.

“Just perfect, I’m going to be fashionably late.” Spike said with a groan.

“Darling, it’s better to be fashionably late to the theater, then to be on time wearing nothing but rags!” Rarity called out form
within her store.

“Twilight, can you tell Rarity to hurry up? Unlike her, I actually want to be on time.” Spike pleaded.

“Sure can do Spike! I’ll help you out sugercube.” Applejack answered with an encouraging smile.

And with that, Applejack and Twilight left Pinkie and Spike alone as they entered Rarity’s boutique store.

“Okay, their gone, show me the letter.” Pinkie demanded, placing her hoof in front of Spike’s face.

“But, but.” Spike began to babble before Pinkie cut him off.

“Would you like me to demand the letter when we are on the balloon with Rarity around?” Pinkie asked with a devious smile.

“You wouldn’t.” Spike said in a terrified hushed whisper.

“Oh, but I would!” Pinkie replied.

“Fine, take it. But when you’re done give it back quick!” Spike said, offering the letter to Pinkie at last.

Pinkie opened the invitation as soon as Spike handed her the letter. It was funny to watch her facial features react to what was in the letter. At first, she looked disappointed by probably how bland the invitation looked. However, this soon changed because Pinkie’s face made an o-shape with her lips and blushed slightly. She handed Spike his invitation back quickly.

“No comments?” Spike asked, slightly surprised that the part pony was quiet.

“Oh, I do, but I’ll save them for later,” Pinkie replied simply. “You’re little Romeo,” Pinkie went on to tease.

Spike blushed a bit, but said nothing more.

“You won’t say anything, will you?” Spike asked, almost with a tone of pleading.

“Nah, I Pinkie swore. That means I have to stay quiet,” Pinkie simply replied.“Never knew you can pick up ladies picking by playing the piano,” Pinkie teased.

“Hush you.” Spike replied quickly.

Suddenly, Applejack pushed the doors to the boutique open and had a piece of rope in her mouth. Slowly, Applejack managed to drag Rarity outside. This didn’t mean that Rarity wasn’t still making an effort to escape and voicing her discontent. Rarity was wearing a rather feathery purple gown, looking like a peacock spray painted purple.

“Let me go Applejack! Can’t you see your ruining this dress? I said, let me go!” Rarity complained.

“It’s just a dress.” Applejack snapped back through grit teeth.

“JUST A DRESS, THIS IS NOT JUST A DRESS!” Rarity yelled, in shock that Applejack would suggest such a thing.

“THIS DRESS TOOK ME AGES TO MAKE AND I WON’T LET YOU-“ Rarity started to whine until Twilight magically zipped her
mouth shut.

“I would have said that was fairly rude. But, this is an exception.” Applejack muttered darkly, Hog tying Rarity as she said this.

“At least she won’t complain through the whole trip.” Spike said with a strained smile.

“I doubt it. Either she will magically undo my spell or it will wear off.” Twilight replied.

“Come on Spike, the balloon’s all set to go!” Pinkie yelled out.

Spike turned to found were Pinkie was and noticed she was already in the hot air balloon, floating freely around the boutique store. Twilight was about to ask Pinkie something but Spike just shook his head. Never question how Pinkie does something.
There just was never a good explanation.

“What are you guys doing?” A voiced asked.

No one could find the source of the voice, until Twilight’s horn sparked violently and an outline of a pony was visible in the
clouds.

“Aw, that wasn’t fair!” Rainbow Dash called out, poking her head over her cloud.

“What are you doing up there Rainbow? You’ve been eavesdropping this whole time?” Applejack demanded.

“What? I’m not here! It’s just a cloud.” Rainbow said, hiding back in her fluffy cloud.

“We can still see you.” Twilight said.

“Alright, fine, I have been eavesdropping this whole time.” Rainbow finally admitted.

“Pinkie, you’re right. Privacy doesn’t exist anymore.” Spike joked.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Pinkie said.

“So, are you going to make me take you with us?” Spike asked.

“Well, I did hear the Wonderbolts will perform after the orchestra plays…” Rainbow said thoughtfully.

“I take it as a yes?” Spike asked.

“Yep!” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Fine, but you have to pull the air balloon there. At least then, we will make it there quicker.” Spike offered.

“I can’t pull that heavy thing all the way to Canterlot, maybe half way through but no more than that.” Rainbow Dash said, eyeing the hot air balloon.

“Well, every little bit counts. You got a deal.” Spike said, holding out his hand to shake.
Rainbow Dash glided down to Spike and shook his claw. Pinkie had the hot air balloon land neatly next to them.

“You know, Dashy if you get a little tired I got something here that will make this balloon zip through the skies quick as a hiccup!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I would like to see that! I bet I am faster than those things though!” Rainbow said with a confident grin.

“If you say so, come on guys we need to go!” Pinkie said.

Spike got into the hot air balloons basket, it was bigger than he expected. Rainbow Dash had a harness strapped to her and was prepping for flight. All was left was the hog tied Rarity.

“I got it!” Applejack said, rolling Rarity into the hot air balloons basket.
Rarity’s face looked angry, but her rage was mute.

“Good luck Spike and hope yall make it on time.” Applejack said, waving her Stetson hat as the hot air balloon began to rise.

“Thanks, and see you guys soon!” Spike called out.
Soon, Applejack and Twilight began to look like to small blurs of color as the balloon floated its way high into the sky.

“Hold on!” Rainbow Dash called out before flying as fast as she could.
Spike fell flat on his back at the sudden speed. Pinkie was standing perfectly up and had a captains hat on.

“Keep your hands, feet, or claws inside the basket at all times! If you fall over well…the lack of parachutes is self-explanatory. But, yelling and flailing your arms is highly suggested! That way, someone who does have a parachute might help you!” Pinkie advised.

“Other than that, have a nice flight!” Pinkie finished with a happy smile. She pulled out a bubble blower and let the rushing winds form her bubbles for her.

Backfire

“Are we there yet?” Pinkie asked in a dull tone.

“No.” Spike replied.

“Are we there now?” Pinkie asked.

“No.” Spike repeated.

Pinkie waited a few moments before asking again. “Are you sure we aren’t there?” Pinkie asked.

“Pinkie, we just started flying.” Spike said with a heaving sigh. His patience was wearing thin.

“This is taking too long. I bet my “secret” equipment can make this balloon get to that theater within minutes!” Pinkie whined.

“What is this “secret” equipment anyway?” Spike asked a hint of curiosity in his voice.

“Well,” Pinkie took a box from out of nowhere “I rather show you.”

Pinkie popped open the lid of the box and Spike noticed what looked like fireworks inside. They were of many varying sizes in colors, though mainly pink.

“These are fireworks?” Spike asked, obviously bemused Pinkie would use such a thing.

“What, no. That would be dangerous!” Pinkie replied.

Oh good, she actually has a sense of safety.

“Okay then, what are these then?” Spike asked, picking up one of the projectiles and examining it.

“There rockets silly!” Pinkie answered with a giggle.

Spike was about to ask why on earth she had rockets and where she gets them, but he knew his questions would be in vain. The exploits of Pinkie were for her knowledge and hers alone. Pinkie gave out a load yawn and her eye’s started to droop lazily. Go figure, Pinkie actually sleeps. That or she must have been bored out of her mind.

Spike went to the edge of the basket and looked down to look at nothing in particular. Everything looked so small and tiny. Clouds were floating lazily about and everything seemed so much calmer up here. Spike’s mind began to wander from the scene in front of him to other things, Octavia to be exact. She was a topic that constantly drifted into his mind whenever he had time to think. Not to mention, he had his fair share of dreams about her as well. Yet, his dreams no longer had him being a super macho grown up dragon to impress mares. No, it mostly was just him playing his piano while Octavia lay on top of it. Her light purple eyes just started at him admiringly as he played his piano and once he was done, she would give him a kiss on the cheek. Oddly enough, his cheek felt a warm burning sensation whenever she kissed him on the cheek. It was almost like she was actually kissing him on the cheek for real. But then he would wake up, disappointed to see the lack of a gray mare near him.

That wasn’t the only thing Spike felt disappointed about when waking up from his fantasies. He always expected…more.
Lately, Octavia has been kissing him nearer to the lips lately. He wanted nothing more than for her to finally kiss him right on the-.

“Spike mind untying me?” Rarity asked, breaking Spike of his thoughts.

“Wait, what?” Spike asked in confusion.

“Can’ you see I am tied up?” Rarity asked impatiently, showing her hog tied hoofs to him.

Spike looked at her hoofs for a moment. “I see nothing wrong.” Spike replied with a drawl.

“What? Are you blind or something? This not the time for jokes Spike!” Rarity snapped angrily.

Spike looked down at Rarity in pity. He couldn’t believe he actually was obsessed with her for a while. Here she was, flailing about and yelling at him to undo the ties. All her beauty was gone and was replaced with a look capable of knocking a poor pony out. Her mane was in tangles and her dress was wrinkling as she continued to struggle. Spike figured he might as well help her out; he wasn’t into her yelling at him that much. Blowing fire on one tip of the rope, the ties and knots curled and became ash before long. Rarity stood to her full height and began to dust herself off.

“You could have done it more neatly. My dress is covered in ash now!” Rarity scrutinized.

Spike had a moments urge to tell her that he wished he didn’t burn the rope off her. But, he knew getting in an argument in a confined space was never a good idea. It would have to wait. Rarity was busy dusting herself off while Spike returned to staring into the clouds. Spike wondered vaguely how it felt to sleep on a cloud. They looked to plush and fluffy. Clouds might offer the best night of sleep in ever, which sounded appealing to Spike. He really needed to ask Rainbow Dash that, after all she napped on clouds on a daily basis.

The hot air balloon started to move noticeably slower and Spike guessed that Rainbow Dash was going to take a break. He was right. Rainbow Dash was flying back to the basket a little slower than her usual speed. When she finally got in the basket though, she started to whine.

“Gosh, do you guys weigh a few tons or something? Moving this thing is hard!” Rainbow Dash complained.

Pinkie bolted upright quickly. “You’re done flying?” Pinkie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep, I am not going to drag this giant balloon one bit anymore.” Rainbow Dash replied with finality in her tone.

“It’s okay, I came prepared!” Pinkie said with her usual giggle.

Soon, Pinkie strapped her rockets to the back of the basket and fooled around with the fuse. Before Spike could wonder how she would light it, Pinkie dragged him toward the fuse and pulled on his tail as hard as she could. Spike let out a yelp of pain, which was accompanied by a burst of fire. The green flames licked at the fuse playfully, which started to smoke and spark. Soon, the fuse started to wither all the way to the rockets. Spike started at the rockets, transfixed by what might happen next. Nothing happened.

“I guess there duds. Guess we will be here for-“ Pinkie started to say before the rockets roared to life.

The thrust coming from the rockets made the balloon move at break neck speeds. Pinkie’s face was stretched back, sticking her tongue out like a dog, due to all the wind and just pure speed rushing past her face. Rarity let out a yelp and stayed low to the basket’s ground as possible. Rainbow Dash at first tried to beat the balloons new found speed, but quickly gave up.

“I could have beaten it, if I hadn’t pulled this thing beforehand.” Rainbow Dash bitterly mumbled to herself.

At the rate this balloon moved, Spike felt he would make it more then on time to the theater. Octavia wouldn’t be disappointed with him and maybe, just maybe, she would reward him with coming early and…

“Um, Spike?” Pinkie mumbled, poking Spike on the shoulders.

“What is it Pinkie?” Spike asked, turning around and noticed how frantic and nervous she looked.

“Well, how should I put this…?” Pinkie muttered softly.

“Come on, just tell me.” Spike asked nervously. The fear in her face was contagious.

“WE ARE CRASH LANDING!” Rainbow Dash yelled out.

“WHAT?” Spiked blurted out.

“The rockets are burning the cords keeping the basket attached to the balloon!” Rainbow Dash explained to a shocked Spike quickly.

“Whoops.” Pinkie said bashfully.

Snap

“Um, what was that?” Spike asked nervously.

“The cords finally gave up.” Rainbow Dash replied darkly, holding onto a scorched cord.

The basket plummeted straight to the ground at break neck speeds. Rainbow Dash tried to fly underneath the basket and tried to push up on it to slow the fall. But, the basket was just too heavy and moving too fast to be stopped.

“Pinkie, didn’t you say something about a parachute?” Spike asked quickly, nerves plaguing his voice.

“Oh, about that…” Pinkie replied, hold out a backpack. She opened it to show to Spike and he saw there were only cupcakes inside.

“Cupcakes?!” Spike yelled hysterically.

“Sorry.” Pinkie replied sadly.

“What do we do?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously.

The basket was still too high to drop off from without risking breaking a few bones. Spike gulped and stared helplessly at his friends. Maybe it was better to have just walked all the way to Canterlot. At least then, Spike would know he would make it in one piece rather than fifty. The last thought going through his mind was Octavia. What would she do once she heard word about his crash landing? Would she be upset about his accident or angry that he failed to show? Spike took out his invitation and stared at where Octavia’s her kiss stain. It made him feel slightly warm and happy inside, even when the chance of death wasn’t all that far. With this letter clenched to his chest, Spike could almost feel Octavia’s warm kiss on his cheek.

Improvise

Rarity had been looking down at the ever closer ground in horror and concentration. Her horn flared up and she knew that if she failed, they wouldn’t walk away from this easily. With all her concentration focused at the ground, Rarity hoped she wouldn’t fail. While Rarity was in the middle of a lifesaving gamble, Spike, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash all clung on to each other for support. For Rarity, this would make the spell that much easier if they were so tight together. With a loud spark, the occupants vanished from the balloon basket and reappeared on the soft ground. Spike, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash started yelling and still yelled when Rarity teleported them to the ground. Rainbow Dash was the first to notice that they were on flat land because she stopped yelling and started to stand up. Spike followed suit and only Pinkie was left yelling now.

“Um, Pinkie, we are safe now.” Rainbow Dash said with a bemused grin.

“I know it’s just fun to yell that’s all!” Pinkie replied with her usual smile.

“So, who saved us?” Rainbow asked, searching around for her savior.

“I was the one who saved us of course!” Rarity announced with a flourish of her mane.

“No, really, who saved us?” Rainbow asked, looking at Rarity in slight disbelief.

“What part of me saving you don’t you understand?” Rarity asked in a slightly hurt voice.

“Oh, no, it’s not that! It’s just that…” Rainbow said, trying to find the right word without hurting Rarity’s feelings.

“That was something Twilight would do!” Pinkie bluntly said.

“True, Twilight is much better at spells then I am. But you never expected me to save us?” Rarity asked, her lower lip quivering slightly.

Spike would have been the first one to say “Pretty much.” Just to see how badly Rarity would react. But she was a friend and he wasn’t crazy about making pony’s cry anyway. However, this didn’t stop Pinkie from answering.

“If you’re saving us from a grass stain from our dresses then sure!” Pinkie replied.

Rarity’s face wilted and tears started to leak from her eyes. Spike was expecting Rarity’s eyes to have tears drip from them like a fountain, but surprisingly she controlled herself and remained calm. However, her eyes were slightly red and Spike assumed she just stopped herself short of falling apart.

“Anyway,” Rainbow Dash started to say as she looked around and trying to change the topic “where is the hot air-.”

The remnants of the balloon dropped right on top of Rainbow Dash. She was still standing upright and seemed fine, judging from the balloon draping over her form.

“There it is!” Pinkie exclaimed, pointing at the mess.

“Somepony should go help Rainbow get the balloon off her. By somepony I don’t mean me. I might ruin my dress.” Rarity said, gesturing to her pristine dress.

Spike grumbled and made his way to the balloon. He picked up an edge of the balloon and gestured Rainbow to come to
him. It took a few moments, but Rainbow finally made her way from underneath the balloon’s deflated form.

“So what do we do now?” Rainbow asked once she finally was able to regain her posture.

“Walk, I guess.” Pinkie suggested, pointing at the long road ahead of them.

“But, but, my dress will get covered in dirt and dust!” Rarity complained.

“Spike, what should we do?” Rainbow averted her attention to the small purple dragon.

This was one of the first times ANYPONY came to ask him for anything that wasn’t related to friendship letters to Celestia. The shock of being asked was also starting to show because Rainbow started to wave her hoof frantically over Spike’s face.

“WELL?” Rainbow demanded, giving Spike a rough shake to bring him to his senses.

Spike walked around and noticed the landscape they were on had an edge to it. Walking over to it, Spike was surprised to see Canterlot at the bottom of the cliff. Rainbow Dash was right behind him and she too noticed how close Canterlot was.

“Okay, that solves half our problems.” Rainbow said with a grin.

“Yeah, problem is that we can’t fly down there like you.” Spike replied.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked.

“Dunno about you, but last time I checked, I didn’t randomly grow wings and neither did Rarity and Pinkie.” Spike replied with his usual sarcastic tone.

Suddenly, Pinkie was seen running and jumping down the slope. However, once falling, Pinkie became blocked by the sight of…the hot air balloons fabric. Rarity came up to Rainbow Dash and Spike holding two backpacks.

“Pinkie asked me if I could help her make a parachute.” Rarity explained while handing one of the back packs to Spike.

Course, it would make perfect sense to ask Rarity to create a makeshift parachute from spare parts. After all, her fashionista skills would work wonders of the abundance of balloon fabric available. You had to give credit when it’s due. When Rarity was forced to become of some help, she really went beyond what you would expect from her. Rarity fussed over her dress before following Pinkie down the cliff. Rainbow Dash quickly followed, probably wanting to be the first to reach Canterlot.
Before Spike even got the backpack on, he started to hear a familiar whisper. At first, Spike ignored it and thought it was just the breeze carrying sounds. But, he was lying to himself; Spike knew all too well who must have been trying to talk to him.

It’s been awhile Spike.

Spike perked his head up. No one was around and the breeze died off. Yep, it was starting all over again.

“Since you don’t sound so demanding, I take it you’re Celestia?” Spike asked out loud.

That is me. I see you’re in quite the pinch.

“The fact that I might be running late to the Note Theater is definitely qualifying as a “pinch”.” Spike replied with a heavy sigh. He didn’t want to upset Octavia if he could help it and Celestia seemed to notice how troubled he was.

You know Spike I’m more then up to helping you out here.

“Do you really mean it?” Spike asked, barely holding back his excitement.

Of course I will. However, I am limited to only delaying the orchestra from playing on time.

“I can take that. But why can’t you just teleport me to the theater?” Spike asked.

Sadly, I am not totally aware of your exact location. And the risk in teleporting you somewhere besides the Note Theater are just too high. I’m not willing to put your safety in jeopardy over slim chances.

“Thanks for the offer Celestia and you got a deal. Now, if you don’t mind, I am running as late as it is.” Spike said before turning his attention to the steep drop.

Why did it have to be so high? By now, the purple fabric of the parachutes has grown too small to be noticeable. The wind started to pick up again and Spike knew this was no or never. Jumping from the cliff, Spike had a moments regret. All too soon, Spike cut through the air like a rocket. Spike started to fumble around the back pack for the cord to have the parachute come out and slowly realized there was a lack of a cord.

“You got to be kidding me!” Spike yelled angrily at the bag.

Spike tried to undo a strap of the backpack to force the parachute out. His sweaty palm kept fumbling with the buckle. It was like trying to get a firm grip on wet soap. It was hopeless. The ground was growing ever closer and Spike knew by now, even if the parachute would deploy right now, it was just too late to make a safe landing. Two life threatening situations in one day, Spike wasn’t surprised he just didn’t send a letter to Octavia explaining why he couldn’t be on time and… Oh who was he kidding? Disappointing Octavia wasn’t something Spike wanted to go, if anything he wanted to look trustworthy reliable.
A rainbow blur shot up towards Spike and he felt something hook it around his arms. Spike looked up and noticed his savior was none other than Rainbow Dash. She wore a satisfied look of triumph on her face once she had a firm grip on him.

“Don’t you just have the best of timing?” Spike joked.

“You know it.” Dash replied.

She dropped Spike along the gates of Canterlot, where Pinkie Pie and Rarity waited in worry. Pinkie was the first to grab Spike in a tight hug.

“Why are you so late?” Pinkie demanded.

“Let’s see, that parachute you gave me failed and I started falling to the ground at high speeds with no way to stop.” Spike replied, looking directly at Rarity over Pinkie’s shoulder.

“I don’t understand, I made three of them…” Rarity mumbled to herself out loud.

“Wait, Spike, did the parachute you have lack a cord?” Pinkie asked suddenly.

“That’s why I couldn’t pop the parachute out! You think I like falling?” Spike fumed angrily.

“Um, I think I switched the bags on you Rarity.” Pinkie mumbled, rubbing her hoofs together nervously.

“What do you mean dearie?” Rarity asked, obviously confused by what Pinkie meant.

“I had a backpack that was filled with cupcakes and I might have given you that bag instead of the one which had the parachute.” Pinkie confessed anxiously.

Spike felt his jaw go slack for a few moments and Dash’s face had a mixture of shock and anger. Rarity, on the other hand, looked rather bemused at what Pinkie had done. For a moment, Spike wanted nothing more than to hiss, to scare Rarity, or spit flames at the hem of Rarity’s dress to get rid of the silly look on her face. Before Spike could decide on a punishment though, Rainbow Dash started walking to the gates of Canterlot.

“Um, do any of you know where Note Theater is in this place?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around for any signs of the theater.

Everypony looked around at each other expecting answers. Spike couldn’t believe his luck. Not only did he just barely evade death twice, he was STILL going to be late just for not knowing where the theater was! Pinkie though, was looking at a map she pulled out from nowhere and started tracing a patch with her hoof. Before long, Pinkie gave a swift nod to the others and started to walk through the gates of Canterlot. Rainbow Dash looked at Spike for his input and his only reply was just with a shrug of his shoulders and began to follow Pinkie. By the time Rarity had stop dusting of her dress her friends had already walked a whole three blocks ahead of her.

“Wait for me!” Rarity called out frantically, galloping after her friends with surprising speed.

To Delay And To Troll

Once Celestia was finished communicating with Spike, she set out to leave the castle quickly. However, as soon as she made it to the front gates, her Royal Guards surrounded her. Now, it wasn’t that she minded the protection from them. It was just that, she thought she was more than capable of just walking to a theater alone. Luna also teleported by her sisters side, a look of interest on her face, Celestia tried to stifle a sigh when she noticed the sudden commotion around her. There goes being discreet.

“Tia, where do you plan on going? Is there a meeting today?” Luna asked.

“No, I’m out for personal business.” Celestia took note of the guards close by and whispered “It’s Spike related.”

Luna’s eyes widened slightly at this piece of info, but said nothing more. The guards didn’t seem to notice what Celestia just whispered, for they remained still and stern looking as ever.

“Princess, do you wish us to fetch the carriage?” One of the guards asked, almost hesitantly.

“No, I’ll walk.” Celestia started to trot to the streets of Canterlot, but noticed her guards shifting uncomfortably behind her.

“Um, Princess, walking the streets of Canterlot might not be…safe?” A guard murmured slowly. Some of his comrades nodded in agreement.

Celestia couldn’t believe that she might be too late to the theater because of the guards. The reasons why she neglected to use the chariot was because she rather only use it for long travels, not for something that might be a few blocks away, and she actually just wanted to see the city for once without looking down on it from her castle.

“Okay, walking seems out of the question.” Celestia muttered, and then turned to her guards. “Is flying going to be a problem?”

The guards exchanged nervous glances, but didn’t disagree with the proposition. At least, when she would be flying, not much of a crowd can be a threat to her. And there were a fair amount of Pegasus Royal Guards on duty so protection was not an issue.

“Excellent.” Celestia said with a satisfied smile. “Do try to catch up though.”

And with that, Celestia stretched out her magnificent wings to their full extent and she launched into the air with blazing speeds. Many of the guards were taken aback by the speed Celestia flew in. Luna, on the other hand, let out a stifled chuckle at the shocked guards. What did they think there big wings were for anyway? It wasn’t for décor that’s for sure.

“Well, you heard her. Move it or lose it!” Luna instructed the dazed guards.

The Pegasus guards took her cue and raced after the princess. Luna let out a chuckle before spreading out her own wings. And with one great flap of her wings, Luna took off. The rest of the Royal Guards shrugged and returned to their stations at the castle. Now that the princesses were in the hands of the Pegasus guards, it was time to take a short nap. No pony would catch them anyway. It didn’t take too long for Luna to catch up with her sister. The guards were barely keeping up with them.

“Do you enjoy having our guards chase after you?” Luna teased.

“Oh hush you. I must say, by the sounds of there panting, they seem worn out.” Celestia noted of the guards lack of their ability to keep up with her.

“It’s not like it’s every day that you choose to fly to a location by your own means.” Luna said. “Speaking of Spike, what are we doing for him and where are we going for him anyway? It must have been urgent to cause you to be in such a hurry” Luna asked.

“Oh, well, Spike asked me if I can delay the show at Note Theater for him. He might be late.” Celestia explained.

“Note Theater you say? I have two tickets there for today.” Luna exclaimed and making two tickets appear at her hoofs.

“Who gave them to you?” Celestia asked. She never took her sister for the music listening type. She would always fall asleep in the middle of a classical song, probably from boredom.

“A friend of mine plays in the orchestra.” Luna explained, with a slight blush on her face. “He wondered if the both of us can make it.”

“That explains why you are up so early in the day.” Celestia glanced up at the sun. Luna was usually awake at night time and it was very rare to see her in the morning.

Luna let out a sigh of relief. Good thing Celestia didn’t notice her cheeks blushing. All sorts of embarrassing questions could be coming her way if she noticed. But, Celestia did notice this. She just chose not to harass her sister about it…yet.
The sound of music could be faintly heard not far from where the princesses had been flying. The building the sounds were coming from was very elegant. As the princesses descended near the front door of the theater, a large stallion was standing near the entrance. Celestia figured his purpose was to make sure that no pony sneaked into the theater without a ticket. Once the Royal Guards landed behind the princesses, the stallion at the front door looked rather bemused.

“Princess, do you have tickets for half the Royal Guard soldiers?” The stallion joked.

“No, just me and my sister will be entering.” Luna interjected.

“Is that so? Well, I hope you enjoy the show.” The stallion let the princesses inside the theater but refused to allow the Guards in. “I’m sorry guys no ticket no entry.”

The guards glared angrily at the stallion but said nothing. Instead, they patrolled the grounds of the theater. The stallion entered the theater and pointed out where the princesses would be seated, right at the middle of the rows. With a little bow and wave, the stallion returned to his post outside. Celestia looked at the stage and noticed the musicians practicing. A gray mare with light purple eyes, which looked familiar, waved at the Celestia energetically. Celestia returned the gesture and couldn't help but smile. This is why Spike was so paranoid about being late.

“What do you suggest we do?” Luna asked.

“I have an idea just follow my lead.” Celestia’s horn started to glow and emit sparks and Luna followed suit.

One of the piano players suddenly had their hoofs glued to the keys on the piano. Luna saw this and focused her magic on a trumpet player. His trumpet would blow out bubbles whenever he tried to play a note. A mare, which was playing the harp, couldn't play because all her strings turned into gum. It wasn’t long before the majority of the orchestra musicians were suffering from the princess’s pranks. Celestia’s horn stopped producing magic and Luna took this as her cue to stop her antics.

“I think that should work for now.” Celestia muttered thoughtfully.

“Wouldn’t it just be easier to ask for them to play later?” Luna asked.

“Think of all the questions that would be asked. It’s better to remain discreet about this.” Celestia replied. Luna nodded in agreement and said nothing more.
__

“Pinkie, I have to say, nice job.” Spike complimented, looking at the front gates of Note Theater.

“It only took…an hour or two to get here.” Dash added bitterly.

“Please, it’s such a rare opportunity to go shopping in Canterlot!” Rarity whined, indicating to her new purple diamond necklace.

“You spent half of that time window shopping! The other half was deciding whether not that necklace would match with your dress!” Rainbow fumed angrily.

“You can’t make hasty decisions about such things!” Rarity snapped back.
Spike had handed his ticket to the stallion that had been standing at the front doors of the theater.

“Octavia said something about a dragon coming to watch the show.” The stallion acknowledged. “Interesting, you will be sitting right next to the princesses.”

“Wait what!” Spike replied, baffled that Celestia and Luna were at the show.

“I had so many ponies trying to sneak into this place to greet the princesses. It’s rare to see them out in public but still.” The stallion said in an angry tone.

“Right, thanks anyway.” Spike started to walk into the theater. “Aren’t you guys going to-“

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Rarity were gone.

“Never mind then.” Spike muttered darkly.

It was a very fancy theater now doubt, the ceiling was reaching up to the heavens and there were paintings of fabulous gardens up above. The chairs that were in the theater were covered in red velvet with a gold frame. The stage looked rather empty and Spike wondered if he had made it on time, there were a fair amount of ponies within the theater already. The princesses could be seen and Spike made a beeline to them.

“Missed me?” Spike asked with a sheepish smile.

“Well, what are the odds of this? Nice to see you Spike.” Luna gave Spike a quick hug and nudged her sister.

Celestia looked at Luna and noticed Spike sitting right next to her. “Oh, glad you made it Spike. I was starting to wonder what it would take to delay this show anymore.”

“So I am late?” Spike mumbled in a defeated tone.

“Yes and no, the band has yet to play but the designated time has longed passed.” Luna explained.

“What have you guys been doing to them?” Spike asked.

Luna looked at Celestia with a look of uncertainty. Celestia gave a slight shake of her head.

“Maybe another time Spike.” Luna replied. Celestia gave an approving nod as she said this.

Finally, the musicians took their spots on stage. Spike let out a sigh of relief, he was on time surely. A pink frizzy mane was seen amongst the trumpet plays. It was Pinkie! How on earth did she…oh never mind. But, this explains why she even wanted to come here and why she disappeared on him earlier. Octavia came into Spike’s eye view and he felt his heart flutter a bit at the sight of her. She noticed him and gave him a wink, which made Spike’s already beating heart nearly melt. Celestia looked down at the love struck dragon and let out a stifled giggle.
__

“I can’t believe him!” Rarity wailed at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Tears of sadness and grief poured from her eyes.

The sight of Fancy Pants nuzzling with that…thing was just too much for her. How long had he had been seeing her? Rarity felt used and betrayed by Fancy Pants act. For weeks now, Fancy had been taking her out to fancy restaurants and on more than one occasion did they share a tender moment together. Yet, he has been seeing her! True her beauty was to be unmatched, but still Rarity felt like unsure of herself anymore. Fleur de lis was pretty, okay that was an understatement. Still, what did she lack that Fleur had?

When she forced Spike to take her to Canterlot, she wasn’t expecting this. Now, she felt bad for holding the balloon hostage from him. He had only wanted to see the show after all. Maybe she can make it up to him…
__

Rainbow Dash was beside herself with joy. Pinkie had just given a ticket to her too the show, as to how Rainbow didn’t care to know. After all, she was sitting right next to the member of the Wonder Bolts! Did Pinkie know that the Wonderbolts would be sitting close by or was it just by luck this happened? Who cared! All that mattered was that she got to sit next to she idles. This time around, unlike the Gala, the Wonderbolt members were talking to Dash about tricks and the performance later on. There was a moment were Spit Fire, the captain of the Wonderbolts, complimented Rainbow on her ability on performing the Sonic Rainboom.

The proud and bashful look on Rainbow Dash’s face was the only response she could muster in response.

What I Do For Love

Spike felt extremely bored and the orchestra was probably only half way through with their routine. The only thing that sustained his patience was Octavia. She would give an occasional wink at him while she played her cello. Every time she did this, Spike's heart would beat violently and it felt like it would jump out his chest to run to Octavia. Luna was the same problem to, bored out of her mind but her eyes were fixated on a stallion for the longest time. Celestia couldn’t help but giggle at the love-struck pony and dragon. Spike excused himself for a while and walked to the back of the theater, wanting a fresh breath of air.

Admittedly, sitting through the show wasn’t as easy as Spike would have hoped. The longer he had to wait to greet Octavia, the more excited he would get about the potential meeting. She wouldn’t be disappointed with him in the slightest! And maybe, just maybe, he will finally get that-.

“Spike?” a voice called from behind the purple dragon.

Looking around, Spike was surprised to see Rarity standing behind him. Thing was, she looked absolutely miserable. Her mane had lost its lavish sheen and there was a look in her eye that looked…desperate and a little crazed? Rarity cornered Spike into a wall and he got a little scared. She looked a little unstable and Spike was terrified of what was going through her mind at this moment. Past experience with a cracking Pinkie made Spike all to cautious of what might be the product of Rarity's sudden loss of her demeanor.

“You been too nice to me far too long Spike. I hate knowing that you never thought I noticed how hard you try to please me.” Rarity whispered in his ear.

Oh great, now she notices after I got over her Spike thought bitterly.

“I think I owe you something in return.” Rarity was pressing against him at this point.

Spike would have thought he had been dreaming if this happened to him a few weeks ago. That’s the thing though weeks ago, he had a crush on her. Then he met Octavia at the Gala…that’s when everything changed for him. Rarity had her hooves placed on Spike’s sides, seemed like running was not an option anymore. Spike noticed she was leaning closer to him, getting ever closer. Barely a hair length away from Rarity’s lips did Spike finally snap out of his daze. He tried to push Rarity away, but she had a firmer grip on him then she expected.

“I kind of feel uncomfortable about this.” Spike tried to shove Rarity away again with little to no success.

“It’s okay to be shy. I was at one point to.” Rarity coaxed.

“Rarity, seriously, let me go.” Spike said with a frown.

Surprisingly, Rarity’s eyes grew teary and she slammed her hooves on his chest. Spike felt like somepony just dropped a huge boulder on his chest. Rarity took no notice to Spike’s wheezing for oxygen and continued to push onto his chest even more.

“YOU WILL KISS ME!” Rarity snapped at him.

Spike gasped for air and green flames erupted from his mouth. Rarity yelped and backed away from Spike, trying to avoid the flames. Once Spike flopped on the floor, he made a run for the Stallions bathroom. If Rarity was still her snotty self, entering the guy’s bathroom would be the last thing she would ever do.

“YOU’LL HAVE COME OUT EVENTUALLY!” Rarity yelled shrilly, banging powerfully at the door separating them.

“Unfortunately, that might probably happen.” Spike groaned to himself.

The bathroom was freakishly pristine and glossy. It looked like the inside of a well-polished diamond. There had to be a way out this place without going through Rarity. Quickly scanning the room for an escape, Spike was happy to see a vent…on the ceiling. Ugh, being short really had so many flaws. Spike climb on top of the counter where the sink were at. The jump was a bit of a stretch, considering his height. This would have been the perfect time to have been stretched out by Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Spike leaped for the vent and only was able to hook a claw tip on the opening of the vent. It was better than nothing and Spike set to work undoing to screws.

After unscrewing to bolts, Spike felt the vent cover shutter and give away. Barely hanging on, by the tips of his claws, Spike climbed up into the vents. Even the ventilation system was spotless! Spike crawled his way around some vent tunnels. The sound of instruments being played wasn’t that far, in fact it sounded like it was right underneath him. Spike hurried across the rather claustrophobic tunnel until he heard a terrifying creek. Looking down, Spike saw he was right on top of a vent cover.

“Don’t I have the best of luck?” Spike muttered to himself before the vent cover gave way.

With a loud crack, Spike landed right on the stage where the orchestra played. The crowd let out a gasp of horror as they watched Spike fall from about fifty feet from the air. As he fell, Spike wondered vaguely if Octavia was just as terrified as the crowd sounded. Celestia’s horn sparked violently and was pointing her horn directly at Spike’s body, which started to slow done considerably. Still, Spike’s body hit the stage with an echoing crunch.

Spike’s vision started to grow fuzzy and stars were floating around. His body ached horribly and Spike tried to sit up to no avail. Many ponies surrounded Spike and he noticed a gray mare was grabbing his claw in between her hooves. Those purple eyes…oh how they made his heart ache.

“Tada, I made it.” Spike said in a barely audible tone before passing out.

“Somepony, call the ambulance!” Octavia ordered the crowd surrounding Spike.

“You heard the mare, get to it. The quicker you alert the ambulance, the better.” Celestia said to one of her guards, who
came in the theater to check what the commotion was about.

The guard gave a bow and rushed outside to tell a Pegasus or unicorn guard to alert the ambulance, they would be able to alert them more quickly. It wasn't long until the ambulance came and magically carted off Spike. Celestia ordered one of her guards to alert Twilight and her friends what happened to Spike. They needed to know what became of him.
___________

“Is he going to be alright?” Twilight whispered, eyeing her number one assistant with freight.

“Hard to say with him falling from that high he shouldn’t even be breathing. He is very lucky to be here right now.” Dr. Blue Heart replied, looking down at Spike with grim face.

“It’s my entire fault he ended up like this!” Rarity wailed, tears pouring from her eyes.

“What did you have to do with this?” Pinkie asked Rarity, giving her a confused look.

“I sort of forced Spike into the vents.” Rarity replied sheepishly. Her friends stared at her with puzzlement. “It’s complicated!”
Rarity added quickly.

“I’ll say.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “So, I’m guessin that Spike here will have to tell us all about it.”

Spike stirred a bit in his bed. All his friends started at him anxiously, hoping he would move more or even say something. Sadly, Spike grew still again and did nothing more. Pinkie’s usual peppy smile was long gone, replaced with an unsettling quivering lower lip and teary eyes. If Pinkie was upset, the feeling of fear and sadness was just too thick to lighten up.

“I could have saved him.” Rainbow Dash mumbled, her hooves covering her face.

“I doubt any of us could have…“ Twilight tried to comfort Rainbow, but stopped short once Rainbow revealed the tears in her eyes.

“I was to busy talking to the Wonder Bolts while Spike fell. By the time I noticed him, he had already hit the…“ Rainbow couldn’t finish her sentence and returned to renewed tears and sobs.

Octavia had been stroking Spike’s green scales idly for some time now. She felt guilty that Spike got hurt. After all, she gave him the tickets to the show. His friends told her how Spike nearly did anything to make it to the show on time. And for that, Octavia realized how much she meant to him. It made her feel…happy.

“Um, Octavia, what are you doing to Spike’s scales?” Twilight asked, a little defensively.

“Oh!” Octavia immediately stopped stroking Spike’s green scales and her cheeks started to feel a little hot.

“Alright ladies, visiting hours have long passed. It’s time for you to go.” Blue Heart notified Spike’s friends.

“Can’t we stay longer?” Twilight pleaded, trying to hold back her tears.

“I am afraid not.” Heart replied with a sad sigh.

One by one, the mares filed out of the room, each of them giving Spike a tight hug before leaving. Octavia stayed a little longer than the rest though.

“Hope you get better.” Octavia was fighting back tears. She leaned down and kissed Spike on the cheek. Then, she lingered over his lips and kissed him there. “You earned it.”

As Octavia left Spike’s room, Blue Heart checked Spike’s pulse on last time for the night. It was really fast and rapid. He must have felt the kiss.

“Well aren’t you the player?” Blue Heart asked the still Spike. He then turned his back and left the room, turning off the lights as he went.

Hanging By A Thread

All of Spike’s friends came to visit him while he was in the hospital. The Cutie Mark Crusaders tried playing doctors to help Spike feel better, and see if being a doctor had something to do their here cutie mark. Applejack had to tell them off to leave Spike be, seeing that stabbing needles in Spike was going too far. Pinkie tried to lighten up the mood in the room with her usual jokes and antics. But, before long, Pinkie caved in and remained eerily quiet. Blue Heart would occasionally come in and check on Spike. Every time he came, everypony would hold their breath and expected the doctor to revive Spike. It didn’t happen. It took nearly a week for Spike to actually make some significant progress in his recovery. However, the accomplishment was just opening his mouth every so often to whisper something incoherent and closing his mouth shortly to say nothing more. Blue Heart wasn’t sure if Spike was actually aware on who was around him but he was satisfied with him speaking, even if it was impossible to tell what he said.

The only pony that was missing from Spike’s bedside was Rarity, who chose to hide in her boutique store ever since seeing Spike in the hospital the first day. Pinkie and Applejack tried to drag her out of the store, to no avail. She was to ashamed and embarrassed to see Spike that way he was, considering it was partially her fault. Twilight didn’t really pay Rarity much attention, probably angry that her friend would bring harm to her “brother”.

Whenever Octavia would grab Spike’s hand to comfort him, Twilight would stare daggers at her behind her back. It was obvious that Twilight was very defensive of her number one assistant when he was in harm’s way. Still, Twilight didn’t say anything to Octavia since there were friends. But her mean stare didn’t go unnoticed by everypony else in the room.

“Why does Octavia keep grabbing Spike’s claws?” Twilight demanded from her friends one day. She meant it as a neutral conversation starter but the defensive tone in her voice flashed dangerously.

The girls were at Twilight’s Library, sipping tea until the visiting hours were starting. Pinkie was the only one who looked
nervous to answer while the others looked confused and unsure. Twilight didn’t spot Pinkie’s expressions and choose to stare at Rainbow heatedly.

“What?” Rainbow stared at Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

Twilight switched her gaze to Applejack and the shrugged “Got no clue sugercube.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure either.” Fluttershy cracked under Twilight’s stare.

Finally Twilight looked at Pinkie, who started to sweat a little. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t lie to me Pinkie!” Twilight hissed dangerously.

The air in the room grew tense and all eyes were on Pinkie, who sipped nervously at her tea. “You guys don’t know what’s in the letter right?”

“Spike made it a point not to show it to us.” Dash stated in a bored voice. “What about it, Pinkie?”

“Ever wonder why Spike tried so hard to make it on time? Spike isn’t too crazy about being on time like Twilight.” This statement earned Pinkie an angry glare from Twilight “I didn’t mean it in a bad way! It’s just that, it not often to see Spike get so worked up on being on time for something.” Pinkie quickly tried to amend.

Twilight’s angry stared turned into a one of deep thought. “Do you think?”

Pinkie nodded.

“Oh.” Twilight replied in a dumbfounded whisper.

“Wait, didn’t Spike make you Pinkie swear?” Applejack asked, pointing her hoof at Pinkie quizzically.

“Well I didn’t directly tell you, did I? You figured it out on your own.” Pinkie replied simply. She returned to sipping her tea while everypony in the room stared at Pinkie in amazement and disbelief.
__________

“Oh Spike, I wish you were awake.” Octavia whispered into his ear, fondling the green scales on top of his head again.

“Aren’t we early?” Blue Heart entered to the room.

“OH!” Octavia immediately stopped stroking Spike’s scales at the sight of the Doctor.

“Don’t worry, I won’t say a word.” Blue Heart said with a light hearted smile.

“Will he ever wake up?” Octavia asked nervously. This question had been nagging on her mind for the longest and she needed to know.

Blue Heart had his back turned to her while he examined Spike’s chart. Once the question was asked though, he fumbled with the clipboard a bit. He turned around and saw the Octavia was almost on the verge of tears.

“He will awaken soon. Thing is, if he doesn’t start improving soon…he might not be able to live the life he once lead.” Blue Heart explained.

“What do you mean?” Octavia was barely fighting back her tears now.

“I am saying, if he doesn’t improve, it might be time to forget about him.” Blue Heart replied.
Octavia couldn’t bare it, she finally started to cry and sob. She grabbed Spike’s claw tightly and continued to cry. Blue Heart gave her a pat on the back and left Octavia on her own. It was never fun being the bearer of bad news.
________

Celestia and Luna visited Spike in the hospital that day. Twilight begged the princesses to bring back Spike, but even they weren’t sure if Spike’s body might react well to their magic. Sure, it might save him. But, they were running the chance of ending him sooner as well. Blue Heart told the same bad news that he gave to Octavia too Twilight and her friends. Pinkie burst into tears while Applejack covered her face in her hat, to hide the tears that were now forming. Rainbow Dash leaned on Fluttershy’s, who was crying behind her mane, shoulder and cried. Twilight, however, fought back her tears and looked into just about every book about medicine known to Equestria after Blue told her the news. Celestia even allowed Twilight into her own personal library to find a book, but to no avail. Peewee, Spike’s pet phoenix, had been close to Spike’s bedside lately. Whenever the nurses would try to make the phoenix leave, it would squawk at them and cover its body in fire to prevent any of them grabbing him. Even when they would try to grab Peewee in his sleep, he would wake up and scare them off.

Celestia had to explain to the nurses that Peewee was forever to be loyal to Spike, so getting rid of him was going to be near
impossible. Once Celestia explained Peewee’s presence, they finally left him alone. It wasn’t before long before visiting hours were over. When the princesses were in their carriage, taking them to the castle, Luna broke the silence.

“We can help him.” Luna said, almost pleadingly.

“I know I just don’t want to be at fault if the spell fails.” Celestia acknowledged.

“I rather try then be wondering what might have been!” Luna said.

“Let’s talk about this later. The guards are starting to get curious.” Sure enough, a guard was peeking in from the window. Luna promptly put the shade down, blocking the stallions view.
________

“So, who is going to tell Rarity about Spike?” Pinkie finally asked.

The girls were back at Twilight’s Library drinking tea again. Guess it’s true, tea is a calming drink.

“Well, I am not.” Twilight folded her hoofs together and looked dignified.

“I was going to say you should go tell her Twilight.” Pinkie interjected.

“Why should I?” Twilight demanded, her voice ringing in anger.

“You haven’t talked to her in the longest.” Fluttershy mumbled meekly.

“Fine, I’ll go.” Twilight left the Library and slammed the door behind her.

“We follow her right?” Pinkie leaned to Rainbow Dash.

“Of course, Twilight is angry and is on a really short fuse. She might lose her cool.” The girls marched after Twilight. Fluttershy lingered behind the pack and Applejack had to drag her with them.
________

“Rarity open the door, we have to tell you something about Spike.” Twilight knocked on the door calmly.

“Go away!” Rarity yelled from within her store.

Twilight knocked more aggressively at the door, but Rarity refused to open up. Applejack pushed Twilight aside “I got this.”
With one mighty buck of her legs, Applejack made a dent within the door and made splinters fly about.

“Don’t break the door! Fine, I am coming down!”

“And that’s how you do it.” Applejack wore a proud smile on her face.

“Alright, what happen to Spike?” Rarity opened the door and Fluttershy let out a yelp.

She had reason to yelp to. Rarity really let herself go. Her mane was in tangles and it looked like Rarity hasn’t slept in days. It also seemed to forget to put on her fake eyelashes and had no makeup on.

Rarity shot Fluttershy an angry look “You look great!” Fluttershy tried to compliment, but twitched again at the sight of her friend’s mane.

“Darling, please, no need to tell me how dreadful I look.” Rarity made her attention back to Twilight. “What happen to Spikey Wikey?”

“Don’t call him that. Anyway, he…might not…” Twilight was struggling to finish her sentence.

“Make it.” Applejack finished Twilight’s sentence.

Rarity broke down and bawled her eyes out. All her friends, except Twilight, comforted Rarity. After what she had done,
Twilight was not going to forgive and forget so easily.

“I know you're angry at me Twilight.” Rarity finally addressed her friend. Twilight didn’t react and Rarity carried on “I was angry at Fancy for going out with another mare.”

Twilight’s eyes opened up wide “But what did Spike have to do with this?”

“I wanted to kiss Spike to get back at Fancy. Make him jealous. But, it was for nothing! I hurt a friend I actually cared about.”
Rarity continued to cry.

Twilight finally walked to her friend and wrapped a hoof around her. “I understand it must have been hard to deal with Fancy.” Twilight hadn’t totally forgiven her friend yet for her actions, but she was willing to start mending there strained relationship.

“Thank you Twilight, that means a lot to me.” Rarity replied in a slightly muffled half sob.
_________

Luna and Celestia had been eating dinner together in the castle. It was a full moon, which laminated the dinner room with its magnificent glow. The glow gave the dinner room a rather fixating quality. The very silver wear seemed to glitter from the moons light. Oddly, the dinner was silent and very formal this night .Sure, they were royalty but there were also sisters. Celestia had been toying around with here salad for the longest, deep in thought. Luna, on the other hand, sipped calmly at her cup of water.

“Luna?” Celestia asked anxiously.

“Yes, Tia?” Luna stared at her sister with curiosity.

“When do you want to do the spell?”

Luna stared at her sister, a mixture of interest and puzzlement on her face. “The sooner we do the spell, the better.”

“Agreed, so, tomorrow in the early morning? Before anypony can see what we are doing?”

“Preferably, yes. If the situation arises when we need to perform in front of his friends, do we carry on?”

Celestia didn’t respond at first. Luna thought she wouldn’t want to be confronted. To her surprise though, Celestia replied.

“Of course, if we fail, we do so trying.”

Recovery

“We have to be quick you know.” Celestia muttered quickly, trying not to be over heard by the nurses present in the hallway.

“If we rush it, the spell might not work!” Luna replied in mild disbelief.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” Celestia pushed open the door the Spike’s room quickly.

Spike lay there on his bed, not moving a muscle. Celestia sighed to herself and looked down at the dragon in pity. He had tried so hard to make it to the show and this had to happen. She couldn’t help but wonder if Spike was regretting going at this point.

“Shall we start?” Luna asked anxiously.

“And what do you think you’re going to do to my patient?” Blue Heart turned his chair and looked at the princesses with interest, rather than anger.

“Oh! Um, we are here to visit Spike.” Celestia quickly lied.

“You do know that visiting hours have long past?” Heart replied calmly.

Luna slapped her hoof to her temple and Celestia looked down to the ground. “We are here to help Spike in our own way.” Luna explained.

“If it heals him, I do not oppose to what you’re doing.” Blue Heart replied.

“Are you saying you lost hope on Spike?” Luna asked, scandalized that the doctor was calling it quits.

“Sadly, yes. His head bounced off the floor pretty hard. There was nothing to break his fall.” Blue Heart confessed sadly.

Celestia sealed the door the room shut and returned her attention to her sister. “Shall we start?”

“I thought you would never ask.” Luna’s horn glowed with a purple aurora.

Celestia’s own horn started to glow with a faint blinding white light. “Let’s make this count.”

The sister princesses averted there magic onto Spike’s body. For a moment, Blue Heart wanted to ask so many questions about what they were doing to the dragon and go in depth on how they managed this. But, perhaps, it would be better to sit back and watch instead. This was a rather rare experience and Blue Heart figured it would be all the more memorable if it remained a slight mystery to him. But the hunger to know what they were doing was too much for Blue, he peeked in between the shoulders of the princesses to see what they were doing. It was a fascinating sight there magic was completely coating Spike’s body. Beads of sweat were starting to drip from the princesses faces as they continued their spell on Spike.
Blue Heart didn’t dare say a word, not wanting to blow their concentration. The doctor retreated back to his chair stared at the princesses work from afar.

“I think we are done.” Luna ceased the glowing of her horn and let out a tired sigh. Celestia followed suit to her sister.

The princesses worked nonstop on Spike for about two hours. Blue Heart nearly fell asleep a few times, but knew he had to be awake to check to see if Spike would be responsive.

“I guess it’s time for the moment of truth.” Blue Heart trotted his way to Spike.

“It will take a while for the magic to take full effect.” Celestia explained, her voice awfully croaked as she spoke.

“I appreciate what you have done princesses.” Blue Heart said with a bow, but Celestia quickly motioned him to rise.

“Luna, I think our work here is done.” Celestia looked for her sister and noticed she had fallen asleep in a vacant chair in the room. “Oh right, its morning and Luna usually is asleep by now.” Celestia explained to the confused doctor.

With a flash of blinding light, Celestia vanished from the room with her sister.
__________

It wasn’t long before Spike’s first visitor came for the day. Naturally it was Octavia, who was usually the first to come and the last to leave. Octavia greeted Blue Heart as usual but she noticed he looked rather…happy. How can he be happy when Spike is in such bad shape?

“Why in such a good mood Blue?” Octavia asked the tone in her voice coming off more coldly then she would have liked to.

Blue Heart didn’t reply and returned to looking at Spike’s chart. Octavia tried to gather what was going through the doctor’s head to little avail. Anger was starting to bubble inside Octavia’s body. How dare he take things so light hearted while Spike still hasn’t spoken a word since the incident at the Note Theater! What kind of doctor was he to find such a time to smile? Looking down, Octavia nearly yelped when she realized that she was crushing Spike’s hand in between her hoofs. As soon as she let go if his hand though, they started to flex a bit.

“Octavia, what did you do to my hand?” Spike asked meekly. His voice sounded so weak and frail.

Octavia couldn’t believe it! She wrapped Spike in a tight hug, which caused Spike to wince in pain, and she kissed Spike right on the lips. Instantly, Spike’s face went from pain to a dazed one. He had dreamed about this moment for ages now. Her lips were so tender and soft, much more so than in his dreams. This had to be a dream…No, this was heaven.

“Am I dreaming?” Spike asked after Octavia parted from him.

“No.” Octavia whispered back before kissing him with even more passion.

Blue Heart’s presence was completely forgotten, not that he cared. He was busy keeping his attention on the door to the room, which he sealed shut. A purple unicorn could be seen trying to force the door open with her magic. Things could have gotten awkward if that mare and her friends got in and let’s face it, the happy couple needed a moment to themselves. Twilight’s magic was too powerful for Blue though the door shuddered violently and finally opened.

Just on time, Octavia parted from Spike before the new arrivals could notice what they were doing. That is, except for Pinkie.
But, she didn’t comment about it and gave Spike a knowing wink. Go figure, Pinkie was going to spare Spike from gossip and teasing.

“Oh my gosh, Spike! You’re alive!” Twilight hugged her assistant tightly, nearly knocking over everypony as she rushed to Spike.

“Why wouldn’t I be? Anyway, mind letting me go Twi? I’m still sore.” Spike croaked. Twilight instantly let him go and looked rather sheepish.

“Spike, we have to throw a welcome back party once we get back to Ponyville!” Pinkie squealed with delight, throwing confetti and balloons into the air as she said this.

“I would like that.” Spike replied with an approving nod.

“Octavia, you better come to!” Pinkie exclaimed, grabbing Octavia in a one arm hug.

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Octavia replied sheepishly.

“I am sorry Spike!” Rainbow wailed to Spike, bursting into tears as she grabbed Spike’s hand.

“Why are you sorry?” Spike asked, obviously thrown off guard by his friend’s outburst.

“I could have saved you or maybe slowed your fall!” Dash sobbed.

“Dash, don’t beat yourself up about this. You couldn’t do anything about it. It wasn’t like I told anypony I would be falling from the vents.” Spike tried to joke to lighten up Rainbow’s mood. It did the trick. She stopped sobbing.

“Thanks Spike.” Rainbow whispered.

Spike looked around the room, seeing relieved faces all around him. But, there was somepony missing.

“Where’s Rarity?” Spike asked.

The room went silent. Pinkie was in a mid-spring and crashed to the floor.

“Here I am.” A faint voice came from behind the door. Once it swung open, Rarity was standing there looking very nervous.

Octavia stared at Rarity with an uncertain look. Rarity did say she was one of the reasons why Spike ended up like this, but didn’t go in depth about it once asked. True Spike was fine now, but Octavia wanted to know what Rarity had done.

“Mind telling me what you did to Spike?” Octavia demanded, almost threateningly.

Rarity pawed nervously at the ground before answering Octavia. “You see, I discovered that Fancy Pants had been going out with another mare while he went out with me. Once I found out about this scandal, I wanted to get back at him. So, I kind of went to Spike for revenge.”

“You were using Spike.” Octavia stared daggers at Rarity, who slightly cowered at her stare.

“Dear, you have to understand that I was feeling so betrayed and insecure.” Rarity chocked out. “Wait, why are you so
worried about Spike? You only met him at the Gala.” Rarity went on the offensive.

Octavia blushed a bit. “Spike and I are close.”

“How close?” Rarity demanded, almost hysterically now.

“Boyfriend and girlfriend close.” Spike mumbled, barely being heard. Octavia gave Spike an affectionate smile before looking back at Rarity.

“Oh.” Rarity mumbled, what almost sounded like disappointment in her voice. “Well, I am glad Spike has found such a girl.” Rarity said, trying to regain her composure.

“Girls as much as I am enjoying this heart felt reunion, we must perform one last test to see if Spike can go home. So, if you don’t mind, I need all of you to leave.” The girls didn't move an inch. “Now.”

Slowly, the girls left the room. Octavia made sure to be a fair distance away from Rarity while she left. Once Fluttershy closed the door behind her, Spike let out a sigh of relief.

“You lied didn’t you?” Spike asked with a bemused smile.

“Indeed I did.” Blue Heart returned to his usual spiral chair.

“I guess I need to thank you.” Spike held out his hand.

Blue Heart shook Spike’s hand quickly. “Think nothing of it. I figure you would need a moment to take this all in and relax. As soon as you woke up, relaxation is hard to come by.” Blue Heart joked.

“You can say that.” Spike recalled Octavia warm tender kiss. “Think Octavia and Rarity are going to get in an argument?”

Blue Heart could tell this question was weighing heavily on the young dragon. “Perhaps, Octavia is concerned about you and bound to be angry at whoever would bring you harm.” Spike looked rather downcast, so Blue figured he had to say something positive. “Do not fear though, you’re all better now and she will put this behind her. Sure some yelling might be involved but it will get better.”

“Yeah, how bad can the argument get?” Spike asked with a sheepish grin.

Apparently, worse than Spike would expect.

He Is Mine

Things remained reasonably calm while the girls walked through the halls of the hospital. However, this didn’t stop Octavia exchanging angry glances with Rarity every so often. The tension was just too much by the time they made it through the front door of the hospital. Even poor Fluttershy was shaking and Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense was going haywire, her entire body vibrated slightly as she walked.

“I am surprised Spike was able to woo such a lovely mare as you Octavia.” Rarity gave an approving nod to Octavia.

“Um, thanks?” Octavia wasn’t sure if this was an insult or not.

“I dare say though, Spike could have done better.” Rarity said.

“WHAT!” Octavia yelled back in shock.

“Whoa, okay, things seem to be going off on the wrong…” Twilight tried to amend before Octavia cut her short.

“Go ahead Rarity, why am I not good enough for Spike?” Octavia demanded. It was more like a threat then a question.

“Well, I would have thought Spike would have chosen a more...” Rarity was scratching her chin a bit before finishing, Octavia looked angrier than ever. “Presentable mare.” Rarity finished slyly.

“How dare you! I do not need to dress to the extravagant measures that you do Rarity to attract attention to myself!” Octavia snapped back angrily, shoving Rarity for extra measure.

“Please, you act like I have no self-esteem.” Rarity shrugged off.

“Ah, but if you did have self-esteem, why wear fake eye lashes then?” Octavia ripped one of Rarity’s eyelashes out. “I don’t know Rarity” Octavia examined the fake eye lash with distaste. “, seems like you’re an awful liar as well.”

“Pft, at least I try to look my best. You, on the other hoof, look plain as ever.” Rarity scoffed.

“I much to prefer to be plain then become something I am not. Also, I find natural beauty works better for me.” Octavia was right in Rarity’s face now, there temples rubbing against each other. “Let’s face it Rarity, you’re jealous.” Octavia whispered.

“I’m jealous of you?! HA, don’t make me laugh.” Rarity yelled shrilly, pushing Octavia away.

“Oh, but you are. I have something you don’t.” Octavia said, giving Rarity a slight shove again in return.

“Mind telling what you have that, supposedly, I lack?” Rarity demanded angrily, pushing Octavia forcefully.

“Spike is in a relationship with ME and not you.” Octavia answered.

Rarity’s eyes grew wide in rage. Octavia had pressed Rarity’s buttons long and hard enough. With a loud shriek, Rarity lunged at Octavia. Twilight was about to separate the two fighting mares, but Applejack tapped her on the shoulder and shook her head.

“They need to settle this once and for all.” Applejack advised with sagacity.

“Why would you want to stop something like this?” Pinkie asked in disbelief, munching happily away at her popcorn. She was staring at Octavia, who now had ripped a reasonable chunk of Rarity’s mane out.

“They’re our friends! We can’t just sit back and watch them fight each other!” Twilight replied angrily.

“Don’t know why you so worked up Twilight. They can’t hurt each other that bad.” Rainbow Dash said, pointing at two mares rolling all over the grass.

Just as Rainbow Dash said this, Rarity had levitated Octavia in the air and slammed her against the ground.

“Okay, wondered when Rarity would’ve remembered she was a unicorn.” Pinkie muttered.

“Can we stop them now?” Twilight pleaded with Applejack.

“I can’t say for sure.” Applejack mumbled apprehensively, this did nothing to calm Twilight’s nerves.

Octavia bucked Rarity full in the face at that moment. Rarity’s eye’s looked unfocused, much like Derpy’s. Almost in slow motion, Rarity’s collapsed to the ground. Pinkie threw her popcorn all over the place at the sight of Rarity getting bucked.
Octavia looked satisfied that she had beaten her opponent in the battle of the wits. But, it didn’t stop her from looking down at her victim in mild concern.

“Oh, there’s a tooth in my popcorn bag.” Pinkie said. She took out Rarity’s freshly knocked off tooth from her bag to show to everypony.

“I told you we should have stopped it sooner!” Twilight yelled shrilly at Applejack, who covered her ears from Twilight’s high pitched yell.

“It happened already and nothin’ will change that.” Applejack replied.

“But, but.” Twilight stammered.

“Sugercube, we are near a hospital! It’s not like we have ta drag Rarity anywhere.” Applejack said rather impatiently.

Twilight muttered darkly under her breath, but magically had Rarity float in the air like a puppet. She looked eerie with her dangling limbs. Pinkie took advantage of Rarity’s limpness by having string attach to Rarity’s limbs and Pinkie would occasionally make Rarity do a little dance. The girls were confused on whether they should be laughing or be rather freaked out by Pinkie’s antics.
_________

“Well, that was something.” Blue Heart finally said after the fight between Rarity and Octavia was over.

Blue Heart and Spike, who had been leaning on Blue, walked away from the window that they used to look down at the fight.

“Think they might be coming up here now?” Spike muttered, panic evident in his voice.

“Looks like the two mares did a fair number on each other in that fight. But, nothing a little bed rest should fix.” Blue Heart
answered dismissively.

“Should I be freaked out that I kind of…enjoyed them fighting for me?” Spike asked anxiously.

“Spike considering how many stallions fight over one mare at times, it’s nice to see the tables turned every once in a while.”
Blue Heart answered light heartedly.

A faint sound of hooves hitting the floor could be heard by. Blue Heart motioned Spike to enter his bed quickly, which he did. The faint sound grew louder and Blue made sure Spike was in his bed before they got to close. The door to Spike’s room popped open and the girls, along with Rarity floating in the air, walked into the room. Working in a hospital meant you had to expect to see some strange things it was part of the deal of being a doctor. Blue had to admit though this was one peculiar looking group. Taking note of Rarity’s floating body and a rather scratched up Octavia Blue could have laughed at the mess in front of him, but chose not to.

“I see we been playing rather nicely.” Blue joked, looking at Rarity’s uneven mane and missing eyelash.

“It’s a long story.” Octavia muttered darkly.

“Stories can wait for later. I’ll be separating you two shortly. The nurses will take care of you and nothing a little bed rest wouldn't fix' .” Blue replied.

“Can I have a bed in this room?” Octavia asked, already retreating to her habit of clutching onto Spike’s hand.

“Can she?” Spike asked feebly.

“Fine, I guess nothing bad can happen.” Blue said after a few moments of deep thought.

Octavia leaned into Spike, ready to kiss him again. The room grew rather uneasy at the sight of the two love birds.

“I think we should go.” Twilight said rather sheepishly.

“Sounds good.” Her friends responded in unison.

Slowly, Spike’s friends left the room. Pinkie was the last to leave to the room. She gave Spike an approving nod and a hoofpump. Spike would have returned the gesture of Octavia hadn’t been kissing him. As Pinkie closed the door, Octavia parted from Spike.

“You wouldn’t believe what I went through.” Octavia whispered breathlessly.

“I would love to hear.” Spike replied, knowing all too well what Octavia might have to say.

“I think that can wait for later. We have some catching up to do.” Octavia whispered playfully before kissing Spike again.
________

Getting Rarity to lie down on a bed was an interesting challenge. Once she regained her conscious, Rarity refused to even touch the bed because it was a dull gray color. Blue wasn’t in the mood to kiss up to a patient, especially one who is such a nag, but Rarity was starting to become a little annoying with all her exaggerating whining. Finally giving in, Blue ordered a nurse to get a purple sheeted bed for Rarity to sleep on. Once the bed arrived, Rarity was touching the fabric and wore a face of skepticism.

“I do like the colors but I am not too crazy about wool fabric.” Rarity muttered.

“Okay, this is all you’re going to get. You don’t like it? Deal with it.” Blue said. Rarity didn’t say anything more. Rarity knew
that she had finally pushed the limits of the doctor’s patience.

After receiving her new bed sheets, Rarity became subdued. This finally allowed the nurses the start treating Rarity for her wounds from the fight with Octavia. First thing the nurses tried to do was reattach Rarity’s lost tooth and were surprised to see Rarity faint at the sight of her missing tooth. It wasn’t such a bad thing that Rarity fainted though, now the nurses could fix her up without a constant stream of whining and insults on how they dress raining down upon them. Once the nurses regrew Rarity’s mane to fill in the missing chunk that Octavia ripped out, she was good as new.

“Alright, time to work on Octavia.” The head nurse instructed.

Once the head nurse opened the door to Spike’s room though, they found Octavia kissing Spike passionately. The couple didn’t even notice the presence of the nurses in the room.

“She is fine.” The head nurse murmured as she shut the door quietly.

Last Laugh

Hospitals are dull. Coughing fits can be heard from across the hospital all day long. Spike wasn’t sure how long he could sit through this anymore. The only thing that made this stay bearable is that Octavia was staying in the same room that he was in now. She brightened up his mood like no one else could. Spike couldn’t believe that he lasted this long without her in his life. They also had a lot in common, from liking classical music all the way to liking a good joke or two. Octavia could be fairly sarcastic when she wanted to be and Spike couldn’t help but laugh when she got this way. She was worse than he was at times.

Blue Heart came in early the day after the fight between Octavia and Rarity. There were a few scratch marks on Blue’s face, but he didn’t pay them any mind.

“What happen to your face?” Octavia stared at the fresh cuts on Blue’s face.

“I think I should be asking you that question.” Blue teased, remembering how many scratches were on the mares face yesterday.

“Come on Blue, you can tell us.” Octavia pleaded, giving Blue her best puppy dogs stare.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. Just stop making that face.” Blue sat in his usual spiral chair, making himself comfortable before indulging them in his tale. “You know the white mare you fought with yesterday?”

“Yes.” Octavia replied almost regretfully.

“Bad blood, huh? Well anyway, she completely refused to let me try to remove her cat from her bedside. So when I was checking her chart, I sat on a chair. The little white fur ball was napping there and I had no idea.” Blue explained.

“I guess it was less than pleased?” Octavia ask, wearing a grin of satisfaction knowing that Rarity pet got squashed.

“Less than pleased is not enough to express it.” Blue winced slightly at the memory of the hissing cat. “Anyway, once I got up, the cat lunged right at my face and ripped it up.” Blue gestured his cut face.

“You act like it was worse.” Octavia replied.

“It was. Thing almost scratched a new hole in my nose.” Blue recalled with a laugh, Octavia and Spike stared at Blue in mingled shock. “The nurses patched me up fairly quick so not to worry.” Blue tried to calm down the rather scared pair.

“I never really liked that cat anyway.” Spike said, remembering how Rarity’s cat always stared at him with its intimidating stare whenever he came over.

“Speaking of patients pets, where’s yours?” Blue searched the room for the phoenix.

“Twilight took him back home.” Spike replied, looking almost a little upset that his companion was back home.

“Well, you will be joining him shortly. You’ll be promptly dismissed…now.” Blue arouse from his chair and showed Spike his complicated chart.

“Wait, I can go home?” Spike asked in disbelief.

“No, you’re staying here for another five weeks. Of course you’re going home!” Blue joked.

“How about Octavia, how long will she be here?” Spike asked, holding onto Octavia’s hoof.

“She is being dismissed as well! Besides, she is in much better shape than the white mare. Perhaps it’s just her constant whining is what is leading me to think her recovery is not up to speed though.” Blue said with a hearty laugh.

“I hope I didn’t hurt her to bad.” Octavia mumbled quietly.

“Do not fear dear, the mare is in great hands with us. She should be out by the afternoon whether she likes it or not. I doubt the nurses can handle another day with her.” Blue replied, trying to give a reassuring smile.

Spike was able to walk out of the hospital by his own power, even when Octavia and Blue told him perhaps a wheel chair was better. It was odd, to see that outside when you been in a hospital for a few days. You’re so used to seeing walls everywhere you go and to suddenly see miles of open space around is something that takes some getting used to. Still it was nice to get a smell of fresh air, compared to inhaling that sterile air that lingers in the hospital all the time. Twilight, Pinkie, and the rest of the crew were waiting for Spike and Octavia outside. It looked like Twilight could have cried at the sight of the dragon.

“I am so glad you’re okay!” Twilight picked up Spike in a big hug.

“Trying to send me back in the hospital already?” Spike wheezed.

Twilight quickly let go of Spike and stared sheepishly at him.

“What happen to Rarity? She is still in there?” Pinkie asked. She was carrying what looked like a flower pot.

“Rarity will be in there until probably the afternoon.” Spike explained.

“Great, I can give this to her!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Octavia, tag along! You’re going to like this!” Pinkie dragged Octavia along with her.

“What’s so important about a flower?” Spike looked after Pinkie in wonder.

“Eh, this is Pinkie Pie we are talkin’ about here. Anything, and I do mean anything, is possible with her around.” Applejack eyed Pinkie with interest as well.

“Oh, Spike, there is something I been meaning to ask you.” Twilight looked down at Spike anxiously.

“Fire away.” Spike replied enthusiastically.

“What did Rarity do to you at the Note Theater?” This question made everypony stare at Spike in anticipation.

“Right, well you see, Rarity was chasing me…” Spike started before Applejack cut him off.

“Wouldn’t you be enjoying that Romeo?” Applejack teased.

“Not anymore at least. Anyway, I hid in the once place Rarity would never go.” Spike continued his tale.

“There are many places Rarity wouldn’t go.” Rainbow Dash interjected rather impatiently.

“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted.” Rainbow Dash blushed in embarrassment “I hid in the stallion’s bathroom.”

This earned Spike a round of laughter from the girls, even Fluttershy gave a soft giggle.

“Did you really?” Twilight asked, breathless from all the laughing she had done.

“Yes, anyway, I knew going through the front door was a big no-no. So, I went in through the vents hoping I would end up somewhere else.” Spike continued his explanation.

“You sure ended up somewhere else, right on the stage.” Fluttershy said meekly.

“Don’t remind me.” Spike didn’t want to remember his rather painful fall.

Suddenly, Pinkie and Octavia were running full speed from the hospital.

“Run for your lives!” Pinkie screamed.

“What are you talking about Pinkie?” Applejack asked, looking at the pink blur with confusion.

“Just run will you!” Pinkie yelled out, already a mile away from the group.

Rarity’s loud exaggerated scream could be heard from within the hospital. Octavia was standing near Spike and was leaning on him for support while she laughed hysterically.

“What did she do to Rarity?” Twilight asked Octavia.

“I’ll tell you all once we get to your house or something. Rarity is not going to be happy if she sees we are still here.” Octavia
replied before bursting into a renewed fit of giggles.

Luckily the hospital was in Ponyville, so walking to Twilight’s house wasn’t a long trip. Surprisingly, the lights were on in the library. Pinkie opened the door and dragged her friends into the library as soon as they approached the door.

“Pinkie, how did you get in my house?” Twilight demanded of Pinkie, barely hiding her anger well.

“You left the window in your room open.” Pinkie replied simply.

Once the group sat down and calmed down in the library, Twilight decided now was the time to interrogate Pinkie.

“What did you do to Rarity?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie glanced over at Octavia, who exchanged a silly grin with her. “A harmless prank was all.” Pinkie replied, trying her best to stifle her giggles.

“Mind explaining?” Twilight eyed the party pony with a wary eye.

“Well, I figured Rarity would like a flower to brighten up the mood in her room. Grabbed a flower that shoots water whenever you squeeze it on put in the pot! After that, I brought it to Rarity’s room and I had Octavia come along to see how Rarity would react to it!” Pinkie finished before submitting to her giggling fit.

“As soon as she started to touch the flower, Pinkie ran for it. I stayed and got to watch what happened.” Octavia said, smiling at the memory of Rarity’s wet floppy mane and how red Rarity’s face got.

“She didn’t notice you leaving the plant there?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nah, Rarity was napping when I left it in her room.” Pinkie replied in-between fits of laughter.
_________

Octavia departed the following morning back to Canterlot to finish up the remaining schedule at Note Theater. Before she left though, Spike and Octavia went out on their first date together on Sugarcube Corner. At first, Spike was more then excited to go on the date. But once the time came when he had to meet Octavia at Sugarcube Corner, Spike was starting to turn a faint greenish color and stuttered a bit whenever Applejack would ask him about what he had planned for the date. Rarity was reluctant, at first, to help Spike on the date. But once she saw that he planned just going to way how he usually looked, she immediately set out to make him a nice looking suit. At first, Spike felt bashful of taking the suit but Rarity pretty much gave him no choice but to take it. Not that is was a bad thing, the suit was a simple dark blue color. Rarity warned Spike about not ruining the suit before Twilight sent him off to Sugercube Corner.

Pinkie was more than delighted to see the couple at the Sugarcube Corner and treated them to the finest treats available in the store. Fluttershy gave Spike a handpicked bouquet of flowers to give to Octavia before the date. Once Spike showed the bouquet of flowers to Octavia, she was overwhelmed and impressed by the gesture. She gave Spike a kiss and that made Spike turn redder then a tomato. Pinkie gave Spike an approving nod through the shops window once he gave the bouquet of flowers to Octavia.

Rainbow Dash threw her own flare to the date's atmosphere, by making a rainbow appear and making the skies clear of clouds. Spike knew all to well that today was supposed to rain, but Rainbow told him she could rearrange the rain a little. Even Twilight had gotten involved with prepping Spike for the date by magically giving Spike his old mustache, which Octavia found hilarious.

This was Spike’s first and probably best date ever, and same regards to Octavia. There were still many dates to come in the future.
___

Pinkie was busy in the kitchens of the Sugeercube Corner making a birthday cake. This cake wasn't just for any customer though.

“She is going to love it!” Pinkie eyed her handy work with approval.

There it was the cake had white frosting and an assortment of fruits and candies in it. Pinkie was adding the finishing touches to the cake now, writing words in frosting. Happy Birthday, Octavia.

“Alright, it’s time to make invitations!” Pinkie squealed in delight, hoping to the front counter of the store like a spring.