Rewrite the Stars

As soon as Spike said those words, King stopped wiping down the counter and Brimstone’s single eye darkened.

“Well I be, ain’t that fantastic!” King laughs, reaching over and pat Spike on the shoulder. “If you need any help, I host wedding receptions from time to time.” He chuckled.

Spike didn’t even respond to him, he looked at Brimstone, waiting to hear from him, heart pounding for an answer.

Wordlessly, Brimstone reached over the counter, grabbed one of King’s bottles, gave him a finger to shut up before popping the cork off and pouring his shot glass. Once filled, he set the bottle aside and drank the shot before setting it on the bar.

“You…want to marry Rachel,” Brimstone grunted, turning to look at Spike. His eye burning right at the purple dragon.

“Uh, yeah, I do.” Spike said. “Obviously there won’t be any wedding planning until after she’s healed up and Blueblood is dealt with.”

“Wait, is she hurt or something?” King asked them, being completely out of the loop. “What happened?”

Brimstone waves the midget unicorn, not breaking eye contact from him. “Why ask me? Rachel views the twins as her sisters, they’re more of a family to her than I.”

Spike shook his head and said, “As much as that is true, you and Rachel have something special between you two. I can’t put my finger on it, but you knew her longer, you helped her get out of a really bad situation and she values you more than anyone else we know.”

“Hold on just a second boys, what’s wrong with Rachel??” King tried to ask them again, only to be waved off again.

“What I know about dragons, you have already claimed her as your mate.” Brimstone said with a grunt. “Why ask me for my blessing? Or marriage for that matter?”

Spike let out a soft chuckle. “I was raised by ponies, so I’m more influenced by them. I know Rachel’s human-like customs are not that far off between the two. Making it more official between us. I’m asking you because I know it’ll mean a lot for her”

“Or for you.” Brimstone said, his fingers tapping the shot glass.

Spike frowned and sighed. “Look, I know you have a lot of opinions about me and what I’ve done, but I love Rachel, more than anything in this whole universe…. When seeing her being flung, set out fire~”

“The fuck did you say?!” King gawked out loud.

Both Brimstone and Spike gave him a look to shut up before the dragon continued. “When everything went down, I thought she had died. When seeing her go like that, I thought my whole world shattered. A part of me felt like it died along with her. The thought of her not being here makes me sick, not being with her makes it harder to breathe.” Spike sighed. “You know that I will be willing to do just about anything for her. We both want what’s best for her and it's for her to be safe.”

Brimstone gazed at the bottle of booze, contemplating on something before shaking his head. “Having her be safe is what I have been trying to accomplish ever since I met the child.” He looked at Spike. “Has she told you how we met?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah, she told me that you practically sought her out during the first day of orientation into the Two Hundred Trial Applications.” Spike said.

Brimstone let out a soft chuckle. “You can say that. I can remember to this day in perfect detail when we met. She sat in the back row, closest to the exit in the auditorium. I came in with fellow colleagues through another entrance. She tried her best to appear and act much older than she was, keeping her head down the entire time…After speeches were given, we had each participant give out their names and reasoning to participate in the settlement, that’s when I heard her speak.” His face softened as he recalled. “She… looked familiar that’s what sparked my initial interest in her.”

“Who?” Spike asked, curious about the old stallion.

He shook his head. “It’s personal, but she sounded like a pony I know. After watching her introduce herself, I caught her lies and I questioned her. Trust me when I say this that she was not the only one who lied to get there. Those did not make it past the first day.”

“But Rachel.”

Brimstone sighed. “When realizing you are dealing with a child who was running away from an abusive home with no one else to turn to and was on her last leg of life, how can I not help her. After getting in the right papers, I had temporarily gained custody, making sure she crossed over. Even when meeting my daughter and a brief moment with my son who’s incarcerated, they became good friends….you can say that I had treated Rachel as my own.”

“That’s why I’m asking you for your blessing.” Spike said. “You’re pretty much the closest thing Rachel has to a real father.”

Spike could see Brimstone’s eye glossed over and turned to face away from him, wiping his eye with the back of his hand. “You have no idea….” he whispered.

Brimstone tapped on the shot glass a few times before picking it up, turning it upside down and setting it down on the bar. He then dug into his pockets, grabbed something and slid it across the surface to Spike.

“Rachel is a special woman, she deserves a life after so much trauma that seemed to tail her. From her father’s abuse, her ex’s display of her, the loss of her unborn child…. What Blueblood had done to her, after everything she went through, she deserves life…she deserves love.” Brimstone muttered.

Spike stared at him before he glanced down at the object Brimstone slid over to him and the dragon let out a soft gasp.

It was a ring. The diamonds were actually different colored gems of emerald, sapphire, and amethyst with a ruby at the center being slightly bigger than the rest, sitting on a metal black band. “Brimstone….”

“It was my wife’s.” Brimstone spoke softly, turning to look at the dragon. “It might be a little big on Rachel, but this should do it.”

“Why are you giving me this?”

“Lilysky, my daughter, she’s currently engaged and never shown interest in it. My wife Darling Rose died a long time ago, I have been holding that ring until it was time to part ways from it, it’s what she wants me to do anyway… You can say I was saving it for Rachel’s sake.” Brimstone said, looking up at the dragon. “I trust you, Spike…don’t let me down, or her.”

Brimstone then threw a few bits on the bar. “Now, let's go check on Rachel, we’ve dallied long enough.” He said getting up.

Spike stared at the ring for a moment, gazing up at Brimstone before taking the ring and pocketing it. “Thank you, sir.” Spike said, getting up, but Brimstone waved off.

“Do not make me regret this.” He said. “Have a nice night, King.” he said before walking out of the bar with Spike in tow.

“Well goodbye!...no one tells me shit.” King grumbled, taking the bits and putting them on the register.