A Harsh Life

Spike let out a sigh of relief as the hot water of the tub ran over him. The storm had left his freezing and he would be lying if he said he wasn't silently thanking Celestia when that sneeze had happened. It had taken all of his self control not to jump at Harshwhinny's offer. As soon as she had asked him to stay for dinner he'd known something was up with her, he was just thankful it was his health that she was worrying over. As the water began filling in the tub, Spike sprayed some of the scale polish in his hands and rubbed his hands together before spreading it on himself. He moved his tail and gave it a good once over before putting it under the running water and moving to his feet and legs, by the time the water had filled the tub he was done, he turned the running water off and sighed as she sunk as much of his body into the water as he could.

"This isn't as good as the fire, but it's way better than walking through a storm," He said happily as he let the heat of the water soak into his scales. He let out a long sigh of relief that slowly changed to one of despair, "She is so gonna use this as an excuse to get me to work on something. I don't know what but I know she's gonna do it." Spike sighed as he splashed the water from the tub into his face, he stayed in the tub for 10 minutes or so before getting out. He dried himself off with a little fire before putting his PJ's on. "Let's get this over with," he sighed as he picked up his wet clothes and made his way out of the bathroom towards his room. When he entered the binder stuck out like a sore thumb.

"I knew it," he sighed as he stuffed his wet clothes back into his bag without much thought and picked up the sticky note. It simply read, You know what to do. "Indeed I do," He muttered dejectedly. He opened the front and looked at the first page "I've always wanted to help plan a party, and the Gala's a hell of a party to plan." Spike picked up the binder and began looking through lists of information ranging from ponies to be invited, to those providing services. Spike quickly noticed they were the same list, save a total of 6 names.

As Spike set to work trying to figure out what he was supposed to know to do, Miss Harshwhinny was putting her plan into play. In her closet she had multiples of the exact same suit, purple over shirt and skirt, white under shirt, and multiple chokers. At the moment she sat at her desk with one of her white undershirts and tried to work some magic. All of her shirts came up to her neck, but the one on her desk no longer did, she looked at it in silence. It would take no time to put it on and walk into Spike's room. Just having it on would give Spike more than enough signals that she wanted him to take notice of her. However, the longer she sat there, the more unwilling she was to put it on.

"What if he's not interested?" She thought as she ran the fabric between her fingers, "What if he is interested?" The possibilities of what could happen either scared her, she'd never really been into the dating scene. Instead she'd been too busy trying to make her mark on the world to even consider having a companion to share her achievements with; Spike had changed that in no time. She'd never really felt she could rely on her underlings, but having one who not only listened to her, but who knew her so well that he predicted her actions sometimes before she even thought of doing them. He'd called out the Empire as the host of the games half a second after she had decided on it. Regardless of whether or not he was into it, going into the room with this on would change their dynamic permanently. There would be no going back after she did. She had no idea how long she'd been staring at the shirt, a few minutes, a few hours? She took a deep breath and got to her hooves.

"I'll probably never get him to stay another night with me, if I don't do this now, I never will," she unbuttoned her over shirt and tossed it in her dirty clothes basket. She took another deep breath and took her undershirt off. She clasped her hands onto her bra and looked herself in the mirror for a moment. "No going back," She declared before un-clipping it and letting it drop to the floor. She stood with her rather large breasts bouncing free for a moment before turning to the shirt on her desk. She picked it up and put it on then judged it in the mirror. The end of her shirt was no longer at her neck, it was now at the center of her chest, her cleavage stuck out like a sore thumb. She smiled at herself before it caught her attention that her nipples clearly poked through the fabric. She grabbed one of her purple over shirts and buttoned it up far enough so the cleavage would still draw his eye. It did hide her hard nipples as she wasn't ready to show off that much of herself. She took a relaxed breath and turned to her desk, opened its top drawer, and pulled out the personal note. Harshwhinny looked at it in silence as she read it, it was far from the most romantic thing in the world.

"Spike, I'm attracted to you in a romantic way. Please accept my invitation for a date. - Harshwhinny," she read it and laughed at herself at how simple it was. She rummaged in the lower drawers of her desk and pulled out a clipboard. She put the note on it then grabbed a handful of notes on what the Princess wanted to see at the Gala this year. She placed them over the note and walked out into the hall. She finally made her way to Spike's door and stood in front of it,

"It'll be fine," She thought as she held the clipboard tightly with both hands "Don't panic, just let it happen," She exhaled through her nose and called through the door.

"Spike may I come in?"