A young purple Dragon with green spikes strolled down a small street. The street was filled with decorations of all colors and kinds. Ponies ran around setting up a large stage, game stands, food stalls, and other items for Nightmare Night. In the distance stood the dragon’s destination, a carousel themed building whose stone ponies had been converted into a vampire, a mummy, a zombie, and a witch. The entire boutique was done in a similar fashion and knowing the proprietor, the inside would match.
He knocked on the door, and within moments a sing-song style voice called out, “Spike, darling, come in.”
The first thing most would have noticed when entering was the boutique now sported costumes of all sorts as well as accessories instead of the usual elegant dresses; however, the beautiful white Unicorn with her flowing, spiraled, light, purple mane and tail was the center of the drake’s attention, the rest went unnoticed. A pair of red glasses sat perched on his nose. “Hey, Rarity. How did you know it was me?”
Rarity was busy inspecting one of the werewolf costumes and casually answered over her shoulder, “You’re the only one who still knocks, even Twilight has stopped recently. This is a business after all. Hmm, maybe more fur.” She refocused her attention to Spike, “Plus, I did ask for your assistance.”
“I’d put the extra fur around the collar.” Spike rubbed the back of his head tentatively. “That makes sense, but a gentledrake should always announce his presence and wait for permission before entering a lady’s abode.”
Rarity looked up, a surprised but happy smile on her face. “Spike, that’s perfect! And I must admit, your etiquette is quite admirable. I suppose you’re wondering why I asked you here on Nightmare Night.” A few pieces of fur flew over from a nearby container, enveloped in an azure aura, and were placed in the collar. “Magnific!”
“It did seem a little odd, and it looks fantastic, Rarity.”
Her glasses levitated off of her face and onto the work desk a few feet away. “Thank you, Spike. As you may have noticed, I did not attend Nightmare Night last year.”
“I remember, I had wanted to show you the costumes Twilight and me had made. A night where everyone dresses up, figured you’d have some amazing and beautiful costume you created to wear.”
Rarity’s eye shone with pride for a moment, but then turned to storm clouds. “I did, but you see, Rainbow Dash had one of her little pranks planned. She thought it would be funny to switch one of my favorite shampoos from Canterlot with green hair dye! Normally, I would have marked it off as a harmless gag, but because of her prank I was unable to go out in public and all of the hard work on my costume was wasted.”
“Oh.”
Rarity turned back with a sinister smile. “Well a lady never forgets, and she always repays her debts in kind. So Spike, I was hoping that with your help, we could prank the prankster. After all. She. Must. Pay!”
Spike was a bit torn, on one hand he had really wanted to go trick-or-treating; on the other hand he was being given the opportunity to spend time with Rarity trying to prank Dash. In reality he wasn’t so much torn as ready to pounce instantly. He was too old to trick-or-treat anyways, right? Could one really be too old for free candy? With a shake of his head he got back into the game. “Sounds like fun.”
“Wonderful! Let Operation: Revenge on Rainbow Dash, begin!”
An hour later found the devious duo inside a bush on a side street of Ponyville. A taut rope that was barely noticeable stretched across the alley.
Rarity admired their handiwork before explaining the plan. “According to Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash is picking up a cake from Sugarcube Corner any minute now. When she zooms through the alley she’ll spring the trap and the water balloons from the catapult hidden in the bush across from us will be flung at her.”
“How come you didn’t ask Pinkie Pie to help, not that I’m complaining, but isn’t pranking more her thing?”
She answered while staring down the street with a pair of binoculars, “Well, yes, but she takes things very lightly, and I figured you might also be interested in getting back at Rainbow Dash for all the times she’s pranked you. Plus, I always enjoy your company and assistance, my little Spikey-Wikey.” He blushed gently, glad that she couldn’t see him through the binoculars. “Here she comes. Get down, Spike, and stay quiet.”
In the blink of an eye a rainbow trail swept past the pair springing the trap and speeding out of the way.
Rarity had a short second to utter one word, “Horseapples.”
Thankfully, for Rarity at least, Spike jumped in front of her and took the brunt of the assault. The Dragon turned around and felt his heart ready to burst. While all of the balloons had hit him, Rarity had gotten splashed, mostly around her head. Her mane fell straight and wet, and Spike felt the sudden urge to confess his love to the Unicorn. Reeling that back into line, the duo set off to the boutique for some towels and a hair dryer.
Fully dried off, Rarity had managed to recreate the cloud walking spell that Twilight had used on their friends not so long ago. With a little assistance from Pinkie Pie’s trampoline, Spike and Rarity had managed to get up to Rainbow Dash’s cloud mansion. They moved to a window to prepare.
Rarity rubbed her front hoofs maliciously in anticipation. “Did you bring it Spike?”
From Spike’s pockets, hidden within his scales, came a jar with a large spider inside. “Fluttershy said his name is Legs. She also made me promise he’d be safe. So what’s the plan this time, most beautiful one?”
Rarity seemed to blush a little, but Spike marked it off as a trick of his eyes. After all, someone as beautiful as Rarity got compliments all the time; she’d be used to it. “We’re going to place it inside her house, and when she sees it, she’ll flip out!”
“Rainbow Dash, afraid of a spider? I don’t think you thought this through too well, Rarity,” Spike deadpanned.
Rarity just smiled. “Exactly. Imagine, Equestria’s fastest and bravest flier afraid of a spider; it’ll be quite amusing.”
Spike had his doubts but proceeded to jump in through the window, undo the lid on the jar, and place the spider inside the target's living room. He had gotten back out the window just in time as the blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane entered. Upon seeing the spider she gasped loudly and flew out of the room.
“See, Spike,” Rarity announced proudly.
However, before Spike could answer Dash had returned. “Hey Legs, check out these cool shades I had laying around upstairs.” Rainbow Dash fearlessly placed a pair of black glasses on the spider. “Looking twenty percent cooler, my man.” Her hoof extended and Leg’s used one of his eight legs to complete the hoof bump. “I’ll get Tank and you two can hang out while I get ready for Nightmare Night, lots of pranking to do tonight. We’ll take you to Fluttershy’s before that.”
Spike wanted to make a sarcastic comment, it was his nature after all, but he just could not bring himself to make the situation any more unpleasant for his dream mare.
With Rainbow Dash out of the room Rarity allowed herself a lapse in her ladylike behavior. “Oh come on!” In her irritation Rarity started back towards the boutique to reassess her plan, but she forgot she was on a cloud a few dozen feet in the air. Before Spike could grab her, she walked off the edge of the cloud. Luckily, she hit the trampoline and only bounced a few feet into the air before face planting into the earth below.
Spike grimaced slightly. “Owch.” He jumped down, hit the trampoline, and landed safely on the ground. Rarity was dusting herself off as he hurried over to check on her. “Maybe we should stop while we’re behind.”
“Never!” Rarity hissed, stumbling back towards her home with her mane full of dirt and sticking up in different directions.
“Mares.” The young Dragon announced shaking his head disapprovingly. Still, he’d follow her to the ends of the world if he had to.
On their return trip he could not help but notice that the sun had moved down considerably and twilight had overtaken the land. The preparations from the morning had been completed and the stalls were now manned by ponies in many different costumes, some cute, some scary, waiting for the festivities to begin. Deep down he wanted to jump into the action, but he had to maintain his composure around Rarity.
Rarity stopped suddenly, and Spike barely managed to avoid running into her. “I’ve got it! We’ll… I just don’t know.”
“Why don’t we just hit her with a cream pie?” Spike asked, shrugging his shoulders.
Rarity would always be beautiful to Spike, but upon turning around she was also a bit unnerving. Her hair had a number of strands out of place, her makeup was smudged, she had a rather disturbing grin, and a twitch had even taken control of her left eye. Understandably, Spike was rather concerned about his crush’s wellbeing.
“This time we’ll dig a hole, with spikes at the bottom! That’ll teach her!” A maniacal laugh started to slip from the Unicorn’s lips.
“RARITY!” The slightly crazed mare seemed to snap to attention. “First off, Rainbow Dash is a Pegasus; a hole isn’t going to work. Second, spikes? That’s not a harmless prank; it’s asking for someone to get hurt. I think it’s for the best if you just let it go.”
She sighed gently and fell on her rear. “I-I’m sorry. You’re right. This has gone way too far. I was just so blinded with revenge; can you forgive me Spikey-Wikey?”
Spike simply smiled and gently straightened out her mane with his claw. “Try to stop me.”
For his response he was rewarded with a small smile. “Thank you, Spike. Why don’t you go tell Twilight that we have plans for the rest of the night?”
The young drake’s face lit up as he heard the invitation. “We do?”
Rarity giggled softly. “Yep, but you’ll have to wait until you get back to the boutique to find out what.”
A cloud of dust appeared where Spike had been standing less than a second ago. “See you there!”
As soon as Rarity was out of sight Spike took two small detours before heading to inform Twilight of his plans. If he remembered her schedule, which as her number one assistant he always did, she would be meeting with Luna any moment now.
Within an hour, all of Spike’s preparations had been completed, and he stood outside the boutique ready to knock on the door.
“Enter, Spike,” came a reply from the other side.
The door swung open eerily of its own accord, which Spike instantly realized was magic. However, his mind stopped that as he caught sight of the figure on the center stage. In a long, solid black dress, inlaid with onyxes that created a black shine when the light hit it just right, was Rarity with her hair combed straight down. She was absolutely stunning and when she smiled at Spike’s lovesick expression a pair of fangs became evident, overlapping her lower lip just a bit. “Madam Rarity, Queen of the Vampires, at your service, my lord.”
Spike in his rather dazed state managed to somehow ask a simple question. “Your lord?”
The young Dragon was suddenly lifted into the air as a whirlwind of cloth and magic surrounded him. He landed softy and found himself in a stunning, custom-made, hoof-crafted black suit with a white ruffle shirt and a matching cape that was red on the inside. “Lord Spike, King of the Vampires.”
Looking in one of the many full body mirrors Rarity kept about the shop, Spike couldn’t help but stare at the hoof-work before looking back at the mare. “This is really fantastic, Rarity, and you look absolutely amazing.”
“Why thank you, Spike.” Two cloth black bags levitated over. “Now how about we go out trick-or-treating?”
“Aren’t we too old for trick-or-treating?” Spike was thrilled, but at the same time uncertain. It was hard to imagine the sophisticated, beautiful, lady Rarity running door to door getting candy. Maybe it was some sort of test.
She just looked at him in disbelief and laughed lightly, using her hoof to cover her mouth. “As Pinkie Pie says, you can never be too old for free candy. Plus it would be a crime against fashion not to go out and be seen in these outfits.”
“Well if it’s a crime, I guess we have no other choice.” Spike smiled slyly as he opened the door and held it for her. “Ladies first.”
A few hours later Rarity and Spike walked towards the boutique with two bulging bags as a testament to their trick-or-treating prowess. They had hit every house in Ponyville as well as visited Applejack at her stall. Spike broke the silence first, “I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh?”
Spike pointed down the street where Rainbow Dash in zombie makeup walked towards the boutique. As if out of nowhere Pinkie Pie appeared, dressed as Gummy, her pet alligator. The mouth on the costume opened, revealing the pink party pony. “Here you go, Spike, one super large cream pie.” Pinkie managed to pull out a pie almost twice as large as the alligator’s mouth from inside the costume. Chalking it up to Pinkie being Pinkie, Spike took the pie.
He offered the pie to Rarity. “Here’s your chance to get back at her.”
With a light glow of her magic the pie landed on the floor next to Pinkie. “I think it’s high time I just forgave her, don’t you?”
Spike felt newfound pride in his secret love for her decision. “I think that’s a very good idea.”
Pinkie Pie perked up. “You don’t mind if I?”
Rarity just nodded her head, and within seconds a pony-sized alligator was attacking an innocent cream pie in the middle of the street.
Leaning over so that only Pinkie could hear him, Spike whispered, “Tell Rainbow Dash the prank is off and I’ll talk to her tomorrow."
The pair made it inside without bumping into their friend and placed their bags on the table.
Spike noticed Rarity shiver and led her towards the fireplace in her upstairs living room. He blew a gentle emerald flame onto the wood. Rarity lay down on the carpet and patted the ground for Spike to join her, which he did happily, placing his head against her stomach. “You’ve been a perfect gentledrake today, Spike. Tomorrow we’ll sort out the candy, but why don’t we just lay here for now.” Her response was a gentle snore. She kissed him on the forehead and levitated a blanket over that was promptly wrapped around them before she joined him in his nap.
