Prologue

Sweat dripped from the end of his nose as he sprinted across the bottom floor of the Carousel Boutique, carrying a heavy box filled to the brim with a wide assortment of gems. He could feel the heat starting to get to him, the sweat starting to run from underneath of his scales and slowly leaving streaks running down his body. Heat was of no concern to him, for he was too happy to be helping the pony that filled his mind every waking second, and he would proceed to help her even if it killed him.

Placing the box down beside a slightly tall table, he watched as a silvery-white mare used the magic of her horn to hold some fabric in place while she cut it with a pair of scissors, both being enveloped in a beautiful blue aura. Her normally elegant curled royal purple mane was a complete and total mess, her tail being in no better condition, yet her sparkling blue eyes were more focused on her job than how she looked at the present.

Recently, the mare had been approached with an extraordinary opportunity. Her long time friend from Canterlot, Fancypants, had requested that she make a few new spectacular dresses for her friends that he could put on display and hopefully help bring some business her way. As usual, she had asked Spike to come over and promised with flying colors that she was more than willing to compensate him for his time. As always, he told her that no payment was necessary and that he was more than happy to help her, saying, "That's what friends are for."

For the past week he had gotten up early from where he was staying with his sister to rush over to the Boutique after making some breakfast at home, eating quickly so as to not waste any time. Their day would begin with her coming down to find a light breakfast waiting for her, which she quickly devoured before beginning the dress making for the day. It had been a long and tedious process, and as a result he felt that he had grown some after all of the work, giving him a slightly better build of body that what he had before.

Their hard work and long hours had come to pay off in the end, for when she finished stitching together the back of the dress that she was working on, she took a step back to admire her handiwork. Displayed before her were six divine and elegant dresses that seemed to sparkle, each one was unique in its own way, for each one represented one of her friends. Her eyes never left her work as she used her horn to pull him closer, wrapping her forelegs around him in a hug. "Oh thank you Spike, without your help, none of this would have been possible."

A deep sense of warmth passed through his body when he felt her lips press against his cheek, making them turn a deep shade of red while his scales seemed to ripple. "G-G-Gee R-R-Rarity. Y-Y-Your w-w-w-w-welcome." No matter what, he could not tear his eyes away from the silvery-white unicorn, watching intently as her eyes sparkled brightly in triumph while her coat seemed to glisten brightly as the rays from the evening sun filtered into the Boutique.

Rarity slowly let her eyes turn away from the dresses to look at her little helper, who had a slight grin on his face while his eyes were scanning over her body. Seeing this made her start to worry that she was not presentable, what with her mane and tail in a mess while her glasses were slightly covered in sweat while her body stunk, if only slightly.

She took one whiff of the air and could smell the sweat that was dripping off of not only her body, but his as well. With a slight sigh, she looked at her dresses and said, "Spike, do be a dear and wash up please. You can use the guest bathroom, directly across from Sweetie Belle's room."

Spike said nothing as he started to walk away, but not before looking back and locking eyes with Rarity, if only for an instant. Time seemed to slow, to not exist, and yet, all light aside from the shining of their eyes faded out into darkness. Neither one could explain why, but a mixed feeling of appreciation and love seemed to transfer between the two, a mix of feelings that neither he nor she wanted to ever end. But alas, all good things had to come to and end, by the simple knocking of her door.

As Rarity turned away to answer the door, Spike proceeded to head up the stairs to the bathroom, where the sound of running water drowned out all other sounds. This gave him time to think, think about what had just happened back on the stairs. While the water fell over his scales, and he mindlessly scrubbed them clean, he could not help but feel like he had made a special connection with Rarity today.

Though no words were directly spoken, he felt that her look said everything that he needed to hear. The look in her eyes displayed a sense of confusion as realization finally set in, what about was unknown to him, but he knew that something was now stirring within her. Overall, he could see that she now saw him in a different light, for better or for worse was still unknown, but she did definitely have a higher appreciation of him. These thoughts and more invaded his mind as he continued to clean himself off, wondering, in all of Equestria, why he was still unable to tell her how he felt.

Rarity found herself sitting on her flanks within her shower, just letting the water wash away the soap from her body. Her mind was racing with what she had seen in his eyes, the overwhelming amount of care that he held for both her and Twilight amazed her. She had never seen anypony, or had ever heard of any dragon, feeling that kind of caring and compassion for those closest to them. It made her start to realize that he was not just a true friend anymore, but something more.

Her thoughts began to drift way back to the time at the Grand Galloping Galla, how she thought that Prince Blueblood was the stallion for her, but when he turned out to not care for her at all, she was broken inside, lost, alone. Spike was there to pick up the pieces of her shattered heart, to help her see that there were plenty of more stallions out there for her.

Rarity's mind slowly drifted to the time when Spike had turned into a rampaging dragon fueled by greed, when they were falling together he had shouted, "I have always sort of had a crush..." She had cut him off, because she knew what his next words were going to be. Tears started to fall from her eyes just as they had that very day, and she suddenly realized just how much she meant to him and he meant to her.

Wiping the tears from her eyes and turning off the water, she whispered to herself, "Tonight I must do something kind for Spike. Maybe I could treat him to dinner and then together we could go for a walk in the park." Her thoughts were broken when she heard somepony knocking at her door. "Who is it?"

From the other side of the door she could hear a pair of clawed feet shuffle before his voice wormed into the room, "It's Spike. I was just uh, wondering if maybe you would like to go for a nice relaxing walk in the park later?

"That sounds lovely Spike, but I have a better idea. Why don't I treat you to dinner, as a form of payment for all of your hard work, and then we can go for a moonlit walk through the park?" As her words faded into silence she decided to open the door, allowing Spike to see her with water still dripping from her tail and mane, making her seem even more beautiful that she already was. "Well Spikey-Wikey, what do you say?"

He could feel his heart caught in his throat as he stared at her in wonder, the silky smooth look of her soaking wet mane as it clung to her body was something that he had only dreamed of seeing, but never thought that he would get the chance to actually see. "T-T-T-T-That s-s-sounds wonderf-f-ful R-R-Rarity." If it was at all possible, the dragon's purple scaled cheeks had just turned the most delightful shade of cherry red.

Rarity giggled lightly before she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, making his whole face turn the same color as a ripe cherry. She giggled again while she said, "Wonderful, please allow me get ready and we'll go." He failed to notice the skip in her step as she trotted over to her mirror and began to brush her hair while putting on her make-up.

While Rarity was busy getting ready, Spike turned around and walked down the stairs into the living room, feeling very light headed and winded. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that Rarity had just asked him out on a date, but she had said that it was payment for all of his hard work, so he stuck with that. Although, he could not help but shake the feeling that something was going to happen tonight, something that would change their lives forever...