After going outside, Whim asked, "So do you actually know where Canterlot is?"

"Of course not. I didn't pay attention last time we went. But that doesn't matter, 'cuz we're not going to Canterlot."

"Huh?"

"I mean, we can always get some sweets at Pinkie's, but I need -you- to help me get a date with Rarity."

"Rarity?" Whim knew who Rarity was, of course, but hadn't met her yet.

"Y'know, the beautiful pony at the party with the white coat and long, flowing purple mane." Spike sighed.

"Oh, you mean the real stuck up one?" Whim said as a jest, but Spike got upset.

"Hey, she's not stuck up! She's just... y'know... I don't know!" Spike blurted out.

"Calm down, man. It was a joke. I'm from Manehattan, and trust me, I have seen plenty of ponies who are more stuck up than Rarity could ever hope to be." Spike and Whim laughed.

"So how come you aren't like that?"

"Oh, uh... My parents weren't like that, and they sure as hay didn't raise me to be a snob. I didn't hang out with too many snobs, either. But anyways, how come you're asking me to help you out? Couldn't you ask Twilight, or another mare?"

"Nah. I don't think she really understands. Besides, I saw you at the party. You were flirting it up with all the mares!"

"Uh, not really. Just Pinkie," he admitted.

"And Fluttershy, and Twilight," Spike added.

"See, I wasn't really flirting with them. Just being polite, making conversation, you know."

Spike was not fazed and added suggestively, "I also heard about a certain somepony found lying in bed with a certain yellow coated, pink haired mare. Eh? Eh?" Spike poked Whim with his elbow to add emphasis.

Whim guessed that it was Rainbow Dash who told him, seeing as how she was the only other pony who knew about the incident. "Hey man, nothing was going on there. She just got scared or something and wanted to curl up next to me."

"So it IS true!" Spike started giggling, proud at getting him to admit it.

"It's true that she was sleeping next to me. That's all. Like I said, nothing happened."

"You just stay away from Rarity, you!"

Whim sighed, and asked, "Can we please move on?"

"Yeah, sure we can move on. To the subject of you setting me up with Rarity." Spike winked and pointed two fingers at him.

"I haven't even met her yet."

"Well, you can meet her right now. She's probably at her shop right now, the Carousel Boutique. It's that big building over there." Spike pointed at the building, and Whim saw it.

"What, do you want me to ask her on a date for you?"

"No, not at all! I just want you to talk with her, be polite and make conversation or whatever, and then tell her about this baby dragon you met, Spike. She already knows me, but you should tell her all about what a big, strong, and handsome dragon I am."

"You think that'll work?"

Spike came down to earth and sighed. "No, not exactly. Just tell her how I feel about her."

"And how do you feel about her?"

"Well, uhhhhhh... Just tell her that I really like her, and that I want to go on a date with her. They're showing Citizen Mane at the community center tonight, that could work."

"So you do want me to ask her out for you."

"Yeah. Think you can handle it?"

"I can try, if you really want me to. But I think you might have better results with you as your own wingman. She might be flattered by your honesty and be more likely to agree."

"Oh come on, that's lame."

"Trust me, I've been where you've been. It never works."

"Don't be like that, man!" Whim noticed that Spike had already adopted one of his own mannerisms. "Just do it for me. Please?" Spike didn't bother looking at him with puppy dog eyes, thinking that it probably wouldn't work on him like it does on Twilight.

"Alright, I'll do it. But don't blame me if it fails."

"Oh, believe me, I won't. After all, this can't possibly fail."

Not wanting to say anything that could damage his hopes, Whim set off without another word to the Carousel Boutique. On the way, he thought to himself, am I really doing this? Barely a couple of days and I'm already playing matchmaker. Whatever. It'd probably be best if I at least get her to accept. So how should I go about this? Whim thought it over some more until he arrived at the boutique. Whim hesitated for a moment, but opened the door.

Rarity, who was working on a new design, heard Whim enter and walked downstairs. She saw him and figured him for a customer.

"Hello, and welcome to Rarity's Carousel Boutique! I'm Rarity, the owner of this shop."

"Good afternoon. Could you point me to the, uh, hat section?"

"My dear, why would you want a hat to cover up that beautiful brown mane of yours? No, what you need is a nice saddle to replace those boring bags."

"Hey, these are practical!"

Rarity stared at him for a moment. "Say, have I seen you somewhere?"

Whim guessed that she saw him at the party, because there were a lot of ponies there. "Yeah, probably at Apple Bloom's birthday."

"Oh, yes, that must be it. So are you new in town?"

"Actually, yes. I just came here from Manehattan recently."

"Manehattan? Oh, what a lovely city! I've never been, I've only heard about it. What's it like?"

By now, Whim had been more prepared for these types of questions. "Busy most of the time, but all the buildings are spectacular, and it sure has one hay of a nightlife." Whim smiled sheepishly.

"A nightlife? Hey, I remember you now. You're that stallion Rainbow told me about, the one who..."

Whim found it hard to believe that he was going through this again. "Nothing happened between me and Fluttershy, I assure you. She got scared of the thunder and crawled into my bed while I was asleep, that's all."

"Huh. I suppose I'll have to believe you on that one. Besides, you don't exactly look like Fluttershy's type. Anyways, how are you finding Ponyville so far?"

This is my chance to segue into a conversation about Spike, Whim thought to himself. "It's a really beautiful city. Lots of sights to see everywhere you look. The ponies here are kind and hospitable, too. I think I've made some good friends here, especially the dragon Spike."

"Spike? Oh, isn't he just adorable?"

"He's a cool dude for sure. So anyway, from what I understand, there's going to be a showing of Citizen Mane at the community center tonight, and..."

"And...?" Rarity looked at him expectantly.

"And, I was thinking-"

Rarity cut him off. "I would be honored to go and see it with such a big and handsome stallion as yourself."

For once, Whim cursed his well built body. He started panicking. I don't want to let Rarity down or make her feel rejected, he thought. But I don't want to do the same for Spike, either! Whim didn't know what to do, so he simply stood with a blank stare.

"You have nothing to say? That seems like something Fluttershy would do. Maybe she rubbed off on you while she was rubbing up against you."

Whim protested, "I didn't even feel her touch me that night! And I would have woken up if she did, because I'm a pretty light sleeper."

"Not light enough to wake up when somepony else crawls in the bed, though." Whim did wonder why that hadn't woken him up.

Rarity looked at Whim's worried face, then started laughing. "Relax, darling, I'm just having some fun with you."

"Weird way of having fun," Whim mumbled to himself.

"I know why you're really here," Rarity said coyly.

"Do you?" Whim pretended to be confused, but in his head she knew what she was about to say. He never figured Rarity for a dumb pony.

"Well, I have a pretty good idea. I'm guessing Spike asked you to ask me to see that movie. Citizen Mane, was it?"

"Yeah. And, yes, he did ask me to do that for him. Listen, Spike is a really nice guy, and he really likes you. It wouldn't hurt to give him a chance, would it?" Whim tried not to show any hints of desperation, but it still sounded like he was pleading a bit.

Rarity grew a bit more serious. "I'm not sure whether or not I should be offended that Spike didn't have the courage to ask me himself."

"You shouldn't," Whim said, getting some momentum back into his persuasiveness. "If I were you, I'd be flattered by the fact that Spike was so scared by the thought of being rejected by you that he couldn't handle being rejected in person."

"You make a good point. I suppose you're right. In that case, I'm not really left with much of a choice, am I?"

"It's your choice. I don't want to pressure you into it." Whim figured that, if she felt pushed into the date, it wouldn't work out well.

"Tell the dear that I'll meet him there when the movie starts, will you?" Rarity's smile came back.

"Sure thing. He's gonna be really happy about this, I tell ya."

"Oh, I know. I just hope this turns out all right." Not wanting to make her doubt her decision, Whim walked out and headed to the library to tell Spike the good news.

Whim walked in the library with a smile on his face. Twilight was taking a break on the floor from sorting her books, and there were only a couple dozen left on the floor now. Spike sat on the floor, looking eagerly at Whim. "What'd she say? What'd she say?"

Whim pointed at him, and said joyfully, "You better get ready to go to the movies tonight, little dude, 'cuz she said YES!"

Spike jumped for joy. "All right! Sweet! This is awesome! I knew you'd pull it off, Whim! How'd ya do it?"

"I just told her the truth, man. That you really like her and that he wanted to go with you."

"And that worked?" Spike's jaw dropped.

"Yup. I told you, it's not that complicated."

Twilight, who was watching the whole thing and couldn't help but smile, interjected. "Well, I'm very happy for you, Spike. I hope you two have a good time!"

"This is gonna be the best night ever! Say, Twilight, could you whip me up one of those magic mustaches? I need to look my best for the date."

Twilight snorted derisively, then started laughing. Whim giggled a bit, too. Spike was not too happy.

"Every gentleman has to have a mustache!"

Twilight responded, "Oh, please. You'll just look ridiculous."

Spike groaned. Maybe Rarity will appreciate my unique sense of style, he thought.

Twilight looked at the clock. "Say Spike, shouldn't you get going now? You wouldn't want to be late, would ya?"

Spike looked at the clock behind him and jumped when he saw the time. "Gee, it's time already? I gotta go. Bye Twi! Bye Whim!" He ran out the door, which Twilight opened and closed as he went out. Twilight looked at Whim, who was stunned by Spike's extravagant exit, and said, "He'll be fine. Either way, at least he got a date with her." Whim looked back at Twilight.

"Hey, sorry about just leaving you like that before. Spike's offer of donuts was pretty tempting."

Twilight smiled, content that Spike would finally get some time with Rarity and that Whim had kindly apologized.

"It's alright. Besides, I know how you can make it up to me," Twilight said suggestively.

"Uh, and what would that be?" Whim was pretty nervous by now.

"Help me clean up this mess!" Twilight said playfully with a smile, while pointing at the books still on the floor. Whim held in a groan, and got to work.

Whim ended up having to throw the last book in place while Twilight watched, giggling at his futile attempt. She yawned.

"I'm gonna head up to bed now. You're more than welcome to stay here if you have to, but I'm afraid I haven't an extra bed. You can use that rug as a makeshift blanket."

Whim was more than happy with his arrangement, as he didn't mind sleeping on the floor. "Thank you very much, Twilight. I can't help but notice how kind everypony in this town is."

Twilight walked up the stairs, yawning again. "You're welcome, Whim. Good night!"

Just as Whim was about to snuggle up under the rug, Spike walked in. Whim couldn't really see his face, as Twilight had already turned off the lights.

"How'd it go, big guy?"

"It went alright, I think. We didn't kiss or anything, but I held her hoof through a really intense part of the movie. I asked her afterwards if she wanted to go out again sometime, but she just smiled and said 'maybe'. How am I supposed to know what that means?"

"I think it means she had a pretty good time herself. Don't worry too much about minor details like those. You were happy, right?"

"Yeah, but it's still gonna be a little weird the next time we all hang out."

"Nopony else has to know, right?"

"Yeah, except Twilight, and she's got a pretty big mouth."

"I heard that!" Twilight yelled from upstairs. Whim and Spike chuckled, and then Spike went upstairs and Whim pulled the rug over his shoulders. He reflected over the events of the day. He hadn't actually made any progress as far as talking to Pinkie Pie, but he didn't particularly mind. He'd made good friends in Spike and Twilight. Comfortable with the day's progress, he closed his eyes and started to fall asleep.