The awkwardness had lingered over the pair of them for the rest of their walk, but thankfully it lifted as Spike and Rarity had entered Canterlot Boutique and they had new topics of conversation.

"So, you've been kept pretty busy, I assume?" Spike looked around the spacious interior of the boutique, spying row after row of dresses on mannequins that were uniquely Rarity's; all were different, but they had this personal aura of the mare's hoofiwork.

"Oh, definitely," Rarity replied as she magically latched the door behind them. "All of the secondary schools—including Sweetie Belle's, of course—have their promenade dances coming up in the next couple of weeks. Simply dozens of new clients have been placing orders and, let me tell you, some of them are quite extravagant."

Spike made a show of looking taken aback. "Even the esteemed Lady Rarity deems these garments 'extravagant'? I cannot even begin to fathom!"

Rarity rolled her eyes, but giggled all the same. "Still, all of that means that business is good. And I understand business is also good in Ponyville, yes?"

"Yep, and I've even been helping out Ms. Saddles at the desk some of the time when she's busy working on orders. Oh! That reminds me..." Spike reached into the front of his suitcase and pulled out the paper Sassy Saddles had given him. "She had this form for you to sign or something. Said it was too important for the mail."

"Oh?" Rarity raised an eyebrow and then, as Spike held the paper out, enveloped it in her blue magic aura. "Whatever could it—oh my." The unicorn goggled at the piece of paper levitating in front of her face. "This—I mean—wow."

Spike looked around nervously. "Is that a good 'wow', or a bad 'wow', or what?"

Rarity looked up from the paper and grinned. "It appears that Sassy has gotten us a very big order from Sapphire Shores' label. Apparently she's been liking her ensembles so much over the past several years that she recommended they outfit every single act on their roster with my designs. Eeeee!" Rarity squeed in a rather unladylike manner.

"Luna above, Rarity... that's amazing!" Spike stepped forward to hug the mare. "I'm super happy for you."

"Thank you, Spikey-Wikey... thank you so much." Rarity let go to wipe away a tear. "It's going to be a lot of work, but nothing that I cannot handle. Ooh! I am so excited to get started."

"Heh, well don't let me hold you back," Spike said with a nervous laugh. "I might be staying here, but that sounds pretty darn important."

"Nonsense, darling. The Boutique is closed today, anyhow, and tomorrow as well. And no"—Rarity looked to Spike, cutting him off before he could object—"it was not because of your visit. You are causing me no trouble, darling; on the contrary, it is a delight to have you here."

Spike grinned. "Well, okay. Just making sure."

"I know you are, and you wouldn't be my Spike if you didn't." Rarity looked back up at the paper. "Wait here a moment... I am going to go review, sign, and copy this document for my records and then I'll bring it back so you can have it packed up."

Spike nodded as Rarity trotted off to the open door to the back room between the thick, purple velvet curtains that lined the walls. Alone he stood in the centre of the closed boutique, listening to the soft pitter-pat of the rain above. Shrugging, Spike ambled towards the front of the boutique until he was standing right against the window, looking out on the sidewalk. The tumultuous clouds formed a grey layer across the sky above and torrents of rain continued splashing down off the pavement. A few ponies trotted by with umbrellas and there was the occasional carriage that would speed in and out of view, but overall there weren't many ponies travelling outside. Out of all the days, it seemed like a perfectly logical one on which to close the boutique.

After a minute, Spike heard Rarity trotting through the room behind him. "Does it rain a lot?" Spike asked, still looking out the window. Rarity did not answer until she had trotted up right beside him, at which point he turned to look at the mare.

"More often than Ponyville," Rarity replied, "but it's got nothing on Vanhoover or Seaddle. We do get quite a bit of fog, though... I suppose that's to be expected, what with Canterlot being on a mountain and all."

"Oh, yeah," Spike said. He reached out and grabbed the form from Rarity's magical grasp and walked it over to his suitcase.

"So, when were you thinking about leaving for the castle, darling?" Rarity asked.

"Already hoping to get rid of me?" Spike teased. "For shame, Rarity. Aren't we friends?"

Rarity rolled her eyes in response.

Spike looked over at the clock. "Probably in... about ten minutes, actually. That'll probably be my best bet at catching the princess with time between meetings. Unless she's got a diplomatic meeting, but she doesn't usually have those on Saturdays. Or at least she didn't."

"Oh, wonderful. I do hope she's willing to listen to what you have to say."

Spike nodded. "She will."

"Good." Awkward silence permeated the room. Then, Rarity broke it. "And... erm... afterwards, I was thinking that you could come back here and the four of us could have dinner?"

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Spike said enthusiastically. "I haven't had dinner with you guys in so—hey, wait."

Rarity tilted her head. "Something wrong, darling?"

Spike raised a claw. "You—one." He lifted a talon. "Me—two." He lifted another. "Sweetie Belle—three." A third talon lifted. "And yet... you said four."

Rarity's cheeks turned crimson. "Oh—well, I—you know—"

Spike put on a smug look. "Now, now, Rarity—it's fine. All I wanna know is... who's the lucky stallion?"

"Spike, I—"

"You know, actually... let's wait until I get back. How about you introduce us then?"

Rarity slowly nodded. "Sure... thing..."

"Awesome!" Spike exclaimed, grinning. "Now, if you'll excuse me... I'm gonna go to the castle. Can I leave my suitcase here?"

Rarity nodded once more, exhaling. "Yes, darling... I'll take it up to your room."

"Thank you so much, Rarity! You're the best." Spike leaned in and hugged the mare once more before running off to the door. He opened it wide and then shut it gingerly, leaving Rarity alone to stand there in the centre of the boutique, listening to the rain as it pounded on the ceiling at nearly the same rate of her heart in her chest.