"I recognise it will be a lot of work, but I don't think it's something that the five of us can't handle," Luna said. She magically lifted a teacup from her bedside table and took a sip; Spike wondered if she had been doing that during the whole conversation and he just hadn't noticed, or whether it had already been there when he came in.

"Well, if you think we can..." Spike trailed off, and then blinked. "Wait—the five of us?"

"Of course," Luna said. "Myself, yourself, Twilight, Argent, and Scootaloo. That makes five, does it not?"

"Oh, wow," Spike breathed. "Scootaloo's really gotten herself involved in this, hasn't she?"

Luna nodded. "Unfortunately, it must be so. Argent must remain undercover for now, as he is doing important research and tracking with regards to his brother's whereabouts as well as how we shall proceed; it would not be prudent for him to reveal himself before he needs to. Scootaloo, however—if Argent is to be believed—is already well on her way with making inroads with the Revan rebels and hopefully, with his guidance, can act as a mediator."

"But she's so young," Spike started.

Luna nodded once more, her expression solemn. "I recognise this, but we have little other choice. Argent has already met with and assisted her, and he has told me that she is extremely capable and exactly the pony for the job."

Spike's face was fraught with worry. "Luna... are you hearing yourself? Yes, Scootaloo is a smart and tough pony, but she's still very young. Plus she doesn't think she has anything to lose—why do you think she flew off to begin with? Even if you don't want to go outside the five of us, what about Twilight? Or me, even?"

Luna took another sip from the teacup and set it back down on the bedside table before adjusting atop her bed. "Spike... I understand your concern—truly, I do—but Scootaloo can take care of herself. And, in addition, she has already found friends who are helping her, so she needn't anyway. Twilight is required here as the Princess of Friendship and for her wisdom and, furthermore, it would not be prudent to send a hitherto unknown alicorn onto foreign soil—that would merely be grounds for capture and questioning. And what would Twilight be without her trusty number one assistant?" Luna winked.

"Meh," Spike meh'd. "I'm not convinced, but you seem to know what you're talking about."

"I implore you, Spike—please trust me. And trust Prince Argent—he knows what he is doing, even if he is not the most forthcoming about it."

"If you're sure..."

"I am," Luna said flatly.

Spike nodded, biting his lip and looking around the room until he caught sight of a large clock set above the door frame. "Oh my," he said. "This has been a great chat and all, but it's really getting late and Rarity will be expecting me soon. And, as you probably know, it's 'impolite to keep a lady waiting'."

Luna smiled warmly. "Of course. I thank you for conversing as well, and I hope you will relay this information to Princess Twilight. If she has any questions or would like to discuss how we should proceed further, I would love for her to send me a letter."

Spike gave a long nod and then stood up, hopping off the chair. "Nice room, by the way—I dunno if I said that earlier. Really suits you."

"You did, but I thank you once more," Luna said as she too stood up from where she had sat. As Spike stretched out his limbs, the alicorn made her way over to the door and opened it with a quiet click. Spike had to quickly shut his eyes as the room was flooded with outside light; even though the hall outside only had a few torches, his eyes still needed to readjust after the near-darkness.

"Bye, Luna!" Spike called as he walked down the hallway away from her door, turning for one last wave. Luna merely gave a nod before magically lifting her hood back over her head and slowly shutting the door.

"Huh, wonder what's up with that whole hood thing," Spike said to himself as he walked out of the hall and down the stairs. "Maybe she's trying to look more... creepy or something. But Nightmare Night isn't for months..."

"Thank Celestia," Spike murmured to himself as he set foot outside of the castle. Even if for only a moment, the rain had abated; whilst a layer of grey clouds still filled the sky, it was patchy and did not extend far to the west, leaving Spike able to see the orange and pink hues of the sun low in the sky.

Waving to the guards as he passed, Spike was soon outside the castle's gates and trotting southwest on the sidewalk in the direction of Canterlot Boutique. As the city was now in the throes of the evening and the skies were clearer, there were many more ponies trotting about than earlier; at times, Spike could hardly see two blocks in front of him on account of the dozens of ponies trotting home from work or out to restaurants for dinner. About one in twenty of the faces were familiar; about one in forty waved or said hello. Spike didn't mind; he had somewhere to be, so chit-chat with random ponies he didn't know well wasn't on his agenda.

Once Spike got closer to Canterlot Boutique, the sidewalks started to clear up; besides the occasional passing carriage, there weren't many signs of life. To fill the silence, he started humming the tune to one of Pinkie's silly songs. Before he knew it, the dragon stood at the foot of the alabaster stairs, looking up at the door. Taking a deep breath, Spike stepped forward and up and then knocked on the door three times.

He waited for a moment. Shuffling noises shuffled shufflingly from inside. He knocked once more. The shuffling noises continued to shuffle, perhaps with a little bit more shuffle-osity. Spike leaned over to the door and cupped his claw around his ear.

"I-I'm just not sure about this," Rarity's voice said in a nervous, shaky tone.

"It's gonna be fine, Rares," replied a familiar voice Spike couldn't quite place. "Look, he's at the door right now and it's gonna be great. I'm not leaving."

"I don't want you to leave, Minnie, it's just... I'm scared. Spike had a crush on me for years!"

"Spike loves you and he'll want what's best for you. I've known him for longer than you have, and he's a good dragon. Maybe it'll hurt, but he'll learn to be okay with it. Plus, didn't you say you already sorta told him?"

"I... I did," Rarity said. "You're right... I'm being silly."

"Ugh, finally," a third voice interjected. It was higher pitched and squeakier than the other two. "Just go open the door! I wanna see Spike!"

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity exclaimed. "How long have you been here...?"

"The whole conversation. It doesn't matter, though—he's at the door! And, knowing him, he's probably been listening to this whole conversation anyway so who cares?"

At that, Spike flinched backwards. He heard hoofsteps approaching the door and then the sound of a curtain sliding open. Pretending to whistle, Spike glanced at the window to see Rarity's blue eyes peeking out of the window; the dragon merely offered her a sheepish grin. Sighing, Rarity stepped back and over to the door which swung open.

"Great to see you again, Spike," Rarity said. Spike noticed that she was trembling ever so slightly.

"Glad to be back," Spike said with a warm smile. "You... okay?"

"Indeed I am," Rarity replied. "I'm just feeling a tad... oh, how would Pinkie put it?"

"Frazzled?" Spike offered.

Rarity nodded. "Yes, that's it." She stepped back, gesturing with her hoof. "Please, do come in. We've almost got dinner ready."

Spike stepped back into the warmth of Canterlot Boutique, following Rarity as she trotted quickly through the showroom. The mare reached the back of the room before Spike did, disappearing around the corner into the kitchen. As Spike took his sweet time, he heard similar murmuring in low tones like he'd heard before; however, this time he wasn't bothered enough to listen. Rarity's business was her own, and there was no need for Spike to—

"Hi, Spike!" Spike's train of thought was thrust off its tracks completely by the chipper voice of none other than Sweetie Belle herself who had just emerged from the kitchen's doorway. Although still small, the filly was quite a bit taller—and definitely taller than Spike. Yet what he noticed most was her mane; although she had still retained her trademark pink-and-purple curls, the hair was much shorter in the back—a curly bob. Nonetheless, the filly looked happier than Spike had seen her in a long time.

"Hey there, Sweetie Belle!" Spike exclaimed with a grin. "How's it going?"

"Pretty great, actually," Sweetie Belle replied. "School's going well, and I've got a bunch of new friends. And Canterlot's been super fun to explore, believe me."

"Ooh, I know what you mean," Spike said, nodding. "Well, Twilight didn't let me out of the castle much by myself, but it was fun when we'd go together."

"Heh, right." Spike could tell Sweetie's smile had faded a little bit, but he shrugged it off.

"So, erm... what's for dinner?" Spike asked.

"Heh... not exactly sure," Sweetie replied. "Luckily Rarity's gotten a lot better at cooking and showing me stuff, so we should survive it at least." She winked.

"Glad to hear it."

"Alright, you two!" Rarity called from the other room. "It's time for dinner!"

"Guess we should... go then," Spike said.

"...Yep," Sweetie replied. After a moment of awkward silence, both of them started giggling before they turned and walked over to the kitchen.