//------------------------------// // Liquid Courage // Story: Mother And Son Adventures // by Inferno demon Dash //------------------------------// Rumble was pissed, it wasn't enough that he and so many of his friends had traveled all the way from Ponyville to Las Pegasus on train which took six hours or that he and the others couldn't afford to stay in the expensive hotels without half of their bits being drained in three days but now the new sleazy owners of the adult casino wouldn't even let them in without a 'fee' which he swore was not there when a few other rich stallions and mares had entered before them. "We shouldn't have to pay twenty bits a pony just to enter the building." The eighteen year old pegasus yelled at the late thirty year old unicorns in front of him, narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth in rage at the treatment they were suffering. "Then you should just move on, little pegasus. I bet if you pool your resources together, you and your friends might just have enough to make it back to your beds, this establishment is for high class elites, which I highly doubt you or the ponies behind you come from." Flim argued back with a smirk, his brother Flam had a nasty sneer as he looked at the rather large group of barely legal adults behind Rumble. "Come on, Rumble. It's not worth the hassle to try to argue with a couple of snakes like these two, don't think Ah've forgotten what you two done to Mah farm or Granny Smith either. If you won't let us in, we'll find some place that will take our bits." Apple Bloom spoke with a huff and attempted to drag her mate away from throwing himself at the conniving twins and groaned when he tried to stand his ground. "We may not be royalty, but we know someone who is. Spike!" Rumble shouted as the crowd quickly parted to allow a large familiar purple dragon who towered above them all walking on four legs, the size of a two story house with wings that rivaled an Alicorn on his back which held a tipsy Rainbow Dash, Berry Pinch, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Screwball who was eating a large pretzel in her hooves as the drake was eating a funnel cake wrapped around his tail which he quickly finished then burped as he glared at the older unicorns before him. "My friends have been waiting for nearly thirty minutes to just reach the line. I go to get some food for the gang and I see Rumble arguing with you, they might be low on bits by the time they get into the casino, lucky they are not paying, I am. So Flim and Flam, we can settle this the easy way, or the hard way." Spike's voice had changed drastically over the years, resembling something of terrifying and confident nature which made the brothers nearly step back in fear. "P-prince Spike, it's an honor to be in your presence-" "Save it, Flam. I was there when you pulled all your devious tricks like the con ponies that you are, and I heard about what Fluttershy and Applejack went through when they were here years ago. Gladmane, wasn't it? You two are on my list of ponies to take down and throw in jail the second I become king, along with Lighting Dust, Suri Polomare, Svengallop, Gladmane and quite a slew of others who messed with my friends and ruined the lives of ponies around you. I may not be able to do much now, but I got photographic memory so I suggest you let us in and then find a nice rock to crawl under and wait until the day I come for you." Spike all but roared, his nose blowing out thin, streams of black smoke and his eyes holding nothing but malice making the brothers sweat under the harsh gaze. "Yeah, what he said. All hail the king of the world!" Rainbow Dash shouted in an obvious drunken state, a bottle of hard apple cider wrapped around her left wing as she grinned and started chugging the liquid inside, nearly sliding off his back as she held onto his middle spike at the center of his spine with her forehooves. "How many has she had? We just got set up at the hotel guys!" The eighteen year old drake questioned with an annoyed expression turning to look at any of his friends who shrugged or had no response before Sweetie Belle popped up from his largest, sharpest spike at the base of his neck, she had a bottle of whisky in her right forehoof as she pointed at the reptile accusingly, her left forehoof not even pointing at his face as she was clearly drunk with a quarter of the bottle left. "You think we don't -hic- know that she has had her fourth bottle of cider already? She just wanted to -hic- get a head start on the competition and we agreed, not all of us can burn through alcohol with magical flames in our...b-b-bellies, dragon boy-" She cut herself to barf on the left side of his leg as he groaned and shook his head in disgust, watching as she hiccupped again and took another sip of the glass in her hoof as he shook his leg trying in vain to get the vomit off of him while his friends protested. Spike face clawed himself before glancing at many of his friends who he grew up with, now the legal age of eighteen to drink and gamble and saw a few of them wanting to desperately get as drunk as the two mares on his back, Berry Pinch already chugging a beer can in her hoof and Screwball was nearly finishing her pretzel, Scootaloo asking for a cigarette from one of the stallions behind her as she sat on the base of his long, wide tail. "Scoots, I don't think we can smoke inside, but I could be wrong. Berry we get free alcohol when we gamble so hurry up and finish that, and for the last bucking time and I'm only going to say this one more time...it's not a competition to see who can drink me under the table. You'll die if you try to keep up with me from alcohol poisoning, literally. And I rather not have to come back home carrying an enormous casket with half my friends inside." Spike growled angrily as most of the ponies behind him muttered something under their breath, others pawing at the dirt with their hooves and none looking him in the eyes. Spike sighed loudly with a roll of his eyes before turning back to the Flim, Flam brothers and raising a eyebrow with a shake of his head. "Obviously my friends and I are eager to have some fun, some more then others, and since I'm paying for it with a very large allowance from my mother because it's my birthday I'll pay the fine if you're really that greedy." He spat baring his fangs making one of the unicorns shiver at the sight as the other shook his head with a large, obviously fake grin on his muzzle. "Nonsense, we were, uh, clearly joking and didn't even know these ponies were friends with the Prince of Equestria. Of course you can enter, free of charge, we'll even let you all try a slot on us, Prince Spike. You all have fun and enjoy your stay in Las Pegasus." Flim said as he laughed nervously before he and his brother moved aside to let the dragon and former colts and fillies of Ponyville into the casino making Rumble give a devilish smirk in victory and giving Spike a hoof bump who answered it with the tip of his tail curled up as they wandered inside. "Don't worry, we'll try not to go to crazy." Spike shouted back with a wink at Rumble who laughed loudly as Apple Bloom rolled her eyes with a grin beside him. This was going to be so much fun. *************************************************************************************************** *Seventy two hours later* Princess Celestia liked to think that with all her wisdom of experience, knowledge and the normally endless amount of patience she held over her nearly two thousand year life span that she was a kind, gentle and forgiving mare. It only took three days and a hoard of eighteen year old stallions and mares along with a lone dragon to deplete her generosity to near zero, as she took a long, shuddering breath to keep herself in check and rubbed the side of her head with the tips of her forehooves with her eyes close to try to gain even a scrape of the nature she had pride herself in being after she had taken the crown and throne of Equestria. Just one very small push was all that was left before she knew she would no doubt scream in her ancient royal We which she hadn't had to use in over five hundred years to knock her off the microscopic razor thin wire she was balanced on to keep her from bursting into flames and more importantly to keep at bay the darkness that was Daybreaker. "Ten million bits." It was not a question as she took another deep breath and opened her eyes to glare at the dragon she had raised as if he was her own flesh and blood and loved more than life itself and the rainbow styled pegasus next to him who tried very, very hard to keep from trembling in terror at the sight of her ruler, if one were to look closely they could see the mare attempting to keep herself from urinating on the carpet she sat on, swallowing the large amount of saliva in her throat which felt as dry as a desert at this point in time. "I gave you fifty thousand to go out and explore the mature scenes of Las Pegasus with your friends for a week as a gift for your birthday and you caused ten million bits in property damage, that's including the bodily harm you did to over a quarter of the cops, as well as mine and your aunt's guards during the time in your drunken fit, guards which helped raised you, I might add. Bella Script?" Celestia spoke emotionless as her loyal advisor turned from the right side of Celestia's throne and bowed with a nervous quiver in her voice as she answered in kind. "Find the bartender who supplied the six barrels of Moonshine to my son and have them fired, more importantly I want you to personally make sure Moonshine is never brought into Las Pegasus again, is that understood?" She asked in a harsh tone as the unicorn nodded and said she would do as ordered. "Mom-" "You could have died, Spike the dragon! Even dragons are not immune to the effects of the extremely potent substance after more than one barrel. Your friends could have died had they drank more than two glasses and then-" Celestia had to stop herself from her ranting, feeling a massive headache come on as she saw the tip of her tail catch on fire before she stamped it out with a hoof and took another deep breath. "After what I witnessed when I had to be taken from a very important meeting with King Thorax, I have decided that you are not in fact ready to rule Equestria. Maybe in another forty years once you are properly mature-" "You said I was ready-" "You're clearly not! A king puts his subjects before himself, always and he rules with strength, heart, intuition and intelligence which at this moment, Spike the dragon you do not have!" Celestia screeched, her entire mane and tail exploded into flames making the mare beside her and the guards before her throne panic before she calmly lit her horn and performed a spell that made ice cold water splash over her body and shook herself, ignoring the heat spell that her advisor was performing on her and the look of horror and fear Rainbow Dash held as she closed her eyes and took one last long, deep breath. "Your friends are in jail for two weeks because of what has transpired. The only reason miss Dash is not among them is because of her services to Equestria and the only reason you are not with them is because I would rather die than put you with the criminals who occupy those walls, no matter how furious I am with you at the moment, Spike. You are my son and despite your flaws I will not treat you as the monster so many others claim you are." Celestia's voice was harsh, and as Spike looked up at his adopted mother he felt a sincere pang of guilt as at that moment she looked very fragile and incredibly tired in his eyes, nearly a broken mare at this point. "You're going to be working in Las Pegasus to repair the damage that you done alongside your friends after they are released which should take how long, Mrs. Script?" Celestia asked looking over the mare who cut off her flow of magic hoping her ruler was completely dry before answering that it should take an estimate of six months, at most. Celestia nodded her head in thanks before looking back and continuing her line of thought. "Upon which Miss Rainbow Dash will be temporarily replaced from the Wonderbolts until the community service that all of you will attend is finished and the total sum will be taken from your personal vault, Spike in payment to replace what has been...demolished." Celestia ignored Rainbow's cry of shock and anger and Spike placing his head in his claws in shame, blowing a small stream of emerald fire from his nostrils as she kept talking. "All of you will be given magical element resistance shock collars that can not be removed even by unicorns, only an Alicorn which will alert the guards if you have even one drop of alcohol during your punishment and you will be thrown into prison in solitary confinement for one week then released to get back to work, except for you Spike who will be fined one thousand bits for every drop you consume. I hope you all intend to go cold turkey after this." She finished calmly, her face not giving one trace of emotion after she spoke. Though Raibow's mouth opened to speak no sound came out as she held her head into her hooves and cried, Spike removing his own claws from his face to wrapped his tail around her body as she used it to sob even harder, truly breaking down for what they had done. "Screwball was pardoned from jail because she is Discord's daughter and once he and Pinkie come back from their dimension hopping in three days I will explain her punishment, I doubt even the god of chaos, no matter how amusing he may find it would disagree with her punishment and she'll be given a special collar so she can not use her chaos magic. Pinkie Pie is going to be furious when she learns what her child has done. At any rate, for now you two will be put on town arrest until your friends are released and you are sent to Las Pegasus, where you will live until everything is restored. Dismissed." Celestia said in a tone that left no room for argument. Rainbow pushed the tail that had comforted her away and galloped out of the throne room as if her life depended on it, clearly not giving a damn who saw her cry as Spike brought his tail back and held it in his claws, nervously wringing it before slowly bringing his eyes up to look at his mother, his voice small and hesitant as he attempted to speak. "Mom-" "Spike, I love you with all of my heart. No matter what you do in your life I will always be by your side, but right now...I don't want to even look at you. Go back to Ponyville, Spike and really think about what you have done. I'll send you a letter in a few days once I had time to calm down. And inform Rainbow Dash that she'll be working Weather Duty in Ponyville until your friends are free, she will not be given her management position back and neither of you are to leave until I say it's time. If either of you do leave she will be arrested and put in jail for two weeks and you will be grounded for a year, doing nothing but royal duties with your family. No comics, radio, movies, video games, board games, card games or even donuts. Do you understand me, Spike the dragon?" She asked in a very serious tone, he could tell that she was at her wits end and was about to break if he tried to talk back. So for once with no smart remark or joke he nodded seriously and turned around walking out of the throne room with utter shame at what he had done and feeling like absolute trash for making his own mother so angry. "I love you." He heard her call out slowly and with remorse as he turned his head back and saw tears slid down her face making his heart break even more. "I love you to, mom." He responded with a small smile which she didn't return as he turned back and walked out of the room, knowing that there was nothing more to say on the matter as he sighed deeply. He had really bucked up now. *************************************************************************************************** *Ponyville, one hour later* When Spike and Rainbow Dash had reached the train station of Ponyville in complete and utter silence, Rainbow was quick to get up and walk out, Spike let out a loud sigh and waited a moment to give her space before stepping off the train himself and was only mildly surprised to see Rainbow and Applejack in a heated argument, as Soarin stood off to the side not wanting to interrupt the two angry mares unless things got physical. Noticing Spike, he nodded who returned the greeting and trotted over to him, a tired and frustrated expression on his face. "We been waiting here for you two to get back, naturally the whole town heard what happened. You and Rainbow have so much explaining to do, but I can see that you're tired and honestly I just want to go a day without fighting with Applejack which has been nearly nonstop since Apple Bloom got arrested. Big Mac and Granny Smith along with Sugar Belle went down to see her in the Canterlot dungeon, we were just about to leave ourselves but AJ wanted to talk to Dash before we did." Soarin spoke, trying to give a smile but it came off as forced to Spike. Spike was just about to reply when he saw Rainbow Dash turned around and stomp towards them, her face enraged and wings fanned out as though she wanted nothing more than to fly away, ignoring Applejack's shouts for her to come back and explain herself as she walked right up to Soarin with a crisp salute, which they could both clearly see was half hearted. "Soarin, it's great to see you again. You might want to talk to your wife, I've had a hell of a day and I was really, really close to punching her in the face. I'm seriously not in the mood to talk to anypony, so I'll see you later. Come over to my house in a few days when shit dies down, Spike. We can play cards or something." She said in a mixture of both anger and exhaustion before flapping her wings and speeding off as she normally did when upset. "Everyone's just really angry, I can't blame them but we did really stupid things when we were drunk and now we are paying the price, I'm guessing you heard about Rainbow not being in the Wonderbolts for a while?" Spike asked as Soarin nodded. "Spitfire is furious over what happened. We might have to find a replacement until Dash comes back but just between you and me, with how much negative press Dash had gained over the last three days, we may have to hold a vote with the veteran members on if we even want her back. On top of finding a replacement-" "How about Thunderlane? It may be only temporary for a few months but I'll bet you he's been waiting for a chance to shine and he is a reserved Wonderbolt, and I'm sure he and Rarity would appreciate the opportunity to get his name out there and his wife could gain great press." Spike interrupted softly as Soarin rubbed his chin with a hoof in thought before a grin was plastered on his muzzle. "You know what, Spike? That's a great idea. This way it will give Thunderlane a real chance as you said and if we did unfortunately lose Dash after the meeting, we would have a replacement who knew what they were doing, smart thinking. I'll talk it over with Spitfire to see what she thinks before we make a decision, thanks." He responded as the drake could only grin, glad to help a friend out should worse come to worse. Soarin sighed loudly as he heard Applejack shout his name before nodding to Spike who could only give a small smile in reply before turning around and heading home, trying to ignore the angry yelling of the couple behind him and the glares of disappointment and rage from the parents or guardians of his friends who were behind bars because of him with a loud groan and a snort of green fire. The next few days were going to be a nightmare for sure. *************************************************************************************************** *Ponyville, Rainbow Dash's house: Three days later* Rainbow Dash wanted to bang her head against a wall but resisted the urge and looked over the cards in her hoof, glaring at the drake who sat across from her on a magical chair that kept him from going through her house, she had to mold and change the layout of her home a bit but she didn't mind, and having Spike as company was more fun than she'd admit, a pitcher of water sat in between them as she groaned. Taking a sip from her glass, she nearly growled and slapped a card down with a nervous smile making Spike grin darkly. "Hit me." He uttered as she snorted before doing as she was told, holding back a wave of rage as she saw Spike was up to seventeen as the dragon glanced over to the recent unoccupied seat with a bored expression. "Fluttershy's not coming back, is she?" He asked as she could only shrug. "I doubt it, either she's helping out an animal at home or Braeburn is visiting again, otherwise she would still be with us and you know how she gets when her stallion friend is in town." She answered as he could only sigh loudly. "Want to listen to the radio or something then? Blackjack is not all that much fun with only two players." He spoke as she rolled her eyes, and nodded about to get up before they both jumped hearing Pinkie Pie scream from below them. "Screwball Anne Pie don't you dare walk away from me when I'm talking to you!" The pegasus and dragon nearly froze, not wanting to interrupt but not knowing what to do as it was clear both Screwball and her mother stopped right below Rainbow's cloud house. "I'm a grown mare now, mom. I don't care what some self entitled snobby princess says, I'm not going to-" Screwball's shouting was suddenly cut off making the two confused as Rainbow went to see if the two either walked out of hearing range quickly or were whispering to not disturb Dash herself, maybe realizing that she didn't want to listen to a heated confrontation but to her surprise as she looked out her window to the ground below it was clear that Pinkie and her daughter were still in a vicious argument and more than likely were not being considerate of the pegasus above as she slowly backed away awkwardly from her window. Taking her seat she shrugged at the dragon's confused glance before picking up another card in her hoof, not even remembering what they were playing as she shrieked seeing an image of Discord with comically large cotton stuffed in between his ears, his arms crossed and folded on his chest as she quickly tossed it away. "Sorry you two, private conversation. So what we are playing?" The god of chaos questioned as he literally jumped out of the print and sat in Fluttershy's seat, with a snap of his fingers holding his own cards in between his lion paw and eagle talon. "We were playing Blackjack but Fluttershy had to leave early to run some errands and we were going to do something else but Pinkie and Screwball distracted us." Spike answered as he reshuffled the deck, taking Discord's cards from him with a claw and passing them out to fully play the game again. "Everything alright?" Rainbow Dash asked taking her glass of water in a forehoof and taking a drink while Discord grimaced. "Pinkie and I just got back from a relaxing vacation only to find our daughter getting into some serious trouble, it made me laugh at how much chaos she caused but Pinkie was angrier then I've seen in a long time and the two have been at it nearly all day." Discord spoke with a groan, melting into a puddle before reforming as the last of his card came near him, an ice pack on his head. "Sorry we made things so bad." Spike winced, guilt tugging at his heart at causing the normally loving and cheerful family to get into what was basically a shouting match with each other. "It's alright. Truth be told Screwball's been getting bored of Ponyville for a while, maybe it's time she visited another part of the world for a few months or so and see what else life has to offer, as long as she remembers to write of course. You know how much Pinkie hates when somepony leaves and they don't remember to write her." Discord added with a shudder which was the very same action that Rainbow Dash did as she remembered her friend waiting for what she heard was days in front of a mailbox for a single letter. "So what are we playing?" Rainbow Dash asked making the two males glance at each other in puzzlement. "I thought you were choosing?" Spike said with a scratch of his head as Rainbow opened her mouth about to answer before they heard a solid knock on the front door, how such happened was still a mystery to Spike making Rainbow stand up from her seat and rush over to open it. "Hey Dash, sorry I'm late. Cloudchaser and I were going over the prices of how much to sell our house for with Mayor Mare because we'll be moving soon and we just got everything done, she'll be over in a little bit. I'm excited to start our last poker game. Oh, hello Discord, Spike. Didn't know you two would be joining us tonight. Where's Fluttershy? And do you know Pinkie and Screwball are screaming at each other underneath your house?" Flitter asked softly, glancing at the dragon and god with a wave of her hoof and a small smile. "Shy seemed to have some errands to run, yeah that's the whole reason Discord is here. I'd thought it'd be fun for Spike to join us and hold up a sec, you two are moving, why?" Rainbow Dash questioned her friend with a befuddled look of disappointment causing Flitter to give a sheepish smile. "Our grandmother in Vanhoofer is really sick and our parents want us to be with them to spend time with her before she...anyway, we'll be back in about a year or two and you know we'll be sure to write to you and Fluttershy. We have a lot of friends here we don't want to just cut ties with and never speak to again and with phoenix mail, we can write and reply to each other in two days rather than a week." She responded with a nervous chuckle as Rainbow Dash sighed, ignoring Pinkie and Screwball who were still screaming and shut her door before she flew back to take her seat, Flitter sitting next to her as Spike dealt her some cards and Discord snapped his fingers to give her a glass of water with a bendy straw. "Yeah it's thanks to Spike and Peewee that phoenix mail even exist, if not for them we would have been waiting forever for the mail to come over long distances, rather than only a few days, smart thinking, Scales." Dash replied with a wink as the dragon blushed with a chuckle. "I just wanted to give Peewee's siblings, parents and the other phoenixes that were around something to do and help out Equestria in turn. They get out more and get free food and time to interact with other ponies and the ponies get their long distance mail much faster than normal, seems like a win-win in both cases." Spike replied with a grin as Discord tapped the table, signaling for another card. Obliging, Spike gave him one more and looked at Flitter's annoyed expression at her cards, Rainbow Dash biting her lip and Discord sighing. "You two remember anything that happened over the last three days? I managed to get some memories from Screwball's point of view but I was laughing so hard that I couldn't continue and Pinkie got annoyed with me which made Screwball snap at her then it just went downhill from there." Discord asked with a sneer before grumbling at his cards. "I can't speak for Spike, since he drank six barrels of Moonshine and was basically extremely drunk all three days with a hangover but Twilight did cast a memory spell on me yesterday and we did some really, really bucked up shit. Apparently Apple Bloom and Rumble got married." Rainbow Dash commented off hoof causing Spike to do a spit take on the water he was currently drinking. "How the buck did I miss that? Wait...I was wondering why Rumble had a tail ring on and Apple Bloom had a enchanted feather on her neck after they got dragged off. That explains the glare of rage Thunderlane gave me yesterday when I went to talk to him and Rarity and his snarky comments about being best male." Spike said with a groan before putting down his cards on the table and placing his claws over his face. "Yep, we were all there but were absolutely trashed. You kept saying over and over that you're paying, even though we didn't have any bits on us anyway. On the second night it got even worse with Shady Daze, Pipsqueak and Scootaloo having to go to the hospital to get their stomachs pumped and we broke them out and stole like ten wheelchairs, you ate a quarter of a roller coaster on a dare for some stupid reason and we burned down a church. It was bad." She spoke with a snicker, Flitter raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "Ok, now I know you're just making stuff up." She remarked, her eyes narrowing as she looked at her friend. "Oh I can guarantee she is not. From Screwball's perspective, that was only night one. Night two and three is where things get oh so very juicy." Discord defended with a large, dark grin as Flitter gasped and Spike had to finish his water just to have something to do to keep the very hazy memories away. "According to Twilight, Spike saved my life. One of the Flim, Flam brothers tried to stab me with a knife because we wrecked their casino to Tartarus on the last night, burned about half of him, though I can't remember which one. Far as I know he's alive though so Spike obviously didn't kill him. That's when the cops and guards came and we caused a massive drunk riot. Ever seen Button Mash body slam a guard in full armor? It was insane. It took twenty guards to take Spike down and another twenty to take Screwball. It took four for me, but damn it if I didn't fight like my life depended on it." She answered with a chuckle and shake of her head, noticing that everyone was waiting for her to continue. "Right so then that's when Celestia shows up, I guess we were running on liquid courage because Spike somehow managed to make all of us chant buck the royal guards over and over again. The looks on their faces were priceless. The last thing I heard was the princess scream over the noise "Spike the dragon!" and then everything went black. Keep in mind that Twi was only able to get about fifty percent of my drunk memories back, the rest we'll never know unless Discord wants to take a crack at it." Rainbow Dash laughed loudly as Discord shook his head with a smile. "I doubt my sides could take it, Rainbow Crash. Maybe another day when you all come back from restoring Las Pegasus and we can all share a good laugh." He replied, Flitter giggled as Spike snorted in laughter, the game clearly forgotten. Flitter was about to speak when they heard another knock on the door, Rainbow Dash went to answer it, seeing Flitter's sister, Cloudchaser look very panicked and also noticing that Pinkie and Screwball were no longer yelling at each other as she let the distressed mare in without a word who dashed into the kitchen. "Flitter, we got to go now. I just got a letter from a phoenix that grandma had a really bad fit and it's not looking good." Cloudchaser said desperately as Flitter stood up from her seat immediately, her eyes widening in fear. "But they said she would be good until next week, and we won't make it in time by train-" "Allow me to teleport you, ladies." Discord interrupted with a sincere smile as both sisters looked at him in surprise. "Really Discord you would do that? Thank you so, so much. We owe you one." Flitter spoke, flying over to hug the draconequus before turning and hugging Spike with a kiss on the cheek who blushed at the contact and finishing off with Rainbow Dash with a big hug, her sister doing the same minus the kiss to Spike. "We'll write to you tomorrow and have our stuff sent over in a few days, we promise, give Fluttershy and Thunderlane a hug for us and tell them we'll write them soon." Cloudchaser said quickly as tears rolled down her face and she nodded to Discord who snapped his fingers, they were gone in a flash of light. "Damn, poor girls having to go through that after they just got back." Rainbow Dash spoke with a sad shake of her head as both males in front of her nodded. "Well I best be going. Pinkie is summoning me, I can tell it's going to be another one of those long, boring heart to heart talks. Hopefully this time we can have that soda fight to lighten the mood, until next game, Dash, Spike. This was a lot of fun." Discord said after a few moments of silence before snapping his fingers and disappearing, leaving the two alone. With nothing more to do, Spike reached over to put away the cards as Rainbow pawed at the floor with a hoof, a slight blush on her cheeks. "You know Spike, I didn't exactly tell the truth about the events I remembered." She said suddenly, nearly making Spike stumble in shock before whipping around in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked as she took a deep breath to explain. "Well...everything I told you, Discord and Flitter was only about forty five percent of what I remembered. There is a bit...more, then I didn't want them to know about." She responded as he quickly turned around and placed the glasses and pitcher of water in the sink before flapping his wings a bit to reach his chair and sat down. "Oh yeah? Like what? Did I wear a dress or fight a mannequin or something?" He questioned making her snicker before she flew over and sat across from him again. "Uh...no, at least I don't think so. As funny as hell as that would have been though it's a bit...well...I guess we made a bet on the second night from what Twi told me. We did shots and naturally you won, that's not to say I didn't try my best." She said defensively with a wave of her hooves. "Anyway, I guess the bet was that if I won, you would dance on a stripper pole. Believe me a lot of the mares with us were happy about that. And if you won..." She blushed before taking a deep breath and continuing as Spike raised an eyebrow and leaned in farther to hear her. "You get to kiss me." She whispered as her face nearly resembled fire at this point, Spike almost falling out of his chair at what he heard, not that the fall would kill him if he did drop like a stone from her house. "I...wait, what? I swear-" "Why didn't you ever tell me you liked me in that way, Spike?" She asked, suddenly serious as her eyes narrowed slightly and she looked on over at the dragon who swallowed the large amount of saliva in his throat. "W-what was I supposed to say Dash, I was seventeen. My wings had just kicked in. Rarity turned down my offer to be more than friends before she started dating Thunderlane and even though I always admired you and how talented you were, even if you were arrogant at times, I felt like it was just a silly crush. You were off with the Wonderbolts so much you could not teach me to fly and if I was not going to learn from one of the best, I didn't care to fly. I did my best to get over it and I thought I had but..." He didn't continue, looking away in shame and embarrassment. "But now you're a grown adult and it's clear you still like me, right? Never bothered to ask for my feelings on the matter?" She questioned making him place his claws over his face in shame. "No, I'm sorry. I honestly thought-" "Because I would have given you the chance if you would have had the balls to ask me out." She spoke quietly with an embarrassed cough making him look at her in surprise. "Seriously?" He wondered as she slowly nodded with a small smirk. "Dating a dragon and being the one to train said dragon to fly? That's one hell of a deal to miss. Plus you're a prince so naturally you're loaded, not that I honestly care about that. I'm no gold digger. I would have waited until you turned eighteen before we could have really done anything of course but yeah. I would have been all for it. If you would have only asked." She answered with a wink making the drake before her give a large smile. "So uh...is the offer still on the table?" He asked before she stood up and reached over, kissing his lips softly. "That's for winning the bet. You won't get anymore until you can prove to me that you're boyfriend material but to answer your question, yes. We can't just jump into each other's bones on the first date, I'm not that kind of mare. But we can teach you how to fly, and talk to each other more once we start doing community service, we'll have a lot of time to learn if we click or not after all. For now though, we'll chat tomorrow. I got work in the morning and I'm sure you're eager to learn about what you did on our trip with Twilight" She laughed with a grin as the drake slowly nodded and reached out with a claw to hold her hoof. She blew him a raspberry in response and took her hoof away. "Slow your roll there, Scales. Just because I'm fast paced with other shit doesn't mean I don't like taking dating slow and serious. You got to earn the right to hold my hoof and maybe if you are lucky, I'll give you another kiss...maybe." She laughed with a wink which made Spike shake his head with a roll of his eyes. Of course he just had to fall in love with a dominant mare.