//------------------------------// // A Moment of Peace // Story: Spike's Rainbow Dash // by FamousLastWords //------------------------------// Eight years is a long time to tell a story. Trust me, I know. But as the omniscient narrator guiding this story ship through the murkiest of waters, it is my duty to let the tale of Spike and Rainbow Dash be known to all, regardless of how long it takes. Perhaps you’ve spent the better part of the last decade forgetting our story. Or better yet, perhaps you’ve pondered on how this epic tale of romance and shenanigans would end and come up with some interesting conclusions by your own merit. Regardless of what our absence has done to you, I do believe it’s safe to say one thing: The ending you have in mind is not what ultimately befell our two heroes. But we shall get to all that in due time. For now, we left off with Spike and Rainbow Dash asleep together atop a cliff near Ponyville, a peaceful respite from the borderline war going on back home. Between all the betting, arguing, and general tomfoolery, they needed a break. Their friendship needed a break. After all, it was still the ultimate goal that neither would lose their care for each other throughout these events, even though that could prove to be a challenge. It matters now, however, as the bonds of friendship between these two won’t be so easily wrecked by nonsense. No, it would take quite a bit more than just some magic here and ruined pie there to break these two apart. Much, much more. Now, let’s get back to our story and see what awaits our two troublemakers in… Spike’s Rainbow Dash Something was tickling Spike’s nose. It was soft and… fluffy maybe? He didn’t dare open his eyes to check what it was, of course. His internal body clock told him it was far too early to even think about facing the world. There were still dreams for him to have about himself and a beautiful mare running off into the distance, the sunset in their wake after a day full of adventure, bravery, and even some romantic moments. Ahh yes, him and Rainbow Dash… Wait… Rainbow Dash? Since when did she start infiltrating his dreams? And why was his nose still so gosh darn itchy? The dragon finally caved and reached up to scratch his nose and that’s when it dawned on him. He opened his eyes and all he could see were the colors of the rainbow flooding his vision. His eyes flicked to the left and only saw a soft shade of cyan blue. What was happening? “Ah!” Spike jolted his head up and the previous night’s antics suddenly came back to him. The clifftop, the cider, the ill-timed rainbow, even the logs for the now burnt-out fire. He fell asleep with Rainbow Dash. Speaking of said pegasus, there she was, still passed out, resting her head on his lap. She looked rather adorable, honestly, her roughed up bed-mane covering her eyes and poofing out in various directions. Her fur, which was normally suited up in an even coating had clumps here and there that could make immediate use of a good brushing. Even the drool leaking from her mouth onto his leg was… okay, that wasn’t that adorable, but two out of three ain’t bad.  The best Spike could figure it was that after he fell asleep, he must have just conked out and fallen on top of her, effectively burrowing his face into her mane. It’s a good thing Celestia didn’t decide to send him any letters during that time or this would be a far less pleasant morning than it was.  The dragon chuckled to himself at the thought of Rainbow waking up to a scorched mane but quickly brushed it off. The last thing they needed were any more roadblocks to possibly come between them. If things were to ever go back to normal, they’d each have a part to play. But even then, there was something nice about feeling her fur on his scales, her warmth.. It was rather… nice. Spike took a moment to breathe in the fresh morning air. It couldn’t have been past eight o’clock, as the sun was still making it’s way up into the sky; it was in the early stages of its journey. The sunlight streaked through clifftop trees above and a few beams shone through the branches and onto the ledge where the two had made camp. A light wind blew, flowing over his scales, adding a pleasant contrast to pony-provided heat on legs. It was as if there was nothing wrong in the world at this moment, and Spike liked it that way.  He looked back down at Rainbow and gently caressed her mane with his left claw. He let the unkempt strands bob and weave their way over his scales, the occasional knot meeting a timely end. As he did so, she gently nuzzled in closer to him. And was that a smile curling up on her lips? Nah, it couldn’t be. It must’ve just been his imagination. However, it was not his imagination, as little did he know that Rainbow Dash was actually awake this whole time. It started when she felt a claw touch her mane. Normally she wasn’t one for letting other creatures touch her at all, but this… this felt nice. And he was warm, so warm. The soothing feel of his claw running though her mane, the roaring heat that his dragon body gave off combined with the gentle wind and sunlight beckoning her eyes to open… it was almost a perfect scene from one of those trashy Daring Do romance fanfictions she read in secret and wouldn’t dare ever tell any pony about. She, too, thought back to last night. How nervous she was at first of sleeping on his lap. Who asks for something like that? Or better yet, who says yes when they are asked something like that? The answer to those questions would apparently be Rainbow Dash and Spike, yet after just a few seconds of laying on him, it didn’t feel weird anymore.  That was of course until the dragon promptly started snoring and collapsed on her right as she was about to sleep. And let’s not forget how he wrapped his arms around her neck like she was.a teddy bear that had the power to scare away the demons of the night. It couldn’t have been a comfortable position for him, yet he was fast asleep. But again, it was like she didn’t care. Things that would’ve bothered her even just a week ago didn’t really seem to matter anymore. What was happening to them? It was… it was just…  It was something else. Rainbow made a show of cracking a loud yawn and stretching out her hooves, pretending to just be waking up. Spike promptly disconnected his claws from her mane and hid them behind his back, acting as if they were never there in their first place. Rainbow knew better, but she’d let him slide with this one. It wasn’t as if she actively asked him to stop. “Hey Rainbow,” Spike said with a cheery grin, looking down on her still resting head. “How’d you sleep?” “Pretty good, all things considered,” she replied, licking her dried out lips. “Yourself?” “Eh, can’t complain,” the dragon replied with a chuckle. “You make a pretty good pillow if I do say so myself.” Rainbow giggled and gently pressed a hoof on his leg. “I could say the same for you, Spike. Who knew that dragon scales could be so comfortable.” “It’s just one of my many hidden talents,” he replied with a smirk. “There’s plenty more where that came from.” The two shared a quick laugh as they got to their respective hooves and feet. It was a bit of an awkward motion as Spike attempted to rise to his feet first, tumbling over the pegasus that was still content laying on him. With their best efforts, they both made it up so they could successfully start their day.  “So, you have any cool dreams?” Rainbow Dash asked whilst dusting herself off. Spike scratched his head. “Cool dreams? Well, I did have one where me and y—, err, me and Rarity were galavanting across Equestria, kicking the butt of every villain we could find and disappearing into the sunset together.” That was closer than Spike wanted to admit. Regardless of how he felt about it, he couldn’t risk giving her any extra leeway on this contest of theirs. “You and Rarity, huh?” Rainbow Dash replied with an eyeroll. “No offense, Spike, but Rarity doesn’t exactly seem like the type to just up and travel the world to get in on some butt-kicking. That’d be more of a thing for a mare like myself!” Rainbow jumped up and kicked at the air a few times. “You’ve gotta step up your dream game, bro.” “Okay, okay, whatever,” Spike said, it now being his turn to roll his eyes. “What about you? Hopefully, I didn’t pop up too many times.” “Oh, don’t worry,” Rainbow said with a slight blush. “I just had the same old dreams about Daring Do and me saving the world. Just usual stuff, like you.” Of course, there was no way in Tartarus she was going to tell him that she actually dreamt about the two of them having a day at the spa together. Celestia knows that would only end in an amount of snark that she could neither handle nor comprehend. The pony and dragon awkwardly finished stretching out and dusting the night’s dirt from their bodies. It was nothing special, but the brief moments of quiet were relaxing and non-awkward somehow. Normally when one finds themselves in a situation of silence with a member of the opposite sex where there may or may not be some level of romantic tension, things can be rather heavy and even emotionally cumbersome. But not with these two. No, with them, things were okay. Spike and Rainbow Dash were friends first and foremost. “Okay, so what’s the plan,” Spike finally spoke up, walking over to the rainbow-maned pegasus. “Do we head back home to Ponyville? I can’t imagine that things are still as crazy as they were last night.” “I dunno, Spike,” Rainbow warned. “When Equestria gets on a kick about something, they don’t really let it go that easy. We could be walking into a trap or something.” “Oh, psh,” Spike said, waving his claw. “Look, it’s true that ponies are going a little haywire, but—“ “Gryphons, zebras, manticores, and cockatrices too, don’t forget,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Okay, fine,” Spike continued. “It’s true that every species everywhere is going crazy right now, but it has to blow over at some point. Besides, it’s not like we can just hide out here forever and run away from our problems like a couple of cowards. We have to face this head-on if we ever want things to get back to normal.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I guess, but I’m just saying. Pinkie is leading the charge on this whole deal and she doesn’t always know when to stop with these things. I mean, she’s probably got some kind of crazy plan cooking up right now to find us.” “Good point. She doesn't really have an off switch.” Spike scratched his chin. “Look, we’ll just be extra careful. We’ll go back into town together, make sure it’s safe and then go our separate ways. You know, if that’s cool with you.” Rainbow mulled the plan over in her brain for a moment. “Okay, sounds like a plan.” Rainbow leaned forward to stretch out her legs one final time before patting her back, beckoning Spike to get on for the ride. “You ready to set sail?” “You know it,” the dragon giddily replied, smiling ear to ear. He hopped onto her back and latched his arms around her neck. “Just, this time, let’s take it a bit easier. I don’t really want to die yet. I haven’t even had a first kiss and I’ll never live it down in the afterlife if I die without it.” Rainbow laughed aloud. “You got it, Spike.” And without another word Rainbow gave herself a bit of a running start before leaping off the edge of the cliff and going airborne. It was a much more gentle takeoff than last time and as such, Spike felt much less inclined to meet an untimely end this time around. Flying wasn’t so bad when you didn’t feel like you were on death’s doorstep the entire time. As they rose higher and higher into the sky, making their way to Ponyville, the two couldn’t help but just take in the beauty surrounding them. The sun was lighting up the world around them, every inch of the landscape a treasure trove of beauty, and they had a front-row ticket for it. If only moments like this could last forever. “You know, Spike,” Rainbow Dash said, looking back at the dragon. “With how tightly you held me last night, I almost thought you actually were in love with me, haha.” “Psh, in your dreams,” Spike replied. “With how much you were cuddling with me, I was kinda thinking the same thing about you.” Rainbow mildly blushed. “Well, bet or no bet between us, you know I’m never gonna let you live it down if you do end up falling for me.” “How about you just worry about the reverse happening, Rainbow,” Spike stated with a sly grin. “Because something tells me that’s a much more likely scenario.” The two shared a brief silence before Rainbow started pounding her wings, taking them back home faster. Spike, on his end, began to blush a bit on his own. There was… definitely something between them. He could joke about it all he wanted, but the fact that his heart began to race every time they had one of these spats had to mean something. Right? Meanwhile, Rainbow had similar thoughts rushing through her head. She knew that Spike wasn’t interested in carrying this competition on any longer, but maybe it was too late. She couldn’t quite put a hoof on it, but since when did Spike ever make her blush? Or get nervous at all for that matter? This wasn’t part of her plan! Bet or no bet, something had changed about the dynamic between them.  She needed time to figure it out. It probably wasn’t anything serious. She was Rainbow Dash after all! She couldn’t lose to Spike that easily… even if she maybe, possibly, perhaps did like him just a teensy bit.  Her heart rate picked up... Okay, maybe just a bit more than a teensy bit. Yes, all she needed was time. So did Spike for that matter. Maybe a bit of time would help both of them sort out their feelings, for better or for worse. Yes, a long shower, a nice midday nap and some good food was all that was needed to set things straight again. They were both sure of it. They just needed some good, old-fashioned rest. Unfortunately, as both would learn when they arrived at Ponyville, rest was going to be in short supply.