Change of Opinions
“Spike, where’s that book?” Twilight called from her desk.
“Wha-Wait! Twilight! What did you say?” responded the purple lizard.
“Oh, Spike, daydreaming again? You really need to focus more. Ever since that greediness incident where you turned into a full-scale adult dragon, you’ve been strangely dozing off like that all the time! What is it with you?”
“Heh, heh. I can explain.” Spike quickly glanced around the well-lit room to make sure nobody was around except him and Twilight. “It’s Rarity,” he whispered solemnly. “Ever since that day, I think she’s coming on to me.”
“Oh, Spike, “Twilight laughed. “She’s been thankful that you were able to stop your own rampage, that’s all. I really don’t think Rarity is ‘coming on to you’.”
“I dunno, maybe you’re right, Twi,” Spike woefully admitted before suddenly smashing his fist into his palm. “But she will! I will marry that pony, even if it’s the last thing I do!”
“You really are fixed on her, aren’t you, Spike,” said Twilight as she got up from her desk and trotted over to him. “But opinions can change. You probably won’t be fixated on her forever. You may find some other super special somepony. You are just a baby dragon, and you have plenty of time to decide these things.”
“I surely won’t change my opinions!” roared Spike. “She has been, is, and always will be the pony I have my eye fixated upon!” He turned around and faced toward the window, as Scootaloo, who had been outside listening to the whole scene, put her head down and pretended she was simply walking along with everypony else outside.
“So, Spike,” Twilight gasped as she tried to suppress a giggle from seeing Scootaloo quickly walk off, “are you going to get me that book or should I grab it myself?”
“Oh, right! Sorry, Twi!” Spike exclaimed as he picked up the enormous volume. “Extremely Rare, Difficult, and Amazing Spells Every Unicorn Must Know of but Never Tried, Volume 27.”
As he spoke, a rapping sound at the door echoed, and Twilight telekinetically opened it to let Rainbow Dash trot in merrily. “Sounds like a difficult book. Not the kind I’d ever read.
“Obviously...not...Rainbow,” Spike attempted to speak while holding the book. “You... only... read...”
“Spike, you should probably save your breath and just bring the book here,” advised the purple one.
Spike simply nodded and slowly trundled through the library with the book, finally putting it down near Twilight before collapsing on the ground, panting heavily. “You only read those Daring Doo books,” finally finished the exhausted dragon.
“So, Dash, why are you showing your face here at this time?” asked Twilight.
“I heard you were planning to try out the hardest spells ever, so I thought I’d come to witness it firsthand. I have to see what some of them really are.”
“First on the list would be enchanting houseplants to walk around,” chimed Twilight as she carefully stepped over the still panting Spike to open the book. “Oooh, this sounds fun!”
“What do they do once they begin walking around?” questioned the Pegasus.
“Hmmm, doesn’t say here. Probably nothing huge, then.”
“Well, this should be interesting. Wait till Rarity hears, she’ll freak out about all the dirt the plant will track on the floor!”
“Stand back, Rainbow. This needs full concentration to work!” shouted Twilight as she started to focus on a potted flower with her eyes.
Twilight’s horn began to shine as Rainbow Dash pulled Spike away from the focusing unicorn. A bright glow filled the room as Twilight focused on the plant for nearly ten minutes. The shine brightened more and more on Dash’s and the newly refreshed Spike’s expectant faces.
“We’re g-g-getting c-close,” stuttered Twilight. “Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnd got it!” she shrieked.
The plant shook itself out of the pot before beginning to walk around on its roots. “Sweet!” shouted Rainbow. “That is awesome!”
“Wait,” muttered Twilight. “Something is wierd. The plant... is growing.”
It became more and more noticeable over the next few seconds. The plant size was doubling, tripling, quadrupling before it stopped. “It says nothing about this,” said Twilight worriedly. “Hopefully it won’t do anything-”
The plant’s roots curled up into balls and began destroying various items around the room.
“Bad.”
“Run!” screamed Rainbow as the plant grabbed her right hind leg. She shook it free and began to fly off as Twilight used a book to smash open a window and jumped out of the library.
“Spike!” shouted Twilight.
Spike was the only creature left in the room with the plant, so it grabbed his arm and slammed him against the ground as he futilely attempted to crawl away. The plant began to twist its roots against the dragon’s arm, slowly and painfully. The snapping noise of his bone was almost as loud as Spike’s cries of pain.
“No...” whispered Rainbow. “No!” she said, louder this time. “No!” she screamed. “NO! NOPONY HURTS MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT, YOU STUPID FLOWER! NOPONY!”
Despite Twilight motioning against it, Rainbow Dash flew back into the room and began to attack the plant furiously; the flower’s roots flew off like streamers from Pinky’s party cannon, hooves bashed the plant harder than Rarity could punish Sweetie Belle after ruining her house, and the plant shrieked in agony louder than Fluttershy after the incident with Iron Will’s seminar. Within seconds, the plant collapsed underneath the assault, leaving Spike on the ground with innumerable injuries.
“Dash... you saved me... thank you...” Spike was able to mutter before fading from consciousness. Dash lifted Spike onto her back and flew faster than she ever had to the hospital she stayed at after her wing was damaged.
Countless hours, days, even weeks passed while Spike was in the hospital. IVs were common treatment, while casts were all over his body. Dozens of doctors and nurses appeared to treat him, saying this was one of the worst cases they had ever seen. Despite their confidence that Spike would eventually fully recover, all that time spent there added up to be one of the hardest parts of the baby dragon’s life.
His friends visited, of course. Everyone in the town came to cheer him up. Pinkie Pie brought him a piece of cake, which he was barely capable of eating. Applejack admitted her concern, and wished she could have been there so she could have roped the plant away from spike. Derpy, Carrot Top, Lyra, even Princess Celestia, nearly everyone he knew came to help with his recovery.
And, of course, Rainbow Dash.
Her visits were constant, every day, sometimes twice a day. She would fly in and cheer him up with her constant words of encouragement. Once he could speak again, Spike asked her to read him a Daring Doo book to take his mind off of the hospital. She stayed for hours at a time, reading through chapter after chapter after chapter. Whenever she left, she would lightly nudge his chest with her nose, firm enough for it to be felt, yet soft enough to avoid hurting his ribs. As the days went on, she was one of the few things that made Spike happy in the hospital. Perhaps the only thing.
As the doctors predicted, Spike was out of the hospital eventually. It had been several months, but to everypony it felt like years. Pinkie Pie naturally arranged one of her most massive parties to celebrate his recovery, and everyone in Ponyville came. Celestia and Luna were able to find the time to arrive as well, and Spike was amazed at how much they cared about his well-being.
Yet, he was not quite happy. He didn’t feel in the mood for a party, no matter how amazing it was. He wanted to talk to Rainbow Dash. She was there, of course, and they did converse quite a bit, but it was not enough. He wanted to talk with her personally, alone.
As the ponies began to disperse, Twilight began to notice Spike’s depression. “Why are you so sad? You were able to recover completely!”
“I don’t know.”
“Is there any way I can help?
Spike thought for a while. “Do you still have that book on dragon enchantments?”
“Yes, of course. Why?”
“I’d like you to cast a spell.”
Back at the library, Spike explained that he wanted to talk to Rainbow, and he felt the sky was the best place to do so. “You gave Rarity some wings, so are there any dragon wing spells?”
“Of course. I read up on various wing spells after the incident in Cloudsdale with Rarity. I can cast it right now if you want.
Spike simply jumped at the words. “Yes yes yes yes yes!”
“Okay, Spike, this will feel a little strange”, explained Twilight. “Here goes.”
Rainbow Dash was leisurely flying through the clouds, thinking. The party was amazing, Spike was fully recovered, everything was great, so why was she so sad? The question hung on her like a dark cloud until she heard a familiar voice.
“Rainbow Dash!” shouted Spike. He was flying as if he had been doing it all his life. His pair of tiny wings glistened similarly to Rarity’s when she still had them, and he seemed ecstatic about the situation at hand.
Rainbow Dash leapt on the first available cloud while she processed what was happening. Spike was flying? Even after Spike explained, she was still having trouble truly realizing what had just happened. She only knew one thing for sure; she was really, really, really happy.
After Spike told Rainbow what was going on, they went for a slow fly. Rainbow Dash hadn’t flown so slowly in years, and it felt like she was being held back. Yet still, this was the best flying had ever felt for her. She was happy. She knew why.
Once they landed on a soft, billowy cloud, Spike and Rainbow simply talked. They talked about anything. Anything and everything they could think of poured out of their mouths. They didn’t care what they were talking about, only who they were talking to.
“You know, Dash, you didn’t get a chance to finish that last book,” Spike reminded his friend.
“I’ve got it here, Spike,” assured the Pegasus as she once again lightly nudged his chest with her nose.
The next few hours were spent with Rainbow reading and Spike listening. It truly was a great story, yet there was a different reason they were both so enticed.
After the book was finished, Rainbow lay down on the cloud while Spike yawned. “I really think I should go to bed,” he drearily spoke.
“Rainbow Dash lifted her wing, providing just enough room for Spike underneath it. “Oh? I had something a little different in mind.”
Spike slowly turned around to face Rainbow. As he did, he noticed something. Dash seemed to look a lot... cuter than she used to. Her light blue body provided a nice contrast to the sky, and she slowly moved her wing up and down in a gentle, breezy fashion. Her coat seemed sleeker and softer than he remembered, and her multicolored mane shone beautifully in the light of the moon. The lightning cutiemark on her rounded flank belied her brash nature, yet here she seemed so calm. Rainbow’s baby blue eyes seemed to beg for Spike to come closer and embrace her, to hug her and gently massage her warm, soft flank while she sighed contentedly, to stay with her, to love her.
As Spike crawled under Rainbow’s wing, fully knowing what she wanted him to do to her, he thought to himself. Twi was right. My opinions did change.