“Enough about me, though, I’d like to hear more about you.” It seemed, to me at least, like a fairly obvious thing. I had been asked to talk about myself, had even gone so far as tell her one of my biggest problems, but I still didn’t know anything more about her. That was something that I was going to fix, right here and now.
“Sure, what do you want to know?”
That was the difficult question, wasn’t it?
“Hmm…” I took a breath, looked up, and then kept trying to think of one question, any question. There was one thing that I had been wondering for a long time, and this seemed like a perfect time as any. “There has been one thing that I’ve been wondering for a long time.”
“Oh?”
“Why weather patrol?”
I saw her look at me, her smile still there. “Because I’m good at it.”
“Good at … kicking clouds?”
I saw her roll her eyes, the smile still there. “There’s more to it than that, Spikey. You have to know about different weather patterns, you have to be able to make sure that everything works together. Too much rain, and it’s as much a disaster as not enough.” She looked at me, a serious expression having overtaken the smile. “And then there’s the Everfree Forest, it throws off a lot of plans.”
“Wow, that sounds like … a lot of work.”
“Not really, I’m good at it. I get most of it done pretty quickly.” The serious expression was gone again, the arrogant smile that I knew her for was back. “I mean, they don’t give scholarships to just anypony. You’d have to be pretty smart to go to Cloudsdale University without paying a single bit.”
That was something I didn’t expect, and my expression probably showed it.
“Don’t let any of the others know, but I graduated with honors. I could get the girls to call me ‘Doctor Rainbow Dash’, or maybe it’d be ‘Doctor Dash’ .” The smile on her face was still there, but for some reason she had looked up. It was almost as if she was trying to figure out which one was the right one.
“That’s really cool … egghead.” I snickered, but she simply looked down at me with a frown on her face.
“I am not an egghead. This sort of thing is really cool, it’s not all book-y. It’s-”
“I was just kidding, Rainbow. What you do sounds way too cool to be egghead-y in any way.”
She looked relieved, and soon enough she was even smiling again. I still don’t know why, but for some reason I started to chuckle. Strangely enough, it seemed to be contagious. Soon enough, I wasn’t the only one chuckling.
“You’re a complicated mare, Rainbow.”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“This next one’s going to probably seem a bit weird…” I saw a confused look on her face. It was a question that I didn’t want to ask, but it was one that I needed to. After all, I hadn’t read many books on the subject. That was more of Twilight’s thing, I had hoped that I would be able to come up with this on my own. “What are ponies supposed to do on a date, anyway? I had been trying to get one, but beyond going to a restaurant and talking to each other? I’m stumped.”
“I think that’s it.”
“You think?”
I saw her look around, almost as if the next thing she was going to say was going to be some giant secret. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Sure thing.” I knew that wasn’t likely enough, so I started through the motions. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” I still don’t know why I’m starting to do that without being asked, it just feels right.
She leaned in, and I did the same. We were only a couple of inches away from each other when she lowered her voice to say what she said next. I hadn’t actually expected it, though I should have. “I’ve never actually been on a date before. I was almost on a date, but I faked being sick to get out of it at the last minute. I was just … too nervous. I haven’t told anypony else yet, it’s totally uncool.”
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”
“I know, Spike, you’re awesome.”
With that, we both sat back and looked at each other. It felt really good to be trusted like that. I knew two secrets, and they weren’t even small secrets. These were giant secrets that she likely hadn’t told anypony. At least, it didn’t seem to me like she had told anypony else. She might have told Fluttershy, actually, but those two were close enough to be sisters.
“So, Spike, what about you? Why haven’t you been on a date? I’m sure a handsome drake like yourself had to beat off the mares with a stick … figuratively speaking, of course.”
I couldn’t help it, I started to laugh.
“Not a single mare showed any interest in me … that I can remember.” I looked straight at Rainbow, the smile still there. “I had to spend a lot of my time making sure that Twilight was all right, or more accurately that the library books were back on their shelves. She studied even more than she does now.” I saw the look of disbelief, and I chuckled. “I know, it doesn’t sound possible.
Now she has you guys, and my workload still hasn’t changed much.”
Was I complaining? Did I have any room to complain? I wasn’t sure of either, but I didn’t want to be. This was supposed to be a fun little date … err a friend-date. It wouldn’t have been horrible if this had been an actual date, though.
Too bad Rainbow Dash wasn’t my type.
“I can’t believe that. You’ve gotta be pulling my leg.”
“No, really, Twilight studies less now. She’s with you guys so mu-”
“Not that.” I heard the sigh, almost as if she hadn’t expected to have to explain. “You’re awesome, cute, and you’re telling me that there wasn’t a single mare that was out there gave you a second look.”
It was that time again, time for me to blush. She was too kind, she just kept heaping praise in my direction. This wasn’t the Rainbow Dash that I had known, or at least it wasn’t a part of her that I had known. If it wasn’t for everything else tonight, I’d have to wonder if she had been replaced with a changeling.
Rainbow was just a lot more complicated than I thought she was.
“You’re too kind, Rainbow.”
She was kind, caring, loyal, strong. Those were things that made a great friend. I also knew that she could be beautiful, if she put her mind to it. Tonight was a good enough sign of that. The mare before me was everything that I could possibly want in a special somepony.
That couldn’t be right, though, Rarity was my special somepony. She … no, I shouldn’t have thought about her. Tears started to well up in my eyes, the thought stung worst than I had thought it would. The picture of Fluttershy kissing her, it rang through my mind. “I-I’ll be right back. I have to use the restroom.”
“Okay, don’t get lost on the way. The food should be here soon…”
Rainbow didn’t sound happy as she said that, but at that point my thoughts were on getting somewhere else. I would sit in the restroom for a while, try to get my thoughts away from my troubles, and come back out able to get through the rest of the evening.
-Switch to Rainbow-
Was it something I said?
I bore my secrets to him, let him know some of the things that I let few know. I told Fluttershy, but we are basically sisters. I can’t do much without telling her. She’s too important for me to keep some secret. I didn’t tell Applejack, Rarity, anypony on the Weather Team. Some of my family didn’t even know about the fact that I could be called Doctor Dash.
I paid for it myself, just to make sure of that.
I knew that he wouldn’t tell anypony, Spike was much too loyal for that.
I knew he wouldn’t run out, he was much too nice for that.
“You should tell him.” My good friend, Pinkie Pie, popped up out of nowhere. It seemed that she was good at that sort of thing, much to the chagrin of what everypony else referred to as the laws of nature.
“What if he never wants to see me again?”
“Why wouldn’t he want to see you again?”
“You know he doesn’t like me like that.”
“Do I? Do you?” Pinkie, while she may have a few screws loose, knew ponies. She knew what they were thinking, even when she didn’t let it out. I knew that she knew something I didn’t, I knew she was planning something. Not many ponies would actually put those two things together, planning with Pinkie, but I knew better than to believe that everything she did was really random.
I knew that she knew something.
“If you knew that, you wouldn’t have been so happy when he asked you out.”
“He calls it a friend-date.”
“Because that’s how he sees you right now, one of his best friends.”
“Exactly. And that’s all I’ll ever be.”
“And now you know how he must have felt around Rarity.” I hated it when Pinkie made sense, even more when it meant something like this. I didn’t stand a chance, he had never stood a chance. Part of me had always known that Rarity would turn him down, though it had never actually come to that.
Fluttershy had been quicker to know her feelings.
“You’re not helping, Pinks. I don’t want this to end like it did between him and Rares. I … I don’t think I could stand it.” Tears started to form in my eyes, which was the most uncool thing that could have happened. There was no rain to try to hide it, there was nothing. There was just a room full of ponies, and I was about to cry.
“There there, it’ll be alright. Auntie Pinkie won’t let anything like that happen to you. That’s why I’m here” She was patting me on the head, as if I was some sort of child. “I’m here to give you the only advice that you’ll need to make sure that he doesn’t leave this date the way he came.”
“That sounds … vague, but sure.”
“Be bold, be Rainbow Dash.”
That advice didn’t make any sense at all. I couldn’t be anypony but myself, I was never anything other than bold. This might have made sense to anypony else, but to me she might as well have spoken Prench. I looked over, ready to ask her what she meant, but she was gone.
How did she do that?
“Madam, your dinner is served.”
Two plates were sat on the table, one of them in front of me. I was kind of hungry, not having eaten dinner before now, yet I waited. I knew, somehow, that my Knight in Shining Scales would be coming out of the restroom soon. I didn’t know how I knew, but it was just a feeling.
“Thanks.”
“If you need anything else, please do not hesitate to ask.”
“Will do.”
There was only one thing that came to mind, something that I had to do soon if I wanted this date to end on a good note.
I had to tell him.
-What Spike was doing during that-
I didn’t know what to do.
This entire night hadn’t been perfect, but it had started to get better. I was with a friend, Rainbow, and we were having fun. I generally did have a lot of fun with Rainbow, she was somepony who I could trust. Tonight, she was showing off another side of her. I was being trusted with information that was, as she would put it, totally uncool.
She was being there for me, but that last thought about Rarity had sent me to the restroom crying.
I was being a horrible friend.
“You know what you have to do.” The voice wasn’t my own, it was actually a voice that came from the mirror. That might seem strange, given that voices didn’t typically come from mirrors, but the mare whose voice it was seemed to be an exception to the laws of nature.
“I have no idea Pinkie.” Why was she in the colts’ restroom anyway? I figured it wasn’t something I was going to get answered, though. No use asking a question if you know the answer isn’t coming. “I don’t even know why I came here.
“I thought you came here for a date…”
“I was going to, but then Rarity turned me down.”
“And now why are you here?”
“I don’t know, Pinkie, you tell me.”
“You’re going to have to figure that one out for yourself.” That sing-song voice was the last thing I heard before the mare disappeared again.
What did she mean by that? Had that even been Pinkie? I wasn’t sure, I couldn’t be sure. It hadn’t seemed much like the Pinkie I knew, but that didn’t mean much. It seemed like everypony around me had their secrets. Maybe I would eventually discover that even Twilight was hiding stuff from me.
Nah, that wasn’t likely. Twilight is horrible at keeping secrets, I learned that the hard way.
I had to figure out why I was here. I had asked Rainbow out with the idea of making her feel better. That was it, right? I figured we could both have some fun, and I could make sure she didn’t blame herself for what happened. All of that had made perfect sense at the time, especially given the fact that I already had made the reservation for this restaurant.
Then she had decided to wear the dress, which was expected, and get a complete makeover. Whether she did that for herself, or had a friend do it, I don’t know. The problem that came with it, though, was that she was beautiful. Most wouldn’t consider that a problem, but it was.
I continued to look into the mirror, my tears having dried up. It was a good thing that I didn’t wear makeup, that would have made this a lot more messy. I would probably have smeared something, I heard several mares talk about how they couldn’t cry when they wore that eye makeup.
It really was good to be a guy.
My problem wasn’t fixed, I still didn’t know why I was there, but I was starting to get hungrier. I hadn’t eaten dinner, or course, so it made perfect sense. At least I had gotten my mind off of the problem that had brought me in here. If I could keep focusing on Pinkie’s words, on figuring out the real reason behind this friend-date, then I could keep my composure.
That was the most important thing.
All right, it was time for me to get out there. I had to see how Rainbow was holding up, and I had to come up with an excuse. Maybe I could just tell her that it was a dragon health issue. That might get her worried, but at least she couldn’t refute it. Nopony around here, or at least nopony in the building, knew anything about dragons. I could get away with it, I’d just have to tell a little lie.