//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Rainbow Dash's Spike 
// by Lenora Goff 
//------------------------------//

Humming.

Hummus.

I could use some hummus right now, on some bread. Man, I always seemed to think about food when I wake up. Maybe it’s something about maintaining this much awesome, or flying, but I’m always really hungry when I wake up. That aside, I really feel like I should know this humming. The voice sounds familiar enough, though I’m not sure why she came to my cloud house. 

Did I invite her?

I open my eyes, snap them open is more accurate, to see that I’m nowhere near my cloud house. I almost panic, but then it hits me. I never actually got back to my cloud house. It all comes back, the previous night when I had spent over an hour flying around after the date. It still felt awesome to think about it. 

The flight, that is, the time afterward was alright.

That still didn’t answer the question of where I was. When I finally looked around, my head still groggy from the sleep, the question was quickly replaced with another question. Now I knew where I was, I was at Fluttershy’s cottage. The question that came to my mind was why I was here, out of all of the places that I might have gone. Part of me had thought that I might have been at the library, that would have made more sense than coming here. Don’t get me wrong, Fluttershy is a good friend and I love spending time with her.

But I have no idea why I’m here right now.

“Oh, hey Rainbow. I was just getting done with breakfast.” It seemed kind of strange that she wasn’t shocked, or at least wasn’t showing it, that I had just shown up. “W-what are you doing here? I mean, it isn’t like I don’t enjoy your company, but you normally don’t just show up out of nowhere. And I can’t even remember the last time you slept in the tree outside.” It seems as though I had thought that too soon. “Oh my gosh, I should have let you in. You shouldn’t have had to sleep out there. I shou-”

I had to cut her off, it always hurt when she blamed herself for something that she couldn’t have known about.

“Actually, ‘Shy, I was just kind of flying around and found a comfortable tree.” Should I admit that I didn’t know why I was here? Part of me knew that honesty was the best policy, but something told me that it was better to just let her think that I chose this tree for a reason. It would probably hurt her feelings if I said otherwise. “And this tree is really comfortable.”

“Wait... flying around?”

“Yeah, I had a lot to think about. Last night was a big night, after all.”

It was almost as if my words had opened up some sort of gate. The normally timid Fluttershy smiled even wider, and actually flew up to give me a giant hug. It felt nice, but I couldn’t think of anything that I had done lately to really get a hug. I mean, a hug from Spike would make sense. The girls seemed to give hugs on a normal basis when we were all in a group, but Fluttershy didn’t strike me as a pony who gave a lot of hugs.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

I was lost.

“Errr.... you’re welcome.”

“Why don’t we go inside, get some tea, and I’ll tell you all about it?”

I was still half-asleep, none of that made any sense. Also, if this was anypony else I would have said no to the tea. This was Fluttershy, nopony could say no to tea with Fluttershy. Besides, she had some good news. Maybe she would be able to help me figure out what it was that was bothering me. Those might be two separate subjects, but still. I’d go in, listen to her talk about whatever it was that had happened to her, and then I’d tell her about everything that had happened the night before.

No names, though, I wasn’t sure if Spike was ready to tell anypony.

“Sure. Some tea would be nice.”

Of course, there was one bunny that was determined to make the good morning into something else. I don’t think I will ever understand what Fluttershy sees in that bunny, that demonic creature named Angel Bunny. It seems as though, without fail, that little creature bounces right on my head when I come over to the cottage. The only times that doesn’t happen are centered around him not being around.  Today was a day when he was around, and so my head got bounced on.

According to Fluttershy, that means he likes me.

I’d rather not be liked by Angel if that’s what it means.

There isn’t a lot for me to do, other than sit around and wait for the tea. Fluttershy seems like she’s off somewhere else, a wide smile on her face as she makes the tea. If my eyes don’t deceive me, the bags she chose are ones that she usually shares with Rarity. Of course, I only have the color of the label to go by. I don’t really have much expertise in it, either, meaning there’s a great chance that something could be wrong in my expert analysis.

I probably was, especially since I was still yawning every so often.

“It’s nice having you over early, I know you usually like to sleep in.”

This was true. My shift was even in the afternoon a lot of the time, just to compensate for that. Then again, I made my hours. They didn’t care about when I came in, as long as I got the jobs for the day done. They always had a list, and it was usually a rather big list, for the things that had to be done that day. Sweet Apple Acres needed rain, and they needed it frequently. There were orders for cloud cover over portions of the town for a perfect picnic. Sometimes, the mayor would request a rainy day to help with her flowers.

They knew who could get all the cloud moving, busting, and almost any other weather job done. 

“Yeah, I’m kinda shocked I’m awake this early too. It’s... different.” I moved a hoof over my face, trying to wake myself up.

“If you’d like, I could put something extra in yours. It might help wake you up.”

That was Fluttershy, always trying to help. When ponies were around her, they couldn’t help but smile. It was impossible to be sad around my good friend Fluttershy. It was also impossible to be really mad, though she did get frustrating sometimes. Right now, though, all I could do was smile and give an enthusiastic nod. “That would be great of ya, ‘Shy.” I didn’t have much to do that day, but it would still probably be nice to do something else. Maybe I could spend some time with my friends, or maybe I could go hang out at the library and see about the next Daring Do.

Either way, I’d have to be awake.

“The tea should be done in about a minute.” A hoof moved to the back of my head, and I rubbed it. Something still seemed a bit weird. I had done her a favor, and for the life of me I still couldn’t think of what it could be. The last thing I had done was tell her to go to Rarity, but that had been all her.

It had to be something I wasn’t thinking of.

“And it’s ready.” I looked over, and the cup was being brought over to the table. It was steaming, but that was generally the case when you just finished tea. Even I knew that.

“It looks delicious.” I say that every time, and it turns out to be true about half of it.

“Thank you. I tried something new, just for you.” 

That meant that it was either going to be awesome or terrible, but I’d say it was awesome either way. 

“While we’re waiting for it to cool a little, why don’t we talk?” Fluttershy, contrary to how she acts around a group of ponies, loves to talk when she’s with a few friends. If she has something that she wants to talk about, like she obviously does right now, then getting her to stop is almost impossible. “I mean... if you don’t mind, that is.”

“Of course I don’t mind, Shy. I mean, you were going to tell me about... something.” It was better that I didn’t guess, I might have gotten it wrong. I mean, for all I knew there was something that she thought I did. It could have been some sort of perfect weather thing that helped her take care of her little critters.

“Oh, last night was the most perfect night ever.” Okay, so I had been right. I couldn’t help it, my smile got a little wider. “I couldn’t have done it with you, Rainbow. You’re the best friend anypony could ever ask for.”

That seemed like a bit too much praise. “Huh?”

“Oh, right, you weren’t there.” I saw her take a sip of her tea, which meant I probably could too. When I did, my eyes grew wide. This couldn’t have been tea, this was far too awesome to be tea. It was the second best drink I had ever had. The first was Sweet Apple Acres apple cider, but that was impossible to beat. “I’m really glad you like it.”

Not only did it taste good, but I felt more awake.

“Okay, so remember how you told me to go tell Rarity? I... I went over there that night, just as planned.” I nodded, I really liked where this was going. If she was happy, then she had been able to tell Rarity. Things couldn’t have gone bad from there, if she was this happy. 

“Yep, and you told me to go tell my crush.”

“I remember that.” Fluttershy didn’t ask anything yet, she seemed to be focused on her story. Maybe she would ask me afterward. “Well, you see, we had the most wonderful meal. Rarity thought that it was just like any other time that I came over to talk about something, and at first... I couldn’t come out and say it. I didn’t know what I was going to do.” I saw her look down, a blush appearing on her face. She nibbled on her lip, and I simply waited and took another drink. “Well, it was about the time that you told me you were going to start the rain that if finally went through my head. I finally knew what I had to do. Oh, you would have been so proud of me.” 

I was lost, so lost, and it was obvious to anypony who looked at my face.

“I thought to myself ‘what would Rainbow Dash do’. I mean, you’re always able to think of something, always so... confident.” Part of me knew where this was going, but I wanted to hear it from Fluttershy. I wanted to hear from her that I had been the cause of the kiss. That’s where it seemed like it was going, anyway, since that seemed like something I would do. Hay, that was something that I actually did to finally tell Spike how I felt. “And so I walked up to her. She seemed nervous at first, but then I quickly pressed my lips against hers.” I officially felt horrible. It had been a bit of an abstract concept, I think that’s what Twilight calls it anyway, to think that I caused this.

I kept the smile on my face, though, I couldn’t let her see that I felt bad.

I hadn’t had to think about it before.

“And that worked, just like that?” Part of me knew the answer, but I had to ask anyway. It wasn’t as if she was trying to do something that was going to hurt me, it just turned out that way because of the things I did.

Right or wrong, good or bad, I had set everything in motion.

I just hoped that Spike wouldn’t stop loving me when he found out the truth.

“Well, no, not initially.” It felt strange, but that was a little bit of a relief. “She seemed confused at first, and it almost felt as though she was going to pull away.” A blush appeared on my friend’s face. “In the end, though, she didn’t. It was the most magical thing I had ever felt.”

At least I had gotten that right.

“What did I tell ya, Shy? Rarity is the type that has to be swept off her hooves.” 

At this point, Fluttershy just nodded to me. “You were right. Oh, it felt so good being so... assertive. I’m so glad you’re my friend, Rainbow. I don’t know what I would have done without your advice.”

Somehow, that felt like being punched in the gut. I still smiled, though, because at least everything had turned out perfectly. Rarity and Fluttershy, Spike and I, we were all together and happy. I would fight my hardest to make sure that we all stayed happy.

-To Spike!-

I might be growing up, but sometimes it seems like I’m getting tired quicker. It might have been the events of the day before, I generally didn’t do much other than clean and cook, but I hadn’t slept that well in a long time. I could even swear that I hadn’t been woken up, but it felt later than normal.

Wait, I slept it?!

“I’m sorry, Twilight! I’ll work twice as fast to make up fo-”

I looked around the bedroom, and nopony was there. Room by room, I looked for her. It felt strange to realize that Twilight wasn’t there. If she wasn’t here, then I knew she had left a list and a letter. She wasn’t the type to just leave me high and dry, or whatever the saying was. She would want things done, and I was her number one assistant.

That meant that I was the one who got things done, mostly.

My eyes finally caught sight of a piece of paper.

Dear Spike,

Please never worry me like that again. I knew you were going to go ask Rarity to go out on a date, but I guess I thought that it might end sooner than it did.

That didn’t make any sense. My date last night went about the normal amount of time, right? I’m no master of dating, but it seems like a date should probably be longer. Rainbow and I didn’t know a lot about what to say, we were both nervous, and a lot of the time was just eating food. 

Maybe it would have been different if I had gone out with Rarity, but this wasn’t a time for what-if. I had gone out with Rainbow, a mare who I loved.

Why did it still hurt to think about seeing Rarity last night? I had to continue the letter, though, there was more.

And you slept through me trying to wake you up. I guess last night really was exciting for you, though, you probably wore yourself out. That’s why I decided to do the chores myself, you just rest. I wouldn’t want my number one assistant to work himself too hard.

Okay, that was weird. I couldn’t remember the last time that I had a day off. My birthday, or more accurately my hatching day, seemed to be such an occasion. Sometimes, I’d have to do less. It mostly depended on what Twilight did, my workload increasing if she made a huge mess.

I didn’t know what I’d do with that time.

If you’re wondering where I went, today is the day that I normally go with Rarity to the spa. She absolutely won’t take no for an answer sometimes. It does feel good to be pampered every once in a while, too. I’ll just have to study extra hard when I finally get back home.

That was the Twilight I knew.

I had forgotten about their spa days, so that made sense. I knew that Fluttershy did it, that just felt normal. Another thing was that I knew Rainbow didn’t like to do it, Applejack didn’t seem like the type either. I doubt that Pinkie could be kept contained for long enough for any of the spa. I guess the only two ponies that made sense for her to take were Fluttershy and Twilight.

Okay, I need to finish the letter and figure out what to do with myself.

Have fun, enjoy the day. Just make sure that you don’t get in too much trouble. I should be back in time for dinner. If you could have it ready around 5:00PM, I’d be grateful.

Your friend,
Twilight

There was almost nothing in that letter that made much sense at this point. I hadn’t done anything to warrant a day off. I didn’t know why a spa day would take all day, unless she was doing more than that. I also didn’t know why she was acting different than normal. It wasn’t like her to just tell me that I could do almost whatever I wanted.

Everything was structured, and that wasn’t something bad.

Maybe everything would make sense later, once Twilight came back.