//------------------------------//
// Turn for the Awkward 
// Story: A Game of Survival 
// by Cabensis 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 4


Turn for the Awkward



***


Spike's head felt heavy and his body dormant as he lay on a soft surface. Wherever he was, he couldn't move a muscle and his face was coated with something... waxy.

If I'm dead right now, this really isn't what I thought it'd be like.

As the drake lay there in a void of mostly nothingness he pondered his life choices. Him choosing to be Twilight's assistant. Him choosing to move to Ponyville with her. Him choosing to help her with her ambitions.
He remembered meeting the ponies that became Twilight's closest friends. He remembered the countless adventures he were left tending to the library. He remembered... a dash of rainbow.

A rainbow?

Why did that symbol fill him with courage but also dread?

Just as Spike mulled this over, the darkness that clouded his senses slowly lifted. Sounds started to fade back into the world.

"...h...d..es..thi...d...?"

"O...! D..n't u.... th...t!"

"Wh...not?"

"Beca..se it's not f..r mak....vers!"

There was a slight pause in the muffled conversation.

"Hey, girls? I think he's waking up." he could hear a familiar voice say, loud and clear.

"What?! Oh yes! I've been waiting for this!" an equally familiar raspy voice responded, followed by an uncharacteristic giggle.

He could hear bodies shifting and hooves clopping against a wooden surface, probably to move to observe this pony waking up. 

"Dear... maybe you put on too much lipstick?"
"What's your point?"

"Well, he looks hideous."

There was a short pause.

"Again, what's your point?"

Spike was overwhelmed by curiosity. Who was this poor guy? And more importantly, why had these ponies destroyed his life? Against better judgement, and his tiredness, he opened his eyes and sat up straight. The light hit his eyes hard, causing him to hold up a claw to shield his face. When his eyes finally had adjusted to the light, he looked at the scene in front of him.

All of his six closest friends were standing in a half-circle around him, looking at him with various expressions, ranged from 'pity' to 'pure glee'. The expression of 'pure glee' belonged to a pegasus he knew all to well. She also seemed to have trouble holding back tears, as she bit her lower lip to keep them from pouring out.

"Hey... girls? What's up with everypony?" Spike asked.

There was no way Rainbow could hold back now.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!" her laughter roared through the library.

Rainbow collapsed on the floor, so Spike took a gander at his other friends. Fluttershy and Rarity both tried to look away, while Applejack and Twilight both had compassionate looks in their eyes. That didn't stop a few chuckles from escaping though.

"Why is everypony looking at me like that?" Spike asked grumpily.

Twilight cleared her throat, "Ehhm, you might want to take a look in the mirror."

As she finished her sentence she picked Spike up with her magic and levitated him over to a nearby mirror.

One look was all it took to shatter Spike's soul into tiny pieces.
His now hideous self consisted of a bright blonde wig, almost the size of his head, a pink frilly dress and a pair of heels that didn't even match. His face was covered with white face-paint, bright blue eyeshadow and the thickest layer of red lipstick he had ever seen. He also wore a couple of gaudy armbands and necklaces.

As he observed his new unholy self he heard a soft 'clicking' noise. Whirling around at the distinct sound he found Rainbow holding a small camera, grinning widely.

Spike could feel his eye twitch. "Rainbow, give me that camera."

Rainbow spread her wings in a defensive stance. "You'll have to pry it from my dead cold hooves!"

"No seriously, you don't wanna make this dragon mad."

"What dragon? All I can see is a 'cute' little pink princess!" Rainbow taunted.

Oh, that was IT. The battle between good and evil had just begun. With the deepest  war-cry Spike could muster, he charged at the light blue menace before him, while said menace cackled viciously and flew up off the ground.

The rest of the gang watched them for a while from a safe distance, until Applejack broke the silence.

"Maybe we should stop 'em?"

Twilight waved a dismissive hoof, never taking an eye off the scene. "Nah, it's okay. I was shocked the first time they did this too, but I figured out that it's just their way of bonding."

"Rainbow Dash! I'm going to destroy you and everything you hold dear if you don't give me that bucking camera right now!!" a scream roared from the scene.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at Twilight, "It's jus' their way of bonding?" 

"Don't worry AJ, they always say stuff like that." Twilight assured, although her face scrunched up at hearing her assistant's foul language.

The chase of the young pegasus and dragon continued for a few minutes. Rainbow continued to taunt Spike from the air as he himself stumbled around in his outfit, getting more frustrated with each passing second. It wasn't until one of Spike's heels broke the chase came to a stop, with his face getting a date with the cold wooden floor. Rainbow floated down and prodded at one of his spines.

"Giving up, champ?" Dash smiled.

Spike groaned and lifted his head to meet the smug grin of his enemy. "You... wouldn't DARE show that to anypony."

"This," Rainbow pointed at her camera. "is between you and me. I got you back, so I'm good for revenge. For now at least." She said, looking annoyingly content with herself.

"Gee, how considerate of you." Spike muttered in response as Rainbow helped him up on his feet. As soon as he got stable on his two now uneven shoes, he immediately swiped after the camera in Rainbow's hooves. She dodged smoothly.

"Tsk, tsk, Spike. Why so worried? Isn't it nice and reassuring knowing that this one incredibly embarrassing picture is in the hooves of a good friend?

"That's exactly what worries me." Spike said as he rose to his feet once again, dusting himself off.


***


The group of best friends minus Spike and Rainbow soon returned to 'mindless' chattering. Spike had taken a bathroom break, and Rainbow found herself bored to death once again. She frowned at her situation when a different thought entered her mind.
Maybe I should at least try to enjoy myself? It's kind of lame that I need Spike around, I mean, I do have awesome friends. She thought. She decided to listen in on a conversation between Fluttershy and Rarity.

"...and then all the butterflies flew off in one big cloud of colors! I was so happy to see them sprout their wings." Fluttershy sighed happily. "Oh, speaking of colors, how's that new gown of yours coming along, Rarity?"

No, I can't do this. Rainbow thought, shaking her head and retreating to her spot.
It was hopeless trying to understand the inner workings of this 'party.'  Really, it had 'party' in it's name, but it was not even close to her definition of one. In retrospect though, talking with Pinkie Pie might have proven to be a bit more interesting than Fluttershy and Rarity.

"What's wrong Rainbow?"

Rainbow lifted her head up and found Applejack looking at her with a small smile. Dash plopped her head back down on her matress, mumbling into it, "Nothing."

She thought for awhile and then resumed talking.

"It's just that... this party is not really my stuff. How can you enjoy it as much as you do, Applejack?"

"Ta' be honest, it's not really my kind of party either. But if you take it for what it is, and maybe try a little, it can be kinda nice." Applejack answered.

"Already tried that. But I can't... I..."

Rainbow looked up, trying to find a good reason why, but soon sighed in defeat,

"...just can't."

"Is that why ya brought Spike?"

Rainbow stared at Applejack with slightly wider eyes. "How did you know that?"

Applejack gave her a knowing smile. "Ah know Spike would never join another one of these... events by himself. Last time he vowed highly that he'd never go through this again."

"What happened back then anyway?"

"Well, pretty much what happened today: He got cornered and was given a makeover against his will. Not the brightest day of his life Ah'm guessing." Applejack said with a sympathetic look. "He made us all Pinkie promise to not do it again. Unfortunately for him, you weren't there to make that promise."

Rainbow felt a tiny bit ashamed now that she knew what she'd put him through. 

"It didn't seem like a big deal to us, but Ah suppose being dressed up like a girl when you're a guy can be quite humiliating."

"He didn't tell me about any of this." Rainbow muttered. "He was sort of unwilling at first, but agreed to come anyway."

"Ah guess he really values your friendship."

Rainbow sighed deeply and buried her face in the matress she was lying on.  That idiot. He wouldn't have had to do this if he really didn't want to or just told her why. Sure, it had hurt when he so forcefully rejected her offer but... it's not like she couldn't have handled it on her own. She was more than capable of dealing with... boring stuff!

She lifted her head and glared at the stairs leading to the bathroom.


It's not like she was grateful or anything.


As she thought this, the door on top of the stairs slammed open.

"Finally got all that gunk off me." an unamused dragon muttered from the doorway.

"Spike!" everypony said in unison.

He had now washed every last bit of makeup off and safely tucked the dress away in his room for safekeeping. The Spike who greeted them this time was nowhere near the atrocius vision they had witnessed earlier.

"Alright ladies, enough with this chitter-chatter. I propose we play a little game." he continued, bringing his claws together in front of him as he descended the stairs.

"Oh, really?" Twilight said, 'skeptical' written all over her face. "What game might that be?"

Spike put on an evil grin. "Truth or dare."

The room simmered down quite a bit as Spike presented his idea. Pinkie immediately approved of it though.

"Oooo! A game! I love games!" She beamed, hopping in place.

Rarity was not as eager as Pinkie though.

"Spikey-wikey? Aren't we a little too old for that, hm?"

Spike reached his arms out in front of him. "Are you saying that you don't want to play a game where the deepest of secrets can be revealed? Secrets that you could never hope to tap into in idle conversation?"

"I... well... that's not really..."

"Come on Rarity! It'll be super-duperiffically FUN!" Pinkie interjected, still hopping in place.

"Hmph. I suppose I could join." Rarity complied.

Rainbow was nodding slowly as she thought about Spike's suggestion. He might use this opportunity to get back at her again, but she didn't really care. If it came to that, it'd be her way of saying sorry she forced the make-over on him. Only IF it came to that though. She'd still do everything in her power to avoid that, simply because Spike himself had been trying to rile her up earlier that evening.

"Alright Greenfire, I'm in!" 

Spike's smile became wider. "Thought as much, Speedyfast."

"Ya can count me in as well, sugarcube. Ah'm all for a battle of wits and endurance." Applejack chimed in, her face showing her iron determination.

Amidst the slowly increasing pool of players, Fluttershy was sweating bullets. A game that was about being forced to do stuff wasn't quite her cup of tea. Rarity saw her concern however.

"You don't have to play if you don't want to Fluttershy." She assured. "That's alright,  Spike?"

Spike scratched his chin and then shrugged. "I can understand that."

Fluttershy immediately loosened up, and let out a sigh of relief.

With that, only Twilight was left, and she still had a look of skepticism applied to her face.

"Twi?" Spike inquired.

Twilight groaned in reply. "I guess."

Almost all of her friends seemed to want to play, so Twilight didn't want to be the wet blanket. Besides, it was listed in the 'games'-section in Slumber 101 so it was a valid choice for entertainment.

"Excellent!" Spike announced, jumping into his rightful spot on the armchair. "I'll go first!"

Spike laughed inwardly as a plan formed in his mind. Rainbow Dash had fallen right into his trap! A perfect opportunity to take back what was his: dignity. Refocusing his thoughts he pointed an index claw at his rainbow-maned friend.

"Rainbow, truth or dare?" He asked with a wide grin.

"Truth."

"Alright, I dare you to... huh? What?!" Spike choked.

Rainbow turned her head to the side and lifted a hoof to her mouth, pretending to be shocked. "What? You expected me to choose 'dare'? I totally didn't see that coming." She snorted.

Spike furrowed his brow. "B-but, truth is boring! I thought you of all ponies wanted to face a dare!"

"Anything to see you squirm. Truth please."

"You're dead to me." Spike growled, to which Rainbow simply grinned at him.

Well, so much for that plan. His turn was pretty much wasted the moment Rainbow had chosen 'truth,' so he didn't spend any time thinking of a good question.

"Okay, prepare yourself to reveal a truth, boring mare whom I now consider a wimp. What is your favourite color?" 

Dash grumbled at Spike's insult, but did not hestitate in answering.

"Rainbow."

Spike gave Dash an unamused stare.

"No. I said color. Rainbow is not a color."

"It is."

"It's not."

"Rainbow is my favourite color, short stack."

"Except it's NOT a color you nimrod! Choose a single streak of your mane!"

"N-nimrod?!"

Rainbow looked visibly annoyed and Spike equally so as they each tried to stare the other down.
Pinkie giggled while she observed the scene. "Hey! This is just like how Mr. and  Mrs. Cake acts some days!" She scratched her head. "Only with just a teensy tinsy bit more name-calling."

Rainbow and Spike simultaniously looked at Pinkie, then at each other. The thoughts that ran through both of their heads were understood by both parts. They were acting like a married couple.

"No way." Dash uttered.

Spike lowered his eyebrows and looked down to the side. "Ha. As if we would ever."

"Yeah." Dash grunted bitterly. "As if." 

Pinkie looked back and forth between the pair, and soon an evil plan was a-brewing in her mind. Romantic tension? She knew just the thing to ease that up. Match-maker Pinkie Pie was a 'go'!

With Rainbow Dash's final words, Twilight decided the turn was over, lest they'd be playing the game until late into the night the NEXT day.

"Alright," Twilight said, "moving right along..."

"Wait, we haven't resolved the whole 'color' question yet!" Spike interjected.

Spike was completely and utterly ignored as Twilight pointed a hoof at Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow, it's your turn now. Remember that you can't choose Spike because he was the one who asked you." Twilight reminded.

"Right, right." Rainbow mumbled, glancing around the room, past an unusually quiet Pinkie Pie, past an uninterested Rarity, until her eyes finally fell upon her old rival.

"Uhhh... AJ? Truth or dare?"

Applejack smiled, and said in a challenging tone, "Dare."

"Huh. Okay, wait right here." Rainbow said and left for Twilight's kitchen.

Applejack cocked her head to the side, confused as to what Rainbow had up her sleeve. It wasn't before too long Rainbow came out again, balancing a spherical, bright orange fruit on her head.

"Right, 'Orangejack'." Rainbow Dash smiled. "I dare you to eat this orange, and tell me you like it!"

Applejack felt the color drain from her face.

She hated oranges.


***


"Okay Pinkie, what do you want? Truth or dare?" Twilight asked.

"Give me the 'D'" Pinkie said gleefully, promting a snort from both Spike and Rainbow Dash.

"A dare?" Twilight asked for confirmation, while she shot the duo a disapproving look.

"Yeppers peppers!"

Twilight thought. Hard. What would one dare Pinkie to do? She could probably do anything without trouble. She wanted something that would be at least a litte difficult for the party pony.

"Pinkie Pie, I dare you to..."

Twilight got it.

"...fly!"

Pinkie's smile fell a little. "What? Earth ponies can't fly silly."

Twilight lowered her eyebrows. True, normal earth ponies couldn't fly. But Pinkie was no normal earth pony. Twilight had observed her abilities several times, and they still bothered her to no end. If she could just solve one teensy mystery regarding this pink enigma, she could die happy.

"I've seen you float around several times!"

Pinkie's smile returned, full force. "Oh, floating? That's like, an entirely different thing!"

Twilight gave Pinkie a look implying she thought the pink mare was mad.

"You just have to follow your feelings to float! I've seen Spike do it before actually." Pinkie continued.

"WHAT?! SPIKE!" Twilight shouted in disbelief.

Spike shrugged  and smiled deviously at the studious mare. Although he had no idea what Pinkie was on about, he could see that Twilight was going places. "It's not THAT hard Twi."

Twilight's eyes narrowed, and she was about to tell her assistant about the logical impossibilities behind being able to float without magic or wings, before being interrupted by a friendly alabaster hoof on her shoulder.

"Twilight. Just let it go, it's not really worth thinking about." Rarity said reassuringly.

Twilight looked up at Rarity a short moment and then let out a deep sigh.

"Alright, Pinkie. Just float a bit for me then, I guess."

Pinkie frowned slightly. "That's impossible! Earth ponies can't float!"

Twilight's eye twitched. She was tired, and now felt a headache starting to prod on the inside of her skull.

"I, Twilight Sparkle, dare you, Pinkamena Diane Pie, to simply fetch me a broom so I can bash my head with it repeatedly until I pass out. Then you can have your turn."

"Okie dokie!" Pinkie complied, pulling a small broom out of her mane and handing it to the grumpy unicorn.

While both Applejack and Fluttershy tried to prevent Twilight from giving herself brain damage, Pinkie adorned a face of somepony thinking deeply. 

But that was just a façade. It was finally her turn, and she knew exactly who she wanted to dare, and what she wanted to achieve with it. All she had to do was hope that he'd pick 'dare'.

"Spikey, I choose you! What's it gonna be, a truthing truth or a daring dare?"

Spike wasted no time answering. "Dare obviously. It's the only way to play this game."

Bingo.

Pinkie giggled almost menacingly. When she had observed her two bickering friends fight earlier, a series of twitches, eye-flutters and ear-flops resonated through her body. Not even she herself had completely figured out what it meant, but it sort of meant that someponies were about to become... better acquainted. It was a tricky combo to read nontheless.

"I dare you to spend 7 minutes in heaven,"

Spike said nothing as he thought about it. 7 minutes in heaven? Sure, if he had been any other guy, he would be in a pretty good spot. Being in a room alone with one of six beautiful mares was something stallions dreamed of.

For him though, he sensed it was going to take a turn for the awkward, and his prediction came to pass as Pinkie finished her sentence.

"with Dashie."

Now, Spike sat beside Rainbow as he had done the whole evening to this point. But now he was very careful with avoiding eye contact with her.

Rainbow stayed deathly quiet as well. That was one thing that surprised Spike, that she hadn't objected to the idea as soon as it left Pinkie's lips.

Did she actually think about it? What would that mean? Or was she just deciding wether she should bolt for the window or the door?

Dang that thought hurt.

Still, it's validity was clear and probable. Sure, Dash was his friend, and a very close one at that, but there were limits to what a 'friend' could do. Besides, he wasn't the coolest guy on the planet. Dash surely wanted the best, and he was not it. And even on the off-chance that she would agree to this stupid dare, he wasn't sure he wanted to go through with it himself.

"Pinkie, I refuse your dare."

Pinkie gasped, and so did everypony else in the room, although to a lesser extent.

Rainbow snapped her head towards the dragon beside her, mouth agape. Man, she felt weird now. Almost insulted in fact. Dares could be tough, hard to pull off or extremely embarrassing, but why was it that spending 7 minutes alone with her made him go so far as to refuse it? She couldn't fathom the reasoning behind his 'rejection'.

"Spike, I refuse your refusal!" Pinkie insisted, pointing her two front hooves at him. "You've been dared, you must do as I say!"

Spike grumbled. "Hmph! That may be... but Dash isn't a part of this dare! She doesn't have to!"

The small dragon turned to his prismatic-maned friend for the first time, smiling widely. "Right Dash?"

When he didn't get a response immediately, he opened his eyes and found Rainbow looking at him with fiery eyes.

"Uhh..." Spike droned, unsure what to make of her expression.

"So, you can't possibly stand the idea of being alone with me, huh?"

"What?"

"Is that what you're saying?"

"Wait, are you mad?" Spike asked, squinting his eyes as if he could understand her better if he did.

"Am I not good enough or something?" Rainbow pressed, "Is that it?"

Spike collected his thoughts. She was now accusing him of implying that she was not good enough for him.  He had only thought of her and considered her feelings on this matter, so how it had come to this, he had no idea. It annoyed him increasingly that his good intetions had the reverse effect on his friend. She wanted him to go through with the dare so bad? Well, she'd have it her way then! 

Spike turned to Pinkie, ignoring Rainbow's previous question. "Dash seems very eager on having those 7 minutes with me, so I guess I'll do it."

"What?! I was not 'eager'!" Rainbow defended.

"Yay!" Pinkie clopped her hooves together in excitement and searched around the library. Books, books, bookshelves, more bookshelves, Twilight fighting Applejack off with a broom, Fluttershy cowering behind a chair, and- "AHA!" When she spotted the nearby wardrobe she pointed at it.

"Okay! Get in there you two!"

Rainbow mumbled something to herself and slowly floated over to the wardrobe. Spike followed suit, minus the floating,  also grumbling to himself.

"Have a great 7 minutes guys! Promise me you wont go too wild though!" Pinkie teased, slamming the doors in their faces.

As the darkness of the closet fell over the two individuals, they both realized that they had probably made a huge mistake.