Rainbow Dash had never really been much of a morning pony, but waking up with a hangover wasn’t her idea of a good start to the day. That, coupled with a backache that felt like a dozen manticore fangs gouging at her spine, made this a morning she’d love to forget. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed further into the bed. Whatever she’d had to drink the night before, it had come back with reinforcements, beating at her skull with the might of a sledgehammer.
Dash flipped herself over, burying her head in the pillow to block out the sunlight. And that was when she noticed something hard pressed against the slope of her back. Whatever it was moved slightly, and delicate fingers absentmindedly traced patterns over her fur. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her ear.
“Ow,” she hissed. “What the…”
She moved a hoof to her ear, only to touch someone’s muzzle. Whoever was nibbling on her ear started to chuckle. The voice was familiar, but the pain in her head wouldn’t allow her to process it. She shuffled around to see who was sleeping next to her.
“So… warm.”
Rainbow Dash yelled in shock as she pulled herself from Spike’s grasp and leaped into the air. The action left her head spinning, though, and she fell back down onto the bed. The dragon himself yelped in surprise as he was knocked off and landed on the floor with a loud thump.
“My head,” he groaned in pain.
Rainbow Dash was too taken aback to say anything. Instead she peered over the edge of the bed. Spike looked up and their eyes met.
“What the… Dash?” He rubbed his eyes and blinked several times. “What are you… doing… here?”
Spike looked around, his eyes widening as he glanced from Dash to her house and back to Dash. Rainbow Dash frowned. How did he not know why he was in her house?
“Wait! What!” Spike squeaked, gripping the soft clouds protectively. “Dash, what the hay is going on? Why am I in a bed with you?”
“Dude, chill,” Rainbow growled. “I have a killer hangover, and you’re not helping. Pretty sure I’m gonna have a mark from that bite as well.”
“Bite?”
“Yeah, on my ear, you know, the one you were trying to eat,” she fumed, glaring at him. The anger and confusion was only making her headache worse. “You feel like telling me what you’re doing in my house?”
“I dunno,” Spike mumbled, glancing around fearfully. “Why do you think I would know any better than—”
They were interrupted by a loud, shrill alarm clock on Rainbow Dash’s bedside table.
“Dammit!” Rainbow Dash shouted furiously, grabbing the alarm clock and bashing it against the table. “Turn off, stupid thing!”
The ringing cut out sharply as the alarm clock cracked from the abuse it was receiving. Rainbow Dash sighed in relief. “Okay… I’m okay,” she mumbled shakily and began to get off her bed. The world spun and she found herself falling forwards.
“Hold on, I got you!” Spike said, rushing to catch her before she fell. Dash collapsed into Spike’s arms, feeling the long limbs wrap themselves around her. She gazed up into his worried eyes and blushed furiously.
“Lemme go,” Dash huffed. “I don’t need your help.”
“You were about to fall flat on your face. Should I just let you fall next time?”
“What would it matter, Spike? We’re surrounded by clouds for pony’s sake!”
Spike looked around, seeming to rediscover the fact that, yes, they were indeed in Rainbow Dash’s home. He smiled awkwardly. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right, but still, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Besides the giant headache, and waking up to you tearing off my ear? I’m just great.” She noticed him scratch the back of his head in embarrassment as she got back to her hooves. This time she managed to keep her balance.
“Heh, sorry about that,” he mumbled nervously.
“Do me a favor, would ya? There’s some painkilling herbs in the bathroom. Get them for me.”
“Sure.” He glanced up at her ear and gasped, “Wait a second, you’re bleeding.”
Rainbow Dash frowned and touched her ear. Her hoof came back down covered in blood.
“Great,” she huffed. “Just great. Get a bandage too.”
“Gotcha.” The young dragon made his way to the bathroom, his steps slightly unsteady. “You know I’m sorry, right?” the dragon called.
“Whatever,” Dash grumbled. “You still haven’t told me why you were biting my ear yet.” Spike didn’t respond. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a drop of blood falling from her ear to the floor.
Damn that hurts. I swear to Celestia I’ll kill Spike if this leaves a scar.
With nothing but the sound of Spike rummaging through distant cupboards, Rainbow Dash was left alone with her thoughts. Why was Spike in the same bed as her? She remembered drinking a lot of different drinks the previous night—so many that the names had blurred into one—but beyond that, she was only drawing up blanks. The one fact she knew for sure was that this could be nothing but trouble. She had woken up to Spike biting her ear! He was a good friend and all, but not being able to remember why the two had ended up in the same bed the night before was making her paranoid.
“Here.” Spike handed her the herbs and brought out a cloth. “Let me get that. Gotta make sure this doesn’t get all infected and stuff.”
The cloth made contact with the cut and Dash hissed in pain. “Ouch! What did you put on that thing?”
“Antiseptic, duh.”
Dash didn’t need to look around to know Spike was rolling his eyes as he continued to dab her ear. Slowly, though, the pain lessened to a dull ache. Instead, she could feel the cold and damp cloth wiping away the blood at the tip of her ear.
After a few seconds, Spike stopped wiping her ear and put a bandage on it. She winced slightly and turned around to glare at him as he pressed too hard. “Watch it, buddy.”
“Sorry,” Spike mumbled, smiling sheepishly. He pointed to the herbs in her hoof. “You want me to get you some water for that?”
Nonchalantly, Dash popped the greens into her mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed without so much as a gag at the bitter flavor.
“Or not,” Spike said, dumbstruck.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but feel smug about the latest in her long line of awesome feats. Another twinge in her head, however, reminded her that this morning was still far from ideal. She sighed and rubbed her forehead as she waited for the painkiller to take effect. “Okay. So what are you doing here?”
“No clue. All I know is I woke up to you screaming and pushing me onto the floor.”
“I was not screaming,” she snarled. “I was just surprised, okay?”
“Whatever you say, Dash,” Spike said, his voice coated with a few layers of sarcasm. “You feeling any better yet?”
“I’m getting there.” She scowled. “How come you look okay? I mean, you drank just as much as me in that drinking competition!”
“Oh yeah, the drinking game,” Spike gasped. “Wait, you realize it wasn’t a competition, right?”
“You made it a competition.”
“What do you mean?”
“You called me a lightweight!” Dash growled, pointing a hoof at him accusingly.
“Well, it’s nice to know you remember that much,” Spike chided. “And I didn’t mean that as a challenge, you know. You almost won, at any rate.”
“Hey, I did win!” she challenged. “You cheated.”
Spike rolled his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. “This again?”
“Well your hangover doesn’t seem so bad,” Dash huffed irritably. “How much of that alcohol did you actually drink?”
Spike scrunched his face in thought. “Err… I don’t really know. I can’t remember much of what happened last night.”
“Well that makes two of us. I guess.” Dash glanced around the room. “You think anyone else will know?”
“Maybe we could ask Twilight? She was here for the party, wasn’t she?
“Dude, I can’t fly that far like this.” She rubbed her hoof against her temple for emphasis. She paused and wrinkled her nose. “Jeez… and I think we could both use a shower before we go anywhere. There’s another bathroom down the hall, use that one.”
“Fine,” Spike sighed. “But then we see Twilight, okay?”
“Whatever…” Dash sighed and began walking towards her bathroom. Her headache had receded to just a dull ache. It was still irritating, but no more than Spike was—just about bearable.
As she entered the bathroom, she quickly flew up and kicked the small thundercloud that acted as a shower. Flying back down, she trotted under the downpour and sighed in relief; the water was cold and she shivered as the chilling jet stream fell onto her mane and ran down her back. She stood still, enjoying the feel of the water droplets dripping off her muzzle and running down her neck.
Though the shower was calming, her mind was a bit more turbulent. After running over every possible theory for waking up in bed with Spike, she wasn’t liking many of the ones she had thought up. Either Spike was really bad at playing drunk pranks or she had thought it would be funny to kidnap him while inebriated. Those were the preferable theories, at least. She wasn’t sure she wanted to even consider the other possibilities.
She stood there a few minutes longer, humming quietly to herself as she let the last few remnants of the previous night drain away before she climbed out, shaking water off each leg. She slung a towel around her neck and rubbed her mane down to a fluffy but dry mess—just the way she liked it. She dropped the towel on the floor and inspected her appearance in the mirror above the sink.
Although the rest of her was fresh and clean, heavy bags hung under her bloodshot eyes. For just a moment she wished she had some of that make-up Rarity liked so much, but as quick as the thought had come, it vanished.
“Damn, that was a rough night,” she muttered aloud.
Suddenly a wave of nausea flooded across her head, and she slumped against the wall.
“Eurgh, you’re kidding me,” she moaned and staggered past the sink. She already knew what was coming next, and braced herself as whatever she’d had to drink last night came rushing back up her throat. It came in waves, and when the tide finally fell, she slumped over the toilet bowl. She was thankful that nopony, least of all Spike, was there to see her.
“Merciful Celestia,” she whined. “I’m never drinking again.”
She knew she was never going to keep that promise.
She twisted the tap in the sink, watching the water gush out. Leaning down, she lapped it up eagerly to fill the big void in her stomach.
“Dash?” Spike called, knocking on the door. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Nah, it’s nothing.” Rainbow turned off the faucet, wiping her mouth clean. “Just the booze taking its toll, I guess. I’ll be over it soon.”
“If you say so,” Spike said as he entered. He didn’t sound very convinced. “But you still don’t look so good,” he continued, eyeing her up and down. “I can carry you on my back if you want.”
“What?” She snorted in disbelief. “You think you can carry a pony?”
“I’ve been flying for years now,” he said, ignoring the sceptical look she gave him. “And you’re pretty small for a pegasus, aren’t you?”
“I am not small!” Rainbow Dash huffed, stomping her hoof in protest. “There’s no way you’re gonna…” Spike raised his eyebrow at her cockily. “…You know what? Fine. Just let me finish up here, and we’ll see how strong you are.”
The dragon grinned smugly and left the bathroom. Dash turned round and quickly brushed her teeth and threw her towel into the laundry basket. Satisfied with her quick wash, she walked out the bathroom and looked for Spike.
“You ready?” Spike asked as he lounged lazily on her bed. His lackadaisical attitude—and lack of a hangover, for that matter—was starting to get on her nerves.
“Yeah, just get off my bed.”
Spike did as he was told and waited patiently for her to hop onto his back, his tail swaying idly from side-to-side. Meanwhile Dash picked up her duvet from the floor and chucked it lazily across her bed. She needed to wash that thing out soon. There were some new stains in it.
Satisfied with her bed, she turned around and fluttered weakly onto his back, wrapping her forelegs as best as she could around and neck. She felt like he was giving her a very awkward piggyback. Spike grunted as he flapped his wings and slowly took into the air. They hung in the air for a few moments.
“What’s the holdup?” Dash complained.
“Just… give me a sec… while I get the hang of it,” the dragon huffed.
“Not so easy, is it,” Rainbow Dash snickered, a smug smile dancing across her lips.
Spike looked as if he was about to say something else, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he leaned forward and launched into the wall, cloud vapour spraying their faces.
“You could’ve used the door!” Rainbow shouted in indignation.
“That’s what I tell you every time you come crashing through the library window.”
Instead of replying, Rainbow Dash growled irritably in response. She hated it when other ponies had a point. She buried her muzzle into his back and squeezed her eyes shut, ignoring the dragon’s badly stifled laughter. She was also also trying to avoid another incident; his rhythmic wing beats weren’t making her feel any better.
Once again, the pegasus let her mind wander onto other things. She deliberately avoided theories for Spike’s presence at her house this time. Instead she thought about what else had happened the previous night. Besides a few board games, Twilight’s terrible dancing and that drinking game, it was mostly just a load of blank spaces. What had she been drinking? Why had Spike called her a lightweight? And what in Equestria had Twilight been wearing? Twilight Sparkle knew how to pick the worst possible dress. Rainbow Dash was no fashion guru, but she knew a bad outfit when she saw one.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash was snapped back to reality by a sudden jolt as Spike made impact with the earth.
“You can look now, we’re here,” Spike announced victoriously. “Told you I could carry you. You really are a small pony, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she replied lamely. She hopped down from his back, legs still wobbling. Thankfully, the incentive of hard earth rather than fluffy clouds underneath her was enough to keep her on her hooves, and both of them made it to the library without a hitch. Spike pushed open the door and motioned for her to go inside.
As the two entered, Spike called up the stairs, “Twilight? You here?”
“Spike?” a familiar voice asked as the princess herself stepped into the room from the kitchen. Her face seemed to light up with both joy and anger as she laid eyes on Spike.
“There you are!” Twilight gasped. “Where were you? Do you know how worried I was?”
“Uh, I was at Dash’s,” Spike replied awkwardly. “Not sure why, though…”
Rainbow waited for Twilight’s reaction. She only stared back blankly, however. It took her majesty a while to catch on.
“What?” she asked in confusion.
“Well… we were hoping you might, you know, know something about it,” Dash asked hopefully, finally regaining her balance as the nausea and her throbbing head started to become more manageable.
Must be the painkiller kicking in. About time.
“Alright, come on in.”
As soon as they pair had scuffled inside, Twilight slammed the door closed, her gaze suddenly intensifying, though she seemed more concerned than angry.
“Spike, I know you have freedom and all, but please tell me you at least used a condom!”
Heat rushed to Rainbow Dash’s face. “W-what? No, that’s not what happened!”
“Oh, it wasn’t? Then explain to me why I saw you two making out yesterday and then flying off together?”
Spike looked as uncomfortable as she felt, perhaps more so. “I don’t really remember anything from last night, Twilight,” Spike mumbled nervously. “I mean, besides your, err… dress…”
“My dress was just fine, thank you.” Twilight scowled before giving them a look of disappointment. “And here I thought I was going to get the details.”
“Twilight… what exactly happened last night? You didn’t get that drunk, right? I mean, I’ve never seen you drink before.”
“Well, you two got ridiculously inebriated and made kissy faces,” Twilight stated, as if it was obvious. “Then you probably went and made at it like rabbits. You know, it’s really interesting where that statement comes from. See, it’s linear—”
“Twilight, we don’t need to hear the history.”
“Well if I can’t give you a history lesson, allow me to fill you in on current events. One minute you were off in the corner going at it, and I said to myself: ‘No, it’s fine, Spike is responsible and Dash isn’t stupid enough to try and pull something.’ But I guess I was wrong about both of you, wasn’t I?”
Dash felt as if she was going to melt if Twilight said one more word. Her? Spike? There was just no way that what she was saying could be true. Spike was a good friend, yeah, but there was no way that they’d do anything like that, right? A bead of nervous sweat rolled down her neck. She glanced in Spike’s direction. He seemed like he was trying to come up with something to say just as much as she was.
“Maybe it was just the alcohol, Twilight. I mean, Rainbow’s a good friend and all, but…” the dragon avoided her gaze and scratched his head nervously, his cheeks going crimson.
“Whatever the case, I still can’t believe you two would be so naive about this.”
“Come on, Twi.” Dash said. “I’m not that dumb. We didn’t do anything more than we did at the party, I swear!” Although she had no idea if that was truth or fiction, the last thing she needed was Twilight on her case at the moment.
“How exactly would you know that?” Twilight asked with a smirk.
Dash opened her mouth to retort, but she quickly realized that she didn’t really know what to say. “Well… err, I do kinda remember… yeah… All we did was… make out on my bed, that’s it.”
Twilight raised her eyebrow. She didn’t look convinced. “Rainbow, please don’t lie to me.”
Dash bit her lip. “I give you my word.”
Twilight frowned suspiciously. “Fine,” she muttered, a scowl tugging at the corners of her muzzle.
Dash let out a huge sigh, relieved that she’d survived Twilight’s interrogation. Spike glanced back at her and their eyes met. The relief was evident in his expression as well.
“Well, besides you two flying off last night, I’m afraid I can’t really tell you what you happened,” Twilight replied sullenly. “Can I ask you a question, though?”
“Hmm?” the both of them said simultaneously.
“What exactly happens between the two of you now? I mean, are you going to start dating or what?”
Rainbow Dash felt her jaw hit the floor. Did Twilight actually just suggest the idea of dating? With Spike, no less? He was a decent guy, admittedly, and although he could get a little dorky from time to time, especially over his comic collection, he still knew how to be cool.
But dating? They had never been very close, apart from a few times like when she had followed him during the dragon migration or when had given him flying lessons. Romance was definitely not on her agenda; flying and weather work was more than enough to keep her happy.
She looked over at Spike, hoping he’d back her up in protest. Instead the dragon had turned from purple to pink. Twilight was trying to stifle her laughter at the sight of her old assistant, but she was failing badly. Even Dash couldn’t help herself as she snickered at the sight of a small dragon with a giant blush on his face.
“I’ll leave you two to the details. I have some things to catch up on.” Twilight walked towards the stairs. “Don’t make too much noise now, you lovebirds.”
Before Dash or Spike could respond, the princess had teleported away. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her friend’s comments. As smart as Twilight was, she had a way of jumping to conclusions.
Without an irate librarian to move the conversation along, the room went silent. The only sound was the occasional chirp of a bird or the rustle of a nearby tree. Dash remained rooted in place for a torturously long time. The tension in the room could have been cut by a knife.
“So…” Spike mumbled, clearing his throat. “…About last night.”
“Well, it was just a one-time thing, you know,” Dash said quickly. “I don’t see why we can’t just let it blow over. I mean, it’s not like anypony else knows.”
“Yeah but… well, c’mon. It’s obvious that we did a little more than make out on your bed.”
Dash sighed. “It doesn’t matter. Even if we did do something, I don’t think anything bad is gonna happen. I mean, you’re a dragon and I’m a pony, so it’s not like we’re gonna have foals or whatever. Also, you’re not gonna be catching anything from me, if that’s what you’re worried about, so let’s just get over this and move on with our lives.”
Spike nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Dash let out a sigh of relief she didn’t know she was holding. “Cool. That’s a load off my chest.”
“What if Twilight asks about it?” Spike asked suddenly.
“Well, just tell her that we did everything by the book or whatever. It’ll be fine. Just make sure she doesn’t tell anypony else.”
“You think we should actually tell her now?”
Dash bit her lip. “I don’t know. It’s fine as long as she doesn’t tell anyone else. If Applejack finds out, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Gotcha,” Spike replied.
An awkward silence overhung the pair as they glanced around the library—anywhere but at each other. Dash felt a little bad, but she just wasn’t sure what to say.
“What if something happens?” Spike pressed.
“It won’t,” Dash replied confidently.
“But… what if something does happen?”
“Look, Spike. I don’t have any diseases, and you’re a dragon and I’m a pony. We’re not about to have foals.”
Spike bit his lip. “I guess that makes sense…” He looked at the floor and scuffed a foot against a creaking floorboard before he continued. “It’s just that I’ve never really done anything like this before…”
“Whoa! Hold up, I took your virginity?” Dash gasped, her eyes widening.
“No!” Spike said.
“Darn,” she huffed. “Because that would have been so awesome!”
Spike rolled his eyes. “I meant a one-night stand. I can’t even remember what happened.”
“C’mon, we can just pretend this whole thing never happened, and things will go on like normal. It can be our secret, okay?”
There was a long pause as the dragon gave her a steely stare. After a few moments he sighed. “Okay,” he replied, although he didn’t look reassured in the slightest.
Rainbow Dash smiled awkwardly. “Thanks, Spike.” Turning around and trotting towards the door, she happily noted that her vision was no longer swimming. “I’ll see you around, yeah?”
“Sure,” Spike called.
Rainbow Dash flared her wings and launched through the window at a breakneck space, thankful that she didn’t have to deal with any more of the uncomfortable silence. She wasn’t sure she would ever be able to look at Spike the same way any more.
As she left, however, a smug grin crossed her muzzle.