Chapter 5
It won't change your life
***
"What did you do that for!?"
Twilight Sparkle was currently pacing around the library, muttering to herself. A summary of what had happened was in order.
Fact: Pinkie Pie had just dared Spike to spend 7 minutes in heaven with Rainbow Dash.
Fact: Spike didn't want to. Rainbow Dash wanted to... sort of? (Speculation, more research needed)
Fact: Unicorns involuntarily release bursts of magical energy when aggravated, evidenced by the numerous charred black spots on the ceiling.
Conclusion: She was very stressed out having her dear younger brother-like assistant spend a forced 'event of intimacy' with one of her best friends.
Measure taken: Venting her frustrations through previously described outbursts of magic.
Twilight let out an exaggerated sigh, "Just... why? Why did you do that Pinke?"
Pinkie Pie, who still sat a short distance away from the closet where she had lead her two friends to their challenge, turned to Twilight. "Oh, Twilight. You'll understand when you're older." she said reassuringly, a huge smile still plastered on her face.
Twilight's eyes narrowed. It seemed like her count of measure had to be revised. Scraping her front hoof against the floor like a bull, she charged at the closet containing her faithful assistant.
"Don't worry Spike! I'm coming to save you!!"
Her plan was ultimately thwarted by the pink guard in front of said closet. Pinkie wrapped her forearms around the unicorn, shushing her cries of protest.
"Twilight, it's okay! Spike may be a baby dragon, but he undestood the sick innuendo I made earlier. He's old enough!"
Twilight blinked a few times. Spike being old enough? No, that wasn't the problem here, she knew her assistant was very of much of age. The problem lay in that Spike had expressed that he didn't want to go through with it, but had been forced by Pinkie and Rainbow... and now she had no idea what was going on behind those two doors. She didn't like it.
She didn't like it one bit.
***
Behind the doors of the closet the two friends, Spike and Rainbow Dash, were very quiet. They had not engaged in any activities at all, nor any conversations. The closet was quite isolated, although Spike could hear Twilight's muffled cries outside the enclosed environment. It was understandable that she was upset, he would be too if she were the one doing the dare with one of his stallion friends.
Back to the closet though, not much could be said about it. It was as bland as they come, though very dark. The only thing providing a limited amout of light were the few cracks in between the doors. Numerous outfits hung above them, most made by Rarity herself. On the floor were a couple of assorted boots and horseshoes, as well as Twilight's box of fanfictions that she thought she had so cleverly hidden from him.
Ha. Since he was the one responsible for cleaning the library, that was unusually naive of her.
The sound of somepony shifting a bit brought him out of his observations and back to the reality he had been faced with. He was very alone with one of his best friends, one of his girl friends. During a game which was known to lead to first base. Spike swallowed a big gob of saliva, thinking maybe his rash decisions were finally catching up on him.
Rainbow Dash, was, quite simply, not in her element either. In her uneasyness she remembered an instance back in flight school where Fluttershy had been dared to do this very thing. It ended as expected. Fluttershy stayed red for the whole day, and the stallion, who thankfully was as shy as her, didn't speak of the event ever again. Rainbow had to admit, she didn't know Fluttershy had had it in her, but... she had never told Dash what had happened in that closet.
The realization sent chills down her spine. It didn't help that the awkwardness settled around them both like thick air either. Every ounce of anger she had felt prior to entering this wooden prison had vanished like a puff of smoke, leaving only the unsettling feeling of 'awkward'. Why had she been angry again? Whatever the reason, it was why she was here, right now, wringing her hooves in anxiety. What would she even say to Spike?
She snuck a look at Spike and was startled to see him looking at her as well. Or what she deduced was him looking at her, with it being so dark she could only see his silhouette. She decided to just dive in like she usually did, despite her mind for once screaming at her to think things through.
"S-so... uhh..."
Her voice was shaking. She hated it.
"...what are we supposed to do here?" she willed her voice to firmly finish her thought.
She could see Spike's silhouette scraping a claw against the wooden floor of the closet. He was probably uncomfortable too, the poor drake. "Oh, y'know. The things that ponies do when they do stuff."
Rainbow frowned. "Come again?"
"Stuff, y'know? With the stuff and the things?"
Rainbow gave a tiny hint of a smile. "So, wait, what exactly are you saying?"
"U-umm, well, when two ponies are exploring their compatibilities..."
Rainbow felt her face stretch into a grin. "I swear, you're so innocent I can't help but find it adorable."
The drake blushed bright red and let out an indignant huff. "Oh yeah? Get a load of this then."
Rainbow watched the dragon slowly walk up towards her, while chanting the things they were supposed to do. "Synonyms include: Kissing, smooching, making out, lip-locking, sucking muzzle, tongue-wrestling, saliva trading, spit exchanging." he monotonously listed, "Do you want the extended version, or are you going to stop being ignorant and annoying?"
Rainbow was glad the darkness concealed her face, since it was a bit warmer than usual. "Okay, okay! Just shut up!"
"Are you sure? Living in a library gives you a really extensive vocabulary. I can probably think of several more ways to explain our predicament to you, like--"
"SHUT. IT." Dash pronounced every word heavily. Spike chuckled and sat back down in his previous spot. Somehow, the air was lighter now, at least a little bit.
"Well, actually there's a lot of things we can do. It's not unheard of to simply talk about stuff you know. Like, why did Pinkie even dare me to do this in the first place?" It was a peculiar dare, very specific, and judging by Pinkie's demeanor it seemed like she had thought of it a great deal.
"I don't know." came Dash's well thought-through analysis. "Knowing her it may just be for laughs though."
Silence settled over them once again with that remark. Spike could just barely make out Rainbow's frame beside him. It was a firm image of a pony, however, Rainbow's usually messy mane was still very curled form her makeover.
"I'm glad it was you who I got stuck in the closet with, RD."
Dash breathing slowed a little. He was... glad? She imagined he were a lot of things right now, but 'glad' was not one of them. "Why? Wouldn't you rather have Rarity or something?" she said, her tone just bordering on accusatory.
Spike's frills fell, and he let out a shaky sigh.
"Right, you don't know yet. I sort of, deduced that... it was never meant to be."
Rainbow gasped quietly. It had been no secret throughout Twilight's and Spike's time in Ponyville that he had had a crush on the fashionista, although he had always treated it like a secret. The things he would go through just to get her attention was enough to make the most mares jealous, wishing their own mates would do the same. Spending time with Rarity had at times seemed like only second to breathing for the drake.
And now here he was, saying he gave up?
"Spike, don't give up, man. I'm sure she will see the light eventually, and I'll be there to support you all the way!"
Spike's eyes had adjusted to the darkness now, and he could see Rainbow's face. She was being sincere.
Rainbow's eyes had adjusted to the darkness now, and she was lying so bad that she sincerely hoped it wasn't showing on her face.
"Thanks Dash," Spike began, "but there's a reason I think she would never see me as anything more than a friend." The drake stood up to his full height, which admittedly wasn't much, and held a claw out while gesturing to his body with the other. "Look at me."
Rainbow's head cocked to the side. "Rarity is into tall stallions...?"
Spike's eyes widened, and he shook his head. "What? No, no!"
The small dragon pinched the bridge of his snout, eyes firmly shut, thinking of how to introduce his problem to his friend.
"How about this: How old am I?" Spike finally said.
The question registered within Rainbow Dash. She hadn't thought much about it, but now that she did, she found herself very conflicted. On one hand he seemed mature, if not a little on the playful side, but on the other he looked very young.
He had more than once proven to be an asset during their adventures, even going so far as to defeat Rarity's nightmare and save the crystal empire. The more she thought about the question Spike had asked, the more difficult it became to answer it. Dash finally let out a sigh and shrugged.
"I don't know. I've never really thought about it."
Spike smiled a bit. He had seen that Rainbow had been very hestitant on answering, and that was what made him smile. She didn't really care much about his age or looks, she just saw him as a cool enough dude to hang out with.
"You know back when I grew into a giant dragon and almost destroyed the entirety of Ponyville?" Spike continued. "I actually learned a bit from the experience."
"Yeah?"
"My growing is directly linked to how much stuff I collect. I collect many goodies? Huge terrifying dragon! I collect barely anything?" Spike motioned to his body. "This."
"Oh." Rainbow dash uttered. She could see where this was going now.
Spike continued. "It doesn't matter how old I get in here." he poked his head with a claw for emphasis. "My physical growth is only affected by my greed."
"So, you mean to tell me...?" Rainbow Dash leaned in closer, eyes slightly wider.
"That I never stood a chance in dating. Not just Rarity, but everypony think I'm just a little kid!" Spike snapped. "It's fate's cruel way of punishing me for going against my dragon nature and living like a pony!"
Spike's short anger faded and was replaced by a solemn and sad look. "I'm cursed to forever have the stature of a child."
The gloom spread through the closet, enveloping the two in it's cold embrace. Whatever awkwardness were left were swallowed by the welling sadness eminating from the dragon. Dash wasn't used to dealing with these kinds of feelings. Sadness and her didn't go well in hoof, because you couldn't break the sound barrier to make it go away. You couldn't just speed up and away and expect it to do the same. It was like some sort of super sticky goo that just stuck.
"But, like, can't you just be a little greedy? Just grab a couple of treasures and become a teenage dragon?"
"Greed consumes you. The more you let it grow, the more corrupted you become. I can't control myself at those stages, it's too much." Spike said and let his claws fall back to his sides. "My dragon heritage stinks."
At that, Dash's wings flared up and she stomped up close to Spike.
"Now you listen here, gloombucket. You can't go around feeling that way! Some things are just there, you know? You're a dragon, and nothing is going to change that! Might as well enjoy the perks of being one and make the most of it!"
"What 'perks' are you referring to? I'm at loss right now." Spike said tiredly.
"You have an innate amount of cool. The things I've needed to do to get what you have naturally can even make me jealous! I mean, you're a dragon, a flippin' dragon! How cool is that?"
Spike looked at Rainbow, an eyebrow raised. "How do you even measure coolness?"
"Well, not to brag but, my innate ability is to measure that with high precision." Dash said, smiling proudly. Spike just shrugged at her. Sometimes it was just best to not question her, since the answer you would get would not explain a thing anyway.
"Besides..."
Spike listened.
"...you've become all the more admirable now. Not that you weren't before I mean." Dash said abruptly.
"What do you mean?"
Dash shuffled her front hooves a little. "It's easy to do stuff when you get lots of praise for it. I can really admire those ponies who just grin and bear it, the ones who do stuff in the background, stuff that's harder than doing a triple aileron roll or even breaking the sound barrier, without even getting acknowledged for it."
Rainbow Dash shifted her gaze to Spike, looking deeply into his emerald eyes.
"I can't imagine what it's like to fight against your nature, but I know that you just got way cooler in my book. A dragon that fights against his greed, even giving up on love, just to be able to live a life that ponies take for granted? Just to be able to have friends?"
Dash found herself staring longer into his eyes. Spike's deep emerald green eyes. They were a little glossy.
"It's much easier to give in, but... the fact that you haven't done that proves just how much you care about us, and about Ponyville." Dash immediately broke eye contact with Spike that moment. "It's truly amazing, Spike."
Spike wouldn't admit it to anypony else, ever, but Dash's words had really touched him.
"Thank you."
He knew Dash wasn't any good with showing feelings like this openly, so he was all the more thankful that she did. Her fastened glare further conveyed to him that if he told anypony about her little speech he'd be a very dead dragon.
This now glaring pony before him was the mare he had had the pleasure of truly getting to know since just a few months earlier, Rainbow Dash.
He was glad.
"So... ya wanna make out now or what?"
Spike's eyes widened as his breath hitched in his throat, starting a ripple of strong coughing to coarse through it. The coughing slowly phased out, becoming painful wheezing instead, while Rainbow chuckled and apologized for her teasing.
"I'm joking, I'm joking! Sorry Spike."
The poor dragon continued to wheeze, "Why would you do that?!"
Dash planted her front hooves on the thin wooden floor. "Well, I don't like the emotional and sad stuff! I just wanted a mood changer!"
"Well, you got one that's for sure! I was happy, now I'm pissed!"
"Sorry!"
Spike looked away from the apologizing mare. He wasn't really pissed, but she could use some time in the 'apology club'. Her words from earlier were still fresh in his mind, and those words made him infinitely happy, especially since his dragon nature was something hard to believe. Rainbow Dash had accepted this fact of him and even praised his efforts.
He let his thoughts melt away, revealing that their way to pass time was squarely in front of him. Why hadn't this come up before? He chuckled.
"Hey Dash?"
"Yeah?"
"You wanna read something funny?"
***
Two creatures, one pink and one purple sat crouched on the floor, a good distance apart. The purple creature growled in low baritone.
You have something I want.
The pink creature didn't waver the least, and just responded with a purr.
You can't have it.
Purple let out a roar, intended to frighten it's foe, but alas, Pink didn't look the least fazed. Purple had faced many a challenge, but this Pink menace was something on an entirely different level. Purple started to growl, dangerously low.
Move.
Pink found Purple very interesting. No other creature had ever been this persistent, but Pink's inner instincts told them to hold their ground. As much fun as Purple was, Pink could not let them pass into their territory.
Sorry!
Purple had had enough. With another roar, it lunged at Pink, ready to rid the world of an injustice.
"That's enough of both of you!" A calm, but very assertive voice sounded. "Behaving like ferocious beasts... what do you have to say for yourselves?"
Pinkie and Twilight stopped in their tracks. To their right, Fluttershy had appeared, and were piercing them with a very frightening glare, the glare infamously known as 'The Stare'. Pinkie's smile and gleeful demeanor disappeared in a flash.
"I-I just thought we were having fun." she wimpered, crumbling under the yellow mare's gaze.
Twilight mustered her courage and tried to object. "But she is the one who--!"
"Hush!" Fluttershy cut off. "I don't want to hear it. Now apologize to one another, and behave like grown mares." she demanded, not taking her eyes of the two feuding ponies for one second.
Twilight sighed. "I'm sorry for pouncing on you, Pinkie."
"Don't worry, Twi! I'm sorry too!" Pinkie said with a smile.
"Good, was that so hard? Now, no more fighting, ok?" Fluttershy added as she flew back to where she came, which was the kitchen. The two mares nodded towards Fluttershy, but didn't leave their positions. Pinkie and Twilight were still not agreeing, but had at least decided to not fight hoof to hoof over it.
Back in the kitchen, Fluttershy were greeted by the smell of melted chocolate and marshmallows.
"Ya got 'em sorted?" Applejack asked.
"Oh yes."
Applejack and Rarity were as per usual, in the process of making s'mores. It had been sort of tradition for them to make the treats since Twilight's very first slumber party. While it was fun to do, it also served as a healthy reminder for the lesson they had learned that night.
"I can imagine why Twilight is so upset though." Rarity said. "Poor little Spikey-wikey, engaged in such activities!"
Applejack wrinkled her eyebrows. "Uh... not so sure anythin' is going to happen, Rares. Rainbow knows what she's doing most of the time, an' Spike is no ditz either."
Fluttershy took a seat at the kitchen table. "I suppose so. Rainbow is no good with these situations, anything remotely close to romance makes her just... shrink away."
"Then why ever was she so obviously offended when Spikey rejected the dare?" Rarity asked, while stirring the melting chocolate.
"Ah don't know," Applejack chimed in, "but Ah think Pinkie might know somethin'. That dare was strange, considering what kind of party this is, mostly mares and all"
"I think it was more strange how Pinkie could even consider it a good idea to put Spike and Rainbow Dash in a closet expecting them to engage in most intimate acts!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Intimate acts? Ah think you might be overreacting there Rarity. Took lessons from Twi Ah take it?" Applejack chuckled.
"How can you sit and laugh, when two of our friends might be getting 'frisky' with one another right this moment!?"
"Rarity..."
"Think of young Spikey! He's not even ready for those things!"
"Rarity."
"And Rainbow Dash is just so unpredictable! Who knows what she might do to him!"
"RARITY!"
Rarity stopped her rambling when she started to smell something burnt.
"Yer burning your chocolate." Applejack said in a deadpan tone.
Rarity sighed as she moved the pot from the stove to the sink. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy and Applejack."
"Don't worry Rares. Here, let me take care of that for ya. Go sit down a bit, okay?" Applejack responded, taking over Rarity's work of washing the pot with burnt chocolate. Rarity complied and took a seat next to Fluttershy.
"Gosh, Rarity. I didn't know you felt so strongly about this." Fluttershy said with a hint of worry. Rarity leaned back, elbows on the table and eyes at the ceiling. "I guess I'm just worried. I don't know what for, but I'm worried."
No further words were spoken between the three as only the sound of Applejack washing the pot in a steady stream of water rang throughout the kitchen. Applejack found herself wondering if it was so certain that nothing would happen between Spike and Rainbow. Considering that Spike had confessed to giving up on Rarity, and Rainbow's state at this party, the possible outcomes were many. She didn't entertain the thoughts any further though, deciding it would be rather silly for anything suspicious to happen. And she was no silly pony.
"Um... hasn't there been 7 minutes already?" Fluttershy wondered out loud.
Almost on cue, Twilight's voice pierced the walls. "Time's up, Pinkie! Let them out now!"
Contrasting Twilight's demands were Pinkie's protests. "B-but they haven't even done anything yet!"
The three friends dropped whatever thoughts they were having and entered the living room to find that a wrestling match between Twilight and Pinkie were taking place.
"Done anything?! Just what is your plan with this dare, you deviant?" Twilight huffed, sidestepping Pinkie and making a dash for the closet. She fell flat on her face when Pinkie threw herself and latched onto Twilight's midriff. "Stop! Don't ruin their time together!"
Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack stood flabberghasted. They even forgot that they could intervene, just because of the bizarre scene.
"I've already bent the rules once today, and it was once too many! I refuse to let even a single more minute pass with those two in that closet!!" Twilight yelled, scraping her hooves across the wooden floor in an attempt to crawl towards her goal.
Then... laughter happened. Laughter resonated from within the closet.
All actions stopped. Twilight stared wide-eyed and Pinkie smiled widely.
What were they doing in there?!
***
"Bwahahah! I-is this for real?! Twilight wrote a shipfic about two characters that have barely interacted?" Rainbow laughed, banging her hooves on the floor.
"It's true! Look! 'Lightning Storm and Sweet Scales: An Unexpected Romance'!"
Spike and Rainbow Dash were having a blast. The moment Spike had suggested they read some of Twilight's fanfictions, Dash was hooked. Spike smiled wickedly at Rainbow, giggling at the prospect of the two aforementioned characters in a relationship.
"B-but those two only met at the end of the first book and haven't interacted ever since! How could you possibly put those in a romantic setting?" Rainbow wheezed between her chuckles.
"Twilight has the ability to do so!" Spike exclaimed. "To be fair, it's pretty nicely written, if not a little wordy. Give it a read! I'll light the place up with my fire."
Spike let a small, but steady flame flow from within his mouth, providing an ample source of light. He had started to gain the ability to control his flames' temperature and size, something that proved useful in many applications. Rainbow began to read.
"Oh, how I wish you were mine, Sweet Scales. How I long for your claws to run through my mane. Even a single minute without you paints naught but the harrowing colour of darkness that is despair in my heart, and uh... ehhmm..." Rainbow hitched. "How do you pronounce that?"
"Pronounce what?" Spike said, leaning in closer. Unfortunately that push caused the page to be set aflame.
The piece of fiction frazzled as the magical fire consumed it, turning it into dust, which sped away though a crack in the wooden doors.
"Welp. That's that I guess." Spike said bluntly. "I hope Princess Celestia doesn't mind some late night reading."
The duo looked at each other before bursting out in laughter all over again. The giggles of mirth slowly phased out, both of them wiping the stray tears from eyes. They both turned to the other abruptly after that, eager to share their thoughts on the rest of Twilight's fanfictions--!
Boop.
Their snouts were touching.
Just like that, everything changed. In one fell combo of actions, Spike and Rainbow Dash were back in something they thought would be the awkward game. However, strangely enough, neither of them found themselves able to pull away.
Suddenly, all that mattered were their eyes, emerald and rosy magenta, intertwined in a moment of complete silence.
***
"Pinkie, you're breaking the rules!! Let me go, or I'll--!" Twilight thrashed in Pinkie's grip.
"You can't! You mustn't! You shall not!!" Pinkie protested fiercely. "It's just getting good!"
Twilight's mind suddenly became enlightened. She was a unicorn. Unicorns have a special ability. Her eyes widened.
***
Spike's throat felt dry. Why hadn't he pulled away yet? For some strange reason, the odd lighting in the closet made Rainbow's eyes almost enchanting.
***
Twilight's horn began charging energy. It was elementary. Magic was the answer, and Twilight had started preparing a fine energy blast that would end this farce once and for all. "Magic! Go-- owww!!"
Needless to say, Twilight would have been successful had she managed to fire the spell at the correct angle, in the correct velocity, in the correct density. A powerful yank to her ears by Pinkie ruined any chances of those variables being correctly measured.
Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity watched in awe as the blast of energy fizzled away from Twilight's horn and flew through the air, ricocheting off of various objects in the room. The blast even angled towards the trio once and did almost char the mane right off Rarity's scalp had she not ducked at just the right moment.
The blast reflected off a mirror behind Rarity and started heading straight towards a foot on the closet currently sheltering the dared duo.
***
Rainbow could get used to having Spike's claws run through her mane. It was unlike anything she had felt before. Why he had started doing it didn't even matter anymore, it felt way to good for her to allow logic and reason to muscle into her thoughts.
Spike was on the brink of panic. He had for some reason started to run one of his claws through Dash's rainbow-coloured mane, and didn't know why or what to do next. He couldn't pull away, something in the back of his mind refused to move his snout from Rainbow's. That something just couldn't get enough of those content half-lidded rose eyes looking at him with such relaxation.
A powerful rustle shook the closet at that moment.
What happened next occurred within only one second, but it was one heck of a second.
The bump caused the relaxed Rainbow Dash to tilt forward, which in turn caused Spike to fall backwards onto his back, his skull making hard contact with a closet wall in the process. Rainbow Dash had no control over her body as she felt her lips push slightly onto Spike's.
And that was The one second. The following second bore more unfortunate events.
During that second second, the force of the closet's fall broke the hinges of the doors, making them promptly fall to the living room floor. Many gasps were heard. Not because of the doors, but because of what they revealed. A situation full of misunderstandings, created by an overprotective unicorn and her pink friend's interference.
Spike and Rainbow Dash were kissing.