About Last Night

by YourNeighborhoodAlicorn


Chapter Two: Reaction

A stunned silence hung over the room as everypony looked to Rainbow Dash, waiting for her to say something.

Rarity was first to break the quiet, promptly letting out a sigh and collapsing with a thud to the ground.

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy breathed, her eyes darting between Spike and Rainbow Dash.

“W-what?” Dash wheezed. “You can’t be serious, doc.”

“I’m afraid I am,” Doctor Stables replied. “The tests identified very high levels of oestrone sulphate. It is almost certain that you are pregnant.”

“But that’s impossible!” Rainbow Dash blurted. “I haven’t slept with a pony in months.”

Everypony in the room looked at each other uneasily.

“Are you completely sure?” Doctor Stables asked. “I repeated the test, just to be sure.”

“Yes, I’m sure!” Dash growled.

“Dash,” Spike interrupted quietly. “C’mon.”

She shot him a deadly glare, and Spike shriveled. “No!” she said angrily. “No, you’re a dragon. That doesn’t count.”

“But it’s possible, though,” he answered quietly, barely above a whisper.

“No, it’s not!” she shouted. “Look at you. And look at me. You gonna tell me how that works?”

“I’ll give you a few minutes alone,” Doctor Stables said quickly. Twilight nodded appreciatively at him, and he retreated out of the room. He stepped past Applejack, who was tending to the unconscious Rarity.

“Spike,” Twilight said quietly, “You’re not suggesting… that it’s you, are you?”

Spike turned to face her, a solemn expression on his face. “Well who else is it going to be?”

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but when nothing came, she frowned thoughtfully.

“Does this mean we get to throw a party?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“What!?” Dash spluttered.

“Pinkie,” Applejack groaned. “Now really ain’t the time.”

“Like hay it is!” Dash growled. “There’s not going to be a party. I’m not pregnant. There’s no way I can be.”

Pinkie wrinkled her muzzle. “But the doctor just said—”

“I know what the doctor said!” Dash yelled. “But he’s wrong. Maybe he did the test wrong or maybe he just read it wrong. Even doctors can make mistakes.”

“Rainbow, don’t you think you’re being a little irrational…” Twilight reasoned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she growled angrily.

“I'm just saying that although we don’t know who the father is—” She gave Spike an uneasy glance before returning her gaze to Dash. “—I don’t think Doctor Stables would have made a mistake. He did check twice, after all.”

“Get him to check again!” Dash replied quickly. “Get another doctor to make sure he’s doing it right. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor!”

“Now c’mon, RD. Ain’t ya exaggerating just a tiny little bit?” Applejack said as she went over to the sink to grab a cup of water.

“Exaggerating!?” Dash cried. “I’ve just been told I’m pregnant. I’ve just been told that I’m going to spend the next eleven months grounded, probably with that dumb eating disorder where I want to eat a million nachos and ruin my chances of ever standing on a cloud again!”

“Well, actually—” Twilight began.

“If I've got some stupid foal growing inside me, how am I gonna fly properly? How am I gonna live properly? I’m gonna be one of those single moms who can’t ever leave the house because I’ve got to look after some crying foal all the time. What if it’s not even a pony? What if it’s a dragon, and in ten years time it’s too big to even fit through my door?”

Rainbow Dash finished her rant by flopping back onto the bed, her gaze travelling up to the painfully white ceiling.

Rainbow Dash heard somepony walk up to the bed and rest a hoof on one of her hind legs.

“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said softly, “No matter what, you know we’ll all be here to support you. It doesn’t matter if you’re pregnant. We won’t think any less of you.”

“I’m sure it won't be that bad,” Applejack added, walking back over to Rarity.

“Not that bad?” Dash erupted, her temper flaring once again. “Not that bad!? You can’t be serious. What am I gonna do with a foal? I don’t even know the first thing about raising a kid!"

"I could lend you a book?” Twilight offered hopefully.

“Eurgh,” Dash groaned, covering her face with her hooves in frustration. “Like a book’s gonna help me.”

“I bet Pinkie here could help ya with a kid. She used to babysit the Cake twins, remember?” Applejack pointed out, pouring the plastic cup of water over Rarity.

“Ahh!” Rarity wailed, shooting up from the floor. “My mane! My mane is wet!”

“Yep. She’s still breathing,” Applejack commented with a wry grin and threw the empty cup into a nearby trashcan.

“Applejack!” Rarity cried. “What in Equestria possessed you to pour water on a lady whilst she was recovering from such a shock?”

Applejack shrugged. “Well somepony had to do it.”

Dash grunted. “Look, I think I just want some time alone. I want to go home.”

“But you can’t,” Twilight said. “What about your wing?”

“I don’t care. I just want to get out of here,” Dash growled, slowly getting up off of the bed.

The group looked at each other in concern.

“Dash, c’mon,” Spike reasoned, blocking her path out of the room. “Don’t bust your wing up more than it already is.”

“There ain’t no way we’re gonna let you fly on that wing, RD,” Applejack added. “Otherwise we won’t hear the end of it for months.”

Dash looked from friend to friend, each intent on blocking her way. All she wanted to do was escape and fly away.

“Well where am I gonna stay, then?”

“You can stay at my cottage,” Fluttershy offered. “If you don’t mind all the animals, that is.”

“Fine, whatever, it’s not like I care,” she growled, storming passed them to the door. “I’ll be back there later. I’m going out.”

“But what about Doctor Stables?” Fluttershy asked. “He’s outside waiting for you.”

“Whatever it is, he can tell me later,” she huffed. “I just need some time to think.” She got up and stood on all four hooves before making her way over to the door.

"Well, we’re all here for you whenever you need us, Rainbow," Twilight said quietly.

“Yeah. Thanks,” Dash murmured as she walked out of the room. Immediately after she left, she could hear hushed whispers behind her.

“I’m guessing she didn’t take it well,” Rarity’s unmistakable voice floated out. Dash was out of earshot before anypony replied.

“Miss Dash!” Doctor Stable called as she rushed past him. “I need to—”

“Whatever it is, save it. It can wait,” she called back.

“But we really need to—”

“Look, Doc.” Rainbow Dash turned around. “I’ve just found out I’m pregnant when I don’t want to be. All I want to do right now is go home and get some sleep! I don’t care what we need to do. It can wait until tomorrow.”

With that, she turned around and marched down the corridor towards the reception.

“Wait!” he called. “You need to book an appointment!”

“I’ll turn up tomorrow afternoon at three,” she called back, almost cantering out the door.

As soon as she was outside she tried to unfurl her wings and take to the skies, but the stiffness in her right wing reminded her that she still had a cast on. With a huff she began to limp into town.

“Stupid doctor. There’s no way I’m pregnant!” She kicked a rock and watched as it rolled down the dirt road.

“And with Spike? Pft! As if!” She laughed, although it didn’t feel funny. “How would that even work?” She looked around at the peaceful, sunny surroundings. Everypony else was going about their day as normal and yet Dash felt so different. How could everypony act so normal on a day like this?

“Today’s just been so stupid,” Dash growled. “I was supposed to just go home, microwave another meal and then sleep the rest of the evening away like I usually do. Like I normally do.”

She let out a cry of frustration and tried to buck a tree. Her casts wouldn’t let her, however, and instead she ended up falling on her face. It didn’t do much to quell her anger, it just made her feel silly.

“He’s a dragon!” she yelled, picking herself up and brushing herself down. “Celestia, that doesn’t even make sense!” She winced as she put too much pressure on her injured hoof.

“Stupid injuries,” she complained. Luckily, they didn’t feel as bad as they looked, although she probably looked like she’d been through a war or two—she was wrapped up in bandages like a Hearth’s Warming present, and she knew she’d gotten more than a few cursory glances when she’d walked past other ponies. Over time the town had gotten more population, due to the new princess residing here, which meant more hoity toity ponies in town and, to Rainbow, a lot more snobs raising their eyebrows mockingly at her state.

She looked around and spotted a nearby bench. With a quiet whimper of resignation, she walked over and flopped onto it. All the drama, stress and anxiety was catching up to her. She could feel it. She sagged in defeat and buried her face in her hooves, the anger draining out of her, leaving only exhaustion and apathy in its absence. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she whispered. “I can’t be pregnant… I just… can’t.”

“Dash?”

Rainbow Dash tensed. She knew that voice and she wasn’t particularly eager to hear any more of it, what with the recent turn of events. She pointedly turned her head away and ignored.

“Are you okay, Dash?” a weight settled at the other end of the bench, the tip of a tail brushing against her flank. She wriggled away from the contact.

“Are you ignoring me?”

Silence.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

Rainbow gritted her teeth, refusing to give in and talk to him no matter how much the voice pestered her. She just wanted to be alone.

“Listen, I get that you probably don’t want to talk to me right now…” That’s right, I don’t. So go away. “But I wanted to say that I’m sorry.”

Sorry? Her ears perked up despite herself as a silent signal to go on. “I know that you probably don’t want a foal, and that a dragon pony foal doesn’t sound likely—”

“Not likely?” she growled as she lifted her head from her hooves, her glaring eyes meeting Spike’s own. “It’s totally stupid! Who’s ever heard of a dragon pony?”

Spike tried to smile, but all he could manage was a twisted grimace. “I shouldn’t have slept with you.”

“No, you shouldn’t.”

Spike looked away and wrung his claws as silence hung over them. Rainbow instantly regretted what she’d said and sat up properly on the bench, resting a hoof on his shoulder.

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. We were both drunk, so it’s not your fault.” She bit her lip. “I just wish today had never happened. First I bust up my wing, and now I’m told I’m pregnant,” Dash said quietly. “All I want to do is go home, and I can’t even do that.”

Spike opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it and closed it again. He smiled slightly. “Do you want a piggyback ride?”

She stared at him, dumbstruck, for several moments before replying. “What?”

“A piggyback ride,” he repeated. “Y’know, you get on my back and I carry you about. I gave you one earlier, remember?"

“I know what a piggyback ride is!” she said, rolling her eyes, “But what’s with the piggyback all of a sudden?”

“I just thought, y’know, it’d be nice if you didn’t have to walk all the way to Fluttershy’s place,” Spike offered.

Rainbow Dash frowned and sighed in resignation. “Alright, fine. But if you tell anypony about this, you’re dead meat, okay?”

“Gotcha,” Spike replied with a cheeky grin. He got up from the bench and lowered his body so she could hitch a ride.

Rainbow slowly rose and hopped down from the bench. She grumbled as she climbed onto Spike’s back. He was no bigger than her, but he still seemed fine carrying a grown pony. Rainbow Dash smiled as she remembered the time she had taken Spike for a spin, back when he hadn’t been taller than her. The poor little dragon had clung for his life on that particular trip.

“You ready?” Spike asked, his voice a little strained from the extra weight on his back.

“Yeah,” she replied, wrapping her hooves around his neck to secure herself. She made a mental note to herself to give Spike a piggyback when she could fly again, just to show him up.

Spike flared his wings and the two took to the sky. Cool air flowed through Rainbow Dash’s mane. She couldn’t help herself as she closed her eyes and opened her good wing, feeling the wind gently stroke her feathers. She took a deep breath of fresh air, relief rushing over her. It felt good to be in the skies again.

“You really like flying, huh,” Spike said. Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes. Spike wasn’t looking back at her, but they were flying slowly enough that the wind did not snatch away their words.

“Yes,” she replied. “It helps clear my head.”

“I usually just talk to Twilight when I have a problem. Or I eat ice cream. That’s also nice.”

Rainbow sniffed, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Maybe dragon metabolism is completely different to a pony’s, but I can’t eat all that ice cream every time I have a problem. I wouldn’t be able to stand on a cloud.”

Spike snickered. “Yeah, that’d just be weird.”

The two lulled into silence once more as they glided across the skies. Rainbow looked down and saw the dirt paths of Ponyville beneath them, the more modern buildings fading away behind them. Up ahead, small thickets blocked the view of Fluttershy’s cottage, which was at the edge of the imposing Everfree Forest. For a pony who was scared of anything remotely scary, she seemed to have no problem living next to that gargantuan forest of horrors.

“Rainbow?” Spike blurted out suddenly. “How come you’re still here in Ponyville?”

“Huh?” Rainbow questioned, shifting position on his back. The spines on his back were digging into her stomach, and it was beginning to get quite painful.

“I mean, you should be a Wonderbolt already. Or the princess’ personal bodyguard. Or something awesome like that.” He slowed down his flight. “Why aren’t you? You were in the Wonderbolts Academy and everything.”

A frown tugged at the corner of Rainbow’s mouth. “Just forget about it,” she said quickly. “I guess I was never good enough.”

“Never good enough!?” Spike protested. “But you—”

“Look, it doesn’t matter, okay?” Rainbow growled more harshly than she had intended. It did the job, though, as Spike said nothing more. He closed his mouth and focused on flying once again.

The pair flew on in silence for another few minutes. By now they were flying over the canopy of the thickets, and Fluttershy’s cottage was visible in the distance. Behind it, the Everfree Forest stretched across the horizon, looming ominously at the corner of their vision all the time. It still gave Rainbow the creeps.

“Spike, how come you’re still here?” Rainbow mumbled next to Spike’s ear. “You’re a dragon. Don’t you ever just want to fly out there and never land?”

“Everypony’s gotta land sometime.”

Rainbow frowned. “I guess so, huh.”

“There’s no way I could leave Ponyville, though,” Spike continued. “All my friends are here. Everypony I know is here.”

Rainbow wrinkled her nose. “Doesn’t it ever bother you that you can’t go and see the world, gather a hoard, find yourself some hot dragoness, you know, all that dragon stuff?”

Spike slowed down and looked back at her. “Hot dragoness?” He raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Where are you going with this? But no, it doesn’t bother me. I couldn’t just leave you guys like that.” He gave her a hard look. “But you of all ponies should know that, Dash. Never leave Ponyville hangin’ and all.”

Spike halted his flight and landed next to Fluttershy’s cottage. Rainbow dismounted her trusty steed and walked over to the nearby stream.

“I know that, it’s just…” She stared down into the waters. If she stared hard enough, she could just make out the silhouette of her reflection. “You’re different from me. You’re a dragon.” Turning back to face Spike, she sighed. “I guess I’d have made a different decision if I was you.”

Spike gave her a curious look. “It’s a good thing you’re not me. Being me is kinda confusing at the moment.”

“What do you mean by that?” Rainbow questioned. Even though it was still the middle of the day, a cool wind blew over them, sending shivers through Rainbow’s body.

“Well, I…” Spike mumbled, wringing his claws. “To tell you the truth, Rainbow, I really don’t know how I feel right now… I mean, think about it. This is all so sudden, you know? One day you’re organizing some books on some shelves in some library, and the next, you’re a freakin’ father!” He stopped his outburst before it got any more out of hoof, scratching his arm instead. He took a deep breath and continued, “Sorry, this is all just a little stressful right now. I guess I never thought ponies and dragons could have foals.”

“But they can’t—”

“Don’t say it!” Spike interjected suddenly, wincing as if he’d been struck by a physical blow. “Don’t even say it! I can’t pretend like that, so don’t do that to me.”

Rainbow blinked. She wasn’t pretending, was she? She wasn’t sure of what to say. She hadn’t really thought about how Spike felt until that moment.

“Look, Rainbow.” Spike sighed. “You’re a brave pony. Braver than me or Twilight or Applejack or anypony else in this town.” He paused to walk over to her and place a claw on her shoulder. “But this isn’t you. The Rainbow Dash I know wouldn’t run away. She wouldn’t pretend like this.”

For some reason, Rainbow’s eyes felt hot, as if molten lava was threatening to spill out. “I’m not running,” she whispered.

“Then stop flying away,” Spike replied quietly. “Everypony’s gotta land sometime.”

Rainbow sighed and looked at the ground. She didn’t want to hear what Spike was saying. Every cell in her brain was yelling at her to be angry, but instead she could only feel a big empty hole.

“I need to go,” Rainbow said. “I’m gonna crash any minute now.”

“Dash,” Spike said. She looked up, her gaze meeting his own. “What I said before. I really meant it. I’m sorry, Rainbow.”

Before Rainbow could reply, Spike had turned around and leapt into the air. She searched for something to say, but she couldn’t find anything. Rainbow watched him until he was out of sight. She let out a sigh and opened the door to the small cottage. Instantly she was greeted by the smell of animals. This wasn’t the first time Rainbow Dash had visited, and none of the creatures seemed too alarmed.

She let out a huff and leaned into the door on her good wing, resting her head on the hard wood. It was a bittersweet feeling, having the solid wood press against her head. On one hoof, it reminded her that she wasn’t dreaming, in spite of how much she wished she was. On the other hoof, she just wanted to keep lying there, soaking in the memories of the day.

So much had happened that day. Too much. It was still the middle of the day, but it felt like her brain had entered overload.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid…” she moaned under her breath.

Steeling her resolve, she made her way upstairs. Each step up the stairs felt like another mountain to scale. When she reached the top, she stumbled into Fluttershy’s room and collapsed on the bed.

She curled up into the sheets, forcing herself not to think of what had happened that day.  She was going to have to make some big decisions, but they were going to wait until tomorrow.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, a single droplet sliding down her cheek. Grimacing, she wiped away the offending felon and settled down into a troubled sleep.