Spike and Rainbow Dash wake up in a bed together. However, even though the two agree to forget about it, things still catch up to them.
When Rainbow Dash wakes up to find herself sharing a bed with somepony—or rather, somedragon—she knows she's going to have an eventful day. Determined to put the whole ordeal behind her, she agrees with Spike to forget the evening had ever happened.
However, things have a way of coming back to haunt you, and for Rainbow Dash, it may not be what she asked for at all.
Group collaboration between the lovely members of SpikeDash:
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.
“Darn it, not again!” Dash groaned as she burst into the kitchen. Wafting away the smoke, she grabbed a fork with her teeth and pried the long-forgotten toast from the toaster. Two charred slabs of toast fell onto a plate, small crumbs of carbon breaking off as they did so.
It stung her pride just a little to admit that she’d managed to burn toast, but what was she supposed to do? Just sit there and wait for it to be done? She had better things to be doing than that.
A quick glance at the clock only confirmed Dash’s fears. “And now I’m gonna be late. Great.”
Rushing into the bathroom, she quickly toweled down her damp hair from a recent shower and threw the towel on the floor. A quick brush of the teeth later, Dash glided into her bedroom and threw her duvet lazily onto her bed.
Satisfied with her morning preparations, she gave one last look around the room and made sure everything was where it was supposed to be, just to be sure she was ready. Her eyes then fell onto her calendar.
“That’s over a week now,” she mumbled quietly to herself.
Without a second glance, she launched herself through the bedroom window and flew towards the Ponyville weather control headquarters. She could get there on time if she just flew a little faster than usual, which wouldn’t be hard. She only had to make up for seventeen seconds of time.
Cutting it close, Dash.
It had been many years since Dash had started working on the Ponyville weather team, and since then she’d been promoted to leader of the team. Which was good; it usually meant she just had to deal out orders and occasionally send a mail to Cloudsdale requesting more clouds.
Dash’s thoughts were interrupted as the familiar sight of Ponyville’s weather control headquarters flew into view. It was a small building, based on the ground in case of unpredictable weather or catastrophes.
“Morning, Dash,” a voice called from next to her. “Cutting it pretty fine, aren’t you?”
Dash whipped her head around to see the familiar sight of Thunderlane flying parallel to her.
“Could say the same to you,” she called back.
“You know me.”
“Time spent waiting is time wasted,” Dash said with a nod.
“Truth,” Thunderlane answered, smiling a toothy grin.
The two of them descended towards the building and landed with a few graceful flaps of their powerful wings. As the pair walked inside, Dash noted the time on the clock with satisfaction.
It was nine o’clock exactly.
“Timing,” Thunderlane murmured with a quiet chuckle.
“You know it,” she whispered back as they approached the front desk and signed in. The two then walked into a large room filled with other weather ponies. As soon as she walked in, Dash was handed a file.
“Today’s schedule,” Flitter informed her.
“Thanks,” Dash said as she took the file and flipped through the pages. The weather schedule was as monotonous as ever: clear the cloud cover from the night before in the morning, sparse clouds at noon, clear skies in the afternoon before finally preparing the cloud cover again in the evening.
“Alright,” Dash announced authoritatively. “Same as usual. Flitter, Cloudchaser, I want you covering the town centre. Honeydew, I want you on Everfree duty. Thunderlane, you’re with me.”
“Again?” Thunderlane complained, his eyes darting between Dash and Flitter.
“You got a problem with that?” Dash growled. “I can always stick you on Everfree duty if you want?”
Honeydew perked up hopefully.
“…Fine, I’ll stick with you then,” Thunderlane huffed.
Honeydew deflated again in disappointment.
“Good. Alright, everypony, you’ve got your orders.”
None of the ponies in the room were fazed by her rushed attitude. They were already used to it by now; she did this every day.
With that done, Rainbow Dash exited the room and trotted hastily outside.
“Yeesh, I hate being in that tiny building,” she complained, stretching her wings.
“How come I never get to be with Flitter?” Thunderlane pouted.
“Because I know you two will spend more time smooching than actually getting any work done.”
“Hey!” Thunderlane protested. “That’s not all we do! And it’s not like you really need my help.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, but you’re still with me, buddy.” Dash smirked, flaring her wings. “C’mon, let’s go.”
Thunderlane rolled his eyes and flared his wings, and the two of them took off into the sky.
Both of them circled up to the massive expanse above Ponyville, looking at the large blankets of clouds that had kept all the heat near the ground the night before.
“Leave a few clouds over near those patch of trees, will you. I wanna use ‘em for a few tricks.”
“More tricks?” Thunderlane rolled his eyes. “I suppose you want me to watch?”
“Watch and be awed, my friend,” Dash replied. “I’ve been cooking these ones up for a few weeks now.”
“Uh-huh. Let’s get these clouds out the way before we start talking tricks.”
“Whatever you say.” Dash sighed in disappointment.
The two of them separated and began combing through the skies. Within minutes, the entire sky as far as the eye could see was clear of clouds. What would have taken any other pony hours to do took the pair only a few minutes. They both touched down where they had begun.
“Huh, and here I thought we were gonna break a record.” Dash narrowed her eyes at Thunderlane. “Guess who’s fault that is.”
“Hey, I tried my best, okay?” Thunderlane raised his hoofs up defensively. “I probably could’ve done better with Flitter.”
“Oh, shut it.” Dash sighed, rolling her eyes. “Where’d you leave those clouds, anyway?”
“Right where you told me to, duh.” Thunderlane grumbled, pointing to to the clump of trees she had pointed out earlier.
Dash flew over to investigate, and sure enough, there were several clouds behind the tree. She touched their soft surfaces, testing each in turn. They were firm and moderately packed with water. They wouldn’t be too hard to move into position.
“Good.” She rubbed a hoof under her chin and inspected where the best place to position the clouds was. If she wanted to pull off the particular trick she had in mind, she was going to need at least three in a line… maybe another one above to help direct the air currents.
She glanced down at where Thunderlane was crouched on the ground, watching her with a bored expression on his face.
“Wipe that look off your face and prepare to be amazed!” Rainbow Dash announced and began to position the clouds.
“Uh-huh. I’m just gonna watch from this cloud.” The stallion pulled another cloud from the pile and plumped it up before hopping back to rest on it. “Some clouds are just meant for sleeping on,” he mumbled.
With the clouds in place, Rainbow Dash flew to the ground and began stretching her muscles. She cracked her neck and wings and licked her lips.
Into the air she flew, lazily circling around the three clouds. Slowly, however, she began to pick up speed. The clouds began to spin slowly and drift apart, but she promptly pushed them back into place. They began to compact closer and closer together until their soft bodies were packed tightly. The wind whipped past her mane, making her eyes water. She should have really brought some goggles for this stunt.
Too late for that now.
She shook the thought off with a few more kicks to the clouds to ensure they stayed together. Slowly but surely, she reduced the size of the circle she flew in, and the large mass of water vapour spun around faster and faster.
It looked reminiscent of one of her tricks at the Young Flier’s competition, but she knew better. This was going to be way more awesome.
The cloud was turning into a rapidly swirling cone.
With a flourish, she angled off from her creation, letting it spin away into the atmosphere. Sunlight glinted off the white surface before it dissipated. However, Dash paid the spectacle no mind. She knew that Thunderlane would be impressed, though. He didn’t show it, but she knew he liked her tricks.
Pushed by the sheer force of the wind gusting her away, she span in a downwards spiral towards the ground. She gritted her teeth as she controlled her fall. It was difficult to avoid the overpowering wind, and it was even more difficult to make this part look graceful.
As she neared the ground, she twisted upwards sharply, spreading her wings as wide as she could. The wind caught under her wings, causing a sting of pain from her protesting muscles. Her flight slowed sharply and evened out, but the ground was still approachingly uncomfortably fast. She flapped her wings a little, despite her aching muscles. A sharp pain traveled up her wing and she yelped in surprise.
C’mon, wings!
She pushed harder, slowing her descent. Finally she was flying horizontal and she breathed a sigh of relief—until she flew head first into a tree branch. The branch whacked her straight in the face.
Rainbow Dash had very little time to react. She tucked her wings in as she fell through the thick canopy. Leaves and bark clawed viciously at her fur, cutting and scratching the soft flesh underneath. Brambles tugged at her feathers and pulled at her mane.
Suddenly she collided with a tree trunk, sending her spinning around in a circle. The wind was knocked out of her and she collapsed to the ground.
“Oof!” she wheezed as she fell against the ground.
Her ears were ringing. She tried to breath in, but found her lungs simply wouldn’t accept any air. No matter how much she tried to suck in air, she couldn’t breathe in. Dash tried not to panic; she’d been winded before, but that didn’t make her feel any better. Her head burned and she hurt all over. She wrapped herself up into a ball.
“Dash?” a voice cried. “You’re okay, right?”
She could barely hear it over the ringing in her ears, but she could tell Thunderlane’s voice when she heard it. She tried to reply, but all she could manage were some incomprehensible wheezes.
Darn it, breathe!
“You’re hurt!”
No kidding.
She felt a hoof pulling over until she was staring up at Thunderlane. Sunbeams shined through the leaves, and she winced at the brightness. She turned her head away and rolled onto her side.
Still her lungs wouldn’t accept any air.
“C’mon, Dash! Speak to me!” Thunderlane said, picking her up and waving a hoof in front of her face.
Oh c’mon, lungs!
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Thunderlane looking around in a panic, and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Listen. I’ll go get help.”
“—Lane.”
A small amount of air filled her lungs, and she gasped his name.
“You can speak!”
Rainbow Dash filled her lungs with more air and tried to answer.
“Well duh—” she was interrupted by a fit of coughing that racked through her entire body, reminding of all the cuts and scratches.
“Dash, you need to go to hospital.”
She tried to laugh, but all she managed was a painful splutter. Her breaths came in short gasps and her head hurt, but the last thing she needed was a hospital.
“No,” she breathed. “I’m fine.”
“Trust me, you don’t look fine.”
“Just… lay me down… for a second.”
Thunderlane did as she asked and laid her down on the grass again. She curled up in a ball, her lungs still refusing to accept any more than a few mouthfuls of air.
“I’m going to go find somepony…”
Rainbow Dash tried to focus on what he was saying, but she was starting to get a major headache. The ringing in her ears completely blocked out whatever Thunderlane said next. She grunted in response to whatever it was.
She wasn’t sure what happened next. Her vision got really blurry and the next thing she knew she was being picked up and moved. She didn’t have the strength to protest.
~
White.
Lots and lots of white.
If this is a hospital, somepony is going to pay.
Rainbow Dash peeled open her eyes fully and tried to focus her blurry vision on her surroundings. After a few seconds, her suspicions were confirmed: she was lying on a bed in a large hospital. Two doctors stood talking just outside her room.
Thunderlane is so getting Everfree duty this time!
She moaned and rolled over. Why did it have to be a hospital? She hated hospitals. All they meant was being grounded and needles, and the smell of antiseptic that permeated everything made her feel sick.
She was vaguely aware that she was covered in bandages and one of her forehooves and a wing was in a cast.
My wing? Not again!
She growled in frustration. There was no way she had broken her wing. She would have known if she had.
“Hey!” she called, her voice cracking slightly. “Patient trapped in here. Some help, please!”
The two doctors outside her door looked over at her.
“One moment, Miss Dash,” one said.
How does he know my name? I’ve never even spoken to him before.
He smiled a toothy smile, though. He’d probably seen her on a previous visit. The two doctors walked off down the corridor, and she couldn’t help but wonder if they were just ignoring her or something. She glanced at her bedside table and spotted a glass of water, and greedily she gulped the whole thing down.
A few seconds of silence passed and Dash tried to resist fidgeting. She glanced around her room, but there didn’t seem to be much to do. All that was really in her room was two thin, green hospital beds. The other bed was unoccupied. She wished her friends were here to talk.
“Ah, Rainbow Dash. It seems we meet again,” a voice said as a familiar stallion walked into the room.
“Doctor Stables,” Rainbow Dash replied.
Doctor Stables nodded and trotted over to her bed. “It seems you’ve had quite the tumble. Thunderlane tells me you flew straight into a tree—”
“Well he would.” Dash rolled her eyes.
“—but you don’t appear to have hurt yourself too badly. Can you sit up, Miss Dash?”
She begrudgingly obliged, sitting up onto the bed.
“What’s wrong with my wing?”
“You’ve not broken it, fortunately, but you did sprain it. It’ll be a few days before you can fly with it again. Could you look at my ear please.”
“A few days!? How am I going to last that long?”
“I’m sure you’ll manage, but please focus, Miss. Dash.”
Rainbow Dash realized that Doctor Stables was holding up a light to her eye and waiting to begin.
“Right, yeah,” she apologized.
“Good. Okay, my right ear first.” He shone the torch into her right eye for a few seconds.
Dash held back a grumble; she could feel the light burning her retina.
“And now my other ear.”
He switched eyes, just to ensure that Dash was equally blind in each eye.
“Excellent. No head trauma. It seems you came away from this encounter remarkably unharmed.”
“Well, what’s up with my hoof? And what’s with all these bandages?”
“You had several minor wounds when you arrived from the tree branches scratching you. Unfortunately, some of them were in very awkward places, so we had to use bandages once we disinfected the cuts. You should be able to remove them by the end of the day.
“As for your hoof, you’ve suffered some trauma to the joint, but it’s otherwise undamaged. You should be able to walk on it again after a good night’s rest.
So a few days of no flying? Well, at least this ain’t as bad as last time.
“Other than that, you’re a perfectly healthy pegasus. Just try not to fly into any more trees—” Rainbow Dash scowled at the comment. “—and you’re free to go, Miss Dash.”
“We’re done?” she gasped. “I can go?”
“Unless you have anything else you want to get checked out while you’re here, you can leave right now if you like.”
“Great! I’ll—” Rainbow Dash cut herself off.
Should I tell him about that? I mean, it’s the kind of thing you’re supposed to tell doctors.
“Please sign your name here,” Doctor Stables continued. “And make sure you get a good night’s rest.”
“Umm, yeah thanks,” Dash said. She took a nearby pen in her mouth and signed her name before getting up from the bed. She walked slowly towards the door, but turned around before she got there. “Hey, Doc?”
“Hm?” He looked up from the papers she had just signed.
“Well, this is probably gonna sound kinda dumb… er, how do I say this?”
“Is there something you want to get checked out?”
“Yes!” Dash said, walking back towards him. “Well, no, not really checked out. I mean, it’s just that…” She searched for some way to say what she wanted to say without sounding strange, but she couldn’t see any solutions.
“Miss Dash?” Doctor Stables pressed.
“Listen, um, I was supposed to be in heat last week… and that’s kinda not happened?” Inwardly she cursed herself for phrasing it as a question.
“Well, that can be caused by a number of different reasons: pregnancy, stress, weight loss, a change in medication, a change in your work hours, among others.”
Rainbow Dash racked her brain for any way that any of those reasons would apply to her. None of them seemed to add up, though: she didn’t take medication, she was as fit as she could be, and there wasn’t any way she could be pregnant; she hadn’t exactly been active in the bedroom as of late.
Except with Spike.
She smiled at the thought. She could rule that one out as well. Spike was a dragon, so that wouldn’t work. She toyed with the idea that she was just stressed, which would make an excellent excuse for a holiday.
It’s been a while since my last holiday…
“Whatever the cause, it’s not usually a good thing,” the doctor continued. “I would like to take a blood sample to check your hormone levels." He walked over to a nearby cupboard and pulled out a pair of rubber hoof-gloves and a small plastic packet.
"B-Blood sample!?” Rainbow Dash gasped in horror. “As in with needles? Wait up, Doc, we don’t need to go and do that, do we? I mean, isn't there anything else we can do?" She began to get nervous, already regretting her decision to mention her heat cycle at all. The last thing she wanted was a needle coming anywhere near her again.
Doctor Stables simply rolled his eyes. “Well you can give me a urine sample instead?” he offered.
“Bu-but,” she stammered, swallowing hard to stop herself babbling. She didn’t like the sound of either option. “Can’t you just find another way to get the blood? One that doesn’t involve a… needle.”
“I’m afraid not. Needle or urine, Miss Dash. I’m going to need a sample in order to diagnose you.”
Rainbow Dash glanced at the needle again. It wasn’t a big needle, but it was still sharp, ready to pierce through her fur and into her flesh. The mere sight of it made her skin crawl, and she broke out into a cold sweat.
“Err, what’s the urine sample like?” she asked, fidgeting with her hooves.
“It’s quite simple.” He took a pot from the cupboard next to him. “You just take this pot here, go into the bathroom—”
“Okay, that sounds way easier,” Dash interrupted, snatching the pot from his hoof.
“Okay, well the public bathrooms are right over there—” He pointed down through the door and across the hallway. “—and I’ll be waiting here.”
“Right. Gotcha,” Dash mumbled, trotting off awkwardly to the bathroom and balancing the pot on her one good wing.
Great, so not only have I busted a wing, but I’ve also gotta swallow my pride.
She sighed as she entered the bathroom.
Well that’s just peachy.
~
A few minutes later, and Rainbow Dash left the bathroom. The white walls stung her eyes again. She could feel a headache coming on.
“Are you done, Miss Dash?” Doctor Stables asked as he trotted out of her hospital room and into the corridor.
“Er, yeah,” she replied.
“Excellent. Just take a seat in your room and I’ll get back to you in a few minutes with the results.”
“Awesome.”
Dash blew a tuft of hair out of her face, watching as Doctor Stable trotted down the corridor with the sample. She could hear the quiet grunts and soft murmurs of the other patients. It was another reason why she hated hospitals. She trotted back into her room and hopped onto the bed again. She lay down her on her back and stared up at the ceiling, letting her mind wander.
She hated being cooped in a hospital, and she hated waiting.
I should have escaped when I had the chance…
The sound of voices and hoofsteps interrupted her short reverie, however.
“Is she alright?”
“Can we see her?”
“She hasn’t broken a wing again, has she?”
Rainbow Dash smiled as she heard the familiar voices of her friends.
“If you come right this way, I’m sure Miss Dash will explain everything,” another pony replied impatiently.
She craned her neck to look through the door and saw Nurse Redheart leading several ponies down the corridor.
“Over here!” Dash called as the nurse led them into her room. Twilight Sparkle was followed in by the rest of her friends. Even Spike had turned up.
“Please try not to disrupt the other patients,” Nurse Redheart said sternly, shooting Dash a warning glance.
“Dashie, you’re alive!” Pinkie Pie gasped, skipping over and embracing her in a crushing hug.
“Yep, still breathing,” she gasped through the solid embrace. “Or at least I was…”
“What’s with all these bandages?” Applejack asked. “Ya broken your wing again?”
“No, the doctor says I’ve just sprained it. The bandages are just for a few cuts and bruises. I’m feeling fine.”
The rest of her friends nodded in agreement, but the comment stung Rainbow Dash’s pride a little. “Hey! I don’t always crash and hurt myself.”
Everypony in the room except Dash glanced at each other.
“With the way Thunderlane made it sound, we thought you were knocking on death’s door,” Spike said.
“Trust Thunderlane.” She sighed. “What made you think that would be a good idea?”
“Well what’s important is that you’re alright,” Twilight said diplomatically. “I’m sure you’ll be out of this hospital in no time.”
“Actually, I can go right now,” Dash replied. “If you guys had come any later, you’d have missed me.”
They all looked at her. “Yer okay to go?” Applejack asked, looking at her suspiciously. “Why’re ya still here then?”
“Err, just a test,” she said quickly. “It’s no biggie.”
“What kind of test?” Twilight asked.
Inwardly Dash cursed. She should have known a test would perk Twilight’s attention.
“Just a blood test,” she lied. “They just want to make sure I’m not ill.”
“Huh,” Twilight murmured, “that’s unusual.”
“Maybe Dash just has some serious illness that causes her to crash all the time?” Spike suggested.
“Hey!” she protested, shooting him a deathly glare. He chuckled at her, but didn’t meet her gaze. He was still avoiding looking at her.
“Nah, it’s just clear that RD over here is just losin’ her touch,” Applejack said smugly.
“Losing my touch? What do you mean by that?”
“Maybe she just likes us visiting her in the hospital?” Pinkie chipped in.
Rainbow Dash harrumphed and folded her hooves, blowing the tuft of her mane out of her eyes again.
“Well I don’t see why I needed to be interrupted from apple bucking because Miss Ditzy Doo over here can't fly anymore,” Applejack chortled.
“Girls, maybe we should talk about something else?” Fluttershy suggested softly as Rainbow Dash audibly ground her teeth.
“Agreed,” Rarity said quickly. “And we’re all very happy that you’re okay, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity turned to glare at Applejack, “Aren’t we.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Hey, I’m just sayin’ that this ain’t the first time, and it sure as sugar ain’t gonna be the last.”
“I don’t always crash,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “You all just overreact. I’m fine.”
“How about we all sit down?” Twilight suggested, pointing to the seats dotted around the room. “We could be waiting a few minutes.
There was a moment of silence before the tension broke and they all nodded and retreated to the chairs. They moved into a loose circle. Spike and Fluttershy sat next to Dash, and Twilight and Applejack sat furthest away.
“Well since we’re all here, how ‘bout you tell us what you’ve been working on, Twi?” Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief as the spotlight moved away from her. Meanwhile, Twilight beamed excitedly and prepared her speech.
“Well, after that whole ordeal with changelings attacking the Crystal Empire, I’ve been researching into just how changelings work. They feed on the love ponies share, and yet there doesn’t seem to be a single benign changeling in Equestrian society, which is certainly odd…”
Rainbow Dash let the words wash over her. She wasn’t really listening; she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Spike was watching her.
“You okay?” she whispered quietly to the dragon sat next to her.
He blinked in surprise before recovering. “Er, yeah. Never been better. Why do you ask?”
“You just look a little… uncomfortable.”
Twilight hadn’t noticed their quiet conversation and was continuing her lecture on the possibility of changelings living in Equestrian Society. Everypony was listening intently to her, although Fluttershy’s ear had twitched: a telltale sign that she could hear the pair.
“I’m fine,” Spike whispered back.
“Look,” Dash sighed, “I know you’re still caught up about what happened—” Spike scratched his arm nervously. “—but it’s totally cool. You don’t have to feel awkward or anything.”
“I know…” he murmured, although he didn’t seem convinced.
“Hey, we agreed we’d forget about it, right?” Dash replied. “So just forget about it.”
There was a short pause, in which Dash heard Twilight talk about how changelings manage to taste and consume emotions, before Spike replied.
“Okay,” he said softly.
“What’re you two mutterin’ ‘bout?” Applejack said loudly, making Dash jump a little.
“Huh?” Dash replied. “What do you mean?”
“You two were talkin’ while Twilight was. Ain’t plannin’ another evenin’ of passion, are ya?”
Heat rushed to Dash’s cheeks and she swallowed as quietly as she could manage. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t ya try playing innocent with me.” Applejack chuckled. “We all saw you and Spike flyin’ away together at his party.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Dash spotted the dragon in question shift uncomfortably.
“Hey, it’s not like that!” she complained. “We just had a little too much to drink and nothing happened.”
“Ya sure? Looked an awful lot like somethin’ happened to me.”
“I’m afraid I won’t lie, Rainbow Dash, but that was the way it came across,” Rarity added.
“Yeah, well, so what?” she growled, her cheeks burning fiercely. “It’s not like it means anything.”
Rarity glanced at Spike, and Dash followed her gaze.
“Hey, don’t look at me,” Spike protested, raising his arms into the air, “I don’t even remember what happened.”
Rainbow Dash sighed, placing a hoof on her face. “It didn’t happen,” she growled, shooting Spike a glare, “remember?”
None of their friends looked convinced in the slightest.
Yeesh, when did Spike become such a bad actor?
“Well whatever you got up to,” Rarity said, “I’m sure it can remain part of your private lives.” The unicorn glanced at Applejack. “In other news, did I tell you that I managed to pin down that contract for Minty Fresh’s opening for his garden party in Manehatten?”
“A party?” Pinkie gasped.
“Wow, that’s amazing, Rarity!” Twilight gushed. “You really are an amazing dressmaker.”
“Oh, you flatter me, Twilight,” Rarity replied modestly.
“No questionin’ it’s true, though,” Applejack added with a wink.
Rarity couldn’t hide the beam on her face. “Well since I’m making the dresses for the big guests, I’ve been invited myself, and I’m allowed to bring a few guests along with me…”
“Oh my,” Fluttershy breathed.
“We’re going to Manehatten?” Pinkie exclaimed.
Rarity nodded. “Only if you’d like to go, of course.”
“Are you crazy?” Pinkie demanded. “Duh, of course we’ll go to Manehatten with you!”
“Pinkie’s right, Rarity,” Twilight said. “If you’re going to this party, then we’ll be there to support you.”
“And maybe also go to some of the clubs,” Rainbow Dash added.
“Quite,” Rarity grumbled, wrinkling her muzzle.
“Will RD here be okay to go to Manehatten?” Applejack asked, pointing to all the bandages covering the pegasus’ body.
“For the last time, I’m fine!” Rainbow Dash huffed. “It’s just a few scratches. I’ll be out of these by tomorrow.”
“Hmm, ya sure yer not gonna crash again?” Applejack teased.
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.
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.
Rainbow Dash awoke to the sound of a door closing; it was quiet—deliberately so—but it wasn’t quiet enough to let her sleep. She had been struggling to sleep all afternoon anyway. She must have woken up seven or eight times over the course of the evening.
Cracking open an eyelid, she gazed out into the room. A single moonbeam shone through the crack in the curtains, casting another silhouette amongst the shadows. Dash didn’t move as Fluttershy walked over to the bed and slipped in next to her. She considered saying something to let her friend know she was awake, but she ultimately decided it was best to enjoy the moment.
Fluttershy shuffled next to her, getting into a comfortable position. After a few seconds, the room fell silent. The only sound was the soft rustling of animals from downstairs. An itch in her foreleg, however, forced Rainbow to shift in order to scratch it.
“Did I wake you?” Fluttershy whispered.
Rainbow frowned. “Yeah, but I wasn’t sleeping so great anyway. What time is it?”
“It’s nine o’clock,” Fluttershy replied. “You’ve been asleep all day.”
Rainbow nodded as she turned over to face her friend. “I feel horrible,” she moaned. “You don’t have a drink, do you?”
She could just make out Fluttershy leaning over to pick up a glass from the bedside table in the low lighting. “I always keep one close by.” She blushed. “I’m still a light sleeper.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. I still haven’t gotten over that time we went camping when we were little. You know, the one where you kept us all awake. Why did you even need the flashlight?” She shifted onto her front and took the glass of water. Raising her glass to her lips, she took several large glugs.
Fluttershy frowned and looked away. “We were just foals…”
Rainbow lowered the empty glass from her lips, and sighed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just tired. I feel like I’ve just been run over by a stampede of buffalos.”
Fluttershy smiled sympathetically. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get this all sorted tomorrow.”
“Sorted?” Rainbow retorted. “How is this going to get sorted? This is a mess! I’ve no idea what I’m gonna do.”
Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably and placed a hoof on Rainbow’s fetlock. “Just trust us, Rainbow. We’re your friends, and we’ll always be here for you.”
Rainbow sighed and rolled over to lie on her back. She stared upwards, tracing patterns on the ceiling in her head. If today hadn’t been eventful enough, she knew tomorrow would be packed with plenty more drama and headaches.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said quietly. “I mean, I know I’ve got you guys and all, but this ruins everything.” She turned her neck to look at Fluttershy. “How am I going to be able to kick clouds or give Scoots flying lessons if I can’t even get off the ground?”
“You won’t be earthbound. We’ll help you and make sure you have time for flying,” she assured her.
Rainbow glanced at her in apprehension. “I hope so. I’m not sure what I would do if I couldn’t fly. This is all just so weird. I mean, none of you guys have had foals yet. When I decided to stay, I just wanted a normal life in Ponyville, but now it looks like it’s all spiraling out of control.”
Fluttershy gave her a sympathetic look. “I know you made the choice to stay here in Ponyville, Rainbow, and I know it was a hard choice to make, but this isn’t your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself.”
“I'm not blaming myself,” she answered, “I just don't get it.” The two of them locked gazes. “Do you think it's possible for a pony and a dragon to have a foal?”
“I don't know,” she replied. “I've never heard of a dragon getting along with a pony at all before. Spike really is one of a kind.”
“Well how come he's never gotten anypony else pregnant?” she demanded. “Why me?”
“I w-wouldn't really know," Fluttershy said with a blush. "M-maybe you should ask Spike?"
Rainbow sighed and looked back up at the ceiling. It still looked as blank in the darkness as it had before. “It still doesn't make any sense to me. A dragon and a pony? What would it even look like? What if it's a mean dragon?” Her breath caught in her throat. “What if it hurts me?”
“Rainbow,” Fluttershy said firmly, pulling Rainbow's gaze from the ceiling. “I know what you're thinking, and that won't happen. Not to you.”
“But what if it does?” she breathed.
“No.” she answered, shaking her head and holding Rainbow’s gaze. The understanding in her eyes was almost unbearable, and Rainbow bristled under the stare. “Stop thinking like that. You're a brave pony, Rainbow Dash. You'll get past this.”
Rainbow didn't reply. She couldn’t. She looked past Fluttershy, focusing on nothing in particular. She knew she shouldn't let this get to her, but it still scared her. And Rainbow Dash wasn't a pony who was used to being scared.
“Do you think it will fly?” she asked quietly.
“I don't know what you mean,” Fluttershy said slowly.
“The foal,” Rainbow clarified. “I know both me and Spike can fly, but Spike couldn't when he was just a kid. Do you think this foal will be able to fly?”
“Maybe,” Fluttershy replied. “I don't think anypony knows for sure.”
Rainbow sighed. She wished Fluttershy could have a definite answer for something. Her life was suddenly full of so many uncertainties, and she wasn't used to it. She didn't like it at all.
“What should I do?” she asked.
“Whatever you want to do, Rainbow,” Fluttershy responded without missing a heartbeat.
Rainbow sighed. “What would you do, then?”
This time, Fluttershy hesitated before answering. “I would talk to Doctor Stables tomorrow. He scheduled your appointment for two o'clock after you ran out, since it was the only time he had available. He'll help you decide what to do.”
Decisions. Rainbow could feel the weight of each one crushing her. She took a deep breath, trying to shake them away, but she knew they weren’t going anywhere.
“Fluttershy…” Rainbow whispered. “I don’t want tomorrow to come.”
Fluttershy’s gaze saddened. “Oh, Rainbow Dash,” she said softly. She shuffled across to give Rainbow a hug, wrapping a hoof around her. “Don’t feel like that. I know that when tomorrow comes, the doctor will tell you all the options you have and you’ll feel much better.”
“I don’t think I’ll like those options,” she said, returning the hug. She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed, burying her muzzle into Fluttershy’s mane. It smelled of flowery shampoo. She would never openly admit it, but she treasured the moment.
“We’re here for you, Rainbow,” Fluttershy whispered in her ear. “We’ll always be here for you.”
“I know,” Rainbow responded. “It’s just that…” She sighed and pulled away. “What does Twilight think? I mean, Spike’s been her little assistant since he was born—hatched, whatever—and even though she moved to Canterlot for a while and gave charge of the library to Spike, she still fusses over him like he’s a foal. She still calls him a baby dragon, even though he’s almost taller than her!”
“I think Twilight is a little taken aback because she’s always looked after Spike. I suppose she’s watching Spike grow up and she’s not used to it,” Fluttershy said slowly. “But I also think she wants to support you. You are her friend, too.”
“But what if she doesn’t like the decision I make?”
“As long as you talk to Spike about what you’re thinking, I’m sure she’ll understand,” Fluttershy said.”
“Talking to Spike. Right,” Rainbow mumbled. “I guess I hadn’t thought about that. What do you think Spike will say?”
“Didn’t he talk to you after you left the hospital?” Fluttershy inquired, tilting her head.
“Yeah he did, but…” Rainbow frowned, guilt tugging at her chest. “I didn’t really ask what he thought about this.”
“I think you should go and talk to him tomorrow,” Fluttershy said softly. “This is affecting Spike, too. He’ll be able to help you come to a decision.”
Rainbow looked away, returning her gaze to the familiar, comforting ceiling. Silently, she traced patterns along its surface: a dragon and a pony. She pushed them towards each other, but it still made no sense—the foal, the night itself, none of it.
“Hey, Fluttershy?”
“Yes?” Fluttershy answered.
“Do you think we could just do something… normal?”
Fluttershy titled her head again, giving Rainbow a curious look. “I… well, what do you mean?”
“Just something that two normalponies do. What do you usually do?”
Fluttershy blinked a few times as she scrambled for an answer. “Well, I suppose me and Rarity used to braid each other’s manes when we had sleepovers,” she suggested.
Rainbow nodded. “Can we braid each other’s manes?”
Fluttershy raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Oh, uh, sure. Do you know how to braid?”
Rainbow shook her head, a detached look in her eyes.
“I could show you if you like?” she offered, getting up to grab a brush from the nearby table.
“Sure,” Rainbow replied.
“I’ll do yours first,” Fluttershy said. “Could you turn around?”
Rainbow obliged, sitting up and shifting her back to her friend. Fluttershy sat down on the bed behind her and began gently running the brush across her hair. Rainbow let out a deep breath as the brush stroked her mane, smoothing the messy hairs and caressing her scalp.
“Hey, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked.
“Hm?”
“How come you’re not with somepony?”
“W-what?” Fluttershy gasped.
“You know, like in a relationship,” Rainbow pressed, rolling her eyes a little.
Even though she couldn’t see her, she knew Fluttershy was blushing. “I—er, I suppose I don’t really think about it much. I’m just so busy looking after all these animals and running my animal shelter. Besides, I still have Angel.”
"That pest is still breathing?” Rainbow grumbled.
“Oh, Angel’s been doing so well lately. He wasn’t feeling so good last week, but now he’s as energetic as when he was a newborn bunny!”
Impulsively, Rainbow touched a hoof to her stomach. She took a deep breath and swallowed. It had suddenly occurred to her that she had a living thing growing inside of her, and it made her feel a little ill. She didn’t even want to think about it, and yet she couldn’t think of anything else.
Fluttershy seemed to have noticed as she stopped brushing her mane. “I’m sorry,” she breathed. “I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine,” Rainbow said quickly. “I was just a little distracted, that’s all.”
“O-okay,” Fluttershy said uncertainly. She continued to run the brush over Rainbow’s mane, gently undoing the knots. The pair lapsed into a calm silence once again as Fluttershy began to gather the hair at the roots, dividing it into three sections.
“You have a really nice mane, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said softly. “You should do this more often.”
“You know I’ve never really been bothered about my mane,” Rainbow complained. “Styling it just isn’t my style, you know?”
Fluttershy giggled quietly and began folding the strands over each other. “Maybe you should consider it sometime? You know it’s really not that bad once you give it a try.”
“I have better things to do than sit around, braiding my mane all day,” Rainbow snorted.
“I think you’d like it if you gave it a chance,” Fluttershy replied.
She toyed with the idea. The brushing was surprisingly relaxing, but then again, almost anything she did with Fluttershy calmed her nerves. Fluttershy was her source of calm.
“Hey, ‘Shy?” she asked.
“Yes, Rainbow?”
“Thanks for this.” Rainbow said quietly. “I kinda needed it.”
“You know you can talk to me at any time, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy replied gently. “That’s what friends are for.”
“Yeah.” Rainbow breathed absentmindedly. It was strange to have somepony playing with her mane. She never normally allowed anypony anywhere near it, but today was hardly a normal day.
“There,” Fluttershy said as she tied a hairband into Dash’s mane, securing the large braid, and laid it down over her shoulder. Curiously, Rainbow inspected the braid. The only time she’d ever had her hair tied up like this at all was when she had gone to the Grand Galloping Gala. It kind of looked like Applejack's had.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy let out a loud yawn and glanced at the clock. “My, it’s getting pretty late.”
“Yeah, I guess, but I’m not that tired.” She looked back at Fluttershy, expecting a quick agreement until she saw just how tired her friend was. She grinned guiltily. “Heh, I guess we should go to bed, though.”
“As long as it’s not a bother…” Fluttershy started.
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Rainbow Dash said, a slight smirk forming on her lips.
“Okay. You know, I have a spare bed lying around if you want it. I was taking care of Basil a few months ago and he wouldn’t sleep unless I gave him the bed. So later on I had to go out and buy another one.”
“A bear in a bed, huh?” Rainbow said, chuckling as she imagined what that scene would have looked like.
“Yes. The bed’s in the back if you want me to go get it.”
Rainbow hesitated. “Hey, ‘Shy? Do you think it’d be okay if I could sleep with you in your bed?”
Surprise flashed on Fluttershy’s face, but it was quickly replaced with a warm smile. “Of course, Rainbow.”
Fluttershy nodded and got into the bed. Rainbow followed her, pulling the duvet over them as she found a more comfortable position.
“Good night,” Fluttershy whispered.
“‘Night,” Rainbow murmured in response.
Gradually, the room fell into silence, every so often interrupted by the scurrying feet of a mouse of the flapping of bird’s wings. Rainbow took a deep breath and tried to get comfortable. It was difficult when she’d slept all day; every position felt uncomfortable. The ambient noises didn’t help either, but Fluttershy seemed accustomed to them, and she soon could hear the soft sounds of Fluttershy’s breathing.
After what seemed like hours, Dash gave up the fight, gazing up at the ceiling pensively. As she had before, she drew shapes onto the smooth, wooden surface. This time she decided to trace her friends. First she imagined Fluttershy, bashfully sitting with her mane covering her eyes. Next came Rarity and Applejack, total opposites in almost every way. They were followed by Pinkie, who wouldn’t keep still, and next to her, the ever-studious Twilight Sparkle. She grinned as she traced each shape. Pinkie was particularly difficult. But Pinkie was always difficult. She had a habit of being difficult. The images floated around in the darkness, silent but comforting all the same.
She was content with those pictures for a while, but a sense of discontent slowly crept up on her. Something was missing, she realized, and she knew what it was. Spike. Would it be so strange to include him? She mused over the idea. In some ways he didn’t fit, but in others he did. He wasn’t an Element of Harmony, and yet she saw him just as much as the rest. After a pause, she drew the missing piece.
“Bleh,” she sighed quietly under her breath. She wasn’t sure how much more of Spike she wanted to see. She was fine with being friends with him, but now it seemed like she was being forced to be friends with him. And Rainbow Dash did not like being forced to do anything. It all felt so out of her control and beyond her will.
Grunting, Dash rolled over onto her side, her legs lying off the bed. She’d been asleep all day, and now she didn’t feel like sleeping. That didn’t mean she wasn’t tired, though, but it was a different kind of exhaustion, one she felt more in her brain than anywhere else. It reminded her of the problem at hoof, the one slowly growing inside of her. She couldn’t help but twitch at the thought. What was it going to be? If it was Spike’s kid, was it a dragon? Or some sort of dragon-pony?
She moaned and covered her ears with her hooves, as if she could block out her own thoughts. She tried her best to keep her mind occupied by counting sheep and listing all the aerial maneuvers she knew, but the former did little to put her to sleep, and the latter only reminded her of her situation.
Instead, she lay there, counting down the seconds until tomorrow came. And she wasn't looking forward to it.
Sunlight pooled through the gap in the curtains. Rainbow blinked a few times as she became aware that her eyes had been absently staring up at the sunbeams. She was lying on her back, staring up at the blank ceiling with a hoof on her forehead. There were no imaginary shapes to greet her now that she could see the ceiling in the daylight.
She couldn’t tell whether she had a headache or whether she just felt miserable due to other causes. The sun rays in her face weren’t helping at all. She hadn’t gotten to sleep for several hours the night before. She had been counting sheep almost endlessly, desperately trying to drown out her thoughts. And now she felt horrible. Worse than if a stampede of buffalos had hit her. More like she’d jumped in front of the Friendship Express.
She realized she was sprawled across the entire bed. She wasn’t exactly sure how she had ended up dominating the whole thing, but her body always seemed to have a mind of its own when she slept. She figured Fluttershy had been pushed off the bed, or something like that.
Before she could think anything more of it, what sounded like a bell and whistling interrupted her thoughts. She sprang into action; she saw a cuckoo clock on the wall performing its regular functions.
“Eurgh!” she complained. “Stupid clock, leave me alone!”
She flung the nearby lamp sitting on the nightstand at it. The clock was silenced with a satisfying crash. She sighed and lay back down on her bed, returning her gaze to the ceiling. After a few seconds of calm breathing, she managed to slow her heartbeat down to a reasonable level. She was probably going to have to pay Fluttershy for that clock. She moaned and rolled over to see what time it was.
“Two o’clock!?” she yelped, her mind jumping into overdrive. She needed to be at the Hospital right now.
She leapt out of bed and immediately rushed into the nearby bathroom. She looked in the mirror and saw she still had the braid in her hair, although her tossing and turning had allowed strands of hair to escape the braid. With no toothbrush or time to shower, she gargled some water and ran downstairs.
Most her bandages fell off while she was tossing and turning in bed, and she shook off the remaining few mid-gallop. Her pastern was still stiff, but otherwise the only pain left was in her wing. She made sure not to put too much pressure on her hoof as she burst out of the front door and galloped with a slight limp down the path to Ponyville.
As she slowed down to a canter along the path, she realized that she didn’t really know much about this appointment; she hadn’t asked about it in any detail the day before. Were they going to ask her to have more tests? Was she going to have to go on prescription? She didn’t have that kind of money lying around.
Rainbow shuddered. She hoped none of those tests involved needles.
Today of all days I oversleep and it bites me in the flank…
She’d assumed Fluttershy would wake her up in the morning, but somehow she had managed to leave Rainbow fast asleep when she had gotten up.
“She was probably just trying to be nice by letting me sleep in,” Dash reasoned. She wished Fluttershy had been assertive and kicked her out of the bed, but she knew that that wasn’t in her friend’s nature.
Stupid crash. Why does it have to be today of all days that I can’t fly?
It was normally more than a twenty minute walk from Fluttershy’s cottage to Ponyville. Rainbow wrinkled her snout, calculating how long it would take her if she kept up this pace.
Seven or eight minutes, maybe five if I don’t stop.
She focused on keeping her breathing even as she fought the cramp growing in her lungs. Her legs, unaccustomed to being used for much more than a short sprint, grew more sore with each step. The pain gave her temporary distraction from her thoughts, but even with the aches in her body, she couldn’t help but think about Spike. Specifically, she thought about what he had said the previous afternoon.
“The Rainbow Dash I know wouldn’t run away.”
She sighed and gave into her leg pain, stopping to walk for a while. It was maddening, being stopped by her legs when she wasn’t even tired yet. To make matters worse, she wasn’t even half way to Ponyville.
“I’m going… to the doctor’s,” she huffed to herself. “That’s not running away.”
Spike had it all wrong. He thought he knew her, but he was wrong. Rainbow Dash did not run from trouble. She had plenty of responsibilities to deal with; she cleared clouds, organized a weather team, and at the end of the week she rushed through a bit of weather paperwork.
But a foal is a lot different than kicking clouds.
She chewed her lip and conceded to her own thoughts. Was she really cut out to be a mother? The idea was unrealistic—laughable, even—but Rainbow didn’t feel like laughing.
She took a deep breath, and resumed her trot into town, her legs feeling marginally better with the short rest she’d given them. The scenery flew by in a blur, leaving the countryside and her thoughts behind her in the dust. Ponyville was fast approaching, and she turned her mind to more concerning issues.
Will Doctor Stables be mad that I’m late?
Doctor Stables had been Ponyville’s resident doctor for as long as Dash could remember. He’d patched her up after her many… accidents since moving to Ponyville, and that had to have been over ten years ago by now. In all that time, however, she hadn't made any appointments that she hadn’t been able to keep.
In another blink of her eye, the hospital rushed into view. It was lucky that the hospital was on this side of town. She burst in through the doors, startling the inattentive receptionist and earning looks from the few ponies waiting to be seen by a doctor. She blushed in embarrassment, her ears folding back as she made her way up to the reception desk. The nurse gave her a look of annoyance, rolling her hoof, gesturing for Dash to say what she wanted.
“I’m, uh, here to see Doctor Stables? I’m kind of late for my appointment, but you see—”
“Take a seat. The doctor will be with you shortly.” The receptionist droned out the answer as if she’d rather be anywhere but work.
Nodding, Rainbow Dash trotted as quickly as she could to an empty seat and sat down. She tried to ignore the gazes of the other ponies that burned into her hide. She swung her legs idly, gazing around the room and trying to act aloof as she waited for the doctor. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too long.
A few minutes passed and she was beginning to get a bit impatient. With nothing else to do but look around, and she had already memorized every inch of the room, she was beginning to feel the terrible sense of boredom settling over her. By this time, the other ponies had grown equally bored of her, and she was glad to be free of their piercing stares.
Her eyes fell on a stack of out-of-date magazines, haphazardly thrown onto a nearby table. Most were either about nature or were those trashy gossip tabloids that made a huge fuss over a pony eating a piece of cake or something equally inane. One in particular caught her eye ‘Mothers Monthly - everything you need to know about pregnancy’.
She hesitated, trying to look away but her gaze kept flickering back. She wouldn’t deny she was interested, but it would be the death of her if anypony caught her reading ‘Mothers Monthly’. Looking around to check if anypony was watching her, she confirmed that there wasn’t any and she reached across the table. Checking again to see who was watching, she placed the magazine inside a nearby Power Ponies comic book, concealing the front cover.
By the time she was halfway through the second article, the content of the magazine left Dash’s face a new shade of red. Most of the pictures depicted was the average mother treating to their foals; changing their diapers, step-by-step guides on how to shower them, nursing—
“Miss Dash, the Doctor will see you now.”
Rainbow Dash fumbled with the magazine, almost dropping it to the floor and revealing the true nature of what she was reading. She peered over to the receptionist, who looked over at her with her ever-present bored expression. By her side stood Doctor Stables. She quickly placed the magazine flat down with the Power Ponies disguise on top of it and trotted over.
“This way, Miss Dash,” he said formally, turning down a corridor. She followed him from a distance, not looking forward to the conversation ahead of her. The facility wasn’t very large, so it didn’t take very long to reach the room. The Doctor held the door open for her, leaving her to stiffly make her way inside.
“Please take a seat,” he said, indicating to a plain plastic chair with his hoof, “There are some things I’d like to discuss with you.”
Nervously, Rainbow plopped herself down on the chair, shifting a bit to focus on the doctor.
“Alright, so where to begin,” he cleared his throat and sat down across from her before opening his mouth to speak again, “Given your unusual circumstance, I would still like to discuss what happens in a, umm—regular pregnancy, as well as what options are available to you.”
Rainbow nodded, as he walked over to the small table in front of him, presenting her with a few brochures which were all labeled with different titles, yet they all had the same intimidating word inscribed on each. Pregnancy.
“I would much appreciate it if you would take the time to look over these whenever you can; they may prove to be beneficial. Feel free to take them with you after we have finished our discussion.”
“Um… alright.”
Doctor Stables straightened up, clearly prepared to deliver the speech he had probably delivered to hundreds of other future mothers. "Okay, so first thing’s first: morning sickness. Have you experienced any abnormal nausea or vomiting in the last four weeks?"
Rainbow Dash blinked, casting her mind back. "Err, I don't think so."
The doctor nodded. "That is good. Morning sickness affects about four in every five pregnant mares in the first few months of their pregnancy. Drinking plenty of fluids and getting plenty of rest are good ways to reduce this. I know you have a well-balanced lifestyle, Miss Dash, so I hope this will be no problem for you. If it does become a serious problem then please don't hesitate to come and talk to me."
Rainbow nodded meekly. This didn't seem so bad.
“And as I said,” Doctor Stables continued, “I know you have a good diet. Nevertheless, make sure you’re taking in enough nutrients and don’t be alarmed by any weight gain. It’s completely natural.”
“Weight gain?” Rainbow asked with a frown. “How much we talking here, doc?”
The doctor cracked a smile, his professional facade faltering. “No more than about thirty pounds by the end, Rainbow. You will have a, er, newborn growing inside you, of course. You’ll still be able to fly around as you always do.”
Rainbow felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “Ah, geez, you don’t know how much I wanted to hear that.”
Doctor Stables cleared his throat, his serious expression returning. “Although, don’t overdo it. I know what you’re like. I don’t want to see you coming in after another one of your crashes. I wouldn’t recommend that for a pregnant mare.”
A guilty smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
“Other symptoms you may experience include fatigue, weak bladder, constipation, light bleeding and tender teats,” he said.
“Huh,” Rainbow mumbled, shifting around her seat with discomfort, “that’s quite a lot of things…”
The doctor nodded, motioning to the pamphlets again. “These will go into a lot more detail than we’ll touch on today. Your body will be experiencing big hormonal changes, don't worry about it; it is perfectly normal.”
Rainbow glanced back down at the pamphlets again. In each was a picture of an infant foal or a smiling mother. The lack of dragons, however, was starting to bother her.
"Doc," she said, clearing her throat, “Do you really think it's possible? For a pony and a dragon to have a kid?”
Doctor Stables scrunched his eyebrows thoughtfully for a few seconds before he spoke. "Well, I can't say for sure. But given that ponykind has never had a dragon among its ranks, I wouldn't rule it out entirely. We've seen Celestia perform greater miracles, after all."
Rainbow took a deep breath. He was right, and she hated it. Discord could make chocolate rain from literally nothing. A dragon foal wouldn't be the craziest thing in Equestria.
But it would be the craziest thing growing inside me.
She swallowed before asking her next question. It was the question that had been bothering for a while now, and not even Fluttershy's answer had comforted her.
"Do you... Do you think it will... hurt me?" she asked.
Doctor Stables gave her a concerned look. "Hurt you? Do you mean the pregnancy or the... infant?"
"I mean could I die, Doc?" she said quietly. "Am I more likely to..."
The doctor's eyes widened a little in understanding. "Not like that, Miss Dash. Miscarriage will be much more probable. So far, this looks like a perfectly healthy pregnancy. As for the birth itself, I'm going to strongly recommend a C-section. A natural birth will significantly increase the chances of complications."
This time when she swallowed, the lump that had been growing in her throat refused to go away.
"But we can avoid that, right?"
"Of course. A C-section will minimize the risk."
"I'll go for that one, then."
"Do you want me to explain the C-section or Caesarian?"
Rainbow shook her head. "Pretty sure I've got a good idea of what you're gonna do."
Doctor Stables nodded, his signature smile returning once again. "It's a small operation with very low risk. You have nothing to fear, Miss Dash."
Doctor Stable's answer hadn't made her feel any better than Fluttershy's. The lump in her throat persisted.
"Do you think I'll lay an egg or something?"
"No," he replied. "The pony body isn't built for that. It is far more likely you will conceive a live dragon. Whether it survives is something I cannot predict."
"Okay," she said softly. "This is a lot to take in, huh."
Doctor Stables nodded with a mirthful grin and glanced at the ticking clock on the wall. "Yes, I think we're nearing the end of our appointment. You were a little late after all."
Rainbow grinned sheepishly, "Heh, sorry."
"Not to worry. Just read through those pamphlets. They have all the information you need. If you have any questions though, please don't hesitate to ask.
Rainbow nodded and stood up, taking a deep breath in relief. She hated sitting down for too long.
“Well, I think that concludes this meeting.” The doctor walked towards the door and opened it, ushering Rainbow Dash out with his hoof.
Dash thanked him as she hobbled out the door, her hoof still complaining if she put too much weight on it. The doctor gave her one last glance, which she couldn’t decipher, before nodding and closing the small office door. She passed by a few of the nurses she’d seen the previous day, many of whom gave her small friendly waves as she pushed open the doors of the hospital.
A rush of wind greeted her as she exited the building, ruffling her feathers. The sun had become even brighter in that short session, much to Rainbow’s discontent. Most other ponies managed to endure it, but to Rainbow, being in a dim place like a hospital and then suddenly having the sun shine down on you wasn’t comforting. She briefly contemplated sending a letter to Celestia and telling her to tone it down, but decided against it.
As Rainbow walked through town, she wished she could talk to someone about her talk with Doctor Stables.
Maybe I could find one of the girls?
AJ was the first to cross her mind. She was working the apple stand that day. But she could be a little too blunt sometimes. Rainbow recalled the previous day. Applejack didn't think having a dragon foal was that bad.
"Pff, like she could manage all that apple bucking while pregnant."
She chuckled at the thought. It was weird that she and her friends had gotten so much older but none of them had settled down and had foals. Most ponies did that sooner than them.
"Hey Rainbow, sorry to hear about your tumble the other day," a pony called as they passed by. Rainbow Dash mentally shook herself awake and looked around to see Cloudchaser trotting over.
"Tumble? Who told you that?" Rainbow grunted.
"Thunderlane, duh. You weren't at work earlier." She looked her up and down. "Although he made it sound like you'd broken more than just a few ribs. You look pretty fine to me."
"Yeah, I just sprained a wing. Knowing Thunderlane, I’d bet two bits he said I was in some death bed, right?”
Cloudchaser laughed. "Nail on the head. That's why I thought you'd just taken a little tumble." She winked at Rainbow. "Anyway I would chat more, but I promised Flitter I'd meet her at Pinkie's place. I'll catch you later!"
With that, Cloudchaser launched into the air and flew off.
Pinkie Pie, huh?
It hadn't been Rainbow's first idea, but she knew that Pinkie would know how to cheer her up. It just meant visiting her new shop.
Ugh… that place.
If Sugarcube Corner had been bad enough for temptation, then Pinkie's new shop took the cake. Literally.
Auntie Pinkie's Cupcake Emporium. Even the name had Rainbow licking her lips over the memory of Pinkie's legendary cupcakes. Mulling over her options once more, she locked the decision in her mind, hoping that it wasn’t the wrong one.
