It's All Downhill From Here

Chapters

Catalyst
This Disaster
Doubt Full
The Truth Of Youth
Over The Head, Below The Knees
Failure Is Not Flattering
Best Known For Failure...
Best Known For Giving Up...
But At Least I'm Known For Something!
No News is Good News

Catalyst

The sun cast its rays through the town, beckoning all to awake and start their day. This, of course, was all lost on a purple and green lump lying beneath the covers on his bed.

“Spike, you need to get up!” The sound of Twilight pounding on his door permeated Spike’s mind.

“I can’t. The blankets… they’re too comfortable.” Spike proceeded to burrow his way farther into his bed. “Come back tomorrow….”

“Spike, it’s already after ten!” Twilight bursted through his door. “Do you not remember what day it is?”

“Uh… Saturday?”

“Yes, and it also happens to be the day when they announce the teams for the Game-a-Thon. You know… the one you insisted upon participating in this year?”

The dragon nuzzled his head out of his bed fortress. “That was today? I totally forgot!”

“Apparently,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “And the team announcement is in an hour and a half at the park. If you’re not there, they’ll give your place to the next participant in line. They only choose the first ten applicants.”

Spike leapt from his bed and dashed off to the bathroom to get ready.

The Ponyville Game-a-Thon was an annual event where five teams of two ponies would compete in various fun games and challenges over the course of a weekend. After it was over, the winners would be awarded a special prize.

Spike had always been a fan ever since Mayor Mare introduced it three years ago, but he never was picked to be a competitor. This time was different, though. With the help of Twilight, he made sure his sign-up sheet was the first one turned in, and he finally got the call to participate.

After a quick shower and fang-brushing, he headed downstairs to eat some breakfast before heading out. He stepped into the kitchen to see Twilight already waiting for him with two bowls of oat cereal.

“Thanks, Twi.” Spike sat down and started shoveling spoonfuls of cereal into his gaping mouth, spattering bits of it on the unicorn across the table.

“Geez, slow down!” Twilight wiped a clump of oats off of her cheek. “I know that you’re in a rush, but you can still eat like a civilized member of society!”

Spike gulped down the rest of his food. “Sorry, but I wanna be there in plenty of time to see who else is participating.”

Twilight cast him a curious glance while slowly eating her own bowl of food. “Yes, knowing the competition is important. So, do you have any ideas who you want to be paired with?”

“Well, I know Rainbow Dash is participating, and so is Applejack. I think I’d have a pretty good chance of winning if either of them were my teammates.” Spike took on a thoughtful glance. “But I know it’s selected randomly, so I guess it could be anypony. I just hope it’s someone I know.”

“Don’t worry, Spike,” Twilight stated. “I’m sure everything will turn out just fine.”

* * * * *

“Oh. My. Gosh! Wake up!”

Cloudchaser felt her ears ringing from the pony screaming in her ear. “Meh… go back to bed, Flitter. It’s Saturday.” She quickly buried her head under her pillow.

“It’s eleven, and we have to be at the park in an hour!” Flitter snatched up her pillow and started hitting her sister with it. “So! Get! Up! Now!”

“Alright. Alright.” Cloudchaser rolled over and sat up from her bed. She slumped her way over to the mirror and cringed at the sight. “I’m gonna have to take a shower first.”

“Fine, but hurry!” Her younger sister zoomed over and pushed her sibling out the door and into the bathroom. “I don’t want them to give our spots away.”

Cloudchaser took a passing glance at the bathroom mirror. Her mane was a frightening sight in itself, not to mention the drool on her face. “Ugh…”

The light blue mare leapt into the shower and washed away all signs of a rough night’s sleep. She had to look her best today.

She gently stepped out of the shower and shook off any excess water the towel didn't get. After a quick brushing, she headed out to the living room to find her sister tapping her hooves impatiently.

“’Bout time.”

“Sorry, but I had to look presentable! I mean, Spitfire is the judge this year, and you know how she is…” Cloudchaser grinned nervously at her sister and was met with a look of bemusement.

“Suuure. Spitfire. Please, spare me the act. We all know who you really want to impress,” Flitter said.

The older pegasus felt her face heat up. “Oh, c’mon. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh-huh… not buying it. You’ve been looking forward to the games ever since you learned Thunderlane was gonna' be in it this year.”

“Okay, well… so? Who cares if I want to be on his team? He’s a good athlete!”

“Pssh... Ha! I almost bought that,” Flitter said, her words dripping with sarcasm. “Everypony knows you like him, though I have no idea what you see in him.”

“I do not! He’s just a friend.”

“Are you kidding me? I mean, you giggle like a school filly anytime he’s aro—“

“Oh, would you look at the time. We’re running late!” Cloudchaser cut off her sister’s teasing and burst through the front door, a blush adorning her cheeks.

“Hey, wait up!”

* * * * *

Spike walked into the clearing where the event would take place. He looked around the area, glancing at the various ponies. Many were present to see who would be in the event, but that made it hard to determine who the actual participants were.

He recognized a few faces. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were talking with each other off by a tree, Cheerilee was standing with Lyra and Bon Bon, and Spitfire was speaking animatedly with Mayor Mare

“Hey, Dash! AJ!” Spike meandered over to his friends.

“Well howdy there, Spike!” Applejack tipped her hat and smiled warmly.

“Hey, Spike. What are you doin’ here? Did you sign up this year, too?” Rainbow eyed Spike curiously.

“Yep! I actually decided to join in this year. Seemed like fun.” Spike beamed at his two friends.

“Well, glad ta have ya, Spike.”

“Yeah! Just hope one of you two get put on my team. With either of you on my team, there's no way the competition would be able to stand against us!” Rainbow said.

Spike chuckled lightly. “Well, one can only hope.” The dragon took a quick glance around the small area. “Do you know who else was picked to participate this year?”

“Nope, can’t say that ah’ do. Who knows? We could be in for some stiff competition this time around.” Applejack swiftly eyed the surrounding ponies.

“I’m sure I can handle anything that comes my way!” Rainbow immediately felt her body pushed forward. “Oof!”

“Step aside!” A soft blue unicorn elegantly made her way by the trio. “The Great and Powerful Trixie demands this spot.”

“Hold up now… what are you doin’ here, Trixie?” Applejack gave the showmare a puzzled look.

Rainbow thrust a hoof toward the unicorn. “Yeah, what’s the big idea?!”

“Trixie wished to participate in the games this year, so that’s what she did. Hmph!”

“Oh great…” Spike rubbed his temples, just imagining the headache she would provide if by some misfortune they were teamed up.

“What?! Are you telling me I have to compete against you this year?” Rainbow questioned..

“That is correct. Trixie wouldn’t necessarily call you ‘competition’, however.”

“Not competition?! Why, you just wait, you—”

Rainbow was tackled mid sentence by Applejack, lest a battle be started before the games even began. “Hold on now, Rainbow! Save it for the games.”

Spike looked at the three mares before him and laughed. There was going to be a lot of chaos this year. “Now, let’s see who else is here.”

“Heads up!”

Spike turned his head just in time to see a speeding, pale blue pegasus heading right for him. “Ahh!” He felt his face collide with the dirt below. The full weight of a pony prevented him from getting up.

“Ouch… OH! I’m sorry!” The pony jumped off the dragon beneath her and extended a helping hoof.

Spike gladly took her hoof and stood up, brushing the excess dust off his scales. “It’s alright, no harm done. Thick scales and all.”

“Yeah, me and my sis were in a bit of a rush to get here.” Her eyes darted around the area. “Speaking of which, where is—”

“C’mon! You can flirt with guys later; the team selection is about to start!”

Spike watched as a mare with a pink bow in her mane darted over and dragged the mare away. His thoughts were interrupted, however, as he heard a voice from the center of the clearing.

“ATTENTION! PONIES, MAY I PLEASE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!” Mayor Mare’s voice echoed across the area, alerting all ponies present.

Spike joined the crowd of ponies that surrounded the mayor.

“Welcome one and all to the Team Selection Ceremony for the Fourth Annual Ponyville Game-A-Thon!” The Mayor was greeted with a round of applause from the various ponies in attendance. “We’re grateful to all who signed up to participate, but as you know we are only able to choose ten participants, for a total of five teams.”

Spike took a final glance around the ponies in the area. It was time.

“Now, to begin the team selection, I would like you all to welcome this year's game leader and head judge, Spitfire!”

The crowd let out deafening cheers as the Wonderbolt captain made her way into the clearing next to the Mayor.

Even outside her uniform, she looked every bit like a strong leader—the blazing, spiked mane, confident smile, and no-nonsense glare demanded respect.

“Alright, everypony! Welcome once again to this year’s Game-A-Thon.” She paused for a moment to allow the hoof stomping and excited cheers to come to a halt. “Now, this year we’re gonna' be doing things a little bit differently!” She casted an icy glare at the crowd. “Normally, this whole getup involves the teams competing in various athletic challenges and games to win—but not this year!”

Spike felt his body tense up.

She sent a smirk toward all present. “This year, because not everyone is as athletically competent as others, there will be an event that’s more suitable for everypony. A scavenger hunt!”

The audience looked around, some with excitement and others with apprehension at the new development.

“That’s right, everypony! This year’s game will consist of you and your partner solving a series of riddles and challenges to find the prize! The first one to discover this prize will be the winner. Therefore, teamwork will be essential to victory.”

Spike glanced around once again at the other ponies. Now it mattered more than ever who he got paired with. His green eyes traveled a bit to his right and found Rainbow and AJ—one of them would be his best bet.

“Now!” Spitfire commanded the audience’s attention once more. “As you know already, only the first ten applicants could be accepted, and the teams will be chosen at random! If you were chosen, you already know, but you don’t know who your teammate is. This will not only be a test of your ability to work as a team, but also will hopefully help some of you to make some new friends along the way.”

The mayor walked up to Spitfire, gripping a small bowl in her mouth. “Now, in this bowl are the names of all ten of the contenders this year. I’m going to draw names two at a time, and those will be the teams. When you've been selected, come to the front to get your team number badges. I don’t wanna' hear any crying, whining, or complaining about who you’re put with. Alright?” She was immediately greeted with enthusiastic nods from the crowd.

“Alright, this is it!” Spike crossed his fingers in anticipation.

Spitfire slowly picked two pieces of paper from the bowl. “The first team for this year is…”

Spike held his breath waiting for the announcement.

“Rainbow Dash, and… Trixie Lulamoon!”

Rainbow’s voice echoed throughout the area.“WHAT?!”

“Ha, you should be honored!” Trixie sneered as the two made their way to the front to receive their badges.

Rainbow Dash held in her desire to snap back in front of the Wonderbolt captain. “Ugh, this is so gonna' suck.”

Spike couldn’t help but laugh at the prospect of the two working together, but that only left Applejack as the other pony he would feel comfortable working with. He crossed his fingers once more waiting for the inevitable calling of his name.

* * * * *

Cloudchaser let out a sigh as the Spitfire pulled out the names of the next team. There were only a couple ponies she would feel comfortable with, yet there were so many possibilities.

Her sister gently nudged her side. “Hey, Thunderlane is still available. Maybe you’ll get him.” She pointed a hoof in the direction of a black stallion with a sharp, silver mane. Noticing the attention, he slyly winked at the two sisters.

“Heh, yeah, maybe.” Cloudchaser felt her heart beat like a bass drum.

Spitfire dipped a hoof in the bowl once more.“Alright, for the next team we have… Thunderlane—”

Cloudchaser’s heart stopped. She silently pleaded that she would be called next.

“—and Flitter!”

Cloudchaser glanced down at her younger sister, mouth agape. She earned a sheepish smile in return.

“Sorry, sis'.” Flitter hung her head and followed Thunderlane to the front.

The older sister’s gaze travelled to the ground, disappointment radiating from her. Why couldn't she have been paired up with him?

* * * * *

Another team down, three more to go.

Spike couldn’t help but have hope that maybe he’d get put with Applejack, seeing as how there were only five other participants now.

“Now, for team number three!” Spitfire brought out two more slips of paper. “Spike—”

The young dragon’s heart jumped. Here it comes.

“—and Cloudchaser!”

Spike felt his hopes crumble to the ground. He took a moment to scan over the audience and figure out who exactly his partner was.

“Who the heck is Cloudchaser?”

* * * * *

“Who the heck is Spike?”

As she stepped forward to the front, she could barely believe her eyes as the small, purple dragon she ran into earlier stepped forward with her.

“Oh, that’s Spike.”

The two gave each other a brief, awkward smile as they accepted their badges and moved back to the audience to await the end of the ceremony.

The fourth team consisted of Applejack and Lyra, while the fifth was Holly Dash and Bon-Bon. The scavenger hunt was scheduled to begin the following weekend, so the teams were given a week to train, strategize and get to know their teammate.

As Cloudchaser made her way home, she was sharing the same thought as a purple dragon on the other side of town.

This did not go the way I planned.

This Disaster

Spike waddled his way down the gravel path that led to his home, letting out deep sighs and other sounds projecting aloud his disappointment at the recently transpired events. The only audience to his depressing show of emotion, however, were the occasional squirrels or blowing leaves that saw fit to cross his path. No such comfort or understanding would come from them.

Finally finding his way back to his home, he merely plodded his way through the front door, making no effort to close it behind him, wipe his feet, or greet the ecstatic Twilight that was waiting for him.

“So, Spike, how did it go?” she asked, beaming at him.

“Meh,” he replied, slumping his way to the stairs.

“Um, Spike? Is everything… alright?”

“Meh.”

Twilight’s face took a one-hundred and eighty degree turn and morphed into an annoyed frown. “Alright, Spike, tell me what’s up. You’ve been waiting a long time for today.”

Before he could take another step up the stairs, he was suddenly yanked back down to the living room by Twilight’s magic, and tossed onto the couch.

“C’mon, Twilight. I just wanna go back to bed,” he whined. “I can hear my blankets calling for me. They’re so much nicer than the cruel world of fate and misfortune that awaits outside the front door.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and took a seat next to Spike. “Spike, tell me what’s wrong. Please? You can’t just hide under your covers until all your problems go away.”

“Why not? It sounds like a good plan to me.”

“Because, unfortunately, life doesn’t work like that. Now, I take it something went wrong today?”

Spike let out another deep sigh, and decided that fate had decreed he and his bed would be kept separate for the rest of the day. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“What happened? Did you get put with someone you didn’t want to?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. Well, kind of,” Spike replied.

“What do you mean, ‘kind of’?”

“Well, it’s not that I don’t like her, it’s just that I don’t know her. And the challenge this year is going to be a scavenger hunt based entirely on teamwork and getting to know your team member.”

“Oh…” Twilight replied. “Well, who was it? Maybe I can help?”

“Cloudchaser.”

Twilight had to think for a moment before she remembered the mare he was referring to. “Oh, you mean the pegasus with the spiky white mane?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Spike said.

“So, what’s wrong with her? She’s really nice. Kind of quiet from what I’ve seen, but nice. What's the big issue?"

"The issue is that I wanted to actually be with someone I knew, and could maybe have a chance of winning with, and could at least have fun competing with. Now its just gonna be awkweird," Spike said, slumping his head into his palm.

"Awkweird?"

"Awkward and weird put together. I mean, I don't even know anything about her! What if she's prejudice against dragons? Or maybe she's a spy put it solely to undermine my efforts to win?"

Twilight facehoofed at the direction Spike was taking the conversation. "Spike, I highly doubt that's the case. Besides, you've talked to Cloudchaser before, when we were measuring wing power for all the pegasi, remember?"

Spike scratched his chin. " Oh yeah... But I'm still not convinced."

"Look, Spike, you'll be fine. Besides, maybe you'll even become friends after this whole thing. The games aren't til next week, so you have until then to get to know about her."

"I guess. She seemed nice enough, I suppose. And I guess I should consider myself lucky considering Dash got paired with Trixie."

"Oh no. I think I'm going to increase Rainbow's personal injury insurance premium tonight."

"Yeah, that won't be pretty," Spike chuckled.

"Yeah, so don't count yourself out. I bet you and Cloudchaser will get along great."

"I don't know, Twilight. Something tells me this is gonna be a disaster."

*****

"This is going to be a disaster," Cloudchaser said, slumping into her couch.

"Oh, come on, sis. It isn't that bad," Flitter said, nuzzling into the seat next to Cloudchaser.

Cloudchaser pouted and glared at her sister. "Sure, says the pony who got put with the best stallion there."

Flitter rolled her eyes and socked her sister in the shoulder. "Oh my gosh, Cloud. Thunderlane is not the best stallion. You just have the hots for him, and you're jealous."

Cloudchaser blushed and turned her eyes to the floor. "I'm not jealous, I'm just-"

"You're jealous," Flitter said, cutting her off. "Don't even try to deny it. But, if you want my opinion, you lucked out getting Spike."

The elder sister cocked her head. "Spike? Why?"

"Because hes a dragon. He's smart, he can see in the dark, he has claws and he's really tough just by nature."

Cloudchaser pondered over what her sister said, and realised she made very valid points. But, he was no Thunderlane.

"I guess, but still... I don't know anything about him. What if he's really obnoxious or something."

"Sis, shut up. I'm obnoxious, and you put up with me. And besides, you've got all week to get to know him. I'm sure you'll get along just fine. He seems really nice. Nicer than Thunderlane for sure," Flitter said with a frown.

"Fine,whatever you say. Just, don't expect me to be overly happy about this" Cloudchaser said, collapsing into her seat.

"You? Being happy or in a generally good mood? I wouldn't dream of it!" Flitter teased. "You need to lighten up. I mean, for all you know, you and Spike could get to be good friends by the end of this. I mean, wasn't the purpose of having random teams to be that we could learn to get along with new ponies?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Exactly. Who know? You might even like him more than you know who." Flitter elbowed her sister with a sly wink.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she said, rising to her hooves and escaping down the hall towards her room. "Look, I'm going back to bed. Sometimes I feel like my pillow is the only one who understands me."

"You know, maybe you'd have more friends if you weren't in a love affair with your bed" Flitter called after her.

*****

"Maybe you'd have an easier time making friends if you didn't live under your blankets!" Twilight called out after the dragon who was meandering his way up the stairs.

"Meh, I'd rather have my blankets than friends any day," he mumbled aloud. "At least blankets keep you warm and safe from the plagues of the outside world."

After crawling into the safety and comfort of his bed, Spike laid there and let his mind drift to the events that had transpired, and how things were going to turn out.

Ergh, so not fair. Then again, at least I didn't get paired with Trixie. But why Cloudchaser? She's one of the only ponies I don't know. And now I'm gonna have to work with her for this entire week!

Spike buried his head in his pillow and let his disappointment simmer down for a moment. All in all, things might not be too bad if he thought about it.

Alright, Spike, let's stop whining and look at some pros to the situation. For one, she's a pegasus and very athletic at that. So flying around hopefully won't be a problem. Two, as Twilight said, she seems nice. Number three... she's kind of cute. Not that it means anything, of course, but it's always nice to have some extra icing on the cake.

Rolling the ideas around, Spike felt a little better about the situation. It wasn't remotely perfect, or ideal even, but maybe things would work out.

Especially considering they would be starting training first thing the next day.

Doubt Full

A calm wind whistled through the trees as Spike made his way through town and off to the residence of his partner for the games, Cloudchaser.

Part of him was worried of how things would go. He was constantly running questions through his mind: What if she thinks I’m an idiot? What if I say something offensive by accident? What if we don’t get along and doom our chances of winning from the start?

But, another part of him was excited by the prospect of working with her. That part of his brain was at war with the negative side.

She is pretty cute. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing? She apparently tried out for the Wonderbolts before, so she’s gotta have some kind of athletic ability? Heck, we might even win!

His mind was in a state of total confliction as he walked down the road, causing his stance to switch at random from a jubilant skip to a claw-biting stumble. He had so many questions, and none of them had answers.

Spike tripped and skipped his way along the winding roads of Ponyville until his feet came to rest outside the small, wooden home that housed Cloudchaser and Flitter.

He stared at the door, shuffling his feet, as if hoping it possessed some magic power to make his nerves stop churning.

He shook his head violently for a second to regulate his vision and bring his mind back from the battle it was currently in. He steeled his nerves and positioned his fist on the door.

To say he 'knocked' would be an overstatement, when in fact it was more of a light tap that hopefully nopony could hear and he could escape back to his house.

However, that wasn't the case.

"Coming!" A shrill, feminine voice called out from inside.

A moment later the door flew open revealing a cute pegasus with a pink bow. "Who is- Oh, hello Spike!"

"Hi, Flitter," Spike replied with a short wave. "I'm here to go over some scheduling stuff with Cloudchaser. Is, um, is she here?"

"Yeah, she's in her room. Come inside," Flitter said, stepping out of the way to allow the dragon entrance.

Spike waddled his way past her and into the house. "Thanks."

It was a modest-sized place. It was a one story residence with a cozy living room and a walk-in kitchen. A hallway connected to the living area and led to several doors, which he assumed would be the bedrooms and bathroom.

In his experience, Spike had learned it's always a good idea to identify one's surroundings, especially the location of the restroom, just in case an emergency should arise.

"Do you wanna sit down while I go get her?" Flitter asked, her wing extended toward a small loveseat in the room.

"Sure, thanks." Spike took a seat on the purple, plush seat.

"Alright, it'll be just a minute!"

*****

Cloudchaser was sitting on a small blanket in the middle of a field of flowers. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and her dream stallion was sitting right next to her.

"Oh, Thunderlane, you really know how to make a mare smile," she said, gazing into his eyes.

"Well, you're one special mare, Cloudy. I only wish I could make you smile like this all the time."

The black pegasus draped a wing around her, searing her face with a blush.

"You know, Cloudy, there's been something I've wanted to tell you for awhile, now..."

"Yes, Thundey?" she said, batting her eyelashes.

"You, You... YOU NEED TO GET YOUR FAT FLANK OUT OF THAT BED RIGHT NOW!"

"Wha-"

Cloudchaser popped her eyes open and was greeted with her sister's only centimetres away.

"Ahh!"She tried to turn away but instead got twisted in her blankets and dropped to the floor with a loud thud.

"Ouch..."

"Oh, quit complaining," Flitter said. "You need to get up, anyway. Someone special is here to see you."

Cloudchaser's ears perked up at the news. "Who is it?"

"Oh, no one. Just the object of your heart's desire. Goes by the name of... Thunderlane."

Cloudchaser squeaked in surprise. "Omigosh! He's here? Uh, what should i do? What should I say? What should I wear? Well, I don't normally wear clothes, but maybe I shou-"

"Hahaha-aha-hahaha!"

Flitter was rolling on the ground, lost in a fit of laughter. "Oh, you're too easy, sis. No, it's not Thunderlane."

The elder sister looked around at the mess of blankets and clothes she had made in her moment of excitement,, and then looked at her sister with a piercing glare.

"Flitter... Please give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."

"Um, because you love me, I'm your sister, and Spike, your real visitor, may not like his partner to be a murderous convict?" she asked, giving a sheepish grin. "There, that's three reasons!"

"Wait, Spike is here? Already? Its only..."

"The afternoon?" Flitter replied, rolling her eyes. "You've been asleep all day."

"Well, why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"I tried. A jack hammer wouldn't have been able to wake you up."

"Oh my gosh, whatever. Look, just go out there and tell him I'm coming."

"Fine, but hurry up. I swear, I'm always waiting on your lazy flank for something."

Flitter trotted out of the room and back into the living area where Spike was twiddling his claws on the loveseat.

"Alrighty, Spike, she'll be out in a minute," Flitter said with a cute smile.

"Alright, thanks," Spike replied.

*****

Spike turned his gaze back to his thumbs. In reality, he was just trying to find any place to look that made him appear occupied. There's something extremely awkward about being alone with someone you don't know very well.

Spike looked up at Flitter who was sitting across the room, brushing her hoof through her mane. If that wasn't enough, the awkward cough and glance to the ceiling told him she was in the same awkward boat.

C'mon Spike, say something. Anything! You just need to get a conversation going...

"So, Flitter," Spike said, looking up at her.

"Yeah?"

"Just, out of curiosity, how come you two live down here instead of in Cloudsdale? Isn't that where Pegasi generally like to live?"

"Oh, well yeah, that's generally the case," Flitter said. "But there are cheaper taxes and land rates down here than there are in Cloudsdale, so when me and my Cloud moved away we decided to live down here. Plus, it was kind of nice to get away from everything up there."

"Oh, that's cool," Spike said. "Do your parents still live up in Cloudsdale?"

"Parents, oh, well-"

"Hey, guys!"

Spike and Flitter looked over to see Cloudchaser emerging from the hall into the living room.

"About time, Cloud!" Flitter said.

"Sorry about that Spike. I was a little... tied up this morning," Cloudchaser said with a sheepish grin.

"Yeah, tied up in your bed sheets,' Flitter said, rolling her eyes.

" Ignore her," Cloudchaser retorted, covering her sister's mouth with a hoof.

"Its alright," Spike said, waving it off. "Sleeping in is probably my favourite hobby."

"Heh, I can totally relate," Cloudchaser said.

Flitter grinned and nudged Cloudchaser with her hoof."Aww, isn't that cute. You two will get along great!"

Cloudchaser blushed and pushed her sister away. "Shut up, Flit."

"Psh, fine, be that way," Flitter retorted.

Spike opened his mouth to continue the conversation but was interrupted by a resounding knock echoing from the front door.

"I'll get it!" Flitter said with a cheeky grin.

She happily hummed her way to the door and swung it open, revealing a dark stallion with a striking silver mane.

"Hey, Thunder, come on in!" Flitter backed out of the way, allowing Thunderlane to enter.

He had a proud smile and a strong presence in his gate.

"Why, thank you, Flitter," he said, slightly bowing his head. "And might I say, you look beautiful today."

Flitter blushed and turned her head away. "Oh, well, thanks, hehe."

Cloudchaser, meanwhile, had been trying her best to calm down, but the sweat forming all over her body, and the shakiness in her hooves were not helping.

As Thunderlane turned his attention to her, her legs were on the verge of collapsing beneath her.

"Hello, Cloudchaser. Might I say that you too look absolutely... divine, today."

If his words hadn't already put her heartbeat on full-speed, then the wink he finished with did.

"Oh, um, th-th-thanks, Thunder. You look, um, good too."

Thunderlane nodded and flashed a bright smile before turning to Spike with a lesser amount of enthusiasm.

"Hey, Spike."

"What's up," Spike replied.

Thunderlane directed his attention back to Flitter. "So, you ready to head out?"

"Wait, where are you guys going?" Cloudchaser asked.

Flitter was the first to respond. "Oh, we're just going to get some practice in. You know, team stuff."

"Yeah, and we're supposed to get to know our partners better, so I'm definitely looking forward to spending some quality time with Flitter, today," Thunderlane said.

"Yeah, so, see ya!" Flitter said, dashing out the door with a bright smile, followed closely by her partner.

Spike glanced from the shut door to the pony he was now alone with. It was now time to try an initiate casual conversation to ease the mention.

"So... your sister and Thunderlane? Are they like a thing?"

"No!" Cloudchaser snapped in reply.

Unfortunately, it did not get off to a flying start.

"Oh, um, sorry, its just that they seemed pretty happy to see each other. Especially Thunderlane."

"No, Flitter doesn't even like him... or so I thought", she said, grumbling the last part.

An eerie silence once again found its way into the room, taking control of the two character within. Cloudchaser was lost in her own thoughts of jealousy and disappointment, and Spike was debating whether he should just give up on any hope of resuming normal conversation with this mare.

" So, about the games this weekend..." Spike said. "I was kind of just wondering what your schedule was for the week so we could figure out what times we could train and practice."

Cloudchaser had to run all cylinders in her mind to get it back from the nest of jealousy it was nuzzled in.

“Schedule, yeah, gimme a sec.” She trotted off into her room and returned quickly. “I work for the rain purification team up in Cloudsdale, but they gave me a short schedule this week, so I have to work tomorrow, but then I’ll have the rest of the week off.”

“Hmm,” Spike said, rubbing his chin. “That sets us back a full day, but we should be fine.”

“Okay, that’s cool then, I guess,” Cloudchaser responded. “So, Tuesday then?”

“Yeah. At town square?”

“Sure. Um, does one o’clock work for you?”

“Yep. Sounds good.”

The two of them shuffled awkwardly, trying to mask the awkwardness by averting their eyes from one another. Having resigned this visit to be awkward in full, Spike decided it was time to leave.

“Well, I’m just gonna head home. You know, so I can do… stuff. Stuff that needs to be done.”

“Oh, yeah, awesome. Or, I mean, yeah, I getcha. I’ve got stuff to do, too. Important stuff.”

Spike nodded in response and shuffled toward the door. “Well, I’ll see you Tuesday then, Cloudchaser.”

“Yeah, see you then, Spike.”

*****

As the door shut behind him, Spike took a long sigh of relief. He had ventured to her house, completed his mission and escaped without saying anything stupid or detrimental to his social standing.

All in all, it was a victory.

*****

Cloudchaser watched as the door closed behind the dragon. As much as she knew the importance of training with him, her mind just couldn’t let go of seeing her sister with Thunderlane.

Her Thunderlane.

She stormed into her room and crashed onto her bed, burying her head in the mountain of pillows. The only consolence she could muster up was that her sister regularly voiced her dislike of said stallion, so in reality jealously shouldn’t even be a factor.

But those eyes they gave each other, the nervous crack in her voice, the way he spoke to her… It couldn’t help but make her stomach churn. Her mind was telling her to play it cool, to relax, but her heart wasn’t having any of it.

“Ugh… dumb Flitter with her dumb pink bow. Why does she have to steal my stallion?”

Tired and sick feeling, Cloudchaser curled up under her covers and tried to drift back asleep for the rest of the day, hoping to resume the dream she was rudely interrupted from earlier. As the hazy fog began to infiltrate her thoughts, one final thought drifted through her mind:

Maybe one day I won’t have to dream by myself anymore.

The Truth Of Youth

It was a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Perfectly sunny skies had been scheduled for the entire afternoon, so there was no better time to train as far as Spike was concerned.

The young dragon had arrived in the town square extra early, prior to their one o’clock arrangement, just so he could enjoy the warm sun and gorgeous blue sky.

He sat on one of the available benches and took a deep breath of fresh air. The sun hitting his scales, the wind lightly brushing against his spines… nothing was going to put a damper on this perfect day.

Well, except for a rather grumpy pegasus…

*****

Ugh! I can’t believe that traitor!

Cloudchaser stormed down the road from her house to the town square. Her brow was furrowed and she wore a scowl that would make a minotaur run to its mother.

Of all the things she could do to me, that was too far! If it wasn’t enough she stole Thunderlane away from me for the games, now she has the nerve to ask me for bits so she can have lunch with him?

Cloudchaser could feel her face heating up as she continued thinking about the conversation she had with her sister that morning. She was going to train with Thunderlane for the day but needed some bits so they could eat while they were out.

Normally, her sister needing bits was no big deal whatsoever. But Flitter knew very well how her sister felt about Thunderlane. So at that point, she may as well have been adding insult to injury.

Cloudchaser was many things: athletic, smart, kind, competitive…. and jealous. Very jealous, and that jealousy also paved way to her short fused temper.

Ergh, now those two get to spend the whole day together doing Celestia knows what. This is so not fair.

As she plodded her way toward the town square she earned raised eyebrows from many of the townsfolk. But she could care less what others thought at this point.

I just need to get through my training with Spike, get home and plot ways to get revenge on Flitter. Simple enough.

She had entertained the idea of just blowing off the whole training regimen, but even in her clouded frame of mind she knew that'd be unfair to Spike. So she decided to go anyway.

But that didn't mean she was happy about it.

*****

Spike slouched on his back, beginning to drift off in his seat. Unfortunately, he didn't get to as a loud voice sent him jumping into the air.

"Get up!"

"Ah!" Spike thrashed around, trying to regain his balance and see who was there. Upon turning around he was met with a straight-faced Cloudchaser. “Oh, hey.”

“Hey,” she replied, letting out a deep sigh. “You ready to get started?”

“Right now? Like, immediately?” Spike wasn’t looking forward to moving from his spot on the bench quite yet.

“Uh, yeah, it’s one o’clock.”

“Uh, ‘kay,” Spike said, hopping down from the bench. “I figure the best place to train will be out on Sweet Apple Acres. There’s a lot of room over there, and Twilight said she already had a training exercise ready for us.”

“Well, then I guess we should head over there,” Cloudchaser said. Without a second glance, she flipped around and began walking toward the path that leads to the Apple family farm.

Spike scratched his head and ran in pursuit of her.

Okay, I totally don’t remember her being this cold before.

As they walked side-by-side, the silence and tension grew.

This is going to be a long day.

*****

Cloudchaser sped through the sky, eyes peeled for her target. This training exercise they'd been doing was testing the limits of her patience and energy.

She swooped to the ground in the middle of a small field and searched the horizons. Her attention was broken however by a sound of loud panting behind her.

"Di..didya find anything?" Spike said, about to collapse to the ground.

"Nope, nothing!" Cloudchaser yelled, stomping a hoof.

"Me neither," Spike said, still gasping for air. "And I swear, I searched everywhere!"

"Not everywhere, obviously!" Said an all-too familiar voice.

The pair turned around to see Scootaloo, followed closely by Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom, approaching them.

"Hehe, yeah. We were just hiding' under that bush over there," Applebloom said, directing a hoof toward a large bush that was in plain sight.

"Ergh!" Cloudchaser slapped her hoof to her forehead. "You know, when you said we were doing training exercises I didn't know it'd just be an impossible game of hide and seek."

"Hey, don't blame me," Spike said, taking a step back. "Twilight just said she had arranged for a training exercise out here. I didn't know what it was."

"Yeah," Scootaloo butted in. "And you two will need a lot more exercise if you wanna win your scavenger hunt thingy."

"Oh, what do you know?" Cloudchaser snapped back..

"I know we just won three out of three games of hide and seek with you guys over the past 2 hours," Sweetie said with a proud smile.

"Eeyup. And from what ah can tell, a scavenger hunt is just a fancy game of hide 'n seek!"

Cloudchaser wanted to respond, but she had no argument. She was bested by three fillies.

"Fine."

Noticing the upset tone his partner carried, plus his own tired state, Spike figured it was time to call it a day.

"Alright, I think that's enough for today. I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat."

"Yeah, same," Cloudchaser said.

The two of them waved goodbye to the CMC and started walking toward the gate to the farm.

"Wait a sec!" Applebloom called out after them.

"Oh what now..." Cloudchaser mumbled, turning around along with Spike.

"Just a tip to help y'all out. Applejack always says that the more hooves you have, the lighter the load. So maybe if y'all tried working together more, you'd do better!" With that tidbit of wisdom, Applebloom ran off to join her friends.

Cloudchaser and Spike looked at each other for a moment, an awkward silence taking hold of the air, before they both continued out the farm gate.

The walk back to town was just as quiet and awkward as the walk to the farm. Both were tired, and a bit annoyed with how their training turned out.

“So…” Spike began, “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty parched. You wanna stop by the café before heading back? My treat.”

Cloudchaser initially wanted to object so she could return home and just burrow into her blankets, but she was pretty thirsty, too.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind a drink.”

*****

The two of them sat down at an empty table inside the small café with their drinks they ordered. Spike got a lemon-lime soda and Cloudchaser had a large mug of root beer.

“So, I was thinking about what Applebloom said,” Spike said, looking across the table at Cloudchaser. “I think she was right. You know, about us needing to work together.”

Cloudchaser didn’t say anything, but gave a slight nod of her head.

“I mean, I was going back and forth on the ground, while you were going all over the place in the sky. All that ended up happening was we both got tired out and frustrated.”

“Yeah, I guess,” she replied. “We did seem to waste a lot of time.”

“Yeah,” Spike said, taking a quick drink of his soda. “And like Spitfire was saying, teamwork is super important if we want to win.”

Cloudchaser let out a deep sigh in response and rested her head on her hoof.

“Umm, are you alright?” Spike asked. “Not that I mean to pry or anything, but you’ve been kinda, I don’t know, off all day.”

Cloudchaser perked her head up for a second, but then rested it back on her hoof. “It’s nothing. You wouldn’t really understand.”

“Try me,” Spike said with a smile. “If you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s cool. But my best friend is probably the biggest drama queen in town, so I’m pretty sure I’ve got enough experience to help.”

Cloudchaser spun her straw around in her cup for a few seconds and finally responded. “Alright, I guess I owe you an explanation.”

Spike straightened up in his chair. “Okay, what’s up?”

“It’s just some drama with my sister and… somepony else,” she said with a slight blush.

“Thunderlane?” Spike asked.

“How did you know?” she retorted.

"I don't know. Maybe the way you were staring him down the other day."

Cloudchaser felt her face heat up. "That obvious?"

Spike nodded in response. "Yeah, so I assume you have feelings of some kind for him and you're not too thrilled about your sister getting to be with him for the games?"

"Well, yeah!" She said, a tad louder than she meant to. "She knows how I feel, but now she's always talking about him, and she's telling me all this flirty stuff he says to her,and this morning she even had the nerve to ask me for bits so they could go out!"

"Ouch, that's rough," Spike said, taking a sip of his drink. "The jealousy bug bit you pretty hard, huh?"

"I am not jealous," she said with a narrowed glare. "I just don't like how Flitter wants to steal him away from me."

This was a delicate situation. A situation Spike has had to deal with multiple times between his close friendship with Rarity and living with Twilight. On one hoof, he knew there was no point in arguing further at the moment. On the other, he figured he should at least have the decency to point out a particular aspect of Thunderlane's reputation.

"You know, as far as Flitter stealing him away, you really don't have much to worry about."

"What do you mean?" Cloudchaser asked.

"Okay, how can I put this..." Spike scratched his chin in thought for a moment. "Thunderlane has a tendency to come across as really charming to a lot of the mares he associates with, but it usually never really means anything. At least not to him."

"So you're saying Thunderlane doesn't actually like my sister?"

"No, I'm just saying he's not always honest with his feelings. You feel me?"

She thought about what he said for a moment but just shook it off. “Maybe. But it still doesn’t really help the situation.”

Spike mentally facehoofed before chalking it up to denial.

Thunderlane had used his charm and wit to woo quite a few of the towns’ mares, only to move on to another one when he got bored. He was rather infamous amongst many of the towns’ stallions, but the mares just flocked to him. It was a vicious cycle, one that many of Spike’s friends have been a part of.

“Alright, well, just be careful alright,” Spike said.

Cloudchaser nodded nonchalantly and hopped for her seat. “So, when are we gonna do this training thing again. Tomorrow?”

Spike hopped of his chair. “Yeah, that sounds good. Same time and place?”

“Sure, I’ll be there.” Cloudchaser started to walk away but turned around at the door. “And thanks for the drink, and for listening to me.”

“No problem,” Spike responded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

With a smile and a wave of her hoof, Cloudchaser trotted out the door and flew off, leaving Spike on his own.

Hopefully she’ll be in a slightly better mood tomorrow.

Over The Head, Below The Knees

Spike plodded his way through the front door of his home where Twilight was studiously gazing over the pages of a book in the living area.

“Oh, hello, Spike!” She said, setting the book aside. “How’d the training exercises go? I assume you were sufficiently challenged?”

Spike glared at her. “Hide and seek with the Cutie Mark Crusaders was not what we had in mind. When you said you had some training ready for us, I assumed there would be some actual relevant exercises involved. But that… that just wasn’t fair!”

Twilight chuckled lightly. “If you can’t even handle a friendly afternoon game of hide and seek, how can you handle an entire weekend of it? That is what a scavenger hunt is, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Spike huffed, taking a seat across from Twilight. “But I’d like to see you try to track down those frustrating fillies. I would’ve had an easier time finding a needle in a haystack. At least the haystack couldn’t mock me.”

Twilight stifled a giggle and shook her head. “Well, I’m sorry you got embarrassed Spike. Anyway, how did things go between you and Cloudchaser? Do you think you’re any closer to becoming friends?”

“Ergh, that’s the other thing,” Spike said, rubbing his forehead. “Cloudchaser seems to have this eternally negative outlook, like the world hates her or something. She’s like an angry virus trying to rub off on the rest of the world. She seems particularly set on rubbing herself all over me at the moment and it’s getting tiresome.”

Spike took a moment to reflect on the strangely provocative phrasing he had just used, but realised he didn’t care.

“Oh, come now, Spike, she can’t be all that bad,” Twilight said.

Spike pictured the mare in question in his mind. It was true, she wasn’t really as bad as he was making her out to be. I mean, they did have a rather decent exchange earlier that day about her wannabe coltfriend. However, she seemed rather adept at hiding any form of friendliness behind a mask of unpleasantness.

“I guess, but all I’m saying is having a friendly conversation with her is like talking to a wall. Except the wall doesn’t give you attitude when you say hi.”

“Maybe, but last time I checked, you weren’t assigned a wall for a partner, you got Cloudchaser.” Twilight slammed her book shut and shot a hoof out at Spike. “So you either need to find a way to deal with your differences or you can pretty much kiss any chance of winning goodbye.”

Spike blinked several times in response to the sudden scolding. “Twilight, are you mad?”

“Mad? No. Frustrated? Absolutely.” Twilight shook her head and glared at Spike. “It seems all you’ve been doing the past several months is moping about and cleaning out our refrigerator. This is your first real chance at social interaction of any kind and I am not going to sit by while you let petty differences drag you back into the realm of anti-socialism! Friendship is magic, Spike, so be friendly!”

Spike rose a claw to protest her argument, but it was to no avail. He had nothing to counter with.

“...Fine.” Spike slumped into his chair and frowned. “But I still don’t know how this is going to work if we can’t find a way to get along.”

“Well, maybe you can ask somepony else for help. You know, I’m sure you’re not the only one with trouble getting along with your partner.”

Spike jotted through his mind, trying to remember the other pairs. “Let’s see… AJ was with Lyra, Rainbow was with… That’s it! Dash is with Trixie. I’m sure she’ll have some tips for me.”

*****

Cloudchaser stormed through her front door. Her target: the couch.

She leapt over the back of it and collapsed into its embrace. After the long day she had, a little TLC with a soft cushion was just what the doctor ordered.

“Ugh.”

She could feel the pain in her muscles every time she tried to flex her wings. She had no idea hide and seek could so physically taxing. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack, but the needle moved around every five seconds.

On top of that she could still feel the knot in her stomach from her confrontation with her sister earlier that day. It was not a pleasant feeling to be sure.

Cloudchaser was about ready to just scream into the cushions when the sound of the door opening behind her paused her actions. She casually glanced up to see her sister walking in… followed by him.

“Oh, thank you, Thundey!” Flitter said with a giggle. “It was a lot of fun.”

She felt her stomach jump in disgust.

Cloudchaser perked one ear up.

“Heh heh, no problem, sweets. Let’s do it again sometime.”

“Alright. Well, goodnight then?”

Cloudchaser lifted her head ever so slightly to see the scene unfolding before her.

“It doesn’t have to be over yet,” Thunderlane said, leaning in closer.

“Um, okay,” Flitter said with a rosy tinge on her cheeks.

“We’ve got all night, if you want,” he replied.

“I want it.”

“Woah, hey! I didn’t know you two were back yet!” Cloudchaser attempted to cooly rise from the couch but ended up tripping over her hooves and stumbling to the ground.

Flitter gasped and turned beet red. “Cloud? What are-”

“Oh, hey, look at the time,” Thunderlane said, slowly backing out of the room. “I’ll see you around, Flitter.”

Flitter looked on as the door shut, her mouth agape. However, her face of shock quickly switched to one of fury as she turned back to her sister.

“What was that?!”

“What was what?” Cloudchaser replied with a smile.

“Ergh! You just scared him off! We were about to have a moment and you ruined it!”

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Cloudchaser said. “You’re the one who tried to take that moment to the next level with me sitting right over here!”

“Humph! You’re just jealous that Thunder’s my partner and that he wanted to kiss me and not you. Admit it!”

“Psh, you only wish he wanted to kiss you,” Cloudchaser replied with a frown. “Besides, what kind of training involves going to dinner and flirting?”

“The kind that’ll kick your butt this weekend!”

“Oh, that’s it! I am so going win, and then we’ll see who Thunderlane likes more!”

“Fine, you’re on!”

The two sisters locked gazes for a moment more before disappearing into their respective rooms.

Cloudchaser has had many a fight like this with her sister in the past, but for whatever reason, it just felt more personal this time. Maybe it was the heartache involved? Or maybe she really was just being jealous?

Either way, she had to win this competition now. It was a matter of sibling rivalry and boyfriends.

Things just got real.

Failure Is Not Flattering

Spike sauntered steadily along the path through downtown Ponyville. It was later in the afternoon and the calm winds combined with the warm temperature made for a perfect stroll through town. But this was no stroll. This was a mission to find the pony who could singlehoofedly save his chances of winning the scavenger hunt.

Let's see... If I know Rainbow Dash, she should be on her favourite cloud, finishing up her nap right about now.

Spike dashed out to the special hill just outside of town where Rainbow would spend the warm afternoons, hanging out on a particular fluffy cloud.

"Rainbow! Raaaainbow! You here?" Spike wandered around, eyes to the sky in search of his pegasus friend. Not a sight of her though.

"Rainbow Dash, its Spike! I need to talk to you!" Spike looked around once more, his hopes of seeing her in vain. "RAAAAIIIINBO-AAAHHH!"

Spike was suddenly kissing the ground as a heavy force tackled him from behind. Spike flailed around and tried to turn his head to identify his attacker, but it was all in vain as he got dragged into the bushes.

"Hey, lemme go!" Spike cried out, trying to free himself. "I'll have you know I'm best friends with a Princess, and-"

"Spike, shh, it's me."

Spike stopped writing about and cracked his eyes open. "Rainbow?"

"Yeah, calm down, it's just me."

"Oh, that's a relief," he replied. "But wait a minute... What was with the whole tackling me to the ground thing?"

"Sorry, but I had to be quick when I heard you calling my name." Rainbow gulped and looked around. "I couldn't let her find me."

"Um, her?"

"You know, Trix-"

"Rainbow Dash! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands your presence immediately!"

"Oh my gosh, Spike, here she comes. Be quiet and hide me!" Rainbow ducked behind Spike and pushed him out of the bushes. "Quick, make her go away!"

Before Spike could retaliate he was on his own, directly in the line of sight of Trixie.

Oh no...

"You there, dragon!" Trixie shouted, trotting toward Spike. "Your friend, the rainbow maned pony, where is she? I have something rather important to discuss with her."

"Uhh, I don't know," Spike said, trying to avert his eyes from the shivering bushes behind him. "She might be down at the bar. She sure does love her cider."

"Hmm, it would appear to be a bit early for hard cider, but you may be right. Thank you, young dragon. The Great and Powerful Trixie shall grace you with her presence at a later time, for the bar awaits." With a haughty huff she turned around and ran off toward town. "I'm coming for you, Rainbow Dash!"

The leaves rustled behind Spike as Rainbow poked her head out. “Is she gone?”

“Um, yes? She’s gone.”

Rainbow jumped the rest of the way out and shook the dried leaves out of her fur. “Phew! She’s been hounding me all day. I thought I’d never get away.”

“Any particular reason you’re avoiding her?” Spike asked, cocking his eyebrow. “I mean, she’s annoying, yeah, but it’s not like you to back down from another pony like this.”

“You don’t understand!” she replied, grabbing his shoulders and lifting him to eye level with her. “She makes Spitfire seem like a Kindergarten teacher with the way she bosses me around. And I’m not even allowed to fight back or leave the competition without losing some of my credibility with Spitfire. I can’t take it anymore!”

Spike freed himself from her grasp and rolled his eyes. “So you’re running away?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, Spike,” she said matter of factly. “And any time you find yourself at the mercy of Trixie, it’s desperate.”

“Oh c’mon, Rainbow, she’s not that bad,” Spike said.

“Dude, her idea of training was timing how fast it took me to get her a taco from town square. It’s that bad.”

Spike let out a sigh. “Well that’s just great.”

“Huh?”

“I was going to ask you for advice on how to handle some partner issues I’m having with Cloudchaser, but you’re having a worse time the I am.”

“You want some advice? Get out, Spike. Get out while you still can! It’s not too late for you, Spike.”

“Uh-huh… I’ll keep that in mind.” Spike just took a moment to look over his friend. Here was one of the coolest ponies around sneaking and hiding to try and get away from another pony, just because of a few personality differences. Well, maybe a lot of personality differences, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that he did not want to end up like her.

“You know what, Rainbow, I’ve got a better idea. I’m going to face this head on.”

“Head on?”

“Yeah. Attitude or not, me and Cloudchaser are going to start working together. Even it hurts… which there’s a good chance it will.”

Without a second thought, Spike walked away, leaving a head-scratching Rainbow Dash in his wake.

****

Spike popped open the front door and was immediately greeted by Twilight, who was, as per the usual, intently reading a book.

“So, what did Rainbow have to say?” she said, tossing her book aside.

“Nothing useful, that’s for sure,” Spike replied with an eye roll. “I thought I had partner problems, but man, she’s really up a creek.”

“Explain?”

“Rainbow plus Trixie. Do the math.”

“Ah, I see. I was hoping she’d at least have found some way of working with her by now, but I suppose I was being a bit generous with my assumptions.” Twilight shrugged and picked her book back up. “Sorry about that Spike.”

Spike smiled. “Hey, just because she didn’t have any good advice, doesn’t mean the whole thing was a waste of time.”

“Once again, explain?” she said, looking up from her book.

“Well, you see, Twi, I just had to take a quick look at the sorry state of Rainbow’s partner relations, and it hit me: there’s no way I’m gonna let myself end up like that. Instead, I’m just gonna face this whole thing head on. If Cloudchaser doesn’t like me still or whatever, too bad, we’re gonna do our best to win.”

“Wow, Spike, that’s a really adult outlook from you,. I’m impressed.”

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” Spike said with a chuckle. “I’ve got a maturity quota and I’ve almost filled it for the entire week. So, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a date with a sexy lady I like to call ‘sleep’. She never has a bad attitude and is always waiting for me in bed, if you know what I mean. Perfect mare.”

Twilight face hoofed and laughed lightly. “Yeah, go ahead and take some of those maturity points off. Get some rest, alright Spike?”

“Thanks, Twi. See you in the morning.”

Spike hugged Twilight and lightly kissed her cheek goodnight, before dashing off to his room to finally get some much needed sleep..

He was ready to take the week by storm. He had a purpose. He was ready to get down to business.

Best Known For Failure...

“So, Cloudchaser, I’m so glad you could meet me today.” Thunderlane winked at her from across the picnic blanket. “Not everypony is lucky enough to spend time with the most beautiful mare in the universe.”

Cloudchaser’s face heated up. “Oh, well, hehe… thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, running his hoof through his mane. “We’re obviously made for each other.”

“I can totally agree with that,” Cloudchaser replied, inching closer to him.

Thunderlane scooted a bit closer. “Now, if you don’t mind, let’s get this picnic started.”

Cloudchaser snatched the picnic basket. “Alright, let’s see here. I packed two sandwiches, some chips, Flitter… Flitter?!”

Flitter jumped out from the open basket. “Hi sis! Hey Thundey.”

“Flitter, what are you doing here?” Cloudchaser asked.

“Oh nothing, I just thought I’d tag along. Is that okay with you, Thundey?” Flitter circled around the stallion with a sultry look in her eyes.

“That’s A-Okay,” he replied, reaching out a hoof to stroke her mane. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are, Flitter. So much prettier than your sister.”

“What?! But-But I-”

“Oh, you tell me every day,” Flitter said. “Now, how about we blow this joint and have some actual fun?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Thunderlane said, walking away with Flitter. “Let old Thunderlane show you a real good time.”

“Wait!” Cloudchaser cried out, to no avail. “I made tomato and daisy sandwiches, your favorite!”

****

“No, no, no! Come back!” Cloudchaser’s eyes snapped open to reveal a drool covered pillow being strangled in her grasp. She let out a sigh and dropped the pillow to the side. “Pillow, you really are my only friend, aren’t you?”

Cloudchaser flopped over and looked at the clock. “Eight AM? You gotta be kidding me.” She snuggled herself back under her covers and buried her head into her pillow. “I’ve still got another three hours before I’m required to be active. Maybe I’ll actually have a good dream this time around.”

She closed her eyes and started to drift off, but as the cruelty of fate would have it, she once again found her sleep pattern interrupted, this time by a loud knock on the front door.

“Oh, buck it… Flitter can get it.”

After a few more knocks, she heard the door open, followed by a familiar voice. “Hey, Flitter! You ready to head out?”

It’s Thunderlane…

“Definitely!” Flitter said in reply. “Let’s hurry and get out before my sister wakes up. She’ll probably throw some kind of crazy fit if she sees us getting an early head start.”

What?! Ooh, she’s so going to eat those words.

Cloudchaser rolled out of her bed and dashed out the room. “Wait!”

Once she arrived in the living area, she took just a moment to take stock of the situation. Thunderlane was standing in the doorway with her sister, and both of them were looking at her with cocked eyebrows.

Maybe I should’ve thought this through.

“Um, hey Cloudchaser,” Thunderlane said. “Are you… okay?”

“Uh, yeah, I was just making sure that, ummm, you guys were going to have a good day… So, have a good day?”

Real smooth, Cloud.

“Uh-huh, you too, Cloudchaser,” Thunderlane responded, slowly backing out the door.

“You see, told you she was crazy,” Flitter audibly whispered to Thunderlane as she shut the door.

Cloudchaser slammed her hoof to her face. “Ah! Fate! Why do you hate me so much?”

Well, at this point she was up and around, so she may as well get started on her day. First things first, it was time for a trip to the bathroom to assess her physical appearance and decide if a shower would be necessary or not.

She took one look in the mirror and almost broke into tears.

“Thunderlane… saw me… like this! Ahhh!”

Her normally spiky mane was smeared and smushed with sweat all to one side, drool was dried and caked down her chin and on her cheek, and the bags underneath her eyes made it look like she got beat up. This was bad. A shower would definitely be necessary. As well as a possible identity change and move out of the country.

After a quick clean up and an attempt to remove any and all memories of the morning’s events from her brain, she relocated back to the living room to try and plan her day.

But first, a personal pep talk would be in order.

“Alright Cloudchaser, you had a rough start, but you can do this! You want to show up your sister, don’t you? Yeah, you do. You’re going to show her what’s up. You are going to show Thunderlane that you are the epitome of the your family line’s evolution. You are Cloudchaser!”

Alright, pep talk, done. Step two, figure out what step two is.

Alright, we got training today. With Spike. If it’s anything like the day before, though, it is not going to be pleasant. But then again… It’s not exactly like I have a choice. If I want to win, I’m going to have to train. Especially if Flitter is gonna be cheating and getting a head start on a regular basis like this.

She felt her heart jump at the thought of her sister and Thunderlane spending time alone together. It left an empty feeling in her chest when Flitter would get attention from Thunderlane instead of her. And now she was invading her dreams, which was just not fair.

She needed to take a stand. She needed to get her own head start in this competition. Then she’d show Thunderlane who was the best.

Without a second thought, she ran out her front door and took off into the sky. A young dragon was about to get a wake up call.

****

“Oh, Spike, it is simply divine of you to invite me over, today,” Rarity said, snuggling against Spike on his bed. “It seems we never get to spend as much time together anymore.”

“Yeah, I know,” Spike said, holding Rarity close to him. “But, that’s the life of an adult dragon like myself. Work and business all the time.”

“Oh Spikey, you’re just so mature and handsome! It’s enough to make mare all flustered”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” he said. “From you and all the other ladies in Ponyville.”

“Oh, Spike, it’s so tragic! I must have you in my life! Please, kiss me now!” Rarity leaned in close and looked him right in the eyes. “I need it.”

“Well, if you insist.” Spike gently took Rarity’s face in his claws and pressed his lips to hers.

“AAh, Spike, what the heck?!”

****

Spike opened his eyes and was greeted with a pair of purple eyes the size of saucers looking back at him, as well as the sudden realisation that he was still holding this purple mare’s face in his claws.

“Twilight?.... You’re not Rarity!”

“No, I’m not! What were you doing? I was just trying to wake you up, and you suddenly flip over and kiss me!”

“Sorry, I was having a rather… animated dream,” Spike said with a blush and chuckle. “That’s what you get for trying to wake me up this early I suppose.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure. Anywho, you’ve got a visitor in the living room, and I’ve got some dragon drool to wash off my face.”

“A visitor? This early? Who is it?”

“Go out and see,” Twilight responded. “I’ll be in the bathroom for a bit, so hurry up and get out there, okay?”

Spike let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. “Fine, but it better be important. I’ve still got another couple hours before I have to start training, and I may be able to continue my dream if I get back to sleep right now.”

Spike wandered into the living room, mumbling and grumbling about the lack of fairness in the universe, when he noticed who the guest was.

“Cloudchaser?”

“Good morning, Spike,” she said. “Let’s get started early today, we’ve got work to do.”

Oh joy...

Best Known For Giving Up...

Working for Rarity, doing business with Twilight, or getting dragged out of bed by Cloudchaser, it would appear that the mares in Spike’s life always decided his schedule for him. He’d need to work on that.

However, there was no time to think about that in his current predicament. Instead, his thoughts were occupied with trying to keep up with Cloudchaser as the two ran across town.

“Hey, wait up!” Spike called out from behind her as they were making there way to the park in town. “Some of us still haven’t fully woken up.”

Cloudchaser merely rolled her eyes and decided not to respond. The little dragon would have to learn to keep up with her. She wanted to win.

After another minute or so of racing through and around the townsfolk and establishments, they arrived at an open glade on the outskirts of the park. A perfect location for some training.

“Here we are, Spike.”

Spike staggered up next to her, his tongue lying limp out of his mouth as he tried to catch his breath. “Ugh, I don’t know about you, but just getting here was enough exercise for one day for me.”

“Well, that’s just too bad because we’ve got a lot of work to do, today. We need to make sure we have an edge on the competition.” Cloudchaser clenched her teeth, thinking about one pair in particular.

“Um, okay,” Spike replied, “but do you have any particular training in mind? Or did you just pull me out of bed to enjoy the scenery?”

“Of course I thought of some things to do! What, do you think I don’t know what I’m doing?” Cloudchaser immediately searched her mind for anything that could contribute to training because she, in fact, had no idea what she was doing.

“Uh-huh,” Spike said, arms crossed. “Whatever you say.”

“Psh, let’s just get started,” she said with an eye roll.

“Okay, what did you have in mind?”

Cloudchaser quickly took stock of her surroundings. Trees, grass, dirt… she didn’t have much to work with.

“Well, we don’t have a whole lot of training equipment or anything to work with, so we’ll just have to get creative.”

Spike looked around the area and turned his gaze to his partner. “Michalangecolt couldn’t be this creative.”

“Well, we’re supposed to be able to work together to win a scavenger hunt, right?”

“Yeah?”

“So, I guess we should try working together a little bit.”

“Okay, makes sense,” Spike said. “Any ideas?”

“Hmm,” Cloudchaser said, rubbing her chin. “I got an idea. Hop on.”

She leaned down and motioned for Spike to jump on her back.

“Wait a sec, you want to fly with me riding you? What if you drop me or something?” Spike had only ever flown with his close friends, so he wasn’t sure about flying with somepony else.

“Look, you’re just going to have to trust me. I’ve been flying my whole life and I imagine it’ll come in handy during the games if we can fly together. So hop on.”

Spike looked her in the eyes one last time before deciding she actually made sense. “Alright, just be careful, alright?” Spike cautiously got onto her back, locking his legs behind her wings and wrapping his arms around her neck. “Alright, I’m ready.”

“Good. Hold on tight!” Cloudchaser gave Spike a devilish grin and jumped in the air, immediately spreading her wings and soaring into the sky.

Riding around on pegasi was something Spike had never fully gotten used to . Maybe it was just his fear of heights, or maybe it was motion sickness, but either way, he always felt the need to close his eyes and pray for safety the entire time. Especially when it came to fast flyers.

And she was fast. Not as fast as Rainbow Dash or anything, but she had power to her flight, and she wasn’t afraid to hold back.

“Alright, Spike,” she called back to him. “If you’re gonna get used to flying with me, you’re gonna have to get used to the whole package. Let’s try a few trick moves.”

“T-Trick moves?”

Without a response, Cloudchaser bolted up in the air at full speed. She went higher and higher until she finally came to a sudden stop.

Spike could feel his stomach rising into his chest. It was like a roller coaster ride without the safety bars. And, as with any roller coaster that goes up and up and up, only one thing could follow.

“Here we go! Hold on!”

“Ahh!”

Cloudchaser did a quick spin in the air and dove downward, locking her wings to her side. Spike gripped his arms even tighter around her and plunged his face into her mane, hoping to avoid any visuals of what was about to happen. He could feel the full force of the wind trying to separate him from her back. It was terrifying.

Barrel rolls, back flips, twists, turns - Cloudchaser did it all. And all the while, Spike just prayed to whatever dragon deities may have been watching over him that he would return to the ground in one piece.

“You having fun back there, Spike?” Cloudchaser asked, taking a quick lull to address her cowering counterpart.

“F-f-fun? If by fun you mean ‘terrified out of my mind’ than yeah, I’m having a blast!”

She chuckled lightly turned her attention back to the open sky in front of her. She may have met her match in sarcasm with this dragon. Not that that was a bad thing, though.

“Alright, we can take a quick break from flying then.” Cloudchaser gently swept down to the ground and kneeled down to let Spike off.

The trembling dragon tried to jump off but ended up tripping and falling on his face.

“Oomph!”

“Woah there.” Cloudchaser reached out and picked Spike back up to his feet. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, dusting off his scales. “I just need a minute to regain my land legs.”

Spike tried to take a step forward, but his legs buckled beneath him, bringing him back to the ground once again. “On second thought, I think I’ll just stay down here for a little bit. Feel free to join me. It’s safe, and… non-aeronautical.”

“Hehe, fair enough,” Cloudchaser said, taking a seat next to Spike. “I take it you're not a big fan of flying then?”

“It’s not so much the flying part of it as much as the inevitable falling to my death that could accompany said flying.”

“I see. You must be an absolute joy to play sports with.” Cloudchaser smirked at Spike.

“I enjoy sports. Just not ones that could kill me.”

“A good principal I suppose, but just one question. You’re a dragon, right?”

“Yes… Figuring that out just now are we?”

“No, mister wise guy, I just mean you’re a dragon. Don’t dragons have wings and, you know, flying ability?”

“Your point?”

“Well, I know that for pegasi, flying is kind of an instinctual thing. It’s just something we do. Isn’t it the same for dragons?”

“Not really. I mean, for some dragons sure, but not all. Besides, I don’t even know if I’ll grow wings or not. It’s kind of a toss-up to be honest considering the lack of information on my exact dragon species.”

“Interesting. So, I guess we’ll just have to fly more often together to get you ready for the weekend?” Cloudchaser winked at Spike, causing him to shiver.

“Fine, but only if you install some seatbelts or something.”

“Ha, understood,” she replied with a grin.

An awkward silence took over the two of them as they sat next to each other. The only conversation was going on in their heads.

Hmm, maybe this dragon isn’t so bad.

Wait, are me and her actually, like, getting along?

The two of them made eye contact for a moment before quickly turning away from each other, breaking the silence between them.

“Ahem, well, maybe we should get back to training,” Spike said, rubbing the back of his head.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s do that,” Cloudchaser answered back, pawing at the ground.

“Alright, um, did you have any specific exercises in mind? Because if not, I had a-”

The two were suddenly interrupted by a voice from the distance.

“And then I said to him, ‘Who do you think you’re messing with? I”m Thunderlane!’”

Cloudchaser and Spike both looked up in time to see Thunderlane walking toward them with Flitter practically stuck to his side.

“Wow, Thundey, you’re so brave! Then what happened?”

“Heh, well let’s just say that movie theater always gives me a fifteen percent discount when I go.” Thunderlane glanced over and noticed Spike and Cloudchaser.

“Oh, look Flitter, it’s your sister.”

“Hey, Cloud!” Flitter called out with a devilish smirk. “I hope you two are having as much fun as me and Thunderlane are!”

Spike looked over at Cloudchaser who was seething through her teeth, unable to bring her gaze from them. “Yeah! We’re having lots of fun! Oodles of it! So much fun that it’s against the law!”

Thunderlane and Flitter both stared at her for a moment before snickering to themselves. “Alright, whatever sis. We’ll see you around.”

As the two walked away, Spike eyed Cloudchaser’s expression, going from a vicious glare to a facehoof.

“Oodles?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what came over me.”

“This whole ‘acting impulsively’ thing seems to be a running theme with you, huh?”

Cloudchaser let her gaze travel once more to the couple walking away from them. She was just in time to see her sister press her backside against his in what she swore was pure mockery.

In a flash, Cloudchaser picked Spike up in her teeth and swung him onto her back.

“C’mon, Spike. Let’s get back to work. Break is over.”

But At Least I'm Known For Something!

It was a long morning for both Spike and Cloudchaser. The two spent three straight hours trying out different training exercises. Everything from foot races to flying was done. It was a good deal harder on Spike, though, considering his general lack of physicality, and eventually the growling of their stomachs demanded they should stop for lunch. The two of them decided on the Hayburger place downtown.

“I didn’t know it was possible for everything to hurt at the same time,” Spike said, trying to hold up a limp arm, eventually settling to just have the table support it for him.

“Heh, that’s a good sign,” Cloudchaser replied from across the table. “It means your body is getting tougher. You’ll get used to it.”

“Yeah, maybe. Me and physical labor haven’t exactly been on a first name basis so far in life.”

“I guess that could put a damper on things,” she said with a chuckle. “But in all, I think we did pretty well this morning.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I mean, now you can fly around with me without strangling me or ripping my mane out. I consider that progress.”

“Hmm, true enough. Not to mention we also nailed that quick takeoff thing. That could come in handy.”

Cloudchaser was about to say something but was interrupted by a hot plate of food placed in front of her.

“Here ya’ go, dears,” a kindly older mare said. She placed a hayburger with fries for Cloudchaser and a daisy sandwich with onion rings for Spike, with iced tea for the both of them.

“Thank you!” Cloudchaser and Spike said at the same time.

“No problem,” the waitress said. “You two enjoy.”

“Alright,” Cloudchaser said, picking up her burger. “Time to get all those burnt calories right back.”

“Ha, and you said I need to get used to physical fitness and whatnot.”

“I”m practicing fitness. Fitness’ burger in my mouth.” Cloudchaser greedily took a bite and washed it down with her drink. “Wow, I guess I didn’t realise how hungry I was until just now.”

Spike chuckled and took a few bites of his own sandwich. “I know the feel. But, I guess I’m always this hungry. Comes with the territory of being a growing dragon, I guess.”

“Speaking of which, I had a question about that.”

“Shoot.”

“I know you said you didn’t know a whole lot about your dragon race and all, but do you have any idea how big or whatever that you’re going to get. I mean, not gonna lie, it’d be pretty tight to have a grown dragon hanging around.”

"I dunno," Spike said, shrugging his shoulders. "Dragon growth is kind of a tough thing to gauge."

"How so?"

"Well, growth patterns change a lot based on environment. Like, if a dragon is grown out in the wild where survival is a daily issue, he’ll grow faster and get bigger than, say, a dragon that's raised in an enclosed or safe environment."

Cloudchaser took a long sip of her drink and processed what he said. "So, you're basically saying that you could, in theory, stay this size for a long time, just because you're raised in a smaller environment?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"Wow, that's kind of weird," Cloudchaser said before quickly putting her hooves over her mouth. "Oh, sorry, no offense "

"Its alright. We're just different is all. Also, nothing is set in stone. Growth can also vary a lot from one species of dragon or one family line to the next. And since my parents weren't around to talk to, we're not sure how that's gonna go."

Cloudchaser let out a sigh. "I know that feel."

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing, it’s just-"

"Well, spin my wheel and call me a wagon! Looks like y'all had the same idea."

Cloudchaser and Spike looked up to see Applejack and Lyra walking toward the table.

“Oh, hey AJ. Hey, Lyra,” Spike said, waving at his friends.

“Hey, guys,” Cloudchaser said, following suit. “What are you two up to?”

“Well, we were just workin’ on some rodeo exercises out on the old setup at the farm and figured we’d get ourselves some grub.”

“Yeah… rodeos are hard work, and my stomach says it’s time to refuel,” Lyra said with a frown, holding her grumbling tummy.

“Well, the food here is terrific, so you picked a good place, “ Spike said.

“Hmm, well I don’t suppose they’d mind if we pulled up a couple chairs and ate with ya real quick like?”

“Well, I dunno,” Cloudchaser chimed in. “The table’s kind of small and-

“We’ll make it work,” Lyra said, levitating two chairs to the table. “We’ll just have to squish together a bit!”

Lyra pushed Spike and Cloudchaser’s chairs right next to each other to make room for the other chairs, practically causing them to rub sides in the process.

“There, perfect!”

Spike and Cloudchaser looked at each other and blushed.

“Well, Spitfire did say this whole game would bring us closer,” Spike said, trying to stifle an awkward laugh.

****

“And then the rope said to other rope, ‘Am I a noose? Sorry, I’m a-frayed knot!’ Hahaha!”

Lyra burst out laughing at Applejack’s joke, spitting her soda all over Spike. “Haha, oh my gosh, Applejack… That was great!”

“Hehe, yeah, hilarious,” Spike said, wiping off the sticky liquid from his face.

“Yeah, your jokes only get funnier, AJ,” Cloudchaser said, trying to refrain from slamming her face into the table.

“Aw, shucks, it ain’t nothin’ guys,” Applejack said. “There are pretty more where those came from.”

Spike planted his head into his palm, getting ready for the next barrage of jokes, when he felt a hoof press his side. He looked over to see Cloudchaser leaning quite close to his ear.

“Spike,” she whispered, “we gotta get outta here!”

Spike nodded in response and leaned in to whisper back. “Alright, I got an idea. Just play along.”

Cloudchaser slyly winked and nodded.

“Oh, hey!” Spike said loudly, commanding attention from the table. “I just remembered, don’t you have that thing to do, today? You know, at the… place?”

“Thing? Oh, oh yeah. I have to uh, do something. Something really important!” Cloudchaser said, shaking her head in agreement.

“Yeah, so, sorry guys. Looks like we’re gonna have to head out, and-”

“Oh, really?” Lyra asked, eyeing both of them. “What kind of stuff? Can we join in?”

“No!” Cloudchaser said, jumping from her chair. “I mean, sorry, I can’t really take anyone. Except Spike, so he has come to with me. Spike can come.”

“Aww, that sucks,” Lyra said. “What kind of stuff only lets you and Spike go?”

“Umm, the doctors? Yeah, I haven’t been feeling well this week, so I gotta go to the doctors.”

“Really?” Applejack said, joining in the questioning. “What doctor do you have to go to? If it’s serious, we can come for moral support!”

“Oh, um, sorry It’s a special appointment with um, with uh… who was it again, Spike?”

All three sets of eyes at the table locked onto Spike.

“Ah, um, your gynecologist!” Spike immediately regretted his choice of words, and the wide eyed, blushing look on Cloudchaser’s face confirmed his regret.

“Umm,” Lyra said, scratching her head.

“Well, uh, I see,” Applejack spoke up, trying to hide her own blush. “And you can only bring Spike with you to your… appointment?”

“..Yes?” Cloudchaser said, wishing the floor would just swallow her up. “C’mon Spike, let’s get out of here.”

She threw some bits on the table, grabbed Spike and bolted out the door. After they were a safe distance away from the scene of the crime, she dropped Spike to the ground and scowled at him.

“Gynecologist?”

“Sorry,” Spike said, taking a cautious step backward. “I was on the spot. I had to say something!”

“I know, but gynecologist? You couldn’t just have said ‘Oh, Cloudchaser has a cold we need to get checked out,’ or ‘We need to get some extra practice in’. No, you just had to make it sound like I.. like we… Well, like something happened that didn’t happen.”

“Sorry, I guess it was because Twilight felt the need to read me Dr. Poptart’s book, ‘Why Is She Throwing Stuff At Me? ...and other questions you probably have about your marefriend’. My intelligence was compromised.”

Cloudchaser tried to keep her scowl, but eventually it broke into a smile. “Alright, I guess I can’t get on your case too bad, then. But I still can’t show my face around those two for a good long while.”

“Understood. So… what do you wanna do instead?”

“Well, I was actually thinking… AJ and Lyra did seem to be on the same page already. Did you catch that?”

“It was kinda hard to ignore, what with the nonstop conversation they had.”

“Exactly. Either way, something we learned in Wonderbolt Academy was that trust in your partner is just as important as raw talent.”

“Makes sense.”

“So, I was thinking, maybe we should just talk for a bit? You know, so we can learn a bit more about each other.

“Wait, you just wanna talk? With me?”

“Uh, yeah! For competitive advantage, of course.”

“Hmm, okay,” Spike said with a smile. “We can talk at my place. We won’t have to deal with any obtrusive ponies there. Hopefully...”

No News is Good News

Spike and Cloudchaser walked up to the front door of his residence.

“Now, I have no knowledge of whether it's clean or dirty or whatever, so don’t judge me,” Spike said.

“Don’t worry,” Cloudchaser replied. “It can’t be any worse than my place.”

Spike led her in through the front door.

“Alright, Cloudchaser, there's the couch. Go wild.” Spike showed her into the living room where she took a quick glance around before promptly hopping onto said couch.

“Don't mind if I do.” She let out a deep sigh as she sunk into the cushions. “Ahh, I could just die here and be completely happy. So comfortable! Why do you even leave your house?” She glanced over at Spike, a goofy grin on her face.

“A question that has baffled scientists for centuries,” Spike said. “Now scooch over and save a little piece of heaven for me. My legs hurt from all that running around.”

Spike leapt onto the couch next to Cloudchaser, causing her to have to sit upright, much to her displeasure.

“You know, there's a chair right over there,” she said, pointing a good at the easy chair across the room. “You didn't have to ruin my happiness.”

“Yeah, I kinda did, because you see, this couch is way more comfortable than that chair, even if I do have to share it with you.” Spike folded his arms and sank back into the chair. “So, we're here, now what should we talk about?”

Cloudchaser scratched her chin for a moment but drew blanks. “I don't know. What are friends supposed to talk about?”

“Well, in my personal experience, they talk about saving the world, defeating mega villains, traversing the land and the occasional cute stallion. But that all sounds a bit extreme, so let's start small.”

Cloudchaser chuckled. “Sounds good. Okay, so what's your favourite colour?”

“Purple. You?”

“Yellow. Favourite pastime?”

“Becoming the hero of the Crystal Empire. You?”,

“Sleeping in until three in the afternoon.”

“That would be a close second,” Spike interjected. “Alright, let’s take it up a notch, here. Why did you want to join the games this year?”

Cloudchaser blushed and shook her head. “Uhm, no reason. Just you know, games and stuff.”

“Eh, not buying it,” Spike said, crossing his arms. “Alright doll, spill the beans!”

Cloudchaser sighed and turned to Spike. “Fine, but you can’t tell anyone.”

“Oh my goodness, Cloudchaser. I won’t tell anyone. Just spit it out!”

“Alright, fine,” she said. “I kind of, I don’t know, thought I could impress Thunderlane if I played and won. I mean, I would’ve played anyway because competition and all, but that was a kind of a driving factor behind it. So, promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“Hahaha!” Spike blurted out. “Oh my gosh, the only way you’ll impress him is if you lift your tail about three inches higher and get a supermodel marefriend. Yeah, just playing in some games isn’t going to do anything for your chances.”

“Shut up, Spike,” Cloudchaser said, boxing him in the shoulder. “He’s not as bad as you think.”

“You’re right,” Spike said. “He’s worse. I was giving him way too much credit. When it comes to who he spends his time with, he cares about three things: Money, social status and immediate gratification. If he’s not getting at least one of those from being with a pony, he won’t be with them very long.”

Cloudchaser scowled and looked away. “You know what, forget it. Why did you decide to play the games?”

“Me? Well… I’ve been wanting to play for awhile now, but this is the first year I got around to actually getting in. Also, I kinda wanted to be on Rarity’s team.”

“Ha, I knew it. You’re in the same boat as me!”

“No! Well, yeah, kind of,” Spike said, scratching the back of his head. “But unlike Thunderlane, she’s actually really awesome. Thunderlane is a doof. And last time I checked, he seems to be a little more interested in your sister, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Ha, maybe, but that’ll change soon if everything goes according to plan.” Cloudchers snickered and rubbed her hooves together.

“Wow, evil much?”

“Hmph, a mare has to do what a mare has to do.”

Spike was about to come back with yet another well timed retort, when the front door handle jiggled, which was then quickly followed by the door swinging open, revealing a purple, pony princess.

“Oh, what a day!” Twilight blared out, collapsing through the front door. She crawled into the living area, ready to drop into the couch when she noticed its two current occupants. “Um, hello guys?”

“Hello, Twilight,” Cloudchaser said with a nervous smile. “I’m not in your spot, am I?”

“Meh, she can find a new spot,” Spike said, crossing his arms. “First come, first serve.”

“Fine, be that way,” Twilight said, hopping into the easy chair located across the room. She fell into the chair and eyed Spike and Cloudchaser. “So, what brings you two here? Or better yet, what brings you two to the same couch?”

“We’re trying to learn more about each other,” Spike stated. “After seeing how close Lyra and Applejack were and how well they get along, it appeared we were a bit lacking in that category.”

“Yeah,” Cloudchaser said, nodding her head. “And not to mention we needed a place to hide out after a particularly awkward lunch experience. Isn’t that right, Spike?”

“Like I said, it was an accident! I was on the spot!” Spike called out.

“Do I want to know, or am I happier in my ignorance of the situation?” Twilight asked, bringing her hoof to her face.

“Oh please, I hope it doesn’t get around,” Cloudchaser said.

“Okay, then,” Twilight said, shaking the thought off. “On a slightly different note, how is training going for you guys? You think you’re ready for the games?”

“I would suppose that depends on your definition of ready…” Spike stated.

“Love that confidence, Spike” Twilight said.

“Well, we tried out flying,” Cloudchaser said. “I guess Spike is afraid of heights.”

“Not heights, just the inevitable fall from those heights,” Spike corrected.

“The point is,” Cloudchaser cut in, “progress is slow. But, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna kick some serious tail, am I right, Spike?”

“Oh yeah, totally,” Spike said.

“GUYS!” With an explosion the door burst open revealing Rainbow Dash. “I need your help!”

All three of them jumped up from their respective seats in surprise.

“Rainbow, what’s going on? Are you in danger?” Twilight ran over to her friend, eyes wide. “Is it a friendship problem?”

“Oh Twilight, she’s out there. Somewhere, and she’s looking for me! Nowhere is safe!” Rainbow dashed around the room, searching in and all places, ready to hide at any moment.

“Who’s out there?” Twilight asked. “Chrysalis? A changeling? Who!”

“Trixie! You have to hide me!” Rainbow jumped behind the couch, poking her head over the edge to keep a lookout. “At first, it wasn’t so bad. She was bossy, sure, but we made it work. But now, it’s every waking moment! Making her food. Running circles around town. Twilight, she made me file her hooves! And she said it was vital to our training exercise, so I couldn’t just say no. Help!”

“Oh, is that all?” Twilight said, shaking her head. “Rainbow, you have to learn to work with Trixie. She’s not that bad, and she’s a changed mare from how she used to be.”

“You don’t know, Twilight! You haven’t seen what I’ve been through! You don’t know the struggle…”

“Rainbow,” Twilight said, frowning at the shivering ball hiding behind her couch. “You can’t hide from your problems behind my couch. That doesn’t set a good example. You’re gonna go out there, face down Trixie and find a friendship lesson to learn from all this!”

“No, you can’t make me!”

“Oh, really?” With a quick blast of magic, Twilight grabbed Rainbow by the back hooves and dragged her from behind the couch.

“No! Don’t do this to me, Twilight! Please! Spike! Cloudchaser! Help me!”

Spike and Cloudchaser just turned to each other and laughed.

“Sorry, Rainbow, I already helped you once,” Spike said with a snicker. “You’re on your own.”

“Noooo!”

“Sorry, Rainbow, but it’s for your own good.” Twilight popped open the door and tossed Rainbow outside, quickly shutting the door behind her. “Well, that was interesting.”

“You know,” Cloudchaser said, looking at Spike. “I don’t feel so bad about our chances anymore. You wanna go train some more?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Spike said with a chuckle. “Let’s do it.”

“Have fun, you two!” Twilight yelled as they ran out the door.