7 Days of Macro Dreams

Contains: MLP, macro, rampage, cat-and-mouse

Spike held an empty wineglass loosely in his claw. His mouth hung open as he let the spicy flavor fade from his serpentine tongue. A five-armed candlestick struggled to illuminate the room. A black bottle labeled "Raining Fire" sat nearby.

It was the night of the first "game" and Twilight had gone to bed peacefully over an hour ago. Spike was alone at the table with the only thing he could think of on such short notice that might tame his nerves. Wine. He had always associated it with friends, parties, and celebrations in general. Yet, even after downing two whole glasses, he didn't feel any different. So Spike quickly gave up on the alcohol. There was no reason to get drunk and add a hangover to his woes.

Spike massaged his temple nervously while his slitted eyes gazed into the reflective crystal tabletop. The dragon who gazed back was a depressing sight.

"I can sit here until I pass out from exhaustion, be tormented by Luna, and then wake up to a million questions from Twilight. Or, I can go lie down in my bed and just be tormented by Luna." He took a deep thoughtful breath. "I am a dragon darn it, and I've been issued a challenge. I can't be afraid. I just have to win. That's all I have to do. I have to win. Then everything will go back to normal."

Easier said than done, he thought bitterly. He was pitted against Princess Luna, a pony with thousands of years of experience in war and dreams. Who knew what advanced tactics she could whip out.

Spike took a moment to blow out the candles and returned the bottle to the cellar. Then he marched to his bedroom, but as he navigated the maze of halls, Spike pictured himself as a prisoner on his way to the guillotine. When he cast the double doors of his room aside a horrid squeak filled his ears and his spine tingled. Then his eyes fell upon the comfiest execution platform in the world. The sheets were still unmade from the night before.

Spike sighed as he waddled to the bed and rolled onto the mattress. He didn't even bother tucking himself in. Instead, Spike merely lay there on his back and stared at the dark ceiling. The only sound was that of the chirping crickets, yet his heart raced. He had to be ready for anything.

"I have to win," he whispered into the darkness one last time.

After what felt like hours, Spike was suddenly thrust into a dream of a sprawling cityscape. The buildings weren't skyscrapers exactly, but they were several stories tall and there was little to no space between them. Strangely, the buildings were a mix of colors and materials arranged side-by-side with no regard to a theme or pattern. There were brick, marble, and even sandstone complexes up and down the street. The main road was divided by a thin grass strip and young healthy trees swayed in the breeze. It was sunset, or maybe dawn, and the entire city was cast in an inviting orange glow, the kind where the clouds almost look like they're on fire.

For a moment Spike stood alone at the center of an intersection, but that soon changed with a flash of light.

"Good night, Sir Spike," Luna said warmly.

Spike blinked the spots from his eyes and at the oddness of her greeting. "Uh, good night to you too?"

Luna smiled with excitement. "Are you ready for the first game?"

The image of a newspaper with his name as the headline darted through Spike's mind. He felt a hint of anger swell inside him and his eyes narrowed. "You're enjoying this."

Luna's expression turned thoughtful. "Tonight could be fun for you too if you allow it to be."

"Sure, whatever," he said dismissively, crossing his arms.

Luna shook her head sadly. "The rules of the first game are simple. See that clock tower?" Her wing pointed to the tallest building in town. It sported a massive timepiece that was readable from miles away. "After the first bell tolls you will have 20 minutes to hide."

Spike looked at her curiously. "Hide? Why?"

"Hide-and-Seek!" she cheered.

"We're playing a foal's game?" His eyes were drawn to the buildings around them, his anger vanishing as quickly as it had arrived. "Are you serious? You are giving me an entire city to hide in? You'll never find me here!" he barked with laughter. This was going to be WAY easier than he thought.

Luna's smile was as strong as ever. "That's the spirit Spike!"

"How long do I have to stay hidden?"

"One hour."

"20 minutes to hide and one hour to search? Are all the games going to be this one-sided?" he smirked.

"Hmm," Luna pondered. "Maybe I have given you the advantage tonight, but it's not about winning or losing. It's about having fun, Sir Spike."

He stared at her for a moment, his confident grin fading. "It's kind of hard to have fun when my future is at stake."

For a few seconds she said nothing. A soda can blew past them in an errant gust of wind. The shadows cast by dangling streetlights rocked back and forth. A distant bell rung once.

"You'll understand soon," Princess Luna stated cryptically. "Your time to hide starts now. Good luck, Sir Spike."

The bell rung again, but Spike didn't move. He was distracted. What is she talking about? he wondered. Spike honestly couldn't figure her out. Years as Twilight's assistant had trained him to think and analyze, but all his experience was useless here. He was utterly stumped by Luna's riddles.

Unless she really expected him to enjoy these games. Which was just nuts.

"You're not giving up are you?" Luna asked with a cute tilt of her head.

Spike shook himself back to the present, spun on his heels, and took off down the main road.

A bell chimed overhead. Only five minutes remained before Luna came looking for him and Spike had yet to pick a specific hiding spot. He was tired and sweaty after sprinting at full speed to the center of town. Despite being a dragon and a quasi-athlete, he was beginning to push his physical limits. Eventually he had to stop and pant for breath. Spike braced a claw against the clock tower and quickly debated his strategy.

"Maybe I should just keep moving. Staying put might make me easier to spot." His free palm immediately met his forehead. "Luna has wings. She'll be scanning every street from a mile high."

His head tilted up at the impressive obelisk above him. The second hand spun relentlessly around the clock. Spike was almost out of time. His eyes darted to the streets in search of a convenient location to bunker down. There was an inconspicuous apartment complex across the road. Nodding once, Spike dashed across four lanes and into a small lobby. A staircase to his left offered him a way up.

"What are the chances Luna's going to check say... the third floor?" he thought aloud smugly.

The hallway was dark and numbered doors lined the walls. Spike shrugged, picked a room, and marched in. He was mildly surprised to find the apartment fully furnished and that the electricity worked. He laughed. Even as a bell tolled the one minute warning, Spike paraded into the bedroom and tossed himself on the fluffy sheets.

"20 minutes is a lot of time," he mumbled.

For a moment Spike wondered if he could fall asleep while in a dream. Could he have a dream within a dream? What else was he supposed to do while he waited for Luna's inevitable defeat? Now thinking about it, his muscles were kind of sore from running.

"Is there something to drink around here?" Spike droned as he sat up.

Spike rubbed a leg and turned to the window. He couldn't see the clock from this close at this angle, but he figured the bell would be ringing--

BONG!! BONG!! BONG!!

Spike covered his ears as a series of metal gongs, louder than any sound the central clock had made before, literally vibrated the air. "Ow," he growled in pain, jumping off the bed. The purple dragon shook his head, but the ringing didn't go away. He groaned as he moved, trying to downplay the annoyance.

"Ugh, Luna sure went overboard," he continued, dragging his tail into the kitchen. Spike opened a cupboard and quickly filled a glass in the sink with clear water. Leaning against a plain counter-top, the dragon gulped the liquid down and let his body recuperate.

For a minute or two, Spike was at ease. Victory was assured, Luna was bumbling around somewhere wasting her time, and his secret was safe. Sure there were six nights to go, but he only needed to win three more. Things were looking up for the drake.

The tiniest of tremors resonated through the room, but it was the clinking of glasses that caught Spike's attention and made his head snap towards the cupboard. "What was that?"

A few seconds passed. Nothing happened.

"Must have been my imagination. How does that work in Luna's dream?"

Then the room vibrated again, but this time it was stronger and accompanied by a low rumbling. A cupboard door creaked open.

"What is going on?" Spike asked, slamming the door shut.

He put his glass down and made for the living room where there was a large window, but he stumbled when the racket of a faraway explosion made the apartment quake. Spike held his hands out to keep himself steady until he reached the windowsill. Throwing the glass panes aside, Spike stuck his head outside to search for the source.

To his right there was nothing out of the ordinary. To his left a dust cloud had flooded the street with rolling swirls of gray. Spike's eyes widened. Was that rubble in the road? What was Luna doing?

"Is she knocking down buildings?" Spike asked.

Then, as if to answer his question, the carpet beneath his feet shook so violently that he was forced to grab the window frame. Meanwhile, several blocks down, a hail of fresh stones decorated the street. By the time Spike could look again to determine what had happened, the cause was already casually strolling towards him.

Princess Luna was 30 meters (100 ft) tall. Each hoof was just wider than a lane. Her fur was thick and bits of rubble fell from her coat as she moved. There was a line of cracks left in the pavement wherever she stepped. Her knees alone hovered three stories above the roadway, right at Spike's level.

"You are very good at hiding, Spike," Luna's voice boomed as her enormous eyes swung back and forth over the structures on either side of her.

The dragon froze with his head hanging out the window. How could he have forgotten her words from the night before? Had he really been so distracted worrying about the consequences of losing it completely slipped his mind when the dark princess promised to challenge him with macrophile dreams? Even worse, the alicorn had already figured out that destroying every possible hiding spot would force him into the open.

Spike was literally shaken from his stupor by an echoing voice directed right at him.

"Perhaps you didn't understand the rules as well as I initially believed," Luna said, only a few giant steps away from him. He merely stared up at her. "You are supposed to stay hidden."

A huge grin dominated Luna's muzzle as she closed the distance between her and the apartment. Spike quickly backpedaled inside only to collide with the corner of a couch before awkwardly flailing to the floor. The room was soon cast in a foreboding shadow as a large blue-green eye filled the open window. The princess blinked once, causing her long eyelashes to scrape against the stone.

"Better run Spike, because here comes my hoof," Luna singsonged.

Spike crawled to his feet and dashed for the door just as the wall of the apartment exploded and a blue mass invaded the room. The crashing continued behind him as he flew down the hallway. Before he took off down the stairs, Spike watched the huge appendage smash its way into the hall and begin carelessly tearing the building open like a tin can.

Spike gulped as he reached the ground floor, the sounds of destruction still easily heard above him. Beyond the glass doors, three midnight colored columns ran up to the belly of a beast who was currently occupied feeling around inside the complex. Spike took two deep breaths before sprinting between the pillars and across the street. The great muscles seemed to sense his presence and tensed.

"Hey!" Luna cried, her voice alone now powerful enough to create a gust of wind. "Get back here!" she ordered. Her arm tore through the side of the building, scattering debris across the road.

Spike didn't look back. He just ran.

The ground shook as the princess spun around with a quick hop. Then she stomped after her prey, giggling like a filly. "Fee-fi-fo-fum. I smell the blood of a little dragon," she teased.

Spike felt a tinge of amusement, but that was swiftly smothered by his drive to escape. The powerful booms originating from behind him as he ran were a constant reminder that Luna was on his tail and the game had just started. He didn't have time to look back at the clock though, he was far too busy looking for an escape route.

"I’ve got you now!" the large mare lolled.

That's when Spike saw it. The buildings were all tightly packed together, but a short restaurant with a neon sign interrupted the theme. Without thinking, the drake changed direction and dove straight through the front window. Glass scattered. Luna paused.

"You can't hide inside, my helpless toy. Especially in such a flimsy wooden building."

Luna raised a leg. Then she let it crash through the roof. The entire restaurant collapsed into an unrecognizable pile of timber as wood and splinters went flying. She smirked, but that quickly disappeared when she noticed a key detail: Spike wasn't caught in the rubble.

Her eyes flashed to and fro as she tossed bits and pieces aside in search of his purple scales. "Where are you hiding?"

That's when she noticed the alleyway extending from the back of the building to the next street over. Snorting, Luna dropped the wooden beam she had been holding in her hoof and plowed her huge body between two stone complexes. Once on the other side, dust clouds and chunks of concrete now spread about her hooves, the princess realized that she had lost him.

"Well played, Sir Spike. Well played."

A short distance away, just inside a hospital, Spike gasped for air while sweat dribbled down his face. "Wow," was the only word he could manage between huffs. He stared at a boring white wall as his mind reeled. This entire situation was crazy. Luna was tearing the city apart and all he could do was run. It sort of reminded him of that time he destroyed much of Ponyville during his greed fueled rampage.

Spike regarded the glass double doors as Luna stepped into a T-intersection. The lawn in front of the hospital provided Spike ample distance to watch her glance down both roads in search of him, not realizing he was actually straight ahead.

"I think I'll--pant--just rest here--pant--a moment," Spike rasped.

It was now Spike officially decided the best way to avoid Luna was to keep moving, though he wouldn't be going anywhere until he had some rest. In the meantime, he allowed himself to observe the giant mare who was currently sizing up an office building that dared to reach her belly. The young dragon felt his attention redouble when the princess hip-checked the building, putting a huge dent into the concrete and shattering most of the windows. But the action didn't end there. Next, the princess faced away from the structure before lashing out with a hind hoof. A cloud of dust rose as a new pile of rock was added to the streets.

"I'll find you eventually, Spike," Luna's voice echoed. "You can't hide forever."

On a whim, Spike scanned the reception area for a clock. He found one that read 12:11. The game had officially started at noon. Spike swallowed. He really hoped that clock was just slow.

For the next few minutes Luna busied herself destroying potential hiding spots. She kicked, bumped, and pushed the various structures around her until they collapsed one after the other. Nothing came of it though. Her eyes peeked at the central clock which now read 12:26. She grumbled. The game was nearly half over and she'd only gotten close to catching Spike once.

"Come on Spike," she whined childishly, circling back to where she had first lost him. "It's no fun if you hide the whole time. Come on, give me something to chase at least."

Spike stood resolute behind the hospital's doors, arms crossed. He wasn't budging. No way was he taking a chance and risking his victory. Waiting might have been boring, but it was safe.

Luna pouted. Spike simply wasn't playing along. "Well, if you’re not going to make the game interesting, then I will!"

Spike blinked at that. What could Luna possibly do besides smash things?

He got his answer when the princess stood parallel to a wide, flat, and as-of-yet undamaged hotel in front of the hospital. Then she all but threw herself on the roof and immediately crashed through the flimsy brick and plummeted to the ground below. Covered in red and grinning like a madmare, Luna then rolled onto her back, plowing her left side into the next building. The large steel sheeted walls of a restaurant flexed from the impact, but the princess wasn't done.

Luna smiled as she wiggled and dug her back into the debris. A loud grinding filled the air as stone, wood, and glass were mixed and crushed beneath her tremendous weight. Then the mare finished her roll and tore into the shiny metal like it was tinfoil. The walls burst outward like a popped balloon and all kinds of tile and metallic insides were driven into the streets. Luna reveled in the onset of destruction and cast herself back into the remains with a pleased hum.

While she played, Spike stared. He couldn't take his eyes off it. He felt... weird. He felt excited. His breath began to quicken and his heart raced. This is wrong, he thought.

A bell chimed twice. Only 30 minutes remained.

Luna paused mid-roll, sighed, and went limp on her back in a bed of ruins. Her head just so happened to be aimed at the hospital where her acute vision caught an out-of-place purple spot sitting in the middle of the dark lobby. A sly smirk slowly spread across her lips.

"Why hello Spike. Are you having as much fun as I am?"

The tiny dragon dove back into the building and disappeared.

"Ooh another chase," Luna giggled, roughly tumbling to her hooves and stomping up to the hospital.

For a moment, the princess debated how to tackle this monster. The hospital was 15 stories tall, featured a landing pad, and was only slightly shorter than herself. Luna shrugged, raised her front hooves, and belly-flopped onto the building.

Like falling through a pile of fresh snow, her body neatly sliced floors and reduced walls to powder. The corners of the complex she hadn't crushed fell on top of her and pillars of smoke shot into the orange sky. Luna could hardly contain her merriment as her wings reflexively flapped, unintentionally clearing the air. That's when she spotted movement.

Spike had been trying to use the gray mist for cover as he made a break for the sidewalk, but he had been exposed and knocked off balance by the sudden gale Luna created.

"Escaped again I see," she hummed.

Spike dared to look back as Luna stood. It was like watching a mountain rise out of the ground.

Her huge wings extended into floating plateaus. Bits of the hospital plummeted from her coat while others remained embedded in her thick blue fur. There was an ominous whoosh as she fluttered her wings and sent yet more debris raining onto his world. Rubble cracked beneath Luna's hooves as she shifted her weight. A bit of wall that had managed to survive until now crumbled. The sunlight that wasn't blocked by her towering form was shaded by the persistent dust in the air. The stillness that followed was the worst part though. The stillness and the silence.

Spike didn't wait for her to make the first move. He charged down the street, his claws tearing at the sidewalk as he again sprinted for his life. The ground repeatedly quivered and the sound of shattering tarmac filled his ears. Luna was following him at a leisurely pace, confident in her ability to catch him whenever she pleased.

"Run run run. I'm gaining on you, little dragon."

Spike racked his brain for an escape plan. Where could he go? All the buildings were squished together with no alleys between them to sneak through. He took a hard right at the next intersection, almost losing his balance. Luna merely sauntered after him. Only 25 minutes remained and there was nowhere for the dragon to go.

"I think this game has gone on long enough. What do you say we wrap this up, hmm?" Luna taunted.

Spike felt a surge of adrenaline. No, it wasn't over yet. He still had to win!

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. Spike turned his head just enough to watch as a huge hoof, four times his height, came down on top of him. Luna was going to pin him and declare victory!

Then he was falling.

Luna felt her hoof sink into the ground up to the fetlock and her whole body teetered dangerously. She blinked in confusion. She didn't feel Spike squirming under her hoof. In fact, she didn’t feel anything under her hoof. All she felt was the uncomfortable grip of the hole she had accidentally stepped in. After carefully retrieving her leg, Luna discovered it was a subway entrance.

Spike snickered as he brushed himself off at the bottom of the stairs. "Now that is some crazy luck."

"I don't think so," Luna retorted, shoving her hoof right back down the stairwell.

Spike raced further into the artificial cave as the opening was violently widened to accommodate the huge appendage. Tiles and rocks rolled across the smooth granite floor. Then Luna's hoof wrenched upward, taking much of the ceiling with it and exposing the dragon once again. He responded by fleeing deeper into the subway. Luna rolled her eyes. Then she repeated the process and tore up another section of the ceiling. As the entire platform was bathed in sunlight, Spike dove onto the tracks and sprinted down the tunnel. The princess groaned.

"Am I going to have to rip out the entire subway just to get you? Eventually you are going to run out of track. It runs in a circle you know."

"Oh come on," Spike growled as the roar of stone and steel being shredded followed him.

Step-by-step Luna repeatedly shoved her hoof into the artificial cave and ripped off the roof as she pursued the little purple dragon. If she was telling the truth, and the tunnels did loop, eventually he would circle around and have no ceiling left to shield him. In other words, Spike was on a one-way train to being captured. He needed a new plan fast. How could he get out of here unnoticed?

Looking over his shoulder, Spike observed as Luna's hoof filled the entire space behind him before tearing away the top portion of the tunnel and casting it aside. There was no way he could run back underneath her, she was too perceptive for that. But maybe he could hitch a ride...

Luna tossed yet another slab of waste aside, not paying attention to where it landed or to those crashing sounds behind her. Not like it was doing any real harm anyway. For what felt like the thousandth time, she shoved her leg into the underground passage again, but just as she began to yank up another portion of concrete, Spike leapt onto her hoof and filled his palms with blue fur.

Spike's stomach tried to sink into his legs as Luna mindlessly raised her arm. The sound of splitting stones, ripping cords, and cracking pipes made Spike cringe, but he held on. Pebbles pummeled the top of his head until everything was sent flying sideways. He felt the fur ripped from his claws before he was suddenly spiraling into the air.

Though his wings were still too small to sustain flight, Spike managed to gain control of the spin. And thanks to his eager gliding practice over the years a gentle air current was all he needed to make a stealthy escape. Silently, he slipped away between a pair of buildings while Luna continued tearing up sections of the subway.

However, the joints where his wings met his back were starting to hurt. The strain Spike had put on them getting his flight under control had been too much for his young body. Even worse, he was descending too fast. Spike grit his teeth and tried to adjust his angle to slow down, but all it did was make him wobble. Taking a moment to regain his balance, Spike surrendered to an uncomfortable landing. If only he had something soft to crash into.

Then, like a vision, a green park appeared just ahead.

Spike strained to aim for the first large tree he could find. All those leaves and thin branches would absorb the impact much better than a thin layer of grass, according to the expert advice left to him by Rainbow Dash. But he was losing altitude rapidly. In a desperate attempt to stay airborne just a little longer, Spike beat his wings and gained a few precious inches. "Come on," he slurred through clenched teeth.

CRACK!!

A symphony of snapping wood and crinkling leaves filled the air as Spike hit his mark. It wasn't a perfect or painless landing, but it was probably better than any alternative available. He sighed as he lay on a sturdy branch, his wings aching.

"Think I just found my next hiding spot," Spike mused.

As Luna dug and Spike rested, the clock rung once again. Only 20 minutes remained.

Luna stopped what she was doing. Her ears perked and she lowered her head to the hole. Not a sound. Had Spike gotten away again!? Taking as much air into her lungs as she could, Luna blew a hurricane gale into the subway tunnel. Paper and gravel went flying, but she did not detect the grunts of a dragon struggling against the onslaught.

Luna regarded the trench she had been carving around the city. Somewhere along the line Spike must have slipped under her, but when had he done it and where would he go next? Luna eyed the remaining buildings. Then she eyed the clock.

"19 minutes to find him," she whispered.

A few choice spells crossed her mind, but Luna quickly dismissed them. There was no sport in that. No, the only thing to do was level as many of these pesky structures as possible.

While Spike hung limp from a tree branch, the commotion of Armageddon itself carried on. Explosion after explosion after explosion rocked the city. He knew Luna was knocking down everything, but he couldn't find a reason to abandon his current hiding spot. It was perfect and the minutes seemed to fly by.

A bell rung. Only five minutes remained.

The city was leveled. Smoke rose from numerous places, but nothing greater than two stories remained standing except the central clock tower. Luna was covered in all kinds of debris and sweat. She felt more filthy than a farm pony at harvest time. Still, there was no sign of Spike.

"Where could he be?" Luna asked, scratching her head. "There are no more buildings to hide in, he can't be underground, and he's not clinging to my body. So what's left?"

Luna's head swiveled, her gaze rolling over the field of destruction she had created. Her mind worked overtime. Then she noticed a patch of green. The city's only park. Luna snorted.

"Really Spike? You hid--"

A bell rung. One minute remained.

Luna forgot what she was about to say. Instead, she made a mad break for the park. She jumped over a fallen office building and landed on the grass with enough power to create a small earthquake as well as carve clean circles into the soil. Her muzzle descended on one of the many trees. Luna then whacked the innocent plant over with her nose and watched as root and dirt alike were torn from the earth.

She analyzed the fallen tree for less than a second before she turned to the next one. Luna again used her muzzle to topple the tree, but unlike the first, a purple and green dragon was tossed an arm's length from the concealing foliage. Luna grinned.

"You're mine!" she declared, lunging forward like a predatory cat.

Spike flapped his wings as hard as he could and soared forward. Luna's hoof plowed into the ground where he had been, ripping up dirt. Spike landed a few steps away and instantly was on the move. His arms pumped back and forth while his legs shot him to full speed. The princess prepared for another more desperate strike.

The drake heard a rush of air as something big came at him from behind. Spike tucked himself into a ball and rolled forward as Luna's swipe shaved a portion of the park's lawn. As soon as he was back on his feet he tried to change direction in hopes of throwing her off.

Luna reared up and pounded the ground with a mighty stomp that upset Spike's balance and sent him sliding on his belly. He flipped over just in time to see the princess's huge jaws coming at him as she moved to devour him!

"Ahh!" he screamed.

BONG!! BONG!! BONG!!

Three ear shattering metallic clangs resonated across the dream. Luna's open mouth froze just over Spike's helpless form. A warm, moist gust of breath washed over him. Then her maw slowly closed and pulled away. Spike sat up in disbelief and rested a claw on his knee. Luna's smiling face filled his vision.

"Congratulations Spike," she said happily. "I officially declare you victor of the first game. Please enjoy your day."

Before Spike could make any kind of response, Princess Luna's horn glowed and he was blinded by a bright flash of white.

The next thing Spike knew he was sitting in his bed. Sunlight poured through the window and birds chirped merrily. The door creaked open and Twilight trotted in with a towel wrapped around her head. She was dripping wet, obviously fresh from the shower.

"Morning. Ready for some breakfast?"

Spike looked down at his claws as though in a daze. Twilight watched him, every second of silence making her more uneasy. Then he grinned.

"You know what sounds really good right now?" he quizzed. "Raining Fire."

Twilight paled slightly, but smiled regardless. "That wine is a little spicy for me Spike, but... okay. What's the occasion though?"

"I just feel like celebrating... nothing."