Beauty of the Beast

Chapter 3: Truth or Dare?

“You want it like… this?” Spike’s voice was hoarse as he pushed harder, his face flushing with the amount of effort he was putting into the task.

“Oh, yes, Spike,” moaned Rarity. “That is perfect.”

“Alright then, hurngg!” One last burst of strength and Spike was finished. His legs buckled beneath him and he fell to his knees, landing so that he wouldn’t fall on the white unicorn beside him.

“Well done, my little Spikey-Wikey,” Rarity sighed through a satisfied smirk. “That was marvelous.”

“Hey, I helped too!” A panting Rainbow Dash collapsed next to Spike, her wet fur making a splashing sound as she landed. “No appreciation for the Dash, huh?”

“Right, um… good job, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said with half as much enthusiasm while waving her hoof dismissively.

“Whatever.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I only did it because Spike needed my help, anyways.” The two shared a fist-to-hoof bump and lay back, marveling at their work while still trying to catch their breaths.

“What do you think, Twilight?” asked Spike. “Was that good enough for you?”

Twilight scrutinized the remodeled room unsatisfactorily, her judgmental eyes spotting every angle and every empty space that was off. “Hmm, it’s certainly better, but six ponies and a dragon are an awful lot to be fitting in such a confined space. I think that if we moved the dresser a little more to the left, then we would be able to maximize our sleeping room.” Her suggestion was met with two loud, consecutive groans from the weary laborers.

“Aw, Twilight,” whined Spike.

“That’s like the tenth time you made us move that thing!” continued Rainbow Dash.

“And it’s heavy, Twilight! Really heavy.”

“Ouch, my hooves.”

The purple unicorn smiled at the pair and shook her head, wondering when the two had become such close friends that they were able finish each other’s thoughts. “Alright, alright, this will do just fine. Great job, you two. Now, why don’t we take a break?”

“Yes!” cheered Spike as he and Rainbow immediately rushed over to the table of desserts that had been taunting them ever since they started moving.

As soon as Spike had gone up the stairs after Rainbow Dash, the first thing he did was go after the pies that Applejack had mentioned. But before he got even halfway across the room, Twilight had stopped and asked him to set up for their planned sleepover. Rainbow Dash, in an uncharacteristic, yet completely in-tune with her element display of helpfulness, had volunteered to aid Spike, and together they had successfully reassembled the room’s furnishings to better accommodate their slumber party needs. Now with the task finished, their sweet reward awaited them.

Spike was in front of the promised pie; its sweet, cinnamon fragrance wafting around him and pulling him closer to the confectionary. He waited for Rainbow Dash to catch up, and together they dined. Rainbow let her face fall with the grace of a boar, and Spike followed suit, digging into his own share like a starved hobo on a daisy sandwich.

“Manners, Spike,” scolded Twilight as she took the empty pan under them.

“My bur”, said a puffy cheeked Spike. “Sho whash nesh on gee agenda?”

“Pardon?” asked Applejack as she took the pan from Twilight and packed it up.

Spike washed down his mouthful with one of Pinkie Pie’s homemade hot sauce-sparilla, then spoke again. “I said, so what’s next on the agenda?”

“Hmm,” the cowpony hummed thoughtfully. “Well, now that the moving is done, I don’t rightly know.”

“Well, we can watch this movie that I borrowed.” Twilight telekinetically pulled out a tape set from a nearby shelf. “Princess Luna recommended it to me. It’s called, The Thingy. She said to watch it at night though, so I suppose we’re free to do whatever we want until then.”

“Maybe we can play some games to pass the time,” suggested Fluttershy. “That is, if you girls would like to.”

“Oo oo, did somepony say games?!” Pinkie Pie slid out from under the desserts table and threw her hooves in the air, spraying confetti around the room as she did so. “We can play my favorite game, Pin the Tail on the Pony!”

“Pinkie, aren’t we a little too old for that game?” asked Rainbow Dash before shoving some more pie in her face. “Thash like a foal’s game.”

“That’s not entirely true,” argued Twilight. “Although Pin the Tail is most often played at cute-ceañeras, it has—”

“Ababab, I don’t care,” shushed Rainbow Dash with crumbs flying out of her mouth, earning an annoyed look from the learned unicorn. “Let’s play something we mature ponies can enjoy. Like Spin the Bottle.”

“Spin the Bottle? Really, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity tossed her mane back in the snootiest fashion possible and eyed the chromatic pegasus condescendingly, as if staring down a naïve foal. “That game is juvenile, perhaps even more so than Pinkie’s idea.”

“Alright then, what do you think we should do, Princess Party Pooper?” Pinkie shoved the pony poster and false tail-pin that she had materialized out of nowhere into her party bag with a huff. “Let’s hear your idea, even though it’s not going to be as fun as mine and is probably going to poop on our party because it’s a crummy crud idea!”

“Oh I assure you, dear Pinkie Pie, that my idea has no likeness to feces.” Rarity cracked a wily grin. “I suggest that we play Truth or Dare?”

Suddenly the room went silent and all mares, besides Twilight, who was busy looking through her party games references, shot a quick glance at Spike after the word ‘Dare’. Rarity bit her lip; Rainbow Dash smiled mischievously; Pinkie and Applejack both smirked awkwardly at the sudden tension; and Fluttershy stared at Spike’s butt. Rarity had won. Truth or Dare was go.

“Sorry, Rarity,” said an oblivious Twilight. “Nopony spoke up, so it looks like none of the girls want to play your game. I’m fine with any game, but majority rules in a slumber party, so—”

“I want to play Truth or Dare!” yelled Rainbow Dash as she shuffled closer to Spike.

Twilight back-stepped at the outburst. “Oh, well then that’s two.”

“Oh, um, actually, I would also like to play.” Fluttershy took a hesitant step forward. “If everyone else wants to, that is… eep.”

“That’s three.”

“Me too!” yelled Pinkie Pie. “I want to play Dare!”

“Don’t you mean Truth or Dare? And that’s four. What say you, Applejack?”

“Shucks, why not?” shrugged the cowpony. “So, who’s goin’ first?”

“Well…” Twilight thought for a moment which of her friends would be the fairest choice to kick-start their evening. “Since it’s his first slumber party, I think that Spike should do the honors of the first play. Your move, Spike.”

“Oh, okay.” All mares turned to the dragon, licking their lips in hopeful anticipation as he weighed his choices. “I dare…” Yes, it was a dare! He was going to dare one of the mares to kiss— “I dare Twilight to burn one of her books.”

“What?!” All of the mares shouted in unison, Twilight’s voice being the loudest of them all.

“No way, mister! You just lost your turn!” Twilight rolled up her party games manual and smacked the treacherous dragon on the head.

“Wait, that’s not fair!” Spike complained.

Twilight swatted him again to shut him up and went on. “Rainbow Dash, you’re up.”

The motley pegasus rubbed her hooves together villainously and snickered. “Spike, my buddy ol’ pal.” The dragon recovered from the light beating and gave her a sweet smile. “I dare you to lick my hoof.”

“What?” he said, taken aback by his friend’s betrayal. “Aw, come on, girls! Don’t team up on me.”

“Sorry, Spike, but a dare’s a dare,” giggled Twilight.

“But you didn’t even do my dare!”

“You going to wuss out, Spike?” asked Rainbow in a challenging tone. “Weak!” Her comment was followed by boo’s from Pinkie and a quiet “Do it,” from Fluttershy, while Applejack and Rarity just sat back and shook their heads in amusement.

“Aw, jeez. Fine!” Spike knelt down and roughly snatched up one of the pegasus’ hooves. Then, contorting his face into the ickiest expression he could manage, he lapped at the hoof with his forked tongue.

The contact sent a slight tingle through Rainbow’s leg, but that wasn’t enough for her. She craved more than a little flick of the tongue; she wanted him to slobber all over her like a bucking saltlick until she was covered in his sweet, thick saliva. “You c-call that a l-lick?” she taunted, hoping that he would take the bait.

“You call that a lick?!” repeated Pinkie Pie as she eyed the two critically. “Come on, Spike! I want to see some real action. You’ve got to suck that hoof—bite it too! Make her scream, Spike! Do it do it do it!”

Rainbow Dash smiled. She could always count on Pinkie Pie to make the party wilder.

Spike’s eyes widened at her demands. Bite Rainbow Dash? Suck her hoof? Weren’t those a little degrading? The dragon stared at the pink pony, wondering if she was serious. Her head was a blur as she nodded at rapid speed. With no hope of refuge in Pinkie Pie, he looked up hesitantly at a dizzy-eyed Rainbow Dash, who was also nodding but at a sluggish pace and with a creepy smile.

Spike gulped. If he was going to participate in this game—his first ever slumber party game—then it was imperative that he do it right, for proper memories and the like. “Okay, then… here I go.”

The dragon’s tongue lolled out with a green puff of smoke as he opened his mouth wide. He inched towards the chromatic pegasus’ outstretched hoof, and once close enough, he let his tongue run along her sweaty fur as he engulfed her nail. Slowly and steadily, Spike kept taking in more of her leg until he almost threw up when the very tip of the hoof touched the back of his throat and teased his gag reflex. Having had enough of the taste of Rainbow Dash, he ended the deep-throat with a small nibble and suckle, then he backed away and let the saliva-coated hoof fall limply to the floor.

“H-how was that?” Spike coughed, trying to get the pungent taste of sweat out of his mouth.

The room was dead silent. Rainbow Dash sat with her eyes rolled back, staring at the ceiling with a wan smile on her face like she didn’t have a care in the world. The rest of the girls just ogled at their colorful friend’s hoof in envy, besides Twilight, who stared in disgust as thick drops of her little brother’s slobber dripped to the floor.

The lavender unicorn was the first to snap out of it. She floated a towel over from the bathroom with her magic and scrubbed the spittle away viciously. “Ew, Spike, that’s disgusti—“

“Encore!” Pinkie Pie suddenly yelled. “Yeah, alright!”

“Woohoo…” Fluttershy cheered weakly.

“No!” yelled Twilight sternly. “No encore. Everypony only gets one turn; it said so in the books.” Twilight ignored her pink friend’s protests and moved on. “Next would be Applejack.”

The cowpony took her eyes off of Rainbow Dash’s hooves and straightened up. “Right. Um.” She thought hard. With such a rare opportunity, her victim had to be Spike and the action needed to be a dare, but what would she command him to do? She let her mind wander through her desires, until one idea caught her interest and drew a crimson blush to her cheeks. It wasn’t so much of an idea as it was a memory—a memory from when she was a teenager and she and her friends would go on adventures together. It was the day they went to go rescue Rarity from the Diamond Dogs. Her heart warmed as she recalled how the baby dragon had almost kissed her that day, and she now knew what she was going to dare.

“U-um, okay then.” Applejack nodded. “Spike.”

“Me again?” the dragon asked.

“Yeah you. I want ya’ll to… uh. Yeah, um, that’s—”

“Come on, AJ,” hustled Twilight. “This isn’t charades, and even if it were, it would be painfully obvious that you were imitating Fluttershy. Nice try, though.”

“I don’t talk like that…” The canary pegasus hid behind her mane.

“Alright, alright. Spike.” Applejack smiled and looked away bashfully. “I want ya’ll to give me a smooch on the cheek.”

Spike was disappointed. It was obvious that the fun loving Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie would mess with him in his first slumber party, but good ol’ trusty Applejack too? He almost felt betrayed, but thanks to the cushiness of her request, he wasn’t hurt too bad.

A kiss on the cheek, huh? Well, he had kissed Twilight a few times on the cheek when he was still a baby, so he guessed that AJ must’ve been craving that familial touch of love. Big Macintosh and Applebloom must be neglecting their sibling duties in favor of hard work; Spike would have to give them a lecture about that the next time he went down to the acres. Applejack was already like a sister to him anyways, so a kiss on the cheek he could manage. Feeling better about the request since he would be soothing the tired heart of his friend, Spike was ready to make her feel the love.

“Alright, AJ. Here I come.” The dragon gently lifted the farmpony’s face and puckered his lips. And in a split second it was done.

“That’s it?!” cried Pinkie Pie. “That was just a peck! Here, let me show you how it’s done.” The crazed pony pounced on Applejack, but was easily bucked away.

“Naw, that was swell, Spike.” Applejack looked up with rosy cheeks and cracked a crooked smile. “Thanks.”

“Sure, partner.” He smiled back. At seeing the joy his simple show of affection brought his friend, Spike wondered how long ago it was that he did the same to Twilight. He couldn't remember the last time the two of them did anything mushy, so he leaned over and gave the unicorn a big sibling hug to remind her of his love.

Twilight stiffened as the dragon glomped on her. “Um, why are you hugging me, Spike?”

“I don’t know. I’m just feeling all fuzzy inside right now,” he said as he snuggled her neck.

“Indigestion?” the unicorn prodded his belly, making Spike bend at the tickle. “Perhaps you should lay off the hot sauce. Anyways, feel fuzzy elsewhere, please. Your fire gland is making me sweat.” Twilight rubbed the dragon’s tummy until he jerked out of the hug and sat down with a pout of rejection.

“Now it’s your turn, Rarity. Truth or Dare?”

“Dare, of course,” said the white unicorn confidently.

Rainbow Dash snorted and rolled her eyes. “I bet it’s going to be lame, like making Spike walk around in a dress, or something.”

“Spike in a dress?” Fluttershy asked as she stared at Spike intensely. Anymore concentration, and she would’ve Stared him into wearing one.

“Spike in a dress, huh?” Pinkie imagined it. “Hot!”

“Sorry to disappoint you girls, but that is not my request.” Rarity turned to the dragon and purred, “Spikey, dear, I dare you to carry me like a princess through the town square.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the wussy dare. “Pfft, lame.”

“Wait, I change my mind!” yelled Rarity, suddenly feeling self-conscious by how simple and lacking flare her dare was. “I dare you to…” She looked around the room, scanning for some inspiration for the ultimate dare. Then her eyes came across her briefcase and a Cheshire smile grew on her lips. Idea! she sang in her head. Her command was going to set a new meta for Truth or Dare.

“I dare Spike…” she paused for dramatic effect, “to carry me through Ponyville Square while wearing the newest addition to my lingerie line!” She magicked her briefcase open and floated a very, very, ridiculously thin, black piece of clothing over to the group. The underwear was floated around for all ponies to see. Each of the girls gaped at it in awe as it passed by, until it stopped right in front of Spike.

“Et tu, Rarity?” Spike asked faintly as he stared at the risqué thing with puppy-dog eyes. “Mercy, Rarity. Have mercy!”

“You have to do it, Spike.” Twilight stared at him with the most stoic expression he had ever seen on her plush face. “You have to,” she repeated solemnly. “It’s in the rules.”

Spike gulped down a hiccup and blinked away a tear. When he was older, he was sure that he was going to look back on this day and laugh, but all he wanted to do now was cry. Even Rarity was playing against him, and he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it until his turn came up. But now, he had to put the thing in front of him on. It was for the memories of his first sleepover, he kept telling himself as he grabbed the thong with shaky hands.

He bent over and stepped his legs through the holes of the strap. Slowly and painfully, he lifted the thing up his long, slender legs until they stopped on a protrusion. Spike blushed as he realized what was preventing him from properly wearing the thong. With a sheepish smile he lifted his tail and fully equipped the racy piece of silk.

“Wahaha!” gushed Rarity. “Gaze in awe at my newest creation! It is daring, provocative, and elegant the way Spikey-Wikey so expertly displays it.”

Spike stood in the middle of the room, the light from the window reflecting off his scales and illuminating the walls in dimmed colors of his like that set a lewd atmosphere. The young dragon let one arm sway to his side while his other picked at the G-string between his legs. He puffed his chest and arched his back to give him better leverage on his quest for comfort as he tried desperately to get the thong to stop grinding in his butt-crack.

“Is it supposed to feel this weird?” Spike asked, turning around to give them a clear view of what he was talking about.

“Oh. My. Stars,” said Applejack as she tipped back her Stetson for a better look.

Fluttershy was out before she hit the floor.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie howled and clopped their hooves on the ground to show their approval.

Twilight just stood there, her mouth agape and her eyes twitching as she stared disbelievingly at the sight before her.

“Now I dare you to crawl!” ordered Rarity with a dictatorial stomp of her hoof. “Crawl down the catwalk and growl at the audience like the beast you are!”

“C-Calm down, Rarity!” Twilight shushed while waving her hooves in front of the other unicorn. “I might get complaints from the neighbors if you keep yelling like that.”

Rarity blinked out of her lust-driven madness. “Wha-huh?”

“And you only get one truth or dare per turn, so you’ll just have to wait until the next cycle.” Twilight turned to the fidgeting pink pony. “Since Fluttershy fainted, it’s your turn now, Pinkie.”

“I dare Spike to do what Rarity just said!” Pinkie immediately yelled as soon as Twilight was done lecturing the fashionista.

“Alright, you know what? This is getting out of hoof!” Twilight stood up and magically lit the lanterns in the room to cancel Spike's reflective light show. “I don’t want to play this game if you’re all just going to dare Spike to do embarrassing things. I understand that he’s the only male in the party, but that doesn’t mean you can all just gang up on him! I am very disappointed in you girls.”

“Oh, it was all in good fun, Twilight,” said Rarity. “None of us meant to ever make Spikey-Wikey feel bad. And Spike?”

“Huh?” Spike turned to the unicorn.

“You simply must model for me during the next fashion show. The publicity would do wonders for my name, and I would love to introduce you to my dear friends in Canterlot.”

Spike frowned at the request. “Um, I’m not too sure about that.”

“Well, you can think about it later,” said Twilight as she trotted towards the stairs. “The sun is going to set soon, so let’s go start dinner.”

“But we just ate a few hours ago,” said Applejack as she too got up from her seat and went over to the stairs. “Maybe I should have brought more pie.”

And soon all of the slumber party goers were on the main floor of the library, Fluttershy having been brought down by Spike and placed on a couch.

In the kitchen, Twilight rummaged through the pantries while the others sat on the counters, waiting for their hostess to bring out the ingredients so that they could help make dinner. After snooping through a few cabinets and coming out with a frown each time, Twilight turned to her friends with a clumsy smile.

“Oh, shoot. I’m afraid we’re running low on ingredients.”

“What?!” Spike ran up to where his sister was standing and ransacked through their storages. “But I just went shopping a few days ago! Have you been sneaking midnight snacks again?”

Twilight ignored the dragon’s peeved look and walked briskly out of the kitchen and towards the library entrance. “Well, the sun is still up so it looks like we have enough time to buy some food before the stalls close. Let’s go girls—”

“Wait, Twilight.” Spike sighed. “Let me. I need to stretch my legs anyways from being cooped up in here all day.”

“I’ll come too!” Rainbow Dash flew up next to Spike and threw an arm around him. “Because you know, you might need some help carrying the groceries and junk.”

With a thoughtful smile, Spike shook the hoof off and rustled her rainbow mane. “Thanks, but I’ll go alone. You girls stay here and enjoy the party.” He opened the door and slid through it before the others could protest. “I’ll be right back!”

“Wait, Spike!” Twilight opened the door to warn the dragon, but it was too late. Thanks to his powerful leg muscles and his agile form, he was already a good distance down the street towards the shopping district.

Applejack took her Stetson off and scratched her head. “…Does he know that he just walked out with them fancy ol’ pantaloons still on?”

Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. “Nope!”

“Advertising for me already, hmm, Spike?” said Rarity as the dragon ran past a group of mares. The ponies double-took and just stood there in the street, staring at his hindquarters until he was well out of sight. “Always so helpful.”

The fact that her little brother’s antics were helping one of her friends did little to assuage Twilight’s frustration. She watched worriedly as Spike turned a corner and made up her mind.

"I'm going to go get Spike. You girls stay here and, I don't know, entertain yourselves until we're back!" And with that, the lavender unicorn rushed out of the library to catch her little brother before he made a fool of himself.

Twilight slammed the door shut behind her, leaving her friends to debate on whether the dragon would realize that he was wearing a thong in public before his sister caught up to him.

Outside, Spike ran through a set of sprinklers in his hurry to catch the vendors before they packed up for the day. Lubed up and good to go, he hurried his silk-clad bottom over to the shopping district, ready, but unaware that he was bringing the party to Ponyville Central.