Beauty of the Beast

Chapter 5

Pinkie Pie’s jovial whistling echoed out of the kitchen along with puffs of smoke and spices. The other Elements of Harmony and dragon sat patiently around the small table just outside of the cookery, waiting in anticipation for their meals to come carting out on top of the pink pony at any minute.

“Mm, that smells heavenly,” purred Rarity, her eyes half-lidded as she inhaled the spicy aroma drifting out of the kitchen.

Applejack licked her lips. “You said it.”

Twilight whiffed the air curiously. “Judging by the earthy spice, I’m guessing she’s making some sort of curry.”

“It hurts my nose just smelling it.” Fluttershy wiped her eyes of the stinging mist of spices and covered her snout, suppressing an oncoming sneeze. “I hope it’s not going to be as hot as it smells.”

“Yeah, I hope it’s going to be hotter!” Rainbow Dash slammed a hoof on the table, startling the rest of the group. “Hot enough to make me cry!”

Spike laughed at the masochistic comment. “I’m not sure if I want my food that spicy, but I’d like it to at least match one of her hot sauce-saparillas.” he said, popping open another one of Pinkie’s concoctions and guzzling it dry.

“But still.” The dragon licked the sizzling mixture of fiery saliva and carbonated hot sauce off of his lips. “Something about this smell seems a little… familiar.”

The ponies and dragon continued to while away the long wait time with conversations and guesses on what Pinkie would be dishing out. At first they were hesitant on whether it was safe for the maverick to work unsupervised in the kitchen all by herself, but their protests were allayed when the pink pony guaranteed them a special treat that would make Spike’s first sleepover an especially memorable one, so long as she got to work in privacy. Although the game of Truth or Dare had already done just that, the prospect of getting to taste some of the legendary baker’s cooking quickly swayed the sleepover-ers into allowing her to do as she pleased. And so they sat around the puny round table centered in the library room, chatting to pass the time until dinner was done.

“Tada!” a cheerful voice suddenly sang. “It’s chow time!”

The party turned towards the kitchen entrance to see Pinkie Pie hopping out of it with several plates of food bouncing on her back. How she kept the balance of the dishes while maintaining the buoyant spring in her step was beyond anybody’s comprehension, but they ignored her not so irregular show of natural defiance; being accustomed to the pink pony’s feats of impossibility, they focused instead on the much anticipated supper coming their way.

“Tonight’s dinner is sure to knock your socks off, if you’re into that kinky hoof-wear stuff,” Pinkie announced, skipping to a halt in front of the group. “Get ready for my special, delicious, ultra, mildly spicy, party-rific curry!”

“I knew it,” Twilight whispered to herself. Her snout rose to the air and she gave herself a congratulatory pat on the back for her correct guess.

“And boy have I got a treat for you, Twilight!” the chef said as she distributed everypony’s dinner by way of Frisbee tossing them onto the table.

“Huh?” The lavender unicorn pointed a hoof at her chest. “A treat for me?”

“Yeah you!” Pinkie slid an especially large, food-stacked plate across the table. “Since you let us use the library for our sleepover, I saved the best part of the curry just for you!”

The unicorn smiled. “Thank you, Pinkie, but you really didn’t have to.” Despite saying that, Twilight watched excitedly as the plate skidded to a stop in front her. She stared at the steaming pile of curry rice for a while, licking her lips and inhaling the pungent smell floating out of her meal. She smelled the richness of the curry powder, a bit of garlic and onions too, a pinch of ginger, and the distinct bitter-sweetness of… dark chocolate? Oh, this was going to be good.

“Well don’t just stare at it!” Pinkie Pie said, addressing not only Twilight, but everypony else who simply ogled at the burnt umber goodness in front of them. “Dig in!”

At the chef’s encouragement, the partiers jumped onto their foods. Twilight immediately fired up her horn and picked up the spoon resting beside her. Starting at the very tip or the curry mound, she scraped a bit off the top and shoveled it into her mouth, and that first bite got her addicted. The unicorn wasn’t the only one who instantly fell in love with the food, and soon the room was filled with the delighted munching sounds of ‘aums’, ‘noms’ and ‘angs’, with the occasional smack of the lips.

“Mm, this is delicious!” Twilight moaned in approval. She was about to scoop up some more, but a sudden thought occurred to her and she put her spoon down. “But I’m curious about something,” she said, eyeing the curry hungrily. “Spike didn’t buy any peppers or any spicy ingredients, so how did you make it so hot? Did you use some of the hot sauce you brought for your sarsaparillas?”

The pink pony giggled. “You’ll find out soon enough!” She gave a wink and a brief smile before smashing her face into her own dinner at skull-denting speed.

With a shrug, Twilight accepted the cryptic answer and wiped off the curry that splattered on her during Pinkie’s face-dive. She then voraciously stabbed into her meal again, expecting to fill the crevice of her utensil with curry and rice, but something from within the pile hindered any deeper prodding—something slightly elastic and with a curious malleability that she was unable to attribute to any known food. She tried stirring through the saucy rice, but the mysterious thing persisted in anchoring her spoon. Frustrated that her feasting was put to a halt, the unicorn pulled her spoon into the air along with whatever was attached to it, and her jaw dropped along with her appetite.

“P-Pinkie Pie?” she asked shakily.

“Yes, Twilight?” Pinkie responded through a mouth full of curry. She swallowed hard and then smiled widely, allowing everypony view of the remaining grains of sticky rice stuck to her teeth.

Twilight cringed. “Why was Rarity’s lingerie in my food?” She presented Pinkie with a dripping, curry-soaked thong hanging off of her floating spoon.

“Because I just appreciate your hospitality and so I gave you the special portion—”

“No,” Twilight interrupted with a gurgle and swallow, fighting against the wave of nausea threatening to spill out of her mouth. “I mean why did you even put something that Spike wore on his hips into our food?” Her voice was husky with the amount of effort it took to keep herself from vomiting.

“Ooooh.” Pinkie Pie nodded comprehendingly. “Well, like you said, Spike didn’t buy any peppers or spicy things, so I had to improvise! He just left Rarity’s fancy undies on top of the food when he gave me the grocery basket, and when I saw it, inspiration struck and I knew how to solve our spicy dilemma. I thought , ‘Hey, we don’t have anything to make the curry hot, so why not use Spike’s smoky dragon sweat to spice things up?’, and then I tossed it in with the other ingredients. It worked a lot better than I expected!” She finished biting her tongue, holding back a bout of giggles.

“Pinkie, you can’t just… you can’t—erp!” Before she could finish her sentence, Twilight’s queasiness rose to its peak. Her eyes bulged, her coat turned a sickly shade of green, and her voice caught in her throat, or rather what was rising out of it. She quickly shoved a hoof into her mouth and made for the bathroom, tripping over her chair and a few books along the way.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay, Twilight?!” cried Pinkie Pie. She watched worriedly as the unicorn staggered to the toilet, and then got up off of her seat to follow. She chased Twilight and was just about to join her in the bathroom, but the door suddenly slammed shut in her face.

“Twilight?” Pinkie knocked. “You alright in there?” Her only response was a throaty hurl and the surging plips of chunky stuff hitting water. She winced as a coughing fit came from the other side of the door and turned away slowly, hoping to give the sick unicorn some space.

“I… don’t think she liked my Pinkie prank,” Pinkie said, lightly bonking herself on the head while sticking out her tongue, but the worried look in her eyes betrayed her attempts at silliness. Concerned about their friend’s condition despite their snorts of laughter, and with their own appetites ruined, the rest of the girls joined the pink pony outside of the bathroom.

Spike stayed behind at the dinner table, looking disappointedly at the wasted food as the rice hardened and the curry grew cold. The revelation of the curry’s secret ingredient had ended their dinner abruptly, and with his sister sick and the other mares crowding around the lavatory worrying about her, it was up to Spike to clean up their forgotten meals. He trusted the girls to take care of Twilight, so with his familial responsibility taken care of by friends, he decided to attend to his other duties.

Although he too felt disgusted by Pinkie’s use of the worn thong, a smile crept onto his face as he thought about her crazy antics. When the party pony said that the dinner was going to be memorable, she wasn’t kidding. Spike chuckled when he found the sopping lingerie on the table, still oozing curry and veggies. With the very tip of his index and thumb nails, he picked it up and quickly tossed it onto a nearby dish, careful not to let any of the sauce it absorbed drip onto the table. Then he stacked the plates and utensils onto one hand and carried the tower of kitchenware away.

With a squeak and a turn of the knob, the faucet was soon pouring water onto the remnants of dinner, and Spike took a moment to soap up and lather the dishes before they were drowned. They would have to soak in the suds for a while until the curry and rice softened enough to scrape off with ease, so without much else to do but wait, he placed a kettle on the stove and put the heat to medium. A nice cup of warm tea always helped to settle Twilight’s nerves when she was feeling ill, and so being the caring brother he was, Spike made sure to prepare the tea leaves, a bowl of sugar and some hot water for when she came out.

Just as the kettle began whistling and he turned the stove’s dial to off, a shuffling sound came from the other side of the kitchen entrance.

“Psst, Spike!” a familiar, raspy voice beckoned. Rainbow Dash tiptoed into the kitchen and peered around, looking to make sure that the dragon was there, and only him. “Hey, is it just you in here?”

“Yup, just me.” Spike put all of the tea necessities on a tray, ready to haul out, and then turned back to the pegasus. “Did you need something, Rainbow?”

“Yeah, I was just wondering…” She fidgeted a little under his gaze. “If you could meet me on the balcony in a few? I just want to talk about… stuff.”

Spike hummed thoughtfully, and then nodded. “Sure, I like talking about stuff,” he said humorously, smiling. “I’ll meet you up there in like five minutes. Let me just get this tea to Twilight first.”

“Yeah, cool.” She laughed nervously. “Five minutes. Balcony. See you there.” Then she was gone, a rainbow streak the only evidence of her speedy exit.

Spike watched in wonderment as the motley trail slowly faded. It wasn’t like Rainbow Dash to be so tense, so whatever it was she needed to talk about was probably serious. Perhaps it had something to do with what she confided him in earlier that day...

Regardless, their meeting would have to wait. First was Twilight’s tea.

Rainbow Dash quietly stepped through the bedroom, carefully avoiding the many piles of books and study papers strewn about the ground. It was difficult to navigate around the organized chaos and towers of parchment in the darkness of the night, and the pegasus ended up tipping a few of them over in her hurry to make it to their meeting spot. She took air in frustration. Dropping her clandestine approach and no longer caring whether anyone heard the flapping of her wings, she flew over the fields of literature and stopped just in front of the exit leading out into the openness of the balcony.

And there he was, leaning on the ledge of the terrace while watching the sleepy town below through lidded eyes. The dragon looked majestic, almost unworldly as the moon’s ethereal light shrouded him in a pale glow while his scales emitted starlight.

Rainbow Dash sighed and admired him through the large-windowed doors leading outside. The tomboy had never met anyone of the opposite gender quite like Spike. Lacking male friends and having been bullied by colts during her childhood in flight-camp, her experiences with them were few and mostly unpleasant—and yet she was happy around Spike; he was different. He was kind, helpful, hard-working and caring, and his appearance was a reflection of his inner beauty. And with the way he consoled and embraced her earlier that day, it seemed that the drake valued her more than he did the other mares in Ponyville—Twilight excluded. It was obvious that there was a spark between the two, and Rainbow Dash hoped to pursue it.

Once she had her fill of the sight of her gorgeous mate, Rainbow cleared her throat and pushed her way outside. The chilly night air swooshed past her, rustling the pages of the books in the room and fanning the blinds, and those noises along with the squeak of the door’s hinges were enough to grab Spike’s attention. He turned around and gave a small wave as he met eyes with the approaching pegasus.

She returned with a quick nod. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Oh, you know.” Spike shrugged, leaning against the balcony’s fence. “Just standing here, wondering why you called me out,” he said with a sarcastic but friendly smile.

“Oh cool. Yeah, awesome.” She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, wishing she’d thought of something to say before revealing herself. “Um, sorry I’m a little late. I was just doing a few rounds outside to stretch my wings.” In reality she spent her time flying outside bucking away the rainclouds to set a more romantic mood, but that sounded way uncool and was therefore omitted from her apology.

“No worries,” said Spike, his eyes drifting up to the constellations above. The night sky reflected deep green in his orbs, and Rainbow Dash caught herself staring dumbly again. The ten exhausting seconds of intense cloud clearing was well worth the sight. After almost a minute of content staring had passed, she shook out of her stupor and attempted at more small talk.

“So, how’s Twilight?” she asked casually, hoping to ease into more serious topics.

“Twilight’s fine now. A sip of tea and a thousand apologies from Pinkie in one breath helped her get back to normal. She’s even laughing about the prank right now, so that’s good.”

“That’s a relief. It would’ve sucked if she were mad at Pinkie for the rest of the sleepover.”

“Nah.” Spike shook his head with a smile. “They’re too close for something like that to happen.”

“Speaking of being close…” Rainbow Dash stepped over until she was standing side-by-side with the dragon, and then looked over apprehensively to see his reaction. His eyes were still on the stars and he didn’t seem to mind, so she sighed in relief and relished in the feeling of her fur pressing against his smooth scales. She thought about attempting the ‘yawn and grab’, but decided against it, not wanting to ruin the mood, and settled on the peaceful silence they shared for a moment. Then she turned serious.

“So, Spike. I know it’s soon, but why don’t we, like, make this official?”

Spike arched his brow. “Make the sleepover official? I think it’s already pretty legit, what with all the games we played, all the snacking we’ve done and… I guess we haven’t gotten to the sleeping part yet. Hey, maybe we should build a blanket fort! Then nopony would question the validity of our sleepover!” He finished with his fist pumped and a childish excitement in his eyes.

Rainbow Dash face-hoofed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh.” Spike deflated back to his usual relaxed posture. “Then what’ll we be making official?”

“I was talking about… you know.” Rainbow Dash motioned a fore-hoof between herself and Spike while waggling her brow. The dragon just tilted his head in confusion and scratched his arm. “Oh, come on, Spike. I’m talking about us!”

Spike blinked. “Us?”

“Yes, us.”

“What about us did you want to talk about?” asked Spike, his expression suddenly turning urgent. “Is there another mission for the Elements?!”

Rainbow Dash, vexed, threw her hooves in the air along with what little patience she had left for Spike’s puerile naivety. “No, I meant the two of—”

“Spike?” a polished voice called from the stairs, stealing their attention. “Spike, are you up there?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” he called back.

“Oh good.” They could almost hear Rarity nod. “I’m having trouble finding the tea, and Twilight has requested another cup. Would you be a dear and give me a hoof?”

“Sure, I’ll be right down.” Spike made for the opening into his and Twilight’s room, but then he paused mid-step and turned around, facing Rainbow Dash again.

“Um, is it okay if I go down? I think she might need me.”

Rainbow Dash racked her brain for any way to save her failed confession from being pointless, and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Just answer me this: do you still have a crush on Rarity?”

Spike blushed and looked away uncomfortably, and Rainbow Dash grimaced as she realized the distastefulness of her intrusive question. But then Spike leered suddenly, wistfully, as he looked again to the night sky at something unseen. Despite his smile, his eyes looked pained, and whatever he was thinking about was obviously unpleasant, yet happy—bittersweet.

“No,” he finally spoke. “I still love her, but not like I used to. After seeing her go out with so many other ponies, I just sort of lost interest.”

“Oh. Okay,” Rainbow Dash responded lamely. She tried to move forward to console the saddened dragon, but her body remained unmoving, weighed down by the gravity of Spike’s palpable sorrow and the guilt of causing it.

“Well, that’s all in the past.” Spike shrugged and started towards the bedroom. “I better go help with the tea and check on Twilight,” he said, teetering towards the door. “She gets in a bad mood when she’s sick, and I don’t think Fluttershy, or the other girls, can handle cranky Twilight alone. See you inside?”

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, and then sighed. “Yeah, sure. Twilight’s more important. Family first, and all that.”

Spike frowned. “Hey now, don’t you think like that, Rainbow Dash,” he chided. “You’re important to me too, and remember what I said earlier today; I’ll always be there to watch over you.” He raised his fist towards the pegasus.

“Spike…” Rainbow Dash met him with a hoof-bump and beamed.

“We’re practically siblings, after all!” Spike matched her smile with a toothy grin of his own.

Her smile became forced. “Yeah, totally,” Rainbow agreed half-heartily, struggling to keep her lips upturned.

Then Spike pulled away. “Alright, don’t stay out too long! We’ll probably start the movie soon,” he yelled over his shoulder as he disappeared into his dark room.

Rainbow Dash watched him leave. As soon as he was out of sight, her smile shattered along with the hopes she’d had for that night. She was friend-zoned—no, it was far worse; she was sibling-zoned.

But wait, she thought. There was a new hope now, Spike had confirmed it himself. There was a clear gap in his heart where Rarity once was, a vacancy that could be filled by any mare, so long as they were able to catch his fancy. Perhaps that mare could be Rainbow Dash. She was no Rarity, but wherever the pegasus lacked in feminine qualities, she made up with pure, unfiltered awesomeness.

Spike had been able to somehow resist her charms before, so it was time to pull out all the stops. That dragon was about to experience coolness and radicity in their purest forms; a combined, physical manifestation of the two by the name of Rainbow Danger Dash.

She trotted back into the tree house with a new swagger in her step and her mind full of victory.