Love's Hydration

~ XV ~

Final Climax

Rainbow pushed through the storm, step after step, the coldness of grass and the wetness of mud tickling the underside of her hooves. Mane blown back and face held down, she saw the trickles of blood on the ground. How it thickened the closer she drew to the boutique.

She came before the door. There was a bloody claw print on the center of its frame. More on the door's handle. Rainbow swallowed as the wind tried to force her back, warding her from entering the place. Everything said not to go in. To leave this matter. Go somewhere safe and warm. Leave this nightmare for another.

But Rainbow couldn't do it. She wouldn't. With a shake of a head and a buzzing in her heart, she laid a hoof on the bloody print, a wing to the handle, pushing on them both, entering the monster's den. The one that had come out in the club. That'd yelled at her. Shrunk her into a corner. That had nearly ripped the scales and flesh of another dragon.

But Spike was still in there.

He wouldn't have stopped, otherwise.

There'd been a towel set after the door, stained with red and littered with glass, a trail leading across the workroom floor. Scarlet swirls and streaks with glinted crystal dots block the staircase path. Rainbow closed the door behind her, sealing the winds, holding out the cold.

The place burned in intensity. Like a fire had been lit without one being present. Rainbow's wings flared out as she hovered above the trail, following it forward and upstairs. Most would have had to step through the mess and hurt themselves. Rainbow, luckily, had the tools to mostly avoid that.

Reaching the next floor revealed the sounds of a shower. Rainbow hovered before it with a sigh of relief. The dragon was still here. But that also evoked the fear of the dragon still being here. Rainbow winced. Was he still in that other mood? Would his fangs be barred if she knocked on the door? Did he want to see her? Or would it be like before? Would the two never speak again?

All this thinking and worrying… what good has it done you? It's caused you to be worried about yourself and scared of him. He needs reassurance more than anyone else. And you can't give that to him if you're thinking about every reason why it could go wrong.

Rainbow lifted the edge of a hoof against the door.

Overthink, and you'll get stuck. Focus on all that stuff that could happen but doesn't matter. You're Rainbow Dash. No matter the problem, no matter how high the trouble—you find a way. You always find a way. Don't think about what can go wrong. Just do the right thing for once.

One knock.

Two.

And then three.

No answer.

I'm going in.

Rainbow didn't think twice as she pushed open the door and let it close behind her. Her hooves clopped tile flooring. The shower curtain pulled back at once to the sound. Spike was bent forward, glaring out from the tub, body naked, erection exposed.

"R-Rainbow Dash?" Spike blinked before the universe made sense again. "The fuck are you doing in here!? Get out!"

"Hey! Don't get pissy with me! I knocked three times—that's fair game." Rainbow nodded with mane slunk over her face. She strode closer to the tub, wondering why the air wasn't warmer. "Don't get mad because you were too busy tending to yourself to hear me come in."

Spike's glare softened. "I wasn't enjoying myself. I was stuck in my head while waiting for this to disappear." He gestured at the expected. "Anyway. Get out of here. It's not safe."

"I refuse."

"You refuse?" Spike squinted. "Didn't you see what happened? Did you already forget the face you made when you looked at me?"

"Is it anything like the face I got on now?" Rainbow fired back with her best attempt at a smile, stepping next to the toilet. Her head leaned back to see up at the drenched dragon. "Because yeah. I get it. You're the kind of dragon that can get into a bloody brawl that winds up in destruction and someone torn up."

Her head leaned to the side. "But you're also the same dragon getting caught with an erection in the shower." Her right eye squeezed shut. "Not much has changed on that side of things, has it, sport."

Spike's head shook. "You're taking this too casually." He saw that none of his previous spells would be enough to convince the girl. Not even the current view of watching the blood wash down his scales and member was enough to frighten her. It probably helped that she'd already seen him naked.

Spike sighed. "Look. I'm not servicing myself. I'm running the water cold to get rid of this thing." He slumped. "No matter what I do… the good feeling won't go away. The rush from that fight… it felt… good." He breathed heavily. "You feel alive in a fight. Like everything is burning. When I get in one—I can hardly hold back. It hurts to hold back. With that dragon… I barely did anything to him. I wanted to do more. I wanted to see how long he would last."

He swallowed. "Then I wanted to fuck every mare there. Every style and every way. Something inside me was burning with greed. I just wanted to swallow the world. To fuck it to its core. Don't you see? Someone like that is dangerous. Dragons shouldn't be among ponies. Not when we can do so much harm with so little. Not when our desires are worse than yours."

Rainbow held her ground and stared. "I refuse to let you go."

"You have to, Rainbow." Spike's expression was gentle and his words filled with compassion. "After what happened, you shouldn't even want to be in the same room as me. What if I hurt you then? Let that anger get the best of me, and I struck you? The urge was there."

Rainbow glared at him. "You're better than that urge, and you know it." She smirked. "Plus. You think I'm going to let you touch me that easily?"

Spike's eyes closed. "I can't, Dash. I can't. Don't you get it? There's always something furious inside of me. It's always craving an outlet. I can't take any chances with it. I can't chance hurting someone I love."

Rainbow only shook her head. Maybe she would have agreed with them if she had taken a moment to think about his words or points. That she would have gotten lost in the sense of logic. But Rainbow didn't care. Things would be how they should—not what they were meant to be.

"Your nature isn't something you can run away from or repress," Rainbow finally spoke while lifting her forehooves onto the tub's edge. "And no amount of cold water is going to get rid of that erection. You can't sidestep this. You can't deny yourself any longer."

Rainbow nodded. "You like to talk about how you like to fight and fuck and all that other dragon stuff. But how about the times when you comforted me through my pain? Showed me a good night while making sure I was okay? Or how about when you dropped the cold shoulder when you saw the woe that Twilight was in? Or how, even in that fight, you knew to hold back and decided to do better when you saw my face?"

She smiled sweetly at the stunned dragon.

"You like to pretend that there's nothing good about you. You're this sexy monster that's good for a night but nothing more. But your first thought when that dragon came in was to protect everyone. I understand you're worried about the 'bad' stuff about you. Because that's the stuff that can hurt others. But you have to stop pretending that there's nothing good about you."

Spike watched Rainbow with confusion. So unsure but wanting more from her. Finally, he could not help himself. He had to ask her that question. "Why are you going this far for me? I don't have anything else I can give you. Not that one of your friends or your lover can give."

That.

"That lover is you, Spike."

Surprise faded into his face.

"I only said it was a stallion because I didn't want others finding out about it so quickly," Rainbow started as she looked away from the shower. "And because I wasn't sure if I was willing to admit that I was in love with you. That you would be in love with me. Everything between us was so uncertain. I was worried. I didn't want to get hurt by forcing anything. But I was scared. And in being scared… I hurt you instead."

She felt his gaze.

"I drowned in all the nice things you said about me," Rainbow went on with a weak little smile. "Wanted to believe in every little good thing you had to say. You knew me, Spike. Knew the 'me' underneath it all. You didn't find me weak or ugly for it. So when you complimented… it meant more."

Rainbow looked bashfully up at the dragon while trembling in her own vulnerability. "I wanted to be reassured of everything. That I was beautiful and sexy and everything a girl could hope to hear. I wanted to feel like what most couples do. And you gave it to me. Despite everything else, you were the one. But I was too scared to finally accept and try for that."

She nodded. "But I was always telling you of the guys that I had on the side. Always selling it that we probably couldn't be a thing. I was content to play it loose for a while between us. But then I got asked that question, and I slipped. I thought you would have known that lover was you."

Rainbow chuckled. "But I guess I'm pretty bad at dropping hints."

Spike weakly chuckled himself. "Or maybe I just couldn't believe a mare like you could love a dragon like me."

Rainbow was able to smile more because of that. "Anyone would have gotten mad like you. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't have blown up in that situation. You were right to be angry and upset. It's just… when you are, there's more of a chance for something to go wrong. That doesn't make you worse than anyone else. It just means there's a chance for more damage if you lose yourself."

Rainbow Dash shook her mind of that. Without thinking, she hopped into the tub, hooves clopping at the front as the dragon backed away. He looked down, surprised at the mare being frozen by the water. Wet mane pooled over her face as a wing brushed it away.

"B-But I-I won't let you l-lose yourself." Rainbow's teeth chattered. "I'll be there for you. N-No m-matter what you d-do. D-Don't care w-w-what happens." She swallowed and tried to expand herself. "I'll be your light. Your fire. Something that lets you burn alive. I'll show you the worth you don't think you have. I'll make you feel all the love you desire to feel."

Rainbow rose on two legs and, falling forward, wrapped her arms around his waist, a hug to his scales and member, which was flushed downward against her chest, pushing up. Blood washed from his scales and onto her coat.

"I don't care about the trouble or the blood that'll come," Rainbow said as she fell into his embrace, the warmth that buzzed in the air around him. The coldness of the shower faded in being caught with him again. "So long as I can face it all with you by my side—nothing's impossible."

Rainbow looked up at the dragon from his waist, doing her best to smile, feeling frightful but fully submitted to him. "I want to burn up with you, Spike. I'm excited by what's inside you. The way you lord over me, tease me… but how you're always there for me. I understand you're not like most ponies. That you'll have to leave at times. Maybe hunt some things down. Whatever you need… we can talk about it. Work it out."

Her tail flicked the valve to the shower. It warmed the water. Blood washed from their hooves and feet. Rainbow snuggled her face against the dragon's belly. Mane drenched her face. The dragon looked down, so hurt and so confused. So unwilling to believe such a mare could ever become like this with him.

"All you have to do is let me in," Rainbow began her promise, "and I'll always accept whatever we find."

Spike looked at her. No words. Nothing in his stare to give himself away. Pure disbelief that this could be real. That tall, lording dragon had become vacant again. Little Spike had returned for the moment. A chance for him to be himself once again.

"Alright."

Rainbow scrunched an eye. "Alright?"

"I love you."

It'd always been known. Something that lingered in the air. An unstated truth about their relationship that allowed them to become so close in the first place. It wasn't something you admitted lightly. Not something you can think endlessly about and be sure of. One never fully knew when the right time to say it was.

There would always be doubt if now was the right time. Few things brought about its assurance. But sometimes, one has to go along with their feelings regardless of whatever thought and logic have to say about it. Sometimes, one must be willing to make a mistake to discover a deeper truth.

Rainbow couldn't stop grinning. Unable to stop showing teeth as absolute mirth quaked through her frame. Everything buzzed and tingled from the dragon's confession. To know that this towering hunk now belonged to her. Would be devoted to her. Felt the same about her and wanted to be with her.

That she didn't have to be alone or without his help.

"I love you too, Spike."

"Not as much as I love you."

Rainbow's face recoiled. "What? Is this some sort of game to you?"

Spike shrugged. "Just stating the truth." His arms wrapped around Rainbow's barrel and hips, and her forelegs crossed around his neck, the two embraced. "Unless you disagree."

"Uh, duh." Rainbow smiled as she felt cast above his member, feeling it teased at her nethers. "I would give up the Wonderbolts to be with you, dude."

Spike grinned into her face. "There isn't a dragon I wouldn't slay to protect you."

Rainbow grinned back. "There's nothing you can do to scare me away."

Spike chuckled. "Are you ready for this?"

Rainbow flicked the mane out from her eyes as she leaned back in his hold. "Do it."

The dragon lowered her onto his cock, her hooves slipping from around his neck due to the height difference, feeling the long, hard, throbbing meat slip into her tightness. Her folds pushed apart as all of him barreled in. Shoving in deep and spreading her apart, he thrust into her, slowly and steadily, a constant wash of pleasure flushing through them both.

Rainbow leaned back in his hold, trusting the dragon to hold her completely. There was no fear of falling, just as there was no fright of him hurting her. Despite his strength and size, she trusted him to do good with it. She just took a moment to indulge in the delight of being thrust into. Of feeling barreling cock filling her existence.

"R-Rainbow?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I'm thinkin'… of going back on the farm…" Spike hugged Rainbow tighter into his frame, thrusting into her faster, but keeping a steady pace. "Help deal with the extra aggression. Maybe help around the castle to patch things up with Twilight."

Rainbow blew out a breath. "Certainly got the energy for it."

"Heh."

"Mmh… d-don't… don't forget that the—ah—W-Wonderbolts m-might need you." Rainbow giggled to the feeling of bubbling mirth beneath. "To whoop flank and all that."

"C-Consider me there."

Spike continued to break into her, their bodies rising and lowering, the pleasant motion enough to sate them. It didn't take long for the dragon to speak the nearing of their climax. "I-I… think I can prove… I-I love you m-more… than you love me."

"Not possible, bud."

Spike grinned. "Marry me."

Rainbow wiggled in his hold. "W-Wha…"

"Marry me."

Rainbow struggled. She wiggled on top of his member. The dragon's face was flush before hers. His smirk burned into her gaze while there was a glint in his emerald eyes. Rainbow didn't think twice about it. Not when she could feel their arousal building to a climax.

"Alright, fine." Rainbow started to smile. "I'll marry you."

Spike's face took to surprise.

"But you're going to pop the question again after this."

The two, no longer capable of words, erupted into each other.

The two had finished off in the shower and made their way to bed, able to enter underneath the covers together. Rainbow snuggled into the dragon without shame or at a request. Warmth and comfort arose in feeling his arm wrap around her. The two spend their last waking moments staring into each other's eyes.

Until sleep claimed them both.

Rainbow had awoken the next morning with a stretch across the expanse. Her hooves searched for the dragon only to find emptiness. Her heart rattled in the sudden absence. Fear rose too easily in her love somehow being gone for good. Rainbow groaned and shuffled, a delicate yawn opening her maw.

Rubbing an eye with a hoof, the mare looked across the side of the bed, seeing the dragon sitting on his knees, watching her sleep. Rainbow yelped and covered herself with a blanket. The dragon chuckled. Morning sunlight laid on the side of his face.

"T-The hell are you doing!"

"Watching you sleep."

"T-That's creepy, dude!"

"Not if you could see yourself sleeping." Spike's smirk softened into a smile. "You look like a blue angel when you do. Not caring how you look. Not worried about being beautiful."

Rainbow lowered the protective sheets. "You're a creep."

"Is that what you should be calling your fiance?"

Rainbow blinked. "Wait. You were serious about that?"

Spike looked out from the corner of his eyes. "Yeah. Pretty serious." His smile remained. "Unless you'd like to wait until some more time has passed."

"But… h-how…" Rainbow blinked and shook her head. "How can you be sure about that? Out of everyone in the world—how can you be sure that I'm the one you're meant to marry?"

Something different infused Spike's smile. "Few things are meant in this life, Rainbow. We just tend to stumble into stuff. It's what we don't stumble out of that counts the most." He crawled forward on the bed and slunk before her. "Unless you want to take it back. Is having this big dragon for life too much for you to handle? Am I not worth your time?"

Rainbow flared back to life again. She fired forward, turning the dragon onto his back, clambering onto his midsection. Stradling him, she bent over his face, their lips an inch apart. "Bring it on, dragon boy."

The two of them kissed as his claw worked through her mane, and she rubbed forward and back on his scales, edging lower to his crotch, an enjoyment rising between them. The bed started to shake as the dragon joined in.

The coming vibrations knocked the drawer on the bedside table, and a small box and a key entered the view. A letter laid folded with the words already read the night before.

Should you ever need a ring,
~ Rarity.