Despite Spike's reservations about the strange situation he'd found himself in, he had to admit that things had been progressing far better than he was expecting. Though things had started out pretty awkwardly at Applejack's home, the time the two had spent together had proved to do a lot for them. Though both would admit that the idea of them being together that way would be unusual, they were now far less apprehensive to the notion. Even Applejack's family had ended up warming up to the idea, or, in Big Mac's case, at least tolerated it.

But, as the plan dictated, the time eventually came for the two to part ways for the time being. Spike had said his goodbyes and had then moved onto the next mare he was due to spend time with. This time, it was Ponyville's Chief Weather Mare, Rainbow Dash. Although he knew that there were many stallions who had desired her over the years, it was clear that most had always been turned down, having not lived up to her her standards. In that regard, Spike considered himself fortunate that this whole scenario had granted him the opportunity to be with such an unattainable mare.

However, that sense of fortune had quickly disappeared once he'd actually started spending time with her. For it was at this moment that, contrary to just lazing about as he suspected Rainbow might want, he was instead running as far as his four legs would take him across a large open field on the outskirts of Ponyville. Panting all the way, he looked over to his left to see his current racing partner, Rainbow herself. Being a wingless dragon, Spike naturally couldn't fly, so Rainbow too had taken to racing him on the ground, with her wings bound to her body by a strand of black tape.

Sadly for Spike, she was no pushover even without her famed flying ability, and it was taking every ounce of strength in his body to keep up his current speed. The cyan-coloured pegasus beside him glanced in his direction with one of her trademark smirks.

"Come on, drake! If you're gonna be with me, you gotta prove you can keep up!"

And that was a statement he knew she would hold him to. This race had already gone on for a while but, to Spike's utter joy, he saw that the finish line was in sight, a red flag planted in the ground some distance away. Mustering up all the strength he had left, he made for it as best he could. Closer and closer it approached, and for one, brief moment, he thought he might actually win this. But, just inches before he passed the flag, a rainbow-coloured blur zipped past him. Rainbow had won. Grinding to a halt, Spike finally had a chance to catch his breath after all that. Through his continued panting, he looked up at his future mate and saw that smirk still on her face, looking as though she hadn't even broken a sweat. The young dragon only just managed to get his words out in-between his gasps for air.

"You...were holding...back...weren't you?"

The pegsus nodded before chuckling out loud.

"Yeah. But don't feel too bad. You did better than most. Though I must say you don't look like you're used to this sort of thing."

Having finally caught his breath, Spike returned the chuckle.

"Being Twilight's assistant for as long as I have, I've spent most of my time around libraries, not racetracks. Seriously, between this and working on AJ's farm, I might not even have any energy left for...er...other mate-related stuff."

Rainbow laughed at that, followed swiftly by Spike and for a moment, they completely forgot about the rather awkward situation they both knew they were here for. It wasn't as if Spike disliked Rainbow or anything, far from it. But aside of a few moments during his early years, which Applejack had pointed out to him, he never thought of her in a romantic sense. To him, she was always just that mare that you hung out with, had a fun time with. Perhaps not to the same extremes as Pinkie perhaps, but still more fun than most. Now though, both knew that they would have to become far more than just friends, and once their laughter had died down, it was replaced by an awkward silence that Spike had been growing used to recently.

This time though, he was ready for it, and finally got back onto all fours and gestured to her with his head, indicating that he was ready to go back. Nodding back at him, she started walking alongside him. Unlike pegasi and alicorns, dragons could not walk on clouds, so staying up in Rainbow's cloud-house for a few days was out of the question. Instead, he'd erected a suitably-sized tend directly beneath where her house usually floated. Soon enough, it came within view, and the two sat next to it moments later. After a second silence had fallen, it was interrupted by a sudden sound of discomfort from Rainbow as Spike looked up to see that she was rubbing her shoulder with one hoof. Seeing his somewhat confused expression, Rainbow tried putting on her usual nonchalant front.

"It's nothing. Just a muscle I pulled during the race. No problem."

Spike raised an eyebrow at that.

"A pulled muscle? You?"

Rainbow looked more than a little embarrassed at that, as her reputation for athleticism was one that she tried very hard to maintain. Though, if that race was any indication, it was a wonder she struggled to make anypony think any differently. Still, she looked away from him after he'd said that.

"Don't be too shocked. I'm not exactly in the prime of youth like when we first met. Stuff like this isn't as easy as it used to be."

That much he understood. After all, it had been the better part of two decades since he'd first met Rainbow and the other girls. It was still a strange thought to him, that so much time had passed since their first meeting. If he'd have gone back and told his younger self what he'd eventually be expected do to with those mares, said younger self would probably pass out from laughter. Still, he gave a nod to Rainbow, letting her know that at least acknowledged her discomfort. However, the then noticed that she was gaining an uncharacteristic blush on her face as she tried keeping her gaze off him. When she spoke, that expression soon became clear.

"Well...maybe you could...you know...make it better?"

Spike tilted his head in confusion over that, leading to Rainbow, clearly frustrated at having to explain herself further, to speak again.

"It's just that I heard that you were pretty good at...um...back-rubs?"

His confusion vanished in an instant at that point, replaced instead by a look of shock upon his face. The blush, the way she kept avoiding his eyes, it all made sense to him now. But even so, for her to ask something like that of him was pretty forward, even by Rainbow's standards.

"A back-rub? What...what makes you think I even...?"

But before he could finish that sentence, Rainbow chuckled and spoke.

"AJ told me."

That just made the young dragon even more confused.

"Applejack? But when did I...oh."

One look at the expression of understanding on Spike's face gave Rainbow all the evidence she needed to know that he'd just remembered exactly what she was talking about. It was years ago, back when he was still very young, but there was a brief period when he'd sworn an oath of fealty to Applejack, offering her any service she wanted of him. Though she clearly wanted nothing of the sort, that hadn't stopped him from trying to press the matter, including the offer of a back-rub. If memory served him, Applejack seemed to enjoy it, and if she'd told Rainbow about it then perhaps he was better than he thought. But, even in spite of this knowledge, there was one other point he felt he needed to bring up.

"But I thought you hated having people touch you? Isn't that why you're always turning Rarity down when she offers to take you to the spa?"

That comment sent a shiver down Rainbow's spine at the mere mention of the spa. Though he himself had never been to averse to going to a place like that, and was even something most of their friends enjoyed, Rainbow was pretty well known for actively avoiding that kind of activity. Still, she at least acknowledged his point.

"I do. But, you and I are going to be mates soon. That means that both of us are going to have to get used to being touched by the other."

This time it was Spike's turn to blush, though thankfully his purple colouring made it harder to notice than Rainbow's. Looking to her now, she had said that with a rather mischievous look on her face. She knew that implication would have embarrassed him a little, so he tried his best not to get too worked up over it. Instead, he simply let out a sigh and got up, before moving over to her. Rainbow kept her eyes on him as he moved behind her before sitting down. Looking ahead, Rainbow said nothing as she began to feel Spike's two scaly hands reached up and land on her shoulders. Rainbow took a deep breath and exhaled, which served as a signal for Spike to start.

Rainbow had to admit, this wasn't so bad. His movements, starting with a simply rub of her shoulders, made it clear that he wasn't used to doing this sort of thing, but he was trying to help her, and that was the important thing. As he moved further down her back, and having sworn he just heard make a soft moaning sound, his mind turned to their whole situation. His face became rather thoughtful as he considered that it was probably for the best to try and talk to Rainbow about all this.

"Um...Rainbow?"

To Spike's slight annoyance, Rainbow was rather occupied by the unexpectedly pleasant feeling of having her back massaged by her future mate, so all she could offer was a slight grunt to show that she'd at least heard him.

"Well...I was wondering what your thoughts were...about you and me that is."

It was only after that when Rainbow finally opened her eyes and turned her head around as far as it could, and the two looked at each other for a few moments before, to Spike's surprise, Rainbow gave a smile.

"Well, I've been thinking about that. Truth be told, I think it'll be interesting."

That was not an answer the young drake had been expecting, and he responded to that with a look of confusion. Seeing that expression on his face, Rainbow chuckled a bit before explaining.

"Think about it. Most mares will go through life settling down with a nice stallion, maybe a Griffon or Zebra if they like the exotic sort. But me? I get a dragon! How awesome is that?!"

Spike looked up and out at the distance, looking somewhat bemused by Rainbow's answer. But when he thought about it, her reasoning made a somewhat odd sense. After all, he himself had thought many times how a pony being with a dragon would be a strange thing. As far as he was aware, it would be the first time such a thing had ever happened. That would make Rainbow, as well as all the rest of the girls, stand out far more than they already did, which was saying a lot. The idea of having a life partner who stood out from the crowd was something he knew would have appealed to Rainbow a great deal, even if it was someone she'd known since he was pretty much an infant.

This was, naturally, a great relief to him. He'd been worried this whole time that Rainbow might reject the idea of being with him any any kind of romantic way. To find that she was not only accepting by also somewhat enthusiastic about it, was quite a load off his mind. And speaking of unburdening, Rainbow seemed to be feeling much better thanks to the efforts of Spike's hands on her back, as evidenced by her exhaling in a manner that let him know that her aches and pains had vanished.

"Not bad, Spike. Not bad at all."

She got up onto all fours and took a few steps forward before unfurling her wings, flapping them a few times and then smiling, showing that her pain from before was indeed gone.

"I'll have to remember to ask you to do that again some time."

Spike coughed a little at that, his blush from before threatening to return. It was an expression Rainbow had not missed, and chuckled to herself a little before looking at him. When Spike looked at her now, it seemed as though she was deep in thought over something, but that expression became another smile as she stepped towards him.

"Well then, shall we get back to our exercises?"

Under normal circumstances, Spike might have tried to refuse to do so, having already been fairly exhausted from their previous race. But, having known Rainbow for as long as he had, he knew that attempting to get out of this would have been a pointless endeavour. Instead, he simply nodded, smiled and gave a small chuckle, letting her know that he had resigned himself to pretty much whatever she planned for him. That was an arrangement Rainbow seemed fairly happy with, as her expression of triumph could testify. So, as he got up onto all fours once more, Spike addressed her.

"Well then. Let's get to it, Honey."

Those words stopped Rainbow in her tracks as she stared at him for a few moments, half-shocked by what he'd just said to her. For a brief moment, Spike was worried he might have just made a serious blunder. Instead, he looked on in surprised as Rainbow's face morphed into a more amorous one, complete with a smile, as she took a few steps closer to him, bringing her mouth up to his right ear, and bringing her voice down to a whisper.

"For the record...don't ever call me that."