It’s nice outside tonight. Stars are bright, moon is on the rise, and Luna is probably on the prowl. It’s chilly, though, enough for some ponies to wear a coat. However, I’m without one (I was in a rush to get out of the castle), so the cold was nipping at me like no other. Thankfully, I have a fire always constant inside me, which was great, but the cold didn’t bother me enough to turn around and get my coat. I’m already heated as it is, and it’s not because I am a dragon.

Life had gotten pretty hectic. I’m older now, basically crossing over into adulthood, but that’s only by pony standards. To me, I’m just a lone dragon trying to find himself. It’s quite normal, y’know, finding oneself? Yeah, they teach foals that in school. They go on to then find their cutie mark, and then tell their parents all about it. It’s cute to hear their excitement, but then I look at myself in the mirror and wonder where I land in all of this. Y’know, the same old, same old. What talents do I have? Where can my talents be used? How can I help everyponyone, or am I just destined to be alongside Twilight forever?

I’ve thought about this stuff in the shower. Usually came up with some groundbreaking answers… like book connoisseur, manager of a Library, and… oh, yeah, breathing fire. Let’s hope I don’t burn up my resume with that one, or a town even!

Tonight was different. I was here, sitting on a hill with my spines brushing up against a half of a tree (the rest of it probably rolled down the hill or something), while I was looking up at the sky and just pretending that the future looked bright. That’s fair, isn’t it?

Or was it just wishful thinking?

“Hey, Spike?”

“Oh hey, Rainbow Dash.” I blinked and I blinked and I blinked, only to register what I just said with two wide eyes. “R-Rainbow Dash?!”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” I turned to my right to see her smirk on full display as she fluttered on down beside me, looking at me like I’m the best entertainment she had all night. “What are you out here for?”

Don’t tell her I was thinking about taking a shower. Don’t tell her I was thinking about taking a shower. “Uh… thinking.”

“Thinking?” Her eyebrow was threatening to fly off her face. “Why?”

Why? Because that’s what anybody does! Sure, they didn’t think about waking up every morning, or think about making breakfast. Instead, they pondered the idea of the sun being annoying or loving, and wondered what they would have for breakfast before someone else in his or her life just stumbled on into the room and told them that it was, indeed, morning.

I shook my head. I needed to get all my gems in a row and count them. “Because I don’t get enough time to think for myself at it is.”

She scooted herself closer to me. I noticed a couple things about her as a result. One, she was wearing her Wonderbolt uniform. Why? I have no clue. Two, she was sweating bullets. Why she wasn’t panting at all was a question I couldn’t answer either. She was the most baffling out of the group after all. Not because she’s weird or anything (she’s not), but she’s just… different, in a good way.

I’ve grown up with her in my life. Yeah, I also grew up with Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and all the other ponies that I don’t want to list in this skull of mine without having Rainbow Dash, the one who I was thinking about, looking at me like I’m stalling or that I’m delusional. Rainbow Dash was just the pinnacle of loyalty, and also one of the biggest Daring Do eggheads Equestria has ever come to know.

She was here. She was supposed to be up in Cloudsdale. That was what Twilight told me a few weeks ago. She’s practicing with the team for their next tour! And yet, here she was.

“Heh, sounds like Twilight still has you wrapped in her wing.”

She giggled like she was afraid to do it, her cyan hoof flicking up to her muzzle to hide the evidence. Made me just want to— “She tries to, but she knows I’m able to fly faster than her.”

“Who taught you that?”

“Pfft, you.” I nudged her in the shoulder. A toothy-grin welcomed the gesture. “Thanks to the almighty Rainbow Dash, I have become skilled at flying.”

“Awesome, Spike. almighty is for eggheads.” She nudged me back. “And you better thank me! Imagine if Twilight taught you how to fly? Oh man, she would have you still doing a glide!”

Her laugh was worse than her giggles. It was like her body was not in agreement with itself. She’d clutch her stomach and huff little puffs of air like she was unable to keep control of herself. On nights like these, the air would drift off, before fading into obscurity. It sure did too; it reminded me of why I was here. Why I was thinking… why I was hoping.

“Yeah…” I murmured.

“Yeah, what?”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah to what you were saying.”

“No,” Rainbow Dash said, flipping around to face me. She was now sitting in front of me, her forehooves holding my legs down. “You were sighing like Twilight.”

“Like Twilight?”

“Yeah.” She nodded too. “She gets that way sometimes when she’s upset. Sounding like she’s going to cough due to her voice.” She shook her head and growled. “Sidetracked! I’m just curious, Spike.”

Curious was bad news when dealing with Dash, and I was stuck in her grasp. I frowned. “Easy to read?”

“Pfft. Very. Maybe easier to read than Fluttershy.” That smirk of hers? It slowly began to fade, warping into a blank stare, expecting, lingering, taking in the awkward shuffle I had that made her bridge the gap between us. “So what’s going on?”

I looked up. The branches swayed gently. I kinda wish they just stayed put, yet that was wishful thinking too. “Stuff.”

“Stuff like what?”

“Just… stuff.” I turned to her gaze. She looked at me with glazed eyes under the moonlight. “Like why am I still here, what my purpose is, y’know, the ushe.”

I expected her to just shower me with pity, gasping and telling me that everything will be okay. Why? I don’t know. That’s what normally would happen, right? And yet, I wasn’t getting that. Just silence, accompanied by the winds grazing of the branches and the sound of her letting out a blow.

“Spike.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re such a dork.”

I snapped towards her, only to see a prideful smirk on her face. “What?”

“What are you, stuck in reverse?” She laughed before trying to wrap a wing around my back. I welcomed the touch, moving myself off the scratchy surface of the trunk to be ensnared in soft comforts.

“Guess I am.” My voice sounded worse for wear. Was I always sounding this down on myself? “Bored out of my mind, always stuck doing the same thing and—”

“And you’re not doing something else because…?”

When her voice held that last word, I was tempted to do two things. One, smack her upside the head with a claw, because that sounded so bad in her voice. But, I was also tempted to keep her around, because she was on to something.

So I kept my claws in the grass. “Doing something else?”

She leaned into my side. “Yeah! Like… I don’t know, going to the Dragon Lands to see Ember!”

That did sound nice. “Would that be okay for me to do? Like, springing up on her without a moment’s notice?”

“I mean…” Rainbow Dash began, only for her voice to fade into the frigid air. “Maybe? It would be nice of you to give her some notice.” Her muzzle scrunched up as she roamed over her words. “I guess I need to tell the girls I’m here, too.”

“I was just about to ask you about that,” I fired back, causing her to tightly shut her eyes. “Why are you here?”

“The tour is… put on hold for a moment.”

That didn’t sound right. “On hold?”

She probably saw my eye twitching like nobody’s business. “Yeah, on hold.”

If she was going to call me out over my issues, then I had all rights to dish her her own medicine. “Doesn’t sound like the tour is just ‘on hold’”.

I heard her groan and then her wings slowly sag against my spines. “Sounds like you can read me, too.”

“Or maybe we’re too much alike…” I mumbled.

“What was that?”

“N-Nothing!” I felt Death tap on my doorstep just now. I wrapped one of my claws around her form. She winced at first, and I thought she was just going to slap my arm away with a hoof, but instead, she melted into it. We kinda laid there for a bit, which was both nice and worrisome. I never ever would even imagine of holding Dash like this, yet I wasn’t going to shove her away. She had some problems too I bet, ones that were a bit more grounded than mine.

Speaking of, she was about to say something, better pay attention to her.

“Say, Spike, how much do you know about the Wonderbolts?”

I brought my other claw to my chin, poking at it with a finger. “Well, there’s you… Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot, and a couple other ponies I can’t put my claw on. Oh, and you’re the best flight team in all of Equestria?”

She giggled at that. She wasn’t covering her maw, though. “Y-Yeah, that’s a start.” Then, as quickly as her laughter came, she resorted to a soft smile. “It’s the best group of ponies. We get to travel all over the world just to fly, and we get paid for it. I’m glad to be a part of something like this, and yet…”

Her voice trailed off. “Yet?”

She let out another blow, before grunting and sitting up straight. “Ever felt like you still had more work to do?”

“Kind of,” I replied immediately. “Mostly it was dealing with the Library when it was still around.” Going past that place still made him shiver. “Shelving everything, making sure every nick and cranny was spotless so Twilight wouldn’t have a meltdown over one thing being out of place—”

“That’s close,” Rainbow Dash said shakily. “I just… What I mean is that even though I’ve achieved my goal, I still feel like there is way more to do than before.” She sighed. “It’s good to have more but… I never thought I’d feel like I’m stacking too much on my shoulders.”

I did something daring. I pulled her closer to me. “Did you ever think of telling Spitfire about it?”

“I did,” she breathed as she nuzzled into my side. “And she told me if I needed to take a break, I could.”

A lone cloud drifted on by. “Did you consider it?”

“I did.” She hummed softly as she continued, “Each time I wanted to, I hesitated anyways. Didn’t want ponies thinking I was unstable.”

“But you’re not—”

“I totally am when I have a drink in my hooves, but thanks, Spike.”

I chuckled. “No problem.”

We laid there for a bit more, just letting our bodies stay together. She probably could feel me shivering in her grasp, hence why her wing was now wrapped tightly around me, but I wasn’t going to tell her no. It was a welcome difference.

The entire time, I haven’t felt this way, just idly talking about life and being each other’s crutch. I kinda wanted to do it more, I just didn’t expect Dash to be the one that I’d lean on. And, well, now, looking at her in full, how her pinkish eyes glistened, and how they looked so hopelessly hopeful, I… I felt my heart jolt.

“Say, Spike?”

“Yeah?”

She gave me a nice short smile. “Thanks.”

I raised a brow at that. “Thanks?”

She nodded, and nuzzled my cheek. “Hmhm. You’re… more grown up than you used to be.”

“Really?” I said, looking down at myself. “I mean, I have been doing some running lately and—”

“No, that’s not what I meant!” she let out a laugh, sputtering over me just looking at myself like I was doing some quality assurance. “N-No, I mean you’ve really grown up. It’s… cool to hear that you’ve been thinking a lot about life.”

“Oh,” I said. “Why’s that?”

“It’s something that a lot of ponies think about when they get older,” she replied. She cleared her throat. “Being able to talk to someone who’s new to the whole thing is… refreshing.”

Never thought of it like that. This whole thinking thing is a bit new to me, this wishful thinking. “I guess.”

She paused and looked up at the sky. “Hey, that pattern looks like Daring Do!”

Her hoof pointed up at the sky and I followed to see what she was talking about. I gasped at what I saw. She saw Daring Do, but I saw her, and then, well… I saw myself. We were together, holding each other close and—I hope she wasn’t looking for me up there. “Y-Yeah, it does.”

Maybe Luna was wishfully thinking too.

I spared a glance at Rainbow Dash. She was still looking up, the night light showing off what it truly meant to be her. She was a mare. A mare that had her own set of troubles. She was a wishful thinker too… something that compelled me to say something. To get my thoughts out in the open.

“Say, Dash?”

“Hmm?”

“When are you going to go tell the girls that you’re here?”

She sighed. “Probably tomorrow afternoon. Why?”

“You want to… get something to eat? Bet you’re starving from flying over here!”

And for the first time, I saw Dash smile with two cheeks red as an apple. “Hay yeah! I’m starving! Where do you want to go?”

I didn’t know. I didn’t care. All I knew was that I was a wishful thinker, and that I had finally knew what I needed to do.

But first, I had a night out with a mare named Rainbow Dash.