Of Loyalty and Chaos

by PxDnNinja

Chapter 12: A Night on the Town

Rainbow Dash was pacing in front of her house. When she had agreed to this date with Swift, she hadn't really been thinking about what it could mean, or even what she was supposed to do on a date. Her reputation in flight school hadn't really drawn her a lot of attention from the male population, though the rumors that had somehow gotten around about her drew the attention of one or two mares, much to Dash's dislike. She didn't care who someone liked, but she did not swing that way, no matter how many rumors had started.

Shaking her head to clear it of the memories of the past, Rainbow Dash decided to address her concern as she would any new trick. She would sit down, analyze what her goal was, set a plan of action, and run it by Swift....

'Perhaps that won't work. Wow, I hadn't realized how much I had come to rely on his input for my flying. Hard to believe he only just relearned how to fly recently.' Dash thought, momentarily forgetting the issue she was trying to resolve. Instead, her mind drifted to the pair soaring through the sky, banking around clouds and performing rather simple, but still fun pair stunts designed for two ponies. As was common when her thoughts drifted to her flying, she soon found herself fantasizing about her days with the Wonderbolts, and this time Swift flying alongside her in the signature blue flight suit adorned with yellow lightning bolts. She could even hear the crowd shouting her name.

"Rainbow! Rainbow Dash darling!"

'Darling? What crowd yells that?' Dash thought as she was pulled back to reality. She looked around for a moment before hearing the voice again, this time outside of her fantasy.

"Rainbow dear! I know you are up there!"

'Oh, I know that voice...' Rainbow made her way outside and looked down over the edge of her foundation to see a familiar white unicorn with a very excited expression on her face.
'I guess she knows about Swift.' Dash waved back with a confused look on her face.

"Hey Rarity! Um...what?" Dash shouted down, not bothering to fly down so the two could talk as 'civilized ponies' as Rarity was sure to put it.

"Rainbow Dash, get down here! We simply MUST go to the spa!" The fashionista yelled back up, glancing around to see that no one was watching the two have such a ridiculous shouting conversation. Thankfully for her senses, Rainbow Dash didn't argue and lept off her cloud to join her on the ground with a solid landing.

"Rares, you know I hate the spa, so why do you possibly think I would go?" Dash asked, not giving up any information to the local gossip. She still hoped this was a random visit rather than what she was almost sure it was. Unfortunately for the cyan stuntmare, it was no such luck.

"Really Rainbow. You finally get a date with that wonderful gentlecolt and you expect I wouldn't know. This is a great opportunity for you, but I know you will just let it slip without proper prep. That's why I am here. Come with me to the spa and we will get you ready for a real date." Rarity gushed in excitement. She had always wanted to get Rainbow to actually try the spa for more than a few minutes, and tonight her hope might actually come true. AND she was going to help a friend in the process.
"I promise Rainbow, you do this and you will knock the breath from our dear Swift's lungs when he sees you. Lotus and Aloe will make you simply stunning!" She added, hoping to push Dash over the edge.

Dash herself nearly rallied against it in autopilot, but stopped for a moment. She really didn't know what she was supposed to do and it had just been bothering her, and as much as she hated to admit it, she needed help and Rarity was the best pony to provide this particular bit of assistance. Rarity was as much an expert of the social world as Dash was of the stunt performer world. Taking a deep breath, Dash said words she never imagined would pass from her mouth.

"Ok Rarity. Lead the way."

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Swift stepped out of the shower at the library, having just finished brushing his hair and getting as presentable as possible. In the central room of the library he spotted a box sitting on the table that he assumed held the book for Dash. Without pausing, Swift made his way over to the table for a closer look.

"Wow, what are you all cleaned up for?" A voice spoke from the corner causing Swift to jump into the air and fly up to the ceiling in surprise as he looked for the voice. After a moment, his eyes fell on Spike sitting over at a small table with some large book open in front of him. The look on his face showed how hard he was trying not to laugh at Swift's reaction.

"Not funny Spike." Swift said as he lowered to the ground, a grin on his face to show he wasn't upset. That was all it took to send Spike over the edge laughing.

"Bwahaha! You jump so easily! But seriously, why are you so proper looking? Got a big date?" Spike recovered enough to speak, throwing a light taunt at Swift. His humor died slightly when Swift simply nodded yes with a cocky grin of his own. Before Spike could ask who with, Twilight entered from the basement stairs.

"Ah, there you are Swift. Hope the shower was good. Are you ready for tonight?" She asked, drawing a confused look from Spike. Swift's attention shifted to the purple unicorn as he replied,

"Not really, I have no clue where we are going. I kinda planned on just winging it, as much as I know you hate that." He explained, looking a bit sheepish at admitting to Twilight Sparkle that he had no plan. Twilight laughed warmly as she shook her head.

"True, I would much prefer a plan beforehand. You don't need much of one though. Just a good place for food, then something fun afterwards. I enjoy walks out towards Sweet Apple Acres myself." Twilight explained to provide ideas. In the meantime, Spike simply watched the banter between the two and drew the most obvious realization.

"YOU TWO ARE DATING!?" He finally exclaimed. He knew Swift was over often reading books and knew the two of them were good friends, but he didn't realize how close apparently. Not that he minded: Swift was a great pony who had helped him out a few times. He mostly was hurt they didn't tell him.

The two ponies in question were staring at Spike with looks of extreme confusion for a full minute in silence before realization of what happened kicked in. Twilight and Swift looked back to each other and smiled before Swift finally spoke up.

"Uh, not quite buddy. Twilight is just helping me plan for my date in a couple of hours. I mean no offense to Twilight, she is a great mare, but not my type." He said, as Twilight simply nodded in agreement.

"Most certainly. Swift is a bit to high impact for my tastes, romantically." She added, laughing at the thought of the two being together. Spike's purple scales took on a tint of red as he realized his mistake and looked down sheepishly before finally speaking up.

"Oh, well, if not Twilight then who? Rarity?" He asked, fear in his voice at the idea. Swift was a friendly guy, and Rarity was...well..Rarity. Who wouldn't go after her?!

"Hah, certainly not buddy. I know you got a thing for her and wouldn't do that to you." Swift explained, drawing a relieved sigh from the dragon. Swift left unsaid that he didn't think he could stand being around Rarity that often. She was a great mare, but she and he had just about nothing in common. Spike started thinking through everyone they knew that Swift would be good for.

Fluttershy was way to shy to go on a date.

Applejack worked all the time, so he couldn't see her taking time from the farm to date someone she didn't know very well other than as an employee.

Pinkie Pie was...well...Pinkie Pie.

That just left...

"Wait, don't tell me Rainbow Dash actually agreed on a date?!" Spike suddenly deduced. Swift nodded, smiling happily at the idea.
"Darn. I owe Rarity twenty bits." He mumbled, drawing a flat look from Swift, and a laugh from Twilight. He continued before Swift had a chance to speak up.
"It totally makes sense though. You two are always hanging out, I guess it was just a matter of time. I wouldn't go for a walk with her though. Twilight might like that, but this is Rainbow Dash we are talking about!" Spike said, his voice rising much the same as Dash's own voice would when talking about herself. Swift and Twilight looked to each other and nodded in agreement with the dragon.

"You're very right, Spike. Dash and I both would probably get bored just walking around, but I do have an idea for after dinner. Something simple, but I know she will love it." He explained, looking out the window as the librarian and her assistant shared a confused look at whatever Swift might be planning.

"Well, I hope whatever you have planned works out Swift. If you need help feel free to ask. In the meantime, you might need to go set up reservations." Twilight offered as advice, moving over to get to work on reorganizing the bookshelves she ruined earlier in the day. The sight of all the chaos on the shelves nearly drew a whimper, but Spike stood beside her with a comforting hand on the shoulder. Swift noticed this and decided to advance out before he felt the need to help organize.

"Very true Twilight. I will go do that now. Thanks for boxing the book and for the use of the shower. I'll see you two later!" Swift said quickly as he made his way out the door before the work began, drawing a humored sigh from the remaining attendants.

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Two ponies walked down the roadway leading away from the Ponyville Spa. One looked rather refreshed, the afternoon sunlight bringing out a shine in her polychromatic mane as she trotted alongside her friend. Said friend looked a bit disheveled, and slightly exasperated: all in all looking like she really needed a trip to the spa. Unfortunately she had other issues to attend to.

"I mean it Rainbow darling. You look fantastic, but for a date you really should have a new dress, and I have just the thing." Rarity explained, yet again, to the future Wonderbolt. The last hour had been chaos with the spa, and the rest of their time together didn't look to be improving.

When they first arrived at the spa, Aloe had greeted them and taken them in the back. Once she heard that Rainbow Dash had a date, she started asking hundreds of questions, all of which Rainbow wasn't to keen to answer. Rarity herself ended up explaining that it was with Swift, the new local weather pony, as well as how most of this came to be (as best as she could tell. Rainbow wasn't very forthcoming with details). Rarity knew if she got a fact wrong Rainbow would correct her, and used that to force her into the conversation. After a ten minute soak, Rainbow and Aloe were actually talking leisurely about the plans for the night.

Once they left the soak, it was time for the hooficures. All the progress to get Rainbow relaxed quickly ran screaming out the front door, likely swearing great vengeance on whatever foul beast lured it to the spa. Aloe tried to explain what she was going to do, but Rainbow absolutely wasn't having it, saying that she absolutely hated ponies handling her hooves and simply wouldn't take part in it. After five minutes of arguing, Aloe finally gave up and simply had Rainbow soak her hooves in a mixture that would help make them look as nice as possible without really working on them correctly. Rarity enjoyed her own hooficure while deciding what sort of shoes she could put Rainbow in to make up for this part.

After the hooficure (and simple hoof soak), Rainbow was showing her typical signs of being bored. A bored Rainbow is a dangerous thing, so Rarity started damage control by asking how training was going as they moved to the next part of the treatment, the massage room. Turns out that was about the best possible thing, as Rainbow explained her and Swift had practiced a few high impact turns (whatever that was), and torque rotations (which sounded painful), but she needed more strength training as the force would cause her wings to get sore. Laying on the massage bed that Aloe pointed at, Rainbow slowly spread her wings to allow the spa pony to massage them, clearly not liking the idea of her wings in someones hooves, but not hating it as bad as her hooves in someones hooves.

Her apprehension was short lived as Aloe started working out knots Rainbow didn't even know she had. After just a couple of minutes, Rainbow was silent, living in the moment which drew a grin from Rarity who enjoyed her own massage. The peace was welcome after the hooficure stuff. Sadly it was the only peace she had. After the massage was the hair treatment, which again came down to Rarity keeping Rainbow sidetracked while Aloe worked out knots in her mane and tail, shampooed her, and styled her mane in a common, but very nice, pegasus style that could handle flying without being destroyed. As they left, Rainbow admitted that the trip in all wasn't as bad as she expected.

Rarity laughed, trying to hide how stressful it had been for her.

Thankfully for Rarity, the Spa experience was behind them, and now she just had to talk Rainbow Dash into a nice outfit for the date.

"Truly, Rainbow. You can't just show up with nothing. I know you hate being dragged down by dresses, but I have an outfit that you will just LOVE!" Rarity explained, her excitement building at the thought. Rainbow Dash simply looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Like you said Rares, I hate anything that limits my flying a lot." Dash explained, trying to get her fashion friend off the topic, but before she could continue Rarity spoke up.

"Yes yes dear. This outfit will look wonderful, and you could even do one of your rainbooms in it and it would be fine." Rarity assured here daredevil friend as the approached the boutique. Rainbow Dash looked at the dress maker with a look of distrust, but deep inside she knew Rarity never lied about her dresses.

"Ok fine. I'll at least look at it. Let's see this dress you claim can survive a sonic rainboom."

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Two hours later found Swift standing outside of the library where he had agreed to meet up with Dash. Luckily he managed to secure reservations at a nice restaurant that specialized in Cloudsdale dishes that tended to be a big hit with pegasi, and acquired a single pin on flower that was currently clipped to his chest. The flower was a blue one of some kind, Swift had no idea. He just knew it matched Dash's coat and something told him to pick it up. It had to be better than nothing since he had no fancy outfits.

Besides, he doubted Dash would dress up anyhow.

Swift looked up to the afternoon sky where the sun was nearing the horizon and started going over the plans for the evening in his mind. He made it part way through when there was a tap on his shoulder. He jumped slightly at the surprise, and turned to face whoever tapped him.

"Yessss....uhhh....." Swift's voice quickly failed him as he took in the site before him. Apparently he was wrong about what Dash would do. Before him she currently stood, looking less like a future Wonderbolt and more like nobility. Her hair was tied back into several small ponytails, but still held the natural flow it tended to have when loose. The locks simply appeared to prevent it from getting messy as she flew. The effect was stunning, not to mention the dress she was wearing.

Unlike the dresses Swift had seen at Rarity's for the various galas, this one did not go all the way down to the ground on Dash. It's purple material (the same color as his own coat he noticed) held close to her body and lowered just half way to the ground. It was still enough to cover her cutie mark, but showed off her powerful and muscular legs while hinting at a flank that would simply be to die for (as Swift was very aware).

The effect in all made Swift realize he might not be dressed enough, considering he wasn't really dressed at all. His eyes quickly shot back to Dash's with this thought and saw her typical cocky grin, but her eyes themselves seemed just happy to be there instead of upset at his ill preparedness.

"Wow Dash. You look fantastic." He finally managed to squeak out, shaking his head slightly to clear it beforehand. Dash just laughed as she walked up to Swift and pulled him into a friendly hug.

"Thanks. You have no idea what hell Rarity put me through to look this good. Don't get used to it." She said as he returned the hug, laughing. Swift chuckled with her as the pulled away before commenting.

"Too late. You always look great. And I can imagine Rarity putting you through a nightmare. That seems to be her way." Swift said, a bit louder than normal. From around the corner, the duo could here a gasp followed by muffled words that were unclear, but clearly unhappy. Dash just shook her head at how predictable Rarity could be.
"Nonetheless, shall we be on our way?" Swift turned and looked to Dash, who trotted up beside him, smiling and nodding for him to lead the way.

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Just ten minutes of walking had passed when the duo arrived at Cloud Nine, the restaurant Swift had managed to snag reservations at. As he stopped at the door, indicating to Rainbow Dash that this was the destination, her jaw dropped. She spent a moment looking from Swift to the restaurant and back before finally speaking.

"You got us in here? How?! Wait for this place is months long!" Dash asked, confused as to how he had managed such a thing. Swift smiled and started to explain.

"It's pretty simple. Back when I first got out of the clinic and was looking for work, I helped this guy out in the market locate his lost bitbag. When I found it, he thanked me and offered to put me on the list of this place he owned. Turns out, this was it." Swift explained as he reached for the door and held it open for his date. Dash smiled and walked in, still amazed that she was finally getting to eat at this place.

Once inside, the greeter approached and smiled at the two.

"Good evening. Do you have a reservation?" She asked politely. Swift nodded and gave his name while Rainbow was looking around at the decorations. The entire place reminded her of Cloudsdale.

"Ah yes. Mr.Swift, right this way. You're table has been prepared." The pegasus guided Swift and Dash through the main floor and up a short half set of stairs to a round table that was placed in a spot where it was surrounded most of the way by a window that allowed perfect view of the hills around Ponyville, as well as the sky which was quickly darkening as the evening approached. The entrance to the alcove where the table sat had a curtain that could close to provide privacy for the couple enjoying their dinner. Dash and Swift took their seats as menus were placed down.

"Your waiter will be with you shortly. Thank you for choosing Cloud Nine for your evening." The pegasus bowed politely before stepping away and allowing the curtain to fall, leaving the couple in their own slice of Cloudsdale. Faint music from a piano and cello could be heard to provide an ambiance as the couple looked out the window and up to the sky.

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Out in the hedge maze garden, Princess Celestia stood before a statue of one of their most dangerous enemies. Few ponies knew the truth of the statue: that it was actually a prison for Discord, and not just a statue to remind ponies of what he had done. It was rare that the Princess found her way out here as the times that Discord had attacked were as bad for her as they were for all other ponies. Unfortunately she was their leader, so she had to appear strong in front of them. It was only now, in the privacy of the garden that she could entertain the thoughts she suppressed when standing as the Princess of Equestria.

Though she couldn't hide from everyone. With the lack of ponies around, she could hear someone approaching from behind, and could tell who it was without turning.

"Good evening sister." Celestia said, still sitting in front of the statue. Luna walked up alongside her and sat down gently, looking more to her sister than the statue.

"Good evening to you as well. What brings you out here this evening? I know this place makes you uncomfortable." Luna asked, worried about her sister. Her sister was strong, but every pony had a limit, and sometimes she felt Celestia needed to take a break to be a pony and not a princess.

"Very much so, but it also serves as a reminder. Discord was our most powerful enemy, and sometimes things remind me that he is still here." She explained, finally looking to her sister and giving a faint smile. Luna took a moment to look at the statue before them as she recalled the first time he had attacked. It had been much more destructive than the second. Many ponies were captured and never recovered. Once of Equestria's biggest mysteries is what had happened that day.

"Look here. He is still in stone, and very little of his chaos aura is detectable. You and I both know that means the prison is holding strong. What could give you worry now, 'Tia?" Luna asked, trying to reassure her sister. Celestia narrowed her eyes at the pet name Luna had always used, but relaxed as they were in private. With a deep breath, she explained.

"Twilight contacted me today about Chaos magic. I had to give her to true explanation on how it worked, instead of that drivel ponies keep publishing about no rules. She seemed to understand it after a while, and is certainly going to start doing her own research on it." Celestia explained, glancing back over to the statue. Luna simply looked confused as to why this would make Celestia this down. Sure, such a talk about chaos magic would get tricky, but she had done it before and it didn't pull her out here.

"Twilight is a brilliant pony. If anypony can learn something new about chaos, it will be her." Luna assured her sister, who simply smiled and nodded.

"Very true. She isn't what concerned me. There is a new pony in Ponyville. A pegasus named Swift." Celestia continued. Luna nodded, not having heard of the name, but a new pony didn't seem like that big a deal.

"Yes? What about him? That's an odd name for a pegasus." She asked and commented. Living as long as the two of them had, she knew the origin of pegasi names as well as anyone.

"It isn't his real name. He claims to have amnesia and doesn't know who he is." Celestia explained, never looking back to her sister. Luna immediately caught onto what her sister was hinting at and got very serious.

" 'Claim's to' ? You think he is hiding something? I have agents in Ponyville who can give us more intelligence. They are some of our best contacts for information." Luna explained, starting to plan how to advance. She had always been in charge of the intelligence and espionage for Equestria before her banishment, and upon returning had resumed her role. Night time was the best for learning what ponies didn't want you to learn, and her role as Princess of the Moon meant she was the best to lead such a group. Celestia, on the other hoof, was quiet for a moment before nodding slightly.

"I think it is for the best. But tell them to be careful. He was very nice when I spoke to him, but I sensed something odd. He didn't seem spelled, but there was something about him different from other ponies. Maybe it is just because we had been talking about chaos, so Discord was on my mind, but he made me think of Discord more than normal. Thus, here I am." Celestia explained to her sister before standing up and stretching slightly.
"But, I have been here long enough. I need to get rest for tomorrow, and I trust you have the night handled." Celestia said, her voice back to normal after talking with her sister, but exhaustion still clear in her voice. Luna stood with her and nodded that she had things in hoof.

"Of course sister. Go get rest. I will wake you when it is time to raise the sun. And let this bother you no further. I shall look directly into it." Luna promised as she followed her sister towards the exit of the garden. Celestia silently nodded with a smile before heading up to her private chambers for the evening. Luna instead made her way into the Throne Room and called for her head shadow agent. After a few minutes of waiting, a grey pegasus wearing simple outfit that any citizen of Canterlot would be seeing. One look instantly explained why he was the head of the intelligence agency under Luna. He managed to look completely invisible without standing out as such. You could look at him in a crowd and barely even take notice, not to mention describing him would be difficult as his only distinguishing feature was a lack of any distinguishing features.

"Yes, my Princess? You summoned?" The colt asked, bowing before the princess.

"Yes Mist Breeze, I need you to gather intelligence on a new pony in Ponyville. I believe you have a few contacts there?" Luna explained. Mist simply nodded in response before explaining his assets.

"Correct Princess. We have three steady lightly trained contacts, one being a bloodline agent." Mist began, still not looking up at his princess.
"She is exceptional at gathering information when needed, but her combat skills aren't to great if such a skill is need. Excellent interrogation skills if she really needs the information." Mist began, speaking of the bloodline agent.
"Our best combat specialist is a unicorn, so if the target has magic on its side, she can easily counter it." He continued, referring to a different agent. He himself mentally corrected that if the target was Twilight Sparkle, that statement might not be true, but why would the princess need a spy on the leader of the Elements. Plus if that was the case, he had other options for that.
"The final option is more of a contract agent, but she has never done us wrong, and her knowledge of potions is fantastic." He finished, laying out their assets in the area.
"Whatever you need, we can accomplish it, Princess." He finalized.

Princess Luna simply nodded at his details. Combat was not going to be needed unless things got really bad. Even Celestia didn't seem to think this Swift character was a danger, just someone to watch. So the unicorn could stay on standby and continue whatever operations it had going on. Besides, that unicorn had a tendency to get a bit lost in her fantasies of otherworldly creatures. The contractor was out as Luna knew 'potions' was most likely meaning poisons. Besides, Luna knew first hoof that the contractor wouldn't be in the right circles to reach this Swift often enough to gather intel. That, plus the bloodline agent was already in a perfect spot to gather intel. Luna came to her decision and spoke again.

"Use the bloodline agent. She should be in the best position. The target is named Swift and is a pegasus who is recently arrived. We are to know if he does anything questionable or dangerous, or if he threatens any of the Elements. Secrecy is of most import, so tell her that is priority." Luna explained her orders, avoiding using any names. She knew ever agent they had, including the few bloodlines who still practiced espionage all these years after the unification of the three pony tribes. As such, no name was needed in order to maintain the highest level of secrecy. Mist nodded and turned to leave, no dismiss needed as he set about for his trip to Ponyville.

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An hour had passed as the tentative couple enjoyed a relaxing dinner in comfort and privacy. Swift was thankful that the service had been as top notch as he was lead to believe from around town. The two had ordered a spread of salads, sandwiches, and even some fish and shrimp. The look on Dash's eyes when she saw they had that had been priceless. Apparently since moving to Ponyville, she had not had any fish or shrimp, as it was something almost exclusively pegasi related. Other ponies COULD eat it, but most hated it. Only pegasi seemed to enjoy it.

Currently the two were sitting side by side with the moon shining through the window, leaning against each other. They had spent dinner talking about flying, stunts to try, the various times Dash had met the Wonderbolts, and even how much Scootaloo had improved with Swifts direction earlier that day.

"Wait wait wait! You tied her to your back to teach her how to glide?!" Dash exclaimed as Swift had detailed the most recent flying lesson for the orange filly. Swift nodded slowly, unsure as to if he had messed up. Dash seemed genuinely shocked, and didn't seem to be smiling.

'Uh oh. Did I break a law or something?' Swift thought as he watched Dash intently. After a few moments, which felt like hours to Swift, her face cracked into a small smile, then a huge grin as she bust out laughing.

"BWAHAHA! That's awesome! You had a filly as a kite! I never would have thought of that!" Dash said between laughs. Swift joined her in laughing as she leaned heavily against him, more so than they had been sitting, and her body shaking as she laughed.
"Knowing her, she was probably extremely excited too. That's a good thing you did." Dash finally added as she got herself under control. Swift nodded his agreement, noting that Dash didn't seem to be returning to her previous position. This made him smile even more. Sitting here in the restaurant with her leaning into him: there was no place he would rather be.

"She was very excited. She is a great filly and seems to get the short end of the stick more often that not. I figured she deserved something good. She was upset when she saw how fast I learned to fly and that I was learning from you, so I had to do something. Teaching her flight and showing her the world from a pegasus point of view seemed natural." Swift explained, their voices returning to appropriate indoor levels. Dash looked at Swift with a warm smile on her face as he described his adventure with the young filly.

Truth be told, Scootaloo had originally annoyed Dash to no end. Dash loved the initial attention, but every time the two crossed paths, the filly would go insane with excitement. As such she had worked to avoid Scootaloo for a while, and noticed that the filly seemed to finally back off. Occasionally she would still go insane when they saw each other, but many times she would contain herself.

A few months after that, Dash happened by a field in the orchard and saw several fillies with signs bearing Rainbow Dash's own cutie mark. Confused, she had landed on a cloud to see what was going on. Nothing major was happening, and Dash almost decided to leave when she saw Scootaloo walk up and everyone go silent. She called the latest session of the Rainbow Dash fan club to order. For some reason, this had warmed the future wonderbolt's heart to the filly. She might have eased off the manic behavior, but she was still a solid fan, and true to her hero.

Though, truth be told, she never really changed how she acted around the filly. How many times had she been too busy to help Scootaloo with flight practice, just to sleep on a cloud. Yet Swift, who had worked several jobs before becoming a weather pony, took time out for her. Guilt crept into Rainbow's unconscious.

"Perhaps tomorrow we can both go help teach her. I haven't seen the squirt in a while." Rainbow suggested, deciding it was time to treat the little pegasus a bit better. Most other pegasi could fly by her age, but apparently Scootaloo's parents either hadn't taught her, or if they weren't pegasi, hadn't hired an instructor, an odd thing in Rainbow's eyes.

"That sounds great Dashie. I'm sure she will be excited to see her hero show up." Swift hugged Rainbow to show his support of the idea as she smiled. As he let go, her smile disappeared with confusion.

"Wait! Dashie?" She said, not sounding angry, or amused. Swift just laughed uneasily.

"Well, yeah. Or Dash. Either or." He sputtered out, wondering if he was in a minefield. Dash simply grinned.

"Ok, Dashie is fine, but only from you. AJ starts that crap and I'll buck her right in the nose." Dash said, acting overly tough, which drew a laugh from Swift. After a moment of acting tough, Dash joined in on the laughter as the waiter arrived with a check.

"I hope the dinner was to your liking. I'll leave the check here, and when you are ready just leave the bits on the table. The night is pretty clear, so the window doors are unlocked if you prefer an aerial exit." The pegasus pointed to the top of the window, which Swift now noticed was hinged to open. A clever exit as this was a place primarily for pegasi.

"Dinner was wonderful. Thank you very much." Swift said while Dash took time to look up towards the door built into the window. The waiter nodded and left, leaving the couple alone again.
"Well, what say we finish up here and take off into the night sky?" Swift asked, reaching down for his bits to cover the dinner. It was going to take most of what he had saved, but for a night like this, it was more than worth it. Dash simply nodded and hovered up to open the window as Swift placed the bits on the table then followed her just outside the glass. Once the window was closed, the couple could see a nearly clear sky with the moon now well overhead. Hovering very close to each other, Dash finally spoke in a lower whisper.

"Swift. Dinner was wonderful. Thanks for a great time. NowRaceToThatCloud!" Dash suddenly shouted as she took off at full speed. Swift, who was being entranced by her soft voice was rattled buy the shift, then the rainbow streak he was suddenly looking at.

"Oh you cheat!" He shouted as he took off after her, mimicking her stunts as the flew across the starlit sky.

Comments

[PxDnNinja]

WOOT! Finally got the new chapter up. I am sorry for the massive delay. Life kept kicking me when I managed to get ready to write on this, and then I hit a massive writers block. Some people might wish I had gone into more detail on the date, and if enough ask for it I might work a side story in that covers that, but what I have ended up with I feel flows best with the story.

I hope you all enjoy it, and I promise the next chapter won't take 6+weeks to come out.

[PxDnNinja]

Wow! I got featured! I'm not even sure how that happened, but it makes me happy.

[StarTurner]

Awesome chapter! Now I'm impatient for the next one

[emberflare]

Yay! Update. I wonder how the sleeper agent will be.
Keep it up
-Shadow Flare.

[Zman537]

1614002 Why wouldn't it be featured? This is a awesome story.

[PxDnNinja]

1617802 Awe, thank you I'm glad you are enjoying it. I was just surprised to see it in the little box at the top of the site. I just never imagined something I wrote would end up there.

[hyperburn3r]

1091971 NO She's coming for your soul, and will fight slenderman for it

[bocaj518]

My only problem that i saw immediately was here: "clearly not liking the idea of her wings in someones hands, but not hating it as bad as her hooves in someones hands."

[PxDnNinja]

1870073 And fixed :)

[bocaj518]

1870100 Just saying if you don't already have one you might want to get a proofreader cause i remember at some point you would say people and some others that i can't immediately remember.

[hyperburn3r]

1870100

she absolutely hated people handling her hooves

Ponies, not people bro.

I wonder if I can multi-bold a word...
word

Edit: No. No I cannot.

[PxDnNinja]

2338803 Fixed. There were actually several instances of "people" in this chapter. They are all cleaned up. :)

[Icy Creation]

Two hours later found Swift standing outside of the library where he had agreed to meet up with Dash. Luckily he managed to secure reservations at a nice restaurant that specialized in Cloudsdale dishes that tended to be a big hit with pegasi, and acquired a single pin on flower that was currently clipped to his chest. The flower was a blue one of some kind, Swift had no idea. He just knew it matched Dash's coat and something told him to pick it up. It had to be better than nothing since he had no fancy outfits.

A blue flower, eh?

No. Just no.