//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Just Dropping In // by Gunsmith //------------------------------// I recall Forge's earlier comment, about using the day to get Rainbow Dash something for Hearts and Hooves Day. I silently thank him, hoping he knows I'm grateful, for both the time off and the wake-up call, whether he meant to give me it or not. He had mentioned flowers, and how mares seemed to enjoy them. Rainbow is too cool for flowers. She'd probably think they're lame. Then again, I am a pretty lame guy. I turn around, back towards Ponyville, and begin trotting forward aimlessly. Well, if I'm getting flowers, what's her favorite color? Wait...oh, damn. I had no idea which color she liked. Damn it, why do I have to love the most colorful pony in all of Equestria? The center of Ponyville is a few blocks ahead of me; I can hear the volume of the many ponies filling it steadily increasing as I trot towards it. I hadn't seen a specific florist's shop at any point, but I feel there may be a stand selling flowers in the square. I near the crowded area, passing through the alley beside my workplace a second time and entering the circular town square of Ponyville. Being tall has its perks, especially in crowds; most of the ponies around me are at least half a foot shorter. I scan around for any sign of a flower vendor. After a moment I spot one, a symbol of a rose emblazoning the sign above the stand. Quite a few ponies crowd around the large stand, and I patiently wait for a few minutes outside the cluster of colors. Eventually the mess of ponies thins, and I make my way towards the vendor. I observe the selection of flowers in front of and below me, looking for those that stand out. None catch my eye, though; most of them are roses, most of the roses colored red, white, pink, and a few are even orange, but they seem...inadequate. At least for the pony I am getting them for. I step to the side to allow others to browse the stand, mulling over some ideas. My brain suggests an idea I find interesting to me, so I set my mind to go about it. First... Stepping around one side of the wooden stand, I lean a little closer to the vendor; I see the pony managing the stand is a bright yellow earth pony with pink hair streaked with blue, a mare. "Excuse me, ma'am?" I ask the vendor in a voice just loud enough to make it over the noise of the crowd, but quiet enough so that I don't attract attention to myself. It's hard enough not to attract attention when I'm taller than the average pony and have an entirely black coat. She turns to me, smiling. "Can I help you with anything, sir?" she says cheerfully. "Yes, where do you get your flowers, if I may ask?" "Oh! There is a florist on that side of town," she replies, aiming a hoof behind her. "But, I actually get mine from this nice mare who lives outside of town." The yellow pony moves her outstretched leg in another direction; I begin to get a hunch as to which pony sells her flowers. "She lives in a little cottage, you can't miss it. If you're going to go there, be careful, she's quite shy." Bingo. I smile to the mare and tilt my head down. "Thank you," I say before turning around and trotting towards where she had pointed. Off to Fluttershy's, then. I hope I don't scare her too bad this time... *** After a few minutes of steady trotting through Ponyville, I cross the bridge out of town, my hooves creating a clip-clop noise as they pass over the cobblestone. I had decided against directly flying to Fluttershy's cottage because it seemed like it would be rude when I was in the town, and by the time I had reached an area lacking many ponies to disturb, I was already close to my destination. Having crossed the bridge, I leave the dirt path leading into Ponyville, plodding through the snow towards the small cottage that sits in solitude, smoke lightly trailing from a chimney on one side of it. I eventually make my way back onto another dirt path, this one leading directly up to Fluttershy's residence. As I approach the house, it appears very quaint and very quiet. The snow covering it and the ground it sits on doesn't help the lack of noise, and all I hear is my hooves making piff noises as they impact the fine snow. I think to myself as I trot towards the door that I can't imagine living completely alone like Fluttershy does. I enjoy being by myself, but on a near constant basis, I don't think I could handle for very long. She is far enough away from town so that there are little or no ponies around. I suppose that she does see her friends fairly often, and ponies stop by every once in a while for her veterinary-like services, but most of her time has to be spent alone. Well, many of the animals in this world seem to be sentient, able to think like us...plus the fact the main sentient animals are ponies. I snort quietly at the thought, a small, white puff of air appearing and disappearing in front of my nose as I do so. Focusing again, I find myself at the front foor of Fluttershy's cottage. Try to be less...intimidating? I frown, confusing myself a bit. Every time I have tagged along with Rainbow Dash when she would hang out with her five other friends, Fluttershy has always kept her contact with me at a low level, usually keeping her distance. I wonder how this will go, talking face to face with her as I only have once before, at the Hearth's Warming Eve party. I raise my right foreleg, preparing to knock on the door, but stop myself, looking at my raised hoof. I move it around an inch away from the wooden door, then move it forward steadily. A soft and hollow-sounding thump resounds from the door. I tap a few more times in an attempt to make sure Fluttershy realizes someone is at the door. I step back and wait, five seconds, ten seconds, thirty seconds, a minute. Finally, the door opens halfway. I am expecting to see a pony standing in the doorway, but instead see...nothing. I glance down, and spot what did open the door: Angel, Fluttershy's pet rabbit. Jesus, this asshole. Yes, I called a cute, harmless little bunny an asshole. I find it somewhat ironic that one of the nicest, gentlest, amiable ponies in Ponyville, likely in all of Equestria, owned the one of the most ungrateful, rude, and overall meanest animals I had ever seen. The writers of the television show seemed to like irony, didn't they? Fastest pony has the slowest pet, nicest pony has the meanest pet. I decide to see if Angel will be nice for a change, but I'm thinking I'll have to go bad cop anyways. "Hey there. May I speak to Fluttershy, if she is home?" I ask the scowling little rabbit politely, preparing myself for his reaction. As expected, Angel shakes his head "no". I see the malevolent bunny pull the door back an inch; I can tell he's about to slam it in my face. Not going to happen, buddy. Just as he goes to slam the door, I stick out a hoof. The wooden slab stops upon impacting my leg; by how hard the door actually hit my hoof, I can tell the rabbit is much tougher than he looks, at least tough enough to slam a door hard enough to make a nose bleed. I lean in towards him, smiling to myself, feeling pretty ninja. You stopped a bunny from slamming a door. Yeah, those are some mad ninja skills. Angel has a look of surprise on his face, not expecting his action to be countered. "May I speak to Fluttershy, Angel?" I repeat, knowing the effect saying his name will have on him. If he's as smart as I'm guessing he is, or at least sly, he'll know I shouldn't know his name, being that I have never met him or been told about him. It appears he realizes this, judging by the moment of recognition followed by the look of mild panic on his face. He nods quickly, opening the door fully before scampering off. He returns with the pony I am looking for, then scowls at me before running off again. I lean my head into the doorway a little so I can see Fluttershy. As she comes into view, I see she sees and recognizes me. Her pupils shrink a little, turquoise eyes widening, and the pink-maned pony cowers a little, shrinking down and back. I attempt a friendly smile towards her, but she only cowers more, taking a step back. I'm beginning to get a little worried, when she finally speaks, barely. "H-h-hello, F-Ferrum..." whispers Fluttershy. "Hello, Fluttershy," I reply, keeping my voice low. She still lets out an "eep" when I begin speaking. I think she's shivering. Oh, man, I'm really freaking her out. I remain silent for a moment, thinking of something else to say in an attempt to calm her down. I can't think of much, so I decide to blatantly say, "Listen, there's no need to be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not trying to scare you, okay?" The light yellow pony looks up at me, standing up a little straighter. Her shivering has stopped, so at least I'm getting somewhere. "Sorry...I just...you're tall...and your coat...and...you're scary...sorry," she finishes, her voice that started out quiet now barely audible, the apology coming out with a squeak. I smile a little, feeling bad for the horribly timid pony. "It's alright. I am pretty tall, and I could see how that could be scary. And not many ponies seem to have a black coat, either, so I get that, too. I really don't mean to come off as scary, though. Would it be better if I crouched down or something, like this?" I joke, bending my knees to reduce my height. I hope that my joking around will help her warm up to me. It seems to at least help, as she stands up a little straighter again, now at normal height. I can still see some fear, or waryness, in her eyes, but Fluttershy seems to be more comfortable with my presence now. She gives a tiny smile. "No, that's okay. I'm sorry for being afraid of you." "It's alright," I repeat, giving as friendly a smile as I can. "So...did you need something? If you don't mind me asking..." "Actually, yes, I do. I heard you have flowers, or a flower garden of some sort?" Fluttershy's face brightens noticably. "Oh, yes, I do! I have a garden outside, where I grow lots of different flowers." "Do you think it would be possible for me to buy a few flowers from you?" I ask. The word "buy" rings in my head for a moment. Buy, buy, buy...damn! I don't have money on me...I can always fly home real fast, I don't think Fluttershy would mind...I frown at my thoughts, wondering how much money I should bring back. "Buy?" Fluttershy asks, cutting off my stream of thoughts. "You can have my flowers for free, I don't want any money for them. If that's okay with you," she adds. "Are you sure?" I question. "I can pay for them, it's not a problem at all..." "No, no, you don't need to. Please, follow me, I'll show you them, if you want," says Fluttershy, before turning and trotting towards a back door directly across the room from where I stand, outside the front door. I step into her house, shutting the door behind me after doing so. The small cottage is very warm on the inside. I look around the room as I follow the yellow pegasus, a few steps behind her. The room is fairly small in size, and holds little furniture. There is a couch along one wall, a light green in color. The wall it rests on is actually created by a staircase housing an under-the-stairs closet. Across from the couch is a small wooden table. On it rests a group of framed pictures; I recognize one as being the same photograph in Rainbow Dash's bedroom. The other pictures are of Fluttershy with a group of animals and of Fluttershy and Angel, one of only Angel. The room is made entirely of wood, adding to the small-cottage-feel, and is decorated with a few floor rugs made of cloth. I pass through the room, stepping out the back door behind Fluttershy. I look outwards, and spot a structure a few hundred feet away sticking out of the snow. It appears to be made entirely of glass; light from the sun glints off of its surface at multiple angles. A minute or so of plodding through the powdery precipitation on the ground leads us to what I now recognize as being a greenhouse. Through the glass walls I can see many rows of flowers and plants inside, blooming and growing healthily despite the weather conditions outside. Fluttershy pushes open the glass door leading into the greenhouse, and I follow her inside. I have never really liked greenhouses because of how the air felt inside them. This one is no different; hot air so humid it's nearly stifling. However, I feel grateful for the fact Fluttershy does have a greenhouse. Flowers of every color, plants of every shape and size grow around me, their cartoon-ish appearance making them appear all the more colorful and healthy. I smile, a feeling of eagerness about me. I see the yellow mare turn to me in my peripheral. "Pick as many as you'd like, they grow back. Please be careful with them, they're very delicate..." Fluttershy advises, frowning a little with worry. "I will be," I reassure her, silently hoping I don't trip or anything. "You're sure you don't want me to pay you for them?" "I'm sure," she says with a small smile. The pegasus turns towards the exit of the greenhouse, trotting towards it. She stops at the door, turning her head to me again. "Um...if I may ask...who are the flowers for?" For a moment I wonder if she is hoping for her, but judging by her tone of voice, I think against it. I smile at the thought of who I am getting the flowers for, also feeling some heat rising in my cheeks. "Rainbow Dash," I answer, fairly sure my face is some shade of red. Fluttershy smiles a full smile, one I can tell is genuine, lacking any sign of her usual timidness. "I think she'll love them," she says, then turns away and trots out into the snow. I smile to myself and turn back to the array of flowers in front of me. I begin pacing up and down the aisles lined with plants, observing each one as I pass by. I recognize some of the flowers like the roses, tulips, the simpler and more common flowers, but most of the names of the plants escape me. There are plants and flowers of every color in the greenhouse, which actually suits me just fine. I decide to begin collecting the colors of flower I am looking for. My first stop is at a rose bush, one of many. The roses of this bush are a deep red color, while the surrounding bushes hold white, pink, and other colors of roses. I lean my head in towards one of the larger flowers growing on the plant, pushing my way through leaves to reach a suitable place to cut the stem of the rose I have selected. I bite down on the stem of the rose, wincing as a thorn pierces my upper gum. I gnaw on the stem until I free the segment of rose, which gently falls to the floor of the greenhouse. I reach down and carefully pick it up in my teeth, avoiding the thorns this time, and take the rose over near the exit of the greenhouse, where I lay it on the ground. I delve back into the rows of plants, searching for my next selection. I come across an interesting looking flower that happens to be the color I am looking for; a bright orange. I try to remember what the plant is called; I believe it to be something along the lines of a dragon lily, a lily of some sort judging by the petals. I had learned about a lot of different flowers as a kid, being that my mom had kept a nice flower garden most of the time; some memory still remained from that time, but not much. A familiar twinge of sadness passes over me before I push it away. I press through the leaves of the plant again, seaching for a good place to cut the stem of the orange flower. This stem is easier to bite through, and I sever it in little time, picking the fallen flower up off the ground. I return to where the rose lays near the door of the glass building, laying the orange flower next to the red. I search again until finding a yellow flower, a daffodil, I think. Maybe a buttercup, I can't remember. Either way, it looks nice, so I bite through the lower part of its stem, freeing the flower. I retrieve it and deposit it in the small pile of flowers near the door before returning to the menagerie of plants again. After around five minutes of searching, selecting, chewing, picking up, and dropping in the pile, I have collected my desired bunch of flowers. I lay the final flower, a purple one, atop the pile of flowers on the ground, looking over the small collection. I have collected a flower of each color in the rainbow and laid it here; a red rose, a orange lily, a yellow daffodil or buttercup, a green plant that is almost fern-like in appearance, a blue five-petaled flower, and the purple flower I just collected. The assortment is obviously colorful in appearance, and the diversity of the flowers adds...well, diversity. I feel that this small bouquet will do nicely for my colorful recipient. I lean down, scooping up the flowers in my mouth, all gripped by the stems, and push out into the wintry air, lit by late morning sunlight. *** I land softly on the cloud holding Rainbow Dash's home, folding my wings to my sides and trotting into the house. Tank hovers over to me, and I greet him with a smile before making my way up the stairs. I exit into the living room, passing the exercise equipment stationed there and trotting over to the three couches, a table centered between them. I move to where my belongings, which currently only consists of bags of bits I have earned, sit next to the couch I sleep upon. I lay the flowers down gently next to the pile of small cloth sacks, out of sight, in case Rainbow were to come home early or something. I eye the bags of unused coins for a moment. Reflecting on how I seem to have little use for money at this point, I decide to use some of it. Maybe I can find her a box of chocolates. Multicolored chocolates? Maybe Pinkie makes those...I shake my head, clearing my thoughts, and grab one of the bags, setting it to the side. Wait...where would I carry the bits, along with anything I might buy? Saddlebags. I take a final look at the coins and the flowers before turning towards the stairs. I make my way up another floor, reaching Dash's bedroom. A quick glance around the room shows not much has changed since I was last in here; the covers of the bed are untidy, kicked off to the side earlier this morning, and the stack of books has changed again, the pile of books on the floor beneath the "unread" pile on the bedside table having grown larger. My eyes land upon the dresser in the room, and I begin trotting towards it. I feel some momentary guilt for going through Rainbow Dash's belongings without her permission, but push the feeling away. I open the uppermost of the three drawers in the small dresser, finding only rainbow-colored socks within. I shake my head a little and close the drawer, skipping the second drawer (which I know holds a scarf and some sunglasses) and leaning down towards the bottom drawer. I open it, and am welcomed with a saddlebag; I smile to myself and pull the bag out of the drawer, shutting the drawer again. I breathe a little sigh of relief when I see that the saddlebags are a neutral gray color; I was expecting more rainbow-colored accessories. I fumble with the bag-and-harness setup for a few minutes, eventually figuring out how to get the bags beneath each of my wings with the straps over my back. The alien feeling is mildly uncomfortable, but manageable. I return to the cloud staircase, going back to my spot beside the couch. I lift a wing, allowing myself to open one of the bags, and place two bags of coins, ten bits filling each, in the open cloth container. I frown when I feel my weight shifting somewhat to my coin-carrying side, and at the fact that removing the two bags still leaves me with more bits than I really need. Do ponies have charities? I would have to find one, or find something better to do with my money than let it sit around. *** I arrive in Ponyville's center for a third time today, scanning around for anything eye-catching. I do notice something out of place, that had not been there earlier. A new stand, a bright blue color seconded by bright yellow lettering on its signs, has made its way into the marketplace. Many ponies flock around it, and my interest is piqued. I make my way through the crowd, eventually getting to where I can see what the stand's main sign reads overtop of the heads of the ponies swarming around me. In intentionally jagged, almost lightning-bolt-like writing, the sign reads: Wonderbolts Tickets Well, I'll be damned. I smile in some disbelief at my good fortune. I wonder why I hadn't noticed the stand earlier, and glance up into the sky, intending to gauge the time. The sun sits directly at high noon, and I feel some of its warmth amidst the cold weather. I return my gaze to the stand, craning my neck to get a better view of it. I see that there are quite a few stacks of what appear to be large tickets. I assume that the stand only recently opened, which would explain my missing it earlier in the day and the quantity of tickets still remaining. Based off of the amount of semi-crazed ponies around me, pushing towards the bright blue wooden stand, I'm surprised there are still tickets left. I continue observing the stand for a while longer, searching for...there. I catch a glimpse of the sign on the front of the stand, near the ground. This sign explains a little more than its counterpart: Tickets to the Wonderbolts' annual Spring performance in Canterlot! Only 10 bits! Get them while you can! I smile again, recalling I have brought twenty bits, which should be exactly enough for two tickets. Hot damn. Thank you, Celestia. I wonder momentarily if I should watch taking Celestia's name in vain; after all, she is a demi-god of sorts. Hopefully not a mind-reading demi-god, though. I return my focus to the stand selling the tickets, and decide to go for them. What better to get Rainbow Dash, number one fan of the Wonderbolts, anyways? I begin trotting forward slowly and carefully, avoiding the sea of ponies around me as best I can. If I don't make it out of this, tell my wife I love her, I joke to myself, feeling a little claustrophobic. After a few minutes of being pressed against multicolored ponies, I eventually reach the stand. A pegasus stallion is vending the stand; I see he has a white coat and a bright yellow mane, which looks like a lightning bolt running down his head and neck due to the jagged edging of it. I show a friendly smile, and say, "Two tickets, please?" He returns the smile, replying, "That'll be twenty bits." I reach back to the saddlebag I wear the holds my money, opening it and extracting the two jingling cloth bags, setting them on the wooden surface of the stand. He opens them, quickly counting out the coins. I do the same, counting and re-counting twenty on the dot. The pegasus closes the bags again, pulling them behind the stand. His head resurfaces and he slides out two tickets with a hoof, laying them on the colored wood boards. I carefully grab both tickets in my teeth. "Thank you, sir, have a nice day," he says. "Thanks, you too," I reply through clenched teeth, attempting a smile before turning and escaping from the mess of ponies clustered around the stand. I trot out of the town square, going cross-eyed every so often to make sure I still have a good grip on both tickets. When I reach a less populated part of Ponyville, I turn and stuff the tickets into one of the saddlebags, making sure the bag is closed tightly before taking off into the air. *** I spend the remainder of the day milling about Rainbow Dash's home. I return the saddlebags to their drawer and secure the two tickets next to the couch, alongside the flowers and my remaining bags of bits. I check on Tank, clean up Rainbow's room some, organize my own belongings in a more orderly fashion, and sit outside for a while. I also eat another hoof-covering's worth of liquid rainbow, something I had been doing on a fairly weekly basis. I hope rainbows are not an addictive drug of some sort, and that they are just basically a really tasty rainbow-colored hot sauce. When I notice the sun beginning to set, I head back inside. I travel up to the second floor to retrieve some items. First, I grab the tickets; I note that on them is the exact location and date of the show in Canterlot, and that the show will be held March second. After some quick counting, I find that that is the first weekend following the Winter Wrap-Up, which stretches from February twenty-eighth to March first. Having figured that out, I spend the next minute trying to figure out where to best keep them on me, and eventually decide to tuck them into my feathers. When my wings are pinned against me, the feathers both conceal and hold the slips of paper quite nicely. I pick up my six flowers in my mouth, then head down the stairs of Dash's cloud home. In the kitchen, I set the flowers down on the table and make sure the tickets are still between the feathers in my wing. I move to one of the windows in the room, peering out and waiting for a cyan blue, rainbow-maned pegasus. After a few minutes, Tank hovers down to join me. Soon, Rainbow Dash touches down outside her house in the sky. I smile, turning away from the window as she trots towards the house. I pick up the flowers in my mouth, check the tickets a last time, making sure they are out of sight, and wait a short distance from the door. Tank follows me, hovering by my head. The door opens, and Rainbow takes a few steps in, turning to make sure the door shuts behind her. I watch as her head turns back towards where I stand, magenta eyes locking on to me. She smiles, then notices what I am holding. "Are those for...me?" she asks, voice crackling a little with some surprise. I nod, smiling. She takes a few steps closer to me, looking at the flowers. Dash cranes her neck around the flowers, looking at all of them up close. I stand still, tilting my head a little in her direction so she can reach them better. She pulls back, looking at me. "Did you pick these?" I nod again, still smiling. Color noticably reaches her light blue cheeks, creating a red color with a purple tinge. "They're awesome," she says softly, smiling and still blushing. She moves towards the group of multicolored flowers again, and I again tilt my head towards her. Rainbow Dash draws nearer to the flowers, opening her mouth; I assume she wants to take them, and continue tilting forward, offering them. To my surprise, she instead bites into one of the flowers I hold in my teeth. What? I raise my eyebrows in surprise and question. She pulls back from the flowers, munching on one of them happily. She stops when she sees the look on my face, swallowing the flower. "What?" Rainbow asks, seeming a little confused. "Am I not supposed to eat them?" I snort, laughing. I turn to the table and set the flowers down, continuing to shake with laughter. "No, you are," I say. "I'm just not used to that." I grin at her in amusement. She starts smiling and chuckling as well, leaning down to bite off another flower. I continue watching her as she eats the flowers. While she chews her fifth flower, the orange lily of some sort, she says, "These are really good," before swallowing the lily and eating the last flower, the rose. I smile, feeling pleased. "Good, I'm glad." She finishes the rose, smiling contently as I do. I see her start to blush again as she looks at me. "Thanks, Ferrum," Dash says, smiling and trying to control her blushing at the same time. I grin at her. "Oh, but I'm not done," I reply, giving her a sly look. I turn to one side so that a side of me faces the little cloud table littered with the stems of devoured flowers, specifically the side of me holding two slips of paper. I stretch out my wing, angling it towards the table and shaking it a little. The pieces of paper dislodge themselves from my feathers, floating down to rest on the table. I pull in my wing, ruffling the feathers a little to get them back into place. I watch as Rainbow Dash leans down towards the table, reading the slips of paper. I can hear her mumbling quietly, reading the words off to herself. Suddenly she stops, breathing, mumbling, moving, and her eyes grow a little wider. I see her start again, quickly re-reading the ticket she is looking at. She stops again, and I wonder if she'll read it a third time. "Oh my gosh," Rainbow whispers. She does indeed read the ticket again, then looks over at the other ticket, reading the same thing on it. "Oh my gosh," she repeats. I have a feeling I know what she'll say next, and can feel a grin spreading across my face. Dash looks up, then back down at the slips. "Oh my gosh!" She turns to me. Her eyes are enormous, pupils dilated so much that I can only see a small ring of light purple around them. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaims again. Rainbow Dash begins jumping up and down, very much mimicking Pinkie Pie's jackhammer-like bouncing, quickly saying, "Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh!" I am beginning to wonder if she'll ever run out of brea-- "Oof!" The wind is knocked out of me as I hit the floor, landing on my back. I feel my wings spread out behind me, my legs splayed out, and have a moment of deja vu. I open my eyes quickly, them having snapped shut upon impact. On top of me is Rainbow Dash, looking extremely happy instead of extremely angry this time around. She is standing on my body, forelegs on my chest, legs on my abdomen. She begins bouncing up and down, balancing atop me and continuously knocking what oxygen I have left in me out of me. Rainbow is talking a mile a minute, and I am having a hard time catching what she is saying. "Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh! How did you get Wonderbolts tickets they are so awesome I don't even know how you got them Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh!" I'm starting to see black spots in my vision, intensified every time she lands on my and jumps up again. She pauses to inhale deeply, and I take what opportunity I have. I quickly bring up a hoof and stick it in her gasping mouth, and she freezes, looking at my hoof. "Rainbow Dash!" I wheeze. "Calm down!" She looks at me, nodding quickly. "Mmph-hmm." Dash steps off of me, then continues bouncing a little as I remove my hoof from her mouth and push myself up to my feet, chuckling as I do. "Okay, now slowly," I tell her, emphasizing "slowly" with a slow-moving hoof. She breathes rapidly, letting out her breath with a "whoo". After a minute of calming herself down, she returns to an excited-normal state. "Sorry!" she starts. I chuckle and nod my head in reply. "How did you even get those? They sell really fast, and cost a ton!" Rainbow Dash bursts out; I find it mildly funny that she isn't exaggerating, being that the price was fairly steep and with the amount of ponies I had seen earlier. "I had some extra money, and my boss gave me most of the day off. I was able to get to the stand pretty soon after they started selling the tickets, and I got some. I had a hunch you might want to go to a Wonderbolts show," I finish with a playful grin. My sarcasm seems lost on her. "Well, yeah! They're only, like, the greatest stunt ponies ever!" she says, beaming. I continue grinning. "I'm pretty sure you hold that title." She laughs, blushing more. Rainbow pauses for a moment, looking at me, then quickly moves towards me. I brace myself for another tackle, wings spreading as I tense up. Instead I feel...warmth? On my chest, neck, shoulders, and on the right side of my face. I open my eyes that were anticipating hitting the floor, looking down and to my right. I see Rainbow Dash's neck pressed against my own, her soft, rainbow mane against my black fur. Her chest presses against mine, and both her forelegs are wrapped around my neck tightly. I can feel her chin against the back of my neck, her hooves resting just in front of my wings that are still outstretched in surprise at the contact. She's...hugging me. I feel a little stunned; a combination of the contact, her warmth, how soft she feels against me, the familiar smell of purified oxygen and spiciness, the feeling of her light breath against my neck. I lift up my right foreleg, keeping my left one on the floor as to steady her and I, and wrap my leg between her neck and wings, lightly pressing my own face into her neck. I know it must only last seconds, but it feels like hours as Dash hugs me. "Thanks, Ferrum," I hear her scratchy voice say quietly behind me. I nod, brushing against her neck as I do to show her I am nodding. It seems like she is about to pull away, but she doesn't. I loosen my grip a little, but she tightens hers, so I continue to hug her, silently questioning her actions. "No pony's ever done anything like this for me," continues Rainbow Dash softly. I can feel her breath on my neck as she talks, making my fur bristle a little. I feel her squeeze a little tighter again, and I gently do the same. Her head presses a little more into my neck. "Thanks." Now I feel her grip starting to loosen, and let go. She pulls away from my neck, propping herself back up on four legs again and taking a step back. Rainbow's face is a deep red color, and I am sure mine is also. We turn away from each other for a moment. I look down at the floor, still feeling stunned. I had never seen her act so...compassionate. Standing there, waiting for the color to drain from my face, I think about what Dash had said, that no one had ever done anything like that for her before. I know her friends do things like that with her, go see shows and stuff, but...maybe she meant something else? Is it me? I don't know; I feel confused as it is right now, anyways. My cheeks feel cooler now, though, so I turn back to her, seeing her do the same. "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Rainbow Dash," I say to her softly, smiling. "Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Ferrum," she repeats. A dinner of hay-and-flower sandwiches, plus a snack of flower stems, passes fairly quietly. I ask how her day went, and she asks how mine went, and why my boss let me out early. I don't tell her about what he said, based on a feeling I shouldn't, so I say he let me go home because of the holiday and our lack of orders. Before we go to bed, we decide to keep the tickets in her dresser, since they would be less likely to fly out a window or something. She confirms the airshow is the weekend following the Winter Wrap-Up, only a day separating the Wrap-Up and the weekend. Everything settled, we say our goodnights and diverge paths on the stairs. As I lay down to sleep, I can still feel her warmth around me, head pressed into my neck as mine is hers, forelegs wrapped around me, soft breath hitting my fur.