//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Dash for Dash! // by Delicious Libido //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash, the most beautiful pony I’ve ever seen. Ever since the first time I saw her in flight school, I’ve been enticed by her Beauty. I could never seem to get my mind off of her, I’ve tried liking other ponies, but that just doesn’t seem to work. I’ve never seen any pony as skilled as her. I made it my mission to make her mine. Sure she can be a little rough around the edges sometimes, and she can be obtuse. But in the end, I know she’s the pony for me. Oh, I never properly introduced myself. My apologies, they call me Aero. I’m a light brown Pegasus pony. I have dark brown hair, and I have a calculator for cutie mark. I’ve dedicated a good portion of my life studying math in order to try and build more efficient means of weather control for the other Pegasus. I stayed in cloudsdale to do so, while most of the other ponies left. I always hoped that I would see Rainbow Dash again, and one day I got an unexpected opportunity. I was relaxing on my day off of work when I hear a commotion going on in the distance. As I look to see what it is, I see a particularly angry griffon, one that I’m not truly fond of, Gilda. Gilda is one of the meanest griffons I know, well I only know few griffons, but she is definitely the meanest. But she’s always getting other ponies fired up; it’s quite odd to see it the other way around. I decided to go investigate; maybe I could get a good laugh out of her anger. I flew over to her and said, “Well, well, well if it isn’t the infamous Gilda.” “Beat it dweeb,” she snapped, “I’m not in the mood!” “Whoa there griffon, what’s got your feathers in a bunch?” I replied “I said beat it, now!” she replied angrily. “I guess you don’t want any more help with your techniques. It’s a shame; I used to love seeing you perform my blueprints for great aerial techniques.” I scoffed. She growled, “Fine! It’s seems that Rainbow Dash has turned into a major Flip flop. That pony Pinkie pie made her so lame! She used to be so cool, but now she’s just a dweeb like you.” “So you met her recently?” I asked. “Yea, I regret it.” She replied. “Where is she now?” I asked “Why do you care?” she replied with suspicion. I got closer to her and yelled, “Because I do! Now tell me, Where is she!?!” She pushed me away, “calm yourself, she’s in that lame town called ponyville.” I backed a little and said, “Thank you.” And I flew off. I knew exactly where ponyville is, I’ve cleared some of the clouds there before. I didn’t know how I’d find her when I got there, but I had to take the chance. I flew as fast I could; I was always a pretty fast flyer. I was nothing special, just slightly above the class average. As I raced towards ponyville, I started to get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was nervous, I haven’t been nervous about something since the last time I saw her. As I got closer, the feeling got more intense. And before I knew it, I was there. As I landed, I heard a loud gasp. A pink pony started running towards my directions. She had a very curly mane and tail, and she seemed very excited. When she finally got to me she took a deep breath and began ramble on, “You must be new here, because I don’t know you, and I know every pony in ponyville, and since I don’t know you that must mean you’re new! Ooh tell me, tell me, tell me what’s your name?” “Uh, well, uh my name’s Aero.” I replied, “What’s your name?” “My name’s Pinkie Pie,” she answered, “Well actually my name is Pinkamena Dianne Pie, but all my friends call me Pinkie Pie, and since you’re my new friend, you can call me Pinkie too!” she gave a great big smile. “Well,” I said “it’s nice to meet you. Can you tell me where I can find…” She cut me off before I could finish my statement, “I’m going to through you the most super-duper looper party you’ve ever seen and I’m gonna invite every pony. I don’t have much time, I gotta get started!” And before I knew it, she was gone. Well, if she was going to invite everypony, then I won’t have to worry about finding rainbow dash. I just needed to find a way to occupy my time until then. I decided to go look around town for a little bit. My exploration of ponyville proved that it has a wide variety of different types of stores and ponies. While looking around, I accidentally bumped into somepony spilling all of her apples she was carrying. She was an orange pony with a blonde mane and tail; she was also wearing a hat. “Oh geez, I’m so sorry. Here, let me help you pick theses apples up” She got up and smiled at me, “oh it’s ok partner, mighty thanks for yer help. And next time, just try to watch where yer going, ok? I laughed a little, “can do.” After we finished picking up the Apples I said to her “I’m sorry again for running into you like that. My name is Aero, and I hope we can still be friends.” “Of course we can sugar cube!” she exclaimed “My name Is Applejack, pleased to make your acquaintance. If you ever need anything, just come on over to sweet apple acres, I’ll be glad to help ya.” “Actually,” I said “Do you know of a pony named Rainbow Dash?” “Do I?” she said “why, she’s one of my best friends. Whatcha need with her?” “I need to find her and talk to her.” I said, “Do you know where I can find her?” She giggled a little “well shucks, that pony is always on the move, looking for her is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Don’t worry though, Pinkie Pie always throws parties for new ponies in town, and everypony will be there. I’m sure you can find her there.” She started walking “I gotta go now, lotta work to be done down on the farm. Like I said, if ya ever need anything just come by I’ll be there.” I shouted out to her “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind! It was nice meeting you!” and then I went off into the other direction. I was glad to have just made a friend, somepony I knew I could count on if I ever needed it. I had a few hours to kill, considering that pinkie is preparing my party. She’s quite a weird one. As I was in my trance like state, my thoughts were interrupted by a purple unicorn. “Why hello new pony, Pinkie told me I could find you somewhere around here. My name is Twilight Sparkle, what’s your name?” “My name is Aero, it’s nice to meet you” I replied. “Well,” she said “I was sent to occupy you and escort you to the party when Pinkie is done the preparations. It seems like you’ve already given yourself the grand tour of ponyville, let’s head back to my house.” She started walking, and I followed closely behind her. She brought me to a library made out of a tree. When we entered, I saw an extremely wide array of books. Anything I could be possibly searching for would be here, granted of course that you could find it amongst all the books. “Welcome to my home!” she exclaimed. “It’s… big!” I said. “How many books do you have here?” “Thousands!” She replied, “I love reading them, and studying up as much as possible. While we are here, tell me about yourself. What brings you to ponyville?” When she asked me that question, it seemed to echo within my mind. Why was I here? Why did I choose to get up and just leave? Even if I find her here, will she want to give me a chance? All these questions filled my head, but they evaporated into an abyss as a greater thought entered my mind. “A chance.” I said. She looked at me in confusion, so I began to explain. “I need a chance, with Rainbow Dash. Ever since the first time I saw her, I’ve been drawn to her like a magnet. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted, her beauty intimidated me. I wanted to talk to her, I wanted to spend time with her, I wanted to kiss her, but I was so fearful of what she would say that I never even tried. I need this chance to redeem myself, I made it my goal. After years of waiting, after many nights wondering, I will make her mine. I can do this, I just need the chance.” Her eyes grew wide and she said, “Well isn’t that cute. Don’t worry; I’ll give you as much help as possible. Rainbow Dash may take a little bit of convincing, but I’m sure you can do it. You seem like you have enough determination to do it!” For the next few hours we talked, played a few board games with Spike, and as the dusk started to come, we prepared for the party. As we were about to leave for the party, we heard a knock at the door. Twilight went to go answer the door and on the other side was a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail. She was carrying a black suit. “It’s good to see you twilight.” She said as she walking into the room. “You too Rarity!” she replied “what’s the suit for?” “Well Pinkie told me that there was a new Pegasus pony in town and she was throwing a party for him. She told me I could find him with you, so I decided to make him a little ‘welcome to ponyville’ present for him.” She turned to me “It would look much better if I had your exact measurements darling, but I simply did not have enough time. I hope you enjoy it.” She handed me the suit, “it looks fantastic, I’ll go upstairs and try it on!” I started to walk up the stairs. “Ok darling,” called Rarity, “take your time, just remember we have a party to go to so hurry up!” Well that’s a contradiction, but hey I got a free suit so I can’t complain. I went to twilight’s room and began to change. When I was finished changing I noticed that twilight had a picture on her dresser. It was a picture of all her friends, but what really caught my eye was Rainbow Dash. She still looked as beautiful as I remember. “It begins.” I said to myself. I proceeded to walk downstairs. “You look fabulous sweetheart!” she yelled to me. “Thank you.” I replied, “Well, I suppose we should leave. Don’t want to be late for the party now do we?” “Well, let’s get moving then.” Said twilight, “The party is being held at Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s bakery, so it won’t take anytime at all to get there.” We started to walk to the bakery. As we we’re walking there, I explained my situation to Rarity. “Well rainbow dash is not the most elegant pony I’ve ever seen,” she said. Twilight gave her a face of disappointment. “But um, well, she can be a very good friend. And you two would make a cute couple.” Almost as soon as we had left, we were there. Twilight was joking about it not taking any time at all. As we walked in, I saw all the ponies of Ponyville. Pinkie Pie had truly invited everypony here. There was confetti everywhere, tons of balloons, and more sweets and pastries than a pony with a sweet tooth could dream for. Pinkie Pie burst out of the crowed and yelled “hey everypony, this is the new pony in town I was telling you all about!” Suddenly the attention in the room shifted towards me. I began to greet everypony in the room and make small talk with them, glancing around for any sign of Rainbow Dash. One by one, I met everypony in town but there was still no sign of her. I was ready to give up, when I heard the door fly open. She walked in, looking very seraphic. She was the epitome of beauty and precision. She was Rainbow Dash. She was my love. This was it. This was my chance. “Sorry I’m late everypony,” she said entering the room “I was practicing a new trick and I kinda lost track of time. So who’s the new pony in town?’ “It’s me Rainbow.” I said to her . She turned around and exclaimed. “Aero? It’s been so long! How have you been? What brings you to ponyville?” I took a deep breath and said “Well I came to see you, and I’m great now that I’ve finally found you.” She blushed a little “you came all the way from cloudsdale just to see me?” “It's a little more than that.” I replied. “When we were in flight school I thought you were the most beautiful pony I had ever seen. You were the best at flying, you did it so gracefully. You were so confident, and you had reason to be. Ever since the first time I met you, I’ve wanted to ask you out. I tried to must up the courage, but I never could in time. I’ve waited all this time, for this moment. There’s no backing out now. Rainbow Dash, would you like to go on a date with me?” before I could even hear her answer, I felt a sensation of relief. I was glad to have that off of my chest. Her face began to blush bright crimson red. “That’s very nice of you to say Aero, I…” But her sentence was cut short but the door flying open again. This time, we were graced with a face that I none of us were too fond of. It appears Gilda paid us a visit. “I thought I’d find you here dweeb, trying to brown nose rainbow dash huh?” “Gilda!?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash “what are you doing here? I thought ponyville was too ‘lame’ for you” “I’m not here for you Flip Flop,” she snarled, “I’m here for him” and she pointed towards me. “I need to start practicing if I want to be called the best flyer in Equestria and knock you outta the sky. And I need him to help me do, so come on dweeb!” I stood up as tall as I could and yelled “No!” She looked surprised. “What did you just say to me?” With confidence in my voice I replied “I said no! You don’t own me; you don’t get to tell what to do and when to do it.” “Please,” she scoffed “I’m stronger than you, faster than you, and better than you. You’d be nothing without me!” “Prove it.” I said. Looking surprised again she replied. “Challenge accepted. Follow me” and she began walking outside. I followed right behind her. She pointed to a cloud towards the center of the town. “First one to that cloud and back wins. That’ll prove who the best is.” I smiled to her “deal”. I was insanely nervous though. I was hoping that by some miracle I would beat Gilda and impress Rainbow Dash. Stranger things have happened I suppose, I needed to give it a shot. Spike came between us and started to shout “Racers take your marks,” we spread our wings. “Get set,” we got into position. This is it, the second before the start is always the longest. I could feel the all the thoughts racing through my mind. A bead of sweat started to drip down my face. And then it came. “Go!” And we went. Gilda was slightly ahead of me. I could try to go a fast, but I would burn too much energy. I’d have to wait until the last stretch of the race to give it my all. Gilda hit the cloud first, then so did I. As I turned around I started to flap my wings as hard as I could. Gilda seemed a bit surprised to see her and I tied for first. She and I were neck and neck; we were rapidly getting close to the finish line. And then we crossed. I had lost. Gilda had won, she beat me. I hung my head in shame. “I told you dweeb,” Gilda said panting “I’m the best. Now come on we’re leaving” “No!” someone from the crowd shouted. “He’s not going anywhere.” Out from the crowd walked Rainbow Dash. “It doesn’t matter if he won or loss, he’s still a better friend than you! He staying here in ponyville, you can’t make him leave.” “Keep him then!” yelled Gilda Angrily “I don’t need him. I’ve proven I’m the best, he’s old news.” She turned to me “you should have come with me dweeb, I could have made you famous.” She glanced at Rainbow Dash one last time, before flying away. I turned away from the group in shame. I didn’t win; I couldn’t even properly impress the girl of my dreams. Rainbow Dash came over to me. “What’s the matter?” she said “I just stood up to Gilda for you, so why are you so gloom?” “I lost.” I replied “I wanted to win to try and Impress you. I failed you, I’m sorry.” She laughed, put her hoof on my face, raised it up, and kissed me. I was surprised, I wasn’t expecting this. I could feel her tongue in my mouth messaging mine. My reaction was to message her tongue back. She pulled away a little and said “I like a guy with confidence. You don’t need to impress me; you just need to be confident.” And she began to kiss me again, this time more aggressively. I could feel this warm feeling in my heart. I knew she was that special pony for me. She pulled away again and said, “come on, there’s a lot of party left for everypony to enjoy. Do you have a place to stay?” I replied “actually I don’t” “Well you do know,” she exclaimed “you’re staying at my place. Hope you don’t mind, I’m a bit forward.” I giggled “ok, but you have to go on a date with me this weekend.” She gave a big smile “there’s the confidence I like, you got yourself a deal.” And then we walked back into the party. I may have lost the race, but I have won the prize. All of my hard work has paid off; I finally have the pony of my dreams. After a long night of partying, we went back to Rainbow Dash’s house. Needless to say we explored other pleasures of the flesh. I awoke the next day at dawn, noticing my Beautiful rainbow lying asleep next to me. She is everything I could ask for. She is my prize, she is my love. I may have lost that race, but I won the prize: Love.