//------------------------------// // Friends With Benefits / First Date // Story: A New Magician in Town // by BlackMetalPony //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash lazed about on a fluffy cloud, above the drizzling rainclouds she had just placed above Ponyville. Just as she began to fall asleep, basking in the rays of the moon, she heard a small noise. It sounded like a tiny animal had hurt itself. Meh, I’m sure Fluttershy’ll take care of it. A couple seconds later she heard the whimper again, and again in another second. Okay, that definitely isn’t an animal. Rainbow concluded that it was somepony who probably just had a bad day. The pegasus suddenly felt a bit bad about putting rainclouds directly over a crying pony. Ah well, such is life. She let out a semi-audible chuckle. But wait a sec, who could that be? The only pony who’d be walking around out here after dark... She immediately flared her wings and rolled off her cloud. The only pony who’d be out here after dark... is Fluttershy. And the only reason she’d be walking on this path, is if she went to visit Shadow. And now she’s crying. Buck... The rainclouds practically disappeared as Rainbow Dash shot through them, coming to the aid of her sobbing friend, whose animals had long since ran ahead to escape the rain. She saw Fluttershy, slowly walking along the road, her head hung so low her mane was dragging in the mud. But Fluttershy didn’t care, she didn’t care about anything, she hardly noticed the fact that the rain above her suddenly stopped. In fact, she hardly flinched when Rainbow set down beside her, and pulled her in close with a wing. Without saying anything, Fluttershy accepted her friends comfort. “C’mon Shy, how about we get back to your cottage and I’ll make us a nice warm drink, and we can talk about whatever’s got you down. Hm?” Without raising her head, Fluttershy gave a choked noise of agreement. The two slowly walked through the mud until they reached a quaint cottage. After rubbing their hooves on the doorstep, they entered into a warm and welcoming room. Suddenly, Fluttershy threw her forelegs around Rainbow Dash’s neck and began to cry. “Oh Dashie, I don’t know why I get like this sometime. I-I-I’m sorry for dragging you all the way out here.” She managed to speak without choking between words for the most part. But whenever she paused, she buried her head in Rainbow’s mane and sobbed. “There there, don’t worry about it.” Rainbow replied with a smile. “I mean, what are best friends for?” Hearing this cheered up Fluttershy a bit, and she paused her crying long enough for her pull Rainbow Dash in even closer and hug her tightly. “So how’s about I go make some tea, you sit down on the couch, and I’ll be there in a minute. K?” Fluttershy nodded and started to sob again. Seeing that Fluttershy was in a delicate state, Rainbow Dash walked her over to the couch before venturing into the kitchen. Rainbow Dash, by her own admittance, was not the most comforting of ponies, but with Fluttershy, something was different. She had known her ever since they were fillies, and she hadn’t seen Fluttershy this bad since back in flight school. The rainbow maned pony re-emerged holding a tray that held a steaming kettle, two teacups, and some sugarcubes. Placing the tray on a small table she sat down next to her friend, and wrapped her strong forelegs around her. “Now how about you tell Dashie all about it.” Rainbow Dash adopted a very maternal tone. Ironically, it was something she had learned from Fluttershy after watching her console many a pony. Fluttershy tried to let at least a few words out, but all she managed to do was sob, and bury her head in Rainbow’s shoulder, in her soft rainbow mane. Seeing that Fluttershy just needed to sit in silence, Rainbow pulled her friend in closer, and gently stroked her mane. A long time passed with nothing being said. The roaring fire was reduced to searing embers, and the steaming tea had grown cold. Rainbow Dash sat patiently, showing nothing but the deepest concern for her fellow pegasus. However, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander a little bit. Every now and then she’d find herself staring at the fire, thinking of her favourite pony. Spitfire’s slender body, the tempting way she moved, her glorious wings, her captivating gaze. You dirty filly, what are you doing? Now is not the time to let your mind wander, she’d think to herself everytime she felt her wings begin to rise. Fluttershy felt warm, being pressed against her friend’s firm body. She pretended not to notice whenever Rainbow went off into one of her fantasies. The faster heartbeat, the slightly heavier breathing, being pulled in even closer, they were all telltale signs of her oldest friend’s fantasies. But still, she pretended to not notice them, she was comfortable where she was. When Fluttershy had finally stopped sobbing, the two sat together, just enjoying the companionship they provided to each other. “Hey Shy, y’know... If this is about Shadow, I really am sorry for sorta.. yknow.. bugging you two.” Rainbow ran her hoof along Fluttershy’s supple waist. “Is it... like... about him?” Fluttershy snuffled her nose before giving a response. “...Sort of...” the mare practically whispered back. “Yeah, so... sorry about all that. Like, at Pinkie’s party, I was being a bit of a bitch.” “It’s okay Dashie, I’m not mad about that... anymore.” Fluttershy smiled and hugged her friend closer. After the apology the two decided to welcome silence once more, holding the other was all they wanted. “Hey Fluttershy? Why were you at Shadow’s today?” Rainbow Dash finally spoke up, hoping she wasn’t crossing over any boundaries. “Oh... I was just bringing him a welcoming basket to... welcome him.” “And that made you cry? What did he say? I got the impression that he can be rather blunt sometimes.” Fluttershy began to smile and cry at the same time. “Well... He was with Twilight.” Rainbow wasn’t sure what to make of her friends new expression. She began to cry harder than ever, but she was trying to laugh between sobs. “He was with Twilight and they were... close.” At this point Fluttershy broke into a full blown giggle, still crying, but a giggle nonetheless. Sensing that her friend was in a bit better spirits than before, Rainbow Dash decided to go out on a limb. “Oh well, Shy, let me tell you, you’re not missing out on much.” Rainbow said with a grin that had a hint of playfulness. “And how would you know that Ms. Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy responded, holding back her tears and replacing them with a tiny smile. “Let’s just say Pinkie Pie throws some good parties.” Both ponies smiled, and relaxed in each other’s arms. After a moment Fluttershy broke the silence. “So wait did you two actually-” “Ew no! We just made out a bit. Then Berry Punch decided to drop by and say hi.” Both ponies laughed at the mental image of Berry Punch stumbling in on the two. “Well, Twilight seemed to be enjoying herself.” Fluttershy said after a pause, with a hint resent. “I think in Twilight’s case, as long as her coltfriend has as many books as she does, she would be enjoying herself.” “I do seem to remember some books lying on the floor nearbye.” “There ya go!” Once again they both laughed and drew their bodies closer together. “Hey Shy?” “Yeah Dashie?” “Remember back in flight school when we...” Rainbow paused, this was one of the few times she was short for words. “When we what Dashie?” “When we were... fooled around?” For once, Rainbow Dash’s voice sounded nervous. “Mmmmm, how could I forget Dashie?” “Hehe, those were good times eh? Flight school seems like such a long time ago.” Dash smiled nostalgically and stroked Fluttershy’s soft, slightly mud-tipped mane. Fluttershy placed her hoof on Rainbow’s belly, and slowly drew a pattern up and down her body. “Well, I still have my favourite part of flight school right here. I could forget the rest, but as long as my Dashie is still here, I have everything I need.” Fluttershy couldn’t restrain herself anymore, she tilted her head up, and grazed her lips against the side of Rainbow’s mouth. She slowly dragged her lips into the center of Rainbow’s mouth, where her lips were softest. As Fluttershy’s tongue slipped into Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus gave a little squeak, she hadn’t seen her friend this lively since back in flight school. Rainbow always loved the relationship she had with Fluttershy, they as close as lovers, except all they ever expected from each other, was friendship. Remembering just what her friend liked, Rainbow Dash quickly rolled so that she was kneeling upright on the couch, with Fluttershy between her legs, and her wings fully spread. Fluttershy wrapped her arms around Rainbow’s waist and pulled her body in close. Rainbow deftly placed her right knee between Fluttershy’s legs. In response, the excited yellow mare spread her legs. They continued to wrestle tongues. “Dashie, you know that I love you right?” Fluttershy asked as she broke the kiss and began to nibble on her friends neck. “Mhmmm, and I love you too Fluttershy.” Rainbow said with a moan. Fluttershy lifter her head back up, and looked her pegaus compaion right in the eyes. No words were said. No words needed to be said. Both ponies held each other tightly, and enjoyed the warmth the other provided, as they embraced each other in a warm wet kiss. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bucking hell. Dates, why must fillies always want to go on dates. I can think of at least two things that are more fun than going out, eating, then doing something mundanely amusing. At the mention of eating, Shadow’s stomach gave a little rumble. Ok, maybe that part isn’t too bad. He looked around at where he was, he realized that he was sitting in the middle of an empty room, alphabetically organizing books, and he was less than mundanely amused. Ok, ok, maybe this won’t so bad. After a brief mental image of Twilight Sparkle popped into his head, Shadow rather looked forward to seeing her again. After making a cup of Fluttershy’s tea and sitting in his favourite corner, Shadow looked out at the sun. Ehhh, about six o’clock. Twilight said I should be there about six... I should get going soon. Shadow stared at the sun, he pondered why ponies so quickly praised Celestia for her sun, and so rashly scoffed at Luna’s moon. Taking another sip of his tea, Shadow felt some flecks of tea leaves wash around in his mouth. He looked down at his cup. He frowned, it was empty. Ah well, looks like I have no more excuses. After setting the empty mug on the floor, Shadow closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Twilight had given him directions to her library from Sugarcube Corner, since that was the only place in Ponyville he really knew how to get too. Shadow pictured the oversized pastry in his mind, the area around it, the smell, the way the air felt. His horn gave off a slight glow. The sensation of being in front of the sweet shop overwhelmed him, his memory became crushingly vivid, it was as if he was there. In that moment Shadow cast the spell. Shadow opened his eyes, and saw the sugary building in front of him. “AAHH! They’re coming for me! I must protect the sacred rocks!” Without notice, a wild pink pony ran up and tackled Shadow, incoherently shouting about protecting something. He managed to catch a glance at the pony as she was flying through the air and realized who it was. Uhg, she’s just being Pinkie Pie, Shadow reminded himself. Remembering Twilight’s advice, Shadow decided not to zap her with his dark magic. He simply grabbed hold of the ponies swinging forehooves and looked her in they eye. “Pinkie... Pinkie! It’s me, remember, Shadow?” “Oh! It’s you! Shadow!” Pinkie’s expression quickly switched from one of berserker rage, to one of elation. “Yup that’s me.” “Oh you! It’s like you just popped up out of nowhere!” “I did Pinkie Pie... I used a teleportation spell.” “Teleportation spell!? I know those! Twilight uses those all the time! Especially when she’s crazy!” “...When she’s crazy?” “Oh yeah! Twilight Sparkle is one crazy filly!” Shadow’s brain frowned. Coming from you that means a lot. “Sorry, did you say something Shadow?” “Hm? Oh... nope...” “Heehee, I thought I heard you mumble something.” Pinkie gave a psychotically wide grin. “Nope...” Shadow gave a nervous grin. I really need to stop thinking out loud. “Hm?” Buck! “I said: I really need to start thinking now...luck!” His nervous grin widened. “About what...?” Pinkie’s expression became strangely inquisitory. “About going to go see Twilight of course!” Shadow attempted a chuckle, but ended up sounding like something was lodged in his oesophagus. “Okie-Dokie-Lokie! It’s super rawesome that Twilight has a coltfriend who’s punctual!” “What? She’s not... my... marefri-” “Have a nice date!” Pinkie suddenly bolted away, destination unknown. Shadow stood in a little cloud of dust. Sweet Celestia's sun, do these mares tell each other everything? Shadow followed the rather complicated directions that Twilight had given him. He had to admit, he was impressed at the detail that had gone into them. If there was one thing that he had learned from the rumours about her that circulated around Canterlot’s students, was that she was smart. Really smart. Shadow wondered how this would play out. Although he never would admit it, he always felt a little intimidated when another pony could outwit him. On the other hand, when he was obviously smarter than the ponies around him, he often became easily annoyed. Maybe that’s why I never had any really close friends back in Canterlot. I suppose I can be a bit of a dick sometimes. But I haven’t been since I got here. Well... at least not in a major way. I suppose I should ball up and give this dating thing a chance, I mean, what harm can come of it? Before he knew it, there Shadow stood, in front of a large tree. Well, this tree seems fit to the description Twi gave. How the hay did this tree end up as a library though? Shadow decided not to question Ponyville’s ways and began to walk towards the door. Suddenly, he heard a voice call out to him. “Shadow! SHADOW! I’m so sorry I’m late!” Twilight was franticly cantering in his direction. “I am so sorry I’m late. I volunteer sometimes at a support group for alcoholic ponies and it ran later than I expected and I’m really sorry th-” Shadow cut the mare’s rapid apology short. “Don’t worry about it, it happens to the best of us.” He smiled sincerely. Something about Twilight made him feel forgiving, even if there really was nothing to forgive. Maybe it’s her shade of purple, he wondered as he checked out the flustered filly. She smiled back at him and continued to speak. “I hope you weren’t waiting long Shadow.” “Oh, not too long.” He replied, knowing very well that he had just arrived. “Why didn’t you just use a teleportation spell or something though? Would’ve saved you time I’m sure.” Twilight inhaled deeply, as if about to give a little speech. She was. “Well! I thought that if I teleported I might miss you, because if you got here early, and waited until six o’clock, and saw that I wasn’t home, you might knock on the door. If you knocked on the door, Spike would answer. If Spi-“ “Wait wait wait... Who’s Spike?” Shadow interrupted. Twilight grinned at his question. “He’s my assistant” “Oh. Ok, you were saying?” “I was saying; If Spike answered the door, you would ask where I was. He’d tell you that I was at the Ponyville medical center. You would probably try and go looking for me and-” Shadow smiled in his mind. Nope! He thought, although he would’ve waited for quite a while. “-and if you went looking for me you wouldn’t be able to teleport there, because you’ve never been to the medical center. So if you walked, and I teleported, we would have missed each other. So I decided I should just gallop here as fast I could. So...yeah. Sorry.” Twilight ended her speech with a sheepish grin. Shadow gave her a warm smile. Even though Twilight seemed a tad out there, Shadow admired her mental process. He saw somepony who thought the same way he did, even if they were a bit more charitable in their thoughts. “Was there by any chance a pink earth pony there? Grapes and a strawberry for a cutie mark? Goes by Berry Punch?” Shadow asked. Twilight paused before she answered “...I’m supposed to keep it anonymous.” “Oh. Haha. Fair enough I suppose.” An awkward silence ensued. “So this Spike guy... Been your assistant long?” Shadow attempted to make conversation, the awkwardness began to grow to... awkward. “Mhm, ever since my first day as a student.” “Oh wow, he must be quite the pony.” Twilight giggled at the preconception. “Haha Shadow, Spike’s not a pony. He’s a dragon.” Shadow’s eyes bolted open. “You mean... A dragon? As in, a dragon dragon?” “Mhm” The mare couldn’t help but smile “Do you think I could. Um. Meet him?” “'Course!” Twilight let out a loud shout. “Spike! Could you come outside for a second!?” Within ten seconds a small, purplish reptile emerged from the door. “What is it Twili- Oh! This must be Shadow! Pleased to meet you Shadow!” Spike smiled anxiously. Shadow leaned his head in to Twilight. “I honestly thought he’d be bigger.” “Well he is a baby dragon.” “Well maybe if somepony specified the baby part-” Shadow punctuated his sentence with a playful poke at Twilight’s ribs. Twilight giggled and gave Shadow a quick hug. “Wanna get going?” The mare said. “Sounds dandy” Shadow replied, amused with the filly’s playfulness. With that, the two began to walk down the street. Well, it looks like this could end up being fun, Shadow admitted to himself as he looked over at the cute filly trotting beside him. “Um, guys? Was that all you wanted? Guys?!” Spike stood on the doorstep shouting. He gave up waiting after a few minutes, and decided to spend the rest of his evening doing nothing important. “So I thought that since you’re new to Ponyville, we should go to one of its finer establishments, The Silver Palette.” “Sounds fancy” “Just a bit... I hope you don’t mind.” “Oh, nope. I can be classy when I try.” Shadow imitated his Canterlot counterparts, nose in the air, eyes almost closed, and a look of boredom across his face. His all-too-accurate impression made Twilight laugh. “I know that kind all too well. But don’t worry, I have a feeling we won’t run into any of those ponies in Ponyville.” “Phew, I suppose that means I should stop walking like this eh?” “Just maybe.” The ponies shared a laugh as they approached the refined cafe. After being seated and ordering their respective dishes, Shadow asked a question that made Twilight just a bit annoyed. “So, you’ve met Princess Luna. What’s she like?” Twilight hadn’t gathered all her courage up to go on an actual date so she could talk about Luna! She felt like saying that, but wisely took the high road. “Weeeell, she’s an alicorn... and a princess... sooo yup! That’s Luna. A bit loud at times too.” “Oh... That’s nice I suppose... I mean, her being princess and all... and stuff. Yeah.” Shadow foresaw the evening turning sour from here on out. Whenever he started to misplace his words, bad things happened. But before things had the chance to get any worse, a waiter who posed in the same manner that Shadow had mocked earlier, approached the table. “Rockford Blanc hay et greens for ze mademoiselle. Spicy herbs et greens for ze monsieur.” “Thank you very much.” Twilight said politely before the waiter trotted away. “Thanks!” Shadow called back after the waiter was halfway to the kitchen. Twilight smiled, she tried to think of something interesting to say. “Do you know why my hay and greens are going to make me happier than yours?” She really had no clue why she said that, and scolded herself as she made a mental note never to say that again. Shadow on the other hand, was rather amused at the question. “Not a clue.” He smiled extra wide as he face-dived into his meal to make the point that spicy hay really made him quite happy. Twilight figured she was already neck deep in the stupid question, so she might as well plunge in. “Well, it’s because Rockford Blanc greens, which means White Rockford greens, actually releases a naturally produced chemical, which stimulates your-” “Your selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors?” Shadow interrupted. Twilight was shocked at the fact that Shadow knew what she was talking about. “Y-yeah. Which means that you-” “Get happier?” The dark unicorn cut off his date once more. His date didn’t really mind however, as she was in shock. “Th-that’s right! That’s completely right!” Shadow smirked at Twilights disbelief. “Hm, that’s rather interesting. But think about this; ever since I was a young colt, I always ate spicy foods when I was having a good time, which means that I had high levels of dopamine whenever I at spicy foods right?” “Right.” “So, now, whenever I eat spicy food, I’ve trained my brain to release dopamine, to make me happy. Now tell me who’s dinner is going to make them more happy.” Shadow smiled and leaned across the table. The ball was now in Twilight’s court. “Oh, well, that’s just a textbook case of classical positive stimuli conditioning. Nothing special. But I have in front of me actual food that makes me happy on a neurological level.” “But mine does to! It’s just something that I’ve had to train over the years though. Auto-neural conditioning doesn’t happen overnight!” Both ponies laughed as if one of them had made a joke, but both knew they were just laughing at themselves. Twilight looked deep into Shadow’s eyes as they discussed whatever overly complicated subject came up. She had never been able to act this smart with her other friends. Twilight felt her body become warm, she always read that intelligence was the strongest aphrodisiac.