Not a Date, A Challenge!
Chapter 6
Dumbbell and Hoops were greeted to the vibrant hum from the semi-crowded stands of the cloudosseum.
“Hey there’s a good spot over there!” Hoops pointed to a cloud seat that was high but not too high that they wouldn’t be able to see anything. Below them it was easy to tell what the day’s event was going to be. A team relay chariot race—a favorite event for pegasi who decided to spend their day watching sports, second only to aerial jousting. The first few rounds were just beginning; the three teams were hitching their starter ponies up to their chariots, each one customized and decorated to represent their teams.
“Hey, it’s those Drumfire guys!” Dumbbell pointed excitedly at the last and rowdiest looking of the teams. Two stallions and a mare, all looking tough and wild. Some were waving and posturing back at the cheering crowd while their largest flier was making a show of balancing their chariot on just his extended hind leg and tossing it in the air before catching it again with a well-placed forehoof.
“Those aren’t made out of clouds, you know,” said Hoops admiringly before taking a large bite out of his fresh pretzel.
“They all love to act like a bunch of peacocks!” Dumbbell shouted towards the Drumfires, unimpressed by the chariot juggling act.
"And you don't?" Hoops asked.
“ATTENTION!” a voice boomed. “Are you hot-blooded colts and fillies ready for a real treat?” The crowd roared in response.
“Well, you better be,” the announcer yelled back, “because our final contestants are none other than the legendary Drumfires!”
Hoops cheered through a mouthful of pretzel. The crowd were positively ecstatic as the Drumfires flew over to the racetrack and prepared themselves.
“This race is going to be like no other!” the announcer continued.
“Will the Drumfires be able to maintain their unstoppable winning streak, or will the Talonstorms be able to snatch back a victory they so desperately need to get their place in the finals? It all comes down to this race, folks!”
“Psh, give me a break,” Dumbbell sighed. “The Talonstorms don’t even stand a chance.”
“Are you kidding?” Hoops replied. “Have you not seen their track record?”
“Yeah, but they’ve been doing consistently bad this year. Swifty ain't as good as he used to be.”
“Well you gotta hand it to him. He can come up with that extra hit of endurance when he needs to.”
Their conversation was stifled by the announcer and a blare of trumpets marking the start of the race.
“On your marks! Get set! GO!” A loud pop and a streamer of colored smoke shot into the air.
“And they’re off!” the announcer screamed over the cheering ponies in the stand. The first runners launched from their platforms, chariots in tow.
Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, it was Rarity and Fluttershy’s spa day. Rarity was brisk and talkative as they entered the building while Fluttershy did more listening than talking as usual.
“Oh you just have no idea! I’m telling you, Fluttershy, that Roseluck is biting off far more than she can chew with that stallion. I mean an apiarist and a flower merchant, can you even imagine?”
The little yellow pegasus creased her brow in thought before responding.
“I don’t think the notion is too bad. I mean the partnership seems to be beneficial to both. Think of all the pollination they’d be able to do.” she said, which earned a tittering laugh from Rarity.
“Well, if you put it that way, Fluttershy-” She cut herself short when they entered the main spa area.
“Good morning, Aloe. Fluttershy and I are here for the usual, and we’d like to start with the hot tub herbal soak, please.”
They paid their bits and were quickly situated in the spa’s central hot tub. Luckily they were the only two using it which gave them the privacy to converse freely. Rarity continued to gab while Fluttershy nodded and added to the conversation whenever she could find an opening. The unicorn’s topic of discussion drifted between business opportunities and romance, sometimes referencing a romance novel she was reading about two business ponies from competing companies having a clandestine summer fling. There the topic hung while they soaked in the soothing herbal bath, though Fluttershy’s involvement lessened more and more and her attitude became sullen. It didn’t take too long for Rarity to realize she was talking to herself.
“Fluttershy, is there something wrong?”
At first Fluttershy didn’t appear to be listening, looking down at the submerged half of her body.
Rarity leaned in closer. “Fluttershy?” Fluttershy jolted out of her daydream, blinking several times before looking at her friend. She looked conscience-stricken.
“Oh it’s n-nothing. I was just thinking...” the yellow pegasus trailed off, looking back at the lightly swirling water.
“You’re not usually like this, dear. Our spa dates are meant to relax, release, and rejuvenate!”
“I know,” Fluttershy replied, “I’m just a little distracted, that’s all.”
“Distracted?” Rarity asked in concern. “By what? Is everything alright?”
“Oh, no. Everything’s fine. Don’t worry, Rarity.”
“Is it a stallion?” Rarity pressed with a mischievous smile. Fluttershy’s face reddened and she retreated behind her mane, “No! Nothing like that,” Fluttershy squeaked. “Well, sort of.”
“Sort of?” Rarity hummed.
“I...” Fluttershy’s voice died away as she struggled to think of something to say. “I think I really messed something up the other day.”
“Oh dear. What went wrong, if you don’t mind me asking?” Rarity gave her friend a confiding smile. “You know you can trust me with anything.”
“Well, it’s just that—and it’s been bothering me all day—I went to Rainbow Dash’s house yesterday to help her clean up the mess the young hydra made.”
Rarity raised a hoof up to her mouth. “The same one that nearly crushed my boutique? Oh no, what happened to Rainbow Dash’s house?”
“It’s still in one piece, don’t worry.” Fluttershy assured her. “But the inside was a complete mess, so after she helped Pinkie and I bring the hydra back to Froggy Bottom Bog, I went back the next day to help her put things back in order.”
“I see...”
“And well... I made it to her front door and...” Fluttershy paused, glancing away.
“Yes?”
Fluttershy sank back into the whirlpool. “And the pony who answered the door...” her voice trembled as her throat tightened. “Wasn’t Rainbow Dash.”
A moment of silence stood between them before Fluttershy’s words registered. “Oh... I see.” Rarity glanced at the ceiling as if letting all of her thoughts tumble into place, then she smiled. “I see!” Rarity leaned back towards Fluttershy before she had time to react.
“Who was he?” Rarity asked, taking Fluttershy by surprise.
“Wh-who was he?” she stammered.
“Yes, yes! Oh, please tell me you know who he was!”
“Well...it was...um...” Fluttershy shifted away just a few inches but Rarity quickly recovered that small distance. “It was-uh...”
“Was it that handsome Captain of the Wonderbolts?” Rarity interrupted eagerly.
Fluttershy shook her head feebly and retreated again. “No.”
“Hmmm, how about that rather dashing cadet I met when we visited Rainbow Dash at the academy? Thunderlane!”
“Um, no,” Fluttershy whispered as she sank further down into the water to hide.
Rarity sighed, “Well then, who was it?”
Fluttershy looked at Rarity pleadingly, “I’m not sure Rainbow Dash would—”
“Tell me, tell me, tell me!” Rarity begged.
Fluttershy whimpered and withdrew herself under the water until Rarity could only see the teal of her eyes and the pink of her mane.
“Dumbbell,” Fluttershy mumbled into the water. The name came out in an incomprehensible ripple of bubbles.
Rarity frowned, flicking her ear. “Say that again?”
“Dumbbell,” she repeated, more firmly this time.
“Dumbbell? Who’s that?” Rarity asked.
“Umm, well... he’s a... a friend from school. You might have met him that one time when you and Rainbow Dash performed in the Young Flier’s Competition?”
“Oh, that competition.”
“Yes,” Fluttershy continued, “Well Dumbbell was the stallion who... complimented your wings while we were giving you a tour of the weather factory.” Immediately Fluttershy remembered that pretty much everyone in the weather factory had paid compliment to her wings, save for those in the snowflake department. “Brown coat, blonde mane, muscular?”
Rarity, ever the socialite, had to sort through the dozen to a hundred or so faces in her mind in an attempt to remember a stallion she had met only once. Just how blonde was his mane? What was the color of his eyes? How tall was he?
“I think I may remember him, although not very much. But, anypony who complimented those deceptively beautiful wings must have good taste!”
Fluttershy grimaced slightly. Apparently Rarity hadn’t picked up on Dumbbell’s sarcasm, and she had certainly been too busy enjoying her own temporary limelight to have heard the insults.
Oh, Rarity.
The unicorn did a quick double take. “You did say he’s a friend, correct? Or is there something else I should be concerned about?”
Fluttershy smiled. “No it’s just... history. But it doesn’t matter. Ponies change.”
“You’re gonna need an extra team member! I’ve got my grandmother on speed dial!” laughed Dumbbell.
“C’mon, Silverwing! Don’t let that lightweight pass you up.” shouted Hoops.
Dumbbell and Hoops weren’t the only ponies cheering and heckling in the stands. Though they were probably doing more than a lion’s share. Both had bits on the line...with each other. And neither of them wanted their favorite team to lose. Their calls were muted in the cacophony hoots and excited hollers that escalated every time one racer overtook the other, who were practically on top of each other as they rounded the turn and belted down the straight a way with the weighted chariots trailing behind.
“And they round the corner with Highball in an aggressive lead! But Silverwing is gaining ground, and Tango’s sharp moves through the obstacle course is earning her points! This race is more than just speed, it’s also skill! Silverwing’s caught up, they’re neck and neck! This could be a photo finish!”
Only a few meters from the finish line, the lead racer twisted in his harness as if trying to direct his body towards the stands. His Chariot swung around, nearly smacking Silverwing in the face. She swerved, and dodged disaster by inches. The crowd of ponies gasped as Highball lost control and hit against the partition. His chariot wedged into the cloud material and stuck tight, leaving the race pony to dangle hopelessly by the harness.
“Oh! Looks like we have our first wipe out! I don’t know if the Drumfires will be able to recover from it in time!”
A trio of ponies who waited on the edge of the course flew to the disabled racer, helping him escape his harness and quickly dislodge the chariot from the partition that separated the racers from the crowd.
“Woah, that looked pretty bad.” said Hoops, sitting down after the fever of the crowd seemed to dampen. “Think it was a wing cramp?”
“Probably. But if it’s worse then they’re a player short.”
Hoops grinned. “Then the Talonstorms are gonna win it!”
“By a technicality, and that’s not a real win.” Dumbbell scowled as he watched the trio of aid ponies helping Highball to the medical station. The race continued unabated and as soon as the downed chariot had been pulled out of the cloud, the winner had crossed the finish line. The cheers of the crowd swelled.
“The winner is Silverwing by a mile!”
As with every round, the two friends watched as the obstacles on the race track began to morph and repair itself with the aid of pegasus magic. The weave poles moved closer together and the cloud hoops rearranged to make navigating them more difficult. The next round would start in only a few minutes, with the next round of fliers stepping up to the starting line. Drumfire hadn’t returned from the medical station and it was assumed by most that he wasn’t coming out. Hoops turned towards his friend with a smirk.
“Highball is the Drumfire’s best flier, dude, they’re so done for.”
Dumbbell’s look was one of defiance. “Not if I can help it.” he said as he stood up and spread his wings, the ponies on his left side ducked and scooted away while uttering complaints.
“What are you doing?” Hoops asked, just barely able to hear himself over the congregation.
“Here, hold onto my pretzel for me, would ya?” Dumbbell said and pushed the snack towards his friend. “I’m not about ta’ lose another bet to you!” He flew out of the stands, in the direction of the food courts before Hoops could get a word in.
“Running away isn’t gonna change anything! You still owe me fifty bits from the last time! Just get it over with!”
But Dumbbell didn’t respond and was soon out of sight.
“Huh, sore loser.” Hoops muttered. The game was far from over and he didn’t want to lose his seat just to get up and go after his friend. He’d tell him the score when it ended. He turned back to look down at the racing course. There was usually a brief pause between rounds so the teams could set up their next racer. But with the Drumfires down a flier, Hoops was expecting an announcement of elimination.
A pegasus flew out from one of the locker rooms to the platform at the center of the arena. Hoops hadn’t seen him though, at that moment wondering if it was worth slipping away to buy another pretzel, when a mare from the row just above Hoops leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder. He jolted and turned around to face the pretty red pony.
“What's up, babe?”
“Hey, isn’t that your friend down there?”
Hoops tilted his head in confusion. Who? What friend? Dumbbell hadn’t come back already, had he?
“Look, down there!” the red mare pointed towards the center of the stadium and Hoops followed her gaze. Moments later the announcer’s voice coursed throughout the cloudosseum.
“Looks like there’s been a new development, ponies! The Drumfires have enlisted a substitute racer! Lucky for them, they’ve avoided disqualification!”
‘What?’ There was no way! Unless they had a reserve flier, and going by what the announcer had just said a minute ago, that hadn’t been the case! Hoops squinted towards the central platform. It didn’t take him long to recognize the form of his friend decked out in the Drumfire uniform. He choked on his pretzel.
“What?!”
It was safe to say that the Drumfires held strong to their lead in the Sky Chariot racing tournaments for another season all thanks to their zealous understudy. When the game was over, Hoops found Dumbbell and the rest of the team outside of the arena holding up the trophy victoriously in the center of a crowd of adoring fans. The gathering was so thick that despite his natural height, all Hoops could see was the trophy, gold and glinting in the afternoon sunlight. He had to fly up and hover over them all just to get a word in.
“Dude I can’t believe you actually did that! It was amazing!” Hoops exclaimed. Though he was initially ignored.
It wasn’t on the same frequency of occurance as the wonderbolts, but decently well known sports ponies would often get approached for their autographs. Dumbbell already had his hooves full with the sudden onset of attention.
“I’ve never seen a pony navigate the obstacles like that? You didn’t even scratch the chariot’s paint!” said an enthused fan.
“Wow, you guys left the Talonstorms in the dust!”
“You showed up right in the nick of time! I thought the Drumfires would have to forfeit!”
“Yo, Dumbbell that was really you out there?”
“What’s your name? Yeah you! Can I have your autograph, please?”
It took some time but after the fan ponies were satisfied they eventually dispersed, finally giving the chariot team room to breath.
“What’s there to believe?” Dumbbell finally managed to answer Hoops. “I told you I wasn’t going to lose that bet, and I didn’t. I expect to be fifty bits richer tomorrow, got it?”
The purple and green Tango laughed and pranced around the group happily.
“Oh man, if we’d known you were sitting in the stands we would have called you over earlier!” She stopped her bouncy gallop and jumped into the air with a neat flip and hovered just above their heads. “Celebrate?”
The senior player, Highball nodded. “I think Tango’s got the right idea. We should treat you.” he said and turned to Dumbbell and Hoops.
“So hows about drinks at the Salt Flat? On me.”
“Sounds good.” said Hoops. “But only if I get to come along. Him playing was my idea.”
Dumbbell scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Your idea?” he asked.
“Yep, I got you to go to the cloudosseum didn’t I?”
Dumbbell didn’t have a bad memory. He was pretty sure the idea to come here had been his own. Not only that but Hoops has specifically been rooting for the Talonstorms...whatever.
“Not a problem.” insisted Highball. “A friend of the star player is a friend of ours.” Dumbbell chuckled and started walking in the direction of the bar. “See that? you’re lucky that you’re my friend.”
Hoops shrugged. “What? It was my idea that we do something fun!”
The Salt Flat was warm, cheering, and crowded. Every corner full of ponies talking, drinking and eating or playing table games of spades, blackjack or crazy eights. They sat down in front of the closest bar, the trophy smacked down right on the table gaining plenty of attention from the patrons, as Highball ordered a round of Woodchuck Winter Cider for the five of them.
“In honor of the best out-of-the-blue miracle racer, ever!” they clanked their mugs together and downed their drinks heartily. Yet despite the allure of free drinks, Dumbbell remained furtively conservative with his cider consumption, cutting himself off at three mugs. The cider wasn’t very strong and in truth he could have gone for some mead until he caught a glance at a clock on the wall. He felt his jaw slacken. If only time went this fast at work!
‘Rainbow Dash’
Dumbbell thought of her the moment he saw the time.
‘You said you were going to meet her today, didn’t you.’
The bar talk was entertaining and the stories straight from the mouths of his favorite chariot race team were enticing. In the hour that followed, Dumbbell considered standing Rainbow Dash up. Rationalizing that he had the right to do so. And if she came looking for him it’d only serve to prove just how crazy she was.
‘But then she’ll blab to everyone that you're some kind of egg headed book lair hermit.’
'Right, but who’ll believe her?’ And besides, she did say she wouldn't do it. And if he took the time to really think, he’d realize Dash wasn’t that kind of pony. But reputations are like a house of cards. It takes forever to build yet can be destroyed in seconds.
He needed to take his mind off the notion and let his eyes scan the bar. Almost immediately he recognized a familiar face and tapped his friend on the shoulder to gain his attention. “Yo, look back. You’re not the only one skipping out on cloud gathering duty.”
Hoops gave him a quizzical look and turned around. A goofy smile spread across his face the moment he recognized the pony in question.
“H-hey! Sugar! Sugar Rays! Over here!” Hoops hollered across the bar. The pony in question was a rather cute pink coated pony with a mane the color of golden peaches. She saw him, frowned, and turned back around in an attempt to ignore his calls.
“Aw c’mon, babe don’t be like that!” he groaned.
“I thought her name was Honey.” Dumbbell said.
“It is.” Hoops said with a smirk. Dumbbell rolled his eyes, whatever that smile was meant to imply, he didn’t want to know. Hoops wasn’t one to give up on a girl easily, and for a moment he was certain the orange stallion was going to get up and walk over to her. But to his surprise, the correctly named Honey Rays stood on her own and came over to them, her expression not too friendly though Hoops didn’t appear phased. The two chariot team players also ceased their conversation under these new developments.
“Is this here somepony you know, kid?” asked Tango.
Dumbbell shook his head. “Nah but I think she might know-”
“Hoops!” Honey Ray’s voice dripped nothing but venom. “I told you to never call me that in public.” she said in a whispery hiss.
Hoops didn’t seem affected by her attitude.
“Oh, right, heh, sorry, Honey.” His voice remained smooth and amiable, the way he said her name, very reminiscent of the way a dutiful husband would address his wife. “You know you really oughta be at work right now.”
The mare’s wings flared. “You’ve got some nerve.” she sized him up quickly. “I could say the same thing about you! But that’s not my problem, my problem is you caterwauling at me from across the room when you ditched me last Hearts and Hooves day!”
Dumbbell couldn’t help but snicker. “Girl trouble, again?”
“That was months ago, I can make it up to ya!” Hoops pleaded.
“It wasn’t just last Hearts and Hooves, it was also last Hearth’s Warming, last Summer Sun Celebration, the Golden Leaf Festival, Nightmare Night, and all those dates at the Sizzling Carrot that you stood me up on!”
Dumbbell knew smiling wasn’t what he was supposed to be doing, but he couldn’t help it. The sight of his friend sitting on a bar stool, slack jawed in the wake of an oncoming train was just too funny to be believed. And what made it so was the fact that Hoops would always act like it was salvageable.
“Let’s start over, then. Let me apologize and buy you a drink!” Hoops insisted.
Honey Ray’s eyebrow twitched violently. “No! Let me give you a drink, loser!” A glass of cider that neither of them realized she was holding suddenly flew in front of her, it’s contents thoroughly drenched Hoops’ mane and face. He leaned back in surprise, coughing and rubbing his eyes as the mare stomped past. “Don’t ever talk to me again!”
As soon as Honey Rays left, it ceased to be funny. Dumbbell turned back to the orange stallion who was still trying to blow the cider out his nose.
“That didn’t go well, you okay, bud?” Dumbbell asked. After Hoops had taken several napkins out of a silver container to wipe his face, much to the annoyance of the bartender, he was able to speak clearly.
“Went about as well as I could have hoped actually.” He said, looking a lot more visibly defeated.
The bar activity quelled and a towel and mop later things returned to normal. The bar staff were merciful given that it was just one spilled drink. Tango struck up conversation again as if the event had never happened.
“--and so Dust Devil is just sitting there across from me, the old hoser, just sitting across the desk staring at me with the jar between us. And I’m not even sure what’s in it! So I ask him what it is and he’s like ‘You can’t tell from the stink?’ And I ask him...well what am I supposed to do to get in? And he leans forward with his breath smelling worse than a cave full of bat guano, and he says, ‘If you wanna get in, you have to drink this whole jar of—’ ”
“I probably know where this is going. Shut up, Tango.” Highball droned in warning.
“What? It’s harmless!” Tango refuted. “It’s called brimstone jelly. I had to drink it so the gas wouldn’t damage my lungs!”
Dumbbell tilted his head in curiosity. “Gas and Brimstone? Just what the heck were you doing before you joined the Drumfires?” he asked.
Tango smiled. “My father is a miner in Sapphire Summit. Some of the lower caverns let out a nasty poison gas that’ll drop you in ten seconds flat! The jelly protects your insides and he wouldn’t let me explore until I took that foul smelling junk!”
“Brimstone jelly? Sounds...” Hoops winced at the thought. Tango grimaced in sympathy.
“Just be glad you’ll never have to drink it. Trust me its worse than you’re imagining now.”
“I’m sure it can’t be that bad.” Dumbbell said, pointing a hoof at Hoops. “At least not as bad as any food this guy has tried to kill me with.”
“Dude, not cool!” Hoops shouted a little louder than was necessary. Still feeling the consequences of his commitment issues and already starting to feel loose from the cider. He threw a halfhearted punch that Dumbbell simply had to lean backwards to dodge.
“Watch it, lightweight! If you actually had some tact you probably wouldn’t be in this situation.” Dumbbell swatted the wayward hoof and turned towards Highball and Tango. “See what I have to deal with? He’s not even a good drinking buddy. This is like a cry for help.”
“You cut me deep, bro.” Hoops leaned forward and whimpered softly into his arm, but Dumbbell wasn’t moved.
“Truth hurts, lies kill.” he replied blandly. He noticed the clock again and felt hollow. Crap, where’d the time go?
Highball was a mind reader. Or maybe he had noticed all the furtive glances at the clock. “Hey, star player, you got somewhere to be?” he asked. He had also noticed the discrepancy between the number of refills everyone else had in comparison to the pony they were celebrating. “Or I take it you’re don’t have much of a taste for cider.”
There was about a quarter of cider at the bottom of his mug. He tipped it back with a satisfied gulp and wiped his lips.
“Nah, you’re right, I’ve gotta meet someone.” He got off the barstool and grinned at his gracious bar mate. “I have to pay you back for the cider.”
“Don’t even sweat it, kid!” Tango said. “You helped us win the chariot race.”
“You can consider this beauty payment enough,” Highball said, gazing pridefully at the illustrious trophy.
Dumbbell knew he couldn't stay there for too much longer if he wanted to make it to Rainbow Dash’s house before sun down but part of him felt bad about leaving Hoops alone. “Hoops you probably need to cut yourself off from any more cider,” he said before he left the bar, “or I’m gonna find you sleeping in a tree again.”
“I sleep where I want!” Hoops insisted. “But anyway, have a fun date with your girlfriend!”
“Shut up, Hoops!” Dumbbell couldn’t stop himself from yelling that out loud. Loud enough that several patrons standing nearby stopped what they were doing to eye him quizzically. He had to smoulder the urge to turn back around, knowing Highball and Tango were well within hearing distance and he could already hear his friend laughing at him from across the room like a half drunk clown.
‘I shouldn’t have let him come along. He doesn’t actually know about this...does he?’
Dumbbell tried to recover from his outburst with a cough, trying his best not to appear inconspicuous.
“Yeah sure, see you later.”
“Pinkie Pie! What’s up?”
Rainbow Dash had spent a large part of her day investigating every store in Ponyville. She had gifts for everyone except for her pink friend coincidentally. She was hard to surprise and just so...open! But her random nature seemed to demand that the gift be complimentary. Maybe less random? If there was one thing she already had plenty of it was partying equipment. That would have been a really boring gift anyway. When she noticed the familiar bouncing pink form coming from down the lane she became worried. But judging by her speed, Rainbow Dash was pretty sure she hadn’t missed anything urgent and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong—no monster rampage or impending peril. And hopefully Pinkie hadn’t caught on to the fact that this close to Hearth Warming, Rainbow Dash was still stumped on what to give her. A paranoid thought yes, but she was sure her friend just had ways of knowing.
“Hi, Rainbow Dash! I’m so glad I caught up with you!” As usual, after Pinkie Pie reached her destination, the normal inclination to stop moving didn’t seem to register for her, preferring to bounce around Dash in a tight circle as she spoke.
“I came out here to invite you to the first Preliminary Snow Fall Hearth’s Warming Coat Fashion Party!”
“Pre snow Hearth’s Warming party?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yeah, and it doubles as a coat fashion party though I’m not exactly sure on the details on that half,” Pinkie Pie admitted.
“Huh, so... Rarity’s idea?”
“Yep!” Pinkie Pie said. “You remember around this time last year when Rarity went bonkers because she caught Twilight walking around in that plaid overcoat, that she said looked like it had been made out of sewn together dish towels?”
“Um, yeah. I think so?” Dash replied. In all honesty she didn’t remember that, but it sounded like something Rarity might do.
“Well Rarity has taken it upon herself to, as she called it, Raritize our winter wardrobe! So she’d need us all to come to the boutique later today, and it was my brilliant idea to make a party out of it!”
“A party, huh?” Dash gave the idea some thought. “That sounds like it could be fun.”
“Huh? Whaddaya mean ‘could be’ fun!” Pinkie Pie actually stopped bouncing, her expression was one of faux indignation. “Pinkie Pie parties are the best parties!”
“I know,” said Rainbow Dash, she could hardly resist the urge to roll her eyes. The pink pony pressed her forehead against Dash’s own, imploring with big blue eyes. “So you’re gonna come, right?”
“Well...” The pegasus glanced around, trying to come up with the right words. “Sorry, Pinkie Pie, but I’ve... got plans today.”
Pinkie Pie’s ears drooped. “Aw, are you sure?” she asked, actually looking sullen before perking back up slightly. “We’re roasting sweet potatoes!”
Roasted sweet potatoes and homemade cinnamon eggnog. That thought alone was amazing.
“You dare to tempt me, Pinkie. Oooh, you dare.” Dash gritted her teeth. “Buuut I can’t. I’m supposed to meet someone today.”
“Aaalright, I understand, Dashie.” Pinkie Pie’s ears drooped but she gave in quite easily this time. Rainbow Dash remembered when the possibility of friends missing a get together used to send her into a fit.
“But you know, Rarity is going to get her hooves on you eventually. She isn’t going to let you get away without being “Raritized” before Hearth’s Warming Day gets here!”
Hearth’s Warming was but days away. Five in fact. “I’ll deal with that day when it gets here,” said Rainbow Dash. She started hovering a few feet off the ground. “But I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you later!”
Pinkie Pie waved and bounced away. “Okie dokie, Rainbow Dash! Have fun on your date!”
For some reason she couldn’t really explain, Dash temporarily lost the ability to flap her wings, and wound up back on the path face first. She quickly stood up shaking her self. “It’s not a date, Pinkie Pie!” she shouted crossly at her retreating friend, who hadn’t turned around to see her embarrassing fall.
At least...
“Nice moves, Tumble Dash.”
“Gah!” Rainbow Dash jumped back and flipped around at the same time. There stood Dumbbell in the middle of the path, his eyebrows quirked up and an annoyingly smug smile danced across on his lips.
“Looks like I glanced a rare sight of the great Rainbow Dash forgetting how to fly.” His smile widened as her cross look deepened.
“I just tripped. It’s nothing.” Dash insisted.
“If you say so, Rainbow.” Dumbbell sidestepped the pegasus mare, moving in the direction of her cloud home. “So anyway, I flew all the way over here before you decided to come find me.”
He took a few steps off of the path when the blue mare pushed past him in a huff.
“What?” Dumbbell asked as he started walking behind her. “Am I late or somethin’?”
“Nah, you’re fine. And a little early, actually.” The prospect of reading more Daring Do was quickly pushing away her initial embarrassment.
“C’mon lets get started!”
They both flew up to Rainbow’s cloud home, Dash opened her front door and the both of them made it half way inside when a sudden shrill voice alerted them to a presence far below.
“Rainbow Dash, wait a sec!”
Both pegasi snapped their heads around to see Pinkie Pie galloping back down the path.
“Hey, who is tha-ack!” Dumbbell’s question was cut short when Rainbow Dash’s hind leg knocked him back into her entry way and hastily closed the door in his face.
“Pinkie Pie? What is it?” Rainbow Dash watched Pinkie Pie stop just below her cloud. She didn’t know how far Pinkie had gone or if she had seen Dumbbell but the pink pony didn’t look the least bit tired.
“I almost forgot to ask. Do you want me to save you some of those sweet potatoes? I really wish you could come, but if you swing by
Sugarcube Corner tomorrow I can hook you up with something de-licious!”
“Sure Pinkie Pie, sounds good! See ya then!”
“Sweet! I’ll see you tomorrow then. Buh-bye!” And with that Pinkie Pie bounced away again.
“Whew.” Rainbow Dash entered her house just in time to see Dumbbell picking himself off her floor.
“Was that necessary?” He bellowed in marked irritation. He gently rubbed the area on his side where Dash’s hoof had struck him.
“I didn’t want Pinkie Pie to see you!” Rainbow Dash closed the door behind her and walked up to the brown stallion. “With the way you are, I figured you didn’t want anypony knowing about you being here.”
“No, I don’t.” said Dumbbell. “But next time toss me a warning or somethin’? I can take that better than gettin’ kicked in the ribs if you don’t mind.” They both made it to the kitchen without further incident and took their places at the breakfast table.
“So where’d we leave off? Chapter nine, right?” Dumbbell said while pulling the Daring Do adventure book from his saddlebag and pushing it over to Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash took the book and flipped to the correct page. “Yeah, right where Daring Do was following the mysterious shadow deeper into the castle in search of the secret inner sanctum. But she still needs the Key of Memory to unlock door that leads into the catacombs.”
Dumbbell nodded. “Right, well get reading!” He leaned back in his chair and brought his hind legs up to rest on the table. “And remember the feeling.”
“I’ll make you feel something alright if you don’t get your hooves off my breakfast table!”
The stallion rocked backwards in the seat and brought his feet back down with a sigh. “Didn’t take you to be a stickler.”
“My home, my table,” She mirrored his previous movement and brought her feet up to rest on the table with the back of her chair resting against the counter behind her. “My hooves.”
“Fine, whatever. Just start reading already!” Said Dumbbell impatiently.
“Why don’t you read? I read last time and you can’t blame some fake head injury.”
“If I had a choice in the matter I definitely would be reading it. But I also wouldn’t be here.” Dumbbell said with an amused smirk. “I brought the book so you read.”
Rainbow Dash leered at him for a couple of seconds but quickly acquiesced. Not that she was going to admit it. But she liked having the job of narrator.
The reading went well for the most part. Due to the Crypt of the Dark King having a lot of referenced material from previous Daring Do adventures, Rainbow Dash’s entire collection ended up stacked on the table just in case either pony wanted to remember some occurrence from a previous adventure.
Dumbbell had another book in front of him while Rainbow Dash read. She was just getting to the part where the daring adventure pony had to choose between two dark passages, one leading to the hidden inner sanctum, the other into a deadly labyrinth of eternal confusion and solitude. Daring wisely decided to use the sacred dagger of luminescence along with the benefactor’s lantern to determine the correct path. Dash smiled as she read, the heroine always had a way of figuring out the right way to-.
“What? I’m calling road apples on that.” Dumbbell interrupted by stamping his hoof right in the middle of the page. “There’s no way that just happened!”
“What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash pulled her eyes away from the page, half startled by the interruption. She saw Dumbbell’s face pressed into the pages of a separate book, one of Daring Do’s older adventures, Daring Do Enters the Jungle of Dread.
“Were you even listening to me?” asked Rainbow Dash. But Dumbbell didn’t seem to hear her.
“That’s impossible, there’s no way a single pony could drag an idol that size up to the pedestal before an entire pack of undead arrow-slinging Gully-Wugs could turn her into a pincushion!”
“Thats why she created that big explosion at the other end of the palace.” Dash argued..
“But Ahuizotl figured she’d try for somethin’ like that. That’s why he ordered the tribe leader to hide his guys in the sacrificial catacombs and wait for Daring to go in. It was an ambush, so how did they miss her?”
“Because she’s Daring Do, duh,” Rainbow Dash said, as if this was the only possible explanation.
“Yeah, and last I checked she’s just one pony” Dumbbell said with a frown. ”All of those tribal guys must have had the collective aim of a cross-eyed parasprite.”
“Well maybe they do.” Dash admitted with a small laugh. “They are a bunch of old moldy brained
zombies after all.”
“Depends on the kind of zombie you’re talkin’ about.” Dumbbell stated. “ I don’t think these were the ‘claw my way out of the grave’ kind.”
“What does it matter the kind?”
“They were the ‘possessed slave to evil magic kind’. Slow witted maybe but not rotting. No way Daring Do got the idol all the way up to that pedestal and escaped without even a single scratch.”
“It’s the only way she could have gotten the dagger! And how do you know?” asked Rainbow Dash with visible skepticism.
Dumbbell shrugged. “Because the thing is freaking gigantic, okay?” he spread his hooves wide, trying to encapsulate the size. “Maybe half the size of a manticore but twice as heavy.”
Dumbbell seemed to be trying awful hard to sound as if he were an expert on the matter. Typical blowhard talk.
“You know you really like to blow your own horn about things you obviously don’t know anything about don’t you!” Rainbow Dash “I mean come on! As if you’ve actually been to these old frog ruins!”
“They’re not frogs, they’re toads. And I have.” he corrected her. His answer was so direct Rainbow Dash almost didn’t catch it..
“W-what?” she balked.
It was Dumbbell’s turn to lean back and look smug. “Yup. It’s a lot easier to picture what the authors talking about when you’ve seen it in person.”
“You know there’s no way in all seven levels of Tartarus that I believe you.” Her tone was even though it seemed she was trying to keep it that way.
“Doesn't matter to me if you believe me or not.” Said Dumbbell, turning his attention back to the book. “But anyway-”
“Prove it!” Rainbow Dash suddenly stood and smashed her hooves against the table top. “You can’t just start talking crap about Daring Do, then lie about actually being there and expect me to let it go!”
“Geez, I’m sorry I mocked your make-believe girlfriend.” Dumbbell said without flinching. “She ain’t real so what’s the problem?”
Dash deflated a little and sat back down in the chair with her hooves pressed against her chest,
“Um....” She looked down at the floor, unable to look him in the eye. She hoped desperately that she wasn’t blushing. The heavy silence between them began to swell.
“Well she...no of course not! That’s ridiculous.” Rainbow Dash said. “But that’s not the point here. You’re the one going on about finding temples in the desert.”
“South of the Palimino Desert, remember? And actually it sits in a jungle not a desert. It’s weird as hay down there so they both pretty much sit right on top of each other. There’s like this big stretch of jungle that separates the Equestrian border from the badlands. The temple’s sitting right out on the edge. Easy to catch if you know what to look for.”
“I don’t believe you.” Dash scowled. “The Palimino Desert is over six hundred miles away from Ponyville! You’re telling me you just up and left to find this place one day?”
“Yeah. Why not? I’m surprised you haven’t done it.”
Rainbow Dash felt her brows knit on reflex. That came very close to sounding like a challenge.
“Yeah? Well it’s not like I have a reason to. It’s not like this place is real.”
“Yeah it is. In fact, I can prove it to you.” Dumbbell’s confidence was too genuine for Rainbow Dash to think he was yanking her tail. Though she didn’t put it past him to be pulling some sort of trick. What kind of trick she had no idea. A few beats of silence reigned as Rainbow Dash considered the possibilities. Could he actually be telling the truth? If he was, it wouldn’t hurt to find out.
“Alright. Fine. I’m going to hold you to that.” She said, leaning over the table with an audacious smile.
“Prove it.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.022 seconds
Total duration
643 users online
730,125 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Yes a big update, and more plot is revealed! I can already imagine the rumors Rainbow's friends can spread...and poor Fluttershy must be so confused about why her childhood tormentor was there. I eagerly await your next chapter good fellow!
3767039
Glad you enjoyed it! I hope to get the next chapter up soon.
Oh, this was made after the Daring Do episode. Dumbbell will be in for a huge surprise when he finds out that Dash actually met Daring Do.
-Spirit
“Umm, well... he’s a... a friend from school. You might have met him that one time when you and Rainbow Dash performed in the Young Flier’s Competition?”
“Oh, that competition.”
Again how can we not forgot about that event
Ohh if only he knew about that 😁
So it looks like dumbbell is having a celebration with his favorite team after winning the race which Hoops was pretty impressed of course they were very having a good time and apparently Hoops is having too much but unfortunately dumbbell had to leave because he made a promise with rainbow it's speaking of her she also was looking for a gift for Pinkie Pie but Pinkie showed up and asked her if she wants to go to a party but she said she didn't want to because she had other plans which we already know what it is even though Pinkie Pie wanted her to show up she understands if she's busy and with that she left and both her and dumbbell made it to her house while they were reading they we're talking about daring do but in a heated argument but it looks like he wants to prove to Rainbow and something tells me this is going to get crazy