Chapter 13: The Following Day
The light beat down on Swift's eyes as he tried to sleep. The air around his cloud felt calm, though he found himself warmer than usual. Without opening his eyes he attempted to bury his head into the mess of hair it was against to block out the sun.
'Go away sun. I don't get up until Dash gets me for work.' Swift's thoughts slowed as several parts of that thought clicked into place. First was that he indeed had to work today, which given that he worked with Rainbow Dash was a good thing.
Second was that he didn't remember taking Dash home last night, which means....
'Yep. This could end badly...' Swift slowly opened his eyes and found a mess of rainbow colored hair beside him on the cloud, his wing draped across the other body as a makeshift blanket. Sure enough, Rainbow Dash was out cold beside him on his cloud floating above Ponyville. His thoughts drifted through the past evening to recall exactly what happened.
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"Swift. Dinner was wonderful. Thanks for a great time. NowRaceToThatCloud!" Dash suddenly shouted as she took off at full speed. Swift, who was being entranced by her soft voice was rattled by the shift, then the rainbow streak he was suddenly looking at.
"Oh you cheat!" He shouted as he took off after her. Dash started banking into a spiral as she climbed towards the cloud in question as Swift choose to go for the direct path. Typically he would match her since she always won their races, but if she was going to get showy, then perhaps this was his chance.
As the he neared the target cloud, he shot past Rainbow Dash who had a shocked look at the sheer concept of being passed in a race.
"Oh no you don't!" She shouted as she straightened out and took off after her opponent. Unfortunately they were already close to the cloud and she arrived at the destination just as Swift did as well.
"Hah! I win!" She exclaimed as they sat on the cloud, Swift panting slightly from the exertion.
"No...way...I totally...won!" Swift stated between breaths. He did his best to look as arrogant as possible while speaking, but until he caught his breath, he simply looked out of shape.
"As if. Rainbow Dash doesn't lose! Besides, look how out of breath you are. I don't think I have ever seen you push yourself that hard. We need to train you better." Dash explained, poking Swift in the chest to make her point. Swift had managed to catch his breath at this point and simply grinned at his partner.
"I will beat you in a fair race one of these days. But for now, let's just enjoy the evening." Swift said as he sat down on all four legs, looking out over Ponyville in the distance. The cloud they had landed on sat between the Everfree and Ponyville, not too far from Fluttershy's cottage. The lights of Ponyville looked like a reflection of the stars in the sky from where the two sat.
"It is rather peaceful tonight." Dash said as she sat down next to Swift, sharing his body warmth. The sky was a bit cool at this altitude and while pegasi were set up to handle it, that didn't mean they didn't enjoy warmth. Swift smiled at Dash as she got comfortable and placed a wing over her shoulder to provide a bit more warmth.
"Oh wow. This is comfy." She mumbled as she rested her head on a tuft of cloud and watched the city below.
"Very much. Though it is odd to see you slow down." Swift commented as he watched her laying beside him.
"Mmhmm. Don't tell anyone, but I like to slow down from time to time." Dash explained as her eyelids visibly seemed to grow heavy. Swift's face reddened slightly at the adorable image before him.
"It will be our little secret." Swift promised as he nuzzled behind Dash's ear affectionately. This caused Dash's face to brighten up with a smile as she turned to look into Swift's blue eyes while keeping her head rested on the cloud. It was simply too comfortable to get up from. It was obvious as she lay there that sleep was calling her. Swift noticed this and felt himself growing tired quickly as well. The food and the subsequent race had him ready for a long nap, so he rested his head beside Dash who was still smiling. The two intended to relax for a moment as their eyes closed, Swift's blue eyes being the last thing Dash saw, and her own Magenta eyes sending Swift into sweet dreams.
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'What a great night.' Swift thought, smiling for a moment while lost in thoughts. Movement beside him quickly snapped him out of it as the mare beside him reached up and grabbed his wing she was using for a blanket and pulled it up over her eyes and cuddled up next to Swift. Swift couldn't be sure, but for a moment the could have sworn he heard her give a slight purr in comfort.
'Cute. Now how do I get out of this....' Swift smiled and wondered, the panic having eased up the more time he had to formulate a plan. If he slowly rolled away, perhaps she wouldn't wake. Then he could push the cloud up to her house and get her inside. Thankfully cloud houses didn't really have locks so it could work.
Or so Swift thought, until the ball of cyan fur next to him started moving a bit more alertly.
"Mmm. It's too early. Go away sun." Dash mumbled as she rolled over and came face to face with Swift. She had kept her eyes shut while moving, but briefly opened them once comfortable and was looking directly into Swift's cobalt eyes.
"Morning Swift." She mumbled and closed her eyes again, confusing the stallion at the casual nature of the greeting.
'Odd. I expected...' Swift's thoughts were violently interrupted as the mare beside him obviously came to her senses.
"SWIFT!" Dash lept back as best as possible from laying on her side half snuggled up to Swift and covered by his wing. As she shot away, Swift lifted his wing up and slowly rested it against his side as he sat up.
"Umm yeah. Morning Dash. Guess we fell asleep last night." Swift tried explaining, unsure of how this was going to play out. Dash had always been unpredictable. it was one of the things he really liked about her, but in this case it was playing nightmares on his ability to get a feel for the situation. The air between the two was heavy with tension for the briefest of moments (which felt like hours to both Dash and Swift, though neither would admit to being so nervous later) before Dash finally grinned.
"Looks like it. You're pretty comfy!" She exclaimed as she stretched her back, smiling at the stallion she had shared a cloud with. Swift simply returned the grin as the tension left the situation.
"So are you. I've never had a better sleep on a cloud." Swift replied, mirroring Dash's actions to stretch out for the day. A few loud pops came from the two ponies, drawing laughter at the synchronized nature.
"I guess we need to get to work. Supposed to be slight cloud cover if I'm recalling correctly for the day. Then we can spend the day together." Dash said, approaching the edge of the cloud before realizing exactly what she had said.
"Um...if you want to, that is?" She added, suddenly unsure if he wanted to spend the time together. She mentally cursed herself at the sudden timidness her voice had taken.
Swift simply smiled and walked up beside the suddenly timid mare with a grin.
"I would love to spend the day with you Fluttershy." Swift responded, poking fun at how much Dash sounded like their animal loving friend. A joke that Dash immediately caught as Swift took off from the cloud.
"HEY! Get back here!" She shouted, taking off after Swift to extract revenge, though in the back of her mind wondering how her flight school friend was doing. It had been a couple of days since she had seen her.
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A figure in a simple travelers cloak walked along the road leading out of Ponyville towards the Everfree. He had a couple of small saddlebags on and appeared to be a simple salesman. Many salesmen would travel through Ponyville throughout the year to sale their wares, so this colt drew no attention from locals.
Exactly as he intended.
After several minutes of walking, a large house built within a tree came into view surrounded by several animals. Many of these animals appeared to simply have taken up residence because the owner of this house helped take care of them when they were sick, and for many this was indeed the case, but a few were special. A few, the pony knew, were also a sort of guard system in exchange for the residents help.
This was proven as a small bird flew overhead and then took off towards the house.
'Well trained indeed, though she would hate my use of that phrase. She would just say that the bird is a good friend.' The pony thought as he finally reached the front door. Without even knocking, the door opened just as the pony reached arms length, with a familiar yellow pegasus peaking around the edge of the door.
"Ms. Fluttershy. So glad to see you again. Just here to drop off a package from Canterlot. Directly from my boss, lucky you." The pony said with a genuinely friendly voice, sounding as though he and Fluttershy had talked often and were friends. Out of one of his bags came a large folder that seemed plain, but with close inspection had a simple crescent moon stamped in black ink on the front.
"Oh..um. Thank you. Tell your boss I'll..um...look right into it." the timid pegasus responded as she took the envelope with an equally honest smile. The visitor continued smiling and nodded in agreement.
"I'll be sure to pass it on. Have a wonderful day." He bade her goodbye, noticing the bird from earlier just behind her inside the house eating from a food tray, it's job as an alert done. As he turned, he heard Fluttershy quietly close the door and made his way down the stairs back towards town. He wanted to catch the first train back to Canterlot without a long wait.
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"SPIKE!" Twilight shouted to her number one assistant from the large main room of the Ponyville Library. The massive wall that she recently destroyed by placing all the books in the wrong spot had finally been stripped and resorted. She had also taken the time to clear dust off each book and the shelf itself.
"YEAH TWILIGHT!" Spike's shout echoed down the stairs from their bedroom where he was currently working on some project he started recently. Twilight had tried to learn more about it when he started shortly after Swift showed up, but the little dragon had asked for privacy and Twilight relented. Ever since then, he spent an hour each day either out around town, or up in the room working.
Currently though, Twilight was staring at an empty spot on the shelf where an old book should be. Luckily she knew right where it was.
"GRAB THAT BOOK OFF THE NIGHTSTAND AND BRING IT HERE PLEASE!" She shouted back without looking to the stairs. Moments later she heard small feet running down the stairs to deliver the book.
"Careful Spike. I appreciate the speed, but that is an old book." Twilight warned as he reached the bottom. Taking the copy of 'The Theory of Equivalency: A Study on Chaos and Order' that she had been reading with her magic, she floated it up to the spot on the shelf, finishing the collection.
While this was a library, this shelf rarely was touched as it mostly just reference books for powerful or obscure magic: a topic not really sought out in a town like Ponyville. As such the shelf was perfectly filled with not a single book missing.
"Wow, that took all morning and most of last night, but finally finished." Twilight said, more to herself than Spike who had already started towards the stairs to work more on his project.
"Perhaps I should work through all the shelves like that. A bit of cleaning couldn't hurt." Twilight craned her neck and took in all the stacks and shelves around her now cleaned up library. The towers of books being put away make this place look completely different from the lair of knowledge it usually presented to customers.
"DASH! WATCH OUT!" A voice shouted from outside, both loudly and clearly getting closer. Normally this would worry a unicorn with a business that is also their home, but things were rarely normal for Twilight Sparkle.
"Oh horseapples." Twilight deadpanned as she ducked her head below the table in the center of the room. Like clockwork a cyan pegasus shot through her window and directly into the shelve she had just finished sorting. Inevitably, ever book managed to fall off and bury the blue Wonderbolt wannabe under a couple hundred tomes.
"Ooowww." A moan could be heard from under the pile as a second set of hooves were heard clicking against the wall. Lifting her head from its safe spot, Twilight spotted Swift hanging in through the window that Dash just fired through. His face showed a small empathy for the pain Dash probably felt, but when his eyes fell on Twilight after the chaos they had just caused, a greater empathy showed.
"Sorry Twilight. I tried to stop her." He explained as he finally flew in and landed next to the pile of books that were still shuffling from Dash attempting to get free.
"I'll help you resort if you want. We could definitely use a break anyhow." He offered, reaching down and pulling a few books from the pile and standing them in a neat stack to sort.
Twilight smiled at the offer as Dash's head finally popped free of the bound prison she had put herself in. A quick shake of her head to clear the cobwebs and she had the sense to look sheepish as well.
"Yeah, sorry Twi. Swift said I was getting lazy and he could beat me in a race. One thing let to another and here we are." She explained, managing to tell Twilight both absolutely nothing, yet also everything she needed to hear to know what was going on.
"That's alright guys. I'm used to having to re-stack these shelves, either from Discord's tricks, the Crusaders, or even Ms. Wonderbolt over here." Twilight said, using her magic to lift several books and quickly place them on the shelf where they belonged while also sending a jab at her friend. Dash managed to hold back any retort given that she was already in trouble with the shelf...again.
"How did last night go by the way? I'm sure Rarity is going to want to know and I'm seeing her later. Unless you really want to talk to her about it." Twilight teased, knowing that was the last thing either of them would want to do. Her suspicion was immediately verified by both of them looking at each other with an expression of panic.
"Um..yeah. Not really something I was looking forward to." Dash said. Swift quietly agreed. Twilight opened her mouth to ask further questions about the evening in question when the door to the library opened, revealing a canary yellow pegasus.
"Um, Hello?" Fluttershy quietly asked as she glanced around before spotting her friends next to a pile of books haphazardly strewn across the floor.
"Oh, did I come at a bad time?" She asked, looking at Twilight and Dash, then glancing quickly to Swift. He was part of the reason she was here, but she hadn't expected to have to see him just yet.
"Not at all Fluttershy. Did you need something or just want to visit?" Twilight asked, approaching the mare from around the table. Swift and Dash approached as well to greet their friend. Fluttershy watched the group approach and hid slightly behind her mane.
"A little bit of both. I need some letter writing ink and know you have a lot. And I thought we might visit as well. It's been a while." The mare spoke softly as always, but her friends had grown used to it (aside from Swift, who didn't quite hear everything) and moved without pause.
"Of course I have plenty. Let me grab a spare vial and then we can visit. Dash was just about to tell us about her and Swift's date last night." Twilight said, teasing the couple by the table. Fluttershy's eyes shot to the duo, specifically to Swift, for a brief moment, but drew no attention. It was one of her many special talents aside from dealing with animals. People tended to not notice when she focused on them. It had been a blessing for her more than once.
A minute passed before Twilight returned with a brass vial filled with letter ink. She wondered for a moment who Fluttershy would be writing to, but it wasn't really her business and she didn't want to pry into the timid mares affairs.
"Here ya go, should be more than enough for whatever you have to write. Keep it as long as you need." Twilight offered as she handed it over to Fluttershy, who immediately placed it in her saddlebag. The group joined around the table as Twilight levitated a jug of tea and four cups, but was stopped by Swift.
"Actually, and I do hate to do this," he started, though part of his voice hinted he wasn't sorry at all, "but I did promise Scootaloo some more flying lessons and if I don't leave now I will be late." He explained as he looked out the window he came in. Dash started to give him a 'Don't you leave me!' glare, but stopped when she realized that it was Scootaloo who he had promised time to. After the talk last night, she realized she needed to be nicer to the small filly.
"Sounds good Swift. I remember where you said it was, so I'll probably swing by after my interrogation." Dash said, her voice not sounding at all excited about talking with the two mares about the date, but at least Rarity wasn't here. Twilight and Fluttershy both nodded, with Fluttershy again looking slightly confused.
'He is dating Rainbow Dash and teaching Scootaloo how to fly? I didn't realize he was getting around that much.' Fluttershy realized she only had spoken to the colt a few times outside of treating injuries or him helping with the animals. Thankfully he had never given her cause to think he was a bad pony, but she still had a job to do.
"Excellent Dashie, I'll see ya when you arrive. Later!" Swift hopped up and shot out the window before Dash could say anything about his use of her pet name in front of their friends. Slowly she looked at her now grinning friends with a bit of dread. Twilight was the first to speak.
"Dashie?"
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Rarity was happily trotting down the road towards Ponyville Library after having just completed her shopping in the market square. Occasionally her eyes would venture to the sky, a place she wasn't typically known for watching. This day however she had very good reason to watch the sky. Throughout the morning a certain rainbow streak could be seen bouncing from cloud to cloud, occasionally paired up with a purple blur. Other times the sky would be empty of the local weather ponies and for the last hour the cloud pattern hadn't changed.
'I guess they are done for the day. I can't wait to corner Rainbow Dash for the details of last night!' Rarity continued her trip towards the library with a mischievous grin on her face. As she rounded the corner to see the library, a familiar purple pegasus shot out of the window towards the edge of town.
'That was Swift. I wonder what he was doing at the library.' Rarity sped up to the library to make sure everything was ok as she couldn't imagine Swift not being with Rainbow Dash unless something had gone wrong last night. To her, they should still be gazing into each others eyes on some cloud or flying side by side through the blue sky. She reached the door and opened it to a set of familiar voices.
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"Dashie?" Twilight asked, grinning to the pegasus with an expression promising that this wouldn't be the last time she used such a phrase.
"Twilight, don't start! He can get away with it, but not you." Dash said, panic in her eyes while she tried to sound overly tough on the subject. Fluttershy simply covered her mouth with a hoof as she tried not to giggle. Tried, and failed.
"Can't get away with what darling?" Rarity asked as she opened the door, drawing the attention of the group.
"And why aren't you out there with Swift. Don't tell me you ruined the date?" She added as the door closed behind her. Rainbow Dash puffed her chest out in response to the insult.
"What?! No, why do you assume I would have ruined it!" She shouted, offended that Rarity just assumed SHE ruined the date instead of it possibly being Swift.
"Well come on dear. You aren't really the type to have a dinner date, so I think it is a fair assumption." Rarity casually explained, getting looks of agreement from the other ponies in the room.
"But that doesn't matter. Tell us what happened. Come on, do tell!" Excitement overflowing suddenly as Rarity wanted to learn every detail of the date. Twilight and Fluttershy joined her request with a nod as they all sat down at the table.
"Fine fine. You all won't drop it unless I spill, so listen up." Rainbow Dash spoke, defeat in her voice. She knew she was going to have to go over what happened eventually, but the act of having to do it still sucked.
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"What?! You woke up where?!" Rarity's voice echoed throughout the library, drawing a grimace from the present librarian at the disruption. Dash herself almost fell backwards from the outburst but managed to right herself quickly.
"What the hay?! Watch the volume." Dash chided the fashionista, gaining an approving nod from Twilight.
"Dash is right, this is still a library Rarity." Twilight added, trying to get the ringing in her ears to stop. Rarity had the good social sense to blush in embarrassment at her outburst, but nonetheless pushed the issue.
"I'm sorry darling, I just can't believe what she just said." Rarity offered as apology to Twilight, before turning to Dash.
"Did you say you and he slept together on a cloud?" She asked, shocked that Dash would go so far on a first date. The fact that Dash even went on a date was surprising enough (though Rarity herself had bet that it would happen eventually), but to sleep with Swift on that same date was beyond even what she herself thought possible. Dash simply nodded, not quite understanding what the big deal was.
"Yeah, we fooled around for a bit and got tired. It wasn't like I planned to, it just sort of happened." Dash explained, looking from Twilight to Rarity and back. Twilight nodded in understanding. It seemed perfectly fine. Rarity on the other hoof looked almost horrified.
"Did you at least use protection or anything?" She almost regretted the question. It truly wasn't her business, but hearing Dash talk about this so casually was throwing her entire social balance off. Dash's eyes connected with Rarity's and Dash's expression took on a look of confusion.
"Why? We didn't do anything we hadn't done before, so the risk was minimal. Sure, being at night this time was new, but made it somewhat more exciting." Dash explained, a warm smile forming as she thought back to the stunts they had performed that night. Poor Rarity however was about to hyperventilate.
"That's not how it works Rainbow Dash!" She finally snapped, slapping a hoof against her own forehead. The three other mares at the table all leaned back in surprise.
"Um...excuse me...I think you two are confusing each other." Fluttershy, who had been silence during the whole story, spoke up in her typical quiet voice. Normally she wouldn't have been heard, but the silence in the room allowed her voice to carry with ease.
"What do you mean, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, being the first to regain her composure.
"Oh..um...well.. I think Rainbow Dash is talking about stunt flying and then actually falling asleep on a cloud next to Swift." She nearly whispered, worried she was wrong or going to upset someone.
"Exactly. We have practiced our stunts many times, but after the meal and such we got exhausted and ended up passing out on the cloud." Dash agreed with Fluttershy, not understanding what could be so unclear about that. Rarity's eyes shot open in realization, drawing attention from Dash and Twilight, both of who understood things from Dash's perspective.
"Wait, what did she think I was talking about." Dash asked, suspicion on her face.
"Um..she thought you were..um..talking about...um..." Fluttershy shrank down more and more into her mane as she tried to say what Rarity was on about, while Rarity herself had a face as red as Big Mac's.
"Yeah, what?" Dash asked, pushing for an answer. Rarity finally had to say something, if for nothing else than to help her best friend.
"What she is trying to say Rainbow is that I thought you meant you had 'slept' with Swift." She explained, air quoting the word slept with her hoofs. Dash, thankfully not being as sheltered as Twilight, only took a brief moment to understand and immediately matched the white unicorns blush at the implications. Twilight however still looked confused.
"That's exactly what Dash said. The slept together on a cloud." Twilight, in her infinite book wisdom, managed to miss the point completely. This comment didn't help Dash recover herself at all, which was accentuated by her wings lifting slightly away from her body. Fluttershy leaned over and quietly whispered into Twilight's ear while Dash and Rarity watched. The confused look on Twilight's face quickly jumped to shock as Fluttershy leaned back to her normal spot.
"Oh...."
"Yeah, and like I said, that did not happen. We just laid next to each other. And when we woke up, we started our weather duties and here I am." Dash said, finishing her story quickly and trying to get past the huge misunderstanding. The group nodded, silently agreeing to move on from the miscommunication.
"Well darling, I'm happy for you. Swift is quite the gentlecolt and he will be a perfect coltfriend for you." Rarity said as she stood and stretched her legs.
"That being said, unfortunately I really must be getting back to the boutique. Sweetie Belle should be back soon, and I have several orders still waiting to be put together." She explained as she slowly made her way to the door. Fluttershy followed her, also needing to get back home. She had a very important paper to start writing.
"We'll see. He has to keep up with me though." Dash said, smiling at the thought of a true coltfriend. Looking outside, she noticed how long had passed.
"Oh horseapples, I need to find Swift and see if he is still with Scootaloo. I'll talk to you girls later." Dash said suddenly before shooting out the window in the directly Swift had flown a couple of hours prior. The girls remaining just watched as the rainbow trail faded.
"Yeah, I think they will be just fine." Twilight said with a smile, drawing grins from the other two as the stepped out of the door saying their goodbyes. Once the door was shut, Twilight stared at the table with cups of tea sitting on it, her thoughts drifting to Dash and Swift.
"This is going to be an interesting relationship to watch."
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Fluttershy: Secret agent.
1791817 :) MAYBE :)
In all seriousness though, I was so excited with the magic duel episode showing her in a sneaking suit as I have had this part in mind for a long time :) I even made a very vague reference several chapters ago about it.
so fluttershy is like the mare version of con mane (A.K.A pony joe)? please explain.
Ha! I knew Fluttershy was the agent!
We barely get her in the story, she seems less likely to be one and after the whole Celestia and Luna scene it mentions RD and Swift being around Flutters house
(I was not expecting Shy to be the "bloodline" they were speaking of.)
As Icy would say...
What?
I miss writing Icy. Full name, Icy Creation. Inventor, Mechanic, Traveler, Guardian, Sister to all. Calm, compassionate, smart, caring, innovative, fun, creative, but also having been mocked and insulted about her interest in a more hooves on activity like private inventing. And about her tendency to get into trouble or danger through her inventions.