Chapter 1

Click. Click. Clickity-click. What was that weird noise? thought Rainbow Dash. She was flying home from one of Pinkie Pie's wild parties. Granted, she was a bit tipsy, but she was pretty sure that the noise was coming from outside her head. And, of course, she had to investigate it. What was that strange noise coming from the top of the hill up ahead and who or what was behind it?

Carefully landing a short distance away, she slowly approached the source of the noise. Sneaking stealthily up, she parted the tall grass to see what was going on. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she saw. All this to sneak up on a tiny pony with a camera, laying on his back in the middle of a clearing? Really? That was it? Harrumph! But there was still a way to salvage this.

Leaping high in the air, Rainbow Dash burst from the grasses and pounced on the small pony, whilst yelling at the top of her lungs. The small pony uttered a squeak of surprise and curled protectively around his camera. Dash fell back, laughing at her prank. Featherweight looked at her in grave reproach. “You could have bwoken it!” he exclaimed.

“Huh?” was Dash's response.

“My camwa. You could have bwoken it. That was not very nice!”

Rainbow Dash was rather taken aback. She hadn't even considered the possible consequences of her actions. After all, it was all in fun! “I'm sorry if I damaged it. What are you doing way up here with it, anyway?”

“Oh, it's okay. No damage, thank goodness. I'm looking at the moon. I'm hoping to get a picture of the Mare in the Moon.” The little pony smiled up at Rainbow Dash. “I keep snapping pictures, but I don't think it's working.” Now he looked somewhat crestfallen.

“Huh. That does sound like a problem” Rainbow Dash replied. She squinted up at the moon. She thought she could almost see a mare peeking out at them. But it was not clear enough to get a picture by looking at it, much less with a camera. Hmm... “What we need to do is get her attention! Then she will come out to see what is going on and you will be able to snap that picture.”

“Oh, that would be wuvwy!” exclaimed the little pony. “But how?”

Rainbow Dash thought for a bit. “Well, we could try setting off some fireworks?”

“Oh, I would be afwaid of that!” Featherweight exclaimed, his eyes going round. “I don't mind seeing them at a distance, but I don't want to be up close!”

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash couldn't conceive of such a thing, but was willing to let it go. “What about a great big bonfire? That should be able to get the Mare's attention.”

“Oh, a fire might get out of hand with all this tall grass around. That would be dangerous for all the little animal around us,” said Featherweight with a worried look.

“Hmm. Yeah. I hadn't thought of that,” said Rainbow Dash, looking around for any critters. Boy, this whole “being safe and responsible” thing was such a pain! She racked her muddled brains for some other idea. She could make a Sonic Rain Boom, but that was probably not a good idea right now. She could carry that tiny little pony on her back up really high to get a better shot with his camera. Nah. Still probably not a good idea. Wait! Maybe...

“Tell ya what, little guy! You kick back there and be ready with that camera of yours. I'll be back.” Rainbow Dash stood up to fly off.

“But what will you do? What should I look for?”

“Trust me, kid, you'll know it when you see it!” Rainbow Dash tossed over her shoulder as she leapt for the sky.

With a whoosh, Rainbow Dash disappeared into the night. Featherweight peered nervously into the sky. What was that crazy pegasus up to now? How would he know what to look for?

Suddenly he hear a very faint whooping. It sounded like it was coming from way up in the sky. He looked up to see what it was. Then, to his amazement, he saw her! The Mare in the Moon!!! Clear as day! Whatever RD had done, she had accomplished the impossible.

Frantically, Featherweight snapped his shutter as quickly as the camera would go. His mouth was pursed in an “oh” of joy and excitement. The little pony had never been so happy. He finally was getting the pictures he had always wanted. After the Mare had faded away, he danced a little jig of delight. Now it was his turn to whoop and holler. What an evening it had turned out to be!

A short while later, Rainbow Dash landed next to him. She was out of breath, but her eyes were dancing.

“So, short stuff – did you get any good pictures?” she asked, panting.

“Oh, yeah!!! Lots of them! It was awesome!” His eyes glowed with excitement. “How did you get her to come out and show herself so clearly?” he asked.

Rainbow Dash looked down at him fondly. “Oh, piece of cake! I just did some of my fancy air acrobatics, like I do with the Wonderbolts. But I had to do them waaaaay up high so she could see and it would get her attention. That's why I'm so tired.”

Throwing his legs around her, Featherweight exclaimed “Thank you so very much Miss Dash. That's the best thing anyone has ever done for me!”

“Aww, it was nothin'” Rainbow Dash said fondly.

As the little pony was turning to go home, he said “And the best of all, I found out that the Mare in the Moon is actually a pegasus!!! I have several pictures that clearly show her wings!”

At that Rainbow Dash's cheeky grin turned to shock, then shifted more toward guilt. Rats! She thought she had kept her wings tucked in during the important times. Arrrgh!

Now to figure out how to explain her way out of this one...

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