Chapter Nineteen
I make my slow return to consciousness, as I do every morning. Thankfully, the ghosts of the past didn't visit me, as they sometimes do. Instead I only recall a few dreams involving the moon, a few more with a rainbow-maned Pegasus. That's about it, though. I recall hearing somewhere that the mind uses dreams to sort out what it encounters throughout its waking period. In that case, my dreams were suitable.
I sit up, running a hand across my chin. Yeah, better shave today. Tossing my bed covers off to one side, I turn and stand, stretching for a moment before making my way over to and down the stairs. Coming into the first floor of my house, I survey it; as usual, it is calm, quiet, and empty, soft morning light streaming in through the various windows. I grab an apple from one of the cupboards, then take a seat at my table. I begin my day in a fairly normal way.
As I take another bite of apple, my eyes start to drift around out of boredom. They fall upon something on the wooden floor of my house, just in front of the door. Raising an eyebrow, I stand from my chair, apple in hand, and walk over to the item. Crouching down, I see that it is a simple piece of paper, folded a few times to hide whatever is written inside. I pick the paper up with my left hand, taking a thoughtful chomp out of my breakfast as I stand again, walking back over to the table. I sit down, setting the folded paper before me; I flip it over, not seeing any markings or seals. Curious, I open the paper with one hand, smoothing it out on the table and peering at it.
Meet me at the Hay Bale restaurant, in the center of town, for dinner tonight. It's kind of fancy, so, yeah.
--Secret admirer
The writing looks like someone tried to write by putting a pencil in their mouth. Oh, wait...I have a fairly good idea of who the letter is from, at this point. I smile to myself, giving the scarcely-legible letter a once-over; what are you up to, Rainbow Dash? Asking me out on a date? It is certainly Rainbow; the mouth-writing and last line seem to make that fairly obvious. What's with the...air of mystery, though? I suppose I still haven't completely figured out the sky-blue pony; maybe just a new side of her to be seen. It seems unlikely, though...
Okay, I tell the letter. I'll play along. Town square, the 'Hay Bale'. Fancy. Should probably go make sure my suit is clean...get my shoes a little shinier, as well. My train of thought stops momentarily. Maybe after I earn some money and do what I need to do. Business first, for now. Nodding to myself, I finish off my apple, fold up the letter, and stand, intending on continuing my morning routine.
***
As I pass through the center of town, heading back home from a job that took me all the way to the opposite end of Ponyville, I catch a glimpse of the restaurant mentioned in Dash's letter. Upon first glance, it appears to have the oddest combination of fanciness and casualness. Most of the seating appears to be outdoors; bales of hay serve as seats. And yet, upon the tables sit ornate bouquets of flowers, and a well-dressed waiter walks around, tending to various customers. I wonder for a moment what fine pony cuisine actually is, being that they are completely vegetarian and the only fancy dishes I know of all include some sort of meat. Then again, I am no fine-food connoisseur.
I smile to myself, continuing on my way. I wonder why Rainbow Dash would act in such a way for the umpteenth time today; she's usually very straightforward, almost blunt, in everything. Hell, she made a move on me after only having known me a week or two. It just seems unlike her. Maybe something is wrong? Maybe it's not a date, but something else? I ponder this as I walk. I'll find out soon enough, I suppose as I glance into the sky; the sun is on its way down, and I'm feeling somewhat hungry, leading me to believe it is likely nearing dinnertime. These guys need to invent clocks sometime soon...
I arrive at my house after a few more minutes. Walking inside, I start by withdrawing my tomahawk and dagger and lying them on my table gently. After doing so, I make my way up the stairs, entering my bedroom. Underneath the bed are my nice clothes, which I retrieve. They are still in good condition and don't have any particular smells to them, so I deem them worthy. I bring them back down, and direct myself to the bathroom for a shower, and a shave, I remind myself as I go back to grab my dagger.
Cleaned and cleaned up, I put on the better of my clothes for the second time in the relatively short history of the clothes' existence. They don't look half bad on me, though I wouldn't want to wear them all the time. Suits are something I wear on special occasions, not all the time; it gives the benefit of making me feel more classy when I do wear suits. Satisfied, I walk back into the main room of my house, put on and tie up my shoes, take another look at the letter--though it's not like I don't know where the place is or have to be there by any certain time--and head out the door.
Walking through the streets of Ponyville, I feel more out-of-place than normal, but not by much. I suppose wearing a suit has always made me feel a little odd; the term 'monkey-suit' always comes to mind. I can't really fit in when I'm basically the exact opposite of everyone else, though. Ponies keep their same distance, a good yard or so, usually, but I do gain a few more questioning looks than usual.
Soon enough, I reach the center of town. I see that the Apple family's stand, currently manned by both Applejack and her younger sister, Apple Bloom, has quite a bit of business currently; I think I'm on time. I travel through the square, approaching the restaurant casually. A plain, white building, fairly small in appearance from the outside, adjoins the outer eating area. I walk up to the double doors of the building, ducking to avoid hitting my head on the just-too-short doorways designed for ponies.
The enclosed area mainly seems to house the check-in/check-out counter and the kitchen. I step up to a low counter, kneeling down to better access it. There is a brown pony in a tuxedo behind the counter; he turns to face me, looking upon me with no show of surprise or change in attitude.
"Would you like to make a reservation, sir?" he asks with a hint of a high-class accent. I raise an eyebrow, then shake my head. Need to tell him I'm waiting for someone...some-pony? Man, the puns here...Getting a hold on my pocket with my left hand to open it more, I begin moving my right hand towards my paper and pencil. I stop when the door leading out to the seating area opens; a familiar, light blue face pops in.
"He's with me," says Rainbow Dash to the tuxedoed pony. He looks back at me, then nods curtly. I smile, nodding as well, then stand, walking over to the Pegasus holding the door open for me. I give a warm smile to her, following the rainbow-maned mare outside. She leads me over to a table with two hay-bale-seats situated across from each other, a pot of flowers atop the surface of the table. She clambers up onto one of the bales, situating herself; I take a seat as well, finding I have to lean down a little ways to reach the table. I look up at Rainbow, smiling.
Something seems different about her. Oh, her mane's combed out, my mind informs me. Indeed, the streaks of color flow smoothly along her head, none of the usual tufts that stick out here and there as a result of being wind-blown. I see that a small, orange tie bunches her colorful mane together near the bottom. As I continue to observe her carefully, I begin to notice that there is actually quite a bit different about her, and not just in appearance. She seems to be wearing eye shadow, her eyelids shimmering with a slightly lighter shade of blue every time she blinks. The pony seems to internally scold herself every so often, forcing herself to sit up straighter, not fidget, and so on. My eyes narrow slightly in thought. What's gotten into you, Dash?
I can almost see her sigh in relief when the tuxedo-wearing pony from earlier trots up to our table, bringing with him two menus. He places one in front of her, then me. I look down at mine, quickly scanning over the items on the menu; I read at a fairly fast rate. Most of the menu seems to be composed of fancy dishes involving flowers, common and rare. Sunflower Souffle, Rose Petal Parfait, and Flower Mignon. I frown, searching down the page until I eventually spot a simple Apples. Might as well, I decide. Fancy food really isn't my thing, anyways. And I didn't think it was Rainbow Dash's, either...
Keeping my head down, I glance up at my dinner date. She's frowning at her menu, glaring at it with enough intensity to make the paper spontaneously combust. She doesn't have a clue what anything on the menu is, either. I conceal a smile, then push my menu a few inches away and look up. The light blue Pegasus does the same, giving me a semi-confident smile; it lacks her usual, actual, confidence. Why are you beating yourself up, Rainbow? I ought to play along. May as well see where this goes. I lean away from the table, pulling the crude paper from my pocket and setting it on the table, smoothing it out.
You look very nice. I like your mane like that, it's pretty.
Rainbow Dash reads the simple series of compliments, looking up at me with some defiance. "Pretty? I am not pre--I...uh...I mean, thank you. You, uh...look really nice, too." I smile to her. Alright, so I know you're still in there, Dash. What's the charade for, my fine, feathered friend? I pull my paper back to me, stuffing it away again before folding my hands together, pressing my mouth against the edges of my fingers. Maybe I can freak her out a little. I begin staring at her, suppressing a grin; she can only hold my gaze for a few seconds of silence before she starts to fidget. I can tell she's trying hard to be civilized. Very hard. Alright, maybe I'm going too hard on her. Poor girl's trying. Why, though? I let up with my gaze, shifting it elsewhere.
After a minute or so, the pony waiter returns, looking to Rainbow Dash, first. "Have you decided on your meal, madam?"
Rainbow looks down at her menu nervously, then, for just a moment, at me, then at the waiter. "Uh, yeah--yes. I have, yes. I would like the Sunflower...uhm...soo-full?" I bite my cheek, trying as hard as I can not to show any reaction.
The waiter looks down his nose at her. "A fine choice." He looks over to me. "And you, sir?" I hold my menu over to him, pointing at Apples. I think a frown touches his face, but he controls it well. "Yes, of course...I will return with your meals shortly," he informs us, retrieving the menus from the table before trotting off. It pleases me to see that I've basically done the equivalent of ordering a cheeseburger in a fancy French restaurant.
I occasionally sneak a glance at the sky-blue mare sitting across from me, trying to keep the intervals at which I do so long so she won't notice as much. I can tell she's uncomfortable, mainly because she usually has something to say. She seems to be repressing herself though. Not knowing why I am lacking in mercy today, I decide to let her keep up her ruse for a while longer.
A nice perk of vegetarian restaurants is that the food is done much, much quicker, given that it's really just arranged, not cooked. Within five minutes or so, our respective meals are delivered to us. I see that the Hay Bale managed to spruce up even the simplest of foods, apples; there are about three apples on my plate, each of them cored and cut into eight slices. There are actually three different kinds of apples; I see the Equestrian equivalents of the average red apple, a green Granny Smith apple, and a yellow Golden Delicious apple. Glancing up at Rainbow Dash's own meal, I see it appears to be a motley of yellow petals and green stems, possibly cooked. That certainly doesn't seem appetizing. Then again, ponies eat flowers all the time, virtually live off of apples and sugar, and are affected by salt in a manner similar to that of alcohol.
I eat a few slices of apple casually, trying to keep my pace slow. Every so often I will look up to see Rainbow tentatively picking at her food or sitting very quietly and very awkwardly. After I go through a few slices from each of the three apples on the platter before me, I decide enough is enough. I sigh, pushing my plate away a little, and resting my elbows on the table, again folding my hands together and looking intently at the Pegasus across from me. Eventually, she notices my stare; as with before, her eyes will dart off or down every so often, as if she is very uncomfortable, which she probably is. I pull out my stationary, writing simply, at first. I pass the question to her, awaiting a reply.
Okay, what's up?
Rainbow Dash looks away nervously, starting to sweat a little. "W-what do you mean? Like, how am I?" I frown at her, then focus on writing again.
You're all dressed up, you keep trying to sit up straight, you are using extremely good manners, are being very quiet, and haven't touched your food. What's wrong?
"Maybe I just like to dress up sometimes. Can't I look nice, too?" she questions, a little shakily. I look at her very seriously for a few seconds. Her shoulders and head droop as she lets out a sigh of defeat. "Okay, you got me." She rests the elbows of her forelegs on the table, covering her eyes with her hooves in what I believe to be shame. "Remember when you asked where I were yesterday, and I said at Rarity's, making my mane more aerodynamic or something?" she begins rhetorically. I nod anyways, almost subconsciously. "Well, I was at Rarity's, but I wasn't doing that, whatever I said."
She takes a deep breath, as if what she says next will knock me off my seat. "I was asking her for advice...with you..." she mumbles, trailing off. "I figured, 'cause she knows a lot about romance and all, maybe she could help...she said I should take you out to dinner, and get all dressed up and fancy and romantic and stuff." Rainbow drags her hooves down her face a little, pulling at her bottom eyelids. "Celestia, I'm so lame. You must think I'm the most un-cool, un-awesome, un-radical pony, ever..."
I watch her wallow in her worry for a moment, then sigh, smiling to myself. I begin writing, and find that by the time I pass the paper over to her, I've caught her interest.
Rainbow Dash, you are undoubtedly the coolest, most awesome, most radical pony, ever, in the history of everything. Not lame, or un-cool, or un-awesome, or un-radical. And do you know why that is? It's because you're you. Rainbow Dash, best flier in Equestria, the definition of cool, awesome, and radical, hero to many, enemy of none, Element of Loyalty, savior of Equestria, three times over, and best friend in Equestria. You don't need to try and impress me. Everything you do already more than impresses me. Even this, because it shows me that you are determined to impress me.
She takes a minute to read through my writing. As her eyes reach the end of the paragraph, she looks up at me, a small, sort-of-embarrassed smile on her face. "Really?" I nod, smiling. She smiles back, then sighs, looking down at the table. "I...I just...I dunno'. I like you, a bunch, and I've never really...I dunno'. Liked somepony this way. I don't know what to do to get you to like me back," she says quietly. Rainbow's usual self-confidence seems all but gone; this is something new for her, something she doesn't understand, and because she doesn't understand, she's scared, panicked. I can relate all too easily. I calmly start writing once more.
I do like you back. I know I do. You're the best friend I've ever had, and
I frown, unsure how to continue that. I start a new line just below that.
I want to like you in the way you like me, but I don't know if I'm ready to. There are things I need to figure out myself, first.
A frown lightly touches her lips as she finishes reading. "I know. You told me before that this was really hard for you. I...I'm sorry, Mark. I shouldn't have tried to make it faster," the sky-blue pony says softly. I give a smile, not entirely sure whether it is one of friendliness or apology, maybe both. My hand scribbles at a more normal speed, now.
You don't need to apologize, and you don't have anything to apologize for. Plus, you took me to a very nice dinner.
She smiles and snorts softly in amusement. "Yeah, I guess so." She glances down at her plate, grimacing. I lift my plate in one hand, reach out with the other and grab her plate, and switch our meals. "Are you sure? You've hardly eaten anything," Dash points out, looking at the plate before her with only a few slices of apple missing. I nod, smiling. And you haven't eaten anything. She smiles appreciatively back, then begins tearing into the apples.
The platter is completely clean within a couple of minutes. I gaze upon the Pegasus, smiling in both my own amusement and my satisfaction at seeing my rainbow-maned friend back to normal. Almost back to normal. I reach out across the table towards Rainbow Dash; it isn't very large a table, so I can do it easily. She watches my hand as it approaches her, glancing at me in question. I grasp on to the orange hair tie that holds her hair together, and slowly pull it off the bottom of her mane. Her colorful hair feels like the finest silk, and looks the part, as well, falling loose when the tie comes completely off. I set the hair tie on the table before her, then run my hand through her mane a few times to get it looking back to normal. When I sit back again, looking at Rainbow, I see that she is looking down at the table, cheeks a shade of pink, wings slightly raised.
She looks at me, still trying to force back her blush. "I thought you liked it that way?" she asks, before shaking her head to ruffle up her mane again. I write out a quick response.
I do. I like the normal Rainbow Dash better, though.
She smiles, still unable to fully hide the reddening in her cheeks and the ever-so-slight rising of her wings. "I like it better this way, too. I couldn't fly really fast with the other way, or else it would mess it up." She pauses, then closes her eyes and rubs her hooves against her eyelids, cleansing them of makeup. I smile, and she does the same in return. She looks best when she's actually comfortable with how she looks. I write out a new note, passing it to her with a grin.
Is there anything you'd rather be doing right now than sitting at a boring old restaurant with boring old me?
She chuckles, grinning back. "Well, Pinkie said she was going to try to prank Applejack today. Want to see if we can go get in on it?" I nod eagerly, standing from the table as she does and following a much-happier Rainbow Dash to the check-out counter.
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Dah! Dah dah dah dah dah dah dah! Dah dah dah dah dah! De dottily dottily dah! De dottily dottily dottily dottily dah! De dottily dottily dottily dottily *gasp* dottily dottily dottily dottily dottily dottily daaaaaaah!
And there's the nineteenth addition to this story. I'll be working on chapter twenty over the weekend.
You seem to have had the italics get stuck partway through!
All the same, the writing is good, like it always is. I can't wait for even more of this.
1235680 Thanks for pointing that out, got it fixed. Glad you thought so.
The only problem with this chapter is, THERE IS NOTHING MORE OF IT! D:
a prank involving main character? Oh boy, i can't wait too see it :D
Very nice hes starting to come around! feeling are finally pushing through.
Smooth, real smooth. Nice to know Dash really is committed to Mark. Cant wait to see what kind of prank they're going to pull on Applejack.
1235625
t.qkme.me/36hv9r.jpg
I... just couldn't resist...
1235625
THE KRABBY PATT-
wait...
FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD!
Nice, this updated. On another good note fillygamez just announced that welcome to ponyville is coming out very soon, I assume you know of it?
Heavy: "It is good day to be bronie man!, HA-HA!"
1235973 Feely feels that feel...feely.
1236448 Pretty much how I live my life.
1237528 "Poop!" "Poop?" "Yes, POOP! People Order Our Patties!" "Oh, POOP!"
1237986 Now I do.
"I am heavy weapons man...and this is my weapon. She weighs one-hundred-fifty kilogram and fires two-hundred dollar custom-two cartridges at ten-thousand rounds per minute. It cost four-hundred-thousand dollars to fire this weapon...for twelve seconds. AH HA HA!"
1235777>>1236235 Um...actually...
I never really intended to add a prank scene of sorts. That was more of a transition made to finish the chapter and give the reader the sense that normalcy in Dash has been restored.
oh my.
I may mention the contents of the prank in the next chapter, maybe, if that's okay with you...
Yay update!
1239033 Woo!
That was so adorkable. Well done.
1239463
Thanks.
*doesn't go on fimfiction for a while, only read up to chapter 5* Okay, let's see how For Lack of a Better Word is doing... 14 new chapters?!
Damnit, Gunsmith! I had one job! ONE JOB!!
1248540 Wait, that's my line.
You had one job, Stormfeather!
ONE JOB!
I'm deducting reader points for that one, mister.
1248978
This reminded me of something I have...
img543.imageshack.us/img543/4198/onejobcup.jpg
Also, meh reader points!
1249239 Who would...the cup...why...wha?
Sorry about how long this is taking, everyone. I've got approximately 1k done on 20, as of this writing, so I'm estimating a few days before I release, two or three. The usual college, writer's block, depression, apathy, and distractions involving videogames and/or ponies are keeping me from writing a lot, haha. Trying my best, but I wish it could be better and more efficient, you know?
Thanks for your patience.
Edit: 20 is done, hooray. Let me know whatchu' guys think.
By the way, let me know if the way I end chapters can be confusing. Should I add transitions (***) to chapters that traverse into others, like the first few, and later around chapter 12 or 13, or is it understood when a chapter is meant to end? I'd like to know. Thanks, everyone.
Huh a dinner date huh shoulda known rarity was apart of this xP
I keep hearing "Oh, hi Mark" in my head everytime i read something similar to that.