Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego

by MagicS

Overstorm VIII

The next day Rainbow Dash was not woken up by her own snoring. Having drenched herself in the cold water of the shower after getting back from eating with Dust Bunny and the digging team she went out like a light and enjoyed a long and dreamless sleep. No, what instead woke her up this time was the heavy pounding on the door to her small room and the voice of a certain custodian calling out for her.

“Rainbow Dash? Are you alright? It’s past noon.”

What happened to not wanting to bother me? Rainbow groggily thought as she rolled back and forth a few times on her bed.

After another second of tossing and turning she sat up in bed with a frown and threw the sheets off of her. “Yeah, I’m alright. Guess I just didn’t feel like waking up this morning.”

She walked up to the door and opened it for Dust Bunny, who quickly entered and pressed right up to Rainbow Dash with a big smile on her face. Rainbow took a step back and stumbled, landing on her flank, thanks to the earth pony surprising her with a move right out of Pinkie Pie’s library. Dash could go without her personal space being invaded like that.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” Dust Bunny apologized.

“It’s alright...” Dash stood back up and raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s up? You looked like you had something big to say.”

“It’s a dance! We’re holding a dance party tonight in celebration of you coming here. Doesn’t that sound fun? Pile moved it up a few days,” the earth pony was absolutely ecstatic as she told Rainbow Dash this, prancing up and down on her hooves. “You’ll come right? Please? I know you’ll definitely enjoy yourself, it’s gonna be great!”

“Um, yeah? I guess,” Rainbow Dash yawned.

Dust Bunny suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and began twirling her around. “Oh you just don’t know what you’re missing! We go all out when it comes to a dance party, this is gonna be the best hoedown you’ve ever been a part of!”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Rainbow Dash stopped them and pulled Dust Bunny’s hooves off her shoulders. “I’ll take your word for it. I’ve been to some dance parties and stuff so let’s see.” She sounds like Applejack or Pinkie Pie advertising one of their get-togethers...

“Yay!” Dust Bunny gave her a quick hug before releasing her. “It’ll be right after suppertime, I’ll take you to our party room.”

“Cool,” Dash slowly stretched her legs and wings now that she was up, still trying to fully rouse herself from her sleepiness. “So like, how formal is this thing? Do I need a dress or to know some kind of dance moves?”

“No, no. No way, it’s just a big fun party. Everyone gets to go wild showing off their own dancing or whatever they want to do. It’s just about the most opposite of formal you can get!” The custodian smiled.

“Sounds more fun than the Gala then...” Rainbow Dash muttered. She cracked her neck and looked at her guide. “Did you have anything else planned for today?”

Dust shook her head. “Not really, I want us to be all full of energy for the big dance!”

“Okay so uh, breakfast time? Or lunch I guess now,” Rainbow Dash rubbed her head.

“Whatever you want to do,” Dust nodded. “You’re our esteemed guest so whatever you says goes. Um, I still didn’t want to do anything too strenuous cause the dance, but there are plenty of places we can still walk to and for you to see. I mean, maybe you want to just stay around here though? With how late in the day it already is it’s just a few hours before supper and then the dance.”

“Heh, I really slept a long time huh?” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Let’s just say you were out for a bit longer than anyone else in the pod,” Dust smirked.

Dash snorted and waved her off. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go grab some food real quick and then we can come back here.”

“Okay!” Dust Bunny smiled widely. “Oh I can’t wait for tonight! Seeing how a pony from outside dances is going to be super fun!”

“Well, there are like, actual dancers back in Equestria and stuff. But uh, I’ll do my best?” Rainbow shrugged.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. With everything else you’ve said and done it seems like you can do anything. You’re amazing.”

There was no force on this planet that could keep those words from going to the Equestrian pegasus’ head. “Well I guess you do know me pretty well by now.” It was impossible to keep the big grin off her face as she said that to the other mare.

Dust Bunny could only laugh in response at Dash’s ego and after that the two quickly left to get some food.

---

Later that evening, Rainbow Dash made her way with Dust Bunny to a large open area down in the tunnels that she hadn’t been to before. She could see dozens of ponies crowding right at the entrance as well as hear the amiable sounds of a party being held. There were a few ponies she recognized already like Flint, Bright Eyes, and Grinding Gear, along with a number of other workers she had seen on the various teams. A lot of the ponies also noticed her and who she was, making Rainbow Dash shake a lot of hooves and fight her way through a new cadre of fans on her way inside the dance party.

“I’m sorry everyone is still so awestruck when they see you,” Dust Bunny apologized.

“Eh, no big deal. Like I said I’m used to it and I kind of like it anyways,” Rainbow said.

When they got inside Rainbow took a look around the big rectangular room, it had a lot of lights in the ceiling but they were dimmed to make things darker in their “club”. Along the far wall she saw a group of ponies with musical instruments (along with some pipes and sheet metal being repurposed as instruments) while Pile and a couple of ponies she remembered from the command center sat behind a table in the corner next to them. Besides that the middle area of the floor was open to anyone who wanted to dance even though things obviously weren’t in full swing yet, and there was another table set up against the wall with a few jugs of water for anyone who needed them.

“Alright now that I’m here maybe this party can really start?” Rainbow Dash said as she looked at the few ponies out on the dance floor, probably couples, the band wasn’t even playing yet.

“I’ll go talk to Pile, more ponies should keep coming in and once the music starts you’ll see everyone go wild,” Dust Bunny told her and walked off to the table in the corner, leaving Rainbow Dash on her own.

It was only a second after standing there on her own that someone came up and spoke to her. “We don’t exactly slow dance here but I wouldn’t mind being your first dance partner if you let me?”

Rainbow turned at the familiar voice and grinned at Bright Eyes. “Hey, no problem with me. I’ll need to see just what you guys like to do anyways.”

“Well you can watch Dust Bunny too when the music gets in full swing, she goes nuts,” Bright Eyes said.

“She does seem to really like dancing...” Rainbow said as she looked over at Dust talking to Pile and then walking over to the band. It looked like the music would be starting soon.

“She’s always the most excited for these parties,” Bright confirmed.

One of the musicians down at the back of the room started banging a drumstick on a metal sheet to grab everyone’s attention. When they did so, Rainbow Dash also noticed more ponies filing into the dance room from outside. “Okay everyone! We’re about to get this dance party started! Be sure to thank our boss Pile and Miss Rainbow Dash from outside for this one!”

The ponies cheered and Rainbow Dash unsuccessfully fought a blush.

Immediately after that the band started up, playing fast and loud in a country style that would’ve made Applejack take off her hat and yell “Yee-haw!” if she was here. Rainbow Dash heard them fiddling and banjoing and running sticks up corrugated metal sheets like they were washboards. Hoedown really was an apt term for this. The music really lit a fire under all the ponies too, instead of just the few couples out there who were dancing the floor was now filled with dozens all jiving and ducking between each other.

“Let’s go!” Bright said and led Rainbow Dash on in, where the two danced facing each other, with the stallion doing his own sort of shimmy as Rainbow Dash stepped in tune with the music.

She really wasn’t a dancer, Pinkie Pie or even Rarity would have a better time of doing this, but she was still gonna give it her all. Bouncing up and down on the balls of her hooves and tapping on the hard metal floor, she did her best to keep up with Bright Eyes and try to match his movements. He reached out a hoof and she took it, the stallion twirling her around in a circle and then tossing her in the air. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and dove over him, rolling on the floor and then coming back up, just in time for Bright Eyes to come and grab her by the hoof again, this time spinning her around like a top.

“You’ve got good reflexes!” He shouted to her over the loud music and dancing.

Dash came to a stop and grabbed his hoof, this time spinning him around in a circle around her. “I’m just good at improvising!”

She looked at some of the other ponies and saw them sliding along the metal and letting others dip them down or slide them between their hooves before pulling them back up. Others danced in circles, clapping their hooves together and stomping them in unison while one pony pranced in the center, showing off their moves. Rainbow Dash stopped spinning Bright Eyes and decided to do some solo moves, kicking out her hooves and wings, really getting energetic and letting the music take her away.

Bright Eyes did the same and the two ponies tap-danced on the metal floor, fast paced clacking coming from beneath the two of them.

“Everyone’s gotta let loose and party sometime, right?” Bright Eyes said to her.

“Right on!” Rainbow sped up and used the tapping on the metal floor to create a sort of music of her own. Jumping and moving in rhythm, she was in her own world with the music and dancing all happening around her. The only other time she had really plainly just had fun on this adventure was back when she was teaching her friends from the Empire how to play Buckball.

Bright Eyes tapped away with her but he couldn’t match her speed. “I think you’re a natural!”

“I’m fast! And there’s no pony around who has more energy than me!” Rainbow went into overdrive, banging on the metal with her hooves and hopping into the center of the dance floor so everyone could see her in action.

Bright Eyes and some of the others made a circle for her as they saw her swing. All of them excited to see their visiting pony work her moves and get down with the music.

Rainbow Dash was happy to oblige as they stomped their hooves in unison, clapping a beat for her along with the hearty music in the background. She back-flipped and did the splits when she landed, coming back up and tapping on her back hooves for a second before rolling onto her back, tucking her legs in, and spinning herself around with her wings. Thanks to her rainbow mane and tail it made for a very colorful spin. She heard the ponies hollering and cheering for her to keep going and Rainbow Dash was more than happy and able to keep on going for them. She hopped out of her spin and tap, tap, tapped her hooves all across the circle.

“Come on! That’s how you dance, right? This is how you do it!” She said to them all, tapping and moving her hooves in rhythm with each other.

Some of the ponies making up the circle parted and Dust Bunny jumped in with Rainbow Dash, her wavy orange mane tied back in a ponytail. The earth pony started tap-dancing along with Dash, throwing a smile at the pegasus while she frantically tried to keep pace. Dust Bunny was already sweating pretty heavily, she had probably been dancing elsewhere in the party before she came to join Rainbow Dash.

“Getting tired already?” Dash grinned as she tapped more and more.

“It’s a fun kind of tired!” Dust Bunny did the same, pushing herself harder and faster to tap dance at the same speed and with the same rhythm as Rainbow Dash. “I feel like my heart’s pounding in my chest!”

Rainbow Dash suddenly reached forward and grabbed her front legs, pulling her up and making the two of them tap dance just on their back hooves. “Let me help you out a bit then!”

Rainbow and Dust Bunny danced around the circle like that to the applause of the others. She pulled in and spun around the earth pony every now and then to change things up while continuing her heavy tapping on the metal and very acoustic dance floor. Copying what she had seen some others do she grabbed Dust Bunny’s sides and threw her up in the air, catching the surprised pony and spinning around with her before they came to a stop.

“Oh my! You’re really getting into this!” Dust said.

“I’m having fun thanks to you, just showing my appreciation!” Rainbow Dash set Dust Bunny down to give her some rest and pulled in a random stallion from the circle. She twirled him around and did much the same, making him tap dance with her for a second before spinning him back into the circle and grabbing a new partner.

Rainbow Dash kept this up over and over since nobody else could match the energy she had. Just like Dust Bunny had said, her heart was pounding too and she was just feeling it. The whole crowd might as well have been her dance partner and audience all at once. Rainbow Dash spun around on her hooves, letting the music fill up her body and the excitement rush through her as she let the fun of dancing lift her.

Grabbing Dust Bunny again, Rainbow Dash danced with her some more. She wasn’t sure how long this had been going on but she was sweating and exhausted now. This second bout with Dust Bunny would be her last for the night. But boy was she glad that she agreed to come to this dance.

The both of them loudly hopped and tap-danced on all four hooves, sweat dripping off them as the music hit a crescendo. The two wanted to keep up until the music fully stopped and their legs practically worked automatically to keep them going. They’d be like jelly after this was over but it would be worth it. Dust Bunny surprisingly managed to keep up with Rainbow Dash’s dance moves, the both of them watching the other’s hooves as they jived and bopped.

Finally as the music turned down and the band stopped playing, Dash held Dust Bunny’s hooves and spun them around again before they both collapsed to the floor once the final note had been played. The two mares sat there panting and smiling at each other while the circle of ponies cheered and stamped their hooves.

Rainbow Dash reached up and pushed her sweat-drenched mane out of her face. “That… was a lot of fun.”

“I… told you… so,” Dust Bunny tried to laugh but it came out in a few heaving pants instead.

Yep, a lot of fun… Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she looked around at everyone else who had been enjoying the dance party. But no offense to you all, I’m gonna be on my way out of here well before next time.

Author's Note:

Born to hoof jive.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

How are you able to update so quickly?

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

[MagicS]

10503040
I wrote a lot of chapters before publishing.

[superfun]

This was a fun chapter.

I wonder how long this arc is going to turn out to be.
I doubt it'll be as long as True Pegasus, but it seems like it's definitely going to be a bit longer than the Ice Sentinal