Return to Society

by Silent Sir 224

The Fruits of Love's Labors

The morning sun had greeted Dusk through his glass doors, upon arising he saw that he had quite some time before his big date. This is going to be such a good day, His optimism was well placed, everything was perfection in his world and not a single detail went unchecked. He had two tasks for the day: one, pickup his suit and two, escort Fluttershy to dinner.

He had until six-thirty to be ready, there was no need to rush anything today, very much unlike the previous day that left his legs jelly in Fluttershy's hooves. Dusk had noticed the lack of pain in his head, a good sign that his recovery was nearing completion and decided to not take his pain pills.

Upon exiting the comfort of his bed, Dusk waltzed over to the doors of his balcony to greet the morning with open arms. Hummingway took the opportunity to go out and eat. The joy he gained from his labors of the previous day had left him in a feeling of weightlessness, nothing could possibly bring him down.

The fresh air had entered his lungs as the doors swung open, this day was going to be perfect for a dinner date with Fluttershy. Dusk closed the doors as he headed into his little kitchen to fix himself some breakfast, the usual toast didn't seem appetizing that day. He grabbed a shiny, red apple from a fruit bowl sitting on the counter and took a big juicy bite out of it, a delicious alternative to the dry toast he made himself each morning.

After cleaning himself up, Dusk felt it was time to visit Rarity's shop and pick up his suit and explain to Rarity why he couldn't pick it up yesterday. The town had a certain energy in the air words couldn't exactly describe it, no doubt a side affect of the fact that it was Hearts and Hooves Day.

The streets were much less busy than the day before, it appeared that the only ponies out were those who had forgotten what day was today. If it weren't for Rainbow Dash, I might not have found out in time and ended up just like these poor ponies. He thought, then again, if she hadn't nearly cracked my skull open I might have been able to find out sooner and took care of everything a lot sooner.

He shook that thought from his mind, there was no point to think about what could have happened differently, he had played the hand he was dealt and was able to make it work. It felt good for him to be able to stroll about town, no need to go running around town, he had plenty of time that day and needed to find something to do after his stop at Rarity's.

Once in sight, Dusk noticed the Carousel Boutique had a line that went out the door with impatient customers, not the greatest sign. He walked to the end of the line, a pony wearing a monocle and fancy black suit was standing at the in front of him, he seemed very calm.

"Excuse me good sir," Dusk addressed him, "just how long is the wait here?"

"Oh I have been waiting about half an hour give or take," he replied, "oh where are my manners! The name is Fancy Pants, and who might you be?"

"Dusk sir," he answered giving his typical bow, "a pleasure to meet you Mr. Fancy Pants, if I may, what brings you here to Ponyville? A gentlecolt of your stature is usually doing business in Canterlot."

"Ah Dusk, a fine name," Fancy Pants answered, "Yes, I am from Canterlot, but I am here to pick up a new outfit from my top designer, but it seems I am not the only one, I assume you are here for the exact same reason."

"Indeed I am, Rarity is a good friend of mine, but I had no idea she was such a renowned designer, bringing in clients from Canterlot. I'm glad she is quite successful, but it appears she is stretched a little thin today."

"I'm afraid I have to agree, she can create beautiful designs and make exquisite clothing, but her organization appears to be less than up to par for today."

"I'm going to see if I can help her, can you hold this spot for me? Such conversation with such an esteemed gentlecolt is enjoyable to pass the time."

"Capital Idea! Of course, good sir you have my word."

With that Dusk moved ahead of the line, the patrons waiting before him were much less polite than his new friend and used a less than appropriate language. He squeezed through the doorway to see Rarity running every which way, she was much more frazzled compared to yesterday. "Good day to you Rarity, you seem busy."

"Oh Dusk, sorry I've fallen behind and everything is a little hectic, your suit is not quite done." Rarity admitted.

"It's okay, I have plenty of time, unlike some ponies outside," Dusk said calmly, "what can I do to help?"

Rarity's eyes grew wide, she looked at him as a savior sent down from the heavens to save her from her dilemma. "If you can handle the transactions, I can actually finish these outfits," she paused, "did you happen to see a pony named Fancy Pants out there?"

"Indeed I did we had a delightful conversation," Dusk replied, "he was by far one of the most respectful ponies I have ever seen, he said he had been waiting a half an hour but was absolutely calm about it."

Rarity nearly hit the roof, "WHAT? I have to move now I don't want to keep him waiting longer, here's the list of orders," she threw Dusk another notepad, "this list shows all of the outfits, they need a receipt to pick up an order, no exceptions I need to finish these so I will be in my workshop."

Dusk nodded as he stepped behind the counter to the first pony in line, they were not exactly patient, "how may I help you?"

"I need my outfit now."

"Your receipt?" He had taken the receipt, matched it to the outfit on the rack behind him and handed it to them. "Thank you for your patronage, have a happy Hearts and Hooves Day."

The next hour was that single action on repeat, some ponies were a little more upset about the debacle than others and one failed to bring a receipt and was forced to wait out of line. Rarity was putting outfits on the rack as fast as Dusk was taking them off and the work load was much easier with the two working so diligently.

The next pony was Fancy Pants, looking as calm as he was an hour ago, "oh hello Mr. Dusk, good to see you were able to assist Ms. Rarity, here's my receipt."

"Here you go Mr. Fancy Pants, terribly sorry for the wait," Dusk apologized as he handed him the suit, "I'm not very used to doing this, so I'm a little slow."

"Nonsense my good man you are doing quite well considering the state of the shop," Fancy Pants replied, "I could sure use a pony of such skill in Canterlot." He handed Dusk a card, "please do look me up the next time you are in Canterlot, you and I are very much alike and I would very much so enjoy your company. Tell Rarity to keep up the good work as I do need to head back to Canterlot."

Dusk gave a nod, "of course sir, and I will very much consider your offer."

Upon his exit, Rarity appeared from her workshop, "was that Fancy Pants, what did he say?"

"Well, he offered me a job, asked me to visit him in Canterlot and said to tell you to 'keep up the good work,'" Dusk answered, still in shock about what had just happened.

Rarity nearly collapsed, "HE WHAT?"

"He said I was doing a good job, all considering, gave me his card and then ask me to come visit him in Canterlot for some reason." The situation had finally hit him, knocked him off balance and made him curious to see Fancy Pants in Canterlot, "oh and he said to tell you to 'keep up the good work' before he left."

Dusk realized that some pony was waiting for him at the counter and returned to the task at hand, Rarity just stood there speechless. Until Dusk snapped her back to reality, she still had work to do and he wasn't going to be able to handle all of the aspects of the shop.

"Rarity! There are still outfits to be made, I can only sell what you have made, we only have a couple more ponies left to handle, don't lose it on me right now." Rarity snapped back and rushed back into her workshop, working as fast as she could to finish her remaining orders.

The two managed to handle all of her customers and took a breathe before slumping on the floor, Dusk had started laughing. "Not the way I planned to spend my day, but it feels good to help a friend in need."

"There is no way I could have done this without your help, but I have a favor to ask, well two," Rarity replied, completely exhausted.

"Is one a job offer? Because if it is I accept, I've been needing to find something to do," Dusk replied, Rarity gave him a big smile in response. "What's the second favor?" He asked a little bit hesitant to hear the answer.

"In a few days I'm going to be staying in Canterlot to work in a fashion show," she began, "you have made a powerful friend today in Fancy Pants so I was wondering if you would accompany me."

"Well..., I don't see why not," Dusk replied with a little hesitation in his voice, "but I will make sure Fluttershy is okay with it first of course."

Rarity had some sudden burst of energy as she began to hop around the room giggling, he simply watched her and smiled. It felt good to make his friend so happy and couldn't wait to tell Fluttershy about it tonight, in shock he looked at the clock in the shop. He had lost his grasp of time in the insanity he had volunteered to be apart of, the clock showed it was five-thirty and gave a sigh of relief.

"Can I get my suit now?" Dusk asked, "I don't mean to be so crass but my date is in an hour so I want to make sure I look presentable for Fluttershy."

"Oh silly me it is the last one on the rack," Rarity replied, "I almost forgot about it." She levitated the suit above him and in a flash it was fit nicely over his coat, gotta love unicorn magic, he thought, I should use it more often. "You look smashing," she complimented.

The suit was a jet black suit with a white collared shirt and black bow tie, simple just like he had requested, and was pleased by the result. "Thank you very much madame," he gave a bow, "Now I must leave, I cannot afford to be late for my first date, I would never here the end of it."

Rarity nodded and held open the door for him, "good luck dear, I can't wait to hear how it goes!"

With that Dusk walked out into the warm sunshine, all that work had left him a little fatigued but he could push past it. He decided to check in with AppleJack to make sure everything else was in order before heading over to pick up Fluttershy.

The farm appeared to have ponies running in and out carrying objects of various shapes and sizes, he could see AppleJack supervising the work. "Hello AppleJack, how are things progressing?" He asked, hoping that nothing else would go wrong this day.

"A little slow, but everything will be ready in time for your date," she turned and saw his attire. "Don't ya look fancied up for Fluttershy."

"Thank you, but that's music to my ears that everything is going to be ready in time," Dusk replied, "after what happened at the Carousel Boutique, I don't need anything else to go wrong."

"Why, what happened? Is Rarity alright?" she asked, feeling concern for her friend.

"She was a little overloaded with customers," he answered, "I stepped in to help obtain order and helped her finish her orders and we just wrapped up not too long ago."

"That sounds like her, always biting off more than she can chew, at least she had you there to keep it from getting out of control."

Dusk nodded in agreement, "well if everything is in order here I should start heading to Fluttershy's cottage, better to be a little early than at all late." AppleJack nodded and waved him off, she had everything under control and would make sure it went smoothly for her two friends.

The walk to Fluttershy's cottage was unusually quick, but Dusk figured it was because of his excitement, our first date, this will be the perfect evening. He had reached the door and waited a moment before knocking, the door opened a crack and much like last night, Fluttershy saw it was Dusk and immediately opened the door for him.

She was wearing a beautiful spring dress, there was no doubt in his mind Rarity made it for her, the green of the dress complimented her coat perfectly. "Wow, you look amazing," Dusk admitted, he was sure that his jaw had nearly hit the floor.

Fluttershy blushed a little, she hugged him tightly and gave him a peck on the cheek, she seemed just as excited about their date as he was. "Shall we be off milady?" She nodded, and the two walked out into the cool evening air, the sun was beginning it's descent in the west.

"So how has your day been" He asked, he felt it would be a good way to break the ice between them.

"Oh it was fine, Twilight had helped me get ready, that was about it, how about you?" She asked.

"This has been a crazy day," he admitted, "I did not plan on doing too much today, but the world decided to change my plans."

"Oh, what happened?"

"I went to pick up my suit from Rarity only to find there was a long line at her shop, I had met a pony named Fancy Pants waiting in line, really nice pony, very polite."

"Oh, I met him about a month ago at Twilight's birthday party in Canterlot, he is a very nice pony."

"Really? Certainly a pony that knows a lot of ponies, but anyway, I decided to see if Rarity needed help, turns out she did a lot, she couldn't handle everything, so I took over the counter. I made sure every pony got the outfit they ordered and allowed Rarity to finish orders, this process was repeated over several hours."

"Well that sounds hectic, that was a very nice thing you did for Rarity and I'm sure that she appreciates what you did."

"Well she did give me a job being her cashier and she also gave me another offer I wanted to talk to you about,"

"Oh, what's that?"

"Because I became such a fast friend of Fancy Pants, who offered me a job and asked for me to look him up the next time I went to Canterlot. Rarity wants me to accompany her when she leaves for a fashion show in Canterlot in a few days, I told her it depends on what your thoughts are on the matter."

"Well, I trust you, and Rarity is a good friend so I trust her too," she paused, "if you want to go I support your decision."

With that statement, the two had reached Sweet Apple Acres, where AppleJack was waiting to escort the to their table. The table had a beautiful rose in a tall glass, Dusk had pulled Futtershy's chair out for her before sitting down himself.

The dinner itself was quiet, the two had already caught up on the trip and anything they wanted to know was covered by other conversations they had that week. Still, it was a nice dinner, both enjoyed a simple salad and watched the sun dip below the horizon, the two finished their meals shortly after. They danced under the moonlit sky, truly a beautiful memory for the two to remember fondly. Dusk decided that was time was the best to tell her something.

"Fluttershy?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

The two didn't want to keep their hosts up too late, so after their dance it was time to head back by moonlight. The silence lasted until the two reached Fluttershy's cottage. "That was a lovely time tonight, I had fun," Fluttershy smiled.

"I'm glad, this truly was a magical evening," Dusk replied. The two shared another kiss, their hearts synchronized, all the world seemed irrelevant when the two came so close together.

After five minutes the two agreed to end it, "would you like to stay here tonight? It's such a long walk back to the inn back in town."

The question shocked Dusk for a moment, she couldn't mean... no it's too soon she wouldn't want to move that fast! Against his better judgement Dusk said, "that sounds nice, I can take the couch down here," he then spent the rest of the night thinking about how stupid he was for accepting such an invitation.

But still, the next morning would be very pleasant, he might serve her breakfast in bed as a token of gratitude but he would deal with that in the morning. But for now, sleep was calling to him and he wasn't going to wait any longer for it.

Author's Note:

Hope you enjoyed reading this, leave a like and a comment if you please.