Rainbow leaned gently against Andrew’s hip as they slowly made their way off the dance floor. Her lacy black dress slid soundlessly against the fabric of his pants, but the feeling of warmth was easily picked up by her soft wings.

Her tail waved around lazily, more often than not trying to reach Andrew’s leg in an attempt to coil around it but lacking the length to do so. Abandoning her rough attitude for the time being, she sighed. Closing her eyes in enjoyment, she leaned her head as best she could against the biped’s waist, letting him guide her back to their seat.

A hand found its way to the crown of her head, nestling in the soft nest of color that sprouted there. Slowly, it slithered down her mane and around her neck until it came to rest on the underside of her jaw, his thumb rubbing her cheek afterwards.

Ponies glanced their way, but no sneers or looks of judgement followed. Whatever remained of their fear was extinguished, having found peace at the fact that they were accepted here.

Making their way back to their seats at the edge of the hall, the pair sat down without a word. The faintest buzz of a blush shone like heated toaster wires in Rainbow’s cheeks as she gazed into Andrew’s eyes from across the table.

The human’s hand moved across the table, wrapping around the mare’s much smaller, and -as much as she hated to admit it--daintier furred hoof.

“I... um, thank you Andrew. I’ve never really done that with anypony,” Rainbow admitted.

“Well, I’ve never done that with anypony either. You could say we were each other’s firsts,” he smiled.

A strange, almost inaudible moan left Rainbow’s throat as his provocative words entered her ears. Her skin bristled with pricks of heat and her mind conjured some very alluring images that would fuel her dreams for weeks to come.

“Yeah I uh, we... yeah,” she finally settled on, recovering from her sudden scramble.

Andrew tilted his head, adopting a concerned look, “You alright, Dash?”

Rainbow blushed hard, eyes darting anywhere but to him. “Yeah,” she squeaked, coughing cutely into her free hoof, cheeks burning from having her voice crack, “Y-yeah.”

Andrew shrugged, grabbing at his collar. “Well I don’t know about you, but that dancing made me hot. You want a drink? My treat,” he smiled kindly.

“Just a water please... Drewy,” she squeaked.

“Beg pardon?”

“J-just a water thanks.”

“Of course,” he responded, rubbing his thumb over her hoof slowly before standing.

As Andrew wandered his way over to the bar, the mare slumped back into her chair, letting loose a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Rubbing her eyes, she took a moment to look at her hoof. The appendage quaked ever so slightly, her whole body shaking and teetering on the verge of becoming a stressed out wreck.

A strangled gasp left her throat. The disbelief of what she was seeing. For a mare that had fought countless enemies and faced serious injury for the joy of flying it came as a shock for nerves to find their way into her, and at a place like this!

“Psst, Rainbow,” A voice sounded from somewhere close.

Rainbows ears shot upright in alarm, swivelling around like security cameras on high alert. A small orange hoof grabbed at the hem of her lacy dress, directing her attention to under the table.

With a quick flick of her wing, the soft red linen tablecloth lifted revealing the smiling face of three little fillies.

“Scootaloo!? What in the name of Luna’s moon are you doing here!?” Rainbow half whispered, half shouted, in only the way that a girl can do.

“We’ve come to help you out!” Scootaloo beamed back, Applebloom and Sweetie backing her up with smiling nods.

“Girls, you can’t be here! This is an adults only thing!”

“Hey, we are adults! I’ve even been through Estrus!” Sweetie retorted, drawing a ‘did not need to know that’ grimace from Dash.

“Girls, I don’t have time for this! Go home! Andrew is gonna be back any second and if you get caught, we’re gonna get kicked out for sure!”

“That’s just it though! We’re here to help you win Andrew’s heart!” Scootaloo explained.

“Um, are you sure you're alright Scootaloo? Andrew and I are just friends,” Rainbow played off smoothly.

“Rainbow, we’re sisters! I can tell when you're acting weird ever since you’d started taking Andrew to your ‘private viewing airshows,’” she added in air quotes, “it wasn’t hard to figure out what was going on.” Scootaloo smiled almost smugly, chin high in a very victorious pose.

“Okay, okay! I admit, I do have the hots for him alright?! Geez, you’re too perceptive for your own good, squirt.”

“Yes! So does that mean you’ll let us help you?” Sweetie asked.

“Whoa whoa whoa, I never said anything like that. Besides, what would you three know about dating anyway?”

“It’s not what we know, it’s how we can help! Three extra sets of hooves working behind the scenes to make this the best night ever? It can’t go wrong!”

Opening her mouth to tell the fillies off, the tablecloth quickly fell back to the floor when the sound of approaching footsteps made their way over. Andrew had come back with the drinks, placing them on the table as he sat down. “Here you go, Rainbow,” he said, smiling politely at her.

“Um, hey Andrew,” Rainbow started, trying to steer his attention away from under the table. “I’m getting pretty hungry, do you think you could go and find AJ and ask her what's taking so long? Please?”

Andrew blinked before snorting with a smile. “Yeah, alright Dash. I know you hate waiting for anything,” he smiled as he stood up.

As soon as her crush walked out of sight, Rainbow was immediately under the table.

“Listen,” the slightly panicked, but more-so pissed off pegasus whispered sternly, “I need you three to leave, now. If anything goes wrong with this date, I swear to Celestia I’ll-”

Rainbow blinked. The only one of the three little demons remaining under the table was Sweetie Belle. She smiled, flashing the older mare a hooves-up.

“You’re doing good, Rainbow Dash!” she assured her. “Just make sure that if you order a wiener, you don’t get anything on your face, because it’s really hard to get the juice out of your fur. I know because I read it in Rarity’s diary, and Rarity knows all about-”

Rainbow immediately bolted upward, eyes darting frantically around the room as she searched for signs of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

Out of nowhere, a warm hand suddenly brushed over her shoulders, causing Rainbow to jump just a little. Whipping her head around, she was slightly calmed at the sight of her mega-crush behind her while managing to hide her stress over finding the missing fillies.

“She says that soup’s on in about ten minutes. She did mention that there was some finger food around here though,” Andrew shrugged, not noticing the human term he had let slip.

“Oh, that’s good. I might go get something to eat... Um do you want anything?” Rainbow said, still stealthily scanning around the room.

“Nah, I can wait. You better go get something to tide you over, you look like you can’t sit still,” the man chuckled.

“Yeah, you know me, empty stomach and all, hehe,” she played off before turning away.

Carefully, and more importantly, as nonchalantly as she possibly could , the pegasus scanned every hiding space where two fillies could squeeze themselves into, earning her more than a few curious glances when some other couples noticed the odd mare who was gazing intently at a curtain.

Eventually, she made her way over to the snack food table. Despite finding the fillies being priority numero uno, she couldn’t help but feel just a tiny bit peckish. Eyeing up a particularly appetizing daisy sandwich, she let her mind slip. Loading more than a few onto her plate, she made to return to her table when she noticed a crystal vase.

Eight fully bloomed roses sprouted from within the vase, their petals perfectly shaped. With a cautionary glance to check for any possible witnesses, Rainbow quickly leant up and snagged one, clipping the head off swiftly before sliding it into her mane, just behind her ear.

Searching for a mirror to see how she looked, she smiled when the vase became of use to her again. Sticking her tongue out cutely, she turned her head side to side, checking if the rose was locked in place. She stopped dead however, when she noticed two little brightly-colored blobs that were visible in its reflection.

Whipping her head around, she watched in horror as Scootaloo helped pull Applebloom up onto a ledge that overlooked the room. The little earth filly seemed to lose her grip for a moment, slipping a few inches off the ledge before Scootaloo quickly readjusted her hold on her. The poor yellow pony’s hind legs kicked for dear life, coming quite close to knocking off an elderly stallion’s tophat.

Everybody, including the owner of the ridiculously tall hat, seemed to be okay. Rainbow, however, nearly had a heart attack at how dangerously close this night was to being ruined. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that one of them seemed to have knocked something off from the ledge, the small projectile heading straight for the oblivious old gentlestallion.

She held out a hoof as if preparing to dart forward: “Scoot-!” she began to shout, until she felt the eyes of the entire room upon her. Desperate to escape the awkward stares she was receiving, she quickly thought of a way to exit the scene.

“Uh, scoot!” she ordered a mare standing in front of her, eliciting an angry gasp as she shoved past her. “I need to use the mare’s room!”

Pretending the odd stares she was getting weren’t actually happening, and hoping that Andrew hadn’t witnessed that little outburst, she quickly trotted off to the little mares room, noting on the way that the fillies had once again vanished. Barging inside, she rudely pushed past a mare coming out of one of the stalls. Forcing her way in, Rainbow quickly spun the latch, locking herself inside.

“Urgh,” she groaned, rubbing her eyes with her hooves, trying to think her way out of this mess. Not a moment later, the sound of the ladies door opening alerted Rainbow to a new visitor.

“Rainbow Dash dear, I thought you had at least some modicum of class. That was no way to act!” Rarity’s voice sounded, her chastising tone forever prevalent.

Rainbow groaned in realization, pushing her face into her hooves. “I know, Rarity. Just believe me when I say that the alternative would have been way worse.”

Rarity paused. “...You don’t have the runs do you?”

“Ew, Rarity!”

“Well I’m sorry, but if you’re not willing to tell me you could at least come back out. I’m sure Andrew is getting worried about you.”

Rainbow grinned to herself. ‘Yeah, he does care, doesn’t he?’

While Dash was silently stewing in her girlish fantasies, Rarity finally turned away. “Well they’re going to be serving in five minutes, Rainbow. I suggest making sure you get out there before it gets cold.

The door closed softly, and Rainbow waited a few moments until she was sure Rarity was more than a good distance from the bathroom, she stepped out of the stall. Taking a moment to fix herself up in the mirror, she took one last cautionary glance around to see if any rambunctious crusaders were in here with her, before stepping out.

Andrew smiled when he saw his pseudo-date return, silently noting the very off-character rose behind her ear. Deciding to keep his mouth shut as she sat down, he reached over to caress her hoof.

The flurry of faces that flew over Rainbow’s face from the gesture was painfully adorable to say the least. First the ears perked, the the eyes grew, her smiled wavered into an uneasy grin, one that was beginning to dawn into a happy squeal.

Her eyes clicked upwards to look at his, looking wide-eyed and hopeful. “Hey Dash, I’ve got a question.”

“Uh-huh,” she acknowledged absently, too focused on those fingers wrapped around her hoof.

“Have you ever had a boyfriend-”

SCREECH.

A collective groan, and clamping of ears to heads went on around the ballroom, the bands amplifier letting out a horrific feedback scream. The faintest hint of a indigo tail slipping behind a bass case made Rainbow’s blood boil.

‘Scoots, you are so going to get it!’

The band quickly solved the issue, offering a quick apology to everyone before glossing over it with a soothing piece.

Andrew turned away from them back to Dash, shaking his head with a laugh. “I swear, you ponies can’t go one hour without something happening,” he mused.

Rainbow gave a uncommitted nod, eyes still darting all over. Soon after, the doors to the kitchen swung open, and a platoon of waiters rolled out, each demonstrating impressive balancing skills. Boiling hot soup sitting on their backs as if they were bolted down.

One quickly served up the duo, placing the tantalizing dish before them. The volume of steam pouring off of the meal kept Rainbow’s ravenous hunger at bay for the moment, lest she make even more of a fool of herself tonight by burning her mouth.

As she waited, Andrew decided to keep conversation going, this time talking about his patent. Rainbow listened in half rapt attention. Loving his voice, trying to be interested in the subject matter. Trains weren’t really her thing.

Suddenly, something dropped from above. Pinging off of Rainbow’s mane, a slip of folded paper landed square on the table. Hoping Andrew didn’t notice, she quickly swatted it away. After another minute of chatting, another note fell, strangely bigger, bouncing off her shoulder before falling right off. Rainbow continued to ignore them, using the tried and tested ‘ignorance is bliss’ approach to the raining notes.

Suddenly without warning, what equated to a tome fell from the rafters, the heavy note fell with the grace of a cinder block, and its trajectory put it straight into Rainbow’s soup.

The room seemed deathly silent. Andrew could only watch on in horror as the soup continued to drip from Rainbow’s face, down onto her dress staining it with harsh dark splotches. A strangled gasp left her, looking down in disbelief at her ruined clothing, then back to the aghast expression of her crush. A heavy, shaky breath left her. What this night could have been, what hopes she had for a perfect date with Andrew...

…they were now shattered.

With a small sniffle that threatened to become a choking sob, she leapt from her seat, bolting towards the staff exit at the rear of the kitchen, almost bowling over a waiter in her wake.

“Dash, wait!” Andrew called after her, standing up so quickly the table nearly toppled over. A quick glance around showed that the little event hadn’t gone unnoticed by the other patrons, who were either staring at the standing human, or trying to ignore the embarrassing debacle as best they possibly could.

Andrew paid them no mind however as he swiftly followed suit in the direction Rainbow had galloped off.

It didn’t take long to find her.

The rear of the glass house backed onto a large meadow, with a short stone patio to overlook the garden. However being in the dead of night and a distinct chill in the air made for a very empty scene, aside from one near-sobbing mare.

Letting out a breath as if he was releasing his nerves, Andrew made his way over to Rainbow. The sound of his footsteps made her ears swivel towards him briefly before flattening against her head.

“Rainbow?” he asked softly.

Rainbow just sniffed, turning her head further away.

Dropping to a knee, he placed a hand on her left shoulder, despite being a simple gesture, he felt the weight on it increase by how she ever so gently leant into it.

“Hey, come on now. Don’t let a little spill ruin our fun. I don’t know about you but I’d much rather be in there then out here, but not without you.”

Rainbow whimpered, still turned away. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“It's all ruined,” she moaned, her voice carrying an unmissable tone of hopelessness.

“The dress or the party?”

“Everything...”

Andrew, shook his head, placing her other hand on her right cheek feeling the cold soup in her fur. “Dash... Please look at me, Rainbow,” he asked gently.

Reluctantly,the mare turned to face her object of infatuation, silently hating herself for letting him see her big puffy red eyes. Andrew simply smiled a sad smile all the while, reaching into his top pocket to pull out that weird handkerchief thing.

With soft, gentle strokes, he slowly cleaned away the patches of soup on Rainbow’s fur, picking off the occasional piece of vegetable. Moving his other hand behind her ear, he began to rub the area gently.

“I don’t think the night’s ruined, Rainbow. Sure, we had some hiccups, but that’s all. It’s not like you to break down over something like this,” he commented, putting her handkerchief away, letting his hands be devoted to caressing Rainbow’s face.

Moving his thumb to rub her cheek, he continued. “You're the rough and tumble Rainbow Dash. A little spill would never faze you this much, unless something else is going on.”

All cards on the table, Andrew spoke. “Is there anything you wanna tell me Rainbow? Something about us?”

Rainbow’s eyes flicked straight towards his, locking on and widening. Her shocked expression lasted only but a moment however until she let out an unsteady shuddering breath, and the ghosts of tears built at the base of her eyes.

“Y-you know?”

Andrew simply nodded his head.

“How long?” Rainbow squeaked.

“A few days,” he replied. “It was after you started to do all those private airshows. It took me a while but I eventually put two and two together. But all the evidence in the world isn’t as good as hearing a confession.”

“If you wanna say it Dash... just go for it.”

Rainbow visibly gulped, staring up at Andrew with her big eyes. Slowly, she closed them as she went over what to say in her head. Finally, she moved, pushing her head forward into Andrew’s chest, so that he didn’t have to see the look on her face when he turned her down.

“Andrew,” she whispered. “Will you be... my special somepony?”

The feeling of a hand caressing her back of her head lured her out of his chest, making her look up at him with the most hopeful looking eyes. He smiled back, stroking her ear just next to where she had put the rose in.

“That’s a beautiful flower, Rainbow,” he said, moving his face closer to hers, stroking her mane as she gazed back, her expression one part hopeful, two parts terrified.

“Just like you,” he whispered sincerely, before kissing the top of her head softly, making the mare gasp gently.

“Rainbow Dash,” he pulled back, seeing the small pony fighting through so many emotions. “I would love to be your special somepony.”

Andrew released her, revealing a ecstatic Rainbow, she squeaked helplessly, mouth curling upwards into one of those adorable grins only she could pull off. Without any warning, she threw herself into Andrew’s arms, squealing and giggling all the while, happy tears now flowing.

Andrew couldn’t help but be infected by her happiness. Picking her up, he twirled her around in his arms, holding her close under the moonlight.

From the doorway, three fillies started out back at the new couple. They all sighed happily, grateful that their plan had (in a way) worked. They stayed silent for a moment before Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“You owe me five bits, Applebloom.”

Author's Note

And there you have it. How RD and Andy came to be. Thanks to all the helpful people who knew what wurds were when I didn't because hoo boy, this chapter would never have come out. These people being my anonymous editor and the one and only Sneaky.