Shining Armor stopped short of the door leading inside the Golden Oaks Library before taking a deep breath.
After his first visit to Ponyville, he had met a few of Twilight’s closest friends, including Rainbow Dash whom he gradually began developing feelings for after realizing how much they had in common with their passion for athletics, the value they both placed on Loyalty and they both shared the fact that Twilight was and continued to be an important part of their lives.
Thanks to a letter Twilight sent him after revealing his plan including a schedule of their reading days, Shining knew for a fact that Dash was inside and the fact that he didn’t have to worry about going to her home and calling up to her and wondering whether or not she was home and asleep.
While initially hesitant to come to terms with the fact that one of her best friends was dating her older brother-fearing that the relationship ending badly would damage her friendship with Dash-Twilight relented upon seeing how serious they both were (not too mention how stubborn they could be) and soon enough warmed up to the idea.
Knocking on the door, it slowly opened revealing Rainbow Dash with her cyan coat, magenta eyes, and the prismatic mane that was her namesake-even after all of this time Shining Armor still couldn’t get over how beautiful she looked.
“You realize this is a public library, right?” Dash asked with a deadpan expression.
“I think Shining Armor was just trying to be polite.” Twilight replied from behind her, lying on the ground with an open book before her.
“Maybe you could learn something from him.” She added slyly.
Dash rolled her eyes before returning her attention to Shining Armor.
“So what’cha want?” she asked coolly.
“Well…it’s Hearts and Hooves Day and I….” he began, originally he wanted to bring her flowers, but Dash was such a tomboy and had a huge distaste for anything she considered ‘mushy’ that he decided against it.
“What I mean is-we’ve been going out for a while and I was wondering if…” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “…you wanted to, uh…go out or something....”
After saying the last part he averted his gaze as if she were a Cockatrice that would turn him to stone if he dared to look into her eye to gauge her reaction for even a fraction of a second.
“You want to go out with me…tonight?” Dash repeated, slowly.
Shining squeezed his eyes shut, fearing the worst.
“Actually, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Twilight added helpfully, wanting to see her brother happy. “The two of you have been seeing each other for over a month, but weren’t you telling me earlier how still haven’t gone on an ‘official’ date? What better time to start than Hearts and Hooves Day?”
“Y-yeah!” Shining continued. “And since Mayor Mare is starting the Festival of Love Celebration this year, I was thinking we could to that.”
“A carnival?” Dash repeated in an ‘are you serious?’ tone of voice.
“Look,” she sighed. “I have no problem hanging out with you doing mushy stuff outside of public, but if I’m seen at something called ‘The Festival of Love’ then others will think that I’m not a real daredevil anymore if they see someone winning a bunch of stuffed animals for me.”
“Well, we don’t have to that!” he croaked, desperately. “I mean there’s a lot of other stuff we could do, like eat cotton candy and there’s supposed to be some rides set up too, right?”
He looked over to Twilight, who nodded in confirmation.
“That’s cool,” Dash replied. “I guess we could go on the rollercoaster-you’re not afraid of heights-are you?”
“No.”
“Great!” she then turned around and began cantering back to her Daring Do book.
“The festival will be starting in one hour.” Twilight informed them.
“All I right, I just finished this chapter anyway.” Dash replied, placed a bookmark on the page before closing the book and stretching her forelegs before standing up.
“Hey Twi, can I use your shower?” she asked.
“Of course!” Twilight replied before Dash began ascending the stairs.
Twilight then began trotting towards her brother.
“Hey, thanks for the assist.” He whispered.
“Don’t mention it-are you still nervous?”
“Yeah,” he admitted. “I needed your help to get her to agree to this date and that was supposed to be the easy part…how can I possibly get through tonight without screwing up?”
“Why don’t you try focusing on subjects she enjoys to make sure she enjoys this date?” Twilight asked, thoughtfully.
“What do you mean by that?” Shining asked, resuming his normal tone once he was certain Rainbow Dash was out of earshot.
“Rainbow Dash used to despise reading, she called it ‘undeniably, unquestionably, uncool’. Twilight explained.
“Yeah, so?”
“I realized she found it boring because she never found a book on a subject that she was interested in.” she elaborated. “That’s when I realized her personality and adventurous spirit reminded me of Daring Do, so once she broke her wing and was confined to a hospital bed for a week I was able to get her curious with certain key words describing the character as well as personality traits the two of them shared and…”
Twilight gestured to the closed book Rainbow Dash was reading earlier as what she was saying clicked.
“I see what you’re saying, but that was a fictional character.” Shining reasoned. “This date night is only going to strengthen our relationship if she’s as invested in it as I am.”
“That’s true,” Twilight agreed. “But, as you may have noticed earlier-she is not opposed to participating in activities that speak to her personality-her comment about the rollercoaster earlier was because it resonates with her adventurous, thrill-seeking daredevil attitude.”
“I see now.” He replied. "So do you have any plans for tonight?"
Twilight shook her head, causing her mane to bob slightly.
"No, while I've gotten more acclimated to socializing-I steel don't feel like it's the right time for me to seriously begin looking into romance." She replied.
"Or maybe the right pony just hasn't come along yet..." Shining added.
"And when or if this does happen in the foreseeable future, how will I know?" Twilight pressed.
"Trust me, you'll know." he assured her.
"Besides," Twilight continued. "Even if I did have a special somepony, much less a date for tonight-I'm afraid all of this extra planning Mayor Mare requested has left me far too exhausted to go out on a date."
Shining smirked at this.
“Thanks Twily,” he whispered. “You really are the best little sister a guy could ask for.”
Fifteen minutes later, Rainbow Dash cantered down the stairs.
It was visible that Dash’s mane was still slightly wet, but it didn’t seem to bother her too much and considering how warm it had been all day, it was more than likely that it would dry out by the time they reached the festival-so Shining didn’t say anything.
“Alright, ready to go?” she asked upon reaching the foot of the staircase.
“Yeah.”
“Look, it’s not that I don’t appreciate this.” Dash clarified once they were at the festival. “It’s just that I don’t get why you think this is so important…I mean chocolates and the more adult things I’m totally cool with.”
It was dark out, and they had just entered the festival grounds.
“Well, I just really want this relationship to work.” Shining replied. “And to be honest it’s hard not to feel a little hurt when you don’t want others seeing us in public as a couple.”
“But, it’s nothing personal against you!” she insisted. “I have a reputation to keep and if others see me doing all of this mushy stuff, how can they respect me as a daredevil?”
Shining quickly realized this would be going nowhere, Rainbow Dash was one of the most stubborn mares he had ever met and this whole night would soon become an ordeal if he didn’t think fast.
It was at that point that he spotted Lucky Clover and Wild Fire walking away from a ball-toss booth, arguing.
“Hey, what about that booth over there?”
“Meh...” Dash replied apathetically.
“What’s wrong?” Shining challenged slyly. “Afraid you’re not good enough of an athlete to knock over a few tin cans?”
“WHAT!?” She snapped. “Gimme some Bits and I’ll show you what an awesome athlete I am!”
Shining Armor levitated a few Bits into her hoof as she marched over to the stall while he followed close behind.
Rainbow Dash slapped them down on the table before the holder, a stallion with a cream colored coat and a white mane wearing a top hat, red sunglasses, black suit with checkered hind-leggings, and a red necktie combined with a white flower on his lapel and a tattered orange cape.
“Let’s do this.” Dash commanded as he placed the three tennis balls in a row before her.
She then turned back to Shining Armor and said; “Watch this,” before picking up the first ball and focused squarely on the pyramid stack of cans across from her before winding up and sending the ball strait into the center, obliterating the stack.
“WE HAVE A WINNER!” The stallion announced, excitedly before turning to Rainbow Dash.
“Select your prize.” He gestured to the wall behind him adorned with various large stuffed animals of seemingly every color imaginable.
“That one.” Dash pointed to a large blue monkey similar to the one the Cakes let Pound and Pumpkin play with back at Sugarcube Corner.
“Blue monkey it is,” the stallion confirmed before taking it down and giving it over to Rainbow Dash.
She placed the monkey across her back before she turned to see Shining Armor grinning widely.
“What?”
“So you’re afraid that being seen going on dates will make others think that you’re too soft, but you are perfectly willing to walk around in public with a stuffed monkey on your back?” he asked.
“He’s a trophy,” Dash replied, matter-of-factly. “I won him and he’s mine, there’s no shame in being rewarded for having wicked awesome skills.”
“Okay,” Shining conceded. “So that wasn’t too bad, was it?”
“Nah, I guess not…” she replied, “Hey, I’m kind of hungry…you wanna get something to eat?”
“Well, I know it’s not much-but, what do you say to cotton candy?” Shining replied sheepishly, looking around for a food vendor.
“Cotton candy sounds good.”
They both had blue raspberry cotton candy as they sat together at ‘couples table’ where Dash placed her monkey down.
“So are you going to name him?” Shining asked, taking a final bite out of his cotton candy.
Rainbow Dash shrugged.
“Dunno…”
Shining Armor looked around at the other couples who seemed to be enjoying themselves as they laughed and talked together.
“Why do you care so much about what others think of you?” Shining blurted out.
Rainbow Dash stopped eating as she lowered her gaze to the ground.
“It’s kind of stupid…but, I guess I’ll have to tell you sooner or later.” She sighed. “The Wonderbolts are world-class athletes and the greatest fliers in Equestria-everyone looks up to them because their heroes and their perfect.”
While he agreed that many believed the Wonderbolts to be heroic, Shining seriously doubted any one of them were anywhere near perfect-but, he continued listening regardless.
“They set an example for everyone,” Dash continued. “And they won’t accept anything, but the best…and I guess part of me is afraid that they won’t accept me if they find out I’m dating and not spending as much time as possible training.”
Shining’s chuckle of relief caused Rainbow Dash to look at him funny.
“What?” she demanded.
“Nothing,” he replied, holding his hoof out defensively while shaking his head. “All this time, I was worried that you secretly didn’t like me in the same way that I like you and that you were just trying to spare me feelings.”
“I told you it was stupid.” She grumbled.
“No, it’s not.” Shining affirmed, regaining his composure. “I understand why you feel the way that you do and I went through the exact same thing when I first wanted to join the guard and I’m telling you right now, that if these guys are as good as you say they are-then they will understand.”
“How do you know?” Dash pressed, looking into his eyes to ensure that he was being serious.
“Because they seem to operate similar to the guard based on what I already knew and what you’ve told me.” He reasoned. “Besides, do you really think it’s realistic to expect someone to dedicate one-hundred percent of their free time for exercise?”
Rainbow Dash averted her gaze, uncertainly.
Shining Armor grasped her hooves, taking her by surprise.
“Dash, listen to me-if the Wonderbolts don’t understand or don’t want you because of this-then, that’s their loss because you are an incredibly awesome flier and only an idiot wouldn’t recognize your athletic talents.”
“You really think so?”
“Of course,” he replied. “In fact-I’d be willing to bet that you’ve done more in the past year than any Wonderbolt has accomplished in their entire life.”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t really argue with that; helping find the Elements of Harmony, stopping Nightmare Moon, and saving Rarity along with three unconscious Wonderbolts, creating a Sonic Rainboom, and winning Cloudsdale’s ‘Best Young Flyers’ competition all in the same day, actually was a lot when she thought about it that way.
She slowly began to smile as Shining smiled back at her.
“Hey, thanks for that….you’re a pretty cool guy, Shining Armor-and not too bad to look at, either.” Dash added, admiring his body.
Suddenly it felt as if there was an emotional spark set off between them as they both inched closer to each other over the table, looking into each other’s eyes as if they were caught in a trance.
Before they realized what they were doing, their eyes closed as their lips met in a kiss that started off awkward as Rainbow Dash had never kissed anyone before and Shining Armor was off his game after not having kissed a mare since moving to Ponyville.
Since Dash was such a tomboy, he found it surprising that her lips were so soft as the taste of cotton candy grew even stronger with their contact.
The sounds of the festival were drowned out as the only audio reaching their ears was that of their own heartbeats.
It felt as if they were the only two ponies in the entire world-and Dash loved every second of it.
Their kiss was interrupted however as the stallion from the booth tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder, causing them to break apart as Dash looked up at him.
“Yeah?” she asked, irritated that the stallion had interrupted their intimate moment.
“Sorry lovebirds,” he sighed. “The festivals closing down.”
“What!?” Shining exclaimed.
Rainbow Dash looked at her watch with the golden Pegasus pony in the center, her short hoof was on the ten and her long hoof was on the one.
“It can’t be that late already…” Dash muttered.
The stallion from the booth trotted off as she looked back to Shining Armor.
“Hey…sorry this date was so lame….” She apologized.
“Really, how?” Shining asked.
“Well, I was kind of a selfish jerk most of the time and all you really wanted to do was hang out and have fun together for one night.”
“But we did have fun!” he insisted. “I mean sure, we didn’t get to go on any rides-but, you won at ball throwing.”
He gestured at the monkey.
“Besides, what we were just doing was fun…right?”
“Yeah…it was!” Dash agreed. “But, next time I promise-we’ll have a real date-where I’m not such a buzzkill.”
“I look forward to it.” Shining laughed as they both stood up.
Dash picked up the monkey and pulled it onto her back once again as they began leaving the festival grounds.
“Hey, I’ll pay you back for the game.” She offered.
“Nah, don’t worry about it-I did this for you.” Shining insisted.
“So, their going to be setting up the festival next year too, right?” she asked.
“That’s what Twily says.” He replied.
“If that’s the case, then I wanna do this again next year with you-if you’re still cool with it, that is…” Dash continued.
Shining Armor just laughed.
“I think that can be arranged.”
THE END
