Bucket Buddies

“Hey Twilight, guess who agreed!” Rainbow Dash shouted, gliding down the winding crystal staircase that led into the many levels and tunnels deep within Friendship Castle. Well probably, into the dirt. If all the soil wasn't crystallized and pretty hard to dig through, Dash wouldn't be surprised to see earthworms and other picture book creepy crawlies passing through the cavern-like walls. Instead, there were gem snakes that slithered inside the shiny ceiling, shaving off the fine dust to absorb, and other crystal-eating animals that she needed a dictionary for.

Sheesh. How can ponies on the ground stand the stuff that goes on under their houses?

And she thought it was bad when the egghead had just the one basement but now, she had like a gazillion and growing. Why Twilight would pick the deepest tunnel to be her base of operations for the scientific-kind when there were so many better places? Like a broom closet or something closer and warmer beats her. Cold air swept past Dash's ears, the very tips covered in light frost. It was always like that down here. Freaky. Dash couldn't really put her hoof as to where the air was going. It made no sense for there to be cold currents of air rushing to get underground but that was a mystery for a Rainbow Dash that felt like exploring.

The pegasus' voice echoed and echoed, outpacing her lazy flight by yards.

It was alright, her taking her time. She wasn't rushing to get anywhere and it would be wrong leave a certain somebody behind. By the time her voice, distorted from the distance, made it back to her, she already got what she needed. A certain alicorn princess had just dropped a beaker, the sound cascading from the left and the fizz of freshly cast magic in the air. Bingo.

Off the stairs they went, replacing the dimmed light they had for company for complete darkness.

Dash couldn't help herself, safe under the veil of tunnel night. “I brought our little test subject.” She glanced back to where she thought he was, Shawn, the human who had been riding her for the last couple of weeks. Literally riding her with a harness and a saddle and everything. Funny, right?

He couldn't see her looking at him. Couldn't see how her face went red and how she bit her lip, waiting for his answer. Shawn was tall, blond, hard to smell and she really couldn't tell if he was into her or not... Not that they were dating. Not like they had sex from that one time were she came at him like a bitch in heat. She always felt weird around Shawn. Her heart wasn't skipping any beats but she always wondered what he was thinking. Hmmm.... Her eyes fluttered close, thinking about him even though he was so near. This was weird. So weird.

“Test subject?” His rich and country-side twang answered. “I know you explained it to me on the way over. And brought up the... activity as something we can do to-”

Farm boy, farm accent. It made sense that he and Applejack would get along so well. Dash couldn't really understand how hauling barrels and working the earth together could make anyone as close as they were.

“It's not an activity.” Dash said, reciting, remembering all those days she practiced on Fluttershy her speech. “It's a reward for my good behavior.” She took a breath. “I'm a good girl, right?”

A second passed. Then two. Then three.

“You know, where I'm from, usually girls were the one who let a person know-” Shawn paused, letting his sentence hang in the air. He started again, clearing his throat. “As a man, you're not supposed to-” He sighed. “Is there something you want to talk about?”

Dash's mind went blank.

“Nope.”

What did he mean by 'talk'? Wasn't this, talking?

“You sure?”

“Well,” Dash dragged her voice, light and soft. “I wanna know-” She rubbed her hooves together. “if I'm a good girl?”

“Yeah,” Shawn said, “we're not doing this.” Dash's eyes flew open. What? The tunnel was filled with light and she felt a arm hook around her neck and bringing her close to Shawn's face. She squirmed, his green commanding eyes staring right through her.

“Dash, I like you.”