Playing The Wrong Games

Rainbow Dash watched the scenery pass by as she looked out of the window of the carriage door. She was excited for what was coming up, though she could feel that familiar feeling of butterflies swirling around in her stomach that she got before a race or a competition of any kind. Today she was going to the one hundredth annual Grand Galloping Gala!  While an event like this wouldn't normally make her all excited and nervous like this, but it was who would be there.

She couldn't help but feel excited, so much so that she could not contain it to herself as she kept tapping her hoof over and over, causing everypony in the small carriage to look at her.

"Thinking about a special somepony are we?" Rarity asked, her voice as regal as ever, catching Rainbow Dash a bit off guard.

The cyan pegasus nodded though, still looking outside. She might have confided in Rarity that she was crushing on a certain blue pegasus that might happen to be the Co-Captain of the Wonderbolts and one of the hottest stallions around! What pegasus in their right mind would not have a crush on Soarin? Tonight, she was going to make him hers!

Suddenly the carriage jolted to a halt causing her to smack her head into the window. She had not noticed that they had arrived at the entrance of the gala as she was too preoccupied thinking about that sexy form of Soarin. Rainbow Dash flew outside threw the window and took off for the party, with every intention of finding Soarin as soon as possible. She flew over Big Mac, who had pulled their carriage for them that night, without a second thought.

Applejack stepped out of the carriage next, shaking her head at Rainbow Dash as she bolted away. "Thanks Big Mac." Applejack said, nodding to her brother, before she went to the back of the carriage. Attached to the carriage was the Apple Family apple stand, folded up and loaded with apple goods, while her last sale at the gala resulted in only one sale she was sure she was going to make a mint this time.

After unhitching the stand from the carriage, Applejack went up to the front and unhooked her brother from the carriage the two siblings dragged the stand towards the castle grounds. The other four ponies walked inside the castle along with Spike riding on Twilight’s back.

Rainbow Dash zoomed inside of the gala, her magenta eyes already darting back and forth for the blue stallion dressed in his Class A uniform, a uniform she was still waiting on herself. Her heart skipped a beat when she finally located him, standing near the punch stand with Spitfire, the two ponies laughing about something.

Taking a deep breath, she proceeded towards the pair, trying not to act like a fan filly that worshiped the clouds he troted on. She was Rainbow Danger Dash, she was a Wonderbolt just like him now and she would be damned if she came across like a love struck filly. She kept her distance, not wanting to interrupting her Captain and Co-Captain as they spoke.

Spitfire soon walked away, Rainbow Dash went in, not wanting any other interruptions to get in the way of her scoring her stallion. She walked to the other side of the table and tried to play it cool, not trying to act like he was anything special so she didn’t come off as desperate. She jolted a bit when she heard him say her name in that rich voice of his.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash." Soarin said, smiling easily at her, that smile that made any mare’s heart skip a beat.

"Hey Soarin,” Rainbow Dash replied, looking up from the punch, using her own confident smile back at him.

"You enjoying the gala?" Soarin asked.

"I guess, just got here." She replied. If she wanted this to work out then she would have to stop beating around the bush, "You enjoying it?" She mentally slapped herself, she was not a master at conversations.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome." He said with a laugh, taking a sip out of his cup. Rainbow Dash swallowed hard, feeling a bit of heat rising to her cheeks. She needed to somehow get him alone, to get him to realize how awesome she was and that he should date her. Though, before she could say a word Soarin did.

“Hey you want to dance?” Rainbow Dash looked up to him, he was smiling that devilish smile of his as he held out a hoof to her. Looking down at the outstretched hoof and then back to him, Rainbow Dash just smiled back at him. Soarin didn’t just dance with anypony, and he was asking her to dance.

“Buck yeah!” Rainbow said, taking his hoof and the pair made their way onto the dance floor.

Tonight was going to be the best night ever!

Big Macintosh sniffed the night air, the smell of apples was a sobering  power to him, a sense of familiarity and home to him. He and Applejack had already set up the Apple stand with pies, fritters, cider and caramel apples ready to sell to all the fancy Canterlot ponies. While waiting for those fancy customers, Big Mac looked over to the large building where the gala was being held. He would have liked to go inside, maybe dance some but he was just too shy to do such a thing.

"Big Mac, would y'all mind watchin’ the stand fer me?" Applejack asked, "A'h promised Twilight and the others ah'd hang out with 'em today."

"Enope." He said with a smile, no sense in her sitting here all alone when he had no problems doing it.

"Yer the best Mac!" Applejack said, punching her hoof into his shoulder before walking towards the gala. Before she was a yard away, she turned to him with a sly smile. "With you in charge of the stand ya might just attract a lot of mares."

Big Macintosh groaned at the statement as Applejack chuckled to herself before walking off. Leave it to Applejack to try to fix him up with a date while here, what was with his sisters trying to play matchmaker for him?

He stood there selling apples products to a few ponies, more than a few mares who gave him more then obvious hints that he turned down. His father taught him to be a honorable stallion, no matter how nice it might have been to break his morals for once. After the better part of an hour, he recognized Rainbow Dash coming up to the stand with a big smile on her face, accompanied by a blue stallion that matched her own coat perfectly. He was also smiling, though he looked more tired than Rainbow did.

"Hey, Big Mac." Rainbow Dash said with a smile, "Soarin and I were wondering if you had any pies left."

"Eeyup." Mac replied, turning to grab one of his sister’s famous apple pies from the stand and putting it on the counter for them.

"Thanks." Soarin said, looking down at the pie. His eyes widen at the sight of it, and he could not suppress doing some in place trotting. “No way! This is the pie I had last year! I have been wanting one of these since forever!” He said, setting some bits down on the stand, before looking up at Mac. He then looked up at Mac, and cocked his head to the side. “Wait… I thought a mare was selling these last year.”

“Eeyup” Mac replied, looking as stoic as ever.

“Did she not come?”

“Eenope” Soarin nodded at Mac, not sure how to reply to that. So instead, he took the pie and smilled at Rainbow Dash. “Comf on! Thefs pieves arv amazinth!” He mumbled, as the pair took the sky to find a place to eat. Mac watched after them for a moment before looking back around again.

He looked across from where the stand set up at the gardens of Canterlot. Big Macintosh admired the beauty of the flowers and the skill of the gardener who tended to the lavish garden. Even with the gala going on there were still a few birds in the trees, chirping and singing to their heart’s content.

Rainbow Dash landed across from Soarin, who was already staring down at the pie, his green eyes wid as he licked his lips in anticipation. It was comical to see such a cool stallion getting excited over such a small thing. When she landed, Soarin looked up at her and grinned.

“So how do you want to split this? I kinda forgot to ask for a knife,” Soarin said chuckling, as he looked back down at the pie, looking afraid as though it might disappear on him.

“I can have those anytime, it's all yours,” Rainbow said, sitting across from him, just taking in the sight before her. Soarin was the perfect specimen of pegasus there was! From his mane to the the tips of his wings he was dropped dead sexy and one of the best flies to boost.

“Really?!” Soarin asked, looking up at Rainbow Dash before back down at the pie. “You're the best Rainbow Dash!” He said, making her heart flutter slightly as he dove into his pie as though he had not eaten for days. Rainbow as a bit taken back by how fast he was eating and how much he seemed to be enjoying it but she just laid there, waiting for him.

It did not take long for Soarin to finish, leaving not even a crumb on the pan when he was done. He gave out a sigh, and shook his head. “That really hit the spot. Tonight has been fun! What do you say?” Rainbow felt the heat rising up again and fought to keep it down. She had spent most of the night with a stallion that other mares only dreamed of spending a moment with, and he had fun with her! Now was her chance.

“Oh yeah, it has been great so far!” Rainbow said, mirroring Soarin’s excitement. The stallion just grinned back at her, looking down at the pan as if to find maybe a spare crumb. “And you know… maybe this could become a more permanent thing… you know?” This was Rainbow’s moment of truth, and her heart starting to speed up like the start of a race.

Soarin looked up from his empty pie tin up at Rainbow Dash, one eyelid cocked higher than the other. “A more… permanent thing?” He asked, his voice slightly cracking. That filled Rainbow with excitement, maybe he had been wanting this to!

“Yeah, I mean you are a pretty awesome stallion, and I am an awesome mare, we are both Wonderbolts, awesome flyers and such. So maybe, we can go on a few dates? You know as a couple,” Rainbow had put her heart on the line and was confident that Soarin was feeling the same thing. He had to be, his jaw was hung open, the most awesome mare of all time wanted to be his fillyfreind!

“Um… wow,” Soarin replied, lifting a hoof up to scratch behind his head. “That’s… that’s sure is a plan,” he said, looking up at her, his green eyes glowing in the dark sky. Rainbow’s heart flutter at that, he was totally surprised by it!

“Buck yeah it is! I mean do you know how awesome that would be? All of Equestria will totally be blown away by this! Just imagine how jealous all those mares and stallions will be that we are taken off the market! This is going to be so coo—”

“Rainbow,” Rainbow Dash stopped suddenly from her mental victory lap, Soarin’s voice was much deeper and commanding than it had been a moment before. Looking over at him, she saw that the lines in his face had grown deeper as he looked at her with the same look he gave ponies that were trying out.

“You are an amazing mare, you really are,” he started, but those few words were all Rainbow needed to hear as her heart started to fall. “Your talented, full of spirit, and simply an amazing mare. One of a thousand,” her heart kept falling, her mind not wanting to come to this conclusion. “But… I… well… I just don’t feel the same about you.”

Crash

Rainbow felt her heart shattering into a million pieces, she had put it out there on the line and the stallion of her dreams had smashed it.

“Oh…” was all she was able to say. Panic flashed through Soarin’s eyes, as he placed a hoof on hers.

“I’m sorry Rainbow, you are really an amazing mare,” she didn’t want to hear him, she didn’t want his hoof on hers but she was unable to move. “It's just, dating within the Wonderbolts always leads to disaster. I mean, you have seen Spitfire and me right? We used to date and the breakup was messy. We still get under each other's skin like no other, and I don’t want that to happen again,” Soarin placed a hoof under Dash’s chin so she would look at him. “You are super awesome Dash, and any stallion would be lucky to call you his,” Soarin gave out a short sight. “But that stallion is not me. You understand, right?”

She didn’t understand.

She was so sure of herself. She was the best young flyer that the academy had ever seen, an Element of Harmony, Savior of Equestria, and just a super awesome mare! Why didn’t Soarin want her?

“Oh yeah, I understand,” Rainbow Dash said, confidence in her voice as she punched Soarin in the shoulder. “Just a filly crush type deal, no big deal. Just had to try, ya know?” Soarin gave out a sigh of relief, as he nodded at her.

“Yeah, a lot of recruits do this to me or Spitfire,” he laughed as he gave her an equal punch on the shoulder. “Well I got to get back to her, she said she needed me to make sure she didn’t have too much to drink. She might be the captain of the team, but she can’t hold her drinks,” Soarin laughed, spreading her wings. “Want to come?”

“No thanks, I am going to go see the girls in a bit anyway,” she said with a smile, as she stood up. “See ya at practice,”

“I hope so! The last time Spitfire got a bit too tipsy well…” Soarin shuddered at the memory. “She can punch really hard!” He laughed, before taking off, leaving a broken hearted mare in his wake.

How could the best night ever, go to the worse in just seconds? Rainbow thought, turning around and walking through the maze of bushes that was the garden. She had never put herself out like that before, and instead of being filled with happiness she had expected, she was filled with sorrow. She had been rejected, turned down, denied, and so many other things by what she thought was her dream stallion.

She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t see what was ahead of her and bumped into somepony. Rainbow took a step back upon contact, raising a hoof to rub her head. “Sorry about that,” she said, her voice not sincere at all as she was still recovering from her defeat.

“Oh, don’t ya worry about it one bit cutie,” the reply from the stallion made her eye twitch, and that was when she also noticed the pungent smell of alcohol filling the air. Looking up, the stallion was a dark grey color with a black mane and dull blue eyes. He had been wearing some kind of tux for the gala, but it was disheveled now with the smell radiating from him.

“But if you really, really want to make up… up for it, how about a kiss?” The stallion suggested, leaning over to kiss Rainbow Dash. At once she put a hoof out and pushed the stallion away from her.

“No way! Just leave me alone,” Rainbow growled, glaring daggers at the stallion. The stallion just seemed to find the situation appealing as he kept pushing closer to Rainbow Dash, trying to get that kiss.

“Oh come on, a pretty mare like you shouldn't be alone. I bet I could make you feel great!” He said, the smell of alcohol heavy on his breath as he desperately tried to kiss her.

Rainbow let out another growl, not only did her crush flat out reject her now this creep was trying to kiss her and get a homerun with her! Even if he was a bigger stallion, Rainbow Dash was not going to let some drunk stallion walk all over her, or some other mare. She pulled a hoof back, ready to give this stallion the kiss of his life, when a pony nearby cleared their throat.

Both Rainbow and the stallion turned towards the source, to find a bright red stallion standing nearby, making the other pony look like a colt in comparison. Rainbow gave out a little sigh of relief seeing Big Mac standing there, his green eyes fixed on the stallion.

“Their a problem here?” Mac asked, his voice low and firm, a tone that Rainbow had never heard before. The sound of it was almost scary coming from a normally gentle giant. If any fear was felt by the grey stallion, he didn’t show it, instead he wrapped a hoof around Rainbow when she was not paying attention.

“Oh no problem here, me and this cute little thing were about to get to know each other,” He said, his speech slurring slightly as he talked, as Rainbow pressed her hooves against him and began to push away. Mac’s eyes narrowed on the stallion as he put his hooves on Rainbow.

“Don’t seem like she’s much interested in ya,” Mac replied, taking a few steps forward. The stallion didn’t seem to register that dangerous form of Mac approaching, and just held onto Rainbow.

“What does it matter to you?” The stallion asked, still holding Rainbow. “You're just a dirty farmer, and I’m a Canterlot Pon—” he never got to finish his statement as Rainbow pulled out of the stallions hold, and slugged him across the face. The stallion went down like a pile of bricks as Rainbow hovered in the air, breathing heavily as she held her hoof out in the striking position.

Mac blinked several times at Rainbow’s reactio, before giving out a low whistle. “Shucks, didn’t know ya could hit like that,” Mac said,  looking down at the dazed stallion. Rainbow chuckled bitterly as she looked down at the stallion as well.

“Yeah, well he deserved it and I needed that,” she growled, landing on the ground and making her way towards Mac not bothering to look up. Mac might be slow in certain subjects, such as what fork to use at fancy dinners, or how to address royalty, but when it came to reading mares he learned all he needed to by living with two younger sisters. Mac watched as Dash approached and smiled at her, knowing that right now she didn’t need any deep questions.

“Care fer a cider? AJ still out, just heard a bit of ruckus and came ta see,” Mac watched Rainbow’s eyes begin to glitter at the magic word of cider her mouth watering at the thought of it.

“You have no idea how good that sounds,” Rainbow sighed, nearly taking off towards the stand without Mac.

“So he tells me that it's because he doesn’t want to date within the team! Really? That is your big roadblock?! I’m…. I’m Rainbow Danger Dash! He should feel lucky I wanted to date him!” Rainbow lamented, a half a dozen ciders later. She and Mac had made their way back to the Apple stand and Mac had make the mistake of opening a tab for the rainbow mane pony, and was now paying the price for it as she leaned up against him telling him all about her night. “But nooo… he won’t even give it a chance!” Rainbow growled, as she lifted the mug up high guzzling its contents.

Mac just nodded as he handed a customer their order, trying his best not interrupt Rainbow Dash. When Applejack got back, she was going to pitch a fit about what he had done. On that note, Mac looked up at the large building, wondering what had been taking his sister so long.

“I mean, what stallion wouldn't want to date me?” Rainbow asked, leaning harder on Mac as she spoke. “Yeah, I’m not like… like… Rarity or Fluttershy good looking but I still am! I look hot!” Rainbow proclaimed, louder than she should have, making the stallion’s face grow a dark red in embarrassment as ponies turned to them. “I bet you would even want to date me, right?” Rainbow looked up at Mac, her magenta eyes burning into his green ones.

This had become one of those situations Mac never wanted to be in; where he was forced to give an answer he didn’t know the right answer to. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Mac looked down at the drunken mare and gave a trembling smile.

“E- Eeyup!” At this point it was probably better to say yes to whatever she said, then to say no to her again the night sending her in a bigger downspiral.

“You bet you would!” Rainbow said, leaning against Mac bringing the mug to her lips. She then pulled it away, and looked inside of it, “Mac, it's empty…” she moaned, pushing it against his muzzle. “Fill it” Mac sat there for a few seconds, as Rainbow Dash bumped the mug against the side of his his head a few more times.

“Ah think yeah had enough,” Mac said, lowering her hoof only to have it spring right back up again, and to have Rainbow Dash pushing herself up to full height to glare at the stallion.

“Mac, I’m having a horrible night! Just fill it!” She ordered, pushing it against his head a few more times before sinking down his side again. “Please?”

Mac knew it was a bad idea, it was in every sense of the word but was he a sucker when it came to mares in need and saying please in such a cute way. Sighing in defeat, he took Rainbow’s mug which earned a gleeful giggle from her, or at least as gleeful sounding as a drunken pony can sound.

“You are awesome Mac!” She laughed, leaning against him waiting for her cider. “Why couldn't Soarin be as awesome as you?” Rainbow groaned. Mac simply just rolled his eyes and handed the filled mug to Rainbow Dash. He was already going to be in trouble when his sister returned, what harm was another mug? Just as he thought that, his eyes picked up the familiar orange outline heading towards him, and she had a skip in her step?

Mac cocked an eyebrow as Applejack approached, her head held high as she did indeed had a skip in her step. Mac pressed his lips together as she grew nearer, wondering what had happen since the last he saw his sister.

“And here Ah thought tanight was goin’ ta be nothin’ special!” Applejack said with obvious cheer in her voice, not taking in much yet. “These last two hours have been somethin’ out of a fairy tale! Oh Rarity is goin’ ta eat her heart out when Ah tell her…” Applejack’s words fell short when she looked at Mac, and finding Rainbow Dash leaned up against him draining her mug. “Uh… Mac mind explin’ this?”

Mac looked from his sister, to Rainbow Dash who had her mug completely vertical, getting every single last drop from her cider. As soon as it was emptied, she placed the mug by her side, and didn’t take any notice in Applejack as she let out a yawn and closed her eyes. In no time at all she was asleep on Mac’s shoulder, snoring.

Looking back at Applejack Mac just shook his head. “Nope.” Letting out a sigh, Applejack turned to one of the clocks posted around the gala.

“Doesn’t matter, just about time ta get goin’ anyway,” Applejack said, turning back to Mac and eyeing the barrel of cider. “So… who’s gonna pay fer all that cider?”