The Misadventures of a Fox

It had been the mandated few days since the last date the Renamon and Dash had met. It was important to give them both space and time to digest the information they had learned about each other, according to the foremost dating expert in town. Plus, it was also supposed to give them time to use the information they had learned.

Dustin had scoured the town high and low, looking for something to give to Dash as a gift. After his second pass, he found a shop that sold Wonderbolts memorabilia. Most of it was stuff that he couldn’t see Dash using at all, but there was one poster in the back that he was taking a stab at her not already having.

“How much?” he asked the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked at the poster. “Ooooo! Good choice! That’d be ten bits!”

Dustin paid the owner fifteen. “Keep the change,” the fox commented. For something like this, he’d be prepared to pay twenty. It looked like a high quality poster and there were a few signatures on it. Thanks to the Twi-dump yesterday, he also knew that the ponies pictured on it were all the current Wonderbolts. So...yeah. He was set for the next date.

Dash nervously sat in her chair. She honestly hoped nopony else would catch her here.

“Thanks for agreeing to this, Dash.” Rarity said with a smile.

Dash just tried to make herself smaller in her seat. “Sure.”

“Ah, Miss Rainbow Dash?” Aloe, one of the spa pony sisters, called out. “Ve are ready for you.”

“Okay.” Dash muttered to herself. She got up and smiled weakly. “Okay… I guess I’m ready for you to… make me…. Pretty…”

“Darling,” Aloe smiled at the nervous mare, “ve will make you a star.” She gestured beyond the door that lead to the baths. “First a bath I zink, zhen a mane wash and trim, and zhen we vill finish viss a hooficure.”

“Hey…. do you guys do… Mane… dying?” Dash asked, as she was shuttled through the doors.

“Zhat ve do.” Aloe nodded.

“Then I have an idea….” Dash blushed at her thought.

For their second official date, Dustin had agreed to meet Dash at a pizza parlor. It was something they both liked to chow down on, they catered to all types, and it likely wasn’t going to run out of food if he walked in. The fox tapped a foot idly as he checked the poster a few times, making sure there was no damage to it anywhere. He wanted this to go over well. If only for Dash.

“So Dash! Think he’ll be surprised?!” The voice of Pinkie got Dustin’s attention.

“Yes.” Dash’s voice on the other hand sounded rather meek, which was very strange for the normally confident pegasus.

“We’ll just be in the next booth over, just in case.” Guilmon spoke up.

“I don’t think you have to worry about me much. I mean, I’ve tended to cut and run at the hint of anything tempting.” Dash chuckled.

There was the noise of a pair sliding into the booth behind Dustin’s.

Then…

She appeared.

Her normally prismatic mane had been turned into shades of metal, bronze, copper, gold, silver, and platinum. Her coat also had a bit of a sheen to it. It was like the mare had been turned into a living-metal statue. She met Dustin’s eyes. “H-hi.” She scooted in across from him. “S-so, what do you think?”

Dustin’s jaw had dropped for a moment, before he forced it closed and shook his head. “Well you make me feel underdressed,” he pointed out once his mind was clear. “Seriously, whoever did that for you deserves all the praise.” He raised an eyebrow. “May I ask why you felt the need to pretty yourself up to such a degree?”

“Well…. I’m…. Shiny…” She took a breath. “I’m a Shiny Rainbow Dash.” She opened her wings, the feathers of which had a prismatic sheen to them, like light reflecting off oil.

“...Now I feel underprepared,” Dustin smiled. “I mean, all I did was bring a signed Wonderbolts poster to the rarest catch of the century.”

Dash gasped. “You got me what?!”

“Right here,” Dustin handed her the cardboard tube containing the poster he’d bought for her. “Pretty much the only one there. Doesn’t compare to your beauty, of course, but very few things do.”

She popped the top off the contained and pulled out the poster. She unrolled it like it was some ancient artifact. Her eyes lit up. “Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!” She actually squee’d. Quick as a flash, she buzzed across to peck Dustin on the lips. Were it not for feeling it he wouldn’t have guessed it happened. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She made sure to safely roll it back up and slid it back into the cardboard container. When she set the container next to her she froze. Something had finally clicked.

“I’m… beautiful?”

“Gorgeous, radiant,” Dustin complimented her. “Honestly I wish I had my camera, I’d fill it with pictures of how you are now. To go through all that effort for me makes me want to hug you at the very least.”

Her cheeks were a bright crimson. “O-oh… I’m sure I’m not… that…” She descended into mumbles.

“Were it not for our chaperones, I’d ask you to sit on my lap so I could pet the pretty pony,” Dustin said honestly.

“‘Ey!” Came Guilmon’s warning from the next booth. “Slow your roll, fox.”

“Aw shut it,” Dustin called back. “In any case,” he turned back to Dash. “What did you want to eat? I already know what I’m getting.” And thanks to the warning, he didn’t add what he’d like for dessert.

“Something… Food… Pizza...” Dash was doing her best impression of Fluttershy. “Supreme… if that’s okay.”

“Sure thing,” Dustin nodded, managing to catch the attention of a waiter. “Hi, yes, we’re ready to order,” he said to the pony. “She’ll have a supreme pizza, while I’ll have two of the same.”

“I’d say that’s a lot but… word kinda gets around.” The waiter chuckled and used his wings to take their orders down. “Anything else? Drinks? Maybe something special, since… it looks like this is a special date.”

“Hmm…” Dustin considered. “How about a large milkshake?” he questioned. “Oh…” he stared at Dash and smirked. “No need for separate straws.”

“Sure thing.” The waiter smiled with a nod. “What flavor?”

“I’m partial to strawberry,” the fox admitted.

“Strawberry’s good.” Dash nodded, apparently having recovered fully.

“Great.” The waiter grinned. “I’ll get that set up for you. You two have fun.” With that, he trotted off.

Once the waiter was away, Dustin turned back to Dash with that same smirk. “So, how should we have fun while we wait for our food, hmm?” he questioned, one of his feet brushing up against her hooves. Unlike her, he could keep his feet at ground level.

“O-oh!” She jumped a little. “Well… could you tell me a little more about Pokemon? Ivy hasn’t really wanted to tell me any more since I talked to her the first time.”

“Hmmm…” Dustin mused, one of his feet brushing against the underside of her hooves. “Basically there’s always the underlying goal to become the strongest trainer,” he supplied. “And in every game there’s some sort of evil plot to stop that from happening. Usually done by a ‘team’ with skewed, amoral goals.” His foot was tracing small circles on the bottom of her hoof. “It started out just being crime syndicates, but it evolved into teams wanting to steal the powers of Legendaries for their own purposes. They’re kinda like cults, to be honest.”

“Whoa, creepy. Oh! Lemme guess!” Dash grinned. “They try to control the legendary, it breaks free, and it’s up to you to stop it!”

“Basically, that’s the plot,” Dustin nodded his head. “That only really started in the third gen, though. In the first two games Rocket could care less about the legendaries. And lately they’ve been trying to somewhat hide the fact that the teams are evil...right up until you have to fight them for your first time.” Now he was gently stroking her hoof with his foot. From the bottom to the top, then back down, repeated for a little while.

Dash tried to stay focused. What was he doing? She shook herself a little. “You know… It would kinda make sense if they gave you a group that seems like it’s the main baddies up until the upstanding corporation reveals that it’s trying to destroy and/or take over the world.”

“That would be gen 7,” Dustin quipped. Hmm, no reaction, huh? Well...he focused exclusively on the middle of her hoof and tickled away with his fuzzy feet. “EEP!” Dash squeaked and jumped like she’d been zapped.

“What was that?” Pinkie called out.

“Dun know.” Dash called back. “It’s cool. We’re cool.” She blushed and gave a small glare at Dustin.

The Renamon smirked evilly. His foot twitched against her hoof.

Dash’s brow furrowed and she swatted his foot with her other hoof.

Oh no...now he was bringing both feet to bear on both of her hooves. “So I came up with some ideas for you to use during your stunt flying,” he said, a smile on his face as he dared her to say something about the incoming tickling to their escorts.

“Like what?” She asked, biting her lip at the new attention.

“Well, you say you’re good enough to clear a sky in ten seconds flat,” Dustin pointed out, one foot stroking one of her hooves while the other poked her hoof directly in the middle. “Why not show that off? Set up a mock terrible weather pattern and clear it, saving only a few clouds if you need them for later. Like a thundercloud, raincloud, hailcloud. But it’d be a good way to show off how fast you are at your job for an opening act and set you up for later stunts.”

Dash hissed a breath in. “-Yeah! That sounds great.”

“Or even,” Dustin continued his talking and teasing, “You could work with a team to blow all the terrible weather away in one huge gale, all at once. Show off your teamwork skills as well as your ability to get things done.” Back and forth, poking and tickling, his feet didn’t stop. Payback was a bitch...but also, he wanted to see how long it would take before Dash would give in.

Dash finally yanked her hooves up and sat on her haunches. She smirked smugly at him. “That’s a great idea.” Dash nodded. “And stop trying to play with my hooves.”

“Wait, what?” Pinkie asked aloud.

“He what now?” Guilmon asked as well.

“Aw, but look at them,” Dustin pouted, picking up one of her forehooves. “They shine just as much as the rest of you.” He teasingly rubbed the underside for a second, and just as she was about to yank it away, lowered his muzzle down and kissed it. Never letting his eyes leave hers.

Dash blushed so hard, Dustin was surprised that she didn’t start steaming.

“Tone it down a little, Lover Boy.” Guilmon called out.

Dustin let the hoof go and let his head rest on a hand, looking at Dash with a smile. “What else did you want to talk about?” he prompted the mare. “You know, before the second most delicious thing arrives at our table.”

“He’s laying it on thick.” Pinkie said, almost sounding impressed. “What happened?”

“Phrasing…” Guilmon sighed.

Dash did her best to not think about that too much. “U-ummmm.” She cleared her throat. “How’s the mine doing?”

“Ah well, you know,” Dustin waved a hand. “We’re picking up business, but finding new veins is always a risky venture. We’re working with the ones we have for now, but the best ones aren’t something that is easily mined. At least we’re starting to undo the damage that was done, with proper training and bows being produced. Plus the dogs are taking to the idea of a room for everydog like fish to water.”

“That’s great!” Rainbow grinned happily.

“Hey guys!” The waiter trotted up, a tray carrying steaming pizzas and a single large milkshake was on his back. “So sorry about the wait!” He slowly started to shift the food onto the table.

“Oh great timing!” Dash bounced a little in excitement. Dustin waited until the food was on the table, the milkshake between them, before nodding at the stallion.

“Thanks,” he said with a small smile. “Can’t have been easy making so much so quickly. Or carrying it all.”

“Pbbbt.” The waiter buzzed his lips. “We’re fine. We’re professionals.” He chuckled. “You two enjoy, flag me down if you need anything else.” He then trotted away.

Dustin held up a piece of pizza towards Dash. “Cheers,” he said with a smile.

Dash retrieved her own piece. “Cheers!”

And thus the slaughter of the pizzas began in earnest.

Dash made to grab the shake, then saw the lone straw. She blinked. “You want the straw?”

Dustin waved her off and okay that was a smirk, what did he have planned?

Dash took the straw and took a long drink, giving a pleased hum. She set the shake down and scooted it to the middle of the table.

Then Dustin picked up the shake and gave it a pull from the same straw. Once he was done, he set it down and smiled at her. “I wonder how you feel about indirect kisses,” he mused aloud.

Dash stiffened, pretty much freezing completely. “...Wut…”

“Well I mean, you put your mouth on the straw, I put my mouth on the straw…” Dustin pointed out. “All you need to do is put your mouth on it again and it’d be like we almost kissed each other~”

“I didn’t think about that….” Dash blushed and looked away.

“Mm, well, it’s not like you’re actually kissing me,” the Renamon pointed out.

“Well… true…” Dash muttered then quickly chowed down on more pizza.

Soon enough, the pizzas were gone, and the pony and digimon had shared three indirect kisses each. Each time Dash went back to the straw, Dustin thought she would combust. She just kept getting redder.

“Well, that was a good lunch,” the fox admitted, putting a small bag of bits down on the table to pay for it all.

“Do you just set bags of bits down whenever you pay for anything?” Dash asked with a raised brow.

“Considering my appetite? Yes,” Dustin nodded once. He got up from the booth and held a hand out to Dash with a small bow. “M’lady.”

She took his hand tentatively and stepped out of the booth.

And then was swept up into a hug as Dustin kissed her on the lips, bowing towards the ground a little as he held the mare close.

Dash froze up, then melted into the kiss. On its break the mare was unsteady on her hooves. “That… What… Why…” She blinked. “Whoa…”

“Hmm, we may need to practice our kissing if one kiss makes you weak in the knees,” the Renamon mused. “How about we go to the park and find a nice tree to practice under?”

“Aaaand scene!” Guimon got up. “I expected to be dragging Dash away, not you.”

“Can’t help myself around her,” Dustin replied, petting the mare behind the ears. “She’s putting so much effort in, I figured I should respond in kind~” That was...Renamon could purr? Why did it send a shiver down Dash’s spine?

“Thanks! Thanks for the lunch! And the poster! And- Yeah. Everything.” Dash held the poster case close, blushing furiously.

“Oh if you wanted everything, I can provide,” Dustin teased her. “Just come around later tonight, I’ll leave my window open for you~”

“And we’re leaving.” Guilmon wrapped an arm around his waist and dragged him off.

Pinkie trotted over to the semi-stunned mare. “Might wanna cold shower after this one Dashie.”

Dash just nodded mutely.

“Okay.” Guilmon planted the fox into a bench. “What was that?” The lizard gestured a claw back towards where they’d come.

“What?” Dustin raised an eyebrow. “That was lunch. Fairly standard meal of the day, and you were even there for it.”

“Not that.” Guilmon deadpanned. “What you were doing with Dash.”

“What, I’m not allowed to appreciate a beautiful mare?” Dustin held a hand over his heart. “You wound me, Guile. For shame, I thought we were friends.”

“There’s appreciate, then there’s hitting on her.” Guilmon groaned and rubbed his eyes.

“Horseshoe’s on the other foot now,” Dustin smirked evilly. “I can play the game too. I just wasn’t sure about how hard to go at it until I saw how far she was willing to go to impress me.”

“Just…. Try to keep yourself in check. I’d rather not have to have a chat with you like Gilda had with Dash.” Guilmon sighed.

“Oh no, I’m perfectly willing to take my time, get to know her for who she is, spend some time romancing the mare,” Dustin nodded once. “But I also want to get her back for everything she did while she tries so hard not to jump me. And this time, I’m going to avoid the bar.”

Guilmon shook his head, clearly exasperated. “I- Ugh… Fine.”

“Maybe one day I’ll ‘forget’ to wear pants,” the fox mused.

“I’d say something, but that’s coming from a guy that doesn’t wear pants himself.” The lizard rolled his eyes.

“Hey, you’re one step ahead of me!” Dustin mockingly pointed out. “How’s that working out for you?”

“Pretty good actually.” Guilmon admitted.

“And thus my plan is born~” Dustin chuckled. “Well, I think I’ve given Dash enough of a blush for one day. Any more and her head is liable to pop off.” He stretched a bit and looked at Guilmon before standing up slowly. “I’m off to the boutique to plan my next dastardly move.”

Guilmon groaned. “Oh this is gonna be a rough few weeks…”

Pinkie trotted with the still steaming Dash. The pegasus hadn’t said much since they left.

“You okay?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah… Yeah… Just…. Processing….” Dash muttered out.

“He really let you have it.” Pinkie winced a little.

“Why’d you have to put it like that….” Dash groaned. “I need a bath in ice water.”

“You’d probably turn it into a jacuzzi.” Pinkie giggled softly. “But, seriously, you doing okay?”

“I’m trying really hard to be good Pink. The most I did was peck him on the lips for giving me the poster.” Dash said with a shaky breath.

“I’d’ve allowed that.” Pinkie nodded with a smile.

Dash suddenly frowned. “Where does he get off being all flirty like that?”

“Probably at Rarity’s.” Pinkie replied. Dash just shot her a glare. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.” She giggled. “Though, maybe in his mind he’s just getting you back.”

“If this is a test…” Dash grumbled.

“If this is a test, then you’re gonna pass it. And the A plus will be… I don’t know, his heart?” Pinkie shrugged. “That analogy died as I was saying it.”

Dash burst into a fit of giggles herself. “Never change Pinkie. And… Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Pinkie threw a foreleg over the pegasus. “Now, let’s get you a cold shower and some celebratory ice cream!”