Moonlit Eternity

Chapter 2

Rainbow Dash flew through the sky effortlessly, dodging clouds, not because they would hinder her flight at all, but simply because she could. She performed a double-loop around a rather large cloud, feeling the g-force affect her body. The effect was marvelous. She continued to do complicated maneuvers and tricks in the sky for what seemed like an eternity to her. She may have been the captain of the weather patrol, but she never had a problem with wasting a little time. Everypony around knew how quickly she could clear the skies, and how good she was at doing it. After more aerial merriment and debauchery, Rainbow decided it was time to get the job done. She flew to Derpy Hooves, who was laying on a cloud, rolling around innocently, with a small clipboard tied around her neck, minimizing the chance of the ditzy little Pegasus losing it.

“Hey, Derpy.” Rainbow greeted cheerfully, still slightly elated from her flying earlier.

“Rainbow Dash! Heeeyyy…” Derpy said happily, continuing to roll around on the cloud.

“What’s this week’s weather order?” Rainbow asked, holding her hoof out for the paper, telling her and her weather team how and where to clear the skies above Ponyville this coming week. Derpy brightened up and let out a small exclamation.

“Oh yeah. Here ya go, Rainbow!” Derpy said, handing her an envelope. Rainbow looked at the envelope. It was addressed to one Rarity. Rainbow always wondered how the good-natured, but dumb, Pegasus managed to keep a job in the mail service.

“Derpy, this is addressed to Rarity.” Rainbow said. “I need you to give me the one that is addressed to Rainbow Dash.” Her annoyance showing more than Derpy probably noticed.

“Ohhh…sorry. Lemme get that for ya.” Derpy slightly slurred. She then pulled out a letter addressed to Rainbow Dash.

‘Celestia, only the second try this time.’ Rainbow thought to herself as she took the letter. “Okay…thanks Derpy.” Rainbow said, opening the envelope. She read it and moved to her team, who had been waiting for her since before she started her little series of tricks.

“Sorry for the wait, guys.” Rainbow said. “Okay…looks like the order is to keep it decently cloudy until Wednesday, then gradually start clearing it up until it is completely clear by Saturday. Oh, and leave the Cumulonimbus clouds where they are until Thursday. Let’s get to work!” And so the Pegasi did. The skies above and for miles around Ponyville were worked on tirelessly by the dedicated ponies. Rainbow in particular. She bucked and rammed those clouds, dissipating them and making small pockets for the sun to shine through. She gracefully moved back and forth among them, doing her work with near perfection. The hard work continued for hours, and when she and the rest of them were finished for the day, she got the Pegasi back together.

“Alright, everypony, great job today. Be ready tomorrow! We have more clouds to clear. Go get some rest now, you did good.” She said happily. They all dispersed. Today was a great day for Rainbow Dash. She and her team had done their jobs two hours ahead of schedule. She had some extra time to kill, not to say she never had a lot of time to kill. She considered all of her options for this excess of free time. Pranks with Pinkie Pie? Nahh. A race or some other physical competition with Applejack? Nahh. Checking with Twilight to see whether or not the newest Daring Do novel was in the library yet? Nahh. A nap in a tree close to Ponyville? Perfect. Rainbow flitted around Ponyville, waving at the occasional wayward pony who greeted her. Finally, she found the perfect tree. Nice and shady with stable, wide branches. The view of Ponyville was relaxing as well, showing all the ponies doing all of their necessary steps for their respective daily routines. She looked at the old blacksmith forge…last she had heard, the forge was closed down. But then she remembered the Stallion who moved to Ponyville to become the new blacksmith…

“Rainbow Dash!” She heard a loud, deep voice call. Startled, she fell out of her tree and landed in a rather compromising position. Quickly, she corrected the strange position with a proud stance.

“I meant to do that.” She said, not knowing who even yelled her name in the first place.

“Yeah, yeah, of course you did.” She looked and saw, at last, who it was. Steel Anvil. The stallion who had moved to Ponyville the previous day. He had a sly look on his face. Rainbow, having had years of training of keeping her facial expressions the way she wanted, had to try extremely hard to keep from swooning right there. But her accursed cheeks broke out in a blush. His firm, toned muscles under dark red fur, his pure black mane, blowing ever so slightly in the breeze.

“Hey, uh…Steel Anvil, right?” Rainbow said, trying to make it seem that she did not remember him that well. He didn’t look like he was fooled.

“I saw your flying up in the sky there a while ago. It was very impressive.” He said, taking a step toward her. She blushed harder, but maintained her bravado.

“Nahh…it was nothing.” She said, closing her eyes and putting her chin up in pride. ‘Dear Celestia, why do I find him so attractive?’ She thought.

“Very impressive…” He said, his voice getting lower and closer. “very attractive.” With that, Rainbow Dash’s eyes shot open in shock. He was very close to her, and looking right into her eyes. He was taller, so he had to bend down to meet her rose irises. Rainbow swallowed nervously and smirked.

“What are you doing?” Rainbow Dash asked, her voice no longer proud and boastful, but low and vulnerable.

“Just initiating what I know we both want…” He said as he slowly inched toward her face. Her heart skipped a beat. His lips inched closer and closer to hers as they connected…

_____

Rainbow Dash moaned into her pillow before she woke up. She blinked as she looked around the bedroom of her cloud home and sighed. Rainbow pressed her hoof to her forehead as she caught her breath after her steamy dream.

“Geez…what is it with that Stallion?” She asked herself as she got out of bed and went to her bathroom to take her morning shower. She looked at herself in the mirror and appraised herself. For a Pegasus that had just gotten out of bed, she didn’t look bad at all. She ran a comb through her rainbow mane the customary one time for each day. The prismatic mane stayed separated all on it’s own normally. She started the shower and waited for the water to get hot. Just as she was about to get in, she heard a knock at her door.

“Oh, come on.” She said to herself as she cantered to the door and opened it. There stood Pinkie Pie, under the effect of Twilight’s cloud walker spell.

“Hey, Pinkie…” Rainbow said, nervously, awaiting whatever Pinkie had planned for that moment. “What do you need?”

“Hiya, Rainbow Dash! You know that new stallion in town, Steel Anvil?” Pinkie spouted.

“Yes…I remember him from last night.” Rainbow said, plainly.

“Well, since he was so nice and kind to us, I’m gonna throw him a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party tonight!” She said. “And you’re invited! There’s gonna be cake, snacks, drinks, music and games! SO many games! Oh, and the music, the music’s gonna be perfect! It’ll be the latest track used by Vinyl Scratch and-”

“Yes, Pinkie…I’ll be there.” Rainbow interrupted Pinkie hurredly. A chance to see Steel Anvil again? She was most definitely in. She worked to hide her sudden rush of excitement. “But, if you please, I have to go to work in an hour and I need my morning shower, so-”

“Oh, okay. It’s at 8:00 tonight in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres! See ya then!” Pinkie said cheerfully as she started to bounce back to Twilight Sparkle’s hot air balloon, which Rainbow could only have assumed Pinkie borrowed. Pinkie seemed to wave at hypersonic speed to Rainbow. Rainbow returned the wave with a warm smile. She loved Pinkie Pie, but she could be very overbearing at times. Rainbow Dash shut her door and moved to her bedroom.

“Did you hear that, Tank?” Rainbow said to her pet tortoise happily. He looked up at her from his sleep lazily. “Steel Anvil’s gonna be at Sweet Apple Acres today!” She stopped when she remembered that Tank had no possible way of even knowing who Steel Anvil was. “He’s the new stallion in town….and he’s awesome.” She said, the final word causing her to swoon. She stopped herself immediately. “Dear Celestia, what’s happening to me?” She said as she moved to her bathroom to get ready for her day at work.

_____

“Okay, guys…another great day!” Rainbow said to her weather crew. “But Gust, you need to watch out for those Cumulus mediocrises. They are very tough to clear without help.” The blue and white Pegasus she spoke to nodded. “Alright, let’s get the hay outta here.” They all left and Rainbow turned to move in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. She thought of Steel Anvil and all of his splendor. His charm, his looks, his kind personality. She continued to fly and eventually saw Sweet Apple Acres come into view. She flew down to the barn, toward the sound of booming music. They started without her. She frowned a little as she landed in front of the barn. The door was open and everypony was inside, having a grand time. She moved inside and immediately was tackled in a hug from an already running Pinkie Pie.

“Dashie! You made it! You’re late, but you made it!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I’m late?” Rainbow said. “How late am I?”

“Oh, about half an hour, maybe forty five minutes. It’s no big deal.” Pinkie said. “We’re just happy to have you here, silly filly!”

“Oh, yeah, you know…what’s a party without me?” She said proudly as they got up.

“Indeed. Like I said last night, you look the type.” She heard a deep, smooth voice behind her. She turned to come face-to-face with Steel Anvil, the stallion of the hour. His irises were now a rich brown, in contrast to the bright red irises he had in the moonlight. She had to look up slightly at him, his size was impressive.

‘Great.’ Rainbow Dash thought to herself. ‘Nice way to impress the new stallion. Show up late to the party in his honor.’

“Yeeeah, sorry I'm late…” Rainbow said with a slightly airy giggle, very much unlike her, more close to Rarity, who was staring at her currently, jealous at the attention she was currently getting from their subject of admiration. She straightened up quickly and smirked. “Weather patrol was bad today. Had a lot of clouds to clear…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you could make it.” He said with a smile. Rainbow blushed heavily and smiled back at him.

‘He’s glad I’m here…awesome.’ She thought. “So…what’s it like in Manehattan? I heard that there’s a lot of hoity-toity ponies there who think that they’re better than everypony else.”

“Well, yeah there are ponies like that in Manehattan. But there’s ponies like that everywhere. Sure, there’s a lot in Manehattan, but Manehattan’s a big city. It’s a nice place and the ponies are decently friendly there. I suppose that there’s not as many like that in Ponyville, however.”

“Oh, believe me, there are a couple.” Rainbow said. “But we all try to accept each other and get along. It works out well, most of the time.”

“That’s pretty cool.” He said. “So, your friend Pinkie Pie told me a lot about you. That you’re the fastest flier in Equestria.” Usually, Rainbow would confirm that with a boastful outburst, but she felt an extremely strange feeling…one she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. One she didn’t like, but couldn’t control at the moment….modesty.

“Oh, well probably not the fastest…” She began. ‘What the hay am I saying?’ She thought to herself.

“But Pinkie said that you can perform a sonic rainboom on command.” He said.

“You know what a sonic rainboom is?” She said. It was not common knowledge for an earth pony.

“Well, yeah. The Pegasus in question goes so fast, they actually break the sound barrier and the visible light spectrum all at once. Only the fastest of the fast can perform it.” Rainbow Dash blushed and looked away.

“Well, you know…”

“I also talked to your friend Twilight Sparkle.” He continued. ‘Oh, Celestia…what did Twilight say?’ Rainbow thought.

“She said that you are many things…fast, competitive, kind, awesome, loyal most of all, but certainly not modest. I could see that from your introduction last night. What’s with the sudden personality change?” He asked her. She continued to blush.

“Hey, Steel!” Rainbow Dash heard Applejack yell from across the party. Rainbow thanked Celestia and Luna for Applejack’s sudden interjection. Steel Anvil looked and acknowledged her. “Come’ere for a second!” Steel nodded and started walking toward her.

“To be continued.“ He said to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash gulped nervously and followed him. When they reached Applejack, they saw that Big Macintosh, her brother, was also there.

“Please, sis, don’t do thi-” Big Mac started, but was interrupted by Applejack.

“Hush up, now.” She spouted quickly. “Would you say you’re strong, Steel?”

“Uh…I suppose so. I mean, I hate boasting, but I guess I’m pretty strong, yeah.” He said to her. Rainbow scoffed. What could Applejack be possibly playing at?

“Well, mah brother, Big Macintosh, is the strongest in ponyville.” She said proudly.

“Ya don’t know that sis-” Big Mac said.

“Yes Ah do.” She said, matter-of-factly. “If you can beat mah brother in a hoof-wrestle, we’ll give ya a homemade apple pie for free.”

“Uh, I don’t think so…” Steel said unsure.

“Come on, Steel.” Applejack said. “What’s wrong with a 'lil friendly competition?”

“Well, your brother sure seems like he doesn’t want to.” Steel said, motioning toward the slightly larger stallion. Big Mac nodded.

“Oh, he’s just bein’ modest.” Applejack said. “Now whaddaya say?”

“Come on, Friend.” Big Macintosh said. “Let’s just do it so she’ll quit buggin’ us about it.” The big farm pony moved to a small table and sat.

“Okay, then. I suppose.” Steel Anvil said, sitting across from Big Mac. They put their elbows up on the tabletop and locked hooves. Big Mac sighed.

“Okay, boys.” Applejack said, walking up and putting both hooves on their locked ones. “This is gonna be a fair hoof wrestle, no elbow movin’, no body leanin’. This is purely a competition of physical strength.” Applejack paused shortly. “Ready…” She began. “Go!” She removed her hooves and the contest began. Big Mac and Steel Anvil began pushing as hard as possible, Big Mac obviously putting incredible effort into it, straining and grunting, even breaking a sweat. Steel Anvil appeared to be doing nothing, keeping Big Mac in the position they started in. After a few seconds, Big Mac began to gain the advantage, moving Steel Anvil’s hoof over slowly.

“Come on, Big Mac!” Applejack said. “You got ‘im!” Rainbow Dash watched as her heart began to pound, hoping Steel Anvil would win. She had nothing personal against Big Macintosh, but her crush on the new, dark red stallion compelled her to root for him.

“Don’t let him put you over, Steel!” Rainbow counter-cheered, urging Steel Anvil on, still appearing to put in no effort, yet still being beaten by Big Mac. At this point, many of the ponies from the party had gathered around the table, shouting out random cheers and remarks.

“Oh, godesses! It’s so intense!” Pinkie Pie nearly screamed, grabbing Fluttershy in her arms and clenching her teeth in nervousness. Fluttershy giggled lightly and nodded.

“I don’t think anypony’s ever lasted this long against Big Macintosh.” The yellow Pegasus remarked. Big Macintosh, groaned in effort again, struggling to put Steel over, who was holding him just above the table.

“Come on, Steel!” Rainbow Dash said again. “You can do this!” Steel Anvil looked back at her and smirked. At that moment, Steel began coming back, moving Big Mac’s hoof up to the starting position. He then pushed and had Big Mac’s hoof down on the other side of the table in a second. Big Mac’s eyes opened quickly, widening at this sudden upset. Rainbow Dash cheered and threw a hoof up in the air. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy gasped in unison. Rarity nearly fainted, Bon Bon catching her just in time. Twilight Sparkle froze, eyes widening. Big Mac stared at the table then looked at Steel. His eyes then softened as he smiled and walked over to the blacksmith and patted him on the back.

“That was some mighty fine hoof wrestling’ Steel.” He said, genuinely. “We need to go for a drink sometime, you an' me.”

“Thanks, Big Mac. You almost had me there.” Steel Anvil responded. Big Mac laughed heartily and nodded.

“Well, ah think ah’m gonna head out.” He said, ambling over to the door. “Good meetin’ ya, Steel.” He nodded back at Steel as he walked out. Steel chuckled.

“You’re brother’s a good sport, Applejack.” He said to the orange farm filly. “Most of the stallions I beat say I cheated or had some hidden skill that I failed to mention.”

“That’s mah brother, always a good sport and a healthy competitor…” She said, still quite amazed at what had just taken place. “Even so…Nopony’s ever beaten Big Mac before…not that Ah can remember.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything!” Rainbow Dash interjected. Applejack scowled slightly. “I believe you owe this stallion an apple pie!”

“I guess Ah do, huh?” Applejack said. “Good job, Steel! I‘ll get it to ya sometime tomorrow, okay?”

“Don‘t worry about it, Applejack. If I’m gonna get a pie from your family, it’s going to be bought with bits." Steel said. Applejack smiled warmly and nodded, before turning to talk to someone else. “Now, Rainbow Dash, where were we-”

“Wow, Steel!” Pinkie Pie said, running up to them. “That was so amazinglyawesometacular!”

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Steel said, happily.

“I mean, when you-” Pinkie said.

“Uhh, Pinkie?” Steel interjected.

“Yeah?” She smiled widely.

“I’m kinda talking to Rainbow Dash right now. But, I’ll be happy to talk to you about it later on.”

“Oh. Okay!” She said, just as happily. She turned and walked away, eager to go talk to anypony else.

“So…without any further interruptions…” Steel said, turning to a flustered Rainbow Dash. “You changed from last night. You were all proud and happy with yourself, now, you’re being all modest with me. What’s up?”

“What? ME? Nooooo, I…just…couldn’t really think of what to say.” Rainbow said, a proud smirk gracing her face. “But now I do. I can perform a sonic rainboom! And nopony else can. Just me. And I would be surprised if there is another pony anywhere in Equestia that’s faster than me!” Steel laughed.

“There’s the Rainbow Dash I remember from last night.” Steel Anvil said.

“So, yeah…how’s your party so far?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Enjoying it?”

“Are you kidding?” Steel said. “It’s amazing. I’m telling ya, your pink friend over there can really throw one.” He gestured toward Pinkie Pie, who was playing a game of twister with Rarity. Rarity fell and Pinkie screamed out in triumph. Rarity harrumphed and stood up. “The food is great, and this music…I don’t really know who made it, but it’s awesome.”

“It’s the latest mix made by Vinyl Scratch. She’s a really famous DJ known throughout most of Equestria. But most ponies just call her DJ Pon-3.” Rainbow said. Steel Anvil nodded in acknowledgement. At that moment, Derpy Hooves flew right into Steel. Steel stumbled a couple steps, but quickly regained his footing. Derpy, however, was on the ground stopped in her motion. Steel immediately went to her aid.

“Miss! Are you okay?” He said worriedly, helping her up.

“Yeah, I’m okay! Pinkie Pie just scared me right off of the ground.” Derpy said with a small giggle. Steel and Rainbow looked over at Pinkie who was giggling madly, rolling around on the floor.

“Derpy!” Rainbow said sternly. “Watch where you're going!” Derpy wilted, her ears lowering and her head dropping.

“Hey, come on.” Steel said to Rainbow, then looked at Derpy. “She obviously didn’t mean to do it. Just be more careful, next time, okay?” Derpy nodded, smiled and started to amble away.

“Hey, Derpy!” Rainbow called. Derpy looked toward Rainbow Dash. “Sorry.” Derpy smiled.

“Ooohh…It’s okay, Rainbow Dash!” She then turned and began to mingle with the other party goers.

“Hey Rainbow.” Steel said to the cyan mare next to him. She looked at him. “How about a game of Twister?”

_____

The party continued for what seemed like hours. The fun and games seemed to be in near unlimited supply. Steel eventually lost to Rainbow in twister and after that, proved himself to be quite the prankster, impressing even Pinkie Pie. They danced, moving to the music of Vinyl Scratch and other artists. Rainbow enjoyed dancing with Steel the most, though she didn’t show it. The stallion brought a feeling to her that she couldn’t explain, that she had never felt for any other pony before. Over the course of the night, different ponies left and welcomed Steel Anvil to ponyville. A few even placed orders for different metal decorations. It came to a point eventually where only Steel Anvil, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Spike remained in the barn. The baby dragon was asleep on a table, eventually scooped up by the magic of Twilight Sparkle. Steel was approached by the purple unicorn.

“Steel, it was a pleasure seeing you again. And again, welcome to Ponyville.” She said warmly.

“Thanks, Twilight.” Steel responded.

“You sure are a nice stallion, Steel. Ah’ll look forward to seein’ ya again.” Applejack said. Steel smiled and nodded at the mare as she left. Pinkie squealed and hugged him tightly before running out of the barn to catch up with Twilight. Fluttershy passed Steel and blushed heavily and looked down.

“I-it was g-good to see you again, Steel.” She said. Steel chuckled and nodded.

“Good seeing you again too, Fluttershy.” He said, smiling warmly. Rarity got to Steel and blushed. Steel nodded.

“Miss Rarity.” He said. Rarity let out an airy giggle as she walked out of the barn. Steel then walked out, Rainbow Dash following behind.

“Sooo…some party, huh?” She said.

“Yep. It was great. Thanks, you guys! I really appreciate this. I’ll see you guys later!” He called to everypony. They all bid farewell to him as they all parted ways.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash.” Steel said to the cyan mare. She turned, slightly eagerly, but trying to hide it. “Before you leave, how about a race from here back to Ponyville?” Rainbow brightened up heavily.

“Really?!” She said, excitedly, nearly bouncing up and down.

“Yeah, if you think you can handle it.” Steel said with a sly smirk.

“Are you kidding me?” Rainbow said. “Of course I can!” Steel drew a long line in the sand in front of them.

“You know what that is. Remember, just a race to Ponyville. I hope you know that I‘m not going easy on you because you‘re a mare.” Steel said as he got behind the starting line.

“Oh, come on, don’t make me laugh!“ Rainbow Dash said as she got into position and looked over at the red stallion. He winked at her with his bright red irises, reflecting the moonlight. Rainbow Dash blushed, but kept her head in the game. She had to win this…she had to earn his respect.

“Ready…” Steel uttered quietly. “Set…GO!” And they were off, like two rockets through the night. They blazed down the path leading from Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville. Neck-in-neck, shot-for-shot. Rainbow Dash could not deny that she was impressed. Even running, she was one of the fastest ponies around. She looked over at Steel, who had a look of pure confidence on his face.

‘Strong and fast.’ She thought to herself. ‘He’s so awesome…’ In the midst of her thought, Steel had begun to pick up speed. He inched ahead of Rainbow gradually. Rainbow huffed and put her all into it, getting to an even position with him again. Then, out of the blue, Steel sped ahead with blinding speed, leaving Rainbow in the figurative and literal dust. He moved like the devil, gaining meter after meter on Rainbow Dash as the seconds passed. She was amazed. He would be able to last a little while against her even if she was flying. Eventually, he reached Ponyville. He sat there and waited for Rainbow for what seemed like a full minute or two, before she finally came galloping into the town, breathing as heavily as she ever had. She fell onto the ground, gasping as if she had exactly no oxygen left in her lungs. Steel walked to her and helped her up. She caught her breath eventually, enough to speak.

“You cheated!” She said indignantly.

“Celestia, preserve us!” Steel said, half chuckling. “Are the great Rainbow Dash’s, winner of the best young flyers competition and performer of the sonic rainboom, feathers ruffled?”

“No.” She said, huffing and crossing her front hooves. “I just don’t like cheaters!”

“How exactly did I cheat?” He said, a smile plastered on his face. “And I refuse to believe that you, of all the ponies here, don’t like me.” Rainbow’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Her face turned the color of one of Applejack’s apples.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and standing to face him, her face inches away from his.

“Whatever you think it means.” He responded simply, smiling at Rainbow in a way that made her want to strangle him, and kiss him at the same time. He then moved past her and walked toward the forge he had moved into earlier that day. He turned back to her and said, “Goodnight, Rainbow Dash…and just know, that out of everypony I‘ve met here so far…you’re my favorite.” He turned and walked away. As he did this, Rainbow looked after him dreamily and smiled widely, her eyes half lidded. She began to fly up to her cloud home.

“Goodnight…” She said longingly, sure he couldn’t hear her. “Steel Anvil.” At that moment, Rainbow thought she heard a chuckle coming from below.

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author’s note: Okay, there’s the second chapter. I pretty much already have the first third of the story already planned out. I would appreciate a comment or mini-review or whatever. What’s Steel Anvil’s big secret? Stay tuned to find out!