Everfree Village

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was gently rocking in her seat, staring awkwardly at her untouched glass of wine. The Chief interested her but now that it had come to it, Dash was nervous. She'd always had trouble talking openly about her feelings. She jumped slightly when Cinder spoke from beside her.

"You'd best drink some o'that wine, Dashie. It's a fine vintage, an' it'll help loosen your tongue, too. Now can I get y'all anythin'? I know it ain't been long since either of y'all ate, but ya both put away your food awful quick, so I thought ya might want somethin' small to munch on."

"Thanks, but I think I'm fine."

Barbara took a sip of her wine and hummed in delight. The flavor was something closer to what she had known before, if a little sweeter.

"So, Dash... I'll be clear. I think you're fun to be around, just based on how you hold yourself, your attitude, the few things I know you're interested in. Life being what it is in the village, I can't exactly afford to go super slow when it comes to a relationship. No... beating around the bush, you could say. Would that be a problem for you?"

The pegasus waved a wing at Cinder and he stepped back graciously, then she looked curiously at Barbara.

"It's different, that's for sure... I might have to get used to it, but no, I think it'll be fine."

She finally leaned forward and took a sip of wine. Her eyes widened slightly and she immediately took a longer gulp. Over by the bar, Cinder smiled to himself. He couldn't hear them, but he could see between them what they themselves perhaps couldn't. He had very deliberately chosen that wine because he thought would help them talk things through the most.

Dash smacked her lips happily, then continued speaking.

"Everypony is so damn slow and cautious when it comes to relationships, but c'mon, I'm Rainbow Dash! I do everything fast, but apparently nopony is awesome enough to keep up with me."

"See, that's one thing I like about you. You're so confident in yourself and your abilities. Everybody back in the village is always second-guessing themselves or are too afraid to stand up and fight!"

Barbara tossed back more of the wine and relaxed into the chair with a smile.

"I can't imagine how much better the village would be with more people like you."

"Heh, yeah," she grins, "maybe I can help you whip those lazy plots into shape."

She giggled nervously and took another long swig of wine. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, then Dash decided to try and break the ice.

"So... what's it like living in the Everfree? The weather patrol doesn't dare cover it and even I don't go there very often."

“Sucks. Great big spider lair to the south of us, giant lizards and such to the north. If those don’t bother us, Thunder Roc’s will.”

Shaking her head, she finished off her cup and set it back down in the table a bit more forcefully than she intended.

“They bring thunder storms and can use them to attack us. If that’s not bad enough, the things are as big as a house and they do not give up easy. Last time they came in force, bout half of the homes were destroyed before we could run em off.”

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a sec," Dash interjected, "Thunder rocs? You mean the Everfree has giant bucking birds that bring storm clouds with them?" The Chief nodded and Dash slumped back in her seat, looking shocked. "I've never heard of them before, but that must be why we can't control the weather there." She sat up suddenly, staring passionately at the Chief. "I wanna see one! No, I need to see one! If I can gauge it's strength and report back to Spitfire, maybe the Wonderbolts can come in and flush 'em out, then maybe we might be able to patrol the forest too. Omigosh I could actually be the Bolt that finally brings weather control to the Everfree!" Her wings were spread wide, practically vibrating with energy she was so excited.

"If you can take one down, be my guest. Things are tough as they come, thick skin underneath all those feathers. Rohan stuck six spears in one's chest before it finally fell from the sky. Another kept fighting even when it got stabbed in the throat, ended up cutting it's head off with my axe."

Barbara couldn't help grinning a little at the memory of such a wonderful fight. She didn't like what the birds did but neither could she ignore the thrill it gave her. "Either way, I'd steer clear of them in most cases."

Dash whistled appreciatively and relaxed back in her seat again. "Well rocs are already pretty tough, so I figured these thunder rocs would be too."

She stared up at the ceiling, rubbing her mane thoughtfully. "What confuses me though is how we've never seen them before. Even if thye're always surrounded by storm clouds, we should've seen them at some point, right?"

Barbara leaned forward, downed the rest of her wine, and immediately refilled it again, gesturing to the Chief's glass to see if she wanted more as well.

Sliding her cup over, she let the mare refill it and gave a sigh.

"I dunno, could be only around our forest. From what I gather, ponies don't really go there since it's dangerous, right? If they all lived in that one forest, maybe that would be why. Whatever the case, I'd love to see 'em go."

As she took another sip, her eyes fell back on the mare. "We're getting a little off-topic though, huh? So, what is it you like about mares specifically?"

"Oh!" Dash blushed suddenly, her ears folding back, "Uh... I dunno? I just get along with them better, I guess." She hesitated, drank some more wine, then paused again before finally saying a bit more. "Also cause I really don't like dicks, I guess..." She shifted awkwardly in her seat.

"Really? I've never properly been with either, so I guess I can't say for sure. Tell you what though, I do like how soft ponies seem to be. Especially you winged ponies."

She gestured down towards dash's chest with the cup and gave a little chuckle. "Wouldn't mind having that fluff to myself."

"Wait, what? You've never been with a stallion? ...Er, a human one." She gawked openly, not being the best at recognizing when she's being rude. "But you're the Chief, right? For Luna's sake can't you just like, pick a colt and be like, 'yeah, you'll do'?"

"Okay, see, Lodestone said the same thing. No, I can't just grab someone and have fun anytime I want. As a leader, I need to uphold a certain image. Capable, thoughtful, no distractions allowed. For another, most of the men have their own wives. Rohan may be one of the very few that is of age, but he is my older cousin."

Barbara groaned and leaned forward to rest against the table. Her hands sifted through her blonde hair and she tried not to be frustrated at her position in the village.

"It leaves me little to no choice for what I can do. I end up spending all of my nights alone and whenever I go into the village it's all business. I make sure things run smoothly, I walk about so people can see I'm active, I talk with others to give them input on their job."

Through a few strands of hair, she watched the pegasus and finally gave a smile.

"But here, here I can get with someone, even if it's not another human. Nobody will question it since they think I'm doing it to improve our trade relations."

"You'd better get used to sleeping with mares, then!" She chuckled, "The closest you'll find to a stallion in charge is Big Mac running Sweet Apple Acres."

Her smile faded and she looked down. She felt bad for the human and intensely sympathetic. "Still, I know what you mean, 'cause I got my own image to maintain. Rarity might tease me about hooficures and proper care of mane and tail but... well, just look."

One of her wings gently ruffled her mane and suddenly it became obvious that the solid chunks of rainbow colored hair were not solid at all, but thousands of individual hairs, like anypony else. From the way it resisted coming apart, she had obviously worked a powerful holding agent thoroughly into her hair, but it was clear now that without careful grooming, her mane would rapidly become a tangled mess of randomly colored strands of hair all mixed together until the colors blended into a ruddy brown.

She smiled grimly when the realization spread across Barbara's face.

"I'm an Element of Harmony, one of the most popular Wonderbolts, and the only pegasus in all of Ponyville with her own fan club... and my name is freakin' Rainbow Dash. Every morning I spend over an hour arranging my mane and tail before I even dare show my muzzle in public."

"I... see. So in a way, you work on your appearance maybe more than anyone gives you credit for. Might be nice if you had someone to help you with that then, hmm?"

Barbara scooted her chair around the table to be a little closer so that she could inspect it. She didn't quite get how it was done, but if she ever wanted to help then she would just have to learn.

"Think about it, I could even cut your prep time down. More time to sleep in and enjoy the company of whoever you're with."

"Uh, I, umm..."

Dash looked away awkwardly. The Chief hadn't even moved that much, but that combined with the suggestion she was making and Dash was left stumbling for words. It wasn't just helping with her morning routine, of course; Dash could see what the Chief was implying. Part of her wanted what she was implying and part of her was terrified of it, and that mixture of feelings was making it really hard to concentrate.

"It's, uh... not really... it's kinda tricky. A-And I've been doing it so long now, I'm pretty quick at it these days."

Her wings started to spring out as she imagined waking up next to Barbara and she pretended to rub her head in thought with a wing to cover it up. "Besides, I'm sure you've got more important things to do, right? And you'll only be here another day or two, won't you?"

"You're right. Guess I better get to the point then, huh?" Barbara grabbed the small pegasus on either side and pulled Dash into her lap. With a slight blush, she craned her neck and brought the stunned mare into a kiss. Her tongue poked out, tasting the wine on Dash's lip and making her hum in approval.

The poor, stunned pegasus let out a little squeak, then a long moan through her muzzle, her wings slowly unfurling to their full spread. When the kiss broke, she fell back with a satisfied little gasp and stared up from the Chief's lap in shock and wonder.

"Y-You... That w-was..."

She shivered slightly and her wings trembled even more. If Rarity's robe was not such a thick material, Barbara would have felt a slightly damp spot spreading over her thigh. Across the room, somepony whistled appreciatively and Dash suddenly averted her eyes, ears flattening and her muzzle burning with embarrassment. Mere seconds later, Cinder was there at the table that had whistled and though nopony else could hear what he said, his expression of contempt and disgust was plain to everypony in the room.

Rainbow Dash slowly leaned forward until her muzzle pressed into Barbara's bosom. The human had to lean down to catch her pained whisper. "I've never even kissed anypony before."

Barbara felt a little bad about that, since it sounded like Dash wanted it to be more special. With no real way to fix that, she simply held the mare against her boobs. "Didn't think you'd have such a reaction. I can make it up to you tonight, if you'd like. I'm... ahem A guest at that castle for now, but I'm told you're friends with the princess anyway. We could meet there and talk more privately."

Of course, while Barbara wanted more, having now felt the softness of the pony against her, she could tell that pushing too much might be bad.

The Chief's disappointment and concern was clear in her voice and Dash looked up, starry eyed and blushing hotly. "Yes! I m-mean... it's okay, I'm okay. It was... nice. Just surprised me, that's all."

She shifted awkwardly in Barbara's lap, then she squeaked and her hooves flew to her muzzle because she hadn't meant to grind against the human's leg and the sensation sent a jolt of pleasure up her spine. Her blush deepened even further and after a few seconds, she managed a few words. "I should... get down?" She hadn't meant it to come out like a question.

Barbara could already feel something wet seeping into the clothes and on her leg. Even thick clothes felt different when only slightly dampened. With a slight smirk, she slowly drew her hand down Dash's back and just under her tail to find proof of what she was feeling.

"Huh... you're really sensitive, aren't you. Guess that means we'll be having a lot of fun later." She kept her voice down for dash's sake if nothing else. Her finger, still under the mare's tail, gently caressed the contours of Dash's marehood.

The feeling was electrifying and Dash's entire body went rigid as she tried desperately to resist the urge to arch her back and moan. She managed to reduce it to a light shudder and another little squeak, then she hooked a hoof around the back of Barbara's neck and hungrily pulled her into another kiss.

With startling suddenness there was a flash of light and a loud bang as a certain purple Princess materialized in the middle of the tavern. "There you are!" she exclaimed even before she could really see in the dim light.

Twilight turned in a circle as the magic faded away, searching. A quick scan on the room found Barbara and it seemed that at first the alicorn didn't notice the startled blue pegasus sitting in her lap. "I've been looking all over for you! That was really unprofessional, leaving before even giving me a chance to-"

At long last realization came, and Twilight stopped in her tracks. Her purple hid the blush well, but not completely. "Are you two...?"

She couldn't even finish the question, before she gasped. "Rainbow Dash?!" Already the pony was taking small steps back, as if reeling. She opened her mouth to ask something else, but then her nose wiggled and her jaw dropped open even as her eyes bulged. "D-Don't tell me you two are..." She sat heavily on the floor. "Here? Now!?"

Barbara cursed under her breath and rolled her eyes at the alicorn. "Calm down. We were sharing a drink and talking, one thing led to another and we kissed. As for you calling me unprofessional." Barbara returned dash to her own seat and slid hers back away from the table. "I'd hardly call it professional to sleep through half of the day when you have an "important" guest. Where I come from, that is like a slap in the face, though I decided I would overlook it an went out to meet with others so I could take care of some of the things I came here to do. Just so happens that Dash helped me with some of that, plus a little extra."

Twilight looked really intimidated by the woman, even if she was only sitting down. She shrank back, little by little and her thoughts went quickly from what Dash and the Chief were doing to her own defense.

"Well, um... Okay, yes, you're right," she mumbled defensively. "I might have stayed up reading and trying to find out about your people, and I may have overslept just a tad..." She pointed an accusing hoof. "You could have left a note or something!" she said triumphantly, completely forgetting that Barbara couldn't read or write.

Twilight looked around for any help, but the ponies were just stunned and staring in silence. Even Dash was refusing to meet her gaze, so she fell silent and her ears went down. "Okay, maybe I could have knocked. And I probably shouldn't have yelled." The blush increased. "Sorry."

Cinder had stepped out from around the bar but nopony had heard his polite interjections throughout this exchange. Finally he cleared his throat loudly and Twilight turned to face him. His expression was calm but there was an intense fury in his eyes that only she could see, being directly in front of him. Though his accent was thicker than ever, he spoke slowly and quietly, precisely enunciating every syllable.

"Princess Twilight. Ah was under the impression that we had an agreement here. This 'ere is one of only a hoofful of places in all of Equestria where the Wonderbolts can expect to find any privacy, an' y'all teleportin' in here unannounced, Alicorn or no, is in gross violation of that expectation."

He had slowly stepped out from around the bar to approach the purple alicorn, and if it were not for the horn and wings, anypony looking on might think that he was the royalty and she was a mere earth pony.

"Need ah remind you that the Wonderbolts are an organization under the direct command of Princess Celestia herself? Do ah need to send a missive to her majesty, explaining precisely why her special corps feel oppressed an' restricted despite bein' under the watchful gaze of her number one student?"

"And before you respond to that," Barbara added haughtily, "Let me remind you that you have a small, purple servant in your castle who helped me this morning. I also cannot write or read pony-kind's written language. It should have been his duty, not mine, to inform you that I went to the mayor this morning while you slept." Her arms crossed and she stared down at the alicorn.

In that moment, the terrified and mortally embarrassed Rainbow Dash was simply trying to decide who she loved more: Barbara or Cinder.

The Princess opened her mouth, but all that came out was a whimper. Between their joint assault, she looked like a sheep about to be slaughtered. "Meep!" She began backing away towards the door, and almost bowed to the bartender, whom she decided to reply to first. "O-O-Of course, sir! Of course. Wonderbolts! I know!" Her rear hit the wood of the door and she jumped up in the air in fright. "I'll just be-! I'll wait in the castle!" the alicorn squeaked and her horn glowed. "No r-rush, of c-course!"

There was that bang again as she vanished, and then another pop from outside where she reappeared on the street. It looked like the poor Princess was too shaken to manage any kind of serious distance. Moments later somepony outside gasped: "Princess Twilight?!"

There was no reply, just the sound of hooves galloping away as quickly as they could.

Cinder spun around and beamed at the room before giving everypony a long, dramatic bow. Somepony whooped and a few of them stomped their hooves in applause, but mostly the room simply dissolved into helpless, relieved laughter. He straightened and walked up to the petrified pegasus, still perched on Barbara's lap but now far, far from aroused.

"I'm sorry that happened to ya, Dashie." He took another step forward and gave her a little nuzzle, trying to help her relax a bit. "...But to tell the truth, I'm glad it happened. I been needin' a good excuse to mouth off to that purple filly for some time now. This ain't the first time she's popped in here like that just within the last week." He looked up at the human and grinned. "'Sides... ain't every day ya get the chance to talk like that to a Princess. If nothin' else... was just plain fun."

Rainbow Dash made a sound that might have been a giggle, then hiccuped and buried her face against Barbara's chest again, wanting nothing more than to disappear.

"Can't say I agree, but I definitely won't take lip from someone who wants to criticize me for their mistakes. Buuuut..." Barbara looked down at Dash and gently pushed her back so they could look at each other. "I really should do what I came here to do. I seem to remember you promising a tour that would include taking me to the market and helping me buy what I needed."

Suddenly, again, there was a smaller pop and a flash of light, which deposited a rolled-up scroll on their table. It wasn't too hard to guess where it must have come from, although it seemed a bit too soon - Twilight had just run away.

Dash's ear flicked when the note appeared but she ignored it and just stared up at Barbara for a moment. Her muzzle trembled slightly, then she closed her eyes and took several slow, deep breaths. Her body relaxed and her wings slowly folded up against her side again. Conversation tentatively began to roll through the room and things began to feel normal again. She opened her eyes and her gaze was hard, but it contained a faint twinkle of amusement and the corner of her mouth twitched into a weak smirk.

Cinder had fetched the scroll from the table and was holding it out for Dash. There was just a brief message, scrawled in a hurry and very shaky writing, as if somepony wrote it while running: "Rainbow Dash--so sorry. Please come see me so I can apologize prprpll-" There was no signature.

"T-That stupid egghead has the w-worst timing I've ever known... Well, c'mon, then. We'd better go yell at the Princess some more."

She turned and dropped somewhat stiffly from the human's lap, then nuzzled and wrapped a wing around Cinder in wordless thanks. “So that was from her then. I suppose it wouldn’t do if I let her think I was really upset with her.”

Sighing, she dropped a couple more bits down on the table to pay for the wine and stood to follow Dash out. Other patrons snickered when they saw the slight damp spot on Barbara’s leg, but a look silenced that quickly.

It wasn't necessary, but Cinder opened the door for them just to be polite and Dash stepped outside, turned, and froze for a split second before snapping a stiff wing salute. Once Barbara followed her out, she saw Spitfire had just landed in the yard out front. She nodded to them both and Dash relaxed. "So you're leaving already, huh?" Spitfire's muzzle quirked slightly in disappointment, "Damn, I was hoping to talk a bit more."

Dash straightened again and said, "Sorry ma'am, but we need to see Princess Twilight, then we have some business to complete for the human village."

Spitfire waved a wing dismissively, "Yeah yeah, Crash. Anything that can drag you away from this place must be important." She held a hoof out for the human, "Maybe tomorrow night, eh? It'll be nice to chat with a leader other than Mayor Moneybags or Princess Bookshelf for once."

Barbara gave the little hoof a bump, since it felt like that was what she was looking for. “If possible, sure, but I can’t be away for too long.”

It was hard to ever say no to an excuse to drink, but the village really would need her. Especially with what she was going to be providing for them. As Spitfire entered the bar, the chief looked down at Dash and began walking beside her. “She has a nickname for everyone, hmm? Just hope mine doesn’t end up being something bad or embarrassing.”

The pegasus shook her head, "Not everypony, it's just we Bolts give each other nicknames, usually 'cause of a funny story from training. And, well... apparently other leaders." Dash rubbed her muzzle with a hoof, "I wonder if she has a nickname for Princess Celestia..."

She shrugged and relaxed quickly in the fresh air and with some movement, and was soon looking like her usual self again. "It took me a while to get used to it... at first I thought they were being mean, but really it's a sign of trust and friendship. No matter how good you do in training, you don't really join the herd until you earn an embarrassing nickname."

“Oooooh, is that it. Guess it’s a good thing she wasn’t around when I was learning to fight. I’m sure she’d have a whole arsenal of names for me.” The woman was becoming used to the states of ponies whenever they went into a more populated area. More than a few were very open in their gawking, though some at least tried not to stare.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said regarding weapons. You know, we could probably put a small blade that attaches to your wing. With your speed, you could cut someone down before they could react, right?”

Taking flight to better fend off the overly friendly onlookers, Dash began to nod excitedly, then she looked troubled. "I could, but... I've never actually attacked a creature, nevermind killed. We usually act to capture or trap threats... that's why speed is so important."

They were making good progress and the Castle of Friendship was beginning to loom over them. If Twilight was watching out a window, it would only be another moment before she saw them approaching. “It’s just an option. I’m sure you can cut without killing anyway.”

Now they were at the door and Barbara gave three hard knocks. Within just a few moments, Spike flung the door open and stepped aside. “I think you two should hurry to the book room. Twilight was trying to bury herself under a mountain of books earlier, so I’m guessing she’s upset.”

Now that the embarrassment had faded, Dash was feeling sorry for her friend. She hovered closer to Barbara to whisper in her ear as they hurried down the wide hall. "I was just joking earlier when I said yell at her some more. I think she had more than enough at the bar... we should try and be nice. She doesn't handle this sort of thing well on her own, okay?"

Twilight stopped in the middle of pacing up and down the room. There were indeed piles of books strewn around, as if the mare had tried to get herself interested in something, anything, but failed.

Now that the pair entered she blushed a vivid pink and couldn't look them in the eye. "OH! It's you!"

She tried a grin, but it came out all crooked. With splayed ears the Princess just kept talking, where it might have been smarter to shut up: "Two... mares. You're a mare, and you're a mare. I'm a mare! We're all mares. Yep. Nothing wrong with that! Absolutely nothing wrong with two mares being...." She gulped. "Friendly."

Twilight still couldn't look directly at them. "Yep! Everything's fine here. We're all just friends. Some better than others, of course, but..." She finally plugged her mouth with a hoof, then gave Dash a very apologetic look. "Sorry. I didn't mean to burst in on your two like that."

Barbara folded her arms and said, “Before we start getting mushy, I want to make sure you know that I am not angry at you. I won’t sit by and be baselessly accused of wrongdoing, but I’m not mad at you.”

She plopped down on the ground with her legs crossed and spike ran towards the kitchen to grab something for the group. "I guess in all fairness, I was warned of your... personality when learning about something new.”

Rainbow Dash zoomed forward and hugged her with a wing before she could respond. "Besides, it's fine, really, you just surprised us is all! And Cinder likes you, promise, he was just trying to help me any way he could. He's awesome like that. It... just so happened that he thought the best way to help was to make you get the hay out and not return for a while."

She poked a hoof into Twilight's cheek. "It's pretty funny actually... We'd just been sitting there talking for like an hour, then Barbara just snatched me up and started doing... uh, stuff... and right then is when this egghead thought it'd be a good idea to pop in!"

With a hearty laugh that was only slightly forced, she gave Twilight a vigorous noogie, struggling to hold her in place with the wing around her withers.

The Book Princess relaxed a little, but she still sounded uncertain. "I was just looking for the Chief! I must have turned half of Ponyville upside down and then someone said they saw her with you and I just - reacted!"

The alicorn smiled a little and returned the hug. "I'm so happy you're not mad at me! I think it's... um, sweet that you finally found somepony, even if that somepony isn't a pony!"

That made Twilight giggle at herself and it only sounded a bit manic. "I'll stop teleporting into that place, I promise. It's just that I get worried, or curious, or that one time I was sure you took my Daring Do book by mistake..."

The Princess had been all but oblivious to the human, but now remembered Barbara's presence and looked up. "Um, sorry. I shouldn't have been asleep this morning. That wasn't very princess-like of me."

“I don’t mind you sleeping in, just don’t get mad at me for not waiting. My village is my top priority. Speaking of--I should give you this.”

She produced the note with the list of things she had meant to buy.

“I have to get these for my village so we can grow more food. We have a little bit stored, thanks to Granite, but not enough and certainly not enough variety. I also gave the mayor more details about my people.”

"Heeey!" Dash tried to snatch the note from her hand, but fast as she might be, unicorn magic was near instantaneous. She crossed her hooves and pouted at the human. "I thought I was gonna help you with your boring shopping list!"

"How about - we both help Barbara?" Twilight offered as a compromise. She floated the note a bit away so they could both read it at the same time, then quickly scanned the list and nodded to herself with the trickier items. "None of these should be a problem," the Princess proclaimed at last. "Shall we get started?"

Unfortunately, poor Spike had just brought a tray with tea and cookies, which would now go ignored if the group went out. He bustled into the room and deposited his refreshments on a rare bit of flat surface, which happened to be a stack of books.

“That was my plan. Both of you helping, it’s less boring with more peop- err, ponies!” Patting Dash on the back, Barbara uncrossed her legs and stood up. “Oh, and think of it this way Dash, I’m helping your friend’s reputation by making it seem like she’s the primary helper. Takes some of the attention in town off of you for a bit. Nice, right?”

Dash gasped and her ears flattened. "What!? Take attention away from me? Buck no! I'll do all the shopping myself in ten seconds flat, you just watch!"

She flew off at top speed and stopped suddenly, glowing in Twilight's magic. She thrashed and yelled and laughed as they all slowly left the castle, leaving Spike's cookies forgotten and untouched.