Note: This story is the work of Darkryt Orbinautz.
A My Little Pony Fanfiction
Mind Over Mane-Iac
Issue 1 In A Seven-Issue Mini-series!
"Arrows of Love!"
After a routine mission beating the Mane-iac, The Power Ponies have to deal with another frustrating foe; being out of groceries. But while at the store, Rainbow Dash struggles with an even more worrying predicament: being struck by Cupid!
IN a desolate and lifeless foundation made from steel and iron, lit only by the smooth gleam of the silver moon and what little light peeked from the building's windows, the shadow of a figure crept in the pitch-black night. It rose up like a budding flower from the edge of an old ventilation machine.
The shadow ducked and rolled, moving from the cover of one dinged-up useless machine to the next. It raised its hoof and made the motions of a beckoning signal.
Out from the machine the shadow had whence emerged from, crept out five more shadows which joined the first.
Most ponies might question the wisdom of going to a forsaken facility in the dangerous dark. Most ponies might decide it best to stay home and leave the rest of the world alone to its own devices. Not these six. For these six were not most ponies.
No, they were special. They answered the calls no one else would, to do the jobs no one else could. They were lights in the darkness. They were defenders of truth, justice, and the Equestrian way. They were calm protectors against an ever-present, ever-changing mass of chaos, a chaos which was always just out of sight but always looming overhead.
They were (and are) ... the POWER PONIES!
Including The Masked Matter-horn, able to send out beams ranging from the most scorching heat to the coldest frost. Mistress Mare-Velous, who wields an enchanted lasso in combat. Radiance, with the power to make anything she can think of into a solid construct. Fili-Second, able to run at several hundred-thousand miles per hour (and who the Masked Matter-horn would be quick to point out, was not a real measurement of seconds. Milliseconds, yes, microseconds, yes, nanoseconds, yes, but not Fili-Seconds). Zapp, with her enchanted amulet that could bend the weather to her will. Last and least was Saddle Rager … who was too shy and timid to do much. Unless she got angry, which triggered a transformation in her into a monstrous rampaging beast! But she was just so gosh-darned all the time, getting her angry was too much of a hassle.
On this dim and starry night, the Power Ponies had received a tip-off about suspicious ponies in barbershop outfits who were going in and out of an abandoned shampoo-making factory. A description which perfectly matched the modus operandi of their bitter nemesis, THE MANE-IAC! A former hair product sales-ponies turned superpowered criminal, the Mane-Iac was a mutated pony whose hair was green, pliable, and extendable, the long reach of her tentacles working without end to fuel her plans for world domination! Hair-based world domination.
The factory having its lights on at this late hour was in itself suspicious enough, but the Power Ponies needed to only the faintest echo of the Mane-Iac's distinctive cackle for the confirmation of their suspicions and the validation of the anonymous tip-off.
The Masked Matter-horn found an air-duct and directed the other Power Ponies to it. Using her power the way a construction worker uses a welding torch, she melted the metal of the duct and tore the door off. It was too small for their bodies to fit in, but they were prepared. Radiance created a large hammer to chisel out enough space for them to get through.
"Oooh." Saddle Rager whined as they crawled into the dusty, abandoned space. "Do we have to be here? I'd much rather be at home with my animal friends."
"Tough it up, Rager!" Zapp snapped. "We've got a job to do, and that job is kick the Mane-iac's flank into next week! If you don't wanna do it, fine, but we'll just carry on without you!"
"Zapp, there's no need to be rude." Radiance said. "Saddle Rager is simply stating she would prefer to be at home. I would prefer to be at the spa, but we chose to take this duty as our own and we will fulfill it. Isn't that right, Rager?"
Rager sighed. "I guess ..."
The Masked Matter-horn, at the front of the pack, turned around and gave the order for silence. They had arrived at the end of the ventilation shaft, where they could spy with their little eyes the Mane-iac and her goons, attempting to reactive the disused machinery, no doubt for their nefarious plans to create shampoo.
EVIL shampoo.
"Tonight, minions, we shall take Maretropolis!" The Mane-Iac shouted, using her tentacles to give herself a perch at the highest point of the machinery. "And I know I say that every time ..." The minions murmured amongst themselves in agreement. "But I really mean it this time! We SHALL take Maretropolis through that most beautiful of natural accessories – hair! Think about it. Who doesn't love hair? Who doesn't wake up and brush their mane first thing in the morning? And with my new scheme, minions, we shall use the natural beauty of hair to convert the world to our way of thinking! We will show them the LIGHT! … of hair!"
A minion raised their hoof. "I have a question."
"Yes?"
"What if sompony's bald? What do we do then?"
"That's a good question." Saddle Rager said. "I mean, what if they have a condition that prevents them from growing hair?"
"Yeah." Another minion muttered. He turned to his fellow, who nodded. "That's a good point!"
The Mane-Iac stiffened like a hound taking point. "Who's there? Who is talking over my grand moment uninvited?"
Matter-horn put her hoof to her face.
"Um ..." Rager muttered. "Nopony! Nopony is there. Pay no attention to the mares behind the ventilation shaft."
The Mane-Iac looked upward, tapping her chin with a tentacle. She pointed upwards. "Minions, I'm not sure why, but I think you should check that ventilation shaft."
"Oh, forget it." Matter-horn used her horn to blast the ventilation grate off the wall, blowing it into smithereens – A MOST DRAMATIC ENTRANCE!
"Power Ponies!" Mane-iac swore.
"Yes, it's us." Matter-horn growled. "And Mane-iac … you're late for your haircut."
The Mane-iac was not so easily cowed. She reared up and pointed her tentacles at them the way a porcupine bared its needles at predators. "Minions, GET THEM!"
The minions tensed up to pounce on their prey, but the Masked Matter-horn proved far more reactive than them, dispatching a large number of them with a single laser beam of heat which she swept over the room. She jumped down from the grate, allowing Radiance to materialize a set of stairs for the others to climb down on – after all, safety was first.
The Power Ponies now on the ground level with their opponents, the minions lunged and charged at the masked team. However, them being thugs and mooks with no powers or abilities of their own, and the Power Ponies equipped with the special abilities to bend nature and defy science, the fight was a lopsided one at best.
Zapp raised her amulet up and created a cloud, which rained down ice and snow until the floor was too slippery for the hooves of the minions to get any traction on. They slipped and fell. Radiance created three walls of energy, which she placed on the ground around the minions, cornering them like cattle ripe for the slaughter. That "slaughter" being the Matter-horn blasting them all with a freeze ray, binding their iced-over hooves to the iced-over floor.
Meanwhile, Fili-Second was going through the machines of the factory, opening panels, unplugging wires and disconnecting circuits, much to the frustration of the Mane-iac.
"Oh, what does this button do?" Fili-Second asked as she ripped out a cord from a machine.
"No! Stop that!" Mane-iac hissed, snapping her tentacles at Fili-Second. Fili-Second was unto a flash of lightning – here one minute and gone the next as she sped through the complex, dismantling machinery bit by bit to foil the Mane-Iac's evil plan, whatever it was going to be.
"What's the matter, Mane-iac?" Mistress Mare-velous teased as she used her lasso on another mook. "Don't like sharing yer toys?"
"NO! No, I don't! Oooh, I'll get you pesky Power Brats!"
"Ah doubt it!" Mare-velous shouted as another minion got the drop on her, trying to attack her rope with a pair of scissors. "Git … off!" Mare-velous struggled with the determined mook until Matter-horn took care of him with a laser blast. To the FACE.
Mare-velous turned to Matter-horn. "Thanks, hon. Yer a doll."
"Don't mention it." Matter-horn waved her hoof. "Now, to put the Mane-iac behind bars once and for all!" She looked up to the Mane-iac's perch. The Mane-iac herself had vanished and gone, no doubt having fled while the Power Ponies were distracted by her mooks – a sure sign of her disregard for their safety and health.
"PINKIE PIE!" Matter-horn screamed. "YOU LET HER GET AWAY!"
"What?" Fili-Second, or Pinkie Pie, questioned as she enjoyed tugging on more wires. "I'm sorry, I was more focused on playing with all the fancy doodads inside of the machines and their doohickies!"
Zapp shook her head. "Pinkie Pie, what are we going to do with you?"
In truth, the Power Ponies each had a secret, civilian identity which they used their costumes to hide from the world. Zapp was the weatherpony and aspiring Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie, Super-Duper Party Pony, was Fili-Second. Radiance was Rarity, a fashion designer, farmer pony Applejack was Mistress Mareve-velous, and Saddle Rager was Fluttershy, a timid animal caretaker. The Masked Matter-horn was Twilight Sparkle, envoy of Princess Celestia.
They took up the costumes to protect themselves and their loved ones from enterprising villains who might be tempted to take hostages or strike them when their guard was down in the safety of their home. Said home was a shared mansion in Maretropolis.
After thwarting the Mane-iac's scheme, even if they failed to apprehend the Mane-iac herself, the Power Ponies returned to the mansion. They went inside through a secret entrance, so nopony could see them enter and make the connection between their vigilante selves and their secret identities.
Inside the mansion, a portrait lifted up and swung to the side, exposing an elevator chute. The elevator which accompanied the chute rose up soon after and dinged before opening. One by one they went inside, each of them taking off their costumes and stuffing them behind another portrait which had a secret compartment.
"Hello, ladies!" A deep voice greeted them. A whirl of colors moved through the air like a serpent of living paint, until it stopped and made itself into a mix-and-match creature with features of a mule and a serpent – Discord. A spirit with reality-warping powers who Twilight's group had befriended and reformed from his evil ways. They preferred he didn't join them on Power Pony missions to avoid giving hints about their identities. "Enjoy any good heroics last night?"
"Nothing much." Twilight answered, trotting past him. "We stopped the Mane-iac from doing her scheme, but we didn't catch her." Twilight jumped and halted when an arcade game appeared in front of her out of thin air.
"Don't worry!" The game said. "You'll get them next time!" It bleeped and blared victorious music like Twilight had won a game on it.
Twilight noticed the game was colored like Discord's fur and relaxed. She sighed. "Thank you, Discord. That's nice of you to say." She walked past him to the living room and threw herself onto the plush couch with a thump. She used her magic to pull out the television remote and turned the T.V on. It was set to a news channel, showing a police report on the crime scene the Power Ponies had left last night.
"In conclusion, we have the Power Ponies to thank for stopping yet another of the Mane-iac's schemes before the police were even aware of it." The officer on the screen said." However, we would have appreciated if they could left less collateral damage in their wake." The officer pointed to the factory's machines, which Pinkie Pie had sabotaged.
Pinkie Pie blushed and shirked as the others gave her disapproving glares.
"Why do we even have police?" Rainbow Dash shrugged as the officer continued to espouse praise for their heroics. "I mean, we're stronger, better, faster ..."
"The police do a good job with normal criminals, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said, sipping a teacup she had acquired. "The Mane-iac and her friends aren't normal criminals, though, so they need special teams like us. On top of that, if we didn't have the police, we'd have to go out all the time to deal with regular criminals who do things like steal watches. Do you really want to have to bother with small time petty crooks like that?"
"I guess not ..."
"It's mutually beneficial, darling." Rarity said as she opened the fridge and looked inside. "We make their jobs easier by dealing with the powered brutes, they make our jobs by making it so we don't have to deal with the petty thugs … hmm. We're out of milk, darlings. We need to go to the store."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Rarity, we're not going to the store just because we're out of one thing."
Rainbow Dash flew into the kitchen and came back through with an empty soda bottle. "We're also out of soda."
"Fine! Two things. Still not worth a trip to the store."
The rest of the girls went into the kitchen and spread out, searching for anything else they might have needed.
"And oranges." Applejack added.
"And sugar!" Pinkie Pie held up an empty bag for the sugar.
"And animal feed for Angel." Fluttershy said.
"You know, darling, I have made back a large investment with my dresses." Rarity tapped her chin. "It would be nice to go and spend a little cash on a few indulgences ..."
Twilight sighed and put a hoof over her forehead, the way exhausted mothers do. "Fine. We'll go to the store."
"Yes!" Rarity clapped and ran about the room like she was Fili-Second instead of Pinkie Pie. "Oh, it's been awhile since the last time I allowed myself to spend away like the rich mare I am at heart!"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh … that's nice."
So, Twilight's group did go to one of the most danger-wrought places in the entire city of Maretropolis: THE GROCERY STORE! Danger and fear was around every corner, as the store was full of awful, awful things … things like …
Somepony bumping into them at the register!
Somepony bumping into them in the aisle!
INDECISION as they tried – no, not tried, STRUGGLED with what brand they wanted to buy! Oh, the calamity! The indignity of it all!
"I'll head straight to the fashion aisle." Rarity said. "I simply must let my fellow fashion designers know I still approve of their work!" She sped off down the aisles.
"Oh, good." Twilight dryly mumbled. "Anyways, I'll go down the paper aisle and see if there's anything we need. Applejack, you're on produce." Applejack saluted and hurried off.
"I'll get the animal feed." Fluttershy flew away.
"Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, you're on soaps and shampoos." Twilight said. "Rarity complained about being low on her "special moisturizing agent," so make sure you get that."
"Can do, boss." Rainbow Dash answered, strutting towards the aisle with Pinkie Pie.
"Come on, Pinkie Pie." Dash gestured as they walked down the bath supplies. "We need to stop to get me some deodorant. Fluttershy's been complaining about me stinking up the bunk beds."
"Okay!" Pinkie Pie bounced around, picking up deodorants and handing them to Rainbow Dash. "What about this one? Or maybe this is better? No, wait! I think this is on the best! Rainbow Dash? Wait, wait, maybe this one?"
"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash snapped, swatting the accumulated pile of deodorants from Pinkie's hooves. "Slow down! Let me look at them one at a time." Rainbow Dash picked up one bottle of deodorant and walked down the aisle with it as she examined it. As a result, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and bumped into somepony, knocking them both down.
Rainbow Dash got up. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going and I … I … I-I-I-I-I ..."
Sitting on the floor, rubbing her head, was a light purple mare with cyan hair, a tail with split ends, and a purple neck-tie.
And she was the most beautiful mare Rainbow Dash had ever seen. The way she got up from the floor and tilted her head back played in slow motion like an over-dramatic shampoo commercial, allowing allowing Rainbow Dash to lap up every smooth motion of her hair as it flowed back and forth. The pony stopped and stared at Rainbow Dash.
"I-I-I-I ..."
The beautiful pony regarded Rainbow Dash and her stammering with curiosity, raising an eyebrow.
Pinkie Pie popped up next to Rainbow Dash, holding another bottle of deodorant in front of her face. "What about this one, Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie Pie noticed Dash's non-stop stuttering, then noticed the pony in front of her.
"Hi!" Pinkie Pie waved to her. "What's your name?"
"Tresemme." The pony answered. Her voice was soft, like the sweet chime of a gentle dinner bell.
"Oooh, that's a funny name! I'm Pinkie Pie, and this is Rainbow Dash! Say hello, Rainbow Dash."
"I-I-I-I-I ..."
"Hmm. That's funny." Pinkie Pie observed. She leaned over to Tresemme and whispered in a scratchy voice while pointing at Rainbow Dash's bouncing chin. "She doesn't normally do that."
"I see." Tresemme giggled – a sound Rainbow Dash thought sounded like Celestia's celestial kin had descended to grace the world with their presence.
"Your friend was just apologizing for bumping into me." Tresemme said to Pinkie. "At least, before her tongue fell out of her mouth."
Come on, Rainbow Dash! Rainbow thought as she slapped herself to regain her senses. Play it cool!
"Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Uuuh … I have a friend who would like to meet you!" Dash blurted out. Inside the confines of her mind, Dash did a facehoof. Shoot! You moron! You just blew your chances with her! Wait. Wait, I can still make this work.
"Oh, really?" Tresemme asked. "When?"
"Yeah, Rainbow Dash, when?" Pinkie asked, staring at Rainbow Dash with innocent eyes, oblivious to what was going on inside Rainbow Dash's head and heart. "Maybe tomorrow night?"
"Yes!" Rainbow Dash nodded. "No, no, wait, what about next week? What about next month?" Rainbow Dash's breathing became labored. "Next year? Next decade? NEXT CENTURY!"
Tresemme chuckled, amused by Rainbow Dash's verbal fumbling. She had a pretty good idea about what was causing Rainbow Dash to stutter, and what "friend" Rainbow Dash was referring. "I have a simple solution. How about tonight?"
"Tonight?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yes, tonight." Tresemme nodded. "I'm available tonight. I have a clear schedule. Does your … "friend" have time off tonight?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head hard. "Yeah, yeah, she does."
"YAY! It's tonight!" Pinkie Pie cheered.
"Well, I'll see your … friend tonight. Say, at the restaurant just down the street from here?"
Rainbow Dash nodded again. Tresemme gave her a wink and walked past her.
"Oooh my goodness ..." Rainbow Dash groaned. She stumbled back and forth before collapsing into a shelf, knocking all of the bath products off it. She didn't feel she had been struck by an arrow from Cupid. She felt someone had emptied the whole quiver of arrows and stabbed her with every arrow from it, like a pincushion.
"Clean-up on aisle eight." An employee said over a P.A.
"So, who's friend of yours?" Pinkie Pie asked Rainbow Dash.
"What? No!" Rainbow Dash got up and grabbed Pinkie Pie by the cheeks. "Don't you get it, Pinkie? The friend is me!"
Pinkie Pie giggled. "Well, that doesn't make any sense. How can you be your own friend? Oh wait, maybe it makes PERFECT SENSE! OH MY GOSH! Rainbow Dash, you're going to revolution the field of friendship-ology!"
Rainbow Dash sighed at Pinkie and her antics. "No, Pinkie Pie, I mean that the friend who shows up for the date is going to be me. Do you follow?"
Pinkie Pie gave Rainbow Dash a big, wide grin. "Absolutely …. not! Nope! Not at all. Not a single thing."
"Okay, wait, so run this by me again?" Pinkie Pie asked as Rarity applied make-up to Rainbow Dash's face.
"Rainbow Dash is too shy and insecure of herself to go an actual date with Tresemme face-to-face." Rarity explained as she dabbed Rainbow's eyes with eyeliner. "So she made up a story about a friend wanting to meet Tresemme. But the friend will be Rainbow Dash in disguise, so she can face Tresemme with the security a fake identity affords her." Rarity said. "Not that I approve."
"Oh, okay. NOW I get it. Isn't that dishonest, though?"
"Extremely." Rarity answered, applying more blush to Rainbow's cheeks.
"Rarity, if you disapprove of what Rainbow Dash is doing so much, why are you helping her?" Twilight asked – a reasonable question.
"Well, just because I don't approve of the occasion doesn't mean I'm going to pass up the chance to show off my make-up skills." Rarity said as she brushed up Rainbow Dash's hair.
"You don't understand, guys." Rainbow Dash said. "She's beautiful, so I have to get this perfect to get her to like me. If I went as myself, I'd only one chance. If I messed up, then my chances are gone. But if I show up as somepony else … that gives me an extra chance. You know, like an extra life in a video game."
"Are y'all shore she wouldn't accept y'all for ya are, faults and all?" Applejack asked. "The way you and Pinkie put it, she shore sounds like a nice gal."
"Yeah." Dash made a dreamy exhale of breath. "Nice and pretty. Prettier than you, Rarity."
Rarity huffed. "Well, excuse me! You DO want my help on this, don't you?"
"Prettier than Celestia, even." Rainbow Dash continued.
Discord decided to muscle in on the conversation. He flew over Rainbow Dash's head. "Prettier than moi?"
"Yeah ..."
Discord scratched at his beard. "Pretty enough to rock my – if I may so, impeccably well-groomed – goatee?"
"Absolutely." Rainbow Dash said with her eyelids fluttering. It was clear she wasn't paying attention to whatever Discord was saying.
Discord laughed and slapped his knee. "Ooooh! Oh – ho! Oh … she's got you falling hard, doesn't she?" Discord reached over his back and pulled out an arrow with a heart-shaped tip. He poked the blunt weapon onto Rainbow Dash's head until Fluttershy got on to him and scolded him for it.
"Discord! Stop that! That is not nice!"
"Yeesh, okay, teacher." Discord made the arrow disappear in a puff of smoke and floated away.
"Besides," Rainbow Dash said as Rarity went to work on her wings. "This way, she'll get extra protection from our enemies. A secret identity within the secret identity!"
"But managing a double life is hard enough, Rainbow Dash. How are you going to manage a triple life?" Twilight asked.
"Relax." Rainbow Dash dismissed Twilight's worries with her usual arrogance. "I can handle it."
"Okay ..." Twilight shrunk into the couch, her worries far less than calmed. "If you're sure that's what you want do to do."
"It is. Are we done, Rarity? Thanks! I owe you." Rainbow Dash headed for the door. "I'd say "wish me luck," but I don't need it. Don't wait up."
Rainbow Dash made her way to the store and the restaurant down the street from it, as Tresemme had said. It was a pretty swanky-looking establishment, with pink and gold and black all over it. There was a line out the door, so Rainbow Dash expected she needed a reservation to get in.
Wait. She didn't make a reservation. Darn it all! There goes her plans right down the drain. Or so she thought, until she saw a light-purple hoof in the line waving her over. Spellbound by the thought of seeing Tresemme again, she flew over the line, not even bothering to excuse herself to the waiting patrons she was being disrespectful to with her fly-over.
"Hey." Tresemme greeted. "You must be Rainbow Dash's friend."
"Yup!" Rainbow Dash nodded. "That's me. I'm, uh ..." Rainbow Dash pulled a random name from her memory, having a vague recollection of a Wonderbolt who used the name. "Firefly."
"Firefly. I'm Tresemme. I'll be honest, I thought the friend Rainbow Dash mentioned was just going to be herself in a costume."
Rainbow Dash laughed. Tresemme was much too close to the truth, but she seemed to be fooled by the disguise – Rarity had dressed up Rainbow Dash up with a thick, leather coat, body paint which made her appear to be a much lighter shade of blue, and an orange and yellow slicked-back mane. The end result was – or was at least intended to be - a "punk" look.
"Hahahaha, yeeeaaaah. That would be silly, wouldn't it?" Rainbow Dash said.
"Shall we go inside?" Tresemme said. "I had the waiters hold my place at the table." Tresemme moved to the door and gestured her head at it. "Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Aren't you going to open the door for me?" Tresemme asked. "It's customary for the stallion of the hour to open the door for his date."
Oh man! Rainbow Dash thought. She called me "the stallion of the hour!" This might not seem like much, but it meant a lot. It meant Tresemme was recognizing her as the male presence and not just the male presence, but the authoritative male presence. The yang to Tresemme's yin. Which meant Tresemme was respecting her. And for Rainbow Dash, an ego-boost like that meant all the money in the world.
"Of course, my lady." Rainbow Dash moved and opened the door for her. Tresemme trotted inside, "Firefly" following her in and closing the door behind her.
Tresemme led Rainbow Dash to a table which already had one drink and two menus set out. "I didn't order a drink for you because I didn't know what you might like." Tresemme said, which made Rainbow Dash smile. She was so considerate.
"Thanks, but I'm sure whatever you ordered would have been fine." Rainbow Dash, or rather, Firefly said, trying to lay on the charm.
Tresemme giggled. Oh, that sound. That wondrous, sweet sound of her laughter! What Rainbow Dash wouldn't give to have the sound recorded and immortalized for her pleasure.
"Waiter!" Tresemme hailed. A garcon was at the ready, speeding towards their table. Tresemme ordered a salad.
Firefly was too enamored with watching Tresemme's luscious lips move to realize the waiter was trying to get her attention.
"Firefly?" Tresmme asked. "The waiter is trying to take your order."
"Oh." Firefly said. "Um, I'll have whatever she's having, food and drink." She handed the waiter the menu.
Tresemme raised an eyebrow. "Firefly, are you sure you'll like the salad I ordered?"
"Yeah." Firefly said, admiring Tresemme. "I trust you have good taste."
Tresemme laughed again. "You're such a charmer."
"Yeah ..."
"What do you do, Firefly?"
"Yeah ..." Wait, no, that was a question! Answer it answer it answer it …
"Um … what do you do?"
"Oh. I am a hair product salespony."
"Really?" The waiter returned with Firefly's drink. Firefly took it without even paying attention to him. "That's interesting."
"Oh, you think so?" Tresemme cooed. "Not a lot of ponies would find hair care all that interesting."
"Oh, well, yeah!" Firefly went on. She pulled on her own mane to show her support. "I mean, who doesn't love hair, right? We all have hair!"
Tresemme squealed, fiddling her front hooves. Firefly made a mental note about how adorable she was when she was excited. "It's so nice to have like-minded company! Not a lot of ponies understand the passion, the culture that involves hair. But as nice as that is, you still haven't answered my question. What do you do?"
"Me? Oh, I'm a ..." Firefly's first instinct was to say "weatherpony," as Rainbow Dash was a weatherpony. She couldn't tell Tresemme Firefly was also a weatherpony. Weatherpony was a common job for pegasi, so both Firefly and Rainbow Dash working at the same job wouldn't be suspicious by itself. But if Tresemme visited the facility where Rainbow Dash worked, hoping to find Firefly, she would catch on to the fact Rainbow Dash and Firefly were never there at the same time (since they were the same person).
"I'm, uh, super into … motorcycles."
"Oh, a grease monkey, eh?" Tresemme leaned her hooves on the table as the waiter brought their salads.
"Yeah." Firefly nodded. She made a note Rainbow Dash would have to find a way to study motorcycles. "Love the sound of a good engine running! Can't get enough of it."
"Like you can't get enough of me?" Tresemme fluttered her eyelids.
Firefly stammered, even as she felt an arousal heat up inside her from Tresemme's suggestive eyes. "I – I don't know what you mean."
"Oh, Firefly, you don't have to hide it. You haven't taken your eyes off me all night." Tresemme picked up her fork. "We should eat before our food gets cold."
Firefly, eager to move on from the embarrassing (but true) part of the conversation, swept her silver and began shoving bites of salad into her mouth. Tresemme giggled, eating her own salad at a much more reasonable pace.
They finished the salads. Firefly rubbed her chin.
"What are you thinking about, Firefly?"
"Thinking about getting a slice of cake. I remember reading they had them on the menu."
"Hmm, are you sure?" Tresemme asked.
"Well, yeah. I keep track of my calories." Rainbow Dash was an athlete, and meant making sure her body was in good shape. "I can afford a little treat. Why? What's wrong with that?"
Tresemme gave her a smirk. "Oh, nothing. I just thought you might want a parfait … for us to share." The way she said "share" sent tingles up Firefly's spine. So they got a parfait and finished before leaving. They trotted to just outside the restaurant before Tresemme turned and stopped.
"I can get home by myself." Tresemme said. "But I had fun with you tonight, Firefly. Can I see you again sometime?"
Firefly nodded. "Yeah! Just give me a call and we can work something out."
"Excellent. I look forward to it."
"Yeah, me too."
"Hmm." Tresemme tilted her head and smiled. She leaned forward and gave Firefly a smooch on the cheek before turning and walking down the street.
Rainbow Dash stood there for a few minutes as she attempted to process the surge of emotions inside her from Tresemme kissing on the first date. It was as though somepony had fed her an active firework, the burning fuse traveling down to her stomach with its burning spark.
"YAHOO!" Rainbow Dash yelled, drawing the attention of passing citizens. She descended to the top of a building and laid down on her back.
Rainbow Dash began making a mental checklist. Go on first date with Tresemme? Check. Have the date go off without a hitch? Check. Get a kiss from Tresemme? Check.
Rainbow Dash exhaled into the night air. Her plan had worked and she was going to see Tresemme again. See, Rarity? There was nothing to worry about. Everything had gone fine.
Surely, there was no way stringing Tresemme along and leading a triple life as not just two, but three different ponies could possibly go horribly, horribly wrong.
Right?
Author's Notes for "Arrows of Love!"
So, with that, I'd like to formally welcome you readers to Mind Over Mane-Iac,an AU romance-smut fic involving Rainbow Dash, Zapp, the Power Ponies, and a lot of hair. This story was an idea by Fimfiction User DarknessRising (he has a different name on Fanfiction, but I forgot what it is) which I was willingly to take up after he Favorited my story, Unto This White Poison, (which also involved tentacles).
I did my best to try to make it read like a comic book from the 80's at the beginning, but as the chapter went on, I toned it down because I wasn't sure how to CHEESY DRAMATIC NARRATION in a scene as low-key as the Power Ponies realizing they needed to go the grocery store.
In keeping with the comic theme, I will be calling the chapters "issues" and giving little comic-book style solicit boxes at the start of each chapter. I also used bolding in some cases where I might have used italics, and bolded the first word of the actual chapter.
I also tried to make the scene where Rainbow Dash first meets Tresemme in the store homage the scene in the Powerpuff Girls episode, "Mommy Fearest" where the Professor first meets Ima Goodlady. Who was actually Sedusa. Who, as we know, had something to do with the creation of the Mane-iac, hmm?
Anyways, see you next time! Probably more than two weeks from now, as that's when another My Little Pony annual is due to be released which features the Mane-iac, the Power Ponies, and other villains from the Power Pony universe. I intend to use said other villains in this story.