Chapter 3; Going it alone...

GOOD KARMA ABILITY UNLOCKED!
HAND TO HOOF COMBAT; Hand to Hoof Combat allows Spanosa a better advantage in a fight. He is able to dodge and attack more effectively, using non-lethal methods.

GOOD KARMA RANK UP!
RANK IS NOW; SAINT

DISARM AND DESTROY; When Spanosa disarms an opponent, he can now render the weapon useless. This is a useful technique to prevent an enemy from grabbing dropped items.

"Stay here and stay quite. I don't want your blood on my hands." I peeked out from under the booth, crouch-walking out from beneath it.

I slowly made my way around the back counter, keeping low. I checked the mare who was at the cash register, and sighed quietly upon finding her still breathing. I looked around under the counter, finding a small red button labeled, quite helpfully, "PANIC". I pressed it, hoping that the thief was alone and hadn't thought to cut the phone lines to this place.

Keeping low, I peeked around the corner. Lucky for me, the stallion was busy holding the bag of loot in his mouth. I snuck up behind him, tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but did your mother never teach you that stealing is bad?" He turned around, preparing to either retort or hit me upside the head, I would never know.

I grabbed his head, smashing it into a nearby wall.

"Nighty-night..." I said, grinning, before looking up to see more thieves approaching, various blunt or sharp objects floating around them.

"Well... that's a bit more than one guy..." I shrugged. "I don't suppose you guys and gals would be so kind as to drop your weapons and lay down?"

A red unicorn stallion galloped towards me, a heavy lead pipe held above his head.

"Hard way it is then." I stepped out of the way as he took a swing at me, the pipe howling through the air. I stepped back in and grabbed his hoof, giving it a quick, but hard, twist. The bone within gave a snap and he fell to the ground, screaming. The magic floating the pipe fell, disappearing through the clouds that made up the diner floor.

"Anyone want to give up yet?" I asked.

Turns out that some thieves just don't know when to quiet.

"Thank you so much, sir. If you hadn't stepped in there..." The owner was still shaking slightly as he shook my hand.

"No problem, and please, I'm a foot courier, call me Spanosa." I replied, smiling.

"I've taken the liberty of negating your chequ , it's the least I can do." The manager smiled as he walked over to the police Pegasi to give his statement. I turned back to Dash.

"You OK?" I asked, smiling.

She blushed and chuckled a little, "Yeah, you were the one doing all the fighting dude! I should be the one asking you!"

I shook my head. "I'm fine Dash. If you were hurt... I don't know what I would do." I felt a light blush coloring my own face. "Anyway, I've gotta get back to my place, and it isn't getting any brighter outside. I'd rather not become a pancake on the ground because I missed my jump."

Dash gasped and grabbed my hand with her hoof. "Come with me! We can use one of the clouds, it'll be easy!" She grinned.

"Well, if your sure it's OK..." I said, blushing more at the feel of Dash's soft hoof in my hand.

"Of course it's OK! I'm the bearer of the element of loyalty, I can't just let my friend go home in the dark like this!"

For the second time today, I found myself sitting on a cloud. I marveled at it, the thing was made up of water droplets but it was holding my weight like it was made of brick. Looking up, I could see through the cloud cover, and I smiled at the sight of the full moon and the stars that surrounded it.

"Beautiful..." I murmured, tracing the lines of the constellations with my eyes. I felt Rainbow shift around beside me and I turned my head to look at her.

I found Dash staring at me, eyes half-lidded and a small, happy smile on her muzzle, leaning towards me slowly. I blinked, once, twice, thrice, my brain struggling to process and analyze what was occurring.

Without a word, Dash placed her lips on mine, and my higher brain processes ceased to function. For a moment, I tried to think of why I should pull away, the next, I was attempting to remember what I had been thinking.

Dash pulled away first, turning her head away slightly and tapping the tips of her hooves together nervously. "Um... Uh... S-sorry..." She stuttered, blushing deeply.

I blinked, my mind slowly processing what had happened. Rainbow Dash, the mare I had only known for a day... had kissed me. I repeated the thought in my head a few times, trying to wrap my brain around the statement.

"It's... OK, Dash." I replied, picking my words carefully. "I have to ask though... why?"

Dash turned to me with a look of confusion, which quickly morphed into a look of disbelief. "Why not? You stayed and helped me when I got hurt, you took on all those ponies at the bar..."

I held up a hand. "Not what I meant exactly... What I meant to ask was, what did that mean? Was it a one time thing or something?"

Dash shook her head violently. "No! I... I like you Span... I really like you..."

We sat on the cloud quietly for the rest of the trip, trying to think of what we would say to each other when we reached my home.

The trip home took slightly longer than originally anticipated, the... incident... sending us off track.

I unlocked the door to my apartment with my keys and a firm shove of my shoulder. A few years back I had been holding a important package for a client, and my door had been blown off it's hinges.

I flicked on the lights and grabbed a bottle of water.

"You want one?" I asked Dash.

"Water is fine, thanks." She replied, looking around my place. When we had come earlier she had waited outside. "Nice apartment." She spoke up, attempting to make light conversation.

I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. When someone starts completing your interior decoration skills, you know they're grasping for straws. "Thanks."

I turned, tossing a bottle of water over to Dash. I stared at her as she opened the bottle and downed most of it in one gulp. I let out a breath through my nostrils. Dash looked at me.

"What?" She asked, annoyance in her tone.

"Nothing, I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that someone like you could... want to be around me." I rubbed the bridge of my nose again. I really wanted a smoke right now.

"Your just so... awesome!" Dash said, blushing. "Your nice, athletic, kinda... cute..." She lowered her head and blushed a deeper shade of red.

I stared, trying to sort through my emotions, something I hadn't had to do since... ugh, why do I have to keep reminding myself of that...

"Look Dash. Your a great girl... and, I'm open to trying this... but, in my line of work? I've met some shady characters, quite a few of which have vowed to hunt me down and kill me." Her eyes grew wide. "What? Did you think I learned how to fight like that just for the kicks?" I paused.

"I'm sorry, that was a terrible and unintentional pun. The point is, if you and I are going to be an item as it were, your going to have to accept the dangers that are package and parcel." I paused again.

"I'm on a roll with bad puns tonight." I shook my head.

"Either way Dash, you need to consider this. What do you value more, your life? Or dating some street courier you hardly know." I looked her straight in the eye.

Dash stared at me from a moment, then laughed. She shook her head and came closer, planting her lips on mine again for a few short seconds. A mischievous smirk grew on her features and she laughed.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, I'm not afraid of any two bit thugs." She rubbed against me, "Specially not when I have my boyfriend to protect me..."

I stared at her for a full minute, flipping over her statement in my mind, attempting to sort out my thougts. "So... does that mean... we're... dating?"

"Basically, yeah." Dash replied.

I laughed, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. "What have I gotten myself into?" I asked, pulling her close.

I was lucky, that much was for certain. I had a beautiful mare for a girlfriend, someone I could trust, a rare commodity in my business.

And it was all thanks to one special package.

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END -

Author's Note; So yeah, I didn't really like how I ended the previous iteration of this chapter, so I re-wrote it. This is the end for now, but perhaps one day I will do a sequel. I've got another fic just about finished, I just need to add the ending. It's not pony related, sorry, but I need to branch out sometimes people! Until then, Zero out! BOOP!