Rainbow Dash pushed a lock of her mane to one side, watching it slide back into position. She licked a hoof and pushed it back once again, smiling as it stuck. Her fashion had always been one of simplicity, though most of that was likely based on the fact that she hated the idea of makeup. It was a stupid concept anyway.

Besides, she saw how Mac looked at her, why change a thing?

She looked at a clock on the wall of her bathroom, realizing with a slight twinge of nervousness that she only had a few minutes left. There was always the idea of flying faster to save time, but she didn't want to end up sweaty. Not when they were going to a restaurant, anyway. She wouldn't mind if it was just her, but it would probably make Big Mac look bad if she showed up a ruffled, sweaty mess.

This was the second date with the guy, but she still felt like the first one had been pointless. She was fairly sure he was interested in her, but at the same time, he didn't seem to be. The whole experience had been weird.

Dash washed off a little bit of food that had stuck to her cheek, turning it towards the mirror to check that it was gone.

Maybe the strangest bit of the whole thing had been Applejack's attempts to dissuade her. Dash had had an eye on Mac for a while, on account of the fact that he was a complete hunk, to quote Rarity. She'd watched him buck apples before and maintain the endurance to continue long after Applejack had called it a day.

She didn't feel the same as the other mares, though. They just looked at what they saw and swooned. Dash, she liked to think, saw a little bit more. His endurance, his refusal to quit. He was the only pony more stubborn than Applejack, and that came from the farm mare's own mouth. And he was one of the few stallions that would enjoy her strength and constant hard work, or so she figured. He'd accepted her enough to get to that first date, and that was a lot farther than most mares had gotten.

Actually, now that she thought of it, she wasn't sure if any had made it as far as she had. Maybe he was just viewed as something impossible to attain. Some of that made sense, with Mac's indifference and Applejack in the way.

When she'd asked his sister if she was okay with the idea, she'd figured that she'd hear some kind of 'don't hurt him' remark, if anything, but that was absent. Applejack had used a rather cunning system of half lies and implications against Dash's notion, though the blue mare had still followed through with it.

Applejack's reaction hadn't been distinctly negative, and that gave Dash some hope. She knew Mac was shy, along with pretty much every other argument Applejack had. she didn't jump into relationships; she could muster the patience to wait. It was one of the few things she was patient towards.

Something clicked in her head, and she wondered if Applejack had been implying that she wait for Big Mac to make his own choice. He might not have liked getting asked out, especially when he was obliged to say yes. He was too nice to turn her down, though the silent hesitation hadn't done much for her self-esteem. Eh, she had enough of that anyway.

Dash hopped onto her windowsill, letting herself simply fall from the window. Her wings spread, and as they started to level her out her thoughts continued.

Mac never seemed disinterested in her, really. He never looked elsewhere, kept eye contact and so on. He listened, but he never tried to push things forwards. Dash swiped a hoof down her face, groaning into the crisp air. He definitely was an enigma.

Her flying practice had been off yesterday, and she had attributed the problem to thinking about him. She'd long since stopped trying to sort out her feelings, and instead attempted to figure out how to figure out Mac himself. Her progress there was just as low. Too many variables, not enough information. Great, now she sounded like Twilight.

The pegasus landed lightly, trotting along the road in thought. Her mind processed another few words before she crashed into a mare and was forced to focus on the real world.

"Sorry." The blue pony said, picking up the other mare and dusting her off. "My mind's somewhere else."

"No problem." She replied, and Dash let out a little sigh of relief. "I'm in the same situation anyway."

Dash nodded and bid a short goodbye, trotting the final few seconds to the restaurant. Mac was there, watching her with his usual stoic face. Part of his mouth had turned upwards, probably because of how she had crashed into the mare a moment ago. He was on time as always, and that made her feel a little guilty.

"You been waiting long?" She asked, staying a couple feet from his face so that she didn't have to crane her neck too much.

"Bout five minutes." He replied, in his usual southern drawl. Short, as usual. "Nuthin' too bad."

"Sorry about that." Dash replied, blushing slightly. "I didn't mean to be late."

"Ah was four minutes early anyway, so there ain't nuthin' ta be ashamed uh. Waitin' isn't a big deal."

She bit her lip, having run out of things to say. Mac took it in stride, turning to a mare behind a small podium. "Macintosh, reservation fer two?" He asked, watching her find his name on the list and cross it off.

"Right this way, you two." She said, leading them down a walkway and inside the building. They turned and walked down an isle, before she set down the menus. "Here we are," she said simply. Dash thought she saw a bit of jealousy in the mare's eyes, but ignored it. So far, there wasn't too much on the Mac Train to be jealous of.

Mac pulled out her chair, waiting for her to sit down before he did himself. Dash nodded, murmuring her thanks. "So how was your day?" She asked, mentally berating herself for the crappy question. Like she couldn't infer anyway.

"Good, Ah suppose." Mac said. "Ah did more than ah expected ta do today. You?"

"Just some weather duty." She replied. "I got in some flying practice."

A silence stretched on, and Rainbow wondered if she could just disappear from existence. "Must be fun ta fly." Mac said, nodding. "If'n ya aren't afraid uh heights."

"Are you?" Dash asked.

"Just a little." Mac replied, losing his eye contact. "Ah prefer ta keep mah hooves on the ground, if'n ya know what ah mean."

She paused. That was a start, at least. "Would you believe me if I told you that I used to be afraid of heights?" Dash asked, and Mac shook his head.

"Ah'd probably say ya were full uh it."

"Well I was, which is kinda ironic, right? A pegasus that didn't like heights?"

"Ya look like yer flying' pretty well now." He said. Now it was her turn to nod. "How'd ya get past that?"

"My dad pushed me off a cloud and fell with me." Dash chuckled. "Once I swooped out of that one, it wasn't so bad. Dad was a real trial by fire kind of guy."

"Tough love, I guess." Mac said with a grin.

A waiter set down a plate of bread, looking at the two ponies. "Would you care for anything to drink?" She asked.

"Just water is fine." The two said in unison, sharing a glance and a chuckle.

"Need a few more minutes for food?" The waiter inquired, looking at the duo's closed menus. Dash blushed a little and nodded.

"You ever been here before, Dash?" Mac asked, propping open his own menu.

"Not before today." She replied, flipping a page.

"Mah cousin used to work here when we were colts. He's doin' some sort of cook work up in Canterlot now, ah think." Mac set down his menu, having apparently selected his entree.

"You ever think about what you would do if you weren't apple farming?" The pegasus queried, watching his brow furrow.

"Ah have, and ah'm sure there's a lot ah'd be able to do outside uh apple buckin'…" He trailed off, scratching at his chin. "So ah guess this is what ah'd like ta do, 'cept with a little more time to travel. Ah ain't got a long bucket list, but that don't mean I ain't got plans to check off every one of those boxes."

"What stuff do you have on there, besides traveling?" Dash inquired, relinquishing her menu to rest her chin on a hoof. He was a little more talkative than she had expected in the beginning, but he was far from a conversation starter. Sometimes the stallion seemed almost content with silence, even though she was sure he had a lot to talk about.

"Well, ah'd like ta get a new cider up an' runnin' eventually, maybe even better than the last one. Soon as Applebloom can put in a few hours to help, ah should be able ta entertain a few hobbies."

"Don't you already?" Dash paused. "Have hobbies, I mean?"

He blinked. "Sometimes ah take a day off. Weekends ah sleep in and do the easy chores like fixin' the house and feedin' the animals. Ah'm mighty good with a hammer, in mah own view."

He could probably slap a nail into a board in one shot, Dash thought with a little grin. At some point, he'd make great competition for training if he had the time. She was surprised how busy Mac was, and how little he seemed to care about the fact that he worked himself ragged. Maybe all the activity with the elements and things Applejack got pulled into had stuff to do with that. But of all the ponies to take on such a feat of harvesting an apple orchard alone, Mac just seemed fitting, somehow.

"Sometimes ah whittle." He said, still thinking. "Oh!" He exclaimed, and Dash jumped out of her thoughts. "When it's not cloudy or too cold, ah take a sleepin' bag onto a hill near the orchard and watch the stars. Ah've taken to learnin' the constellations as well." He grinned, sitting back in his seat. "And that's mah hobby."

Dash opened her mouth, then closed it again. "I can't say I have much on the level of that."

"Hows about those flips and stuff you do all the time?" He asked. "Ya know, over the acres?"

"You watch me?" She inquired, and he seemed to shrink back a little in his seat.

"Ah guess…"

"I'm not mad!" Dash affirmed, waving a dismissive hoof. "Just- didn't think I had an audience."

"Ah can stop if you-"

"No it's fine, Mac!" It was kinda cute, in a way. "Do you think I'm any good?" As soon as she asked the question she felt just a little more nervous. If he had really seen her fly a number of times, a bad opinion would be telling. She knew he wouldn't say it that way, but at the same time she doubted the ability of an Apple to effectively lie.

"It's more interestin' than the wonderbolts." He said with a sigh. "They were a waste of money, 'specially when ah don't need to leave home to get a free show."

Dash guffawed, throwing a light punch into his shoulder across the small table. Mac grinned back, rubbing at the point of contact. They both broke into laughter, which ended as the waiter walked back up.

"Have you decided what you'll be having?" The mare asked, and both nodded. She looked at Mac.

"Ah'll take the soup of the day with extra avocado, that little shrimp appetizer, the house salad, and the Straw Hat." He said, handing the waiter his menu.

"And for the lady?" She asked.

"I… guess I'll just have what he's having." Dash said, pensively. "Think I'll explode, Mac?" She asked as the waiter left.

He shrugged. "It's not the most ah've ever eaten."

Like that was a measurement she could understand. "I mean like-"

"Yeah, ah know." He chuckled. "Mare like you, ah doubt it. Flyin' can't possibly be as leisurely as it looks."

"I think it's funny that you'd want to fly." Dash began with a grin. "I mean, you seem so at home when you're bucking apples. Honestly, I think it would be hilarious to look at if you had wings."

Mac snorted, leaning back in his chair with a smirk. The wood creaked under his weight. "How's it you think ah look at home buckin' apples? You watchin' me back?" He asked, and Dash couldn't completely hide her blush.

She tapped her hooves together under the table. "Maybe just a bit, but you can't really blame me."

"Is that so?" He asked, a sarcastic sense of humor she'd never encountered before revealing itself. It was more like a whole new Mac than just a bit of new humor, actually.

"Body like yours, it'd be surprising if I didn't get distracted sometimes." Dash responded, holding their gaze for a few seconds. They both broke out into another round of laughter, and she managed to hold back a blush.

"Oh man…" Mac trailed off, calming down. "Yer funnier than I remember, Rainbow Dash. Ah'm supposed to be the one given' you compliments, not the other way 'round, ya know."

"A guess I'm just that kind of mare." She said, grinning as the waiter delivered their appetizers.

"And how would you describe such a type of mare?" He asked back.

"I think the word awesome would suffice." She replied, leaning backwards and crossing her arms. Dash fought the urge to rest her rear hooves on the table.

"Maybe modest as well, ah think." Mac added, and she giggled.

Dinner passed by quickly, as the duo continued to laugh and make merry.

Dash scraped the last bit of food from her plate, staring at it for a moment before she put her fork into her mouth. "Oh man, I'm so full…" She moaned, and Mac chuckled to himself.

"Told ya not to eat the whole salad." He said, his eyes sparkling. The stallion counted out a pile of bits and pushed them onto the bill.

"I told you that I'd-"

"Ah, it ain't no bother." He replied. "Ah don't get out much anyway, and ah'm sure as hey not gonna let ya pay yer own way. I can spare the bits."

"Thanks." Dash said, though she didn't particularly like the feeling of getting paid for. "You enjoy the food?" She asked, trying to get her thoughts off of her uncomfortable gut.

"It was about what ah was expectin'. You?"

"I liked it enough to hurt myself, so yeah." Another chuckle from the guy. "You ready to go?"

"Ah think ah could stand to move." He replied, pulling himself up and out of his chair. Dash followed suit, feeling at least a few pounds heavier than normal.

"Ah…" She mumbled, putting a hoof to her tummy. "Isn't there a saying? You know, friends don't let friends eat too much?"

He grinned. "Ya took the challenge on. Technically, ya succeeded."

"I don't feel like I won." Dash replied, covering her mouth as she burped. She followed Mac out of the restaurant and into the cool nighttime air. His attention immediately turned to the cloudless sky, and the masses of stars above. She nudged against him, notifying him that she'd caught up, but he seemed to jerk away. "Something wrong?" She inquired, and he broke eye contact to shake his head.

"Didn't know that was you." He replied, but she could tell something was off. That meant a lot, since she couldn't read ponies very well at all.

"We should do this again sometime." She said, and he nodded, smiling at her. All of a sudden, he seemed to have retreated back into his normal habits and personality, and she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why.

"Ah'd like that." He replied, and they continued down the street. She stopped a few steps later as they arrived at the entrance to the Apple Acres, and Mac stopped with some hesitation as well. He stood still for a few moments, staring into her eyes. She couldn't tell what emotion it was that she saw, but with a sigh he turned and started walking towards his house.

Dash didn't move for a good minute, but only turned to watch the stallion retreat into the distance. His head was a little bowed, and he hardly resembled the lively stallion from a few minutes ago. She squinted an eye in confusion, tilting a furry eyebrow.

She sighed, shook her head, and took off. Part of her felt disappointed. Dash had figured she'd get a kiss at least, after all that. He seemed to like her enough, and that date had been so much better than the last. But he hadn't, and it didn't look entirely like he was shy. It almost looked like he had decided against the idea of pushing things further.

Dash let out a groan. She was supposed to understand stallions. That was the thing she had over most mares, besides the striking good looks and athletic frame, of course. But she didn't get Mac at all. He acted so strangely, and every time she had him pinned to act one way, he would try something different.

Maybe he was a colt cuddler? No. He wouldn't have accepted her date. Or would he? Did that make sense? Was she a test to figure out if he was attracted to mares, and it had turned out that he wasn't? It could be the shyness, though, but that sounded somewhat farfetched.

Either way, she felt like shit. Dash laughed, a bitter noise. He hadn't rejected her, and he'd basically asked for another date. But that- she felt like she was caught. Mac was something different. Each moment that went by, she noticed his body less. He was so much more interesting and deep than she could've expected, and if she could get another date, she would. Mac was a challenging stallion, so she'd just have to up the ante.

That wasn't to say that she was impatient, really. Outside of a few guys, most of her relationships had been quick. Whenever she wanted a fun night, it wasn't hard for her to attract stallions. She didn't feel proud of herself in the morning, but hey, she got lonely sometimes. Tank wasn't very good companionship, as it turned out.

Dash landed in front of her house, nearly bumping into her front door in thought. Her stomach had an annoying cramp going on, and it was making her thoughts harder to collect. Too much food was an understatement.

She didn't go upstairs to her bed, and instead laid down on her couch. Mac was a riddle she could solve, if she put her mind to it. Some part of this whole thing was annoying, because she didn't like being the one that fell for anypony. It wasn't love at first sight; she hardly knew the guy. So why was he all she could think about?

She could just add that to the list of unanswerables, she supposed. Dash patted her belly, and it gargled back at her. Suddenly, her eyes felt heavy. She couldn't sleep now though, not before she had some plan of action. Come to think of it, she had weather duty tomorrow, and a lot of it.

Dash swore under her breath. Persistence was out of the question as a tactic, although she figured Mac wouldn't like that anyway. So she had a day to try to plan out a night that would move things forwards. A kiss was a win. But what was it that Rarity said? Sex on the third date? That better not happen, especially if this relationship was supposed to last for any amount of time. Maybe she was just being sentimental, but Dash liked to think that when she found the right stallion, things would be different. She wouldn't mind a bit of feeling in her relationships again.

Of course, if Mac was the expert at playing hard to get, she had a lot to learn. Man, if he was putting her all through this and laughing, he was going to have a nice hoof print on his cheek in a few days.

Dash fell asleep a few minutes later, with visions of a grand third date flying through her head.

Author's Notes:

Someone wanted to know if I could write somewhat edgy clop with a story and realistic emotions. Well, I kinda wanted to see if I could, even if I don't like some of the subject matter. I'll probably gain some sort of skill in the process, which is good I guess. This story isn't built around that, and the characters act like… characters, so I suppose that in a way, I'm doing pretty well already.

At the earliest, clop will come around chapter three or four. People tell me that I'm good at clop, but I dunno. Feel free to leave a comment telling me how stuff is going so far, because I'd love to know.