The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Ch 68 – Just Skating By

“Hehehe...” “Heh, heh...” Ha, ha,” “Shhh now...” Hushed voices snickered together.

Today had been a quiet day just like most any other in Ponyville. The previous scare which brought guards from Canterlot had almost been forgotten, the mail delivery ponies had long since caught back up on track, and the biggest fuss in town now was from Mrs. Cake posting a sign outside that there was a sale going on for cupcakes.

“Quiet, quiet now. Don’t wake her… not yet, hehe...”

Being a nice sunny day out most ponies decided to take a rest day or to do playful activities outdoors. Lyra and Bon Bon were off enjoying a picnic together, Starlight and Maud were having a kite day, and even Cranky Doodle was laid out in a lounge chair on his front lawn soaking up some sun.

Meanwhile bits were exchanged at the local Joke Shop as a series of snickering were shared together. “Oh this is going to be the best!”

While some ponies decided to enjoy the comfortable day by being active or playing kickball out in the grass, a certain other pegasus who took a very different approach to enjoying the day.

“Okay, you got everything? Good. Alright, this is it! Hehe. One, two...”

On this particular afternoon Rainbow Dash found herself with one of those rare moments when she didn’t have anything to do. There were no classes to teach, no Wonderbolts practice, no weather pony duties and no prior commitments to friends. She completely free to do with her time whatever she wanted. So on a day as enjoyable as this Dash had decided to do one of the things that she enjoyed doing the most. And that was to nap.

“FRGHNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!” That was until the ear-splitting roar of an air horn blasted upwards from just feet below the low hanging cloud she was napping on.

“WHHOAAAHH!!!” Dash wailed in fright as she flipped over herself and almost fell to the ground. “What?! What is it?! What’s wrong?!” She shouted not having any idea who she was talking to. But a loud whistle coming from the ground made her look down to see a surprising sight.

Standing below were three young ponies and one adult stallion. “Hey!” Rayne called up to Dash and beckoned her down with a hoof. “You’re sleepin’? Well that’s not very cool. You gonna come show us how it’s done or not?” Rayne said to her in a daring voice.

Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo were all wearing helmets and protective gear. Two of the fillies had skateboards while Scootaloo was holding onto her signature scooter. “Whoa, you guys all going for a ride?” Dash asked as she looked around at all of them.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders just smiled excitedly as Rayne turned to her and said, “Yeah so I just found out that Ponyville has a skate park. It’s small but I looked it over and it still seems like it could be fun. So how bout it?” He asked while pulling on a helmet of his own and popping a skateboard up into his grasp.

Now Dash groaned seeming frustrated. “Awwww man! That would have been awesome! But I left my board and helmet all the way up in Cloudsale!” She whined, complaining more about the effort than the time it would take.

But that was when Rayne smirked and told her, “Nope. I already got your stuff from your place for you and it’s waiting down at the park for us. In fact, I went to the sporting goods shop and picked up a little something up for everypony. Why don’t you go get our friends and we can all make a day of it?”

“Really?!” Dash exclaimed and now the fillies scooted off excitedly after hearing that she was joining them. But before doing anything else Dash turned to Rayne and asked, “Wait a minute... You got my skateboard and helmet from my house? In Cloudsdale? Rayne… Did you break into my place?”

Now the stallion looked up to her as he gave a nervous smile and said, “Uh, yessssss?” He was relieved to see that his girlfriend seemed more surprised than upset but even still he decided to add, “But I promise not to make a habit of it?”

To his surprise though she just looked down the road to make sure that the fillies had gone and then leaned forward to give Rayne a passionate kiss. “Are you kidding me?! I’d rather you do that when I’m ACTUALLY THERE. You know, maybe at night? It could uh, be fun sometime." She said while raising an eyebrow to him suggestively.

With a good chuckle Rayne kicked off down the road after the crusaders as Dash zoomed away. It wasn’t long before the pegasus caught back up with them at the skate park while Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were close in tow. They looked over the area covered in tunnels, rails, and slopes while ponies of all ages were riding around having a great time. “Wow, you know I never actually came over here to check this out before. It actually looks like a lot of fun.” Twilight smiled.

“SKATE PARTY!” Pinkie screamed and bounced ahead.

“Oh well as long as everypony is having a good time then that is all that really matters.” Fluttershy said as she calmly strolled forward.

Just then three young mares raced over right in front of them. “Hiya! You made it! You made it!” They all shouted in unison.

Twilight smiled down to them as she saw Rayne walking over as well. “Hehe, hello girls. I admit that I was a little busy but when Dash zoomed by and told me what was going on I realized that a chance like this doesn’t come along too often. Unfortunately Applejack and Rarity weren’t free to make it but I know Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy would love to skate with you.”

Applebloom looked up and said, “Thank you Twilight. And we don’t mind. We know our older sisters get busy. We’d be happy to skate with y'all.”

That was when Fluttershy lifted a hoof to her mouth and said, “Oh my. I know it is rather silly of me to forget until now but I don’t actually own any skate gear of my own.”

“Well then it’s a good thing you have a pleasure pony to the rescue!” Rayne cheered as as he directed their gaze to a series of skateboards, scooters, and bikes laying on the ground. “Come on everypony, grab whatever suits you. I rented these for the day so help yourself.”

“Awesome! See ya out there!” Dash yelled as she darted forward and donned her helmet and pads in a flash. Then she raced off down a half pipe on her skateboard.

“Wait for us!” The crusaders cheered as they chased after the Wonderbolt.

“Wow Rayne, you did all this?” Twilight asked as she stepped up to the stallion while Pinkie and Fluttershy giggled after finding matching helmets.

“Well yeah. You see, little Applebloom and I have actually been friends for awhile now. She was the one who first introduced me to Zecora when I moved to town.”

“Oh is that so?” Twilight asked as Pinkie Pie rode away on a scooter while Fluttershy hopped onto a bicycle while honking a little horn cutely.

“Yup. So anyways, earlier this morning I ran into her in town. She needed to replace her helmet because the strap on her old one broke. I figured I could pay her back for helping me before by offering to buy a new helmet for her. But once I got a look at everything they had in the shop I got to thinking that a ‘skate day’ might be fun for all of our friends.”

“Well, that was very considerate of you Rayne.” Twilight replied.

“Hey! Are you two skating or talking?!” Dash called out which made Rayne and Twilight both chuckle.

“We’ll be right there!” Twilight called out before reaching down for a helmet to get herself ready.

“Here’s to a good day… with friends.” Rayne said to her with a smile.

Twilight looked to the stallion for a moment. She couldn’t tell what it was but there was something underlying to his tone. Something honest, almost yearning in his statement. “To friends.” She replied back to him.

- -

That was when the five adult ponies and three fillies threw their cares to the wind. Dash showed them all a few tricks and all of the girls were impressed with Rayne’s ability to keep up with the Wonderbolt as they skated together. Additionally a small crowd began to gather as a princess, a Wonderbolt, and the town’s latest celebrity stallion all skating together had become a spectacle to see.

Rayne and Dash looked to each other with a competitive smirk. Coming to a straight half pipe Dash took one side while Rayne took the other and they both shouted in unison, “Half Pipe Grind!”

“WHEEEE!!!” Came a cheerful cry as Fluttershy suddenly appeared from out of nowhere while drifting through the air right over both their heads.

Now the crowd cheered and laughed as Fluttershy stuck her landing perfectly and then turned back to smile at the other two who had crashed into each other while having been distracted by her aerial acrobatics. “Whoa, Flutters! I didn’t know you could ride like that! That was awesome!” Dash exclaimed as she and Rayne rode over excitedly.

Twilight also skated over and before long their little group were all gathered together. “That was a seriously nice jump Fluttershy. You’re normally so timid so it’s great being able to see you do something so wild.” The princess said.

“Heh, oh well. I don’t really think that it’s that big a deal. I suppose… I am a pegasus after all so there isn’t any reason why I should feel uncomfortable in the air. I’m just using the peddles and the ramp instead of my wings." Fluttershy said humbly.

“You having fun?” Rayne asked as everypony looked to him.

“Oh yes! Very much so indeed."

“Then that’s all that really matters Fluttershy.” He smiled and instantly her nerves seemed to calm back to a relaxed state. Once that was settled Rayne now turned towards Dash while whispering, “That and looking awesome of course.” He said gesturing towards the crowds. “Hey come on, let’s get back into it! If they want to spectate then let’s really give them a show!”

Now Twilight gave a sigh feeling defeated as she reached out pleading, “Oh, now, aw, come on you guys, don’t… I mean… ugh...” She gave up as the two raced off together.

“Hey I’m game!” Pinkie shouted while diving hard down a ramp to catch up to them.

“Don’t forget about me!” Fluttershy yelled after them excitedly.

“Heh, heh. Well alright then. Let’s go girls!” The princess said with the crusaders beside her they all cheered while following along.

Rayne now looked back seeing them riding together as a group. He smirked as a fun idea came to him. Darting his eyes through the crowd he saw a few hipsters just hanging out near the end of the park. Skipping his board across a rail to head over in their direction he yelled out, “Hey fellas, you got a beat for us or what? Play or pay losers.” He teased to them before twisting around a loop back to where the others were shooting down a tunnel.

With a laugh the group of young stallions nodded before picking up a stick and banging it on some trashcans to use whatever was available to get a rhythm going for the skaters. “Yeah, we can do this! Hey Strings, you playing?” One of the unicorns in the group nodded before teleporting away and then teleporting back again with a guitar.

“That’s more like it...” Rayne thought to himself before calling out. “Hey Dash! Let’s show ‘em how it’s done!” Then she nodded and did an air pump with her hoof.

https://youtu.be/zJXAqmZDNrQ

“So here I am, doing everything I can.
Holding on to what I am.
Pretending I'm a super-stallion.” Rayne sang out as the wind whipped through his mane just as it did for Rainbow Dash.

“I'm trying to keep, the ground where I can see.
Seems the world is falling down around me!” He watched as Dash rocketed into the air and spinning around as he shot up to match her moves just the same.

“The night's are long, I'm singing this song.
Trying to make the answer's more a maybe.” Now grinding on a rail they gave the Cutie Mark Crusaders a high five as they came grinding down the other way.

“And I'm so confused, about what to do.
Sometimes I want to throw it all away!” Rayne yelled as he sang, almost losing it as he followed Dash in a jump from one ramp into another half pipe.

“So here I am, growing older all the time.” Epic leap.
“Looking older all the time.” Rocketing down a half pipe.
“Feeling younger in my mind.” Soaring into the air up the other side of it.

“So here I am, doing everything I can.
Holding on to what I have.
Pretending I'm a super stallion.” He sang as Pinkie and Twilight soared passed them now doing loops around through a tunnel. Dash and Rayne just laughed and cheered them on.

But then the stallion broke off from the Wonderbolt. He stalled on the nose of his board against a rail to catch his breath. Even with all of Rainbow Dash’s essence Rayne felt like his heart was in his throat every time he followed her across a jump. He played it cool as he fought to shake off the dizziness. But he knew that he didn’t really know the first thing about skateboarding and had been secretly replying on Dash’s essence this entire time.

“Hey, you okay?!” His girlfriend asked as she rode up to him with a screeching halt. But not wanting to let her down Rayne nodded and finally kicked off from the rail.

“I'm trying to sleep,
I lost count of sheep,
My mind is racing faster every minute.” Now Dash, Rayne and Fluttershy all cheered out while they shot up a ramp together.

“What could I do more,
Yeah, I'm really not sure.
I don't want to run in circles but I can't quit.” Once the stallion was back skating beside Dash again he nodded them toward the larger half pipe that he wanted to try something.

“And I'm so confused!
I've got a lot to do!
Sometimes I want to throw it all away!
Controlling everything inside.
Feeling weak I don't feel right.
Telling me I have to change.
Telling me to act my age.
But if all that I can do.
Is to sit and watch time go.
Then I'll have to say goodbye.
And I'll be sure to watch time fly, to watch it fly-hy-hy!”

Then as they launched into the air Dash looked to Rayne frightfully as he grabbed her hooves and twisted them around into the air together. “AAHHHH! WHAT ARE YOU-” But then just before they came down Rayne magicked their boards back under their hooves and they both managed to stick their landing enough to not crash. “Whoo-Hoooo!!!”

“So here I am, growing older all the time.
Looking older all the time.
Feeling younger in my mind.

Here I am, doing everything I can.
Holding on to what I am.
Pretending I'm a super stallion.”

With that they both rode themselves out of the half pipe to where their group of friends were standing with their mouths open. Dash kicked up her board into her hoof while Rayne opted to lean against a side rail that was nearby.

“Whooooa! That was wonderific!” Pinkie cheered.

“Oh my, it looked SO dangerous! I’m glad that the two of you were able to land safely.” Fluttershy said softly to them.

“DO IT TO US! DO IT TO US!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders called out excitedly toward Rayne. That of course replaced the smile on the adults with looks of concern but Rayne just waived to the others as he leaned down toward the younger girls.

“I’m sorry little Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo but I don’t think I can. You see it isn’t like I planned that or anything and to be honest, it was a little scary.” He said in a mock whisper just to be playful. “In fact I should probably apologize to Rainbow Dash because doing that was rather reckless and I’m sure we both just got lucky on that landing.”

“Heh.” Dash chuckled and suddenly punched Rayne rather hard in the arm. “You’re forgiven.”

“Uh, thanks...” He sighed as he rubbed his arm where she hit him but then smirked back before stealing a polite kiss to her cheek which made her blush. Turning back to the younger girls now he told them. “Hey so I know that we’re all having a good time but let’s not overdo it. I rented the supplies for all day so we can always come back. But why don’t we stop for now and go get something to eat?”

“Awwwwwww!” They all cried out.

Rayne didn’t miss a beat as he turned away and slyly called out over his shoulder, “Oh well alriiiight. I guess someponies don’t want to have any vegeburgers and shaaaakes?” He called out playfully.

Now their eyes lit up. “Wait, you’ll get us lunch AND shakes?” Scootaloo asked and then they all rushed back to the entryway to the skate park to begin removing their gear.

“Alright mister nice guy. Cut it out, I’m impressed already.” Rainbow Dash said to him with a wry smile.

“Whaaaat?!” He chuckled innocently.

“Uh huh. Sure.” She told him while not believing him for a second. “I know you said that you just wanted to be able to take the girls out for a nice day… which you’ve done. But there’s no way that I didn’t notice that this was actually you taking me out on a skate park date. Inviting our friends was a nice touch though.”

“Heh, can’t it be both?” Rayne snickered as he magicked his mane up off of his neck trying to cool off a bit.

Now the Wonderbolt looked back to the others and said, “Um girls? I’m sorry but could you give Rayne and I a minute? I just-” But then Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy turned their backs as they began to whistle innocently while conveniently blocking the fillies view should they happen to look back over. Not missing her cue Rayne had to grab the rail for support as Dash threw her lips onto his. She kissed him fiercely while running her hooves around his back.

“Oh… Oh, my...” Fluttershy blushed as she listened to the passionate lip smacking coming from behind them. Pinkie Pie looked the yellow pegasus in surprise as she had to, not once but twice, nudge her to stop peeking back at them. "Oh dear..." Eventually Twilight had to shush her and tried to hold Fluttershy’s wings down which had begun to stand on end.

After not too long the lovers separated and Dash stepped back around in front of their friends with a bashful smile. “Heh, sorry. Thanks you guys.” Dash said.

Twilight stepped forward and used her magic to try smoothing Dash's mane out to look more presentable before saying, “Don’t worry about it. I don’t think any of us minded.” Pinkie and Fluttershy shook their heads. Now those other two walked off to join the fillies that were waiting for them but Twilight stayed behind. “Dash, do you mind at all if I have a word with your boyfriend here?”

“Nah, it’s cool. We’ll go ahead to the diner and you two can catch up with us in a minute. Just don’t take too long.” The pegasus replied before flapping her wings to float over to the others.

Now Rayne just tilted his head to the side and smiled. “So, what can I do for you princ-”

“Why are you lying to Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked bluntly which almost made Rayne slip off of the rail that he was still leaning on.
“W-whmm, ahem… Ex-excuse me?” He choked out.

Now she looked to him with a serious expression but her face appeared more worried than it was angry. “I was watching you Rayne. I noticed earlier that something seemed off about you. You told Dash that you were okay when you stopped skating. But you aren’t okay, are you?” She questioned. “What is it? Are you sick? Did you get hurt?”

“Oh, well... Twilight I appreciate your concern but really I’m-”

“Fine. Then step away from that rail.” She said to him flatly.

Again Rayne stammered nervously and was surprised that the alicorn was not letting this go. “Wh-what do you mean?”

Pointing with a hoof she shouted out, “You’ve been leaning against that rail since we all stopped skating and you haven’t let go of it once since then. If you’re really fine then step away from the rail and let me see you balance on your own hooves!”

Now Rayne looked caught as his eyes shifted from the metal rail to back at the princess. “Um… no?” He weakly tried but Twilight just crossed her hooves. “Okay, okay fine. I’m sorry, yes I lied. Look... this whole day was my idea and I just didn’t want to ruin the fun for everypony. But the truth is… uggh… I’m… I’m afraid of heights.” He grumbled out.

“WHAT?!” But to his horror there were two mares who responded instead of just one. The others were looking up at Dash as she was staring at Rayne with an expression of pained disbelief.

“Pinkie, please take the others to the diner. Rayne and I… are going to be late!” Dash growled out as her two friends and the three fillies looked nervous now as they all walked off together. That was when Rainbow Dash stomped back over to where the anxious stallion stood watching. Thinking quickly about this potentially causing a scene in public Twilight used her magic to teleport the three of them out into the grassy fields. But even so Dash didn’t seem phased by it at all as she marched right up to the stallion who now fell over in front of her without the rail to lean upon. “EXPLAIN THIS TO ME!” She shrieked sounding surprisingly emotional for her.

“Dash… I.” But Rayne was at a loss for words being surprised to hear her sound so upset.

“Tell me the truth! Is what I just heard come out of your mouth real?!” Now Twilight twitched nervously being afraid that she had just created a problem instead of helping a friend as she meant to do.

Rayne sighed remembering that Dash was a master of seeing and hearing things from a distance all the time. After taking a breath he calmed himself down and nodded. “It’s true Dash. I’m afraid of heights. I’m terrified of them even.”

“Wha… WHAT?!” Now the light blue pegasus almost fell over as her back hooves went weak in disbelief.

Twilight spoke next but did so softly as she asked, “Then how were you able to do all those leaps in the skate park? Or how were you doing all of those tricks in the air? I’ve never seen anypony except for Rainbow Dash skate that well.”

“Well… It was a lot of just ‘going for it’ and ‘hoping for the best’
really. But my heart was in my throat the whole time and I thought my stomach was going to sink through my hooves every time I made a jump.” Rayne chuckled as he tried to lighten the mood. But then his ears fell as both he and Twilight jumped nervously when Rainbow Dash screamed out.

“FORGET ABOUT THE SKATE PARK!” She shrieked out. “Rayne… have you always been this way? Were you always afraid of heights? What about before? What about our date? We when… when you went up with me… and we ended up in Cloudsdale together?” She said carefully while glancing an eye toward Twilight. “Were you afraid then too?”

Now Rayne understood why she was so upset. “...I was Dashie. I was actually pretty terrified the whole time.”

“WHY?!!!” She yelled at him now and by this point all three of their joy spirits from the day were gone. Tears were forming in her eyes now and she didn't even care if anypony saw that at this point. “And don’t you dare say because you didn’t want to ruin our date! There were a MILLION other things that we could have done! So why that?! Why did you take me on a date that involved you going up into the air?!”

Now Rayne looked up solemnly. The answer had been so simple to him at the time. He didn’t even question it. But now that he had to explain himself he couldn’t think of a single good thing to say. “Because you were worth it to me. Because it was perfect. I wanted to give you the perfect day to show you what I thought you deserved. I was afraid… but I wasn’t even thinking about myself at the time. All I was focused on was your smile, Dash. And that you were enjoying yourself.”

“But I don’t want that!” She screamed again as her voice cracked and it killed Rayne inside to see that she was crying now. “Do you have ANY idea how that makes me feel knowing you were ‘terrified’ while up there but that you went up there anyways for me?! I feel horrible that you put yourself through that on my behalf!”

“I… I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry...” Rayne lowered his head.

“So even a pleasure pony can be speechless sometimes...” Twilight silently thought to herself as Rayne suddenly became much more real in her eyes and she sympathized with him now.

Dash leaned forward and grabbed ahold of his face to make him look up at her. “Hey, listen to me! You are my boyfriend! Do you have any idea how hard a thing that is for a stallion to manage? I chose you. And I care about you! So when we go out on a date I want it to be perfect for the BOTH of us! If we aren’t both having a good time… and a SAFE time… then it isn’t perfect for me at all. And Rayne, if you didn’t already know that I am this loyal to the ponies I care about then you’ve still got a lot about me that you need to learn.”

“No Dash… you’re right. I did know that about you. It was me who wasn’t being loyal to myself. That isn’t your fault.” Rayne told her but he still had to watch as she turned away from him.

“I’m sorry Twilight...” Dash said as she hid her face to not show either of them anymore how her tears were staining her cheeks. “I won’t be able to meet you guys at the diner for lunch. Please give Scoots my apology.”

“Oh Dash...” Twilight began but the pegasus just shook her head.

Continuing on she spoke over her shoulder saying, “Rayne… Don’t over react, I’m just pissed at you right now. But that’s all. I just need some space. And then I’ll be fine-” But she hardly finished her sentence before shooting back up into the air.

There was a silence that was left behind as the wind flowed softly across the grassy field. “Rayne...” Twilight whispered in a breathless expression. “I am so sorry. I only wanted to see if you were okay! I never… I never meant for all this to-”

“It’s okay Twilight. Thank you for caring enough to check on me. I really appreciated.” He said to her with a soft smile. Then he had to clear his throat and wipe his nose before standing up and saying, “We should get back. Could you lend me a hoof?” She nodded and leaned a wing around him before teleporting the two of them back to town together.

Author's Notes:

So what is the moral of the story children? DON'T LIE TO YOUR GIRLFRIENDS! Even if you have good intentions for doing so.

So this chapter begins with a bit of innocent tomfoolery. Rayne explains mid chapter how he and the fillies met up. But then they bought an air horn to surprise Dash awake with. No harm done. And yes after Rayne explained that he already teleported up to retrieve her skateboard and helmet for her, Dash did totally invite him to break into her place to take advantage of her sometime.

The song in this chapter was "Superman" by Goldfinger. And while they were skating Rayne was using Dash's moves and only Dash's moves. In real life I can't even stand on a skateboard let alone ride one. But with two damaged ankles it's not surprising that this isn't a talent I'd know anything about. I did enjoy playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater when I was a kid though Haha.

Now at the end here we have a rather big revelation. This is the beginning of a series of events that are going to follow through for the next several chapters. Some are good, some are bad. But get ready for some drama to really pick back up in my story again.

**P.S. On a personal note, my wife is due to have our baby later this evening! Yay! Now because of this I'll be off from work for awhile and I don't know if this will leave me with more time or less time to write. For now I plan to keep to my current posting schedule of Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays but if I miss a day or if things slow down I don't want you to worry. I will not be abandoning this story. I have too much planned for it that I'm looking forward to writing about, haha.