The arrival of Ford Mustang

Chapter 21 - Double Date

"Oh, you're gonna love it!" she squeals in excitement.  "This fair has some really awesome food here and some of the craziest rides to go on!"

"Well, since I've never been to this fair before, maybe you can give me a tour around here."

"Only if you won't chicken out on some of the rides I wanna go on!" She smirks as she playfully nudges at me.

"I-DE-A!!" Rarity surprises us in her familiar sing-song voice.  "We should all go on a double date together!"

Rainbow and I stare speechlessly at the gleeful Rarity for a few seconds before we both shout out simultaneously, "WHAAAAAT?!"

"Why, Ah reckon that sounds like a mighty fine idea, Rarity!" Applejack chimes in with an approving grin.  "What do ya say, you two?  Y'all wanna join up with us?"

Me?  Go on a date... with Rainbow Dash?  This will be a dream come true!  Though... I wonder if she wants to go along with this notion.

"Well... I mean... if Rainbow is up to it at least--" I say very meekly to the group.

"Of course I am!  I'm up for anything!" Rainbow Dash states that with a bit of her usual boastfulness.
I blink speechlessly before saying to Rainbow in surprise, "...Wait, really?!"

"Sure!  It'll be fun!  Unless of course, you don't think I'm good enough to be your date that is!" she teases me with a playful smirk.

In a flustered state of panic, I quickly respond, "No no, of course not!  I think you're perfect!"

It starts to become very quiet all of a sudden.  Once I realize on what I've just said, my face blushes into an intense shade of red.  I'm so embarrassed right now, that I thought I would screw up my chance to go out with Rainbow Dash.  But to my surprise, I see Rainbow blushing up too as her cheeks start to show a hot pink glow on them.  Almost at once, we swiftly turn our heads away from each other as we try to control our blushing faces.  Was she that embarrassed by my hasty choice of words, or... did she really like hearing that from me, I wonder?

Then, Rarity tenderly interrupts this awkward moment of silence for us.  "Ahem!  Well... now that that's settled, let's get going, shall we?
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After paying for our tickets, we begin our double date by strolling around the fair for a bit.  It certainly is bustling with life here tonight with the shrill screams and infectious laughter of the ponies, the colorful displays from the rides and vendors, and the delicious smells of all kinds of cooked goodies.  AJ and Rarity are leading ahead while me and Rainbow Dash are right behind them.  Even though she's closely right alongside me, we're still avoiding each other's gaze as we try to diminish what's left of our blushes.

Once our rosy cheeks have finally tone down to a near minimum, Rainbow is the first to start off our conversation.  "So... Rarity and Applejack, huh?  Have to admit, didn't see that one coming.  I don't suppose you had a hoof in this, did you?" she slyly asks with a playful nudge to my side.

"What makes you say that?" I reply with a nervous smile while I'm still looking the other way.

"Well... considering that it was you who helped out Fluttershy and Vinyl Scratch settling in with their dates, I figure that this latest matchmaking scheme had to be your doing."