Rainbow Dash's eyes darted open as the sound of shouting came from below her cloud fortress (which is what she liked to refer to it as, even though it was only a house). After a few seconds to let her ears process, she recognized the voice as that of Blossomforth's.
"Dash! Dash! Dash! Are you awake?!" Blossomforth's voice echoed in Dash's house.
Dash quickly flew out in a multicolored daze and it only took a few seconds before she was behind the pony that had disturbed her slumber.
Blosomforth quickly turned around to see Dash's expression. Her pupils were frantically trying to dilate themselves. The pupils themselves produced a cold, vacant stare. Her mane was messy, even more than usual. And there were giant, dark circles under her eyes.
"Oh, I didn't mean to wake you boss. We just needed some help on the other side of town. We're receiving that new shipment of storm-clouds for the huge rainfall that's supposed to be coming tonight. Why are you asleep right now anyway? It's almost 2. Did you not get a good night's sleep or something?"
Dash rubbed her eyes and her trademark smirk grew back onto her mouth, something that gave Blossomforth much comfort. "No, I actually got a great night's sleep. Guess I just lost track of time is all"
"Alrighty then." Blossomforth exclaimed, "We'll just need you on the other side of town in saaay, five minutes?"
"Sounds good to me. Just have to get ready first"
"Okay" Blossomforth picked herself off the ground and starting to glide to the "other side of town", "seeya then."
"Seeya" Dash leaped back up onto the balcony of her cloud home and walked into the kitchen. She started to groom her mane in the same way that she did every day, just stroking her hoof through it four or five times. She stopped at the refrigerator and pulled out a tall can of Parasprite energy drink. It's a little known fact to most ponies that this is how Dash wakes up every morning. Just chugging a whole can of Parasprite. She did it like she did most things, in ten seconds flat.
Dash then went to help Blossomforth and her squad of misfits with the storm clouds. All of it was routine, and she could arrange storm clouds in her sleep, but she still seemed to be distracted. So much so that even Blossomforth had noticed it.
"Hey boss, you alright?" Blossomforth finally sumed up the courage to ask.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Rainbow had to shake herself out of her daze of concentration, which also seemed to be more distant than usual.
"You just seem kinda out of it. Are you sure you got a good night's sleep?"
"Yep" Rainbow carefully positioned the last storm cloud for their slow climb over Ponyville, "There. All set. It should start raining over Ponyville in a few hours."
"Great. Thanks for the help boss."
"Don't mention it, it is my job after all. If you need me, I'm gonna be at SugarCube Corner."
"Alright. Seeya tomorrow"
"Seeya"
Rainbow departed, though she had been thinking of Pinkie throughout her work, she thought even more on the fly over to SugarCube Corner. She flew a bit slower, partly to enjoy the scenic view of Ponyville and part to think a bit more thoroughly before seeing Pinkie again. She thought. She thought about how much she wanted to be with Pinkie. Not just for the night, or even for a weekend, but for a lifetime. She had never felt that way about any other pony before, but with Pinkie, it just felt right. She then thought about her friends. As far as she knew, all of her friends probably wouldn't support her and Pinkie being in a relationship. As far as she knew, she would no longer be the element of loyalty if she told her friends how she felt about Pinkie. It's not that she didn't want it to be publicly known. That wouldn't be an issue in Ponyville. There was such an offset ratio of colts to mares that fillyfooling had become common practice. There were already a few publicly known two-mare relationships in town, but those ponies didn't have to carry the weight of being one of the elements of harmony. One of the major bulks to that weight was having to appear and fix problems for Equestria. She didn't want her friends, Ponyville, Princess Celestia, or even a whole new race of ponies whose lives with in her hooves, to second guess her. Not that they wouldn't have a right to second guess her. If she was distracted doing her job that paid for her food, she might get distracted battling some evil leprechaun changeling space alien thing from another dimension that threatened to destroy all of Equestria. This wasn't even bringing up the fact that Pinkie was also an element of harmony, and if they broke up, they would either have to replace Rainbow, or replace Pinkie. Rainbow disliked the ladder more than the former. Or even worse, they might break up and still be assigned to their elements of harmony and she would be even more distracted while battling time traveling cyborg guacamoles from other planets or whatever (after awhile, all their baddies sort of seemed the same, so Rainbow had a hard time coming up with fake examples when arguing with herself). All this seemed way too stressful, and thinking about it didn't make it any easier. So, in order to enjoy Pinkie's company tonight, she simply cleared the thoughts out of her mind, and flew over to SugarCube Corner with a smile on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A pink hoof was firmly planted into a pink face while, presumably, pink vocal chords hummed a tune that a pink head was swaying to on the counter top in the lobby of SugarCube Corner. A dopey smile was plastered onto Pinkie Pie's faces as she flipped through a magazine. The lobby was holding a very small fraction of it's full capacity. Murmurs of chatter echoed throughout the room, which sounded to unobservant ears as inaudible drones. Suddenly, the double doors opened to reveal a very familiar unicorn trotting into the store.
Her eyes were shaded in mystery by her trademark purple sunglasses. Her electric blue mane sway in a chaotic mess around her head. Her ears were covered by a pair of chrome, bulky, shining headphones. She wore a faded sweater, which at one point resembled the color of her snow white coat, but now was a withered gray. If you looked closely enough at the coat, you could see the ponies name marked along her shoulder blades. And the final touch, a freshly lit cigarette dangling from her mad grin, which she always seemed to be sporting (the grin and the cigarette alike). This was Vinyl Scracth. And she was one of SugarCube Corner's regular customers.
Pinkie glanced up from her magazine and her eyes glowed as they met at the sight of the DJ.
"Heya, Vinyl" she cheerily greeted, closing her magazine.
"Hey, Pinkie. How's it going?" Vinyl leaned on the counter of SugarCube Corner, facing the front of the store. She took out her cigarette, holding it in the cleft of her hoof, exhaled, and put it back in.
"It's going good. A bit of a slow day, but otherwise good. I met up with Derpy earlier and we talked about-"
"Let me guess. The Doctor?"
"Yes!" Pinkie cried with excitement "How did you know? Do you leave microphones laying around or something?"
Vinyl laughed, "Not yet. She's just been going on about that colt to everypony, me, Lyra, Bon Bon, Octavia, and now it seems that she's involved you into this as well. It's a freakin' epidemic."
"Well, I don't know if I would call it that. If she really really likes this guy, she has the right o talk about him."
Vinyl exhaled again and turned, still leaning on the counter, to face Pinkie, "Pinkie, that mare's 'really really liked' a coconut before."
Pinkie began to laugh hysterically, it felt good to finally laugh, "Oh yeah. I remember that. She would carry that thing around all the time. She would even take pictures with it."
"Point is, I give this whole Doctor thing a week, two weeks tops."
"From what I've heard, the Doctor's no coconut. He does seem really strange though, just based on the brief descriptions I've gotten from Derpy. Who knows, they might be perfect together."
Vinyl snorted at the remark, "Please, this Doctor guy is never around. Nopony even knows what he looks like. He's probably just an imaginary friend that Derpy made up. That mare has some real mental problems if you ask me."
"Mental problems is a bit harsh, Vinyl. This Doctor guy might be really nice and you're just belittling him. Denying his existence even. I get that you're snarky, but you've never said stuff like that about your friends. You doin' okay?"
Vinyl took off her headphones and sunk a little lower into the counter top. She started to rub her arm with the hoof she was holding her cigarette with, "Yeah, I guess I'm just missing Octavia is all. She's been up in Canterlot playing show after show cause fancy pants ponies keep asking her to perform at public events. She's making an ass-ton of money, don't get me wrong. I'm just used to having her around is all. Didn't mean to take it out on Derpy though. Sorry."
This was Vinyl Scratch. She's one of SugarCube Corner's regular customers. She's also half of the most talented fillyfooling couple in Ponyville.
Vinyl began to sulk, and Pinkie got one of those cheesy, 'I want to comfort you' smiles on her face, "I understand completely" Pinkie reached to her side where there was a spinning display of cupcakes and pulled out a chocolate one with white icing and strawberry decorations. She then reached under the counter, where, in a freezer, there were bottled coffees stored. She pulled out the most refreshing looking one and set it on the counter next to the cupcake.
"Here," Pinkie pushed the cupcake and the coffee in Vinyl's direction, "Have this. A cupcake can solve just about anything."
"Thanks." Vinyl reached into the pocket of her hoodie and audibly searched for bits to pay Pinkie, who just pushed the meal even further in Vinyl's direction.
"On the house" Pinkie winked at Vinyl
Vinyl's face lit up with joy, "You are my favorite clerk at this shop." Vinyl took her cigarette out of her mouth and tossed it into a nearby trashcan, putting it out.
Pinkie chuckled, "More like the only clerk at this shop"
Vinyl chuckled along, "I guess so", she popped the lid off the coffee using her magic, took a sip and a bite of the cupcake. An explosion of flavors collided in her mouth as the dry chocolate cake exterior clashed with the warm strawberry jam filling, "My complements to the chef"
"She accepts your complements"
Vinyl began to laugh again, "So, anyway. We've talked about me, we've talked about Derpy. What about you? Anypony catch your attention?" Vinyl took another bite of the cupcake and very obviously displayed a face that could only be described as orgasmic.
"Well", with her peripheral vision, Pinkie could see a cyan pegasus slowly making her landing outside the store, "I guess there is one."
"Really? What's his name?"
The bell on the door ran as Rainbow Dash strolled in, a trickle of sweat leering down her head. Vinyl and Pinkie both gave their eye's attention to Rainbow as she walked up to the two of them.
"Oh. That's not really important," Pinkie said, "I will tell you this. This pony is really awesome."
"Hey, Pinkie. Hey, Vinyl." Dash greeted, wiping the sweat off her forehead and running her hoof through her mane.
"Hey, Rainbow" Vinyl and Pinkie said in unison. Vinyl gave Pinkie a quick, impressed glance.
"So, what're we talking about?" Dash inquired.
Pinkie opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but Vinyl immediately cut her off with, "Pinkie's secret crush!"
A flicker of worry began to ignite in Rainbow's eyes as Vinyl pulled out a fresh cigarette and lit it.
"Oh really?" Rainbow was trying to play dumb.
"Yep" Vinyl inhaled, "Apparently he's awesome." Vinyl exhaled.
"Oh, I bet she is" Dash replied with a grin.
"She?" Vinyl cocked her brow.
Now the flames of anxiety kindled in Pinkie's eyes, which was an unusual and uncomfortable sight. A million thoughts swept through Pinkie's head at once. Vinyl's going to find out; What's going to happen if Vinyl finds out?; But Dash already set up the rule that nopony can know; Is Dash about to break her own rule; Oh no; Oh no.
"'I bet HE is", Dash quickly saved her lover from an eminent panic attack, "My bad."
"S'all good" Vinyl snarkily said.
"Yep" Pinkie almost sighed out in relief. Her eye's quickly met Dash's and they shared a knowing look. Dash grinned. Unbeknownst to them, underneath purple shades, Vinyl's eyes saw their shared look. Vinyl grinned.
"So, what else is going on?" Dash was trying to steer the conversation into a new direction.
"Did you hear about Rose?" Vinyl was always ready with some news about ponies in the town.
"What about her?" Dash asked.
"She's moving to Trottingham." Vinyl inhaled.
"She's moving to Trottingham?" Pinkie and Dash asked in unison.
"She's moving to Trottingham." Vinyl exhaled.
"When?" Pinkie intrigued.
"Next week. She's putting her house up for sale." Vinyl took another sip of her coffee.
"Wow," Dash exclaimed, "That's weird, man."
"I know." Vinyl looked back and forth, as if she were waiting for a train, and then looked at Pinkie, "You have the time?"
"4:13." Pinkie said without missing a beat, "Why do you ask?"
"Crap" Vinyl gathered her cupcake and coffee, "I was invited to watch a movie at Lyra and Bon Bon's house. I'm late. I gotta go. Seeya guys later." Vinyl strolled out of the building in what can only be described as a casual hurry.
"Bye." Pinkie and Dash had spoken in unison again. They both started to laugh uncontrollably.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every place of business has that time when the shutters close, the furniture is stacked, the lights are dim, and few, if any, souls remain in the building. For SugarCube Corner, that time was 11:30 every night, and this night was now different. Rain was pouring down on the metal shutters outside. The chairs were stacked neatly around their respective tables. All the lamps were turned off, leaving only the dull yellow of the overhead light to guide the path of the two ponies that were mopping the floor, a cyan pegasus, and a pink earth-pony.
Pinkie and Rainbow mopped quietly. They had already had their fair share of conversation throughout the day, and nothing really needed to be said. But this silence was peaceful. Relaxing. Each mare had a lost grin on their face. And everything was perfect.
The two mares finished their cleaning duties and put the mops in the corner by the front counter. They then sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, leaving little room between them. A few exhausted sighs came out of each mare, followed by a weak chuckle. Then, more silence.
The Pink earth pony looked toward the cyan pegasus. Her cyan pegasus. Her Rainbow Dash. The grin on her face grew ever wider with each second. Finally, a sky blue arm made its way around pink shoulders, and a subtle kiss was planted on Pinkie's cheek. She couldn't help but blush, and smile even more. She then rested her head on the cyan pegasus's chest and wrapped her arm slowly around the other mare's stomach. Another sigh. This time, a calm, comforted sigh. Pinkie slowly closed her eyes, drifting wearily into Rainbow's distinctive scent. After seeing that Pinkie had clocked out. Rainbow leaned her head on Pinkie's, wrapped her free arm around her, and closed her eyes.
The moment was perfect. A moment that only comes around a few times in every life. When it's all quite. And you're with the one you love. And you both don't say anything. And you don't need to. Because talking about anything would be overdoing it. It just wasn't needed. The moment was already perfect.
Of course, if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.
"I love you." the words escaped Rainbow's mouth in a kind of whisper. And Pinkie's eyes shot open.
Pinkie slowly turned her head up at Rainbow, whose eyes were also now open. She then leaned in and kissed her. Both closing their eyes for a moment. She pulled away and looked into the rose eyes of Rainbow.
"I love you too." Pinkie said, grinning. They then fell back into their previous cuddling position.
"I know it's kind of soon to say. I mean, we're not even really dating, but I just couldn't keep it in any longer. I love you, Pinkie Pie."
"I love you too." Pinkie Pie then shot back into sitting against the wall. "There, I said it again. We really need to get some original dialog in here if we want to satisfy people."
"What are you blathering about?"
Pinkie then realized that she was still in the same room with Rainbow Dash, "Oh. Nevermind." She fell into cuddling again, "Point is, I love you too, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow smiled and wrapped her arms delicately around the party pony. Pinkie seamlessly planted a kiss on the blue mare's cheek, "My Little Dashie."
Dash blushed and then started to chuckle, which Pinkie followed suit in.
They both closed their eyes, held onto each other just a little tighter, and got lost in the moment.
They got so lost that they didn't notice a white unicorn holding up an umbrella with her magic walk into the door way. It was only so open that she could see in, but the bell wouldn't ring. The DJ gazed upon the happy couple knowingly.
And then, Vinyl grinned.