As the lively song came to an end, Rainbow Dash decided to take a break from dancing. The party had lasted well into the evening, and it’d likely wind down soon enough.
Rainbow made her way over to the punch bowl where Twilight had already begun to pour herself a glass.
“Hey there, Twilight.”
“Oh! Hey, Rainbow Dash,” she responded. “Great party, huh?”
“Yeah! Not surprising, really. This is Pinkie Pie we’re talking about,” Rainbow said. “Speaking of which, have you seen her around?”
“Now that you mention it,” Twilight began, rubbing a hoof to her chin, “I haven’t seen her in the last half hour or so.”
“Huh, that’s weird,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah. Kind of unusual for her to take a break from her own party." Twilight chuckled.
Twilight left the punch table, leaving Rainbow Dash to wonder on her own. Rainbow scanned the room, but Pinkie was nowhere to be seen.
She was just about to rejoin the rest of her friends, but something caught her eye.
The door to Pinkie's balcony, which she had entered through more times than she could count, seemed to beckon her outside.
Without a second thought, she made her way across the room and opened the door. Instantly, a cool breeze swept over her body and ran loosely between the locks of her mane. After hours of exerting herself, the air was immensely refreshing.
Whew, that feels good.
She gratefully breathed a sigh of relief before taking two steps out to the balcony, the door closing softly behind her.
It took a moment for her to realize she was not alone. When at last she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, the very pony she'd been searching for, she jumped in surprise.
"Gah! Pinkie, what are you doing here?" she said, initially shocked.
Pinkie said nothing.
Confused, Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in front of her face. "Hello? Pinkie? Anypony in there?"
Pinkie didn’t respond, and her gaze remained fixed on the night sky.
Okay, this is weird, even for Pinkie, she thought.
Suddenly, Pinkie turned her head to look at Dash. With an unmistakably familiar tone and a gentle smile, she said, "Thanks for being such a great friend, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow immediately recognized the sedate, yet warm voice, despite not having heard it in a month. The pegasus stood there motionless, too dumbfounded to speak.
Finally, she managed, "P-Pinkie?"
At that, Pinkie shook her head and blinked her eyes rapidly, seeming to snap back to reality. She looked around in confusion, and then straight at Rainbow. “Oh! Hey Dashie! Did you say something?” she asked.
The sound of the wind filled in the silence between them, until Rainbow finally replied, “Um... no, I didn’t say anything. I was just, um... looking for you. You’ve been gone awhile.”
Pinkie held up a wrist to look at her watch, which Rainbow hadn’t recalled seeing there before. “Oh, wow! I must’ve dozed off or something! C’mon, Dashie. We should probably get back to the party!”
Before Rainbow Dash had time to respond, Pinkie gleefully trotted back inside, leaving the pegasus out there by herself.
Dash looked up at the night sky, the light of countless stars shining back down on her. She rested her head on the railing, and smiled. Raising her hoof in the air, she waved at the ocean of stars.
Despite the explanations her friends had given her, Rainbow Dash was convinced that somewhere, somehow, she was waving back.