Where Your Heart Is

by Cloudy Skies

Chapter 1

“So he just stares, mouth open,” Rainbow Dash said, a grin budding at the mere memory of it. “And then he starts screaming! ‘My cabbages!’” she put her hooves to her cheeks as she mimicked the poor stallion’s squeaky voice. Pinkie Pie was already on the floor laughing, and the others chuckled or shook their heads. Even Rarity gave a little giggle as she failed to hide her smile.

“Oh, that’s terrible, really,” the fashionista muttered, eyes dropping to inspect one of her hooves. Rainbow Dash waved a foreleg.

“Come on, it’s not like I asked him to be there,” Dash said. “I mean, who parks under a pegasus’ house?”

“So long as you paid him back for it all, Ah guess,” Applejack commented, grabbing the last of the cupcakes on the table.

“Uh,” Dash eloquently replied. She found that she was suddenly eager to change the subject, but more than that, there was something missing. She had half expected a disapproving look at the tail-end of her little tale, but she quickly found out why it never came; Fluttershy was fast asleep, leaning on Applejack with a serene smile across her face.

When no reply was forthcoming, Applejack followed Dash’s gaze. Her eyes softened as she understood why Rarity, Twilight, and even Pinkie Pie had quieted down a little.

“Poor thing was up late yesterday, but all the same, Ah guess we best get going,” Applejack said, chuckling. “She wanted us to head out to Whitetail Woods early tomorrow to check up on some badgers.”

“And I need to finish up my latest report,” Twilight chimed in with a little grin of her own. “But this was fun! Thanks for the party, and congratulations again,” she added with a nod at Pinkie and Applejack both.

“Yeah, thanks for letting us celebrate this here, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack said, gesturing to the room at large with a flick of her head. “You outdid yourself this time, and for a pony like you, that’s saying something.”

This elicited a round of muttered agreements, and it was true enough. Sugarcube Corner had seen its downright unfairly large share of parties, but the decorations for Fluttershy and Applejack’s three-month anniversary were nothing short of opulent. Home-made banners, multi-colored streamers and balloons all covered every inch of the ground floor, and no less than two dozen different types of baked goods were on display. Pinkie smiled broadly at the praise while she helped Twilight get Fluttershy across Applejack’s back. The slumbering pegasus barely stirred, nosing into Applejack’s mane in her sleep.

“It was fun! But it’s not all me, you know. I wouldn’t have gotten half of this done if I didn’t have Equestria’s fastest party-pegasus here to help me!” Pinkie chirped, trying to balance a bag of cupcakes on top of Fluttershy’s back even as Applejack made for the door.

“Well, thanks to you both then,” Applejack called, stepping outside and into the light autumn drizzle. “Ah’ll get this here poor thing to bed. Catch y’all later!”

Dash waved along with the others and turned to see Pinkie Pie disappear upstairs, no doubt to get some bags to start the whole post-party cleanup routine. She knew how that song and dance went by now, so she took a moment to admire at the decorations before they took them down.

It was true, of course. She hadn’t really stopped to think about this before, but the party wouldn’t have been half as awesome if she hadn’t helped. After the Cakes had left for a catering job in Canterlot, the last few days had disappeared in a chaotic mess of decorating and baking. The result wasn’t entirely unlike staring at the clear blue sky knowing she had cleared it with her own hooves. Every cupcake, pastry and tasty treat was another feather in her-

“So,” Twilight said, clearing her throat. Dash stiffened, her entire body going rigid for a second before she turned around.

“I knew you were there!” she said, glaring at the unicorn stood in the doorway. It was hard to affect nonchalance when her voice had a higher pitch than Pinkie’s. “I- I mean, if you were wondering, ah, jeez, don’t do that.” She groaned and ran a hoof through her mane. Twilight seemed utterly unfazed.

“I’ve been wondering, but I never really found the time to ask you about it; do you remember when you made it rain over at the farm during the dry spell this summer?”

Dash suppressed a grin even as she spread her wings. Even if she was a little annoyed that Fluttershy had told everypony about her stunt to help Applejack’s crops, she wouldn’t say no to some grade-A preening.

“Hm? No, I’m not sure I do,” Dash replied, inspecting a hoof while trying to keep a straight face. “Could you be more specific? I do a lot of weather jobs.”

Twilight raised a brow. “You used the clouds from the Everfree forest and razed your house to help, how could you-” she began, her frown deepening as she finally caught on. “Oh, ha-ha, very funny, Rainbow.”

Dash giggled and shook her head. "Yeah, okay, sure. What about it?"

"Well, I’ve been studying the few books and scrolls written on the topic of pegasus magic,” Twilight explained, her eyes shining with that odd luminescence they took on whenever the topic switched to research. “I never got to pick your brains about which theory you applied when you merged the cloud matter."

Dash scratched the top of her head. In one single sentence, Twilight had headed so deep into egghead territory, she couldn’t even spot her tail. "Uh. Which theories? On what? Scrolls?"

"Sternhorn's theory of opposites versus Greylift's theory on greater effects?" Twilight suggested, tilting her head. “It’s all in their treatises and-”

"Who?" Dash interrupted. "Greylift isn’t a Wonderbolt. You’re thinking of Greystar?"

The purple mare stared blankly. "What? No, he's a scholar at the- wait, you mean you don't know how you did it?"

"What? Of course I do!" Dash drew back and snorted indignantly. "It's just hard to explain. You just make it happen. I don’t know, you shove the clouds, kick out with your hooves, flap your wings, yeah? Sometimes you nudge it with your flank or poke it with your snout for precision if it feels right- it's nothing like book stuff. It’s all in the wings!" She shrugged, giving her wings a single demonstrative flap. Clouds were clouds. How dense could Twilight be?

"Ah, so you mean it's an intuitive process?" Twilight asked, her skepticism giving way to a delighted smile.

"Professor who?"

"No, I mean, intuitive?" Twilight repeated.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm good," Dash said with as much conviction as she could muster.

Twilight coughed, and an uncomfortable silence settled for all of two seconds before Pinkie Pie cartwheeled down the stairs trailing a roll of trash bags. She bumped into a wall coming down and slammed face-first into a table, upending a potato chip bowl, giggle-snorting all the while.

"Right. I'll be going then," Twilight suggested by way of conclusion, sending a sympathetic wince in Pinkie’s direction. "You sure you guys don't want any help cleaning up? I can come by tomorrow if you want. It’ll be easy with a little bit of magic."

"It’s okay, we have to finish tonight since the Cakes come back tomorrow noon," Pinkie Pie chirped as she got up, wearing the bowl – and most of the chips – on her head. "We got it covered!" she declared before grabbing a bag and setting to work cleaning the floor over on the other side of the room. Rainbow Dash just shook her head and grinned.

“Yeah, we can handle it,” she echoed. “Pinkie’s probably going to mess it up a little more somehow before we actually start cleaning, though,” Dash muttered with a roll of her eyes. As if to prove her point, there was a thrill of laughter and an odd pop somewhere behind her. She didn’t even turn to look.

“If you say so,” Twilight laughed, turning to leave, but she paused again once she had two legs out the door. Rainbow Dash tilted her head.

“You know, if you want to help,” Dash offered, shrugging.

“No, it’s not that,” Twilight said, turning to look at Dash over her shoulder. She had one brow raised as she bit her bottom lip, visibly hesitant. “It’s not really any of my business, but if cloudcraft is so simple for pegasi, why haven’t you rebuilt your home yet? It’s been months. Do you need a specific type of cloud? Cumulus or cirrus or something?”

Dash opened her mouth to reply, but she found no words. There was no answer to be found because she had never even considered the question before. It was a simple enough feat.

Twilight must have sensed her frustration. She shook her head and found her easy smile again. “I was just curious, really. Thanks for the party, I’ll see you later,” she said, swiftly disappearing down the street with a wave of a hoof and a glimmer of magic to ward off the rain above.

Rainbow Dash stared out the open door still, mulling the words over. Sure, she’d caught the Cakes’ gentle questions about why she was still living at Sugarcube Corner, but she didn’t really see the problem since she slept in Pinkie’s room. They seemed happy enough when she helped out a bit, too. If they actually wanted her to leave, they’d tell her, and if they didn’t think it was a problem, why should she? She’d been so busy having fun with Pinkie, she never saw the harm. Never saw the reason to wonder.

The door stood open still. The scent of rain filled Dash’s head, somehow far stronger than the more immediate smell of the sugary treats that crowded the confectionery. She had half a mind to just run out that door and take flight. It was an odd and misplaced impulse. Usually she only got that when she felt trapped or threatened, even if she’d never tell anypony about it.

There was nothing nearby that was even remotely threatening. She glanced up at the banner that adorned the door and gave a snort. The yellow, orange and pink-toned decorations weren’t exactly her idea of terror.

Before she had torn her house apart to help combat the drought three months ago, she’d leave with the others and head home around now, what with the party being over. Was Sugarcube Corner her home now? Why hadn’t she moved back to her real home?

“Ooh, chilly,” Pinkie Pie giggled, hopping past Rainbow Dash and grabbing the door-handle in her mouth. In one swift motion she closed the door and locked the shop for the night with a click that sounded oddly final. Dash shook her head violently to clear her thoughts, and when she opened her eyes, Pinkie Pie was snout to snout with her.

“Hi!” Pinkie said. “Wanna play pin the balloon on the pony? Balloon fight!”

“Hey, Pinks,” Dash said, chuckling weakly and reaching over to flip the silly bowl off Pinkie’s head. “Actually, can we just clean up and head to bed? I’m a little tired.”

---

Rainbow Dash finally gave up and opened her eyes. She had lay half-awake listening to the sounds from the kitchen for what felt like forever. Ever since the sun first crested the horizon and filtered in through the curtains, Pinkie had been rummaging around downstairs. How that earth pony got by with so little sleep, she’d never understand. The thought was hardly a new one, and it came with a smile as always.

Except the smile wouldn’t quite stick this morning. She glanced over the rim of the bed at the mattress the Cakes had dragged into Pinkie’s room for Dash to sleep on. She’d tried the lumpy, uncomfortable thing once, and that was enough. She poked the offending mattress and frowned. Lumpy stinky mattress or soft bed with her own pillow-cloud? It was an easy choice, even with Pinkie taken into account.

Somehow, somewhere along the line, she’d gotten used to Pinkie’s snoring, tossing, turning and kicking. She even slept through most of the drooling and nibbling, too. Dash frowned, staring out the window. For a moment, she wondered if she’d miss it all when she moved back home. She had some awesome ideas on how to make her bedroom even bigger this time. She could even have two beds, just because. Who was going to stop her from making it the coolest home ever?

Gummy chose that moment to waddle by, her official limited edition replica Wonderbolt goggles tangled in his tail. Dash stifled a groan and reached out to save the goggles from the little lizard’s schemes, whatever they were.

Home, right, she mused, spinning the goggles on one hoof as she rolled over on her back and took in the loft apartment. All of her clothes rested atop the corner wardrobe, one of her fight suits’ arms hanging down the side. She’d unpacked her other possessions over the course of the weeks and months. Pinkie had even put her signed Spitfire picture up on the wall.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and hopped off the bed, stepping over Tank where he lay on the floor. She could practically feel she was becoming a more boring pony just for having laid still thinking about stupid stuff for so long. She shook her mane and trotted down the narrow staircase, following the scent of baked goods in the making. The Cakes weren’t back yet, the ground floor was clean enough, and the store was closed what with it being Sunday and all. All was quiet except for Pinkie Pie rummaging around in the kitchen whilst humming to herself.

“Morning Pinks,” Dash called, sticking her head into the kitchen. Pinkie Pie was covered in flour and her mane was sprinkled with chocolate chips, but that bit was pretty much par for the course.

“Aw, shoot,” Pinkie giggled, looking up from where she was spooning batter onto a muffin tray. “I was hoping you’d sleep just a teeny bit longer so I could wake you up with chocolate-chip blueberry muffins.”

Dash spread her wings and flew over to land behind Pinkie Pie. The energetic pink pony continued her work, perhaps a tad less perky than usual. It was always like this when Pinkie was at home, though it had taken Dash a little while to get used to it; not every day was a party.

Pinkie Pie turned and reached over with a forehoof to smear some batter on Dash’s nose, giggle-snorting like only she could. Not that she ever dials it down to anything less than eleven, Dash added to her private thoughts as she licked the tasty muffin batter off.

“What’s up today? You going out to stop that nasty evil rain?” Pinkie asked, twirling the spoon she’d used on her nose before flicking it into the washbasin.

“Nah, that’s Cloud Kicker’s job today. The mayor wants a backup go-to pegasus in case I ever hurt my wing again,” Dash said with a smirk and a glance out the window. If she intended to have the sky clear in time, Cloud Kicker was already late. “But hey, I thought I’d head out and see if I can grab some air-time, actually. Maybe grab some of those clouds. Get started on rebuilding my house.”

The idea came to her just then. She couldn’t quite shake Twilight’s words from the day before, and she hadn’t been outside since yesterday evening anyway. Once she’d said it, she couldn’t un-think the thought. The sky called to her, and she was suddenly aware of how heavy the sugary scents of the confectionery were. Besides, all those clouds would go a long way towards fixing her home. It was a perfect opportunity, even if Pinkie would probably insist that Dash help her with today’s baking or give her a hoof in cleaning up. She felt a little stab of annoyance at that.

The muffin tray made a sharp noise as Pinkie missed her target, banging the tray against the side of the oven before she righted herself and slipped the treats-to-be inside. “Oh. That sounds like fun,” she said without looking up, obviously busy watching the muffins or whatever. “I’ll catch you later, Dashie,” she added, a little more quietly.

Dash’s mouth hung open, a protest dying in her throat. Or maybe she won't mind at all. “I, uh-”, she stammered, re-furling her wings as she took a step towards the door. “Yeah. Fun. Um, later, I guess. Are you sure you don’t need my help? With the muffins or whatever?” she asked with a backwards glance.

“Well, I could always use your help eating them later,” Pinkie offered, turning around and breaking into a huge grin. “Those muffins may be too much for just one pony to handle!”

“Heh, sure,” Dash replied with a lopsided smile. She wanted to press the issue, to say something more, but she had no idea what. There was no problem at all. If Pinkie Pie had a problem with her moving back home, then that was her problem.

It was just- whose problem was it if she didn’t have a problem with it? With a wave and a scant few wingbeats she stood before the outer door of Sugarcube Corner. Both lock and door yielded easily to her hooves. Nothing stopped her, and seconds later she stood outside in the noonday rain trying to work out why she felt a painful knot in her stomach. She wasn’t even hungry.

“Rainbow Dash? Got a minute?” a voice called, snapping her back to the present. The streets were bare, everypony hiding from the downpour that soaked the village still. When the voice repeated its plea, Dash realized who it was. It had come from above.

Dash glanced skywards to find a familiar blue-grey pegasus mare sticking her head through the light cloud layer. It was impossible to hold back a face-splitting grin as she took wing and pierced the clouds to join Cloud Kicker atop the layer of puffy white cumulus that covered Ponyville.

“What’s up?” Dash asked, noting with delight that Cloud Kicker herself was looking more sour by the minute in the face of her own delight. The other mare looked like she’d swallowed a bug.

“I think I overdid it, and the rain is scheduled to be over within the hour,” her would-be backup muttered. “And I-”

“And you need some help getting it cleared in time?” Dash finished for her, chuckling. The only reply she got was a frown, but she brushed it off, eager to get some proper flight-time in. “Hey, no problem. Just dump any dry fluffies over the edge of Ponyville, and poke me if you find any solid cores. I might need them.”

---

Pinkie Pie tilted her head a smidgen and nudged the kitchen curtains further apart whilst reaching for another cupcake. She was eating the leftovers from yesterday, of course. The super-special chocolate-and-blueberry muffins she’d made this morning were for Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. They were extra special, covered with the last of the multi-colored sprinkles Dash liked so much.

The decision to use the last of the sprinkles had not been taken lightly. They were Clopenhagen-imported, and worst of all, very tasty. They were so tasty that it had taken all of Pinkie’s self-restraint not to just gobble them up on the spot. Luckily, at least half of the sprinkles had made it safely onto the glazed muffins, and they looked ever so sweet where they rested on the bench at her side.

But they were special muffins not meant to be eaten alone. She knew she had to bake special muffins when she noticed that Rainbow Dash was looking a little mopey yesterday. Dashie wasn’t supposed to be mopey at all. When her pegasus friend didn’t even respond to their usual good-night hug, Pinkie knew for sure something was wrong.

It was probably nothing big. She didn’t need her Pinkie Sense to tell her either way. She knew when Rainbow Dash had joined her for the longest, biggest and most fantastic sleepover ever that it wouldn’t be forever, and now Dash was finally starting to move out. She would be a terrible friend if she tried to stop her.

She just found that this was one farewell party she didn’t really feel like throwing. For the first time in her life, she just didn’t have it in her to shout ‘Party!’, and she had a sneaky super-secret suspicion that it was all because something was wrong with her.

She’d just come to really appreciate having Dash around. She didn’t really understand why or how, but it was different from hanging out with her friends. Days were always brighter and shinier when Dash was there, and when she was staying at Sugarcube Corner, that was nearly all the time.

Even more than this, Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to mind it when Pinkie was a little less bouncy, either. She thought back to the almost-disaster of her last birthday, immediately reaching for another cupcake. A normal yesterday-cupcake fit for a silly mopey mare who sat in the kitchen sink spying on her friend.

Besides, the colorful pegasus did look a lot happier this morning, shifting clouds around outside. She loved watching Dash at work or at play in the clouds, zipping around like the world’s prettiest, fastest and most colorful kite. She just couldn’t stop wondering if she had done something wrong. If she’d said something. Or worse, if she’d not-said something.

Pinkie Pie shook her head violently as if she could fling that silly thought right out of her brain through her ears. She noted a moment later that she had forgotten to close her mouth, and that there were crumbs everywhere, but it was a small price to pay for sending that dumb notion packing. She smiled and cast a last glance at the two pegasi outside as they set course for Dash’s cloud-home, clouds in tow.

“Silly Pinkie,” she told herself, hopping off the bench to give the kitchen one final pass before the Cakes got back home. “It’s not like you own Dashie,” she giggled, trying not to obsess about how hollow the laughter sounded in an empty room. The muffins were still warm, after all.

When the kitchen was gleaming and spotless again, the rain outside had long since ended. Pinkie Pie was just about to put the muffins away when she heard a knock on the kitchen door. At once, she found the bounce in her step again. Without delay, she put on a her best and brightest smile and trotted over to open the door, muffin tray in her mouth.

“Mffnf!” Pinkie declared proudly as she swung the back door open and thrust the tray at Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, hey, thanks!” the colt who was most certainly not Rainbow Dash said, leaning forwards to seize one of the tasty treats. Pinkie was so surprised she didn’t even have time to protest before one of the muffins disappeared down his gullet. She flicked the slightly decimated muffin tray over on a nearby bench with expert precision and frowned at the brown messenger-colt.

For his part, the unicorn colt seemed utterly clueless, fishing out a letter from a saddlebag with a glimmer of magic and offering it to her. “Letter for a Pinkie Pie? I assume that’s you?” he asked once he’d swallowed, glancing up and down her body. “Yeah, I’m going to go with that.”

Pinkie grabbed the letter in her mouth and closed the door in the wake of a fragile smile. Alone once more, she carefully opened the envelope that bore her name and scanned the letter, her eyes growing wide as she recognized the mouth-writing.

---

“Okay, this’ll do for a start,” Rainbow Dash declared. If she hadn’t spent so much time in the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner lately, she would’ve been surprised at how much faster things went when you had two ponies at work rather than one. The sun hadn’t even touched the horizon, and the framework was already done. An impressive tower of pristine white clouds shot up from between the rainbow-falls that were mercifully still intact.

“We done?” Cloud Kicker asked, annoyance plain in her voice as she packed another little bit of errant cumulus into the roof. “Seriously, I appreciate you giving me a hoof with the weather and all, but I’m not gonna help you rebuild your entire home from scratch.”

“You’re building history,” Dash protested. “This is gonna be the most awesome house ever!”

“Yeah, let me know how that goes,” Cloud Kicker muttered, rolling her eyes before she set course for Ponyville proper. “I’m off.”

Rainbow Dash watched her go, resisting the urge to make a rude gesture at her back. Some pegasi just lacked perspective. She dove to touch down on the little patio they’d made outside of her bedroom and slipped inside, marvelling at the feel of fresh cloudstuff under her hooves. She hadn’t gotten around to making her bed just yet, but was sure she’d feel at home right away once it was in place. Even without her stuff, this was her home. Even without her wonderbolt paraphernalia, even without her magazines. And even without Pinkie Pie.

Dash licked her lips, trying to cast that last thought out of her head. For lack of anything to do, she began pacing the large, open room. Her hooves made no sound against the soft surface, and the silence bored into her head. For the second time today, she was glad to be interrupted by somepony calling her name.

“Are you up there, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy called from somewhere below, her voice almost entirely lost on the winds. Dash darted out onto the patio and peered over the rim to see Fluttershy and Applejack standing on the road below.

“Well how about that,” Applejack chuckled, scratching her chin. “Finally left the nest, eh?”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes a smidgen, forcing a smile at the smug farmpony. “Heh, yeah, something like that. What’s up guys? I’m kinda busy here.”

“Don’t let us keep you,” Applejack retorted, knocking her hat back on her head. “You let me know if you need me for anything, yeah? Ah owe you, and you know it.”

Dash shrugged and glanced over her shoulder at the yawing, empty master bedroom. When she turned her attention back to the ponies below, Fluttershy gave Applejack a quick hug and started ascending towards Dash’s house with calm but efficient wingbeats. The farmpony herself performed a mock salute and trotted off in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

“It’s a bit early for a moving-in party or whatever Pinkie calls them,” Dash suggested, snorting and giving the floor a poke. Fluttershy alighted at her side and nodded briskly.

“I know that. I just thought I could help,” she suggested, glancing about appreciatively. Her zeal slowly petered out as she looked at Dash. “I mean, if- if you want. I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Uh-huh, ‘impose’,” Dash repeated, rolling her eyes and giving Fluttershy a mock glare. “You’re such a terrible pony at times, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy blushed and giggled at that, mercifully enough picking up on the sarcasm. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I just thought perhaps you’d appreciate another set of hooves. I haven’t really done this before, but I’m sure I can help at least a little?” she asked. “We’ll have this done in no time at all.”

“Yeah,” Dash echoed, poking at a wall and leaving a hoof-sized hole. “No time at all.”

“Before you know it, we’ll be moving your things back up here, and it will all be ever so nice,” Fluttershy continued, her eyes wide as she sailed around the interior of the cloudhome-to-be. “Oh, and we can make sure Tank gets a bigger play area this time around!”

“Yeah,” Dash said yet again, staring out through the hole she’d made. The sun was setting, bathing Ponyville in a dying orange glow that grew fainter by the minute. If she just squinted, maybe she could see-

“Um. Rainbow Dash?”

Dash sighed, turning to face Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus mare had snuck up on her and stood right by her side. It was getting really, really old, this - losing track of her own thoughts and having her own name used as some sort of leash to rope her back to reality. She wasn’t even sure where her thoughts were most of the time.

“What?” she asked, trying to keep the edge from her voice. She apparently didn’t do a very good job of it. Fluttershy took a few steps back.

“Are you okay? Do you want to talk about, um, something?” Fluttershy asked, scratching one forehoof with the other.

“No,” Dash lied, crossing her forelegs and staring at them to avoid looking at those big, pleading eyes.

“Oh. Um, okay,” Fluttershy finally replied after a brief silence, taking wing. “How about I just get started moving-”

“Don’t!” Dash snapped, surprising even herself. Fluttershy squeaked and fell out of the air, awkwardly landing on the cloud-floor again in an inelegant heap. Dash groaned and rubbed her face with a hoof while absent-mindedly helping Fluttershy up with the other. “No. I- let’s not. Okay?”

“Okay, let’s not,” Fluttershy agreed, biting her bottom lip as she got back up. “So, um, what do you want me to do?”

“I want-” Dash began, taking a deep breath and puffing out her cheeks. She had no idea why her stupid brain was being so hard to deal with today, but she knew one thing. She didn’t want to do any more work on her house tonight. Well, that wasn’t true. She knew two things.

“I want muffins,” Dash declared. “So I’m gonna go get some muffins.”

Fluttershy blinked.

“Listen, I appreciate your offer and all, but I’m gonna head over to Sugarcube Corner for the night. I mean, it’s gonna get, uh, cold, here tonight,” Dash muttered, lifting off. Fluttershy was of course far too polite to point out that pegasi didn’t really get cold, and that it was a pleasantly warm autumn evening.

“Okay,” was all Fluttershy said, looking up at Dash. It was impossible to tell what rested behind those eyes, but so long as she didn’t ask any questions, Rainbow Dash really didn’t mind.

With their goodbyes said, the last of the tethers that kept her there broke. Dash flapped her wings and found herself an updraft that would let her sail all the way to Sugarcube Corner. The lights were still on in the top floor, and the front door was conspicuously ajar.

---

“Uh, Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash called, nudging the door shut behind her. The light above the cash register on the other side of the room provided scant lighting for the large main room of the confectionery. In the soft glow of the single firefly-bulb she could see somepony had made a mess of things, and the Cakes were nowhere to be seen.

Strewn about the floor were half-made banners, crayons and markers spread all about. Packs of balloons lay unopened, and paper of all the colors of the rainbow was scattered around the free tables in preparation of a party - except the central ingredient was missing. No Pinkie Pie. The effect was profoundly unsettling.

“Pinkie?” Dash called again, her voice sounding faint even to her own ears. Only now did she notice a soft yet unmistakable sound coming from the kitchen. Snoring. More than a little creeped out, Rainbow Dash stepped over the discarded party in making and sailed past the counter. The saloon door leading to the kitchen parted with a nudge, revealing a sleeping Pinkie bent over a kitchen bench. The pink mare was drooling on some dough or batter of some description, hugging both the shapeless bakery-goods-to-be and a pack of flour close.

Rainbow Dash landed and approached very carefully. It was a ridiculous sight, and the ridiculous was pretty much normal where Pinkie was concerned, but for some reason her heart was hammering in her chest. “Pinkie Pie?” she repeated for the third time. She got nothing for her trouble except the pop of a bubble of snot.

She’d had enough of silence lately to last her three lifetimes anyway. Dash jabbed Pinkie on the rump with a hoof. “Hey! Pinkie! Wake up!”

Pinkie Pie squeaked, rolled over, scrabbled for purchase and succeeded in doing very little except bring the poor drool-stained dough with her down on to the floor. When the clatter of pans and utensils finally died down, Pinkie peeked out from under the lump of dough, bleary-eyed but smiling.

“Dashie, you’re back!” she chirped. “I was just making a fresh batch of-” she paused, staring at the mysterious substance for a second before giving it a lick. “Well, I have no idea actually, but I bet it was gonna be super tasty!”

“Yeah, uh, how about we put that away?” Dash suggested with a chuckle, flipping the offending dough away. “Are those muffins over on the counter? And where are the Cakes?”

“Yeppers!” Pinkie said, clambering back up on all fours, blinking heavily. “They’re not as fresh as I’d have hoped, and I thought to myself, ‘Pinkie Pie, a pegasus as cool as the Dash deserves only the freshest muffins!’, so I was going to bake some new ones!”

“Right. And the stuff out front?” Dash asked, trotting over to inspect the treats. It didn’t matter if they weren’t warm. They had sprinkles.

“I got carried away, I guess,” Pinkie responded. She added a little giggle, but it sounded odd, disjointed. When Rainbow Dash slipped the tray onto her back and turned around, Pinkie was smiling as bright as ever.

“Uh-huh,” Dash muttered around a growing smile, her brain already filling with the heady sugary scent of muffins. All the worries from earlier were slipping away, one by one. She couldn’t even remember what she was supposed to worry about - other than trying to get answers from Pinkie Pie. “And the Cakes aren’t back because?”

“Oh, that,” Pinkie waved a hoof. “It’s kind of a long story. What do you want to do tonight? We could eat muffins while we play games? Ooh, wait, don’t tell me, muffins and the latest Daring-Do graphic novel? It came in the afternoon post today and I just thought to myself, ‘Pinkie, Dashie would love to read this with you!’, and so I haven’t read it yet! I can’t wait to see if she escapes from the six-headed hydra!”

Pinkie’s eyes were shining with enthusiasm, and Dash couldn’t help but let herself be pulled along by the draft of her mirth. “Sounds awesome,” she replied, cantering past Pinkie and heading for the stairs. “Let’s keep Gummy and Tank outside the room this time, yeah? Gummy keeps stealing my snacks.”

“Aw, he only does it because he likes you,” Pinkie protested, bouncing along.

“No, that’s when he tries to eat my tail,” Dash snorted. “When he eats my muffins, it’s because he likes my muffins, Pinkie.”

---

Dash awoke with a start. Her eyes were wide open and her entire body ready to fight, wings awkwardly flared as she lay on her back. The display was wasted. All she got for it was a stab of pain when the sleeping Pinkie Pie took this as an invitation to roll over on her side, trapping Dash’s wing.

The pillows gave a desultory puff of their own as she lay back down, finally letting herself breathe again. All was quiet and all was dark. She could spot the silhouettes of Gummy and Tank over by the door where Gummy had fallen asleep biting the tortoise’s tail.

Dash rested her head on a foreleg, gently poking Pinkie in the ribs with the other hoof to elicit a muttered complaint about something involving corn cakes. Whatever Dash had dreamed was gone, but she found herself frowning at Pinkie Pie all the same, as if everything was her fault. And what? Dash snapped at herself. What is even wrong?

She wasn’t trapped other than in the most literal sense of things. Dash gave her wing a tug and sighed. It was well and truly stuck. No, she could leave anytime she wanted to. Pinkie had been happy yesterday, and so had she. They’d had a fantastic time of it with the newest issue of the Daring Do comic book series, and they’d messed around so much trying to clean up the kitchen that they had to clean it twice.

She was free. Any time she wanted, she could fly right out the window and disappear. Except she didn’t. Dash shot an accusatory glance at the window in question. It was even open right now, yet here she lay. Just like she could rebuild her home in a couple of days if she really wanted to.

Yet here and now, when she lay next to Pinkie, she wasn’t sure if she did want to.

Rainbow Dash swallowed, bile rising in her throat. For some dumb reason she couldn’t pin down, her breath was coming faster and faster. Was she sure she could get her wing loose if she really tried? She tugged at it again. Nothing. She closed her eyes and tried to shut up the building storm inside her, but it was futile.

With a great heave, Dash put both hooves to Pinkie’s side and shoved her over. The pink pony toppled over the side of the bed and onto the mattress on the floor with a yelp and a muffled whump. She was up a moment later, peering over the rim of the bed while Dash massaged her wing back to life.

“Morning?” Pinkie asked, resting her chin on the side of the bed. If she took any offense to the rude awakening, she did not show it. “Well, I guess it’s night, but saying ‘good night’ would be super silly,” she giggled.

“Yeah, silly,” Dash muttered. “Hey, uh, Pinks, I gotta go.”

“Go where?” Pinkie asked, and Dash thought she could hear her smile slipping in the darkness. “Go for a walk? Oh, well, or a flight. You know, since you have wings,” she corrected herself with a weak little chuckle. “Or maybe you-”

“No, I don’t know, go,” Dash repeated, having no clue what she actually meant or wanted. It was as if somepony else had taken the reins, and she was almost happy to let them. “Hey, I’ll, uh, see you around, yeah?” she heard herself say.

Pinkie stared at her, eyes reflecting what little moonlight shone in through the window. The silence held for a longer than she had thought it ever could with Pinkie in the room.

“Okie-dokie,” Pinkie said, voice thin. “See you later, Dashie-gator.”

Just like that, Dash was off. She cleared the window before she herself had time to form a reply, relishing the rush of air that muted all other sounds. The feel of wind under her wings made all other sensations obsolete for a blessed few minutes. When her treacherous brain tried to think, she upped the speed so that all she could focus on was how the currents caressed her form as they scattered before her.

Wingbeats came ever faster. Her wing-muscles burned, protesting against the brutal strain so soon after waking up, but she poured herself into it. She refused to think, clenching her eyes shut so hard she couldn’t tell if the tears that budded were from the effort or something else entirely.

Time stretched and yielded. Her abused body was all that was, and it felt glorious. At some point she started giggling, drunk on the sheer thrill of the climb. Lesser pegasi would have broken, but she persevered. Only when she was finally spent did she open her eyes, grinning in defiance of the way simply breathing hurt. The air was thin, and all of Equestria lay bare below her.

Ponyville was a cluster of foal’s toy blocks between her fore-hooves, the miniature village dotted with a few obstinate lights that refused the night. Far in the distance she could see the ever-bright mountainside metropolis that was Canterlot, and Cloudsdale too, though the cloud-city was harder to make out against the horizon. All the little forests, lakes, valleys and hills were so pathetic from up here. Insignificant and weak when viewed from on high.

Weak. The word stuck. Rainbow Dash snorted, but the sound was small up here. She followed it up by spitting out of the corner of her mouth, but it yielded nothing. Nothing happened, no effect.

Suddenly, all the pleasure of the flight was lost. On a whim, Dash started descending at an angle. She couldn’t even get worked up about the promise of an awesome dive ending in a death-defying stunt like pulling up at the very last moment before she became a pancake. Besides, it was so dark, it might even be a little dangerous.

Rainbow Dash grinned as she ate that fear and squashed the thought. That was all she needed to furl her wings and let herself plunge towards the minuscule townscape below. She didn’t dive as much as she simply let herself fall, twisting and turning, laughing at the idea that she could ever be afraid.

Ever falling, she picked up speed. She had no idea where she was going except down. She could see the mess that was her cloudhome in the making, a blotch off to the edge of the steadily growing village. Dash extended a wing a smidgen to adjust her fall, twisting herself around so she wouldn’t have to look at it. The rush of air grew to a roar as her eyes drifted and found a lone third-story window. One light amongst the many in the slumbering town, one that she could pick out at any distance. A very specific room atop a very specific store.

Dash’s wings spread as if of their own accord. She broke her dive above the library tree and sailed off in a different direction. Any direction. He hooves had started itching, and she felt like kicking something, but that would mean stopping, and stopping meant thinking. She gritted her teeth and punished her wings instead, only barely aware of where she was heading.

Comments

[LongshotLink]

Poor Dash. She seems to push herself really hard in all your stories. Can't wait to read more.

[katarjin]

oh noes..Dash freakout coming up?

[CouchCrusader]

Cloudy:

I believe I've said this when I read When Earth Meets Sky, and I'll say this again: I am going to stop writing. I can't compete with prose of this caliber. The love you put into making these characters come alive really shows, and when folks say you're incredibly faithful to the show, that's no accident. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were perfect.

I should probably explain myself. Rainbow Dash's back-and-forth with Twilight over her intuition with moving clouds ("Professor Who?" "Uh, no thanks, I'm good") honestly made me laugh out loud. That hardly ever happens when I'm reading. There was also the "oddly final" moment of Pinkie closing the door to Sugarcube Corner, too. But I think what I admire most is how ardently you put Dash's need -- nay, obligation to freedom -- as the core of her character, and the conflict it brings up with being with Pinkie Pie carries this chapter like a gilded scroll in Mercury's swift hand. Your description of Equestria spread beneath Rainbow's wings at the apex of her flight blew away what I came up with for Wingmares, no joke.

Pinkie Pie is excellent, too. I really love how you still have her on some kind of party mode while not abandoning it all the way, like when she was hard at work baking those muffins for Rainbow in the early morning. I don't have the subtlety to pull that off. And -- I'll be honest -- you just might get me writing shipping if these scenes of Pinkie and Rainbow in the same bed make me feel so fuzzy inside.

There's so much more I wanted to say than this -- so much more, and on the eve of the final episode of the season, too... I'll just congratulate you on your Avatar shoutout at the beginning. That was exactly what I needed to get this story going. XD

[Jahk Observas]

Not in an attempt to mess up the high caliber comment on top of mine with some crude thoughts but, every time you mentioned the word muffin here I imagined they were talking about plot instead... It was pretty funny when Dash mentioned Gummy liking her muffins.
kk g2g

[Bronyism]

I love the Avatar: The Last Airbender reference in the very beginning, I laughed so hard just imagining that. The Cabbage Pony.

[waxlemon]

It's official. After reading all the shipping stories that people think are at least pretty good, PinkieDash is now my OTP.

[Archvile]

One of the deeper psychologically RainbowPie I've read... ever I think... I like how Rainbow Dash doesn't really know why she feels like she does, unlike other stories where they kinda figured it out within the first chapter and then simply don't do anything about it.

[Silverstein]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQKSwwn_fjA

Here we are Silver.

It's time launch our final strike against Cloudy Skies' remaining armies. Your Wardog Squadron will lead the offensive, and the Skilla Unit will slip in on the enemy from behind while our main assault teams storm from the front.

Your mission is to eliminate all bunkers and pillboxes littered around the area, and wipe out what's left of his Air Force. The enemy defenses are tightly dig in and extremely intricate. Cloudy Skies is preparing for a last stand. There WILL be heavy casualties on BOTH sides, no matter how this battle plays out, that is just a given.

It is time to end this...

Once we claim victory, this entire nation will be under our control.

We need Cloudy's resources to defend our homeland.

Wipe this city-base/fortress off the face of the earth...or prepare to...die trying.

Operation: Vanguard is scheduled to commence in two hours.

-End Transmission

Silver out!

[Silverstein]

Top Secret: Republic of Karalia Air Force

We have secured chapter 1, which is on the outskirts of the 'Where Your Heart Is'. Casualties have been moderate but not too severe just yet. All battalions are continuing to advance at a slow and methodical pace. We've GOT to be careful here.

Cloudy Skies' forces have rigged the road to the city with booby traps, claymores, and roadside bombs. They have also organized tank platoons to ambush our forces after setting off these traps.

Your mission is to bomb these traps out of existence, paving the way for our ground forces. When your done, engage the enemy tanks and avoid getting shot down by Cloudy's SAM defense systems. We realize that you lost a few pilots during this chapter 1 capture but you must press on.

Karalia depends on it.

Good luck! For the Republic!

-End Transmission

Well this chapter was excellent! You address both problems that both ponies have without either overdoing it or gumming up the problem with cheesy or unoriginal prose. Your approach is excellent! I'm glad CouchCrusader was here to basically take the words out of my mouth...AGAIN! He basically explained everything that I felt but didn't have the intelligence to put into words. I am an emotional person. So it's only natural that a story that devels deep into emotional aspects of characters or just the overall situation, gets to me every time.

That's why I love how you write. You don't give bluntly give us everything. You complicate them (in a good way), you hand extra little goodies along the way, (like the comedy), and you always solve it in the end to where even idiots like myself can figure it out but its still complex enough to satisfy pseudo-intellectuals like myself to take pride in being able to figure it all out.

You make stories like a good video game story. You have the main plot, little side-plots that are relevant, and also hidden thoughts or ideas implanted throughout the story but eventually those are explained as well.

I don't know if you are able to take anything out of my incoherent rambling but just know this:

Your talent is very potent, and it shows.

Thank you and if you made it through all this then you get a prize of some kind...not really sure what that is yet!

Silver out!