//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19 
// Story: Just Dropping In 
// by Gunsmith 
//------------------------------//

	I think it's been about a month since I went to the nightclub with Rainbow Dash. What is it, now, the end of April? Something like that. It's getting harder for me to remember the time of year. I stopped trying to remember the exact day a few weeks ago. The days seem to pass so quickly, making it hard for me to continue keeping track of them; a lack of calendars in Rainbow's house and my workplace doesn't help. My rainbow-maned companion and I continue our usual routines throughout the weekdays and weekends.

At my job working as one of two blacksmiths in Ponyville, my work continues to demonstrate better and better craftsmanship. My boxes full of knives are added to at a slower rate, now that I am working on various swords and other weapons; I am constantly touching up the smaller blades I have made, though, making it so that they are on the same level as the rest of my newer work. My workbench now has a few larger weapons resting on it, though, including my katana, a pair of identical wakizashis, and a few swords of my own design, some practical, some detailed and intended for show. At one point, Forge noticed my works, and asked if I wanted to take over all of the weapon-related orders that came into the shop; though it is not a large task, I happily obliged. And so, I have now made weapons varying from axes, to hammers, to scythes, for the customers of the shop. Some of the orders Forge delivers to me are really more tools than weapons, but I don't mind a bit.

Dash and I haven't stopped waking up hugging each other; again, I don't mind a bit. I've gotten used to her warm presence in the mornings, even at night. She hasn't went to bed hugging me, as she did when she got drunk on the night when we went clubbing (she woke up with a pretty bad hangover, by the way. She promised she'd never drink cider again; I wonder how many times she has promised herself that). Still, I swear she moves a little closer to me each night when we get into bed. In the mornings, whether they be the early mornings of weekdays or the late mornings of weekends, we get up and have breakfast together before going to our respective jobs (or not, if it is the weekend). On the weekends, I usually pick one of the two mornings to attempt to teach Rainbow Dash to cook. I have been trying to get her to learn how to make oatmeal; currently, she is able to make either oat soup or an oat brick, neither of which are very tasty. I always remind her to consider it practice, because I know she knows how valuable practice is, being the athlete she is.

The weekends have been flying by, literally. Dash and I spend entire days flying, almost nonstop. I have seen a lot of the countryside around Ponyville, along with a mountain range near the town, a dragon's nest high up in a mountain (I even got to take a look at the dragon roosting there; from a distance, of course), and plenty more postcard-worthy sights. The freedom and happiness I feel when I fly with her is indescribable. I would be perfectly fine with spending every waking moment flying through the air with Rainbow.

In fact, I'm anticipating flying today. I know that it is Saturday, because yesterday I had to work; a whole day of flying, and then another to boot. I smile at the thought of it. My focus moves away from my thoughts, directing itself towards my environment.

My eyes are open, and have been for around a minute for two. I'm looking at the mane of many colors of Rainbow Dash, laying upon my chest. As usual, I can only see her head above the covers, pressed into my sternum, but I can feel her chest rubbing against my stomach as she quietly snores and her forelegs pressed into my sides and back. The brightness of the room, partially helped by the fact most of the room is cloud white, shows that it's close to midday. I use my hoof that is draped atop Rainbow's shoulder to pet her foreleg softly, waking her up as I usually do.

Still watching the top of her head, I listen as she begins to awaken. Her snoring stops, replaced by slow, deep breathing. She stirs a little, stretching her legs some and moving her head a fraction of an inch on my chest. I continue rubbing her velvety foreleg until she tilts her head upwards, looking at me. She smiles, looking happy and a little tired.

"Morning," she greets, scratchy voice sounding loud in the quiet room, though she has spoken softly.

"Good morning," I reply, my own voice unintentionally a little louder than hers; I notice Tank, who rests within his shell in a corner of the room, emerge from his shell and begin moving about. I smile at the little tortoise pilot, then return my eyes to Dash, smiling to her. She closes her eyes and leans against my matte black chest for a few seconds, then begins pulling away from me. I release my hold on her, allowing her to exit the bed, me doing the same on the other side. We re-make the bed, tugging on the covers simultaneously. After doing so, we look at each other for a moment, smiling and gazing into the eyes of one another. Tank hovers into our vision, breaking the stare; this evokes a laugh from us both, and all three of us make our way down to the kitchen for some breakfast.

Our morning meal consists of carrots, passing with only the crunch of the orange roots being chewed. Rainbow Dash finishes her carrot a few seconds after I do; Tank is only about a fourth of the way through his breakfast.

"Ready to go?" Dash asks me, sitting on the floor across the table from me. I smile happily and nod, suddenly feeling more awake. She stands up from the table, and I do the same, watching as she turns to the tortoise eating his carrot on the counter top behind her. "We'll be back later, okay?" The slow reptile blinks and begins to tilt his head forward in response. She always tries to let Tank know that we'll be gone before we leave, and has always mentioned her discomfort in not informing him we have left if she does not. I smile inwardly as I watch her. Rainbow then turns back to me, jerking her head to the door and smiling. I trot out the door, trailing her by a few feet.

It seems like it will be a good day for flight. There isn't any wind, and the temperature is just right, not blazing hot nor chilly. There aren't any clouds in the sky, and not because pegasi have cleared them away. I can feel the smile on my face turning into a grin. Rainbow Dash turns around, facing me. She wears a grin of her own. We stare at each other for a moment, then simultaneously spring into the air.

The cyan blue mare takes the lead, a short distance ahead of me in the air. She usually leads on our weekend flights, since I have no idea where anything is in Equestria, save for what we live near. We fly in a relatively straight path for some time, pulling away from Rainbow's house in the sky. I do a few barrel rolls every so often, just for the hell of it. She must notice me doing so, for she begins doing some simple tricks as well, a loop here and there, a pass over or under me. Soon we're locked in a stunt competition of sorts, flying around each other and twirling about in as many ways as we can think of.

After five more minutes of flying pass, I'm feeling quite dizzy, and decide to forfeit, leveling back out and shaking my head to get myself coordinated again. Dash stops as well, a look of playful pride on her face, and we resume normal flight. By the time I'm seeing straight, the rainbow-maned pegasus ahead of me has stopped, hovering in the air. I notice this portion of the sky has a few fluffy white clouds spread around it. Rainbow Dash seems to think the spot will serve nicely for the day, and turns to face me. She raises her eyebrows while gesturing to the area, silently asking if it looks okay. I nod and smile wide in reply, receiving a smile from her in return. And then, we begin to fly.

Rainbow and I soar across the sky, generally remaining close to one another. I watch her do a series of tricks, then attempt to mimic them, usually failing to the humor of us both. She shows me a few new stunts she has come up with as of recently, all of which are impressive. One involves a rapid succession of tight loops and a spiral through the middle of them; with the rainbow effect her mane and tail create, it looks like a colorful knot being pulled apart, like when you pull one string to untie your shoes. With another, Dash flies around a small cloud at a fast rate. Her speed, combined with the natural ions in the cloud, create a visible electrical current running around the cloud. When the entire cloud is crackling with lightning running through and around it, she kicks the cloud hard. It creates a small explosion of clouds and electricity, which sparks off in all directions. I wonder how it would look at nighttime, with the electricity more visible then.

I come up with a game of sorts at one point. I gather as many clouds as I can, positioning them in a large stack, the clouds a few feet below those above them. The object is to dive down from above and go through as many clouds as possible before coming to a stop. Rainbow Dash goes first; she makes it through thirteen of the thick clouds before the clouds below her are too compacted for her to break through. I end up making it through thirteen as well; I figure we go through an equal amount because she has more speed, but less mass, and I am the opposite. We continue trying to break the thirteen-cloud barrier for some time. On Dash's sixth attempt, she makes it halfway through the next cloud; I declare her the winner with thirteen-and-a-half clouds.

We break up the stack of clouds, placing them randomly about the area, then select one of the clouds at a higher elevation to take a break on. She sits beside me on a soft white cloud, both of us breathing a little heavily and smiling happily. I look into the sky, and see that a few hours have passed, as the sun sits at a downwards angle in the sky. A light breeze is all that flows through the air, and the temperature is still comfortable, making recovery a little more enjoyable than when on a hot or cold day. After my breathing and heart rate are back to being only slightly elevated, I glance over to Rainbow.

She sits staring up into the sky, way up. It looks like she's trying to figure out or plan something. I watch her for a few minutes, seeing her face contort in thought here and there. Eventually she looks over at me, a grin on her face.

"I want to show you something. If I can do it, it's really cool, and awesome, and radical, I promise," she says, waiting for my reply.

I smile playfully. "Pinkie promise?"

She laughs, then says, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," going about the motions as she states the phrase.

I chuckle. "Okay, so, what do you want to show me?"

She starts to say something, but stops, catching herself. A sly grin crosses her face. "I don't think I'm going to tell you," she says playfully. I can tell she's been waiting to get me back for that one.

"Not cool," I state, making my face look serious for a moment. I return to grinning after a few seconds, unable to keep a straight face.

She smiles as well, then looks more solemn. "If I mess this up, don't laugh, okay?"

I note that she sounds a little anxious. "I won't," I reply, nodding and actually becoming serious. After a moment, I add, "And you won't mess this up," trying to build up her confidence. She looks at me for a moment, then smiles and nods firmly, her eyes setting in determination. She turns around, looking about, then turns her head back to me.

"Stay here, just watch me." I nod in reply, smiling reassuringly at her. She turns away, then jumps off the cloud and into the air. I watch as she begins to fly upwards, pumping her light blue wings against the air to push herself higher, and higher, and higher. I tilt my head farther and farther back, watching as her form gets smaller, eventually only discernible against the blue sky by her rainbow mane and tail, along with the multicolored trail following her up. I bring a foreleg up, shielding my eyes from the sun. I think I can just make her out as a colorful speck slowly moving away from me. Wow, she's getting really high up there...

I think she has stopped climbing upward. The small dot in my vision, barely visible at the top of the sky, does not grow any smaller. It moves around a little, Rainbow Dash seemingly positioning herself high above me. The seconds seem to go by slowly as I wait for the speck to move. A minute passes, and I'm about to fly up to check on her, when I notice the dot that is her beginning to grow larger.

It is growing larger quickly, very quickly. The cyan pegasus has to be moving at an extremely fast speed, and is likely pushing herself downwards, making herself faster than gravity alone can. After only a few seconds, I am starting to see her detail coming back into view. Her form still appears small in the sky, but I can make out that all of her legs are outstretched in front of and behind her. A streak of rainbow follows her, angled straight down and lacking its usual opaqueness, the color in it defined and vivid. I know she is going faster than she appears to be because of how I am situated in relation to her position.

Rainbow continues to grow closer. There seems to be something forming in front of her, or below her. It appears to be a white cone of some sort, slowly becoming larger and larger before her outstretched front hooves. The cone envelops the front of her body, distorting the way she looks as she dives downwards. She approaches extremely rapidly now. The cone of white becomes more and more pronounced as she nears. No way, is she really doing a--?

As if on cue, an explosion occurs overhead, around three hundred feet above me. The explosion lacks any sound, only giving off light. A circular wave of pure color erupts outwards, spreading rapidly in the sky. Every color in the light spectrum ripples throughout the expanding wave, creating a spectacular effect that changes the color of every particle in the wave every millisecond to another color. The spectrum of light has been broken, creating this massive explosion of color.

A tenth of a second later, a streak of color passes below my sight, under the cloud I sit atop. The white cone of air covering Rainbow Dash has been replaced a multicolored cone of air, bearing the same effect as the wave of color generated by the spectrum break. A thick rainbow, perfectly straight, pierces through the center of the explosion and continues downward, following the pegasus who created the event.

Half a second passes. My eardrums take a heavy impact as both a massive boom and a huge rush of air fill the sky. The sound of the explosion sounds like a gunshot going off in my ears, followed by the scream of wind rushing into them. The shockwave from the explosion presses against my entire body, throwing high-speed wind against my face and sending my fur and mane backwards along with pushing down on top of me, threatening to shove me down into the cloud. I lock my forelegs to prevent this from happening, squinting my eyes at the sudden blast of wind. My ears fold back against my head in distress at the sudden burst of noise.

When the sound and shockwave disperse, only a split second later, all that is left is the ring of color that continues to fill more and more of the sky above me. It seems to pulse with color, energy, life, as it flows out into the air. The Sonic Rainboom is one of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring, and terrifying things I have ever seen or experienced.

I watch as it continues to spread across the blue sky, filling it with color. A portion of the wave is hit by the sun's light, intensifying its color all the more. The rainbow that goes through the center of the ring of untamed light continues to remain bright and vivid, its colors as amplified as the wave's. Something tells me to find Rainbow Dash, make sure she is okay, but I can't take my eyes off of the ring of color.

After couple more seconds, the colors of the ring and the rainbow begin dissipating into the air. Like a fog being cleared away by sunlight, the light disappears with a mist-like effect, melting into the normal colors of the air and going out of sight. The wave of color melts away, back into the light of the day, and the rainbow running straight through its center begins to fade. Soon, all of the color is gone, and I stare at the light blue of the daytime sky. I continue to gaze at where the Sonic Rainboom occurred, unable to pull my eyes away as if I am searching for any remnant of the color.

I am sure that it is gone now, and only the blue sky remains. I blink a few times, feeling stunned. I am eventually able to move my focus from the area in the sky; the first thing I do is look down, searching for Rainbow. Looking over the edge of the cloud I sit on, I don't see her down below. I start to get a little worried, and go to stand up, but something catches my attention in the corner of my eye.

I turn and see Dash sitting on the cloud next to me. She pants heavily, almost to the point of wheezing. Her wings hang limply at her sides, twitching with muscle activity. Her multicolored mane is blown backwards a little, seemingly stuck that way from the wind blowing so hard against it. She is watching me, smiling with her magenta eyes. How long has she been here? I gaze back into her eyes, trying to find something to say. I realize my mouth is open, and close my jaw. I then feel my wings behind me; they are completely outstretched, feathers spread and all in excitement. I attempt to lower them, but find that I can't, and try to relax instead. I find it hard to relax as well.

I want to say something. All that comes out when I attempt to speak are some cracking noises from within my throat. Just calm down, wait a second. I find that I keep holding my breath, and resume breathing normally with a gasp. It seems to help. "That...that was..." I can't get out any more, and end my statement with a short release of breath. I cannot find words that can suitably describe my awe at the Sonic Rainboom.

Having recovered a little, but still breathing heavily, Rainbow Dash quietly asks, "Was it okay?" I nod shakily, still unable to respond properly. Say something, damn it! I clear my throat in an attempt to find my voice.

"It was more than okay, it was..." I pause, searching for the best words I can find. No one word seems to be able to properly describe what I have just witnessed. "...amazing, insane, wonderful, magnificent, stunning, mind-blowing,--!"

"Okay, I get it!" Rainbow cuts me off, laughing. I smile at her, a little more serious.

"It was awesome," I say simply. Her cyan face, already a shade of red from exhaustion, reddens even more, and she glances off to one side. She continues to pant, light blue chest heaving steadily. "Do you want some water?" I ask. She nods a few times, and I stand up. I search around in the air, spotting a cloud a short distance away. I jump off the cloud we sat upon, and begin flying towards the fluffy white object in the sky. Upon approaching the cloud, I get behind it and begin to push it back towards where Dash sits. I move the cloud so it is directly to the side and above the cloud we have claimed. Then, rising above the cloud a few feet, a kick out hard with one of my legs, striking the soft surface of the little white cloud.

Rain begins to pour out of the bottom of the cloud. I hover back over beside Rainbow Dash, settling down with her on my left. The cloud creates a waterfall-like effect before us, creating a shower (or drinking fountain) of sorts. The panting rainbow-maned pony beside me quickly moves forward, catching some of the rainwater in her mouth. After she has swallowed a few mouthfuls of water, she leans farther forward into the shower of rain, letting it splash against her head and neck. She remains there, basking in the water until the cloud spits out its last few drops of water. It promptly evaporates into the air, all of its water used.

Dash looks a little disappointed when it disappears, withdrawing her head back to a normal sitting position. Her head and mane are sopping wet with rainwater, and her slightly-darker hair lays over her eyes and face. She frowns for a moment, unable to see due to her waterlogged mane. I lean away from her as she begins twisting her head back and forth rapidly, much like a dog, throwing the water off of her hair and face. Unfortunately, most of the water comes off of her and on to me, soaking my head and mane. Flipping the wet hair out of my eyes, I see Rainbow giggling softly, looking a little sheepish. I smile and stand up, moving to the edge of the cloud farthest from her before shaking the water off of me.

I return to the now-dry pegasus, sitting down at her right again. "So, that was the Sonic Rainboom, right?" I already know it was, being that I had seen it something like three times before on a television show that seems so far in the past now.

"Yeah, the one and only!" Rainbow Dash says with pride, her chest swelling and chin raising. I smile, watching her. I begin nodding, recalling the event in my head.

"That was the coolest, awesome-est, radical-est thing I have ever seen," I say, using her three favorite adjectives. She smiles, looking a little more proud. I think for a moment, then add, "No, second coolest, awesome-est, radical-est thing I have ever seen." I look directly at her for emphasis on my meaning. She looks confused for a moment, then turns and looks at me, locking onto my eyes. Rainbow continues to wear a look of question, and goes to say something, opening her mouth. A split second later, she closes her mouth, eyes widening some in realization. She slouches down some, and her entire face goes beet-red; she continues to hold my gaze, though, and gives an embarrassed smile. My smile turns into a grin as I watch her blush, then I turn away, having had my fun. It's become a sort of hobby for me, trying to get her to blush; she doesn't do so often, so it's like a challenge to me.

"Um..." she begins softly. "...thanks." I don't need to look over at her to know she remains a deep shade of red in the face. I smile and nod a little, looking out into the afternoon sky. We're quiet for a short while, as I let her recover from both embarrassment and exhaustion. I remember something I need to say, and turn to look at her.

"Rainbow Dash?" I ask, grabbing her attention. She looks up from staring at her wings, moving them around and stretching. "Thank you, for showing me that." I smile to her, not able to think of anything to add. I want to find better words or a better way to show my gratefulness, but can't. A small smile appears on her face, and I think she understands how thankful I am.

I am caught by surprise when I feel a tight pressure around my forelegs and body, making my wings spread out behind me again. Warmth travels through my body, and I inhale sharply at the sensation. I smell a heavy scent of oxygen, with a little whiff of a spicy pepper smell woven into it. A soft presence is pinned against my left side, pressing against my shoulder and ribs. I blink a couple of times and look over and slightly down, searching for the source of the pressure.

Dash is hugging me tightly from the side, her cheek pressed against my left shoulder. It's a little uncomfortable with how hard she is squeezing me. I pull my forelegs out from her grasp, raising them above me and maintaining my balance while sitting on the cloud. She quickly changes her position, moving so that one side of her face is pressed against the black fur on my chest, both of her forelegs wrapped around my sides and pressing into my back, underneath my still-flared wings. She leans into me, her body pressed against mine. She sits almost directly in front of me, slightly angled. I lower my forelegs slowly, placing my left on her back, just above her wings, and my right around her head, pressing her a little closer to my chest. I begin to pet her mane slowly, taking in its soft texture as I wonder what the sudden hug is for.

She continues to grasp on to me, seemingly hugging me as if her life depended on it. I watch the top of her rainbow-colored head as she presses her face against my matte black chest. I can feel my wings starting to relax behind me; as they begin to settle against my sides, Rainbow Dash readjusts her forelegs to wrap them over my wings, pinning them against me tightly. I wince a little, my wings feeling bound, but continue to wait for any explanation from her, if it will come. After a minute or so of petting her hair and hugging her back, clarification does arrive.

"Thank you, Ferrum." I wonder what she is thanking me for, but remain silent, letting her continue. "You...you're always...you're always so...nice, to me, and friendly." I can feel my face change in a look of question. Rainbow pauses for a moment before continuing on softly in her scratchy voice. "You always tell me how awesome my tricks are, or how good I'm doing at cooking, or how I look nice, or..." She stops again; I can feel her face getting warmer against my chest, and feel heat rising in my own face. "And...you take me places, and always fly with me, and hang out with me..." Dash trails off again. I continue stroking her mane, trying to comfort her in some way.

She takes a deep breath, then sighs. "No pony has ever done that for me. Like, my friends hang out with me and stuff, and they're the best friends anypony could have. And I've got Tank, and he's awesome and fun, too. But..." She sighs again; I can almost feel her usual confidence ebbing away, her shoulders drooping but her grip tightening even more so around me. "I dunno...I'm supposed to be the coolest, awesome-est, radical-est pony in all of Equestria. And the Element of Loyalty. And the hero of Ponyville. But...it seems like no one really thinks I'm any of those things, except you," she finishes, going quiet against me. I keep petting her multicolored hair, feeling its silkiness against my fur. I think for a moment, choosing what I am about to say carefully.

"Rainbow Dash, you are all of those things, and more. You are the coolest, awesome-est, radical-est pony in all of Equestria. No other pony can be as cool as you, and even when you're uncool, you're still cool. Everything you do is awesome, from stunts only you can pull off to just being the one and only Rainbow Dash. And you're more radical than..." Damn, I could make a good math joke here. "...well, you're the most radical pony ever!" I pause, lowering my voice a little. "No pony could better represent the Element of Loyalty. You've never abandoned your friends, for anything, at any time...and you've never abandoned me. Even after I lied to you, even after telling you who I really am, what I used to be."

I stop again, letting my words sink in. "And you are the hero of Ponyville. You've prevented terrible accidents and helped those in need, selflessly risking your own safety just to help somepony you probably don't even know." I pause a final time, then continue on. "You're a hero to everypony, Rainbow. Everypony looks up to you, and admires you. They admire your coolness, your awesomeness, your radicalness, your loyalty, your heroism, everything about you, and are thankful to have you, whether they show it or not. Your friends, Ponyville, Equestria, and me, everypony." I go silent, still softly moving my right hoof along her mane.

I feel a small patch of wetness on my chest, where Rainbow Dash presses her face against me. I hear her sniff, and she moves one of her forelegs to wipe her face before returning it to my side and back, continuing to hug me tight. A couple of minutes pass, then she digs her cyan blue head into my black chest, her mane still being pet by my foreleg.

"Thank you, Ferrum." Her voice is quiet, and cracks a little. In response I lean down, placing the side of my face and chin against the top of her head lightly. An oxygen smell fills my nose as I inhale against her hair, and I can almost taste the slight spiciness that is barely present. Her mane feels like satin on my cheek and on the hoof that continues to move about her head and neck, steadily stroking her colorful hair. I close my eyes, letting the warmth of the afternoon sun and the warmth Rainbow creates flow through me.

***

I open my eyes, coming to my senses again. I feel a crick in my neck from having been sleeping the way I was. I lift my head off of Dash's, looking down at her.

We still sit on the cloud, high in the sky, the light blue pegasus still clinging to me, though not as tightly now. I notice I've flattened a small area of her mane from where I laid upon it. She still feels warm; the air around me feels less so. I glance up, and see that the sun is only around an hour from completely setting. Rainbow Dash's light snore brings my attention back to the top of her head, nestled against my chest. I lift one of my forelegs, which are still wrapped around her neck and back, and move it to her face. I brush my hoof against the exposed half of her face, gently rubbing her cheek. She seems soft and delicate, and odd change considering her usual bold, tomboyish demeanor. After a few seconds, her snoring ceases, and she begins to stir.

"Let's go home," I say quietly, rubbing her back a little. She shivers, and I notice I rubber between her wings by mistake. I move my hoof a little higher, rubbing between her shoulders instead. She gives a relaxed sigh, then goes to stand up. We pull away from each other and stand, stretching our wings before taking off, her leading by a short distance.

The flight passes in silence. She seems worn out, and I feel the same way, despite just having taken a pretty long nap. I feel some relief as we touch down outside the front door of her house, pushing our way inside. She starts to hover upwards, to the cupboards built into the walls of the cloud room, but I stop her, directing her to the table instead. I make us both sandwiches, and we eat, the air quiet. It just doesn't feel like anything needs to be said, in a good way. Tank flies downstairs at one point, and I grab him an apple to eat.

After we finish eating, we say goodnight to Tank. Rainbow reminds the tortoise to clean up what he doesn't finish, and then she and I make our way upstairs, to her bedroom.

The room is slowly getting darker, and the clouds composing the room reflect the red of the sunset on the late spring day. Dash and I separate at the foot of the bed, climbing into opposite sides. I slide under the covers, lying on my back and looking at the ceiling. I lay there for a moment and sigh, maybe in relaxation. Suddenly, I feel something warm passing over my chest, rubbing against my fur as it does. I look over to my right, at Rainbow Dash.

She is stretching her foreleg around my torso beneath the covers. I gaze at her magenta eyes as she does so, allowing her to continue. She presses into my back, pulling herself towards me while sliding her other foreleg beneath me, around my other side. Rainbow lays her head against my chest, pressing her own chest into my abdomen. I slowly lift my forelegs and drape one over her shoulder and neck, wrapping the other around her and pressing her into me. She is warm and soft in my grasp. I look down at her.

Dash looks up at me and smiles, then places her head back on my chest, closing her eyes. I smile as well, then lean back against the pillow, closing my eyes and hugging the rainbow-maned mare close.