//------------------------------// // Part Four // Story: Some Hugs Last Longer than Others // by HoofBitingActionOverload //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash kicked her hindlegs off the table, launched herself into the air, spread her wings, and flew. Sort of. She flew except when she stumbled over Pinkie’s weight and practically twisted her upside down mid flight. Fortunately Rainbow Dash was something something greatest flyer Equestria had ever seen something something Wonderbolt something something you get the idea. She arched her wings, corrected at the last second, and landed on her hooves instead of her face. Where she landed was another matter. She’d only managed to make it back to the top of Cookies n’ Creams’ Cookies and Creams. Luckily ponies were still distracted with Rarity’s theatrics. Unluckily, Rainbow Dash was still glued to Pinkie in the most awkward position possible. More luckily, Rainbow Dash was still Rainbow Dash.. It’d be a challenge hauling Pinkie Pie up to Ponyville’s rooftops unseen. A familiar tingle ran up Dash’s spine, and she couldn’t help but smile a little. A challenge. It made this totally lame situation just a little cool, because Rainbow Dash was gonna totally nail it. Rainbow Dash leapt into the air again, but instead of letting Pinkie’s weight drag her down, she angled to throw Pinkie’s weight forward, slung her friend up into the air. And up they went together, and up, and up, far higher than was necessary. But ‘necessary’ and ‘Rainbow Dash’ were listed opposite sides of the dictionary. At the crest of the loop, Rainbow Dash’s weight caught up with Pinkie’s. Dash held tight to Pinkie, shut her wings against her sides, fell backwards head over tail, and closed her eyes. Dash’s stomach did its own little somersault, and then Pinkie and her were in free fall together. Rainbow Dash let gravity rip them towards the earth for one terrifying moment, then spread her wings again. For a few moments, she didn’t have to think. She didn’t have to feel. All she did was fly. Up here in the sky, she didn’t have to worry about any stupid lame feelings. She didn’t have to think about any stupid lame insecurities. She didn’t have to think about how stupid and lame Rarity’s little lesson on embarrassment made her feel. Up here, she could fly and forget everything else. Up here, away from all the eyes below, the weight of Pinkie’s body against hers felt comfortable instead of embarrassing. Rainbow Dash could relax, and just enjoy having a friend near. But it only lasted a few moments, and then Rainbow and Pinkie were gliding gently back down onto a roof, back down into a totally uncool huggy cuddly sprinkly mess. “That was actually pretty fun,” Dash said, stretching. Their speeding trip through the sky had gotten most of the ice cream off too. “We should, uh, fly more together sometime. You know, for practice.” “Mmm hmm,” Pinkie mmm hmmed. “I’d like that.” Her voice was still weird. Distant. Not fun or silly or crazy. And Rainbow Dash hated it, hated how nasty it made her feel to have caused it. There’d be time to figure out all that weird touchy feely junk later, though. First, was getting to Twilight’s, and getting out of this mess. “Shouldn’t take more than an hour to hop these roofs and make it back to Twilight’s Castle,” she said, scanning for the quickest path. “Then we can finally get rid of each other.” Pinkie Pie tensed against her, and Rainbow immediately felt like an idiot for saying it. “Pinkie, I… uh, I didn’t mean it like that.” But what did she mean? That she wanted to keep hanging out and for it to be awesome instead of stupid? That she didn’t want to be embarrassed about all this lame touchy feely stuff anymore? Jeez, this was all so stupid. Why couldn’t things just stay cool and uncomplicated forever? She and Pinkie Pie liked hanging out. And hugging. And maybe other things. Whatever. Why did it have to involve all these dumb feelings and stupid butterfly stomach stuff? Rainbow Dash couldn’t think of anything lamer than romance. “Hey, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie said, her voice quiet. “Yeah?” Dash answered, knowing she wasn’t going to like whatever came next. “I really am sorry,” Pinkie said. “I like being fun and bouncy and silly, and I like laughing, and I like making my friends laugh. I like making my friends happy. I like making you happy. But sometimes my friends aren’t happy, and I think, if they’d just be bouncy and silly and throw a party like me, then they would be happy. So that’s what I do! But not everypony wants to be happy the same way I do, and when I try to make them happy like me, I end up pushing them into doing something they don’t like, and I don’t even realize I’m doing it most of the time, and sometimes being friends is really confusing.” Pinkie Pie tried to buck her leg in frustration, but all she managed was to awkwardly kick Dash in the stomach. “Like that time I dressed all of Fluttershy’s animals as ghosts and put scary makeup on them because she said she was afraid of Nightmare Night. I only wanted to show her how much fun being spooky was, but she stayed in her house for days, and I felt like a meany pants.” “She forgave you, though,” Dash pointed out. “And she really did need to learn to stop being afraid of Nightmare Night.” “She shouldn’t have to forgive me! Friends shouldn’t do things that friends have to forgive. Friends should know better. I want to be a good friend. I want to make my friends happy. But sometimes I just get it wrong. Like today…” Pinkie Pie gave Rainbow Dash a close squeeze. “You like snuggle-cuddle-rump-bumping me, Dashie. I know you do. I think I might like cuddle-buddy-smick-smacking with you more than any other pony. But then sometimes you don’t like it! Even though you really do! And it doesn’t make sense. Just because you think silly things about how other ponies will think you’re silly, like being silly is bad. I just wanted to show you…” “Pinkie, it’s fine,” Dash said. “It’s not fine!” Pinkie insisted. “It’s not fine to do things that make your friends mad. I just wanted to show you that no pony cared about us snuggle-bunny-butter-rubbing together, and you could like what you liked and didn’t have to be sad and worry about what other ponies thought. But I messed up, and I’m sorry.” “Pinkie, I forgive you, okay?” Dash did her best to sound okay. “It’s fine for friends to have to forgive each other sometimes. Let’s just… let’s go to Twilight’s, and let’s not talk or think about any of this for just a little bit. I promise we’ll figure it all out later. This is just a lot for me all at once.” “Okay, Dashie.” Pinkie kissed her neck, so softly Dash barely felt it. Even then, small as it was, the kiss made Dash feel ticklish all over. Jeez, Dash really was a mess. One little kiss and she turned as girly as Rarity. Rainbow Dash shook it all out of her, from head to tail, shaking Pinkie Pie too, like a dog shaking water out of its fur. She didn’t need to think about it now. She wasn’t going to think about it now. All she had to think about was getting to Twilight’s. Dash took off at a trot, jumped from this roof to another, flaring her wings to land gently. Without stopping, she hopped to the next roof. Soon, she had gotten into an easy rhythm of running leaps and soft landings. Moving felt good. She had hid in ice cream tubs and underneath tables so long her muscles got stiff. Life was so much easier when she could keep moving. But of course, her stupid dumb brain wouldn’t let her stop thinking about it. Her stupid dumb brain made her turn all these feelings over and over, like turning a piece of hard candy over in her mouth. Except the candy tasted bitter and confusing, and she couldn’t make herself spit out. Obviously, Rarity was right, and Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, and everyone else. Everyone was right except Rainbow Dash. Fine. Whatever. She didn’t care. Dash knew they were right. She knew she didn’t need to be embarrassed about liking Pinkie Pie. She knew her friends wouldn’t care. She knew it shouldn’t matter to her even if somepony did care. But when Rainbow Dash thought about hanging out with Pinkie out in public, and being all lovey dovey when other ponies were watching, Dash’s face turned so hot she thought she might have a sunburn. She tried to ignore it, but the more she thought about ignoring it, the more she thought about ponies thinking she was silly and cutesy, and not taking her serious anymore. And she knew she shouldn’t care, but she did care. And it was all just the worst. So what then? What were you supposed to do when you knew shouldn’t feel a certain way, but you felt it anyway? Why was it so hard to feel the right way? It was so obvious. It was so easy. Except it wasn’t at all. Rainbow Dash wanted to be calm and cool about liking other ponies. She wanted kissing and dates and love and stuff to be as normal for her as for other ponies. She wanted to be like other ponies. But her feelings kept getting in the way. What was wrong with her?