Miles from Ponyville, in a secluded clearing, Twilight Sparkle's hind hooves gently slipped into a lake.
They rippled the water with a soft splash, and her legs were overcome with a cool, refreshing sensation which moved up along her body. She relaxed, her neck arched upwards, and she closed her eyes, a shuddering sigh of contentment escaping her lips.
She smiled and reopened her eyes. The night had just begun, but the full moon was already high in the sky, accompanied by twinkling stars. The summer breeze, smelling of the grass around her, blew past her face and through her mane, bringing forth another happy exhalation.
"Ahhhh... this is the life."
She had to admit, for all of its richness and splendor, there were some luxuries Canterlot just couldn't provide. Canterlot was busy, Canterlot was the forefront of Equestria's political sphere, and--most importantly--Canterlot was one of those places where everything you did weighed on you socially. Everything. It was one of the reasons she'd preferred to stay cooped up in the castle while growing up there, under the guise of "studying." She just wasn't much for dealing with it.
Ponyville, however, was a different story, and she was thankful for it.
She looked up at the moon again, and wondered what Princess Luna was doing now. Probably patrolling Canterlot, making sure her citizens were having peaceful rests. Or perhaps she'd decided to visit another territory? Twilight chuckled as she imagined the prim and proper Moon Princess in places like Appleoosa, or even Manehattan-
"Twilight? Is that you?"
Following the voice, Twilight looked up to see a blue rainbow-maned pegasus flying high above her in a wide circle. As usual, she left multicolored trails in her path. The trails sported their own glitter in the moonlight, as if some of the stars in the sky had come down to Equestria for a closer look. Twilight fought the urge to gasp, but briefly wondered what it felt like to be able to spread spectacle wherever she went. "Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash perked up. "Oh, hey, it is you! Whatcha doing out here all by yoursel--oh." She backed away, fluttering higher. "Silly question. You're probably studying or something. I'll just leave you to it."
Twilight quickly held up her right hoof. "No, wait!"
Both ponies recoiled at the sudden spike in volume. Twilight's face heated as embarrassment flushed through her. "I mean, uh... it's okay, Rainbow. You don't have to go." She beckoned with a hoof, then patted the grass next to her. "Please, sit."
"Wow. You have changed. A few months ago you were telling me the total opposite."
Twilight rolled her eyes overdramatically. "What can I say? I blame you."
"Yep, yep, yep." Rainbow exhaled. "I am known for changing ponies' lives." Twilight felt Rainbow Dash's wings kick up soft winds as she touched down. Once the two were sitting next to each other, she threw her left foreleg around Twilight, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Twilight blushed. "Case in point."
"You know you love it." Rainbow looked at Twilight's submerged hind hooves. "Lake-dipping, huh?"
"Yep. Try it. I don't know what it is about this one, but..."
"Sure, why not?" Blue, blemishless legs dipped into the water... and much like Twilight had done earlier, Rainbow Dash went taut as wonderful, refreshing sensations swirled through her. "Oooh! Oh..." She tensed, then went near-limp as she rested her weight on her front hooves. Her eyes went wide, staring into space. "...whoa."
Twilight could barely contain her amusement. "I... I know, right?" she said in between breaths.
Rainbow Dash shook her head to regain her senses. "Sweet Celestia, it's like... like... okay, does anypony else know about this lake?"
"Nope. You're the second."
"I say we keep it that way. Almost wish I could put my wings in. They need the refreshment!" She laughed. "My backstroke's not so good, though."
"I won't tell anypony." Twilight grinned. "About your bad swimming, either."
"Still can outswim you." Chuckling, Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a playful elbow, but didn't retract it. Instead, her body followed.
Twilight looked over as she felt Rainbow Dash pressing against her. With a small smile, a shake of her head, and mental shrug, she leaned against the pegasus in kind. "I'll take you at your word."
"Mmmmm. Yeah. You do that." Rainbow's head rested on Twilight's neck, allowing Twilight's cheek to brush against her soft, prismatic mane. They looked out across the lake for several silent moments.
"Hey, Rainbow?"
"Yeah, Twilight?"
You ever think about... well... what's to come?
"What? You mean, like, the future?"
Twilight nodded. "Mm-hmm. What's in store for us. Or where you want to be, years from now."
For a moment, Rainbow Dash looked puzzled, on the verge of asking a question of her own. In the end, however, she relented.
"Well, yeah, sometimes." She waved her right hoof in the air, quickly, back and forth. "Usually it involves me an' the Wonderbolts wowing crowds all over Equestria." She lay on her back, looking skyward. "Me wearing that awesome uniform, doing sweet air tricks in front of screaming fans, my name in lights brighter than that moon up there--maybe even the sun! Fame, fortune, groupies-"
Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash with a half-laughing sputter. "G-Groupies?"
"Not my words." Rainbow's muzzle widened into a mischievous smile. "Been pen-palling Spitfire since the tornado thing. She... tells me things. And everything she tells me just makes me want to work harder to get in." She turned her head towards Twilight. "Don't worry, though. When I do get in, I'll remember you." She winked. "Gotta give back to the little people."
Twilight magically splashed some lake water onto Rainbow Dash. "I'm so sure."
"Whoa! Hey, just tellin' it like it is." Rainbow flew up, spun in place to dry herself off, then landed again. "All right. Your turn."
"Twilight blinked. "Huh?"
"You heard me. I told you mine, you gotta tell me yours. "Where do you see your future?"
"I, uh..." A sudden nervousness radiated from Twilight, as intense as the sun's rays. "W-Well... I-I suppose I see Equestria at peace, you know? Everypony's happy and smiling, and any threats to the world have already been defeated. And then, I get to not just be Princess Celestia's personal student, but also her-"
"Oh no you don't."
Twilight was cut short by her friend's tone. "Huh?"
Rainbow Dash paced behind the unicorn. "Quit foolin', Twilight. That's the public answer. The one you give when you're standing in front of Princess Celestia, and a whole buncha other ponies, and have to give a sugar-coated speech 'cause you care about your rep! That's not what I'm looking for."
Twilight let out a defeated sigh. Sometimes she forgot just how perceptive the flighty pegasus actually could be when she tried. Still, if there was any way she could escape where this was going, she would take it. "But then... what answer do you want?"
Rainbow Dash didn't reply. Instead, she sat behind Twilight, and placed one hoof on each side of her neck. Softly and firmly, she rubbed back and forth, pressing into her coat, sometimes making small circles. After a minute, her hooves slipped to Twilight's shoulders, repeating the process.
"R-Rainbow..." Twilight's eyes lidded, an entranced groan taking the place of further speech. Little by little, her body loosened, her nervousness ebbed, and relaxed waves rippled through her. Her breaths deepened and slowed, and she leaned backwards against Rainbow Dash's soft belly as she fell under the the gentle massage's spell.
"I want you to give me the real answer, Twilight." Rainbow Dash's voice was soothing, comforting. "How you really feel. And it'll stay here. I won't tell anypony. I promise."
"Y-you..." Twilight's chest heaved, as her breaths got even deeper. Her mind swam in a haze of wonderment, forcing her to fight for her words. "...s-sure about that?"
Rainbow Dash leaned closer, put her mouth next to Twilight's ear, and whispered a single word.
"Completely."
A heated shiver ran through Twilight the moment she felt Rainbow's lips press against her right cheek for the second time that night, and she decided to chance it. "W-well, all right. So Equestria's at peace, and-"
"Aww, Twilight..." Rainbow Dash sounded hurt.
"No, no, let me finish! Trust me?"
Rainbow Dash calmed down upon hearing Twilight's pleading tone. "Okay. Sorry about that."
"It's all right. So, everypony's happy. Hundreds of ponies are gathered in front of Canterlot Castle. They're all there to celebrate Princess Celestia. But then..." Twilight hesitated--then jolted and gasped when she felt a warm wetness swishing against the tip of her right ear. "Rainbow, are you--oh!" She gasped again when Rainbow Dash gave that same ear the lightest of nibbles.
"Mm-hmm," she heard the pegasus say with a playful giggle behind her. She saw and felt a pair of blue forelegs encircling her a second later. "Go on. Don't mind me."
"They're..." Twilight's heated shivers were back. She took another deep breath. "...they're all there to celebrate Princess Celestia. She's there, and she stands before them... but then she steps out of the way, and I come out from behind her. I'm on center stage now. Celestia gestures to me. She... she bows, Rainbow. "
Rainbow Dash stopped. Her eyes widened, though Twilight didn't see them. "Really?"
"Y-yeah. She does." Twilight's voice shook. "A-and the other ponies do, too. One by one, they're all bowing. I wonder if they're planning to call me 'Princess.' Honestly, I'm not sure I'd mind. But what they are all saying is, 'Thank you, Twilight. Thank you.'"
She looked up at the stars again. Her wide eyes took on a muted violet glow and her face shifted into an open-mouthed, hungry stare--both of which prompted Rainbow Dash to give a surprised gasp.
"'We'd be nothing without you. Thank you for saving the world twice. For bringing back one of our Princesses. For spending so much time reading your books and learning everything you could about magic! Even if we made fun of you and refused to understand when you messed up spells or declined to go to parties then acted like it was my fault that I didn't want to be friends with any of-"
"Whoa, whoa!" Rainbow grabbed Twilight's right hoof. "Twilight. Slow down! I... I think I get the idea."
Twilight froze, then snapped out of it with a gasp. "Oh, no, did I just... not again!" She buried her head in her hooves, then pulled up her hind legs and curled. "No, no, no, not again, no..."
Rainbow stroked Twilight's foreleg with her hoof. "Whoa, hey, it's okay! Wow, Applejack told me you had Canterlot issues, but I had no idea."
Twilight shook her head. "No, it's not okay. It's not!" A couple of sniffles could be heard in the silence of the night.
"Let me be the judge of that." Rainbow Dash nudged against Twilight's head in an attempt to raise it. However, Twilight resisted. "Oh, for crying out loud." She nudged harder, and met the same resistance. Finally, she just placed both hooves on each side of the unicorn's head and raised it outright. "Twilight. Look at me! I'm not going to bite!"
With a gargantuan effort, Twilight did so, and Rainbow Dash could see forlorn eyes already welling up with tears.
"I-I'm a terrible pony, Rainbow. And now you know why." Her voice cracked. "Everything I just said... do you know who that sounds like? I half expect to get sent to the moon myself in the next five years!"
"Awww, c'mon, Twilight." Rainbow Dash shook her head, then straddled Twilight's lap, setting the two body-to-body, and face-to-face. "Look, I'm not a history nerd. I have you for that. But from what I remember about the legend? Luna didn't have anypony in her corner. Well, her sister, sure, but that was the one she was jealous of in the first place. It probably didn't help." She wiped streaks from below Twilight's eyes. "Come on, you know better than to cry in front of me."
Twilight sniffed again. "I'm sorry."
"And quit apologizing! Now let's get to you." Rainbow ran her right hoof through Twilight's purple-tinted mane. Twilight let it happen, relaxing her body and her senses once more. This close together, the faint scent of flowers was apparent to them both. "You've got a family who loves you, a whole bunch of ponies at your back who do appreciate what you've done for Equestria, a teacher who might as well be all-powerful, and most of all, five super-close friends who'd do anything for you." She kissed Twilight on the nose. "And we know what you like."
Twilight giggled, bringing a hoof up and rubbing where she'd just received her last kiss. "But that also means I have so many more ponies to live up to! What if I let you down?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "That's the beautiful part. You won't. 'Cause the second we think you're going off the rails? We gotcha. So stop second-guessing yourself. That's our job."
The pegasus gave a gentle push, and Twilight obliged, lying on her back to face the stars.
Those stars were quickly replaced with Rainbow's smiling face as she lay atop her. Twilight's anguish gradually became replaced with a growing happiness.
It never ceased to amaze; where she applied careful thought to every problem she tried to solve, Rainbow Dash seemed to always have an answer--a good one--by using the path of least resistance. It was no wonder Twilight had fallen for her.
Well, that... and those deep, red eyes she was peering into right now. In those eyes she saw the idealism she once possessed, alive and well. She refused to let it go this time. If she couldn't have it herself, then she was going to keep it by her side.
"I'm here for you, Twilight. No matter how crazy you think you'll get. Heck, that's what I like about you. You're never dull. And when you're someone as action-packed as me, you kinda need someone like that who can keep up. So don't think I'm lettin' you go without a fight."
Twilight sniffed one last time, reached up, and hugged the pegasus close, nestling against the soft warmth of her coat.. "Rainbow... thank you. Thank you so much."
Rainbow Dash snuggled back. "No problem. You know I hate seein' you unhappy." She pulled back to show a hint of a mischievous grin. "And hey. If you really wanna be worshipped that badly..."
Pegasus knelt back down towards unicorn. Their lips pressed together, their tongues escaped their mouths, and played with each other's in warm, slippery swirls. Twilight moaned receptively into Rainbow Dash's mouth, sending vibrations through both of them, and causing Rainbow Dash to kiss even harder and more intensely.
When it was over, Twilight was left gasping for breath... and hot enough that she wasn't sure the lake could help anymore. The night around her no longer existed. There was only color, the rising heat of her own body, and the loving, caring pony above her. "Rainbow, I..."
"Shhh," came the reply, just before Twilight received another quick lip-kiss... after which Rainbow Dash pecked her chin, then the base of her neck, then went for sweet, wet, tickling little kisses and nibbles on the left side. Twilight gasped, arched her neck and held Rainbow close, as the tip of Rainbow's left hoof traced a trail from Twilight's chest, to her stomach, and lower still...
"Rainbow?... Rainbow... ohh!-"
"Hail, Twilight Sparkle," she heard Rainbow Dash whisper in her ear--just as the wonderful shocks made themselves known.