You walk along the front walk to the front door of your home.
It’s a beautiful day, with the sun shining brightly down upon you as you make your way to the front door, taking out your key and opening the door.
You step inside, the cool air of your air conditioning greeting you.
A moment later, you see a flash of colors and cyan in front of your face before feeling your torso being compressed lightly.
Looking down, you see the cause for the constricting sensation.
A cyan colored pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail was standing on her hind legs before you, her fore hooves wrapped around your torso in a hug.
In was none other than your good friend Rainbow Dash, her fast flying skills living up to her name.
You both had known each other for a few years now, and over the course of the first year she had begun to spend more and more time at your house.
So much time in fact that you had given her the guest room and a key so she could come and go as she pleased.
She now spent a good chunk of each day at your home, at least when she wasn’t back in Equestria with her friends and teammates.
It had been an odd thing when ponies had first discovered your world.
Building pony human relations had taken time, and finding how this collision of worlds as it were could serve each civilization was something of an interesting experience.
In the end ponies and humans had benefited greatly, with your world gaining much in the ways of magical properties and the ponies gaining much in the ways of science and technology.
Ponies so far had been the only creatures able to travel back and forth between worlds, but pony and human kind were working hard every day to try and get a human to Equestria safely.
You were just happy that of all ponies Rainbow Dash had found you.
You had just been walking through your neighborhood one day when you stumbled upon her flying around, apparently seeing if she could out fly airplanes.
She had tired herself out quite a bit and you invited her back to your house for a drink of water.
You both had gotten to talking and the rest was history.
You wrap your arms around her and return the hug, caressing her back with your hands as they ran their way through her coat.
“Aw Dashie, did you miss me?” You say to her in a teasing way.
The cyan mare immediately releases you, dropping to all four hooves on the floor and blushing deep red.
“N-no! You just, looked like you could use a hug and…Erg! Why do you humans have to work so long!” She said, turning her eyes away from you to avoid your glance.
“I know Dash I know. I don’t like working either, but I gotta keep the lights on and food on the table.” You say as you slip off your shoes and drop your keys and wallet on the table by the door.
You both make your way into the kitchen and you begin to prepare something to eat for dinner.
“You want anything?” You ask her as she lays herself down on the floor a short distance away from you.
“Naw. Had a big lunch. Gotta keep this body Wonderbolt sharp!” She says as she flexes her right fore leg.
You chuckle and begin to prepare your food, putting a pan on and tossing a steak from the fridge into the pan with a little seasoning.
You then prepare some instant mash potatoes in the microwave, turning back to flip your steak as you pop a can of green beans and a little butter into another dish just as the mash potatoes ding in the microwave.
You switch the two vegetables out, putting the mash potatoes on the counter and then turn your attention back to your steak.
Its juicy aroma is filling the kitchen, making your belly rumble.
Your steak finishes cooking just after you take out the green beans.
You grab a plate and put a nice helping of each food item on there, then walk over and place it on the table.
You then go and grab two glasses and fill them with water, placing one opposite your chair as Dash joins you at the table.
“You know you’d save a lot of time if you just ate veggies like I do.” Says Dash as she takes her seat.
“Yeah, well at least it doesn’t take as much time to make as your pasta and potato sandwich on sourdough.” You say as you take a bite of your steak.
“Hey! Don’t knock my favorite meal.” She says to you.
“Heh. Good thing you exercise so much or you’d be as big as Mrs. Cake eating those.” You say, taking another bite of your dinner.
“I would not! I’m way too awesome to become as big as her.” She retorts, gulping down more water.
“I don’t know. A couple more pounds and some mane dye and I’d say you’d almost be her spitting image.” You say with a smile.
“You take that back! I am not fat!” She says, leaning across the table toward you. You can tell she’s really getting worked up.
“Whatever you say, Lard Butt.” You say with a slow dictation to make sure she clearly hears each word.
“Grrrr! You better apologize or I’ll…I’ll…” She stutters as she tries to think of what to say.
You begin to laugh at her not getting the joke.
“I’m just kidding Rainbow. You’re too easy you know that?” You say between laughs as she sits back in her chair, the angry glare leaving her face.
“Am not.” She says, crossing her fore legs and looking away grumpily.
You get up and walk over to her, taking your hand and placing it atop her head to scratch her behind the ears.
She struggles at first, but you know how to break her. Nopony can ever resist ear scratches.
Her body begins to twitch involuntarily as the ear scratches do their job. It only takes about fifteen seconds before her forelegs drop to the chairs cushion and she leans into the hand, eagerly wanting more.
Rainbow sighs pleasantly as you transfer into some light pats, finally ending in a warm hug.
“So, you don’t think I’m fat?” She asks you.
You chuckle. “Naw. You’re still the most awesomely fit pony in all Equestria.” You say as you release her from the hug.
“And don’t you go forgetting it again.” She says.
You chuckle and turn back to your dinner, finishing the last of it before putting your dishes in the dishwasher and heading upstairs to your bedroom, Dash following behind you.
Your room is fairly plain, with just a dresser, bed, and your computer desk.
A few knick knacks are placed around the room to make it look lived in.
You head over onto the bed and grab the remote, flipping on to your streaming service and resuming watching whatever quality cartoon show you and Rainbow had been marathoning as of late.
She hops up on the bed with you, laying her body across your lap so you can pet her while you both watch.
You both make small talk as you take in the show, chatting about your day.
“So Spitfire is still out on her honeymoon huh?” You say to her as you rub her back, being especially careful around the base of her wings.”
“Yeah. I’m glad she asked me to help lead the team in drills while she’s away but it’s a lot of work. I’ve never yelled so much before.” She says as you continue to rub her sore muscles.
You remember the day Dash told you her team captain was getting married.
The mare was getting to be almost middle age, with many ponies thinking she would just stay single her whole life.
Maybe that was why it was so surprising when the mare had announced she was marrying a human.
It was something pony society was still getting used to. After all it wasn’t like she could bring him to her world yet, but Equestrian society seemed to be taking it in stride, a fair number of pony and human couples existing in the past year or so.
Needless to say your world didn’t recognize such an odd relationship, with a good amount of people downright calling it wrong. But you were sure over time things would change.
After all the ponies were just as smart and civilized as humans if not more so.
While you certainly couldn’t really see yourself as someone that could be with a pony partner, you surely didn’t have a problem with other ponies and people being married to each other if that was what made them happy.
You looked down at Dash, looking at the TV as you moved to checking her wings for broken and loose feathers.
You and Rainbow were just friends and that was fine for the both of you. You both enjoyed each other’s company and doing things together.
Sure it was quite a bit different then your human friendships but ponies were just different. They liked cuddling and hugs, and if you were honest, you liked how soft and cuddly they were.
You wouldn’t trade what you and Dash had for the world.
Soon Dash gets up off your lap and shifts to a more comfortable stance, lying down beside you.
You don’t pay her much attention, just focusing on the cartoon characters locked in an epic battle on screen.
The show continues and you don’t notice as Rainbow begins easing her way on top of you until she’s pinning you against the bed with her weight.
You look down at Rainbow, resting her head against your chest.
“Uh, Rainbow? Isn’t it hard to watch the show like that?” You ask her.
“I’m cold. I just need to warm up a little.” She says as she rubs her body against yours.
You only have a sheet covering your bed since its summer, but you know some people find your AC a bit too cold. What harm could it be for Rainbow to warm herself up with your body heat for a minute?
You turn you attention back to the show on the TV, idly placing a hand on Rainbow’s back and petting it like you usually do when you sit together.
You watch as the characters on screen go on an epic quest to find ancient artifacts to defeat an evil creature that’s terrorizing their world, along the way learning new things and growing closer as friends and allies.
You wish more shows these days had these redeeming qualities. Now many of them only focused on copying videos on the internet or were super short to deal with kids slow attention spans.
Soon the characters are in an epic showdown, and all hope seems to be lost, but through friendship they overcome the villain and save the world! The characters rejoice and celebrate as the credits roll and you see you’re at the end of the current season.
You look at the time on screen and see that it’s a fair bit later then you thought it was. You were really wrapped up in the story.
It was time to get ready for bed.
When you go to get up however you feel a heavy weight holding you down.
You look down and find Rainbow still lying on top of you, the cyan mare sound asleep.
You realize that she has been on top of you for almost two hours, the TV distracting you so much you didn’t even notice.
You give her body a gentle nudge, trying to be nice about getting her up.
You both need to get ready for bed.
“Come on Rainbow. Bedtime.” You say calmly as you nudge her side.
The pegasus barely moves, weighing a bit more then you do given her size and toned muscles. You couldn’t move her much if you really wanted to.
“Nuuuu! Too ired.” She moans as you try to get her up. You wonder if she even hears you.
“Come on Dash. Go sleep in your room.” You say, nudging her some more.
“Douh wanna. Sweep you.” She says, only seeming to settle more against your body.
“Why would you wanna sleep with me?” You ask her, not believing you’re even having this conversation at 2 am.
“Cause I wuv ou ats why.” She says in a plainly tired voice.
You stop for a moment. What did she just say?
“You…love me?” You ask looking down at her confused.
“Es, wuv ou so uch.” She says groggily.
You blush a deep red.
Your friend Rainbow Dash just said she loves you. Twice!
Surely she doesn’t mean it. You’re both just friends. Practically best friends.
You spend so much time together hanging out, enjoying things together, cuddling and petting her….
Was something happening you were too blind to realize?
Were perhaps your actions toward Rainbow taken the wrong way by the mare?
You didn’t think so. You treated her like any other friend right? Well maybe like an animal friend that could talk. It was okay to pet real horses in your world so should ponies be any different?
Besides Rainbow had asked you to pet her first right?
You try to think back to the first time you petted Rainbow or scratched her behind the ears.
She had asked you to right? It was only natural to pet animals in your world.
But, Rainbow wasn’t an animal. She was your equal. You could never do anything to harm her.
Maybe you had just assumed because you hadn’t known any better and Rainbow just never stopped you.
Maybe she thought you wanted something more from her? Like what Spitfire’s human had.
You feel anxious. You worry you may have inexplicably played with your friend’s emotions.
You don’t want to hurt her feelings. How are you going to tell her you don’t love her back?
Well that’s not entirely true. Is it? You’ve felt so close to Dashie for a while now.
Like a long time family member. You just can’t quite figure out what kind.
Not like a sister, but maybe a child? No that didn’t seem right either.
She was more like a-. You realize you really can’t avoid it. She was like a girlfriend.
Spending all your time together, eating together, cuddling.
It hadn’t seemed like it to you in those moments but that’s what it was wasn’t it?
You had done all those things with your ex girlfriends.
The only difference with Rainbow was she was a different species.
But you didn’t like ponies that way. You like human girls.
Rainbow was so much more-
You look down at her sleeping soundly.
She looks so peaceful and content, just being here and cuddling with you.
She was diabetes level cute. No. She was beautiful.
The most beautiful thing you’d seen in a long time. Maybe ever.
You realize that you had not seen Rainbow as you should.
She was just like any other woman inside, and you had been blind to it.
She had fallen for you. And you’d been too blind to see it.
You feel bad for not noticing sooner. She deserved to know how you felt about it, and knowing her she was probably too scared to ask.
You don’t know what to do.
But looking down at the mare that’s loosely embracing you, you realize you want to figure this out together.
Maybe your relationship with Dash doesn’t have to be the same as your past human partners, but that doesn’t mean you both can’t find romantic fulfillment in one another right?
You didn’t have to do “those things” with each other. You could just enjoy each other’s company.
And who knows? Maybe in time, you could get to that step. If that’s what Rainbow really wanted.
You take her hooves in your hands and lean down toward her face.
“I love you too.” You say as you lightly kiss her forehead.
You lay back into your pillow, taking one last look at Dashie before you close your eyes.
You can see she’s now got a warm smile on her face.
You’re so happy that she does.
You lay back and close your eyes, ready to go to sleep.
You’re not sure what awaits for you and Rainbow Dash in the future, but something tells you it’s gonna be at least twenty percent cooler doing it together.