Waking up… wasn’t easy. Well, it never was, but under normal circumstances I’d have some sort of incentive to make me get up, either in the shape of my trusty old alarm clock, or in the shape of… in the shape of…
I groaned quietly as my eyes momentarily drifted open. The fact that I wasn’t looking at the wall or ceiling of my bedroom briefly flashed over my mind, but was quickly lost in the snowstorm that was my half-sleepy mind.
My eyes drifted shut again, and I felt myself drifting off. My ears began to come alive, picking up the distant sounds of birds chirping, along with a quiet, but very distinctive snoring.
My eyes drifted open again. Through sheer willpower, I managed to keep them open for a few seconds now. My vision was blurry, but I managed to make out… trees?
I blinked, finally managing to open my eyes now. Indeed, greeting me was the sight of the bushes and trees in my backyard. It was still dark outside, and if I wouldn’t know better, I would’ve said it was either very late or very early. Given the bird sounds, however…
“Ugh…” A muffled groan escaped my mouth as my eyes briefly drifted shut again. Gradually my mind awoke from its slumber, and I realized that I was in a sitting position. And I was… swinging?
Once again, my eyes fluttered open, and I slowly looked around. Indeed, I was in my backyard, sitting on a plush wooden hollywood swing. A family heirloom of sorts, originally purchased by my grandma, then passed on to my mother, before being handed over to me. Though to this day I’m still sure my mom just didn’t like it and wanted to get rid of it, but… well, I wasn’t going to complain. Its plush red upholstery was cozier than my own sofa, and positioned in my backyard it was just perfect for a long night of…
I jolted briefly, by instinct if nothing else, I felt something shift against me. Against the chilly morning air, I was a little surprised I hadn’t noticed the heated bundle resting against me sooner. My eyes drifted open again and my head turned to the side. My lips curled into a smile as I saw her.
Lying on her back, perched up against me with her head gently resting against my shoulder, she was gently snoring away. Her position made her look rather goofy, but if anything it looked nothing short of adorable to me.
My eyes drifted shut again as I leaned my head back against the plush pillow behind me, letting my mind wander; piece by piece, the memory of the previous night returned.
I’d been sitting on this exact swing, having just kicked back after a long day of work myself, when she’d returned from training. Contrary to her usual appearance, which would see her flying in and performing a landing anywhere between a superhero-pose or a straight-up sonic boom -depending on her mood- I was mildly surprised to simply hear the clopping of her hooves walking up the stone stairs to our house. Already, I’d felt myself furrowing my brow - that was never a good sign.
And indeed, my intuition hadn’t been wrong. With a resigned sigh that would have made Squidward jealous, she’d come walking around the house, dropping her saddlebag on the way and plopping herself down on the swing next to me without a word.
Knowing better than to probe, I’d opted to simply stay quiet, deciding to let her open up when she saw fit.
And indeed, as per usual, it didn’t take too long. She had a lot of qualities, though self-restraint wasn’t necessarily her forte.
Thus, I soon found myself listening to her. I’d been worried momentarily that something grave might have happened, but found myself somewhat at ease to hear that plaguing her were nothing more than the day to day struggles her life brought along. Failing to beat her personal record time on the circuit, getting chewed out by Spitfire for not meeting her instructor’s very high expectations, or plain and simply… crashing.
As I was quick to find out, today had been a healthy combination of all three. Much to my relief.
Of course, that was not to say that I was indifferent to her struggles - quite the contrary, in fact. I wanted her to be happy; to meet, and exceed her goals and everyone’s expectations.
But at the same time, a lesson I’d learned early on in my life… a lesson she still seemed to struggle to internalize, was that… well, noone was born a master. As much as I adored and admired her goals and dedication, I also knew that she could very easily get ahead of herself; put too much pressure on her own back, and get frustrated when unable to meet her own expectations.
Thus, none of what she said was news to me, and yet, I listened to it all with a patient, but serious face, allowing her to pour out her heart, to let all the anger and pent-up frustration flow freely and out of her system.
I didn’t know how long she was ranting; half an hour perhaps, maybe longer. What I did know was that, by the time she was done and finally settled down with an exasperated “Gosh! Guess I just suck!” I merely took my time, and slowly turned my head to face her.
The motion itself was enough to gain her attention, though I remained silent for a moment longer, allowing her to turn her head to look at me with those pretty magenta eyes of hers.
“Dash.” I said slowly, calmly, letting my words sink in. “C’mon, cut the crap.”
“Hmpf.” she merely grunted, rolling her eyes and crossing her forelegs as she turned away from me.
I raised an eyebrow as that first attempt had been unsuccessful. Perhaps I needed to push her buttons some more.
“We both know you’re one of the best flyers out there,” I explained matter-of-factly. “One of these days you’re gonna fly circles around that shitfire-girl.”
Triumphantly, I saw as the corner of her mouth twitched upward for just a second, and I heard that lovely voice of hers give a muffled snicker. “Don’t ever let her hear you say that.” she grumbled. Frustration was still evident in her voice, though the slight hint of amusement in her voice was all the fuel I needed to get going.
“What,” I said in a mock tone, making myself sound more confident than I really was. “You think I can’t take on some puny little horse?”
“She’s gonna kick your ass.” Rainbow Dash said with a definitive certainty in her voice. It was true of course. I’d seen her instructor once, and even despite being less than a third my size, I was sure she could wipe the floor with me if she wanted to. However, that didn’t matter in this moment. What mattered was the fact that the corners of Dash’s mouth were on a continuous journey upward, and I’d do whatever it took to keep that journey going.
“Yeah sure,” I said with a boasting laugh, “She weighs like what, fifty pounds?”
“Fifty-five.” Rainbow Dash interjected. Part of me wanted to point out how she probably got that information from a Wonderbolts collectible card game, but I contained myself, deciding to let her have this victory. “Definitely enough to kick your ass.”
“Sure,” I said with a smirk, leaning back confidently, “You know, just call me next time she’s giving you trouble. It’s been a while since I’ve had some hot wings.”
That finally managed to get a brief, snorting chuckle from her. A sound that was music to my ears.
“I’ll let her know,” Rainbow said in a half-serious tone, her raspy voice finally seeming to relax a little, before she broke into another heavy sigh. “But seriously…”
I cocked an eyebrow, turning my head towards her, expecting her to say something more.
“I just…” she grumbled, seeming to struggle to find her words, before eventually giving an exasperated sigh and dropping back against the pillow, crossing her forelegs. “Ugh.”
“Hmm,” I mused, looking at her briefly. She’d certainly relaxed a little now, presumably enough to be open for realtalk.
Rainbow Dash merely raised an eyebrow, looking up at me with those magnificent eyes of hers, and giving me a good look at her for the first time today. Her cyan fur was still slightly damp with cold sweat from earlier; a couple of dirt spots and bruises were telling tales of the struggles that lay behind her. Her pretty rainbow-colored mane was sticking to her head, also showing a few signs of failed landings and missed approaches.
And yet, despite being in urgent need of a shower, she was as pretty as ever to me.
I chewed on my lip, contemplating what to say. Now seemed like a good opportunity to get real with her - to tell her how much she had improved since she started training in the Wonderbolts academy, and how far she’d already come. It seemed reasonable to remind her that she had all the time in the world to get better; that she’d be a master of her craft a lot sooner than she might expect, and that I had no doubt about her potential to become the best Wonderbolt of all time if she kept improving at the rate she currently was at.
And yet, I found my mouth only able to bring out one sentence.
She tilted her head to the side, eyeing me somewhat curiously as I looked down at her sitting next to me, seeming to expect me to say… something.
“You look like you could use a drink.”
Her face lit up. Noticeably.
Jackpot.
“You’re gosh-dang right I do,” she said, her voice still a little hoarse, though I liked to believe that the frustration swinging in it now was at least mostly put-on.
“Say no more then,” I said with a grin, pushing myself up off the swing and walking towards the glass door leading inside. “Cider?” I asked, focusing her over my shoulder.
“Is that even a question?” she shot back, and I was delighted to see her trademark smirk back on her face. Realtalk could wait. For now, it was time to unwind.
A few moments later, I plopped myself back down onto the swing next to a now much more relaxed-looking Rainbow Dash. I passed her a bottle with the golden liquid inside, holding my own firmly in my hand, and raised it to the sky.
“Here’s…” I said, smirking over to Dash, who held the bottle in her wing and looked at me, “To Captain Shitfire.”
A brief burst of laughter broke forth from the cyan pegasus mare. “Dude, she is so gonna kill you.”
***
Needless to say, the first cider we shared didn’t end up being the last one. After one round of drinking to the infamous captain of the Wonderbolts, another round followed shortly after, this one dedicated to Rainbow Dash and her ambitions. The third round was dedicated to life and its simple pleasures, the fourth one -at Rainbow’s request- to the magic of friendship, and the fifth one… well, my memory began to get a little blurry at this point.
If I wasn’t mistaken, this was also the point where RD had disappeared into the house, coming back moments later with a large bottle of liquor in her hooves. Everything afterwards was… just one big blur to my mind.
Right now, I found myself back on that very same swing, still wearing the same clothes I did the night before, having missed any kind of change, brushing my teeth or showering. Needless to say, I felt… a little gross.
A weak sigh escaped my lips as I turned my head again, my eyes coming to rest on RD still lying next to me. A thin trail of drool was running from the corner of her mouth onto my shoulder, and her rainbow mane, still somewhat sticky from the day before, felt slightly cold against my exposed upper arm.
I opened my mouth, letting out a hearty yawn. How late was it? Or… how early? Four, maybe? Five? Heck if I knew.
Another gust of cold morning air blew against my exposed arms, leading me to bristle.
“Dash.” I spoke up slowly, my head still a little heavy from the night before. “Daash.”
A displeased grumble was all I got from the mare lying next to me. She’d never been an early riser.
“C’mon, let’s head inside.” I said, fighting to pump some motivation into my words, though it was clear that I liked the thought of getting up just as little as her.
As if to confirm my thoughts, a low grumble came back from the mare, and she shifted slightly, turning her head so that her face was pressing into the plush red pillow.
“C’mon,” I repeated myself, “It’s getting cold.” I explained, trying to wrestle some reason from my tired and hungover mind. It worked… somewhat well. No really, it didn’t work. At all.
Another grumble came from the mare. It seemed she really wasn’t in a talking mood.
“Daaash,” I put on a fake whine. “It’s cold.”
Of course, I was perfectly aware that I could just get up and head inside. However, the two problems with that idea were that, for one, I’d have to push her aside to get up, leading her in a very uncomfortable lying position. For two, while I was exaggerating and it wasn’t freezing, it still was fairly chilly. I was less concerned about myself, but the last thing I wanted was for her to catch a cold and potentially miss training once it started again on Monday.
Another low grumble escaped the mare next to me, and I raised an eyebrow as I watched her shift and slowly push herself to her hooves. Well, as best as she could, anyway. The after-effects of the cider were showing their ugly face, and the cyan mare had visible trouble keeping herself on her hooves.
However, it seemed she had no intentions of walking too far. In fact, she only moved by a few inches. Pushing herself to her hooves, she climbed over my legs, straddling my lap, before letting herself drop against me. Chest to chest she was now sitting atop me, her head resting on my shoulder, rainbow mane covering almost half of my vision. Her natural scent, albeit mixed with a hint of sweat and dirt, was still quite noticeable, and brought a smile to my face.
“There.” she said half-heartedly, still seeming half-asleep herself, “‘shwarm now.” she spoke, before going limp again, melting into me.
I felt a smile creep onto my face.
“That’s not what I meant you doofus,” I said, quietly so as to not startle her as I felt her soft breathing against my neck.
“Cannhearya,” she half-mumbled, half-slurred into my neck. “Am ashleep.”
That got a genuine laugh out of me. It was nice to see her more goofy side show again after the rough day that lay behind her.
Still, my point remained. It was quite cold.
I gave a heavy sigh, making sure to make myself sound noticeably more annoyed than I really was. “Alright,” I grumbled, “You win, missy.'' I said, and slowly began to raise my arms. “Hold on tight.”
With that, I placed one hand on the pegasus mare’s back. Her fur still felt amazingly soft despite everything, and her taut skin suggested the muscle that was resting underneath.
But I fought not to let myself get lost in the cuddle zone. I had a job to do!
WIth that, I placed my second hand underneath her, holding on to her legs for support. I closed my eyes one final time, gathering up all my strength and determination, and pushed myself up. Getting up off that swing had never been easy, and trust me when I say, it was a good bit harder with a full-sized mare on top of me and no arms to pull myself up with.
However, either through some divine intervention or just sheer willpower, I managed to pull myself back to my feet, shortly after standing on wobbly legs, and ready to… ready to…
I gave another yawn, hearing Rainbow Dash softly breathe into my ear as sleep seemed to get a hold of her once again. God, when had sleep become so contagious?
I blinked for a good bit longer than normal. Then blinked again. And again. And…
I couldn't do it.
Giving a low groan, I took a step back, and heard the swing’s wooden construction groan as I plopped myself back down on it, Rainbow Dash still held firmly in my arms. If she minded the sudden movement she didn’t let it show, merely giving a low grumble as she shifted in my arms. I could feel her chest slowly heaving, soft fur brushing against my own chest as I leaned back on the swing, already feeling exhaustion get the better of me again.
I sighed softly, gently running my hand over Rainbow Dash’s back fur, briefly brushing over her wings, before traveling up her spine and ultimately coming to rest on her shoulder blades; I knew she loved that spot.
Indeed, the mare in my arms seemed to relax even more. What signs of awakeness there had been on the mare were now gone, and she was like putty in my arms as I gently hugged her against me, running my hand over her back and feeling her heart beat against mine as sleep washed over us again.
I briefly raised my head, looking up at the morning sky where the first rays of sunlight were beginning to show, until my attention was caught by the sight of two pretty magenta eyes now slowly cracking open and looking at me.
Inadvertently, I felt myself smile.
“Five more minutes?” I asked quietly, resting my hand on Rainbow’s shoulder.
“Five more minutes.” she agreed, allowing her eyes to drift shut again.
And with the sounds of birds chirping and our neighborhood slowly coming to live again, I felt myself once again being pulled into dreamland, accompanied by the gentle snoring sounds of the mare in my arms.
Life was good.