"Is this a dream?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Rainbow Dash didn't answer immediately, though the answer would have been obvious to anyone watching the scene. They were entwined on top of a soft pink cloud of candy floss, one of many in a bank that stretched past where their eyes could see. The Sun was there to shine on them, and yet it wasn't. Everything was uniformly, pleasantly lit, the warmth of a spring mid-afternoon balanced just right by the gentle breeze blowing on them, the perfect weather to laze around in comfort without being too hot. But looking up the sky was a uniform carpet of blue, without trace of the source of that light, with nothing to burn their eyes if they stared at it too long.
The pegasus nuzzled Pinkie Pie, but eventually she answered. "Yes."
"And are you a part or it?" asked Pinkie Pie then. "Are you a part of the dream, or are you the real Rainbow Dash?"
Again, Rainbow Dash paused. She pulled her legs a little tighter around Pinkie Pie's back, she caressed her with her wings and smelt her mane. It smelt like cotton candy, but unlike the one their bodies lay upon. But eventually, she had to give an answer, and she chose to be truthful with the mare. "I'm both," she said. "A Rainbow Dash was part of this dream, and I slipped into her to see what it'd be like. I'm the real Rainbow Dash, but one would have been here either way."
Pinkie nodded, and didn't let go of their hug. "This is nice," she said. "Maybe we should also do this when we're awake."
"This is nice," Rainbow agreed. She swallowed and looked around them, at the impossible beautiful scenery that was Pinkie's dream. "But..." She didn't have it in her to finish that sentence.
Pinkie Pie did. "But you don't love me," she said. "Not like this." She pulled a little back, and looked Rainbow in the eyes. "I don't love you like this either," she said. "I like you, of course I do, maybe I could even be your girl if I had to choose. In another life, another world, I might very well have been. But this is not that world. It's just a dream. A pleasant dream, one that could have been reality in a slightly different world, but it's not what either of us wants."
Rainbow Dash looked back at her. "I... Yeah. You put that better than I could have." She looked to the side again, to avoid Pinkie's eyes. "Is it wrong? Is it wrong to enjoy this when we know it won't last and it's not the truth?"
"I didn't have a choice," Pinkie said. "For me it was just a dream. Something my mind made up, and outlet for my feelings for you that are not enough to make up a full on relationship in the real world. You're here by choice though."
Rainbow Dash swallowed. "I really don't know how Luna manages to do it," she said.