//------------------------------// // Cuddles and Snuggles // Story: A Quiet Night At Home // by bluejusticewrites01 //------------------------------// “Alright, Bolts! That’s enough training for today! Go home and get some rest! You all deserve it!” Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her brow, feeling completely exhausted. It had been a long and gruesome day of training, and she couldn’t wait to get home and go to bed. “Yes, ma’am!” she said to Spitfire before heading back inside the building. The cyan Pegasus headed in the direction of the showers, pulling the curtain closed with her wing. She unzipped her uniform and removed her goggles, hanging them up on the wall. They needed to be washed, but Dash didn’t feel the need to worry about it. After all, another pony would take care of the laundry. Running a hoof through her mane, she gave a tired groan and turned on the shower to the hottest setting she could stand. Slowly, she stepped under the shower and closed her eyes, allowing the water to soak her coat, mane, and tail. “Ah, just what I needed,” she said to herself as she grabbed a bottle of shampoo off the shelf and squirted a decent amount of it into her hooves. “Nothing like a hot shower to clear your mind.” She hummed as she scrubbed her mane with the shampoo, wanting to wash the dirt and sweat out of it. Then slowly, she moved down to her tail, repeating the same process. “Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Dash’s eyes opened wide as she let out a frightened scream and quickly turned around to see who was there. She then sighed in relief when she saw Soarin standing in the shower with her. “Soarin, what the hay?” she nearly snapped. “Can’t you see that I’m trying to get clean here?” Soarin blushed and shook his head. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “I’m sorry, Dash. I didn’t mean to scare you.” “That’s okay, dude,” Dash said, smiling at him while standing underneath the hot water, closing her eyes as she rinsed the shampoo out of her mane and tail. “So, what’s up? I don’t recall asking for an audience in the shower.” “I know,” Soarin said. “It’s just… I’ve been wanting to ask you something.” “Ask me something, huh?” Dash opened her eyes and smirked at him. “Well, what is it, big boy?” she asked. “Can it wait?” “Nah, the thing is,” he began. “I really like you. Like, I like you a lot.” Dash grabbed a bar of soap off the shelf. “I know,” she said, winking at him. “I’ve seen you act so weird, Soarin, and I figured out why.” “You did?” “Duh! Of course.” Dash scrubbed her face with the bar of soap and stood under the water to wash it off before it could get into her eyes. “Sorry,” she said, looking back at him. “I don’t want to get soap in my eyes, you know.” Soarin laughed as he watched her clean herself. “So… you’re not, you know, mad?” he asked nervously. “Because I was expecting you to-“ “Why would I be mad?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “I could never be mad at you, Soarin.” She washed her coat with the bar of soap while keeping her eyes on him. Soarin blushed and began to unzip his uniform and remove his goggles, hanging them up on the wall next to Dash’s. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” she said, laughing as he walked over to her. “What are you doing? I would like some privacy, dude.” “I know,” he said, grinning. “But I couldn’t come in here and-“ “Not say hello to the mare of your dreams?” she teased. “Yeah, exactly.” Dash smiled as he gave her a little peck on the cheek. “Well, this took a turn,” she said. “You betcha,” Soarin said. “So… I was asking if you wanted to, you know, hang out sometime?” “I’d love to,” Dash replied, smiling at him. “Really?” “Of course! I’ve been waiting for you to ask that question for a while.” Dash stood under the shower and rinsed the soap off her coat. “What’d you have in mind?” she asked. “Oh, nothing,” Soarin replied. “Just a quiet night at home. Those are my kind of dates after all.” “Duh!” Dash stuck her tongue out at him. “Of course I know that, dude,” she said. “But I’m always up for anything if it’s with you.” Soarin blushed. “Thanks, Dash,” he said. “That’s… very nice of you to say.” Dash smiled and turned off the shower. “Anytime, big guy,” she said, brushing past him as she grabbed a towel off the rack and dried herself off. “But if you’re gonna go out tonight, you need to get clean as well.” Soarin laughed and stepped into the shower, turning it on to its coldest setting. “And you know I like to take cold showers,” he said. Dash shook her head and hung up her now wet towel. “This gives me an idea for our… first date,” she said. “You know, I want to go home and get some rest, but I don’t want to be by myself this time.” “Oh?” Soarin turned his attention towards her. “Why’s that?” he asked. “I just want somepony over tonight, that’s all,” she replied. “Are you, uh, up for it?” “Of course!” he said. “But I kinda need to finish showering before we do anything else, you know.” “Ha! Of course. See you tonight!” Dash winked at him before heading out of the building. The sun set over the horizon, painting the sky a mix of bright orange, yellow, and red. Dash let out a sigh as she opened the door to her cloud home, kicking the door shut behind her with one of her hind legs. “Home at last,” she said to herself. “But no time for sleep. I gotta make sure the house is ready for Soarin’s arrival.” She took her time cleaning the house, leaving no room untouched. Once she was all done cleaning, she sat down on the couch next to her pet tortoise Tank and gently pet his shell. “Oh, Tank… tonight is going to be spectacular,” she said, gently pulling Tank closer. “Me and Soarin are gonna have a good time.” She let out a yawn and suddenly felt her eyes begin to droop. She was exhausted, and her mind was telling her to scratch the date and head upstairs to her room for the night, but she shook her head. She didn’t want to let Soarin down or hurt his feelings. After all, he had been nothing but nice to her, and that’s what she liked the most about him; Soarin was a lot like her, but he was also as tough as nails when it came to relationships and feelings. “Come on, Soarin… where are you?” she asked out loud while holding Tank. “Don’t leave me hanging, bro.” “I’ve been here all this time.” “Huh?” Dash jumped up from her couch and gasped when she saw Soarin standing in front of her bedroom door. “Soarin?” she asked. “H-How did you-“ “A strong and tough stallion never reveals his secrets,” Soarin replied with a smirk as he walked over to her. “Let’s just say that your windows are always open.” “Oh,” Dash breathed, looking up at the cloud window above the couch. “Yeah, well my windows are part of my cloud home, dude. You can’t accuse me of leaving the windows open. Nice try, but they’re made of cloud as well, and clouds don’t have glass.” “Fair point,” Soarin said, sitting down on the couch. “So… how are you doing? Happy that you invited me over?” “Yeah,” Dash said, sitting down beside him. “But I have a pet tortoise, and he gets nervous around strangers.” “Tank?” “Yeah, he- wait. How do you know my pet’s name?” “I snuck into your house sometimes.” “You… you WHAT?!” Dash glared at Soarin, who gulped. “Why would you do that?!” she shouted. “Breaking into somepony else’s home could get you in big trouble, dude! Imagine what would happen if-“ “No, it’s not like that!” Soarin interrupted her. “Please, just let me explain. I really like you, Dash, and I know it was wrong of me to sneak into your house, but-“ Dash silenced him by kissing him on the lips, taking him by surprise. “I was just playing with you, big guy,” she said after pulling away. “But I do get very protective of my property, you know. You weren’t stealing my food, were you?” “No, but I did steal something.” “Oh, yeah? And what’s that?” “I mean, you stole something.” Soarin chuckled, seeing the shocked expression on Dash’s face. “What?” she asked. “You stole my heart,” he replied, smiling coyly at her. “Dash… when you joined the Wonderbolts, I was very excited because I have liked you for a long time, and now that you’re officially on our team, I feel like we’re-“ “Made for each other?” she asked, making him chuckle. “Exactly.” “Oh, Soarin… that’s awesome! I feel the same exact way.” “You do?” “Yeah! I’ve always had a crush on you even before I joined the Wonderbolts. You’re just so… so… so hot, and I’ve been waiting for this moment.” “What moment?” “Going on the perfect date and spending time with you.” Soarin blushed and stared deep into Dash’s eyes. She smiled and leaned forward, kissing him again. This time, Soarin melted into the kiss and wrapped his forelegs around her neck. “Mmm…” Dash groaned as they broke apart. “Have I ever told you that you’re such a good kisser?” “Nope,” Soarin replied, kissing her again. “You can tell me that right now.” Dash giggled between kisses. “Alright then,” she said. “Soarin, you’re such a good kisser.” “Thank you,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for you to tell me that.” The two continued to kiss until a small gurgling sound from beside them caused Dash to pull away. “Ah, Tank needs his dinner,” she said. “Why don’t you head upstairs while I feed the tortoise?” “Sounds good,” he said, kissing her cheek before flying upstairs to her room, where they would stay the night. The moment when Soarin stepped inside Dash’s bedroom, his jaw immediately dropped. Scented candles sat on her bedside table, and the bed was covered with red and pink rose petals. Even the blanket was missing, and Soarin began to worry, but he sighed when he saw the blanket on the floor. Slowly, he picked it up and folded it neatly before putting it inside her closet. “There,” he said. “Now her blanket won’t get dirty. But what’s with the candles and rose petals, though? I’m curious.” “Oh, you see the candles and rose petals?” Dash asked from behind him. Soarin would normally shriek if somepony walked up on him like that, but he smiled and turned around, knowing that it was only Rainbow Dash and nopony else. “Yeah, but what are they for?” he asked. “Just to make tonight special,” she replied, smiling at him. “Were you thinking that we were going to… you know-“ “Do it?” “Yeah.” Dash kissed him on the cheek. “But no, don’t think of it that way,” she said. “At least, not yet. I think we should take it slow before we go all the way.” “I’d like that,” he said. “I don’t wanna rush things either.” Dash smiled and walked past him, laying down on the bed. “Hey… can you go grab the blanket?” she asked, letting out a yawn. “I don’t want us to get chilly tonight.” “Sure thing,” he said, walking into her closet and grabbing the blanket off the shelf. “Why was it on the floor, though?” “Oh… I forgot to put it back on the bed after I washed it,” she said. “I see.” Soarin climbed into bed next to her and draped the blanket over them. “Well, tonight is perfect so far,” he whispered in her ear. “Yeah,” she said, rolling onto her left side, facing him. “I’m glad you came over tonight. Thank you.” “No, thank you for inviting me over,” he said, making her chuckle. “This is the best date I’ve ever gone on.” “Even though we didn’t go anywhere?” “Yeah.” Dash smiled and kissed him, wrapping her forelegs around his neck as she deepened the kiss, taking him by surprise. “Whoa,” he breathed as they broke apart again. “When did you become such an animal?” Dash winked. “A mare never reveals her secrets,” she said. “Hey, uh… Soarin?” “Yeah?” “What are we going to tell everypony about us? You know, our… relationship?” “We won’t tell them.” Soarin kissed her cheek. “For now, let’s keep our relationship private… and basic, too,” he said. “Starting with just a quiet night at home.” “I’d like that,” she whispered. “Well, we better get some sleep. Good night, dude.” Soarin smiled as he watched Dash snuggle close to him. “Good night, babe… I love you,” he whispered in her ear, causing her to smile as her eyes fluttered closed. “I love you too, big guy…” she murmured before finally drifting off to sleep. Soarin sighed and wrapped his forelegs around her, holding her close as he too drifted off to sleep in his new girlfriend’s bed. “I’ll love you more than the stars in the sky, Rainbow Dash…” he murmured against her cheek. “Good night, my love.”