//------------------------------// // And every time we kiss // Story: On Feathered Wings and Midnight Daydreams // by Rusty_Kettle //------------------------------// Sunup’s eyes slowly fluttered open. He raised his forehooves in a vain attempt to wipe the sleep from his eyes. But it was no use, he had stayed up for way too long last night, still reeling from what had happened with Blue. Sunup felt his cheeks start to burn at the mere memory. The bat pony craned his head around to look at his alarm clock, seeing that it was still fairly early in the morning. He was surprised to not hear anything else, however, had Blue not woken up yet? “I need to apologize…” He told himself, the events of the previous night still sticking out in his mind. He rolled out of bed, stretching his back for a moment before grabbing a hair tie off his night table and tying his mane back. How could he make it up to Blue? The bat stallion wondered. An idea dawned on him when he opened the door to the living room. He would just need to be very quick. Sunup picked up a small satchel with bits and carefully made his way into the living room, keeping as quiet as he could. He unlocked the front door and winced slightly as the hinges creaked, but fortunately, he didn’t hear anything from Blue’s room that indicated he had woken up. Letting out a sigh of relief, the bat stallion stepped outside and carefully shut the door behind him. “Pancakes,” He told himself, “Actual pancakes” Not knowing how much time he had left before Blue woke up, Sunup flew to the store like a bat outta Tartarus. He darted into the store and scooped up the first box of pancake mix he spotted. “Thank you for your purchase sir, that’ll be-“ The cashier started to say before Sunup threw a wingful of bits onto the register. “Keep the change!” The bat pony shouted back, knowing full well that he probably overpaid by a lot. But it didn’t matter, he had to get back home as quickly as he could. The trip back home was significantly slower than the flight to the store, but still fast nonetheless. He managed to stop himself before crashing into the front door, it wouldn’t do him any good if he just woke Blue up by rushing into the apartment too fast. Instead, he carefully unlocked the door and pulled it open slightly. One of Sunup’s purple ears poked into the living room, causing him to smile when he realized that the place was still quiet. Perfect, he had made it back in time. The bat stallion walked into the kitchen and got to work on preparing breakfast. Try as he might, it was impossible to stay quiet for long. As soon as he dropped a piece of butter onto the pan and it started to sizzle, his ear twitched and swiveled towards Blue’s room. He could hear the pegasus groaning groggily. It didn’t take long before the door to Blue’s bedroom slammed open. The gray pegasus walked out slowly, his eyes still closed. Sunup noticed how his right wing’s feathers were stained with several splotches of purple paint. “What smells so good?” Blue asked, his voice raspy from sleep. “I’m making pancakes,” Sunup replied before chomping on the pan’s handle and flipping the pancake he was currently cooking. “What?” Blue asked, opening his eyes wide, “Like… actual pancakes?” He added. “Uhhh… yup!” The bat pony answered, slightly nervous. “Well don’t let me distract you, this is the first time you’ve ever actually cooked something!” The gray pegasus said with a chuckle, “I’ll make some coffee,” Sunup let out a small relieved sigh. He had expected Blue to be angry, or at the very least awkward! But no, the pegasus was just… normal. As if nothing had happened. Well, Sunup wasn’t planning on making things any more awkward than they had already gotten! He would just finish making the food and then act like nothing happened as well. The pair had breakfast in silence, with the only interruption being an approving grunt from Blue Skies. Sunup only smiled at him, as his mouth was full of pancakes. They were really good pancakes, after all. And there were lots of them too! Once breakfast was done and the plates were clean, however, the two stallions stood in silence looking at each other. It was now that Sunup realized that the pegasus was feeling just as awkward as he was. He had to do something to break the silence, anything! “So uhh… how’d the painting go?” He said, immediately wishing he had stayed quiet. Of all the things he could’ve asked about, that is what he had gone for? “I- I uhh… I kinda kept going a bit,” Blue said, immediately casting his eyes to the floor. “Huh?” Sunup answered, raising an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected him to keep going after the whole bed incident, but apparently, he had. “Y- yeah I might have gone to sleep a little… late,” Blue admitted. “Well… can I see it?” Sunup asked. The gray pegasus immediately blushed. “I- I… no?” He said, flattening his ears to the sides of his head. Sunup furrowed his brow and glared at the shorter stallion. “You can’t just say that you kept painting and then not let me see it,” The purple stallion said. “F- fine!” Blue exclaimed, turning around in a futile attempt to hide his blushing face. Both stallions made their way into the bedroom, where the canvas still stood in the exact same spot as it had been the night before. Sunup walked up to it curiously to get a good look. He was… awestruck, that was the only way it could be described. The bat pony’s jaw fell open as he stared at the painting. It was breathtaking, the colors, the expression on his face, even the pose, it was all just… perfect. Even if Blue had only had him there for a few minutes the night before, he had captured every last detail down to the exact fluffiness of his ears. “D- do you like it?” Blue asked, scratching the back of his head nervously. “It’s… It’s beautiful!” Sunup exclaimed. “You really think so?” The pegasus said, perking up at the bat pony’s kind words.  “Yeah!” Sunup said, “I see that wing works perfectly fine too!” He added with a chuckle. The gray stallion laughed for a moment before looking at the floor again. “You’re the one that helped me so much, heh,” He said. “Damn right I did,” Sunup replied smugly. The bat pony looked at the painting again and couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter with unbridled joy. It was not only better than he expected considering the state of Blue’s wing, but it was better than he could’ve possibly expected even if he had been healthy! The painting was by far the most beautiful one that his roommate had ever made, and having him be the subject of it just… made his coat poof out slightly. It was no coincidence, whatever he was feeling right now was definitely going through Blue’s mind as well. Sunup started to feel a burning in his chest… an irresistible urge to… get closer to him. Feel those soft feathers again… just like last night- Sunup cleared his throat nervously, trying to shake the thoughts out of his head. He had to focus on what was important, Blue had recovered a lot, and it was all thanks to him apparently. He needed to focus on helping him more instead of getting caught on these… feelings. “I’m glad you’re doing so much better,” Sunup said, “Have you tried flying yet?” He asked curiously. Blue Skies’ grin quickly faded as he turned to look at his right wing. “I- I’m not sure if I can do it yet,” He said. “Aww come on! Look at how well the painting came out!” Sunup said excitedly, “Your wing is definitely healed enough by now!” He added. “I literally flopped onto the floor yesterday!” The gray pegasus exclaimed. “Yeah but like, your wing was still kinda weak. I think you should give it another shot,” The bat stallion said. “I don’t-” Blue started, but Sunup cut him off by walking up close to him and putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Trust me,” He said. Blue Skies seemed to go through a wide range of emotions as his eyes focused on the bat stallion’s hoof, but eventually he looked up into Sunup’s eyes and nodded. “Okay, fine, I’ll give it a shot,” He muttered. “Good, I have a great idea to help you too!” Sunup squeaked, barely managing to not start bouncing in place. “...Sure?” The gray pegasus said. “Come with me,” Sunup said with a smile as he walked out of the room and headed towards the front door. “Ohhhh no, I am not falling on my face in public.” Blue stated, stomping the floor for emphasis. “I won’t let you fall, genius, get your flank over here!” Sunup shouted back. “What do you-”  “Just trust me!” The bat stallion said, cutting Blue’s protest short. The pegasus pouted for a second, but he still gave a few tentative steps towards the bat pony. “I swear, if I fall onto the floor again I’m kicking you all the way to Cloudsdale,” Blue said when he finally made his way out of the apartment. “As if I’d let you fall,” Sunup chuckled, “Okay, get ready,” He added. “Ready for wh- Hey!” Blue Skies said as the purple stallion took to the air and wrapped his forehooves around him, “What do you think you’re doing?!” He shouted in a panic. “Trust me, Blue, you’ll see!” Sunup replied as he flapped his wings vigorously. The pegasus went silent as the two rose higher and higher. Far above the usual height that Sunup had been carrying Blue at for all these days. Higher still he pushed, almost leveling out at Cloudsdale height.  “S- Sunup? You’re n- not going to drop me… right?” Blue Skies asked, the terror almost tangible in his voice. “What? No!” The bat pony answered, giving the pegasus a solid squeeze to show how firmly he was holding onto him, “I just needed to get as high as I could,” He added, starting to pant from the effort. Sunup suddenly stopped in midair, stretching his wings out as far as he possibly could. “Stretch your wings out and feel the wind,“ He told the pegasus, “I’ll hold you, I promise,” He added, blushing a little. Blue Skies did exactly that, stretching out his wings and catching the wind with his feathers. Sunup smiled and pressed the pegasus harder onto his chest, he wouldn’t want him flying off before he was sure that his wings could keep him airborne. While the bat stallion was busy thinking about this, however, the pegasus had started… laughing? Yes, Blue Skies had started to laugh. Sunup could feel each joyful chuckle against his chest as the pegasus stretched his wings and even gave a few tentative flaps. “I’m flying, Sunup!” The gray stallion exclaimed. The bat stallion laughed as well, slowly loosening his grip on the pegasus. “Do you want to try?” He asked Blue. “Yeah, b- but do it slow!” The gray stallion replied. Sunup grunted in acknowledgment, very slowly letting the pegasus slip out of his grasp. Blue Skies stiffened beneath him, but he quickly relaxed when the bat pony’s hooves left him completely. The gray pegasus glided for a bit on his own before he flapped his wings once. Then again, and one more time… Soon, the pegasus was flying… really flying.  “Yessss!” Blue Skies shouted as he darted off to the side, laughing in pure euphoria. Sunup exploded into laughter as well, closing his wings slightly and diving down to follow the pegasus. The pair flew around, letting the day burn away with no concern for anything. Hours passed as they rolled and spun through the skies, but the laughter never stopped.  On one of the maneuvers, the stallions found themselves corkscrewing through a fluffy cloud only to emerge on the other side, laughing happily. Holding their wings in place, they slowly started gliding towards the ground in an ever-tightening spiral.  Before they knew it, they had come nearly face-to-face. The laughter slowly subsided, replaced by the sound of the wind blowing past their ears softly as the ponies fell. Sunup’s eyes focused on Blue’s as his foreleg reached out to touch the pegasus’ chest. As his hoof made contact with the gray fluff of Blue’s chest, he felt a hoof press against his own chest. The softest of blushes slowly appeared on both their cheeks as Sunup drew in closer. Their muzzles nearly touching.  Just before they did, however, Blue Skies pushed Sunup back slightly. The purple stallion’s enchanted stare melted away into concern as he looked at the gray pegasus with confusion. “I- I…” Blue Skies started, lowering his gaze, “What are we doing, Sunup?” He added, looking into the bat pony’s eyes pleadingly. Sunup was dumbstruck, had he crossed a line? Or had he not crossed it enough? Thousands of thoughts rushed around his mind as he stared into the pegasus’ eyes. He couldn’t stay quiet, but he didn’t know what to say! There had to be a way to salvage this, maybe some way of passing it off as some kind of joke? No… this was no joke. It was no ruse, not some creative way of messing with Blue… this was… real. Sunup’s hooves shot up to hold Blue’s face, causing the pegasus to yelp.  “It’s just like flying,” He said, staring into Blue’s eyes, “Don’t think about it, just feel the wind.” Blue Skies looked at Sunup for a moment, his blush deepening slightly before he finally spoke up. “Then… let’s fly together,” He said, slowly pushing Sunup away until they were only joined together by one of their forehooves. As one, they spread their wings and broke their fall. The two stallions soared together through the skies as if locked in a slow dance. Staying close only to whirl away and then back into the other’s awaiting hooves. The endless afternoon sky was their dance floor, and the musicians playing were none other than the pair’s rapidly beating hearts. Sunup’s smile was only eclipsed by Blue Skies’ own, a grin so sincere and wide that nopony could possibly resist sharing it. And share it they did. Shared it throughout the afternoon. Neither the bat pony’s aching wings nor the pegasus’ weakened muscles could even come close to ruining the moment. But everypony had their limits, and eventually, Sunup noticed that Blue was panting heavily and flapping his wings very sparingly. “Hey! Let’s stop for a bit,” Sunup shouted. “But I don’t want to head back yet!” Blue Skies shouted back, panting. “I didn’t say head back!” Sunup shouted, “Let’s stop there!” He added, pointing at a particularly fluffy cloud. “Okay!” The pegasus said, banking towards the cloud. Both stallions flopped onto the cloud, exhausted. Nonetheless, as soon as they had regained their breath the joyous laughter came rushing back. “Flying feels so good!” Blue shouted, stretching his forelegs up to the sky. Sunup, who was lying next to the gray pegasus, turned his head around to look at him. “Yup, and all thanks to me! I’m the best,” The bat pony said, smirking smugly. Blue looked at him with an unamused expression. “I fucking hate-” “No you don’t,” Sunup said, cutting Blue off. The gray pegasus didn’t protest, instead letting out a small chuckle. “You’re right… I don’t…” He said, the slightest bit of blush appearing on his cheeks, “I’m actually really happy that you never gave up on me… thanks,” “Don’t mention it, I uhh… I’m happy I could help you,” The bat stallion said. Sunup’s heart skipped a beat when the pegasus slowly started to move, getting closer to him. The bat pony cleared his throat nervously and looked out into the sunset to try and avoid making eye contact. “B- beautiful afternoon, eh?” He stuttered. “Yeah, really is…” Blue said with a slight chuckle. The pegasus got even closer, bringing his muzzle right up to Sunup’s. The purple stallion’s heart was beating so loudly that he was barely able to understand the next words that came out of Blue’s mouth. “...And there’s nopony else I’d rather spend it with,” He said before pushing his head forward. Their lips met, and they shared their very first kiss.