//------------------------------//
// A Night to Remember 
// Story: Fire & Rain 
// by Ruirik 
//------------------------------//

	Of all the words that Rainbow Dash would ever have used to describe herself, ‘nervous’ would not have been her first choice.  Awesome?  Sure.  Fast?  Definitely.  Egghead?  Only in the privacy of her home…well, except for that one time.  Nervous was a relatively new one.

It wasn’t like the Best Young Flyers competition, where stage fright and her own fear of failure had reduced her to a quivering mess; that had been a bit different.  This was dating, not just dating, but dating another mare who just happened to be her personal hero! It didn’t particularly help that Rainbow’s only experience to look back upon was a one-off fake date with Fluttershy when the two were younger.  And calling that day a date was a stretch that even Blossomforth would have problems with.  As much as Rainbow normally liked making things up on the fly, this wasn’t a normal situation, and her lack of experience made her very nervous.  

“What if I say something stupid?  What if I make a total fool out of myself?” Dash fretted while she paced anxiously in front of the diner. She eventually forced herself to sit at one of the empty tables before she paced a trench into the sidewalk.

“Chill out Rainbow,” she told herself. “You can handle this.  You’re too cool to let a date freak you out.  Just act natural and everything will work out fine.” It was a desperate attempted to reassure herself.  She gulped hard and waited.  In hindsight, showing up half an hour early was a poor decision.

Dash did her best to hold still and look casual—not an easy feat given her natural propensity for activity.  She sighed and tapped her hoof against the table impatiently.  Her wings flexed at her sides and she had to force herself to stay on the ground.  

She tried to distract herself by watching the various ponies moving through the endless crowds of Manehattan.  Earth ponies, unicorns, and the rare pegasi trotted from place to place, many engaged in conversations with their walking acquaintances.  She observed ponies of all colors with every style of mane—far more diverse than the pastoral town she called home.  She wondered if any of the ponies that passed were different, like her and Spitfire.  

Different.

Her ears sagged slightly.  Her desires had been a personal source of consternation for years.  It wasn’t the fact that she was attracted to other mares that bothered her, but the fear of being rejected by the ponies she cared about. She wondered if bearing the Element of Loyalty added to her worries.  Having to end her friendship with Gilda still hurt, even though she was fully aware that the griffon had been nothing but possessive and cruel to all her other friends.  Rainbow knew it had been the right thing to do, but being right didn’t make it any easier.

She couldn’t imagine what she would have done if her Dad had rejected her when she came out to him.  It wasn’t a thought she wanted to entertain, much like how she would react if she came out to her friends back home and they rejected her.  The five of them were the best friends Rainbow ever had.  Losing even one of them would be a devastating blow.

Rainbow blew a wayward strand of mane from her eyes.  Fluttershy already knew her secret, and was for all intents and purposes a sister to Rainbow.  Pinkie was… well, Pinkie.  Predicting that mare was about as easy as predicting an earthquake, but Rainbow was pretty sure Pinkie didn’t know how to dislike anything (parasprites notwithstanding).  

Rainbow didn’t think Twilight would realistically have a problem with it; she might want to run an experiment or something, but Dash didn’t think she would hate her for it.  At least she really hoped the unicorn wouldn’t; that would be quite the downer.  She enjoyed hanging out with the obsessive-compulsive mare.

Rarity and Applejack were the real wildcards in her circle of friends. Rarity was a fairly progressive mare; she had to be just to keep up in the fashion industry.  Rainbow had heard that nearly every male fashion designer was a coltcuddler, which meant that, at least in theory, Rarity would have to be ok with homosexual ponies.  Still, Rainbow wasn’t willing to bet her friendship on things she’d heard from the more gossip-oriented employees she managed on the Ponyville weather team.  

Applejack worried Rainbow the most.  The ornery farmer was one of the best friends Rainbow ever had, not to mention she was the only pony with a competitive streak that rivaled Rainbow’s own.  From horseshoes to the Iron Pony competition, Applejack was the only pony that could not only keep up with Rainbow, but also push her to challenge herself.  Well, at least when Rainbow allowed her wings to be tied.

Rainbow groaned again, wishing she had brought a book or something.  She wasn’t good at being idle; it gave her too much time to think of the ways she could screw up her life, usually with her own big mouth.  She shifted in her seat and flexed her wings; her feathers were starting to itch.  Rainbow glanced around the street, wondering if anypony would care if she discreetly preened herself.  Not seeing any pegasi milling about, or anypony that looked remotely interested in her little corner of the world for that matter, she stretched out her left wing and began the meticulous process of preening.

She lost herself in the process; painstakingly tugging the misaligned feathers back into place one at a time.  After the itch in her left wing was dealt with, she shifted her attention to her right wing.  After ensuring her primary and secondary feathers were aligned correctly, she moved on to her covert feathers.  Finding one of the feathers that was loose she gently bit down on it and gave it a little tug.  The momentary sting of the feather being pulled quickly evaporated.  Her ears perked when she heard Spitfire’s voice chuckling softly.  

“Having fun?” the older mare asked with a smirk, having difficulty restraining a laugh as Rainbow’s wing lowered, revealing her caught-in-the-act expression, complete with a freshly plucked feather in her mouth.

The weather mare spat the feather out and laughing sheepishly, a hoof rubbing at the back of her head. “Uh, y-yeah!  Of course!”  She grinned. “How’ve you been?”

“Ooh, I’m doing pretty good, thanks.” Spitfire smiled and sat beside Rainbow, giving her a friendly hug in the process, which Rainbow happily returned. “So, ready to go?”

“Sure!  Where are we going?  I’ll pay this time.  Um, as long as it’s not too expensive.” Rainbow’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment.  Spitfire wrapped a foreleg around the weather mare’s shoulders.

“Rainbow, I bought dinner Monday night because I wanted to and I could.  I don’t want you to feel like you owe me anything for it, okay?  It was a gift, and I don’t give gifts expecting anything in return.” She smiled. “Besides, if I did, then it would be a trade, not a gift.”

“I suppose,” Rainbow replied softly.

Spitfire gave her another light hug before hopping off the chair. “Come on, Dash, let’s grab some food and have some fun!” The Wonderbolt grinned.

Rainbow couldn’t help but smile back as she hopped off her seat and stood at Spitfire’s side. “I’m with you.”

The pair walked quietly for a while, inspecting various menus taped to the windows of small diners along the way.  They settled on a nice sandwich shop at which Rainbow was elated she could afford to pay for both their meals.  Spitfire insisted she didn’t have to, but she did relent to the younger mare’s insistence on paying.  She couldn’t deny that it was nice to see Rainbow smiling so genuinely.

“So, how’s the weather team going?” Spitfire asked after they had ordered.

“Depends who you ask.” Rainbow chuckled. “The lightning wranglers are thrilled to be getting help after all this time; the cloud pushers are mad that I’m making them learn a whole new style of cloud handling and that I’m training ponies from their ranks for lightning certification, and the rain teams are largely glad they don’t have to spend so much time helping the cloud pushers anymore.”  

Spitfire glanced up at the sky while Dash explained.  The clouds were close enough to provide wide areas of shade with minimal wind drift.  Additionally, she had to admit they were quite lovely to see up close.  She couldn’t help but notice the irony in her life.  She was a pegasus, born and raised in a literal city of clouds, but she had never really stopped to admire them.  

“So, how’s your week going so far?” Rainbow’s question snapped Spitfire back to reality.

“Boring for the most part,” she noted drably. “Though on the plus side, I’ve had a lot of time to walk around and find places we can check out after dinner.”

“Oh yeah?  Like what?” Rainbow asked.

“There’s a club in midtown that has an open mic night every Wednesday from six to midnight.  I figured we could check that out and see what happens.” Spitfire smiled.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Rainbow giggled.

“Oh Celestia, never say those words aloud.” Spitfire grinned. “It’s just begging for the universe to do something horrible to us.”

“I guess it’s a good thing you’ve got me here to protect you then.” Rainbow winked while polishing her hoof on her chest.

“Oh, my hero!” Spitfire said in a singsong manner, batting her eyelashes.

Their sandwiches were delivered fairly quickly, after which they ate in companionable silence.  Spitfire took the time to think.  She liked Rainbow; just on a personal level they had similar interests.  They were both action-oriented mares with a deep love of flight and speed.  They had common taste in food, music, and entertainment, not to mention a talent for dirty jokes.

All of that made Spitfire nervous.  She didn’t want another heartbreak, nor did she have any desire to break another pony’s heart, especially when that pony was a top candidate to join the Wonderbolts in the not too distant future.  Perhaps it would be best for both of them if they agreed to just be friends.  If she headed off the issue there, then neither of them would risk getting their feelings hurt later.  She took another bite of her sandwich to avoid a sigh.  That talk could wait until later in the evening.  She was committed to at least giving Rainbow a nice second date.

After they had finished their meals, and Rainbow had left a few bits for a tip, the pair made their way downtown, Spitfire leading the way.  Eventually, their walk ended outside of an older-looking building. The red brick that made its walls was thoroughly worn down from decades of wind and rain.  The heavy wooden doors were painted forest green and a simple sign affixed to the door on the right simply read ‘The Cider House’.  The door on the left had a broadside poster that detailed the establishment’s hours and advertised the open mic night every Wednesday.  Spitfire pulled the door open and motioned Rainbow in with a smile.

Inside, the building glowed with a dim, golden light that reflected off the dark wooden surfaces of the bar and tables.  The wood of the tables, chairs, and even the top of the bar was worn to a smooth polish from decades of use.  At the far end of the room was a stage with a modest speaker set up and several microphone stands.  The jukebox filled in the dead air between performers.

Rainbow’s ears perked from the sound. “I know this song!” she exclaimed happily.

Spitfire raised an eyebrow curiously. “Really?  Who is it?” she asked as they found an unoccupied table not too far from the stage.

“It’s a combined griffon and Pegasus band that my Dad is a big fan of,” Rainbow giggled. “He used to give me piggy-back rides and dance around the house before bedtime with this song playing,” she admitted with a blush.

“Aww, that’s adorable!” Spitfire grinned at the massive blush spreading over Rainbow’s face.  Though as she listened to the lyrics, she couldn’t help but blush slightly as the implications.

“Come on baby finish what you started,” the chorus sang.

“I’m incomplete!” called the lead singer.

“That ain’t no way to treat the broken hearted,” the chorus responded.

“Come on and finish me!” called the lead singer just before the song broke into a spirited lead section.

Spitfire returned her attention to Rainbow. “This song is so messed up.” She snickered.

“That’s the fun part.” Rainbow grinned.

“Your Dad must have a great sense of humor if he let his baby girl listen to this.” Spitfire nudged the weather manager’s ribs. “No wonder you like the stuff you do.”

“What can I say,” Rainbow shrugged nonchalantly, “I’m just Daddy’s little squirt.”

“That is so wrong.” Spitfire groaned, putting her head in her hooves and laughing in spite of herself.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” Rainbow giggled as she patted Spitfire’s back.

“Just for that,” Spitfire got to her hooves, “I’m buying the drinks.”

Rainbow blushed again, but didn’t make a fuss.  Spitfire disappeared to the bar only long enough to order two pints of cider which she returned with in short order.

“I hope you don’t mind non-alcoholic.” Spitfire smiled sheepishly.

“Works just fine for me, thanks!” Rainbow gratefully accepted her drink with her front hooves.  

Spitfire smiled back and took her seat beside Dash.  The next performers had taken to the stage, a pair of griffons with acoustic guitars sat on stools in front of two microphones.  They talked quietly while they made sure their instruments were in tune.  One looked to be middle-aged, with greyish-brown fur and white feathers on his head.  The other looked to be at least a few years younger, though his colors reminded Rainbow of Gilda.  She nudged Spitfire’s ribs discreetly and leaned closer to her.

“Do a lot of griffons play music in Manehattan?” she asked quietly.

“Surprisingly, yeah.” Spitfire nodded. “I guess the competition back in the Griffon kingdom is very tough for small-time musicians, so a lot of them tour Manehattan, Baltimare, and Las Pegasus.”

“That’s cool.” Rainbow grinned.  Both mares turned their attention to the stage as the older griffon strummed a minor chord on his guitar, signaling the start of the duo’s set.  

His talons began to pick a melancholy pattern across the strings.  The younger griffon muted his guitar with his palm, his eyes closed as he listened to the song.  Rainbow frowned slightly, which Spitfire was quick to notice.

“Don’t like it?” she asked.

“No no, it’s great.” Rainbow smiled lightly. “It’s just, I don’t know … a really sad song.”

Spitfire couldn’t help but nod.  There was a certain melancholy to the song that she couldn’t quite put her hoof on, like a lonely soul struggling to find its place in the world.  The griffon repeated his pattern only once, letting the last note ring for several long seconds before he began to play a different song.  

This time he strummed more upbeat chords, his companion adding flourishes on top of the older griffon’s rhythm.  The interplay continued for just over a minute before the two strummed the chords in unison and the older griffon began to sing.

Rainbow found herself relaxing more than she thought possible.  There was just something pleasant about the whole situation, something that made her feel comfortable—like she didn’t need to hide who she was or reign in what she liked so other ponies could keep up with her.  At some point, Spitfire wrapped a foreleg around Rainbow’s shoulders, lightly pulling her closer.  Rainbow leaned her head against Spitfire’s shoulder; for once, she didn’t care how many ponies saw, or what they thought.

Eventually the griffons finished their set and yielded the stage to the next performers.  Poets, solo musicians, and other small acts made up the bulk of the evening.  Some were very good, others were terrible, most were at least entertaining.  Around eleven O’clock, when things seemed to be winding down, Spitfire turned to the mare resting on her shoulder and gave her a gentle nudge.  

“Hm?” Rainbow sat up and stretched a bit.

“Wanna go for a walk?” Spitfire asked.

“Sure.” Rainbow smiled.

The two left a few bits on the table for a tip, then trotted for the door.  The streets had quieted significantly since they had entered the club earlier.  Gas lanterns lit the streets with only scattered groups of ponies traveling them.  

“So, where should we go?” Rainbow asked.

Spitfire hummed softly while she thought.  “I’ve got an idea. Follow me.”

Rainbow nodded, keeping pace with her date for the walk through town.  She didn’t ask Spitfire where they were going; she trusted the Wonderbolt knew what she was doing.  The two walked for nearly half an hour before arriving in the same park Spitfire had been lounging at the prior day.  Spitfire led Dash to the hilltop she had cloud-watched from and invited her to sit.

“So, Dash,” Spitfire started, her voice soft, eyes watching the starry sky. “What do you think about, this?” She waved her hoof between them.  

Rainbow thought it over for a few minutes, her ears folding back slightly.

“Honestly, it’s been amazing!” She smiled.  “It’s just—well, I don’t know.  I’ve never done this kind of stuff before.”  She sighed and ran her hoof through her mane. “I’ve got no idea if I’m doing any of this right, but it’s been the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

Spitfire nodded. “Hey, Rainbow?  Can I ask you a kind of personal question?”

“Totally,” Rainbow answered.

“You mentioned the other day that only your Dad and your one friend knew you liked mares. Why haven’t you come out to anypony else?” she asked softly, maintaining unwavering eye contact.

Dash hoofed at the grass uncomfortably for a minute. “I—well… I guess... I guess I’m scared.” she whispered.

“Scared of what?” Spitfire asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

“It’s stupid.” Rainbow sighed. “But I’m scared of what my friends might think of me if I came out to them. I’m scared to lose their friendship.” She laughed bitterly, tears stinging at her eyes. Spitfire wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders; it hadn’t been that long ago that she had been in a similar situation.

“I know what it’s like, Dash. I’ve been there too.” She offered a reassuring smile.

Rainbow laughed softly. “You know what’s pathetic? When I came out to my Dad, I begged him to make me normal. And when he told me I wasn’t broken, I asked him why I had to be different. Why couldn’t I just be normal?” She laughed sadly, a few stray tears escaping her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she managed after a moment, having calmed herself. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, there’s nothing to be sorry about, Dash.” Spitfire smiled.  “I’ve been there too; I know what it’s like to get burned by friends who weren’t okay with us being different.  And it hurts like buck for a long time.  But I promise you, it gets better after a while.”

Rainbow nodded mutely, not entirely believing Spitfire.

“Let me tell you a story, Dash,” Spitfire started.  “A long time ago, when I was still a filly, I knew there was something different about me.  I would play with my brother’s toys, I would read his comics, and I would play with his friends.  When I got older, I started to notice that other mares would talk about colts and dress up and make themselves look all prancy, and gossip about celebrities. I had no interest in any of those things.

“I thought that if I just tried really hard, I could be normal, so I did everything I could to be like every other filly my age.  I would get dressed up, I would wear makeup, I’d get my mane styled, all that girly junk.  The more I tried to fit in, the more I realized it wasn’t working.” She smiled sadly. “All the other girls talked about how amazing it was, kissing and foreplay and sex.  But I didn’t get any of that with my first coltfriend.  I told myself it was because he wasn’t the right colt for me, so the next colt I dated, I tried again.  I still felt nothing.  So I pretended that it was because I just wasn’t into sex.” Spitfire sighed, a distant look forming in her gaze.

“Then one day, I was at a party with some friends, and someone bet me and this other mare to kiss.  Well, I’d had some hard cider and I was in a good mood, so I walked over and planted a big old wet one right on her lips.” Spitfire smirked at the memory while Rainbow suppressed a giggle. “Suddenly all those things that my friends had told me about for years made sense.  It was hot, it felt good, and I enjoyed every second of it.

“I realized then, that I was a fillyfooler, and I started to experiment in secret with marefriends.  My brother found out by accident, and he helped me come out to my parents.” She deliberately left out some of the more dramatic details.

“How did they take it?” Rainbow asked softly.

Spitfire chuckled quietly. “Dad didn’t care as long as I was safe; Mom cried because Rapid knew before she did.”

Rainbow nodded, quietly leaning against Spitfire.  For a time, neither of them spoke, both lost in their own thoughts.

Rainbow broke the silence first.

“Hey Spitfire?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah, Dash?”

“Thanks... for telling me that, I mean.” She smiled up to Spitfire, who smiled back kindly.

“No problem, Dash,” she answered, giving the weather manager a light squeeze.

“Hey, um…can I ask you something else?” Rainbow asked nervously.

“Sure, what’s on your mind?” Spitfire inquired.

“If um, if this becomes something more…I dunno, serious.  What would happen when I apply to the Wonderbolts?”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow, surprised by the question. “Well, I’d have to recuse myself from the process, regardless of if we were dating or not.  Either way, it wouldn’t give you a free pass, or even an easier one.”

To Spitfire’s surprise, Rainbow smiled broadly. “Awesome,” she beamed.

“Hm?” Spitfire tilted her head, confused.

“I’m gonna be a Wonderbolt someday,” Rainbow stated confidently.  “But I’m gonna get it because I earned it, not because it was a gift!”

Spitfire couldn’t help but grin.  “That’s the spirit!”

Rainbow giggled and rubbed the back of her head.

A question popped into Spitfire’s head as she observed the innocuous act. “Hey, Dash, mind if I ask you a question?”

“Sure thing,” Rainbow answered.

“What’s it like to pull off a rainboom?”

Rainbow opened her mouth to answer, only to snap it back shut.  Nopony had ever asked her to describe the rainboom before, and she had never really thought of it in conversational terms.

“Well…” she drawled. “It’s um…it’s like... Hmm.” She rubbed her chin with her foreleg.  

Spitfire smirked at the sheer intensity on Rainbow’s face as she struggled for the words she wanted.  Finally she seemed to hit upon an idea, her posture perking up noticeably.  What Spitfire didn’t expect was for Rainbow to crouch low and spread her wings.

“Hop on my back,” she said with a smile.

“What for?” Spitfire asked, quirking an eyebrow skeptically.

“Just trust me, please?” Rainbow asked, her magenta eyes silently pleading Spitfire.  

Spitfire sighed and nodded slowly, hoping she wouldn’t regret this.  She carefully climbed onto Rainbow’s back, hooking her legs around the weather manager’s core.

“Sweet Celestia, what do they feed you ponies in Ponyville? You’re like, all muscle,” Spitfire marveled. She could quite literally feel Dash’s heart fluttering in her chest.

“I practice a lot,” she mumbled.  “Hold on tight.”

Spitfire managed a nod before Rainbow leapt into the skies.  The Wonderbolt had longed to be back in the skies, though this certainly hadn’t been the method in which she had expected to get there.  She held onto Rainbow as tightly as she could, burying her nose in the mare’s mane.  Their acceleration came to an abrupt stop several miles above the city.  Spitfire could feel the cool tradewinds running over her coat and feathers.  Her wings longed to feel the air in her feathers, and only the sharp pain in her right wing kept her head in the reality of her situation.

“Alright,” Rainbow called.  “Hold on tight.  Here we go!”

Rainbow went into a steep dive, gathering speed at an alarmingly-fast rate. Spitfire held on for dear life, never having experienced acceleration of this magnitude before. The wind roared in her ears, deafening her to all but the sound of her own racing heart.  Rainbow’s wings pumped furiously, drawing them near-vertically downwards, her body going rigid as she stacked speed on top of speed.  Spitfire felt her eyes stretch wide at the sight of the mach cone forming.  A shudder ran through her frame, primal fear seizing her limbs.  If Rainbow lost control, they would both be sent careening into the night sky, and while Rainbow could still fly, Spitfire’s odds were decidedly less optimistic.

She clung tighter to Dash, her eyes mere slits against the buffeting wind.  She forced herself to look to the tip of the cone.  That’s when she saw it.  It was a tiny light, barely the size of a pinhead and brilliantly white.  She couldn’t look away, no matter how hard she tried nor how badly the wind stung her eyes.  The cone enclosed around them, drawing tighter and lengthening, the prick of light ahead of them shining brighter.  After what seemed like hours, but proved only mere seconds, there was a brilliant flash, and the world disappeared into a veil of white.  Spitfire’s jaw dropped, her eyes staring into the void.  

Time seemed to stop; the world seemed to no longer exist outside of her and Rainbow. The two of them were alone, lost in a silent sea of white.  Cracks formed in the light, brilliant colors seeping through the imperfections.  With a deafening crack, the light spectrum shattered before her very eyes and their speed increased exponentially.  The city blew past them in a blur of colors, midtown, lowtown, and the outer boroughs passing under them in seconds, brought alight with the polychromatic wave trailing the two mares.  The urban sprawl of modern development gave way to the suburban outer city as Spitfire gripped Rainbow in a sort of daze, hardly aware of her surroundings.  The buildings below them quickly became fewer and farther apart as they left the Manehattan city limits and entered the rural countryside dominated by massive tracts of farmland and small patches of forest.  

Eventually, Rainbow flared her wings, catching the gentle winds to slow her and the stunned mare upon her back. It only took a moment to bring them down to more to a reasonable pace, one that was more enjoyable than exhilarating. She slowed them to a near-stop and set down on a hilltop several miles out of the city.

The faded roar of the wind still echoed in Spitfire’s ears—her eyes stung from the lack of goggles, and her heart pounded in her chest as she gasped for every breath.

Spitfire stumbled off of Rainbow’s back like a newborn foal.  Her body trembled uncontrollably as she stared, mouth agape, at the now-distant city.  A rainbow trail hung suspended over Manehattan, the clouds over the city deformed from the sudden burst of energy.  Spitfire slowly turned to Rainbow Dash; the young mare was watching her nervously.   She took a trembling step towards Rainbow before throwing her forelegs around Dash’s chest.  For the first time in years, Spitfire sobbed.

Rainbow started to panic until Spitfire looked up to her, a smile on her lips.

“Th-thank you, Dash,” she managed with an overwhelmed laugh. “Thank you so much.”