//------------------------------// // Ruddy apple, ruddy cheek. // Story: Vaguely Familiar. // by Reptilicus //------------------------------// Things get colder at certain altitudes, which is something earth ponies generally didn't notice unless they lived on mountains. Not that there was many of those. Pinkie was noticing it for the first time, now that it was night and she still wasn't asleep. Usually when Rainbow Dash had nodded off, Pinkie had immediately crawled into her warm sleeping bag. It was a very fluffy sleeping bag, and within it she always felt comfier than a bug in a rug. But tonight she wasn't sleeping, instead staying up to try to fix some of the mess from earlier. It was nearly pitch black in the room, what little light came from Luna's moon, casting its soft rays through the window and onto the dinner table which is where Pinkie sat, absorbed in the task at hoof and shivering in the cold. Dash had not only managed to shatter her Best Young Flier's trophy, but quite a few of it's pieces had been bent now too. Now Pinkie was doing her best to put it back together with a small bottle of birch glue, pliers, and some rubber cement. She wished she had the fantastic workhorse know-how of Applejack. She could have fixed this thing in a matter of minutes. But for Pinkie it was a slow process as the hours ticked by. When the pile of golden shrapnel was finally somewhat resembling a tiara once more, Pinkie sat back in her chair to admire her work. Not bad for a pony who didn't normally fix things. She placed it onto one of the dressers on the other side of Dash's room, confident that her sleeping friend would be glad to see it repaired. Pinkie glanced at Dash's bed, a very lumpy piece of furniture constructed almost entirely out of cumulus clouds. It stood at the far end of the room near a stained glass window covered in swirled designs. A large worn violet quilt was tossed over the cloud bed, clearly old, with rainbow lightning stripes woven into the calico and wool cloth. Pinkie glanced around the room, just to be sure nobody was watching before she hopped onto the bed. It was very soft and comfy. Maybe she could ask Dash if she could sleep here instead of her sleeping bag. The bed even smelled like Dash. Or at least it smelled like happy Dash. Sweat mixed with aloe. Not like how she smelled now. Like dried blood and smoke. And medicine. "Wait why am I thinking about how Dashie smells? That's really weird! Even for me!" Pinkie suddenly asked aloud, rolling off the bed. It occurred to her such thoughts seemed inappropriate and banished them for the time being. Next to the cloud bed sat a purple nightstand, with a tiny picture frame on top. Pinkie drew close, never having seen it before. It depicted Dash, Gilda, and Fluttershy when they were little kids back at Flight Camp. Fluttershy towered over the other two, a victim of early puberty, looking awkward and frightened with faint traces of acne on her face. Dash didn't look much different to how she did now. A little ruffian, with her uncombed mane and a fierce look in her eyes. Gilda was similar in the fierceness department, but as Pinkie and the others had learned, the griffin had a bit of a mean streak to her. Pinkie stared at the photo, wishing she could have spent her childhood with these three instead of at the depressing rock farm she'd been raised in. How much fun they could have had! Maybe she could have seen Dash perform the original sonic rainboom trick in person. Or maybe she could have helped Fluttershy be more outgoing as a kid. Or maybe Gilda wouldn't have disliked Pinkie as much. Or maybe...just maybe....Dash would have felt more comfortable around Pinkie and not pulled away whenever the pink mare tried to hug her. That always hurt. "Why am I thinking about this stuff?" Pinkie asked aloud again. She turned towards the bed. "I blame you, cloud bed thing! You're filling my head with icky thoughts!" The one-sided conversation with the furniture was suddenly broken by a wailed cry downstairs. Pinkie tripped over herself and she rushed out of the room. The bed was glad to be left alone again. Pinkie's hooves clattered loudly on the stairs as she tumbled down, barely avoiding falling over and probably breaking her neck. She slid to a stop in the darkness, hearing a sniffling in the void. "Pinkie? Pinkie are you there!?" came the tiny frightened cry of Rainbow Dash. "Yes, Dashie I'm here! What's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?" Pinkie fumbled around with her hooves trying to find a lantern or a flashlight. Even a firefly would be handy right now. She felt a small bump against her back hoof, turning in the darkness to see Tank the tortoise holding a lantern in his beak. She lie the wick inside and picked it up in her mouth, nearly shouting in dismay at Dash. The injured mare was on her haunches, shaking terribly looking frightened. A small trickle of blood was dribbling down her mouth to her chest fluff, drawn from the clear bite marks on the carpal joint of her wing. "Dashie! You PROMISED! You promised you weren't gonna do that anymore!" Pinkie cried, feeling a mixture of sorrow and anger make her voice raise several octaves. "I...I..I didn't meant to!" Dash shouted. "I just woke up and I tasted blood in my mouth and...and...I'm sorry Pinkie! I really didn't know!" "You're LYING!" Pinkie snarled, pointing an accusatory hoof. "You asked me to take off your coney thing cause you just wanted to hurt yourself again! You lied to me and now you're lying again!" Dash's eyes filled with tears as she grabbed Pinkie by the shoulders and pulled the mare close, their snouts mere inches apart. "I'm NOT lying. I wouldn't lie to you, Pinkie." Those scarlet eyes held truth. They had the same look as a cornered animal, or a small frightened child that knew it was in trouble. There was honesty in those eyes. And they clouded over as they filled with tears. "Please help me, Pinkie. I don't want to do this anymore." "Okay! Okay...shh shh shhhhh...." Pinkie pushed Dash back down into a lying position. "I believe you. Just...OH!....let me get you a bandage." "Alright." Pinkie wrapped a few cotton balls as tightly to the bite marks as she could with a gauze dressing. Dash shivered as the bandage was applied. "Pinks....I....I don't know how to control it. I was asleep. What if I keep doing this while I sleep?" The two sat in silence for a moment as Pinkie thought about it. She had an idea for a solution but it was one she knew Dash would probably be opposed to. Pinkie lay down on the sheets next to Dash and wrapped her arms around her injured friend's neck, doing her best not to disturb the bandages. Dash struggled immediately, trying to release herself from the embrace. "Pinkie! Quit it!" Pinkie furrowed her brow. "No! I'm not letting you hurt yourself again! I'll know if you try to do that again." "This is just as bad as the cone!" Dash growled, suddenly feeling very bad. That wasn't very nice. Comparing Pinkie to that plastic monstrosity. "Would you like me to make you wear the cone again?" Pinkie asked in as stern of a voice as she could muster, which was very difficult for her. "Fine." Dash flopped her head back onto the sheets and closed her eyes. An hour passed and Dash still couldn't sleep. She felt strange. Her whole neck tingled, particularly in the spots where Pinkie was touching her. She wasn't entirely sure if she liked the feeling or not. It felt too much like an impromptu hug for her liking. She glanced over at the pink mare at her side and felt a new strange emotion. Like an inner warmth she couldn't explain. Pinkie was asleep. Her dark pink eyelids were concealing her large blue eyes. Her small snout was moving up and down in time to her short breaths. Dash watched her slumber. It was weird watching Pinkie sleep, she thought. Pinkie seemed so.....cute....when she was asleep. Dash felt her heartrate speed up a bit as she stared at Pinkie. Why did this make her feel so uncomfortable? Why did Pinkie smell like peppermint? Suddenly: logic intervened! Wait why am I thinking about Pinkie like this? Stop it, Dash. Stop staring at Pinkie. You are gonna stop staring at her.......now. Now. Right now. She's so nice to me. I wish...oh geez. STOP IT. Her hair looks comfy. I wonder what it feels like. Probably like cotton. Wait what? STOP THINKING THIS WAY! Why is my neck so dang warm? Rarity thought she looked better with the ponytail. What do you think? Nah. Pinkie looks best like this. All chubby and cute and....stuff. You're still staring at her! Okay gonna stop.....now. Going to sleep now. I need to get this neck thing under control. Hmmmm. If her whole body tingled like her neck, maybe it'd be less noticeable? Dash shifted her body sideways, letting the side of her body rub up against her bedside companion. The reaction was noticeable, as Dash felt a tingling warmth make its way from the contact and wash over her entire form. It was comforting in a strange sort of way she couldn't explain. It made her feel giddy, like she could use this energy to run around and laugh and not feel tired. And with that idea her thoughts became a jumble of colors and shapes as she finally drifted off to sleep. *********************************************** "Well howdy do! Look who showed up!" Dash and Pinkie came strolling up the dirt path to Sweet Apple Acres. Originally, they'd hoped that leaving a half hour early would be enough time for them to arrive, but Dash needed to rest every few minutes. She was recovering, but every footstep still sent a small eek of pain up through her body, even with the medication. On their own these didn't bother her much, but one after the other, step by step, they became unbearable. And she refused to let Pinkie carry her around like some sort of package. That was an affront to everything Dash had ever tried to do with her life. Applejack had been at the gate to greet them as they arrived. And unlike Pinkie, the farm pony didn't take no for an answer when it came to helping out a hurt friend. Dash had spat out a few choice words of protest as Applejack had squeezed underneath Dash and lifted the injured mare onto her back, carrying her around. "Don't ya fret, RD. I carry around much heavier things on a daily basis. Shoot! I had to carry Big Mac around when he hurt his leg last summer." "Ugh! I'm hurt but I'm not a cripple!" "Y'all are supposed to be stayin' off yer feet anyhow." That had ended the conversation and Dash sat glumly on Applejack's back with her face in an annoyed pout and her arms crossed. Pinkie walked behind the two giggling at Dash's discomfort and how funny it was to see her being carried around by someone who was the same size she was. Rarity arrived right after Pinkie and Dash had, and soon the three were sitting at the giant oak table inside the main barn of Sweet Apple Acres. Surrounded by friends and family. Applebloom, the youngest of the Apple family, kept staring at Rainbow's bandages, which made Rainbow feel a bit uncomfortable. "Why are ya disguised as a mummy, miss Rainbow Dash?" Applebloom asked innocently. "It ain't Nightmare Night yet!" Pinkie laughed so hard she fell out of her chair as Dash gave the tiny filly an evil grin. "I look like this because I didn't listen to your big sister. So next time she tells you to do something, you should probably listen to her, or else you'll end up looking like........THIS!!!!" Rainbow pulled aside the gauze on her belly, exposing the long red stitched laceration that traveled from her neck to her flank. Applebloom, Sweetie-Belle, and Spike all sat gaping at the gruesome injury while Rainbow puffed out her chest proudly at the reaction she got. "Yeah! This also happens if you don't go to school and don't eat your vegetables...and uh...don't do your chores!" Rainbow continued. "You get these big bleedy holes in your body!" "That doesn't make any sense at all, Rainbow!" Spike protested. "Twilight said you got hurt in a crash!" "She's sparing your innocent mind from the awful truth, Spike." Rainbow replied, giving the dragon a pitiable look. "You're going to give them nightmares, Rainbow." Rarity muttered, trying to hide her grin. "You look exhausted, Rarity." Rainbow turned her attention to other matters. "What's been up with you?" "Oh not much. I just sewed about 30 identical gowns tonight." the unicorn rolled her eyes. "At least the pay is good. How are you, by the way? Sorry I haven't visited again. Work, and such." "I've been alright...I guess." Dash mumbled. "Erm.....I'm a Wonderbolt now....technically." "Well YEEHAW! Congratulations there, Rainbow! Why didn't you tell us when y'all got here! I figured you'd be chattin' our ears off about how excited you were! Ya finally reached yer goal!" Applejack leaned over about to give Rainbow a hearty pat on the back, only to re-think it. That sort of thing might hurt her back stitches! So Applejack gave Rainbow an awkward pat on the head instead. "Yeah I should have told you guys.....my mind's been....elsewhere." Dash mumbled, stealing a quick glance across the table at Pinkie, who looked away with a small smile. "Hey Dash! Hey Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo shouted. The tiny filly was clambering onto Dash's lap, her large lavender eyes gleaming. "When are you gonna fly again? It's weird not seeing you flying!" "I....hm. I don't know Scoots. I could probably fly now but....eh...." "It'd probably hurt like the dickens." Applejack finished. "Don't go strainin' yerself, Rainbow." "Believe me, after what I've been through, I'm in no huge rush to fly again." Dash muttered, causing Scootaloo to frown and return to her seat. "Speaking of flying....Rainbow, dear. I made you a uniform you can wear around town, to hide your scars and bandages until you get back on your hooves." Rarity levitated a suitcase from near the barn doors and placed it next to Dash, opening it and hovering out a swanky latex jumpsuit. Dark grey with a red hoodie and two red stripes going along the sides. "It's pretty simple but I know you'd prefer something simple." Dash immediately wiggled her way into the suit. It hurt like hell to squeeze her broken body into the thing, but she was a bit too excited to notice. With a pained grunt, she rose to her full height and gently flared her wings out of the holes in the back. "How do I look?" Dash asked turning her head to try and get a good look at herself. "Like some sorta comic book superhero." Applejack said, looking Dash up and down. "Pretty darn nifty. Folks would think twice before messin' with you in that getup." "You look sooooo coooool!" Scootaloo screached, causing the other two fillies to cover their ears. "Well it looks even better than my concept sketches." Rarity said around a mouthful of macaroni. "Of course, my sketches are usually a bit more stylized than the finished product." "I want a suit like that!" Spike shouted. "You look beautiful, Dashie." Pinkie said in a soft voice, looking away as Dash glanced at her. "Darling, please just do me a favor and don't wear it while you eat." Rarity chided as she watched Pinkie turn slightly more pink. "It's still new and I'd hate for it to get ruined on the first night. I know you're going to tear it up eventually but I'd like it to last at least for a little while." "Yeah, yeah." Dash pealed the suit around her shoulders and off her body. "Thanks, Rarity." "You're quite welcome." Rarity replied with a nod. The barn doors swung open with a loud rattle as a large platter came wheeling in pulled by an enormous red stallion. Big Mac was the elder brother of Applejack, though few would ever have guessed they were related. Applejack was talkative and relatively small as ponies go, whereas Big Macintosh was quiet and HUGE, looking more like a clydesdale than a pony. To his side sat a very wrinkly green nag with her white hair done up in a bun. She banged a spoon against a metal bowl under her arm as she entered to get everyone's attention. "Soup's on everybody!!!! Me n' Mac here been slavin' away all day to make extra fried pickles this time around and there should be 'nough for all y'all, provided o' course that y'all share. Don't git yerself too full now cause me n' Mac got a couple of fresh apple pie's a-cookin' for tonight. Ain't that right, Mac?" "Yup." Granny Smith was the eldest of the Apples. Eldest as in ancient. Rumor was she lived before oxygen was even a popular thing for ponies to breathe. She'd also been one of the original residents of Ponyville, back when the bustling town was little more than a tiny quaint village that nobody cared about. She set about giving each guest a generous serving of fried pickles. The main course, of course. When they'd arrived, there had been a large bowl of cold macaroni salad waiting for them as an appetizer, filled with plenty of curry and paprika. If there was one thing Mrs.Smith knew, it was cooking. Ponies came far and wide to Sweet Apple Acres just to try some of her food. She'd passed her knowledge down to Applejack, just as her grandmother had passed knowledge down to her. The barn was soon filled with laughter and happiness as the ponies within shared stories. It had been an interesting week for everyone, and the hours passed by as they chatted. But as the night continued, one by one the sleepy ponies retired from the table. Granny Smith went to bed, asking Big Macintosh not to let Applebloom stay up too late. The others decided to take the gathering outside so they could watch the moon make its way across the sky. "Well as much as I'd love to lay in the filthy grass and tell ghost stories, I really should be getting home." Rarity quipped as she gathered her purse and case and began heading towards the gate. "Rare, wait!" Applejack galloped across the lawn with a small package on her back. "Here, I told ya I'd save some pickles for ya. If you put a little butter on 'em before you heat 'em they should taste just as good." "Oh thank you, Applejack. This probably saved my morning." Rarity fluttered her eyes and leaned forward, placing a very tiny kiss on the farm pony's freckled cheek,before she turned to holler at her sister. "I'll see all of you later. Sweetie Belle make sure you behave for miss Applejack! Come along, Spike! I'm dropping you off at the library. Ta ta!" "Bye...." Applejack croaked out as she waved dumbly at the retreating figure being followed by a small purple dragon. She let out a small giggle and trotted happily over to the hill where Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were watching the children run around in the cabbage patch, trying to catch fireflies in jars. Despite there being a rather immense amount of fireflies, the little fillies had only managed to entrap one in a mason jar. Sweetie Belle had been put on guard duty to make sure it didn't escape to join its brethren while Applebloom and Scootaloo scurried around the vegetables with butterfly nets clasped in their mouths. The firefly thought hard about its life, and all its regrets. "Welcome back, AJ." Rainbow Dash said with a sly smile. "Having fun with Rarity?" "Oh, hush." Applejack spat as she sat next to Rainbow. "What's the count so far?" "One." "One firefly?" "Yep. One." "These are fat fireflies too." Pinkie chimed in. "They aren't even going very fast. Dashie's turtle moves faster than these things." "They're fat cause they eat all the dang cabbage." Applejack removed her stetson and used it to prop herself up as she lay back on the grass. "One of these days I'm gonna pay someone to fumigate the place." "Won't that make your cabbages taste all....chemically?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head. "For a season or two. Better than having these buggers floatin' around gorgin' themselves on everything." "Two." Dash suddenly squawked as she intently stared at the playing fillies. "What progress." Applejack rolled her eyes. "Two fireflies in a half hour." Rainbow Dash lay on her back as softly as she could, trying not to let the blades of grass poke the scabs and burns on her back. Pinkie flopped over onto her belly so she could continue to watch the crusaders. The blush had yet to fade from Applejack's cheeks and Rainbow decided now was a perfectly good opportunity to tease her about it. "Hey, AJ?" Dash asked. "Yeh?" "Why don't you just like.....TELL Rarity you like her?" "PAHAHAHAHAHHA!" Applejack grabbed her stomach as she laughed uproariously. She wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Oh goodness, I'm too full to be laughin' so hard." Rainbow looked unamused. "Y'all are serious?" Applejack asked. "Shoot, Rainbow. I can't do that." "Why not?" "Rarity likes stallions, hon. Heck she flirts more with Big Mac than she does with me." "I dunno, AJ. You're the only one she invites to lunch every week." "Yeah, so?" "And you're the only one I've ever seen her smooch." "That so? Eh. I ain't gonna test my luck." Pinkie rolled over so she could face Applejack. "I think Dash is right, AJ. I think Rarity likes you a whole bunch." "..." "She's just waiting for you to make the first move." "Why's that?" "Cause she wants to see you squirm." Dash said with a laugh. "I bet she wants to see you get all flustered and bothered over her." Dash and Pinkie had a good laugh while Applejack wore her best expression of annoyance. It was true, though. Rarity would never allow herself to not have the upper hand in any kind of relationship. But without a rebuttal from the farm pony, the conversation soon went quiet again. They were soon joined by the three tiny fillies as they trundled up the hill, pushing a large mason jar with three fireflies up to the top with their snouts. "We caught three fireflies!" Applebloom squeaked happily. "Yeah, and I caught a bee but then I remembered it was a bee so I ran away!" Sweetie Belle seconded. "Then I kicked the bee in the face!" Scootaloo finished, looking very proud of herself for kicking an innocent bee. "How very brave." Dash snickered, raising an eyebrow. "Fluttershy would be so upset if she heard that!" Pinkie said, trying not laugh. "That poor bee." "Y'all should apologize to that insect." Applejack grumbled. ******************************************* After sharing a few ghost stories, none of which were very scary, the three tiny fillies went to bed in their little tarp tent out on the lawn near the carrot patch. The jar of trapped fireflies became a makeshift nightlight while Applejack tucked them in, and in turn lay out onto the grass. More than happy to sleep under the stars without needing something like a sleeping bag to keep her comfortable. Dash didn't much enjoy sleeping on the dry flaky grass and opted instead to look for a place to sleep in the apple orchard, with Pinkie following her closely. "So you've never slept in a tree?" Dash asked as she studied each passing tree closely, looking for the perfect one. "Nope!" Pinkie squeaked. "I never really looked at a tree and went 'HMM this seems like a good place for some shuteye!' and then tried to climb it and sleep in it. That seems like something birdies should do but not ponies." "Well you don't know what you've been missing out on!" Dash replied as she eyeballed one particularly stocky tree up and down. "Trees make great shelter from wind and rain and the branches are quite comfortable if you aren't a wimp!" "I'm not a wimp!" protested Pinkie. "Never said you were. AH HA! Perfect!" Dash put her forelegs against a thick apple tree and with a small kick had launched herself up into the boughs with a loud crunch, sending a flurry of leaves and a few apples crashing onto the ground. A strangely squirrel-like feat of movement for a diminutive horse. "I don't think the Apple farmers will like this, Dashie! Also I don't think the apple tree likes it either! It's crying apples all over the floor! You're making the tree as depressed as you are!" "The tree will get over it! Here gimme your hooves!" Pinkie nervously raised her hooves up, only to have them seized by two cyan bandaged hooves. With a shriek of joy she was pulled off the ground and into the tree, placed roughly onto one of the thicker branches in the midst of the fruit, sitting alongside Rainbow Dash. Dash was glancing gleefully around the tree with an excited grin on her face. This was Dash in her element, free and doing something that would most likely get her in trouble if Applejack knew. "Sooo...?" Rainbow asked expectantly. "Pretty cool huh?" Pinkie took a big gulp of air. "It's pretty nice. It's very apple-y up here. And leafy. And twiggy." "Yup! Just the way I like it." "Do you sleep in the apple trees alot?" "Eh, nah. Applejack gets suspicious and starts having Winona patrol the orchard. That dog always finds me and then yaps for an hour until I fly off. Clouds are comfier anyway. They just don't smell as nice." "Do other pegasuseseses sleep in trees? Does Fluttershy sleep in trees?" "As far as I know, no. And have you looked at all the plants growing on Shy's house lately? Might as well be a tree at this point." Pinkie giggled loudly and nuzzled Dash, rubbing her cheek in the downy chest fur. "You're such a silly filly, Dashie! You sleep everywhere but your own house." Dash backed away quickly from the touch, putting some space between her and Pinkie Pie. She awkwardly looked around trying to ignore the weird tingly feeling again. Pinkie frowned and lowered her head, feeling defeated. "Why do you do that?" the pink mare quietly asked. "Do what?" "Why do you always push me away?" "I'm not sure what you mean, Pinks." Dash replied, trying to sound disinterested. "Whenever I'm extra nice to you, you always do this." Pinkie screwed her eyes shut and grimaced while flailing her legs. A not-too-exaggerated impression of Dash's reactions to affection. "You act like I'm smelly or something." "You aren't smelly, Pinkie." Dash grumbled, trying to focus really hard on the branch below her. "Then why?" "Cause....I dunno! It's weird, ok?" "You don't do it when Fluttershy does it." Pinkie continued, a note of sadness entering her normally cheery voice. "It's different. I've known Shy for forever. She's like my sister, it's like tradition to be all sappy with your family." "You've known me for a while...." "Yeah but we only started hanging out when Twilight moved here." "That doesn't explain why you do it, though." "Why I do what?" "Why do you.....react that way? Whenever I try to be...friendly you always push me away. What's wrong with hugs? And cuddles? And snuggles? Don't you like that stuff?" Dash let out a hollow chuckle. "That stuff is lame." "Why?" "Cause love is lame, Pinkie." There was a quiet silence as Pinkie processed this information. How could someone dislike love? Love was pretty much the best thing ever invented! It was completely illogical to not love love. It was like disliking ice cream! Or disliking a Krabby Patty! Or hating candy! It didn't make sense. Nobody was born hating love...which meant..... Pinkie gulped slightly and decided to be brave. She took a small step across the branch so she could be closer to Dash as she quietly asked, "Who made you this way, Dashie?" Dash didn't look away from the branch. This was getting way too personal and she didn't want to participate in this conversation. Maybe if she ignored Pinkie and ignored her questions the whole thing would go away. "......was it Gilda?" Can't ignore that. Dash choked a bit, feeling that sad emotion welling up inside of her chest again as a few memories cracked through the stormcloud in her brain, like deadly bolts of lightning. She cursed herself inwardly. She could already feel that warm feeling in her lower eyelids. That feeling that let her know that she was about to cry and look weak. And it was all Pinkie's fault this time. Dash turned and tried to glare at Pinkie Pie but found that she couldn't. As the tears formed, she saw nothing but love in Pinkie's eyes. This little pink Pony had done nothing to deserve whatever anger Dash could have sent her way. Dash just couldn't bring herself to feel upset. Not like that. "Dashie.....I don't know who....made you feel like this. But I'm not like them, ok? You know me. I'm Pinkie Pie! I would never hurt you and you don't need to be afraid of me! You don't need to be afraid of any pony." The logical part of Dash's mind thrashed, fighting a losing battle with her emotions. There were so many possible excuses or retorts swimming around her thoughts. Things that would end this conversation and declare Dash the victor. But it was too late, the tingling feeling had risen from her chest and reached the rest of her body, but it was starting to fade. And every part of Dash's body ached to feel it again, even though she didn't understand it. And so the excuses and retorts disappeared and Dash only found herself able to rasp out one word as she looked back down at the branch in shame. "...okay...." Pinkie took another cautious step forward and wrapped her arms around Dash, pulling her in for a hug. It was a different sort of hug. Not the usual rib-shattering air-denying gonna-give-you-back-problems type of hug she usually gave her friends. Not the kind of hug that easily knocked the wind out of ponies. This was the softest gentlest hug she could muster up. The kind of hug she gave to her family. She could feel Dash tense up the moment they touched and for a moment the pink pony was afraid she'd screwed up. She'd pushed Dash too far. Gotten too much into her personal space. But after a moment she heard something she never thought to expect. A contented sigh, and felt Dash lean into the hug, wrapping Pinkie up in one of her injured wings. "See?" Pinkie asked, trying not to giggle with glee. "Isn't this nice? Doesn't this feel so much better than being a big pouty pony?" "Yeah....I guess it's pretty ok." Dash mumbled, tightening her grip on the warm pink body that was pressed against hers. For a few the two sat, unable to comprehend just how happy they were to be in each others embrace. Dash softly rubbed her cheek against Pinkie's neck, feeling like happy explosions were going off in her brain as Pinkie made a happy squeak from the touch. Then the moment was quickly over when Dash made a very keen observation. "You are.....really freakin' soft." Pinkie backed away and raised an eyebrow. "What?!" "Like you are REALLY REALLY soft." Dash said, poking Pinkie in the tummy and then shoulder with her hoof. "You're like a cloud. Or a water balloon." "Well I bet you're really really light!" Pinkie retorted. "Doubt it. This is all muscle and....WHOA!" Dash found herself lifted easily off the branch by Pinkie who giggled madly. "Heeheeheeheehee! You are really light!" squealed Pinkie, trying not to fall off the branch from her giggle fit. "Yeah yeah, very funny." "I've carried pumpkins heavier than you, Dashie!" "I blame my birdlike bone structure." Pinkie set Dash back onto the branch, taking a loud yawn and curling up, ready to go to sleep. Dash leaned back against the trunk of the tree, fumbling with her tail, still very nervous about...something. "Hey Pinks?" "Yeah? What's up?" "Why are you so nice to me?" "Cause you're my best friend." Dash glowered a bit. "Yeah but I mean......sigh....I dunno. It feels different." "Do you remember my birthday?" Pinkie asked, slowly nodding off. "Yeah, how could I forget? You were really weird that day with your little...puppet things. Talking to yourself like a coocoo." "That's the worst I ever felt. I thought everyone I loved had left me behind cause they didn't like me anymore." "It was just a misunderstanding though, Pinks. You shouldn't still worry about that." "I don't worry about it anymore. I know I was wrong.... its just..... I locked myself away in my room. I was so upset and I let my imagination keep me in there. I was like....a princess trapped at the top of a tower. Then you arrived and rescued me from...myself." "...oh." Dash scratched at the back of her neck. "That was a really good day.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." Pinkie fell into slumber, snoring somewhat loudly with a bubble of mucus perched at the end of her nostril. Dash lay against the tree, thinking hard. For the first time in a really really long time, Dash felt safe. Like she'd made a real connection. A connection with someone who would never hurt her feelings. And to think, it was this weird little pink pony she had tried so hard to ignore for the longest time. Dash gave Pinkie a nip to the ear, a rare brave moment of affection, watching those big blue eyes slowly open as the pink mare came back to the waking world. Pinkie gave out a loud yawn, which Dash made a mental note as being painfully cute. "Hey, Pinkie?" she whispered. "Yeah?" "You're my best friend, too." Pinkie gave a small happy gurgle before flopping over back to sleep, her tongue sticking out of her mouth. Dash grinned as she watched her sleep. It felt good to say that. Almost as good as it felt to hear it. Dash yawned as well and looked up at the moon as she had many times before by herself. She wasn't alone. That was the best news she'd been able to think about for a long time. Dash took a few steps down the branch and curled up as well, using her tail to keep her snout warm. She felt really happy as her eyes drooped while the combined scents of apples and peppermint lulled her into a comfortable slumber.