Return to the Everyday
Flying High, Falling Hard, by soundslikeponies
Twilight woke with a start, her last memories being of her falling asleep on the floor. Looking around to the familiar sight of her own bed and room, she relaxed. But as fragmented memories of Dash taking her upstairs came rushing back, she began to panic again.
Rushing out of bed and downstairs to the main library, she slammed the loft door open. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw her study materials still sprawled out on the floor. It seemed like Dash had left them mostly untouched and—considering some of the darker materials there—she could only hope unexamined.
The last page she’d been on was still open. It held almost charming magic-written notes. It was begging to be read.
Moving the rest of the scrolls and books to a wall in a somewhat organized pile, Twilight lifted the page she’d been on to her snout. She had to flip back a couple pages, having forgotten what she read right before she fell asleep. Her eyes felt dry and stung, but she resisted the urge to rub them as she gorged herself on what was written there, comparing the notes on bone hollowing, tissue creation, and nerve creation against her own, former work.
Just as she was beginning to get absorbed in her studies again, several knocks came from the door. Five impatient ones—most likely Dash’s.
Begrudgingly setting the book down, she walked over to answer it. There was a second set of impatient knocks.
“I’m coming!” Twilight called, shaking her head. She answered the door to find her guess was right, and to find Rainbow Dash sat on her doorstep with a radiant smile.
“Hey, Twi!” Dash greeted. “Can I come in?”
Twilight looked back at the book she had been reading and levitated it onto the pile with the others, frowning. It would have to wait. “Sure. I was just doing a little reading.”
Dash stepped inside, glancing around. “Geez, after doing it all last night, too?”
“Yeah, I know,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes.
“Well, hey, if it’s what you really enjoy doing...” Dash said, whistling Pegasus Fields as she trotted around the library.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at her whistling. “You seem like you’re in an awfully good mood,” she commented. “What’s the reason?”
Dash cut her whistling short and turned to her with a broad smile. “Well, I had this idea that maybe we should go on another date!”
“A date?” Twilight asked, testing how the idea sounded. “You mean like... tonight? Or...”
Dash nodded enthusiastically.
“Uh, well...” Twilight’s eyes wandered. Her stack of books sat in the corner, tempting, but when she looked back at Dash, seeing the hope and eagerness in her eyes made up Twilight’s mind. “Sure, it sounds like a great idea!”
“Awesome! I figured since we haven’t been on one since the first—well, there was that whole Cloudsdale thing, which might count... But anyways, since we haven’t been on another one, and the first one went so well, I thought it might be a good idea. We could even go out somewhere this time!” Dash zipped to Twilight’s side with a burst of flight, wrapping a wing around her. “So, where do you wanna go?”
“Some activities followed by dinner would be nice,” Twilight answered, a smile tugging at her lips. “Any ideas?”
Dash pondered for a moment, before giving a shrug. “We could always go flying.”
Twilight perked up at the mention of flying, but tried not to let it show. “That sounds nice.”
“But we did that on our first date. Shouldn’t the second one be something different?”
“I don’t see why. I can’t think of anything better than holding you close and flying until the stars come out,” Twilight said. She turned and kissed Dash on the cheek, pleased to see it make the pegasus blush.
“That was so sappy, Twi,” Dash said, red-faced but with a smile.
“Maybe a little,” Twilight admitted. They stared at each other, their smiles involuntarily growing as they saw one another trying to keep a straight face. Twilight cracked first, Dash following almost immediately after, as they burst into laughter. Twilight stumbled from her laughter, leaning into Dash. It felt great. It had been too long since she’d laughed so long and hard.
“I miss this,” Dash said, rubbing a tear from the corner of her eye. “I miss just talking and having fun. That was probably our problem, you know. We stopped doing that.”
Twilight nodded as Dash’s wing hugged her close, stroking her coat with a gentle touch. She looked up to see Dash had a playful, sultry glint in her eye. Catching on, she bat her eyelashes at Dash, hoping she’d pick up the invitation.
Judging by the way Dash began leaning forward to kiss her, it worked. Twilight closed her eyes, opening her mouth as Dash’s tongue lightly traced her lips, teasing her with what it offered. She could feel Dash smirk against her lips as she was toyed with. Dash wanted to see her cave. Her body growing hotter by the second, Twilight tried to coax Dash’s tongue, caressing it with her own in the hopes that she’d enter her mouth. But like always, Dash was in it to win.
Throwing her dignity out the window, Twilight let out a soft begging moan. It sounded exactly as pitiful and whiny as she’d imagined it would, and she could feel Dash’s smirk widen at the noise.
Dash broke the kiss for only a split second before her lips came crashing hungrily down against Twilight’s once again. Twilight locked up, taken by surprise by the energy and lust with which Dash rebounded. A squeek escaped her mouth in surprise as Dash’s tongue forced its way into her mouth, but it quickly passed, and soon she began to feel herself melt and tremble against Dash’s well-toned, lithe frame.
Dash always seemed to lead the kisses when they started. Just once, Twilight thought, she’d like to lead the start of a kiss. But then again, with a kisser like Dash, she didn’t really mind waiting her turn.
And her turn it was. Her confidence returned as they continued to kiss. She pressed forward into Dash’s mouth, taking over the situation and eliciting a low moan from the other pony. The wing wrapped around her trembled with pleasure. There was something that made her feel powerful about the way she could make the untouchable, dignified Dash shake and moan.
Dash broke the kiss, her knees shaking from having Twilight take over. Her breath came in short pants.
Twilight licked her lips as she wandered up to Dash’s ear. She could still taste the other mare on her tongue. “You know, I think I’m starting to get the hang of this,” she whispered teasingly in Dash’s ear. She licked her partner’s cheek, causing her to shudder visibly. “You okay?”
“Me?” Dash asked incredulously. “I’m fi—ah!”
Twilight bit Dash’s ear, cutting her off. She continued to nibble on it as the sound of Dash’s panting quickened. She bit down again, this time on the tip of it, but let go when she heard a sharp intake of breath. “Did I hurt you?” she asked fearfully.
“No. Nothing like that. Keep going,” Dash urged as she began to plant hard kisses along Twilight’s neck.
Twilight arched her back, her mind going a euphoric blank from Dash’s rough and frantic ministrations, the ear forgotten. She buried her muzzle in Dash’s mane to keep herself from calling out, the soft rainbow hairs feeling like velvet as they tickled her nose and brushed past her face. And after a few moments, when she couldn’t hold it in any longer, she cried out. Dash captured her open mouth, silencing her, and took the opportunity to place her tongue inside it. Twilight’s mind was lost in the warm, wet pleasure as Dash continued kissing her.
Dash eventually ended the kiss for air, finally allowing Twilight’s head to stop spinning. A wing still wrapped around Twilight’s side, the two of them panting, noses touching, sporting matching scarlet blushes.
“We haven’t,” Dash panted, “done that,” she panted again, “for a while, too.”
Twilight chuckled and leaned forward, rubbing her cheek against Dash’s. “We should do it more often,” she said between breaths.
“Woah, Twi. Don’t you think it’s a bit early for talking about ‘doing it’?” Dash joked, laughing slightly.
“Only if you do,” Twilight replied, making Dash go wide eyed. She giggled at the look of surprise upon the other mare’s face, the slight look of excitement, too. “I’m only joking.”
“Aw...” Dash whined. “That’s mean.”
“Sorry,” Twilight apologized, rubbing her nose against Dash’s. “I’ll make it up to you.”
Dash abruptly froze, a sudden wide-eyed dread appearing on her face. She whipped her head around to look at the clock. “Aw, shoot!” she shouted. “Hey, sorry, Twilight. I’m going to have to cut this short. I have to be at work in about...” She turned back around to the clock and winced. “Five minutes ago. I gotta run!”
Dash’s wing unfurled from around her side as the pegasus dashed to the door with a burst of speed. Opening the door, she reared back to take to the sky, but paused, looking back at Twilight.
“Uh, what time should I pick you up?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anytime is fine, just make sure you figure out where we’re going to eat.”
Dash nodded, then zipped away in a blur.
The door swung itself shut behind the newly departed pegasus, and Twilight stood there for a moment, a small smile on her face, shaking her head.
Taking a seat, she reached up and touched her lips. So far each kiss they’d shared felt completely different. Whenever she got close enough that Dash dropped the tough act, she found herself discovering sides of Dash she’d never known. Sides of herself she’d never known, too, as she found herself enjoying the more intimate side of being in a relationship more than she thought she would have.
Her pile of books still sat in the corner. She glanced between the stack and the door, an indecisive frown upon her face. It would be nice to see if Rarity was free for an impromptu spa day, so she could look and feel fresh before her date with Dash. On the other hoof...
Twilight shook her head vigorously, making a point to look away from the pile of books as she walked out the door and slammed it shut behind her.
After an asking out like that, her date with Dash came first.
A fiery red dress hung tight but comfortably on her hips, transitioning well to her golden coat. She had just the faintest hint of perfume on—they were, after all, going someplace nice.
Spitfire walked out of the bathroom to see Soarin’ still waiting by her door, wearing a dark blue bow tie that matched his mane.
“We good to go?” he asked, seeing her.
Spitfire nodded. She followed him outside the apartments, where a carriage was waiting for them.
“Soarin’, you didn’t need to do this! We could have flown,” Spitfire protested upon seeing the carriage. “Honestly, you’re doing far too much for this night.”
Soarin’ let out guilty chuckle. “Well, you know how I like to do things big. Besides, what’s the point of being a celebrity if you can’t throw cash around?”
Spitfire scoffed. “Keep up that attitude and you’re going to be penniless a year into retirement.”
“I’m flattered you think I would last anywhere close to a year,” Soarin’ replied, giving her a dashing smile. “Shall we?”
Spitfire returned the smile and nodded. Soarin’ held the door for her as she stepped inside the carriage. The interior was a deep, dark purple, and had soft velvet seats.
Once Soarin’ had got in, taking a seat beside her, the coachponies lifted the carriage off. “You look really nice, by the way,” Soarin’ commented.
Spitfire smiled at the compliment. “Thanks. You look pretty handsome yourself.”
Soarin’ put a hoof over the back of the seat and twisted to face her. “So if you don’t mind me asking, what happened in Ponyville?”
“I...” She shied away from him, rubbing her shoulder uncomfortably. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
“It’s just that the others on the team were sort of worried about how you suddenly ran off like that, and with those two ponies that showed up wanting to apologize, it sorta—”
“Soarin’,” Spitfire interrupted firmly. “Please.”
Soarin’ froze, holding his hooves up in a placating manner. “Right, sorry, sorry. I’ll quit it.”
He lowered his hooves and they both turned away, looking out opposite windows of the carriage quietly. The silence brewed for several seconds.
“You know...” Spitfire finally said, breaking it. “I never did yell at you for pointing those two to my house.” Though her tone seemed annoyed, there was still a smirk on her lips.
“Who? Me?” Soarin’ asked with feigned innocence.
“They told me,” Spitfire said, deadpan.
“Ah, tar feathers,” Soarin’ cursed. “They weren’t supposed to tell you that.”
Spitfire’s pitch turned up a notch. “Soarin’! What if they had been paparazzi or obsessed fans?” She grinned. “Remember Dragonlily?”
Soarin’ let out a visible shudder, but laughed all the same. “That fan that followed you around at, like, five different shows?”
“Yeah,” Spitfire said, shaking her head. “She tried to snip off part of my mane to keep as a souvenir.”
“Haha! Oh yeah, that.”
“That on its own wouldn’t have been that bad, but then she tried taking my suit while I was still wearing it!”
Soarin’ chuckled. “I think I still have the photo of you struggling with her.”
Spitfire pushed Soarin’ away, playfully, and pretended to pout.
“Oh, come on. You can’t stay mad at me for that; I’m taking you out to dinner.”
“That’s the only reason I’m letting you off easy.”
“Yeah, well,” Soarin’ said as the carriage shuddered, landing on a road. “You’ll be apologizing when you see where I’m taking you.”
Spitfire’s head spun, peering out the carriage as it came to a stop in front of a tall, ornate building. Past the building lay the edge of Canterlot, a chain link railing marking its border. Inside the restaurant’s tall, white curtain-bordered windows, ponies sat around tables, eating and sipping wine and champagne. Spitfire’s mouth dropped open when she spotted the restaurant's sign.
“Lune et Soleil?!” She rounded on Soarin’. “How in Equestria did you manage to get reservations at Lune et Soleil in only two days? The book times for this place are usually in months!”
“Well I ran into one of the owners after a show, and he might have asked me for a favor or something, so...” Soarin’ scratched the back of his head. “His kids were huge fans. He asked me to come over for dinner with his family.”
Spitfire merely groaned, burying her face in her hooves.
“What?” Soarin’ asked, huffing.
“I’m completely underdressed for this place!” Spitfire said. She pointed a hoof at Soarin’s bow. “You, too, for that matter!”
Soarin’ sighed, moving past Spitfire and stepping out of the carriage. He turned and held his hoof out to her. “Come on, trust me. You look very pretty. I’m sure all the other mares will be jealous.”
Spitfire looked down at her hooves and blushed. Taking Soarin’s hoof, she stepped out of the carriage.
“See? Now that wasn’t so hard.”
Spitfire looked back at her dress and shook her head, her face flush with embarrassment. “I just hope we have a corner table.”
Soarin’ grinned as they walked up to the restaurant’s doors. “Oh, I think we have something better than that.”
Spitfire’s eyebrows raised, but she decided to stay silent and wait and see as they stepped into the waiting area.
Soarin’ trotted up to the front desk. “Heya,” he greeted. “Soarin’, party of two?”
Unfazed by the way he was casually addressed, the suited maitre d’ behind the desk nodded and smiled. “Right this way, sir and madam.”
Soarin’ looked back at Spitfire and wiggled his eyebrows as he followed the maitre d’. Spitfire followed him as well, though she couldn’t stop herself from self-consciously glancing around at the other ponies.
Her attention was pulled from them when she heard a door open. The maitre d’ was holding a door open to the patio, Soarin’ standing outside and giving her a questioning look. She realized she’d stopped. “Oh, uh... sorry,” she quickly apologized, stepping outside and allowing the maitre d’ to close the door.
The maitre d’ walked around them, leading them once more. “Your table is just over here,” he said.
Spitfire glanced around the polished marble patio, several other couples and smaller parties enjoying their food under the light of the torches. She stepped up beside Soarin’ and nudged him with her shoulder. “A patio table?” she hissed.
Soarin’ just grinned at her, craning his neck to whisper in her ear, “Just wait and see.”
The maitre d’ stopped, a table right by the railing in front of them. “Here is your table, as requested. I’ll make sure a waiter is with you shortly. And please, do enjoy your night,” he said, before leaving to attend to other guests.
Soarin’ took a deep breath of fresh air and smiled. He then turned to his partner, who he only now noticed was giving him a dirty look. “What?”
Spitfire quickly glanced around, before punching Soarin’ in the shoulder.
“Ah! Wha—hey!”
“That’s for not telling me we were going here,” Spitfire said with a glare as she took a seat.
“Geez,” Soarin’ said, nursing his shoulder as he joined her. “That’s what I get for treating a lady all proper.”
“Soarin’.”
“Yeah?”
“Is this a date?”
“What? No, of course not!” Soarin’ quickly said, as if offended that she would think that
Spitfire looked around at the other tables. “You know these tables are for couples and honeymooners,” she said, gesturing to one couple nearby who were rubbing noses like a couple of lovestruck fools.
Soarin’ blinked, looking around at the other couples. “Huh. No idea actually.”
“You know it’s going to be all over the tabloids tomorrow that we’re dating.”
“Eh, let them think what they wanna think.” Soarin’ waved his hoof dismissively. “Besides, we’d probably make a pretty good-looking couple,” he said, waggling his eyebrows with a grin. “I guess the only question now is whether you take my name, or I take yours.”
Spitfire slumped down in her chair, resting her chin on the table and shaking her head helplessly. The midnight fields and mountains to their side stood silhouetted against the starry sky.
“At least the view is nice,” she commented. She stared at it for a while, her mood gradually improving. Screw it, she thought. I came here to forget about all that stuff and have a good time. She straightened up, saw Soarin’ still smiling at her, and returned it with a smile of her own.
Twilight fussed with the towel wrapped around her head. She tried using magic to fix it, and wrap up her hair properly, but bits of hair still stuck out all over the place.
“No, no, no, dear, like this,” Rarity said, her magic taking over and tying Twilight’s towel up in a neat bun.
“Thanks,” Twilight said with a small blush. “You know you really didn’t have to do this. You looked like you were already busy with something else before I stopped by.”
“Oh, nonsense. It’s just a few orders, that’s all. I’ll still have ample room to work my magic after this is over,” Rarity said. “And aside from that, the last time you dropped by my boutique you were a mess—not to insult, dear.”
Twilight smiled, wincing in memory. “No insult taken.”
Rarity began walking over to the tubs, Twilight following. “So what happened afterwards between you and Dash?”
“Well, after Dash came home from work, we made up. The whole time I thought she’d broken up with me, and it really just turned out to be a misunderstanding. She just wanted a little more space.” Twilight laughed nervously. “Looking back on it, I guess I was spending a lot of time with her. It wasn’t like she didn’t give me any hints, either.”
Rarity stopped at a hot tub, its water tinted with bath salts. Walking down its steps, she lowered herself into the water. “Despite what she may try to make others think, Rainbow Dash really is a caring girl. But she’s also always been a bit of a solo act.”
“Yeah,” Twilight agreed, stepping down into the tub as well. Bath water soaked her coat, its warmth following soon after. Her muscles relaxed, the pleasant scent of the bath salts drifting to her nose as she took a seat. “In a way it still surprises me that she wanted to go out with me in the first place.”
“It doesn’t surprise me at all.”
“Really?”
Rarity shook her head. “I’ve always seen her as somepony who treasures few, but treasures dearly. I think she forms bonds deeper than any of us. She’s the kind of pony who’d fly to Tartarus and back to rescue you.”
“Well... that just raises another question.”
“Which is?” Rarity asked.
Twilight cast her eyes down, staring at her reflection on the water. “Why me?”
“Darling, you really don’t do your character justice!” Rarity scolded, a frown marring her features.
“But, I mean, what is there really?” Twilight asked, poking at her reflection. Her hoof sent ripples racing out, scattering her image. “You’re the element of generosity, Dash is the element of loyalty, what am I? I’m just the element of magic. What kind of a person does that make me?”
Rarity grew quiet. Her eyes searched the water’s surface, unable to find an answer. Twilight took a deep breath and sighed, sulking deeper into the water. “That’s what I thought—”
“You are kindness,” Rarity said suddenly.
Twilight’s nose scrunched up and she gave her an odd look. “Kindness?”
Rarity nodded, walking across the bath and sitting beside her. “You’re kindness, you’re loyalty, generosity,” she said, pointing to herself, “honesty, and laughter. I’ve seen you embody all those traits. And, you’re also my friend, whom I cherish dearly.”
Twilight’s eyes stung as a sincere smile tugged at her lips. She pulled Rarity into a hug, sniffling against her friend’s shoulder. “Thanks.”
Rarity patted Twilight’s back, smiling. “Think nothing of it.”
Twilight ended the hug, blinking away the tears before they could form.
Rarity stood, turning to Twilight with a grin. “Well, any longer in here and we’ll become all pruney. What say we find a couple attendants and get the full treatment? I feel like spoiling myself.”
Twilight giggled, standing up to follow Rarity through the spa. “That sounds like something I could really go for right now,” she agreed. For the first time in days she felt her worries slip into the back of her mind. Instead, she began looking forward to her date with Dash, entertaining herself with ideas of where they might go.