"When a heart finds another, what's a cloud more or less in the sky?" - Anonymous
Rarity walked back into the Boutique, a smile still lingering on her face. She turned around, looking outside a final time. Luna’s moon had begun its rise across the violet sky, casting Ponyville in a soft light. Stars lit up the heavens, giving the sky an unearthly, almost ambrosial, look. The crickets had started their soft lilt, their song filling the air with peace. And, for a moment, Rarity envisioned herself, standing outside the Boutique with a familiar mare, a loving embrace between them. Rarity broke her vision.
“Was I just thinking about.. no, I wasn’t..”
Rarity was blushing, knowing she had just pictured herself with the rainbow-maned mare she had so recently talked to. Rarity gently shut the door, hiding her crimson face. She walked up the stairs, heading to her room. Stepping inside, she closed the door behind her. She continued on to her bed, lightly setting herself down, relieving her legs. She gently closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.
Rarity watched Rainbow Dash soar through the cloudless sky. She was faster than anything she had ever seen. Her vibrant mane flew around in the wind, going anywhere it desired. And yet, while she flew at such an accelerated pace, there was a certain grace to her form; something Rarity had never seen before. Rarity continued to watch Dash, her eyes locked on the pegasus, until Rainbow Dash began her descent out of the sky.
Dash landed, still maintaining a hasty pace as she stumbled, attempting to regain her balance as she recovered from the much-to-fast decline. She firmly set her hooves down in the grass, managing to skid to a stop.
“So, how was that?” Dash asked enthusiastically.
Rarity answered back,“That was marvelous. Better than last time.”
Dash smiled as she nuzzled the unicorn.
“You’re just saying that.”
Rarity added on a small smile.
“I mean it. That was a flawless performance.”
Dash smiled, pecking the unicorn’s cheek.
“Thanks.”
Rarity blushed slightly, feeling the inviting warmth of the pegasus’ lips.
“Uh.. Rainbow Dash.. would you be willing to fly maybe.. one more time..?”
Dash looked at her, slightly surprised.
“You want me to fly? You’ve been watching me for the past fifteen minutes.”
Rarity nodded. Rainbow Dash grinned at the opportunity to get in the air again. She took off without hesitation, flying the same route she had taken previously. Rarity looked up at the sky, watching Rainbow Dash move across it. Rarity could watch her navigate the skies for eternity. Dash was swift, but, at the same time..
Elegant.
Rarity gradually opened her eyes. She sat up, looking at a clock mounted on the wall of her room.
‘4:31’
“Did that dream really last.. no, it couldn’t have. It was too short. It couldn’t have been that long.”
Rarity continued to sit up in her bed.The time flew by extremely fast. But this was put behind Rarity as she lost herself in thought, thinking about her recent dream.
“What did that mean? Do I really like..”
Rarity knew that “like” wasn’t a strong enough word.
“Love.. Rainbow Dash..?”
Her emotions conflicted. Thoughts scattered inside her head.
“Maybe I really do love her..”
Rarity knew, though, without a single doubt in her mind, that she cared for the mare she had seen in her dreams. She knew she had always wanted to be more than just friends with Rainbow. Her loyalty outmatched any other. She could stand and speak for herself. And while Rarity generally wasn’t one for humor, she still enjoyed the jokes Rainbow Dash played on her. But, one issue lingered in Rarity’s head; one that she couldn’t get rid of.
How would she tell her?
Rainbow Dash flew through the now dawn sky. Not a single cloud lingered in the atmosphere. The sun had only just peaked over the horizon, shedding a dim, but warm and inviting, light on Ponyville. Dash had yet to sleep. She had been flying through the orange sky, trying to get her thoughts straight.
“She had every reason to say no to me. I’m not the dashing prince or charming stallion Rarity wants. I’m just a mare.”
While Rainbow Dash showed understanding at the Boutique, accepting Rarity’s answer, she now loitered on the thought of it all.
“Maybe I should have waited. I only developed my love for her several months ago. Maybe I would have grown out of it.”
Rainbow Dash started towards home, still lost in thought.
“Who am I kidding? I wouldn’t have ‘grown out of it’.”
Dash scoffed at herself, looking at the ground below her. She yawned wearily.
“Maybe I’ll just land here for a while.”
She descended from the sky; a grassy clearing invited her tired body to the earth. She slid to a stop, uprooting some of the green foliage as she did so. She simply fell over, fatigue taking her body. Right now, the grass was her pillow, and the sun was her blanket. She closed her eyes, falling asleep in the field.
Rarity left the Boutique, heading towards Rainbow Dash’s cloud home. The sun was now whole in the sky. The sky had changed from a warm shade of orange to a lighter shade of blue. Rarity walked slowly, lost in her thoughts.
“I can’t really expect her to be alright with this.. especially after last night.”
Rarity questioned whether this really was the right time to confess how she felt. It was, after all, not so long ago that she had said she couldn’t say “I love you”, right to Rainbow Dash. The sudden change of heart, she felt, would put them both in an awkward position.
She continued walking. A few birds chirped overhead in the clear sky. Rarity took in a small breath of the crisp morning air, letting it ease her thoughts. The familiar cloud house was now only a few moments away. They were the only clouds in the sky today. Rarity sighed hesitantly.
“Now or never, I suppose.”
She falteringly stepped up to the house.
“R--Rainbow Dash?”
No response.
“Rainbow?”
Silence.
“She must certainly be home..?”