//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Happy Forest "Friends" // Story: Rainbow's Secret Life // by GabladeRunner //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash zipped between the trees of the Everfree Forest swiftly and gracefully, despite the lack of light given to her by the night sky. God damn it! she thought to herself. I’m going to be late again! I can’t keep doing this. Rainbow flapped her wings harder, picking up speed to make up the lost time. She could feel the wind tugging back through her mane and tail and the force on her face. Rainbow burst through a thick bush, sending leaves flying everywhere, but revealing her designated area. There weren’t many safe and secure spots in the Everfree Forest, but Rainbow happened to find this one, not having a single blemish of a weed on the ground and full access to a clear sky. Rainbow rapidly surveyed the area, searching for something. At the very back of the clearing, Rainbow spotted a silhouette and let out a sigh of relief. She was still there. “What took you so long?” the shadow called out in a harsh but relieved voice. “Just another Pinkie party,” Dash explained, hovering to the center of clearing. “You know how that goes.” The dark figure moved into the light of the full moon, revealing herself to be Gilda. Rainbow’s look of concern quickly reverted to a look of awe, as she gazed upon the griffon before her with wide eyes and a small grin. Gilda quickly pushed a tuft of feathers back up towards the top of her head before joining Rainbow in the center of the clearing. “I swear, that numbskull throws something every day,” she complained. “You’d think she’d be partied out by now.” Rainbow slowly let herself land right beside Gilda. “Eh, it’s Pinkie. I can’t really blame her for being who she is. I’m just glad I got outta there.” “Same here, Dashie,” Gilda cooed before giving a small peck to Rainbow on the cheek. Rainbow’s cheeks flushed unlike any color found on her mane, and she tucked her head into the neck of her lover. Gilda cradled Rainbow Dash in her neck, embracing the pegasus’s head with her own. “Why can’t you come more often, Dashie?” Gilda asked in a soothing voice. Rainbow tried to nuzzle further into the feathers of Gilda while replying, “You know I’m trying. I’m just so tied up with Wonderbolt training, friends, and controlling the weather around here, I barely have enough time for myself. And Pinkie’s sudden urge to make parties every day after Cheese Sandwich left sure isn’t helping me any.” Gilda soothed Rainbow by petting her cyan blessing with the soft tips of her wings. “Well, you already know what you’re missing out on every time you can’t make it here. Rainbow looked up and smiled, taking in all of Gilda’s beauty in the moonlight. Her mind almost immediately threw away said thought however, and brought back forth Rainbow’s worries. She pulled out of Gilda’s comforting hold and asked, “Are you sure that you can continue living out here? This is the Everfree Forest and all, and I don’t want you hurt, and...” Gilda put a talon to Rainbow’s mouth, silencing her. Then, trying to brush off the worries, Gilda bellowed a laugh and messed up Rainbow’s multi-colored mane. She managed to explain through laughs, “C’mon Dashie! No one believes that this place is dangerous anymore! Fillies waltz in here pretty much every day! And besides…” Gilda took a moment to pose in front of her marefriend. “Nothing out here can handle THIS!” Gilda hopped onto her hind legs, trying as hard as she could to bulge muscles with her bird legs, but still managed to look tough with her threatening body and wings. Dash smirked, holding back a laugh of her own. “Woah! We got a bad-flank over here!” she said sarcastically, waving her hooves around as if she was trying to back away from a fight. Once again, Gilda laughed hysterically, now forcing Rainbow in on the fun, as the duo rolled around on the ground in joy. The two bumped into each other on the ground, allowing both to settle down in the looks of each other’s eyes. Rainbow moved forward slightly to kiss her lover’s beak softly, trying to repay Gilda for earlier. Gilda looked softly at her love, but brought up a hard point. “So, when are we going to come back to Ponyville… together?” Rainbow, surprised by the question, tried to blow off the thought. “Uh, well, we don’t really need to go back to Ponyville. I mean, my friends there are great and all, but nothing really beats being out here with you!” Rainbow made a small nervous laugh, which Gilda saw right through. “Y’know,” Gilda continued. “Eventually your little pony friends are going to find out.” “I know,” Rainbow replied, concern overwhelming her once more “I’m just trying to hold it off for a little while longer. I don’t think they got over your first impression yet.” “They won’t be able to unless they have a second impression,” Gilda pointed out. Rainbow looked away for the moment, trying to come up with a reason not to bring Gilda back with her. “But, after the way they saw you, I don’t think they’ll ever take you back in. They still don’t trust Discord, and he was personally reformed by Fluttershy!” Rainbow felt Gilda’s talons sift through her mane ever so softly, forcing Rainbow to look back in her eyes. Had Rainbow not had better respect for what Gilda was saying, she would have lost herself looking into her beige beauties. “I know you’re worried. I know you’re nervous. Believe me, I am too. But, you can’t just hide me out here forever you know. It’s not good for you to fly out here, it’s not good for me to live out here, and it’s not good for your friends to be lied to all the time.” Rainbow nodded slowly, continuing to examine Gilda’s face and in all of it’s glory. Gilda noticed Rainbow losing her focus and smirked. “Alright, I think that’s enough chitchat. You ready Skittles?” Rainbow’s eyebrows furrowed. She hated that nickname. However, she smiled all the less, mockingly saying, “Taste this Rainbow, Gryffindor!” Gilda repeated Rainbow Dash’s actions, hating her own pet name. The two came together as one, passionately kissing one another, feeling up each other’s bodies with their wings. In a gasp for breath between kisses, Rainbow muttered out, “I love you.” “I love you too, Dashie.”