//------------------------------// // The Morning After // Story: Take to the Skies // by Gallifrey //------------------------------// Take to the Skies by Gallifrey Chapter Three The Morning After Rainbow opened her bleary eyes the next day, sleep sticking them together. "Holy buck, my head," she groaned. Her head throbbed painfully with every beat of her heart, her mouth was so dry it was like she had eaten a spoonful of flour, and she felt ill and rough, as if she had been hit by a freight train. Squinting, protecting her eyes from the evil light that was intent on causing her as much pain as possible, she realised she was not in her own home, even worse, she felt a horrible sinking sensation when she heard the light murmur of another pony under the blankets next to her. She forced her mind into gear, trying to remember the previous evening's antics, but everything was a meaningless blur of blue and yellow. Oh Celestia, not again! Why do I never learn? Stupid stupid, stupid. As her mind berated her, she reached out a trembling hoof to discover just who she was sharing a bed with. Her mouth fell open wide as she saw simultaneously the pony she most wanted to be beside her, and the very last pony she wanted beside her. The slumbering face of Spitfire was buried in her pillow, drooling slightly. "S-Spitfire?! Huh? H-how?" The Wonderbolt awoke to the pegasus' voice. "Mmmrrrh? Oh, mornin' Rainbow," she said sleepily, snuggling her head further into the pillow, "Wait, hang on," she added, eyes snapping open, sounding much more awake all of a sudden. "Um, w-what am I doing here?" she said in a meek and timid voice much unlike her own as she looked around. "I um, hold on, lemme think," said the yellow mare, confused as well, though perhaps not as much as Rainbow, "me and Soarin' saw you at the Cross and Arrow last night, and you had drank far too much to get home safely on your own. I offered you a place to stay, and I planned to sleep on the sofa while you took the bed, but evidently that plan went out the window... Oh! Oh. I remember us drinking more, aha, and um, we made out... A lot." "We what." said Rainbow in disbelief, unsure whether this was a dream come true, or a nightmare realised. "Um, tell me something Spitfire, because I can't remember at all, did we er, g-go beyond that at all?" Spitfire closed her eyes, frantically searching her memories for what transpired last night. Then a sudden vivid memory surfaced. "No, not at all, I can remember you throwing up at some point and frankly, it isn't much of a turn on." "Oh thank Celestia," the pegasus sighed in relief, she looked at Spitfire, who looked slightly hurt. "Oh, no offence to you Spitfire, it's just I am so glad I didn't, well, have sex with you when I was drunk. Though I'm not implying I'd do it while sober, which isn't to say I wouldn't, unless you wanted t- I've dug myself into a pretty big hole haven't I?" Spitfire merely looked amused. "You certainly have, though don't worry, I don't blame you for finding Equestria's most desirable pony to be attractive," she said, grinning. "I didn't say that!" "Your actions last night say otherwise," she teased. "Hmmph! Can I get some water? My mouth is so dry." "Yeah, sure, c'mon." Both ponies dragged themselves downstairs into the kitchen, and as Rainbow gulped down the water, her reasons for going out last night came flooding back to her. The Thunderway 500! And Spitfire's competing! Oh Celestia and Luna, why do you have to be so cruel to twist fate so that I am hungover in the one pony's house who drove me to drink last night in the first place! I have to get out of here! But do I want to? A few memories of last night swam to the forefront of her mind. She was a great kisser, and really sweet too. Oh, what to do? "You okay Rainbow? You look spaced out." "I was just thinking... Um, that is, whatdowedoaboutyouandme?" she blurted. "Pardon?" "Um, wh-what do we do about you and me? Where do we stand?" Rainbow was painfully aware she was walking upon a knife edge. "Well... I'm not sure. I barely even know you as an actual pony Rainbow Dash, although you are pretty cute. It's all too fast, even for me, I'm sure you'll agree." "Yeah, I do. I have an idea: how about we wipe the slate clean, and pretend this never happened." "I'm listening." "And hang out together sometime, ya know, to get to know one another better, and see where it goes." "I can roll with that, when do you wanna do it?" "How about just after the Thunderway 500?" suggested Rainbow. "Oh, you racing in that too? Not a surprise really, you do live in Ponyville after all." "Yeah..." she said, with a nervous laugh. "So what do you wanna do?" "I was thinking maybe going out to Canterlot again, but not drinking quite as much?" "That's definitely an idea, though I'm intrigued by a day in the life of a Rainbow Dash." "You won't be interested in that, my days are nothing special." "They are to me, I've always wanted to live a normal life." "Surely your foalhood was pretty normal?" "You'd think so wouldn't ya? However, what most ponies don't know is that my father was a Wonderbolt before me." "He was?" "Yup, Tri Thunder was his name, though he'd already retired when I was born. But still, my younger years were certainly out of the ordinary. Dad had always encouraged me to be the best I could be, and I spent next to all my time training and honing my skills. Obviously all my hard work paid off and since then my life has been with the Wonderbolts. It would be nice to see the day of a relatively normal pony, not that you're really a normal pony, in a good way you understand." "Yeah, I get ya, though if you get to see a day in my life, I wanna see a day in yours." "I can pull a few strings and let you in sure, being captain does have its advantages," she said shrugging. "Awesome, I've always wanted to see what you guys do." "It's just really hard work: our trainer, Shooting Star, sure does like keeping our noses to the grindstone." "Well, that sounds kinda suckish, but come on, you're a Wonderbolt for pony's sake, surely you have some fun." "Well, Soarin' always manages to have fun, but I find training pretty boring, I have the most fun when I'm actually performing." "That's fair enough, I can imagine with the amount of training you do, it gets old after a while." "Yeah, it can. Say, I bet you'd like some breakfast?" "I was hoping you'd say that," said Rainbow happily. ---------------- After a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, Rainbow Dash took her leave, opening the door to a bright sunny day with a brisk, cool wind. "Well, thanks for everything I guess, I owe you one." "Hey, don't sweat it girl, I'm sure you'll find a way to repay me," she gave Rainbow a roguish wink, which granted the the blue pegasus a rare blush. "Well, see ya soon Spits," said Rainbow, giving her a return wink and the use of her nickname. Rainbow took it easy on her flight home, she still felt rather delicate. She took a wide detour to make sure she didn't bump into anypony she knew, she knew wouldn't be able to stand somepony like Pinkie Pie right now. She bypassed her door as per usual, and flew straight into her bedroom and collapsed on her bed. She closed her heavy eyes and decided to dwell on the recent events of her life as she let the welcoming cosiness of her bed sink through her. Spitfire likes me? She actually likes me? The pony I've idolised all my life thinks I'm attractive? This is surely too good to be true. I'm not even that pretty. She hauled herself up and looked at her confused reflection from the mirror on her dresser. Rainbow Dash was confident in most things, but one of her biggest insecurities was her own appearance. Her mane, as dashingly awesome it may be, was the cause of much disapproval from the older population of Equestria, who often said that the spectrum of colours advertised and encouraged homo and bisexuality, which quite apart from anything else, made Rainbow want to give them a swift buck to the head. Many years ago, she had once considered dying it, but it was her namesake after all and her parents told her to be proud of her unique hair, which she was, although it still got to her sometimes when she got disapproving looks. Next was her body, which she saw though somewhat misguided eyes. What most stallions, and a few mares saw, was a sleek, lithe, athletic body that was toned, healthy, and very attractive, the end result of many years of exercise and training. What Rainbow saw however was a body that was far too masculine and muscled to be considered that desirable, and although her friends had tried to convince her otherwise, Applejack in particular, she still didn't think that much of herself. I wouldn't say I was 'ugly' as such, but definitely not good enough for a pony such as Spitfire surely? She lay back on her bed and considered it might not just be because of her looks. Maybe she likes my personality, I can see why, I am pretty awesome. We're also both massive speed freaks who love competition... maybe I should just ask her the next time I see her. She felt a warm fire-like sensation deep inside her swelling as she revelled in the happy thoughts flying though her mind about what she and Spitfire might share together in the future, and sleepiness began to fall over her. With a final thought of the yellow pegasus smiling at her with those deep brown eyes, she fell fast asleep.