> Excuses
>  by mobius_
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Perfect Timing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You finish tying your shoes and stand up to gather some things strewn about your small budget apartment. The most recent addition to the Wonderbolts had asked you to critique her form during her earlier than usual flight practice, and of course you’d agreed. Dash was trying to perfect a wingtip turn for the upcoming show, and from what she'd told you, she had quite a ways to go until she was ready.

From the perspective of a flightless alien you weren’t exactly sure how much technical input you could offer, or why she asked for your help for that matter. You have a habit of not sugarcoating things; perhaps that's the reason. 

Or maybe it was because she thought you might’ve learned something from the hours you spent watching her fly. Ever since you became friends, you spectated her park airshow almost every day. Of course, it was more of a practice than an exhibition, but her ego loved the extra attention and you loved giving it to her. And when you threw in a soft field of grass on a typical temperate Equestrian afternoon, all your wants and worries floated away on a sea of relaxation. Needless to say you’d quickly developed a habit of joining the pegasus in her post-exercise naps.

The majority of your concern remained in your ability to spot errors. You could say that you never really paid attention to her flying, not in any way that would benefit her at least. Instead of looking for imperceptible timing errors or shaky bank angles, you enjoyed the spectacle for its artistic value. Apart from hard landings and the occasional collision with vegetation, all of her winged movements looked utterly amazing. Most pegasi would describe the type of flying Dash did as a mixture of strength and cardio exercises—a pretty intense workout, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by watching her. She had the raw strength to power through most maneuvers, but instead she chose to capitalize on her supreme knowledge of the sky and her own wings. Her flying looked as natural as walking, perhaps more so; and her toned body allowed her to conquer challenging aerobatics at the cost of little more than shortness of breath. In short; you’d have to struggle to find something wrong with the creature in her natural habitat.

You'd seen her nail down more difficult maneuvers in similar short order, so you were confident she'd be able to self-critique if your input wasn’t useful. All you have to do is make sure everything is…delegated? No…deliberate, that’s what she’d said. Hopefully she would give a more in depth explanation when you got there, one adjective was a bit hard to go off of.  After all, mistakes can be deliberate too. 

You make sure to grab your stopwatch before you leave your front door. She was especially concerned about the timing of her moves due to the whole team aspect. Constraining her flying to time hacks annoyed her, but it was a price gladly paid for the prestige of being a Wonderbolt. 

The mid-morning air is warm on your lungs but cool on your skin. It keeps the glaring sun from making you sweat. Ponies and conversations traversed the main street that your apartment blended into, some soared overhead, all were on errands that demanded a leisurely but deliberate pace. Overall it was a very nice setting, something you’d always imagined would fit a society of ponies. But once you got over displays of magic and the fact that no one looked like you the novelty wore off. Some things never failed to spike your interest, but most of your entertainment centered on certain individuals that always knew a good way to pass the time.

One of which is currently waiting for you to stop daydreaming. 

You break out into a jog, turning a few heads as you do. Most of the residents of the town were used to you by now, if anything they were more surprised by your seemingly unnecessary haste. But if good things come to those who wait, then good things must come faster to those who run.

You’re in much better shape than you were before, you might even go so far as to say you’re a bit of an athlete. Though Dash never prodded you about any lack of ability, the desire to eventually beat her in a race was all the motivation you needed to start working out. Having four legs gave her an advantage no human could ever match, but your conscience prevented you from backing down the painful journey of self-improvement. And after nearly a year of calisthenics and cardio you’d finally started to get some compliments. Flexing in front of the mirror became a thing, but you weren’t about to let up until you'd earned a compliment from the most athletic pony you know. Speaking of which...As you approach the park you spot her multicolored mane and azure wings pointed skyward in a stretch.

But she’s not alone. She’s having a conversation with an elderly green mare.

As you get closer you recognize the bogey as a young stallion, despite his hairstyle. You also recognize that it isn’t a conversation and he probably wasn’t invited.

Dash is in the middle of a yoga pose, but her nose is scrunched up and her features are crossed with a tired frown; she’s trying her best to ignore his bantering. She usually isn’t this annoyed by random chatter, there must be more going on than meets the eye. Just as you take stock of the situation she notices you. 

A wave of relief washes over her face and manages to make the nose scrunch disappear. You smile and wave, but you lose her attention as she makes an awkward retreat from the stallion sticking his nose uncomfortably close to her face to emphasize some indistinguishable comment.

The closer you get, the more you feel some of Dash’s discomfort shift to you. Well, it doesn’t exactly shift, Dash still looks like a fish out of water, it more like copies and pastes itself onto you. You’re close enough to hear his swooning in detail now and Dash physically pushes him away after he gets too close a second time. 

That’s it, you’ve seen enough.

“Hey Rainbow what’s up!” You manage in a chipper yet firm tone. Both sets of eyes snap towards you, but only the unknown pair looks surprised. 

Rainbow takes advantage of the distraction and skitters over to you with the most grateful look you’ve seen from anyone before. She walks around you and peeks her head out from your opposite hip—as if using your legs to shield herself from the unwanted attention.

”Hey Anon! What took you so long?” You could see it in her eyes that her phrase carried more meaning than her words alluded. You were actually early but you weren’t about to throw her under the bus.

“Sorry, I had trouble finding my uh…clothes.” Your eyes shift from her to the stranger, then back to her.

The stallion bun decides to butt in, ”Excuse me, who is this?” He asks Dash while pointing to you.

“I’m Anon,” You reply bluntly. You can tell he's trying to be rude.

His eyes narrow on you, but you’re too busy trying to figure out what has Dash on the verge of laughter. Her smile is barely contained under her mirthful magenta eyes.

”Pffft really? You wear your clothes all the time doofus how’d ya loose ‘em?” The mare never failed to pass up an opportunity for humor.

While she was busy undermining your cover story, you were busy thinking of a way to make it more believable. You can’t change it now, you’ll just have to make it more complicated, add more backstory.

“I uhh, I don't know. I had to dig these up,” you tug on your shirt for emphasis, “I think I left my nice ones at your place.” The moment the careless words left your mouth you realized the weight they carried. Though ponies rarely wore clothes, the donning and removal of them for some reason still warranted privacy. The scene of a newly wed couple consummating their marriage at the end of a trail of ceremonial clothing formed the brunt of more than a few sex jokes and adult magazines. The intimate implication was so blatant that it didn't occur to anyone that you can't walk on clouds, not even yourself.

The rainbow pegasus stares up at you in surprise with her jaw slightly agape, the blonde one does the same. You become distinctly aware that the only reason you’re alive right now is because you have a witness. Her mind churns to find an explanation that would both sound realistic and preserve her reputation. 

“Excuse me, Rainbow Dash, but is this some foreign friend of yours?” He sounds so venomous you could swear he has fangs.

“I’m a human. Name’s Anon.” You flippantly respond. You'd gotten used to this kind of treatment but that doesn't mean it can't annoy you.

”Well, since Rainbow Dash and I were enjoying a delightful conversation until you showed up, I must ask you to—”

”—He’s my colt friend.” You suddenly feel Dash’s hoof around your legs; you catch your breath and try to not show any surprise. The last thing you expected her to do was keep up the act. There were a dozen plausible reasons you would part with your attire and she chose the one thing that you’d be most uncomfortable with.

A glance down at Dash meets a nervous look up at you. If you backed out now you wouldn’t be the only one taking the fall. 

You clear your throat, “Yeah…that too.” You complete the stab through his heart by resting your hand on the cradle of Dash’s wings, one of the more sensitive parts of pegasus anatomy.

Even with how well you knew each other, it was not a place you were typically allowed to touch her with the exception of occasional hugs. But considering the circumstances she was hardly in a position to call you out. Besides, it's payback for dragging you deeper down the rabbit hole. You feel her back muscles twitch under your touch, but she keeps a straight face and stares down the now completely deflated stallion in front of her.

”Y-you mean…y-you’re…”

”Together, yep. For the past, oh whaddaya say dude? Few months?”

"F-few months, yeah!" 

She rolls her eyes at your flushed cheeks, ”Anon just came to take me out to lunch!”

You take a deep breath and control yourself. She's definitely making sure you pay for your little slip up. With the help of a wing flap, she rises on her hind legs and lays her forelegs across your shoulder. She came up to your stomach on all fours, and was slightly shorter than you on her hind legs. She had plenty of reach to plant a kiss on your cheek. Which she does. 

She’d done that before. Pony culture normalized a level of affection that you’d initially found uncomfortable. Cheek kisses were one of the practices that signified a basic level of trust and companionship among friends, and you’d learned to appreciate them as such. You’d earned your first Dash kiss a month after you'd met, but you still feel like a flustered schoolboy.

She pushes off of your shoulder, ”Come on dude, let’s get there before rush hour! See ya around Zephyr.”

The poor stallion looked like a kid who just realized Santa wasn't real and his parents were getting divorced for Christmas. He plods off in the opposite direction and you turn your attention to far more pressing matters...like the fact that you can smell the redness on your face. You silently follow Dash into town and come down from a short adrenaline high you didn't know you had.

Once you’re well out of sight, Dash turns around with the biggest shit-eating grin you’ve ever seen.

”Hah! And you thought you could prank me! That worked out well for ya didn’t it?”

She thought it was a prank? You might get off easier than you thought.

“Heh…yeah, I guess that didn’t go as planned.” You scratch the back of your head as your blush begins to fade.

”You should’ve seen the look on your face! It was priceless!”

She’s laughing hysterically at your mixture of confusion and relief. She’d never let you live it down, but it beats getting murdered in the woods. Part of you was deeply intrigued by her behavior. In the year that you’d known her, she’d never once shown an interest in stallions, or mares for that matter. Seeing that side of her, if only for show, was…interesting. It was like finding a lost, unread page to a book you’d read a hundred times. 

Her laughter finally dies down.

“Sorry about your practice Dash, I guess I kinda ruined your plans today.”

”Oh don’t worry about that dude! I can master that wingtip roll in a snap! But it’s not every day I can have a laugh like that!” Her smile shows that she thoroughly enjoyed ditching Zephyr as well as embarrassing you.

“Yeah I suppose…”

”So where are we headed?”

“…What?”

She stifles a chuckle with her hoof, ”You were just about to take me on a date remember?”

There's no reason to keep up the role-play now, Zephyr's long gone. You aren’t about to be a party pooper though, and you are hungry. You look over at her and see her mocking grin was replaced with a genuine smile: a smile that made you feel sincerely appreciated. 

“Well…uh, I’ve always wanted to try Donut Palace III you know, it sounds…exotic.”

She gives you an incredulous look before smiling again and bumping her rump into your thigh, ”All right but you’re paying!”

Your friend’s happy expression prompts one of your own. Maybe you didn’t ruin the day after all.
> Agreement
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The glorious smell of baked donuts wafts over you as you stand outside the small food cart parked near the end of Ponyville Main Street. It’s a run-down, whitewashed caravan that’s identified only by small red lettering painted on the side by some pony with 3rd grade artistry skills. DONUT PALACE III. It was the equivalent of one of those Mexican border pickup truck burrito vendors. It didn’t look very legit but you knew that meant it was good, that or they somehow made donuts with kangaroo meat. Your nose told you your gut was right.

“Dang Dash, you smell that?” You glance up to her hovering next to you and see her salivating with her eyes locked on the cart.

”Dude don’t remind me!”

Oh yeah you forgot she hated lines. From your position you count the ponies ahead of you. They aren’t exactly in line, more of a gaggle, about ten or so…might as well be a hundred. As far as Dash is concerned, the world would come to an end before you get to order. You chuckle to yourself, not exactly going well for a first date but at least she’d stopped messing with you now. If you had to pretend to be her colt friend any longer you weren’t sure you’d be able to keep it together.

She punches you on the shoulder before dropping to her hooves to rest her wings, “You really suck at dates dude.”

Dammit you jinxed yourself, ”Well I wasn’t aiming to impress if that’s what you’re wondering.”

”Heh, don’t worry, you’re not.” You reach over and ruffle her mane a bit. She ducks out from under your hand but the damage was already done—metaphorically speaking. She never paid enough attention to her mane for your hand to ruin anything.

”I told you not to do that dude!” She’s so cute when she gets angry and it makes you want to do it again. But if you did, you might not get your hand back. She did threaten you with death the last time you did it, but then again a bit of friction was necessary to keep you both on your toes and hoof tips. 

“Hey, look on the bright side. At least that green guy stopped bothering you.” 

She softens up and drops her defensive stance, “Yeah. Ever since Zephyr graduated that hair school he’s been like super confident in everything.”

“So he doesn’t know when to take no for an answer?”

”No, it’s like he all the sudden has a massive ego boost or something!”

“Then you two should get along great.” She gives you a shocked look and you bring your hands up in mock defense.

“You can't be serious.”

“Oh I am, you have the biggest ego I know. You would make two of a kind.” Another, unidentified emotion flashes behind her eyes for a split second, just long enough for you to catch it.

”Do you really think that?” Her somber overtone makes you immediately regret your words.

“Aw Dash, you know I’m just teasing right? I mean, sure you have a big ego and all but that doesn’t make you any less likable.” You really hoped she didn’t take that jibe too seriously, the last thing you wanted to do was hurt her. The more you had gotten to know each other the more often you liked to push each other's buttons. Even if she is the Rainbow Dash she's still a pony with feelings, and your best friend. 

You accidentally zone out staring at the details of her magenta irises. It's really amazing how much you could read into other ponies’ body language; you never expected it to translate to human body language but it did. And her eyes read like an open book. She blinks and it snaps you out of your trance.

She looks to the grass and shuffles her hooves a bit, ”Heh, because you know he’s not my type at all…”

You’re beginning to wonder what exactly her type looked like. As far as you knew, you’ve never come across a pony that fell into that category, “You know, somehow he just didn’t seem cool enough.” You give her shoulder a pat and check your pocket for your wallet. Hopefully the donut would add to the momentum of your words and cheer her up.

The unassuming stand cranks out donuts faster than you anticipated and before long you’re standing in front of an overweight mare with thick, greasy glasses.

“Whachu waunt hon?” The boisterous cashier exhales.

Your eyes gloss over the menu for the first time, “I’ll take a…deep fried, cream filled, glazed, and she’ll…”

”…And I’ll have the same, but with chocolate.”

“You want chocolate icing on top of a glazed donut?” You ask.

“No, I want it instead of glazed.” She responds defensively.

“Then why didn’t you just say deep fried, cream filled, chocolate?”

“Because it's longer to say it that way.”

“Wait, I’m pretty sure it’s—“

“—That comes ta fower an-a half son.” You hand the vendor her bits while you count words in your head, "Ey! Two numba threes one wit the brown holda mayonnaise!" She yells her jargon at some unseen workers. 

Dang these come standard with mayonnaise? You shake your head to get back on track and recount with the help of your fingers, “Yeah it's longer to say it your way.”

“Nuh uh!” 

An assistant hands you two paper bags filled with diabetes and you head off to take a seat on the bench by the concession stand.

You sit down and hand Dash her chocolate confection, “Look, the way you said it was, ‘and, I’ll, have, the, same, but, with, chocolate.’” You count off on your fingers for proof. Her bag remains sealed; she’s more concerned with her credibility at the moment.

“And I said all you have to say is, ‘deep, fried, cream, filled, chocolate.’ See, five words to your eight.” You smile triumphantly at her. 

Her brow is furrowed, but her short smirk shows that she’s got a comeback on the tip of her tongue, “No because I would’ve had to say, ‘I’ll, have, a,’ that brings it to eight. So my way wasn’t longer.”

“But it wasn’t shorter either. And technically you wouldn’t have had to say that because she would’ve known—“

“—You can’t just assume that ponies are going to know everything!” Her smile was gone now, she needs to win this argument.

“Well I think it’s pretty reasonable considering I just ordered a donut and you were standing right next to me.”

“Not every pony’s reasonable!—”

“You’re telling me.” You open up your bag of goodness and savor the smell.

“—And if you go by…wait are you saying I’m being unreasonable!”

You remove the warm pastry from the bag, “Just eat your donut, Dash.” 

“Not until you admit that I’m right!” Now she’s just being difficult.

“Fine, go hungry then.” You take a big bite out of yours and exaggerate the incredible flavor with some unnecessarily loud moans. To her credit, she was being pretty resistant to peer pressure.

“I really shouldn’t be eating this anyways if I want to perform well this weekend.” She opens the bag and licks her lips; her eyes betray her appetite.

You lean over and peer into her bag, “I don’t think you have the heart to leave such a beautiful creation uneaten.”

She was stuck between choosing to satiate her appetite or give in, “…I’ll eat it if you just admit you’re wrong.” She’s almost begging now, but you can’t give in just yet.

“I wouldn’t be admitting anything, I’d be lying, because I’m right.” You take another bite of heaven.

"...Well...at least admit that you might be wrong..." Her donut makes its way to her hooves and she slurps back a bit of drool that was getting away from her.

You pause, "Dash, what would a man be without conviction?" 

You wait for a rebuttal to the stoic prose, but it never comes. Looking over at Dash you see she’s got her eyes locked on something across the street. You follow them to the teal object of her attention; it's Zephyr, and he's clearly looking for something, or someone. 

From the way Dash talked about it you thought his overconfidence was a bit over-hyped, but you're beginning to see exactly what she meant. You're not even sure you could call it confidence at this point, from what little you’d seen thus far his obsession with her was reaching stalker-esque proportions, and truth be told, he was beginning to upset you. Why can't he catch on and just respect her decision?

Dash still hasn’t said anything. He must really be getting to her for her to change her mood in a snap. It's a bit concerning. You throw an arm around her shoulders, “I see him, don’t worry, he should leave you alone after this morning.”

”I hope. He’s starting to weird me out.” She’s still got her eyes locked on him, but glances down as he looks your direction.

The last time you saw her this uncomfortable was when you were in the hospital waiting to hear whether her wing sustained permanent damage or not. She got lucky with that particular accident, however, that was the only other time you'd seen her like this: so...vulnerable. You're suddenly overcome with a powerful conviction to protect your friend, and for a second you ponder the legal ramifications of cold-clocking a stallion in broad daylight.

No. Just think... “Look Dash, the only way this will stop is if you…we confront him about it. If we sneak away he’s just going to come back again and again. Just remember I’ve got your back, heck, maybe he’s looking for something else and we’re overthinking it.”

”Yeah, maybe.” It doesn’t sound like she believes it, but mentioning that you were there to back her up seemed to give her confidence.

“Or maybe not.” Dash follows with a sigh. You glance up to see him trotting over with a very punchable, smug grin on his face, ”Listen, if he thinks I’m single I’m never going to lose him. Our only chance is to keep up appearances and…uhh…you know…”

“Act like we’re together again?”

”…Y-yeah.” 

It worked last time, you just had to keep it up long enough to thoroughly convince him. It honestly felt a bit weird acting like that around Dash, but you weren’t going to let her down right after you promised you had her back.

“Ok, but if I murder him it’s your job to bury the body.”

She peeks an eye up at you, surprised by your sudden display of altruism, ”Heheh…dontcha think that’s a bit cruel dude?”

You raise your eyebrows and kick back on the bench to look as macho as possible, “That depends on his attitude.”

She tries suppressing her smile and shuffles over closer to you on the bench; you calm your self-consciousness, you're doing a favor for a friend and nothing more. The time you had planned for mental preparation was smothered by her unusually close presence. You take another bite out of your donut as hoof steps approach.

”Hey Rainbow! Fancy seeing you here!”

She looks up from her pastry and acts surprised to see him, ”Oh, hi.”

”Doesn’t look like you’re enjoying your lunch.” Zephyr motions to the donut Dash was holding but still hadn’t touched.

”Oh…no just uhh, haha, hadn’t gotten around to eating it yet.” She takes a painfully large bite out of the donut and starts chewing it while talking, ”Iss…reaw good!”

”Oh Rainbow, you don’t have to eat that just to please your acquaintance. Why don’t you let me take you to get some real food, I know a place that you’ll absolutely love!” That ruffled her feathers. Literally. But her mouth was too full to let out more than an angry grumble. And he's still ignoring you. Not murdering him might be harder than you thought.

“For the record she actually wanted to eat here too, so if she says the donut’s good, the donut’s good.” You were going for that intimidating Clint Eastwood voice from that one western movie you saw. Understandably it failed. You were missing the half inch beard and the poncho…and the six shooters. Zephyr still had the smug look on his face and you would do anything to get it to go away; and as luck would have it, an opportunity conveniently presents itself in the form of your friend’s messy eating, “Dash you have some chocolate on your face.”

She breaks her awkward stare, ”Where?”

You motion to the large chocolate streak that ran across most of her top lip. Her tongue shoots out to lick it up but she only succeeds in smearing the chocolate across her blue fur. “It’s really thick icing you’re only going to stain your coat, let me get it,” She leans forward to meet your hand as you gently wipe the chocolate icing off her wet upper lip with your thumb.

Without missing a beat you pop your thumb in your mouth to clean the icing off. You have to admit, even with Dash’s clear coat it tasted pretty good. Or was it good because she licked it first? Your face is now unavoidably betraying your emotions. Dash was surprised as well and you see a hint of red touching her cheeks. Luckily, the stunt earned you a crack in Zephyr’s facade.

Just a crack, but it was enough to grab onto. Little did you know Dash planned on turning it into a canyon, ”Now it’s on your face silly!” Your eyes dart to Dash’s, she still has a slight blush, but she manages to wink at you. She starts leaning forward and you unconsciously start leaning back. She’s close enough now that you can smell her breath, and it doesn’t smell bad either; you couldn’t tell what it is but it’s kinda nice. Her eyes briefly flash annoyance—you’re still leaning back. She falls off balance and puts a hoof on your leg to regain it. She grumbles, and before you can fumble an apology she immediately readjusts. 

Her tongue lashes out but slows when it hits your mouth. Either that or time slowed, you weren’t sure which. 

It was far from what you expected from a first kiss. It wasn’t a neat confession of affection under the moonlight, but rather a wet display that filled your senses of taste, smell, and touch simultaneously. You remember reading in a magazine somewhere that the lips had more nerve endings than the rest of the face combined. It seemed unrealistic at the time, but now you had no doubt it was true. You can distinctly comprehend the feeling of her taste buds on her surprisingly long tongue form fitting to your lips and leaving a sticky snail-trail as it traced the length of your mouth. It was numbing, but not desensitizing. It was a pleasant numbness. You hated to admit it, but under normal circumstances it would be hard to complain. Luckily you were under no obligation to do so. 

The latent shock of what she was doing finally hits you like a freight train and your entire body felt like you were standing naked in front of an open oven. But just as soon as it started, it's over. Her tongue retreats back to its home and as you come back to reality you suddenly realize you need to grab the side of the bench to keep from falling over. 

You weren’t sure if she got what she was aiming for, but it would’ve been hard to miss with that approach.

Her face is now beet red and she’s looking at you like you’ve grown a third eye. Due to the affects of shock or something else you manage to find your feet faster than her, “Thanks…I know I can always count on you.” You try to smile but just end up staring awkwardly into her dazed eyes; fortunately you catch this and immediately rectify it by throwing an arm around her shoulder and ruffling her hair.

She doesn’t resist, nor does she give you a sour look for the ruffle. Instead you’re met with a kind of thousand yard stare…and more blushing; Dash had effectively put herself out of commission with her last stunt so you were going to be on your own for a while. Luckily that wouldn’t be much of an issue. 

Zephyr is gone. 

You didn’t realize how lost you’d been in your own little world until you were forced back into reality. At some point during your display he apparently decided that Dash wasn’t going to lunch with him. You’d also acquired a small audience.

“Come on Dash.” You nudge her with your elbow and she mindlessly follows you out of the town square—your feet follow their own memory and your companion acts as your shadow. The two of you make the short walk back to your low-budget apartment in total silence. Dash made no mention of where you were headed, nor did she protest in any way. Only the sound of her hooves plodding next to you intruded on your thoughts.

And boy did you have some thoughts. To start things off, your best friend just legitimately kissed you...sort of. 

You'd learned that licks and kisses had the same universal meaning to earth ponies and unicorns, but no well-raised pegasus would conflate the two. According to the princess of friendship herself, for pegasi, a lick was more of a symbolic extension of preening and grooming—something that could have life-threatening implications if done improperly. Understandably, it came to signify deep trust and obligation regardless of its placement. This being discrete from a kiss, which is simply a mark of affection. Even in the fairly homogeneous contemporary culture the practice remained mostly isolated to pegasi, the employment of a lick was typically deliberate, and without exception…in private. In short, the only thing you could apply from the Princess’s hour long sociology lecture was that Rainbow Dash really wanted to convince Zephyr of her relationship status.

That, or she thought it was the best way to get the chocolate. Either way, you’ve got a lot to sort out. 

You turn the corner on a pair of legs that aren’t your own. You don’t know why this was affecting you so much, but it just felt surreal, even in afterthought. As much as you reminded yourself it was out of necessity, you wouldn’t label the experience as un-enjoyable. And as much as you try to push it out of your mind, you can’t. Her thin layer of saliva drying on your yet untouched mouth wouldn't let you as quickly cooled in the afternoon air. 

You wipe your mouth.

You were beyond the point of being squeamish of her. As nearly all good friends, you’d shared water bottles and ice cream cones and used the same towel to wipe sweat after workouts, all for sake of convenience. But this was different, for the first time it was…intimate. You shouldn’t have enjoyed it, it should’ve grossed you out not brightened your mood. You really need to sort things out.

A minute later you were sitting across from Dash in your living room, awkwardly hopping your knee, “So…uhh…I think he got the message.” Her head snaps up and her eyes briefly meet yours before dropping to the floor again.

”Y-yeah…that’s exactly what I thought would happen…” 

You thought she’d at least be happy Zephyr left. “Listen, Dash, I uhh…I want you to know that what happened wasn’t, it was…” Why is this so hard? “...what I’m trying to say is, it wasn’t bad.”

She finally manages to make eye contact and stops twiddling her hooves, ”Heh, I-I’m just glad you’re not afraid of my cooties or something.” 

She’s blushing like mad and you can’t blame her, the mutually shared awkwardness warranted nothing less. Well at least you know she wasn’t grossed out by the whole experience. That's a good thing right? If neither of you are weirded out then it's okay right?

“Geez Dash I’m just glad you didn’t freak out about it or something. You know, it would’ve ruined the whole show,” 

She perks up defensively, ”Me? Freak out? Dude, you’re talking to the most level headed pegasus in all of Ponyville!” You doubt that. But there must be some merit to her statement, there was no other explanation for how she performed flawlessly at such high speeds, ”And besides, it’s not like it was weird or anything. I mean, you brush your teeth don’t you?”

The question caught you off guard, and made it feel like you were in an interview, “Yeah, twice a day.” That sounded too enthusiastic, “You do too right?

Her fading blush returns with a vengeance, ”Well duh…didn't you taste the mint?”

Memories flood back to you, but not one of them carried the essence of mint, “No...” Her whole demeanor had been steadily improving in accordance with the easing of the conversation until now. Her shoulders slouch and her eyes drop to the scruffy carpet again.

“Oh…”

“Wait, I didn’t mean…it tasted like, it was good okay?”

”G-good?”

“Y-yeah like…I don’t know, it would’ve been a weird taste maybe if it was a stranger or something.” Don’t weird her out, “But…I guess what I’m trying to say is that, because we’re already good friends, I didn’t mind. I guess I’m just comfortable around you.” That was a pretty accurate mirror of what you felt without going as far as to say you liked it.

Her blush remains but you can see she’s feeling more at ease, ”Heh…yeah. No harm done right?” It seemed like she was talking to herself more than she was talking to you. Her ears pin to the back of her head and she bites her bottom lip, ”Look, uhh…if he comes back…”

“I still plan on keeping my promise to help you out.” For the first time this afternoon you see relief wash over her.

”But even if we have to, you know…do embarrassing things again?”

You audibly gulp. Surprisingly, the hesitation you expected from yourself was replaced with a strange giddiness, “Rainbow Dash, friends don’t leave friends hanging and you’re the best friend I’ve got. I’m not going to chicken out because I’m afraid of some mare-cooties.” Your sarcasm was rewarded with a soft smile, “Do you think he’s really going to annoy you again after that though?”

Her hoof traces circles on the couch cushion, ”I hope not. I mean the message was pretty clear and all, but I’ve been surprised by his stubbornness before.” 

Heck yeah it was clear. “Well then let's just hope for the best.”

”Yeah…but, if he does…you don’t mind?” She trails off and makes eye contact before she can get out what she wants to say. 

“Dash I already told you I’ve got your back, ok?”

“O-ok.” You have a few seconds to read her emotions before she rockets across the room and throws her forelegs around you in a sudden hug. You smile. Well isn’t she full of surprises today. 

Her voice comes from behind your ear, ”Thanks dude. You’re the only friend I have that would do this for me. It means a lot.”

You reciprocate by wrapping your arms around her, “I’m really the only guy friend you’ve got, so unless you want to come across as—”

”—Just shutup.”

“Yep.”

She continues to bear hug your torso for longer than usual. The fur of her cheek is incredibly soft against your neck and her whole body feels like a heating blanket against you. Maybe ponies have higher core temperatures? Makes sense with her insane metabolism at least. She finally relents and leans back to sit on your lap, her fore hooves rest on your hips and her butt balances just above your knees. Her close proximity and height advantage made it a bit awkward the first time she did it, but since then, you’d come to accept that ponies had much looser definition of personal space than humans. 

Princess Twilight had told you…no, quoted from a book, that ponies’ proximity during conversation generally reflected their level of familiarity. You came to appreciate the gesture when Dash did it. Despite how you’ve adjusted, not many ponies were at ease around you; Dash was one of a handful of exceptions that made you feel normal. It was comforting to know she accepted you as she would any of her own kind.

”I don’t think I need to tell you to keep your mouth sealed about all this.” Her breath was still warm when it hit your face.

“So I should have Mayor Mare cancel the engagement announcement in the evening paper?” You’re met with a judgmental stare that would give your dad’s a run for its money, “Yeah, uh, that was a joke—”

”—I’m serious dude!” Her fore hoof stomps your thigh.

“Okay! Okay! I won’t tell anyone, but it may be hard to keep the word from spreading if we keep pulling stunts like that in public.”

”Oh, I didn’t think about that.” She looks down disappointingly.

“Hey cheer up. We’ll just take it one step at a time okay? We can’t solve every problem at once.”

”Y-yeah I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am.” You give her shoulder a reassuring pat. The action seems to bolster her courage to ask another question.

“Hey Anon?” Her eyes timidly lock on yours.

“What’s up?”

She gulps, “If Zephyr’s as stubborn as I think he is…we need to be on guard twenty-four seven.”

”What do you mean by that?”

Her gaze falters and her scratchy voice comes back less confident than it was before, “If he stops by unannounced at some point and sees that we’re just making this all up, all this work we’ve done would’ve been for nothing and we’d be back at square one.”

”Ohh…” Your brow furrows as you troubleshoot the problem, ”...so we’d have to keep up appearances…” Her muzzle flushes red again, and her eyes dart up to confirm the words leaving your mouth, ”…all the time?”

Dash nods in silent confirmation. Her logic did make sense, even if it took her last reserves of confidence to get it out. You had no idea he was in the town square until Dash’s keen eyes picked him up, and his pale green color blended surprisingly well into the scenery…unlike your friend’s. 

She seems to think you need some more convincing, “It would be good for the sake of continuity, and we won’t ever get mixed up. It will also help uhh…desensitize us to the…mushiness. I think. That way you won’t freak out when we have to do stuff again.”

”Yeah, couples aren’t supposed to freak out about that.” You don’t remember being the one to freak out, but that didn’t make her statement any less valid. ”Okay.”

“Okay?”

”Okay yeah it’s a good idea.” You reassure.

“...Okay.” You stare into her eyes from less than a foot away. The fact she wasn’t even hesitant to put her trust in you stood as testament to the strength of your friendship. How did you ever get so lucky to befriend a pony like her? You reach out and hold her narrow shoulders.

“But if you ever get too uncomfortable, at any time, just tell me and I’ll stop.” She nods rapidly before you see an ear-to-ear grin appear on her face. She pokes your chest with a hoof.

”Bet you’re gonna quit before I am.” Of course she would find a way to to make it into a competition. 

“Is that a challenge?”

”Nope. There’s nothing challenging about it.” 

“We’ll see about that.” You reply with mock skepticism. With how she reacted today, you weren’t too confident she could live up to her claims. She did take the initiative though, that counts for something. You drop your hands from her shoulders and lean back in the couch. She just sits there, comfortable with her perch on your lap. She wasn’t heavy, sixty, maybe seventy pounds at most. Pegasi had hollow bones and leaner builds which minimized the weight their wings had to bear. But because they were pretty much the same size as every other pony, they, and especially Rainbow, had an insane strength-to-weight ratio. It made them seem almost unnaturally strong, and it always caught you off guard when you interacted with her. You bring your mind back to the present and struggle to think of something else to occupy your time.

Dash came over quite often even though it was a small apartment. Normally you two would go to the gym, have a wrestling match, or read. Sometimes you would just sit and talk. But none of those options jumped out at you as a good idea. Even though you’d come to an agreement with Dash about your current situation your brain was still racing a mile a minute. You really needed some time to digest it all. After all, it was only a few hours ago that you’d obliviously gone to the park to help her with a trick. You should really ask her to let you get some rest. An afternoon nap would do you good.

”If you’re just going to sit there and be boring then I’m going to get something to eat.” You barely snap out of your trance and register her extremely sincere tone before she hops off your lap and trots over into your kitchen, ”Do you mind if I crash here for a bit? I’m too tired to do stuff or practice my…where the hay did you put the granola bars?” She flies around, opening every cabinet looking for your hard-earned food. 

That was another thing that just seemed unnatural—pegasi flying in confined spaces. It must take quite a bit of skill to hover around like that in a kitchen. Luckily you’d gotten in the habit of not leaving around any loose papers for her wind currents to scatter across the floor, “On top of the fridge Dash.” You lazily point in the general direction.

”Got em!…So is that cool?” What? Oh her question. You’d really prefer to be alone, it's not like you have a separate bedroom you can go into and close the door. You just need some peace and quiet.

“Well…I kinda wanted to take a nap.” She makes her way back to the couch and hops on next to you.

”So take a nap then, I’m not stopping you.” She noisily tears open the plastic wrapper.

“It’s just hard for me to fall asleep when…”

*crunch

“…when it’s not completely quiet.”

She stares at you blankly and finishes audibly chewing before responding, ”So just stop being so sensitive."

“…I…uh.”

“Hahahaha! Dude I’m messing with you! I’ll probably take a nap too so don’t worry about me.” That might work. Dash studies your face for a moment and realizes you need some more convincing, ”I just…uhh…last night I heard something and I think Zephyr was at my house.” This is concerning, why didn’t she tell you earlier?

“Did you see him?”

”Well…not exactly. But I’m sure it was him because no pony else would be weird enough to hang out around there at night!”

“Isn’t it like public airspace or something though? I mean, you do live in the sky.”

”Yeah but he was like…um…flying real close…and stuff.” Her inability to meet your eye for more than a second at a time told you she was probably fibbing, but considering what she’s been through you’ll cut her some slack. 

“Okay fine, but don’t take too long to eat that granola bar.”

Her features immediately brighten, ”Hah! You’re talking to the fastest pegasus ever!”

“I wouldn’t have known…” She digs into the granola bar, throwing crumbs all over your couch. She notices you looking at her.

”Oh sorry! Want some of my bar?” She holds out the half-eaten bar towards you with a grin. A mischievous grin.

“You mean my bar?” Her ears splay back and she looks at you like you have a ‘kick me’ sticker on your forehead.

”Heh, yeah that one.” Well you never did finish your donut. 

You go to reach for it, “Yeah I guess I’ll…”

She yanks it away right before you reach it and licks the whole thing, “Oh come on!”

”Hahahahaha! Still want it now?” She dangles it in front of you. Taunting you. Damn she's having too much fun with this. You, on the other hand, just want to take a nap.

“What do you think!” You cross your arms and lean back against the couch.

”I think I remember you saying you wouldn’t chicken out before I did.” So she’s playing that way is she? You can’t bitch out now, she has too much dirt on you already. 

“Fine just give me the th-thing!” She holds her sly smirk as you take it from her. You examine your poison. Luckily she didn’t slobber on it. You know you don’t have a choice. Your heart rate speeds up as the inevitable approaches.

*crunch

You take a bite out and hand her back the rest of the bar. She takes it laughing not too quietly to herself. Luckily the honey flavor trumped everything else. You finish chewing it with no notable incident.

“What is it with you and licking things?” All of her playfulness earlier was replaced with concern.

”Oh…um, if you're talking about earlier I-I was j-just—”

“—No, I'm sorry. I’m just getting used to it is all.” She still looks a bit upset, “I’m not upset with you at all, I shouldn’t have snapped like that...do you forgive me?”

”No, it’s my fault dude, I shouldn’t have been so pushy.” 

You reach out and pat her shoulder, “I think we're both a bit cranky because we missed our usual naptime, what do you think?”

”Yeah just...let me finish this.” You lean back and close your eyes, trying to get comfortable on your couch. In the background you can hear her finish chewing and toss the wrapper on your coffee table. You hear some more shuffling and feel the couch move before she finally plops down right next to you and leans against your shoulder for support. You were used to her doing this, buddy naps were a common occurrence as of late. You peek down to see her splayed out on her back, hind legs spread much the same way you were. You do your best to ignore her carelessly exposed teats and close your eyes again.

It was a horrible position for your posture, you can only imagine how uncomfortable it is for her. As if to prove your point she goes no more than five seconds before twisting around. Hooves smack your thigh and rib cage and a wing slaps you across the face before she settles again. This time curled up in a ball against your leg. Whatever.

The front and back windows to your apartment were open, and it allowed for a cool summer breeze carrying the background noise of the street vendors to waft through the room. Nothing put you to sleep faster than a cool breeze.

She starts shuffling again, “Dash!”

”What!”

“Stop moving!”

”I can’t get comfortable because you’re a weird shape!”

“I’m the same shape I was the last time we took a nap!”

“I know but we’re not in the grass we’re on a couch!” You found it humorous and a bit cute that she never considered the option of sleeping next to you, you always ended up in some kind of dog pile that left you sweaty and your limbs numb. Even so you weren’t going to complain, it was nice in a way. Your eyes regrettably open again and gaze over to the other three quarters of unused couch space. A nudge to her shoulder makes her rise to her hooves.

She looks annoyed, ”What’re you doing!”

“If you’re not going to use the whole couch, I’m going to.” Your hand scoops her damp foreleg pit and you pull her against you while spinning around and falling on your back.

”Ooph!…Wow dude dontcha wanna take me out first?” You're not in the mood for this.

“Dash just go to sleep.” You find a comfortable spot on your back with your legs draped over the arm rest. Dash rolls off your chest into the gap made between your torso and the couch. She tucks her forelegs to her chest and sticks her hind legs out next to yours. She rolls towards you just enough to tuck her muzzle underneath your chin and get her right wing free to stretch. It was an incredibly ergonomic position, almost like you were made to be cuddle buddies. After she gets comfortable she pops her head up.

”I know I said this before, but thanks for helping me out dude. I...feel a lot better knowing I have some pony, uhh…some human like you that’s got my six.” You peek an eye open and look up at her. You reach up with your free arm and give her a scratch behind her ear, earning a pleasureful grimace and a smile from her. She loves that spot.

“No problem Dash, now go to—“

*smooch

Two fuzzy lips grace the tip of your nose. You'd shared platonic kisses before...usually in private and usually without the lingering stare she was currently giving you.  Maybe your mind was playing games with you, but it somehow seemed more real than anything before…more genuine. 

You're not sure you’ll be able to say the right thing, so you don’t. She doesn’t pull away from you much, leaving your options very open. She’s looking at you with drowsy eyes, her ears pinned back, a gentle smile and blush adorning her face. Your breaths mix and you feel a hint of perspiration break on your brow from the shared heat. You have to admit she looks really cute. Like, really really cute. Cute enough that you just want to snuggle her up and kiss her!...Wow...Where did that come from? You’re not sure. But you weren’t going to leave her hanging. You crane your neck up and kiss the tip of her furry nose.

A brief giggle escapes her before she clears her throat. No more words were said. She goes back to tucking her muzzle into your neck—warm breath now rolling across your collarbone.

That thing you thought about the cool breeze being the best thing to help you sleep wasn’t exactly true. Dash’s warmth and rhythmic breathing was by far the most relaxing; and her smell...it was unique. A sort of spicy-sweet tang that got spicier the longer she went without a shower. It was far from what you expected of body odor, and not at all like equines back home. It was actually pleasant; strangely enough she’d said the same about you before. You were beginning to wonder if it was some weird trend. Maybe she farts butterflies or something…

As you begin to drift off into the depths of slumber you feel her large wing extend across your chest and cover your bare arms—a makeshift blanket. How…thoughtful of her…Your mind quiets and the sound of her comfortable exhales fills your ears. Today was full of a lot of surprises, and you weren’t sure what to expect when you woke up. But you were sure of one thing. You were going to be there for Dash and she was going to be there for you. And nothing was going to come between that.
> Adjusting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You awake to the sound of a soft, rhythmic breathing that warmed your neck. It was dark now and the warm breeze that wove through your apartment earlier was replaced with a cooler one. The muffled laughter of a few late night travelers was the only other sound that competed with your friend’s respiration. You weren’t as sweaty as you usually were from the shared body heat, and you quickly found out why: a chilly, invisible draft hits you and your toes clinch at the ends of your exposed feet. Despite the control weather pegasi had on the forecast, a fair bit of it was still dependent on the natural seasons, and you were approaching the start of fall. You were going to have to break out the cold weather clothing soon. You turn to the clicking of the wall clock and try to make out the time, it’s close to nine. Your attention shifts to your unconscious couch mate. 

The lucky mare didn’t experience your plight, in fact you doubt she even felt the cold. Your hand, which had been resting on her in your sleep, gently feels the dense fur of her upper foreleg. It’s not nearly as thin and short as the hair on a horse’s hide, if anything it has more in common with rabbit fur. It’s just like a coat…a jacket for high altitude flying. The plush fuzz fills your fingers as you close your eyes and search for a reason not to go back to sleep. Dash’s coat was the only one you’d ever felt, but you’d bet that pegasi had the thickest of the three genres of pony.

The draft picks up again and you pull your feet over the arm rest to plant them on the cushion, Dash stirs a bit—adjusting her wing higher up on your chest. You weren’t sure whether feathers or fur were better for warmth, but if you had to guess you’d go with feathers. Her wing is an amazing insulator; it feels almost identical to an electric heating pad. She’s warm blooded so that may have something to do with it. You would feel bad hogging all the warmth, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t stealing a good amount of your own and she did have the better spot between you and the couch.

You’re surprised she wasn’t snoring. It must have something to do with her posture. Your mind quiets and the heat of the mare’s body starts pulling you back to sleep…until another cold breeze pulls you back the other way. Dangit should’ve grabbed a blanket! You curse yourself for your lack of foresight. Unfortunately Dash’s wing could only help you out so much and without some more thorough coverage there was no way you’d get back to sleep. An audible sigh escapes you; you had to get up—meaning you had to wake Rainbow up as well. It's probably all for the best anyways, no telling what she’d do if she finds out you slept together overnight. Judging by how often she used you as her nap pillow she probably wouldn’t throw a fit, but she’d never spent the night before so you didn’t want to push your luck.

You reach under her wing and gently scratch her belly, “Dash, you need to wake up now,” you whisper. She mumbles a bit before scooting farther into you and nudging your jaw with the top of her muzzle. That almost gave you a heart attack. You weigh the possibility of dying via cardiovascular arrest before doing it again. This time you pat her stomach lightly, “Dash, get up.” She doesn’t move. She must be really tired for some reason, “Dash.” 

She jolts awake and takes a second to register where she’s at, “You slept well.” She looks at you but doesn’t register your voice in her lethargic haze. She also fails to comprehend your intentions as well because she lays her head right back down and smacks her dry mouth before relaxing again. She’s not making this easy. You gently shake her shoulder, “Rainbow you need to get up now.” This time she regains complete consciousness and starts her boot up sequence again, completely unaware of her earlier disturbance. She rolls her muzzle off your neck and yawns at the ceiling—retracting her wing at the same time. The absence of your extra layer makes you realize that you did in fact work up a light layer of perspiration as the area previously covered by her wing evaporates your much needed heat away. 

“Geez dude how long did we sleep?” You peek down at the extra-scratchy voice just in time to take a second yawn to the face. 

You recover from the assault of Dash-breath, “Longer than we needed too.”

She rubs her eye with a fore hoof and you rest your head back down on the cushion, neither of you felt an immediate need to move. A deliberate muzzle nuzzles your chin—your customary post nap token of appreciation. Your hand scratches her breast tuft in response and you lean over to peck the top of her head. Unfortunately you get more than you bargained for.

*thphh—ptheh!

You clear the offending hairs from your tongue. It tastes like red this time. It was too dark to know for sure, but it was on the red side of her scalp.

“If you keep eating my mane I’m gonna go bald ya know.” 

“Yeah but how else am I going to get my ‘daily dose of awesomeness?’”

“Well when you put it that way I guess you’re right.” She sticks her forelegs straight up in a stretch, her wing joint digs into your ribs in the process. You quickly adjust to give her more space as she continues on indifferent. “Oh I know! I’ll cut off pieces of my mane and you can take them with your daily vitamins.”

“Dash…” You sigh tiredly.

“Oh no no no, even better, just bake it into your pancakes so—“

“—Aw gross! Hair pancakes?”

“Heheh! That way-heh! That way it’ll help them stay together so they don’t-hahahaha!” The laughing pegasus pushes you closer and closer to the edge of the couch.

It was a well known fact that you sucked at making pancakes. No matter what you did they always seemed to crumble for some reason. Dash said you needed to go to her friend’s baking class, but you avoided that for two reasons. First off the bubbly pink mare quickly got on your nerves, and second, making a solid pancake had become a matter of personal pride. 

Your turn to pull yourself back onto the couch, but Dash misinterprets your movements as an attempt to tickle her. She shoves you away into the darkness. 

*thud

“Ah! What the heck!” Your tailbone had taken the brunt of the impact. 

The silhouette of her head pops over the edge of the cushion, “Heh, sorry, I thought you were attacking me.”

You painfully sit up and with the help of Dash’s hooves you roll back onto the couch; the damage to your ego was compounded by her intermittent snickering. That’s probably going to leave a bruise, “I need some insurance if I’m going to keep hanging out with you.”

“Quit being a foal you didn’t even fall that far.” Despite her words she throws a fore hoof around your shoulder to keep you from falling again. 

“You’ve got way too much energy for nine at night.”

“It’s that late?” She asks, but makes no effort to look at the clock.

“Close to it yeah.” You absentmindedly scratch her chest fur and she makes no effort to discourage it. Both of you were waiting for the other to make the move towards the inevitable parting of ways, but you were secretly grateful neither did. Her muzzle finds the crook of your neck again and she rolls to get more comfortable. 

Your hand makes its way down her breast and she turns to bare the spot she wanted you to hit. She loved it when you gave her scratches; she preferred behind the ear and the side of her neck, but she wouldn’t complain about getting the treatment to her chest and belly. Of course she never said anything about it, nor would she go so far as to even admit she liked it, but she didn’t need to speak to communicate appreciation. Once you tuned into her body language you realized exactly how many of her little behaviors were concerted efforts to get more attention. It was weird in a way…and it only got weirder the longer you thought about it. Ponies rarely did it to each other, and you don't know any people who enjoyed that sort of thing. Furthermore it was a strictly one sided activity. You don’t even remember how it all started, but it just felt so natural for both of you that you never questioned it. If you had to speculate you would say it was more of a guilty pleasure of hers and she thought she could get away with it because you weren’t familiar with the customs of her culture. That, or your fingers were the perfect tool for the task.

Considering her behavior the latter was more likely. She absolutely avoided anything she thought was too ‘sappy’ meaning any overt display of emotion—which was ironic considering what she counted as ‘sappy.’ Activities like what you were doing now were generally an exception as long as you weren’t in public and as long as you never said anything about it. The moment you brought any undue attention to the shared affections they stopped. You genuinely enjoyed the mutually beneficial act, and you didn’t know enough about equine sociology to know if you could deny her without insulting her friendship in any way, so you went along with it. It was another aspect that made your relationship that much more unique.

Your cold feet prompt your memory and you reach over the side of the couch to fish your socks out of the darkness. You reach down and put them on with one hand. There, that’ll solve the problem, now you just need to send Dash on her way. Your hand returns to her sea of hot fur. Her spicy scent warms your lungs.

Your eyes shoot open. Almost dozed off again. Suddenly disorientation hits you. You’re staring at your couch cushion but it’s splattered with yellow and orange hair, a blue ear sticks out of the sea of color. It takes a moment to figure out who it is and which part of her you’re looking at, it takes another moment to work out your position from that equation. But the final realization hits you instantly. It’s morning.

The sounds of early-birds setting up their market stands suggests it’s very early morning—the sun wasn’t even completely above the horizon. You try to sit up but get confronted by the complex process of untangling yourself from your sleeping buddy. Your face flushes red when you realize you’re practically hugging each other, Dash’s wing drapes over your back and her hind leg is over your hip. All in all she did a pretty good job of being your blanket, you’re just surprised that you were able to stay on the couch all night. 

The final motion of sliding your arm out from under her wakes her up. She rolls to her hooves in the center of the couch as you come to a sitting position, “Uhh…g'mornin.”

You turn to her. Yep, definitely bruised the tailbone, “Morning Dash.”

She looks around, trying to piece together the situation as her memory returns, “I guess I just uh…fell asleep again.”

“You and me both. Sorry, I had no idea I was that tired.” Hopefully she doesn’t think it’s weird.

“It’s fine dude, besides, I haven’t slept that long in forever, I kinda needed it.”

“Well you do make a good blanket.” 

Her face flushes red at your comment and she looks down at her hooves, “Heh…and you’re a…a good pillow.” 

This is getting awkward. You look at your feet and realize your socks are on crooked, “I’ve got breakfast if you want some.”

She perks up a bit but visibly holds herself back, “I-I should be getting back…you know.”

“Yeah, yeah you’re right.” You stand up and she hops off the couch, stumbling a bit as blood flow returns to her extremities. You follow her to the door, your own feet feel a bit unsteady from not having used them in over twelve hours. 

She opens your door, “Thanks uhh…for, you know, the nap an-and stuff.” She’d never thanked your for a nap before, it must be the other ‘stuff’ that she was thankful for. You fight a blush as yesterday’s memories come flooding back.

“Yeah, no problem, same time at the park?” You ask, referencing your daily meet up ritual.

She stares outside but stays inside, “Uhh, I was…I’ve got a lot of errands to run, I’m probably not practicing today dude.” 

Dang, you knew her spending the night was going to make things awkward, “Sure, yeah…”

She seems to sense your general disappointment, “I-I mean I want to and all, it’s just I’ve got to…do some paperwork, and stuff…”

“Yeah that’s fine, but I’ll probably hit the park anyways after lunch to—“

“—No!” Her outburst surprises you, “I-I mean, I’m not even going to be there so why bother haha.” That’s weird.

“Okay then…I'll just knock out my errands...a change of routine will do me good.” Despite the tangible awkward atmosphere, she still doesn’t move, “So let me know if you need anything and I’ll be sure to pick it up.”

“…Um…Anon?” Her unsure voice penetrates your thoughts.

“Yeah?” 

”Uh…you don’t think he’s watching now do you?” Who is she talking about…oh.

You stick your head out your door and look up and down the empty street, then you look up at the red morning sky. Only a few ponies are out and none of them are green, “I don’t see him.”

She doesn’t seem to share your confidence, ”…You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I don’t see him.”

She still doesn’t move, ”I…I don’t know he’s kinda sneaky.” She usually isn’t this wishy washy.

“Dash what’s wrong?” More nervous shuffling.

”I just…was uh…thinking about what we where talking about earlier.”

“What do you mean?”

”About needing to…maintain appearances all the time.” Oh you know where this is going, ”And since we’re in public…I thought…aw do you have to make me say it!” She finishes with a hoof stomp.

“Well what did you have in mind?” That caught her off guard.

“I…don’t know, what do couples normally do when they say goodbye?” 

You drop down to one knee in front of her. “You tell me, I’m the one who was practically born yesterday.” You’ve never seen her this nervous before. Maybe it was a bit too cruel to put the decision back on her.

”Well, uhh…”

“Listen, I already committed to this thing, we talked about it and you know I’m okay with it.” 

She takes a deep breath before speaking up, ”Well then I guess a hug and a…k-kiss… would be ni…necessary.” That’s honestly exactly what you expected.

“Ok, that’s easy.” You say that only to cover up your own nervousness. No need to be nervous, she’s your best friend. You know her. You’ve practically done this before anyways. You can barely see her bowed face under her messy mane, but you could bet she’s just as red as you are. 

You pull her into a hug before things have time to get more awkward. Her fur fills in between your fingers and her spicy smell fills your nose. Of all the things you’ve ever hugged she was the most huggable. She wasn’t exactly a plushie because she had a skeleton and an athletic build, but she was very soft and pliable where it counted. And she could hug back. She stays in the hug for a while, almost as if building up courage for what was coming next. But the inevitable happens and you eventually break the embrace.

You pull back and look into her eyes. You’re close enough now that neither of you could hide your emotions. Her ears are flat against the back of her head, she gulps nervously, her prismatic mane still a bit messy from the nap. Nostrils flared with every other breath telling you she smelled you too. But the part that stands out most is her eyes. Her pupils are stretched wide and her irises seem to glow with a light of their own. For all of her normal rash confidence she's still a regular mare where it counted. You never considered it before, but she is beautiful. It's surprising how it suddenly stood out to you. She was always just a cute pony who you got along great with, but now you could see her obvious beauty as well. The longer you wait, the more you think about it, and in turn, the more nervous you feel. Time to take initiative.

You lean forward and press your puckered lips to her muzzle. You miss at first and your upper lip hits her nose. She readjusts around you and meets her lips to yours, pressing lightly. Her pointed muzzle parts your pursed kiss, making it feel deeper and more intense than either of you intended. The shock of what you were doing hits you again, as does the whole body flush. Your heart takes off in your chest and you begin to feel a bit light headed. But despite your symptoms you find yourself reveling in the experience. Her previous kisses that landed elsewhere carried many of the same sensations, but the short relocation to your mouth completely changed your interpretation of them. You could feel the heat off her in much better detail. A tiny amount of saliva from her otherwise dry surface sealed your embrace and carried the smell of her mild morning breath. Her nostrils almost match yours and you breathe in each other’s humid air. It feels so visceral, so real; it's like you're plugged into her and you can feel the emotions going through her head.

Unlike your first ‘kiss,’ the experience of being in intimate contact with the mare is very soothing. It's smelly and wet and uncomfortably warm, but at the same time it feels therapeutic. Even if she is acting you know that she does actually care for you, and that thought made the affectionate expression unexplainably exhilarating. 

Finally, you break your trance and pull away from the kiss with an embarrassing smack. Dash has her eyes closed and upon breaking, falls forward a bit off balance—evidence that her mind was lagging. At some point her wings had unfurled and were held a bit out at her sides, you can see that they were pulsing with what you assumed to be her heartbeat. You're not sure what that is, but there were a lot of things she did that you still had no explanation for. However you do know that you feel incredibly embarrassed, and it doesn’t help that you did that in front of an open door. 

“So…that should do it then.” It’s a start at least. She just nods slightly, not bothering to blink.

”Yeah…”

“Should’ve thrown any eavesdroppers.” You wink at her, hoping she catches the gist. Her wings bob in response before she notices them and awkwardly folds them amidst a fiery blush. 

You stand up and try to break eye contact, but you see that her still unblinking eyes follow yours. It's a bit unnerving. 

“Like I said, I’ll be headed into town so if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask.” She nods obediently like a toddler getting sent to their first day at school. You can’t drag this out any further, you're not sure what's going to happen next. “G’night…uh…good morning then.” 

“S-see ya.” And with that she trots off out your door and down the street.

You close the door and let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. This might be a lot harder than you thought. The whole idea of ‘helping’ Dash with her problem suddenly seemed utterly ridiculous. It would be so much easier to just explain Zephyr’s situation to him…or to just avoid him overall...no...you agreed to help her and you're going to see this through regardless of your level of fortitude.

You discover that she did indeed leave you with a bit of her essence as you reflexively lick your tingly lips. It doesn’t have much of a taste, but you don't have much to judge from. You blush harder and take another deep breath. You're not sure what to make of your friendship with Dash anymore. It was still there of course, but after…whatever that was, it was going to be different. Of course she’s not actually your mare friend or anything. You were just…how did you put it earlier? Comfortable with her. And comfortable made you capable. And capable was what she needed to get out of her jam. You wanted to help her get out of her jam. That’s why you just kissed your friend. Yeah…makes sense.

Your primary concern though was her reaction to all of this. Her behavior overall had been strange since this thing started, she'd always shrugged off your cuddle sessions with jokes and teasing, but now she just seemed awkward about it. The kiss was another thing she would've normally taken in stride. It was like she forgot this was all a game. Despite the whole thing being her idea, you can't help but wonder if she bit off more than she could chew. Above all else you valued your friendship, and your worst fear was that things would get weird to the point that she started avoiding you. If it came to that you'd have to call it off.

But in the end the whole experience left you feeling like you’d taken a year’s worth of caffeine and you head into the kitchen with an unexplainable perk in your step. You shrug it off as the effects of adrenaline. If there was one thing that was constant in this world it’s that females are still crazy.
> Musings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After completing your morning routine you set out to run your daily errands, feeling rested and refreshed. You didn’t have a job yet, but you had one lined up in the Equestrian Royal Research and Development branch. It's a government job, but only in the loosest sense. Apparently Celestia thought you were some alien scientist. You argued that a few classes worth of college level physics and chemistry didn’t exactly make you a genius, but she didn’t care. Introducing the concept of an electric toaster was impressive enough to cover your shortcomings. It was going to pay well once she did whatever paperwork she needed to hire you, but until then you lived off the land, and a small government subsidy. Yeah…welfare.

You made your way around town picking up odds and ends you needed. You did your best to push the events of the morning out of your mind, but you quickly find that to be an impossible task. You can’t help but feel that you and Dash started the morning on the wrong foot. 

It wasn’t that weird was it? But every time you asked that question you always returned to the same answer. Yes. Yes it was weird. 

You had a feeling this whole ‘play her colt friend’ idea was ill-fated from the start, but now you’re waist deep in it with a friend who, by the looks of it, was starting to become less than enthusiastic as well. But that’s the problem, you’re very enthusiastic. You were more eager to get touchy-feely with your pal than your rational mind could justify. You didn’t realize how much you looked forward to your afternoon nap until she broke the pattern this morning. That’d been a daily thing for at least…two months now? 

You wander the snack aisle of the town convenience store—your last stop on your list of errands. You needed to pick up more granola bars among other things. Dash ate your last one. You look at the options available. You both liked the honey flavor oats, but she did mention wanting to try honey-hay bars. You pull a box of hay bars off the shelf and toss them in your basket. She did eat eight of the ten bars in the last box. You grab another for good measure before heading to the dairy aisle. 

You promptly bump into a mare you didn’t see—making her fumble with the bag of shredded cheese in her hooves. “Oh sorry miss! Excuse me!” You make fleeting eye contact with the tan-coated pony who smiles meekly up at you. Of course she would be the exact same color as the floor. 

“You’re fine! No harm done!” She keeps an eye on you with her shy smile until you awkwardly step around her and promptly occupy yourself with an assortment of dairy items.

Your knee totally hit her butt…hopefully the ignorant alien card still works. You’d seen the mare before; it was hard to find a new face in the small town. Luckily she’s a nice one, not the kind to jump to assumptions or start a mob.

You’d grown accustomed to being a foot taller than most doorways, and shelves, and having to take three steps at a time on staircases. Even the rough bite impressions in the wood handle of your basket went unnoticed. But the one thing that you never got used to was the vast array of coloring these ponies came in. And they always seemed to magically place themselves in your path right where you’d never see them. It was like camouflage, but in places you would never expect anyone to try to blend in.

You add a quart of milk to the brimming basket and haul it over to the checkout line. 

“Howdy Anon!”

You spin around at the familiar voice and see Applejack falling in line behind you. Twilight had introduced you awhile ago, but you’d crossed paths quite often since then.

“Good morning AJ, how’ve you been?”

“Alright I reckon, Applebloom’s got some kinda stomach bug and I stopped by to snag some ginger root so Granny can whip up a stew fer her.” She glances at your basket, “You look like you’re stockin’ up fer winter?”

“Yeah. I was just replacing some of the food Dash ate. Speaking of which, I have a question I need to ask someone about…well, you don’t have any but you might know.” Maybe you can start getting some answers about Dash's behavior this morning.

She quirks an eyebrow at you, “Have any what, sugarcube?” 

“Wings…” You think back to the awkward parting kiss in your doorway.

“And what about em?” She asks skeptically.

You shift your grocery bags to your other hand to aid in your unconscious gesturing, “So why does a pegasus just stick her wings out? Because I’ve been here a while and I’ve never really seen them do that for no reason.”

Her eyes dart around with surprise, ”Uhh…her? Are you talking about when they’re flying?”

Does she think you’re that stupid? “No, like when they’re just standing there.”

Her voice lowers to a whisper and the start of a smirk brightens her face, ”Oh…well who, may I ask, was stickin’ er wings out?”

You shuffle up in line. “Dash was over last night and—“

“—Oh my that was quick.”

“…What?” 

She snaps out of her trance, “N-nothin sugarcube go on.”

“Yeah, so right before she left this morning we were…talking, and I just saw her wings out like that.”

Applejack’s grin grows a bit and she scoots close enough to tap your leg, ”Go on…”

“That’s it. She just left after that.”

She suddenly looks annoyed, ”Well obviously something happened.” 

“Look, if you could give me your best guess to what’s up then I’d appreciate it.” You weren’t telling her the whole truth, but you promised Dash you’d stay quiet about it. Not like it would help her answer your question anyways. Either way, your experienced poker face convinces her she wasn’t getting anywhere by prying.

”Well…uhh, assuming you don’t already know…I reckon she’s fond of ya.” She winks.

Really? So it actually had a specific meaning? It was a good thing you asked because there was no way you would’ve made that connection on your own, besides, you thought she was done with the mushy confessions the night prior. “That’s it? I thought she was squaring up to fight me or something considering the setting and all.” 

Her face contorts into a mixture of confusion, “Huh?“

“But then again there were other ponies around so she wouldn’t have done that.”

“Anon I-I don’t understand—“

“—Next!” 

You turn to the annoyed cashier and start unloading your basket, “Oh, AJ, you can throw your stuff in with mine if you want since you’ve only got those few roots.”

She snaps out of some trance and her wide eyes meet yours, “S-sure, yeah, I ‘preciate that.” She tosses them in the pile and the cashier begins ringing them up.

It takes a moment, but she finally ends the awkward silence, ”I haven’t seen Rainbow in a while, how’s she doin’, o-other than…uh…”

She was Dash’s friend, but you figured that if Dash wanted her to know, she’d tell her herself, “She’s got a lot on her mind lately.”

”You mean with Zephyr?”

She already knew? ”Yeah actually. She tell you about it?”

”I’d say it was bout' a month ago. She was a bit embarrassed about the whole darn situation, but she finally opened up.”

“So how’d you deal with it?” It might help to know what’s been tried before and what doesn’t work.

”Well Rarity was thinking to ask him on a date, you know…to try an divert 'em a bit.”

“And did she?”

”Nope. Never went through with it.”

“Why not?”

She awkwardly scratches the back of her neck with a fore hoof, “Well, ya see, since he’s Fluttershy’s kin an all we didn’t want to start any drama and get any bad blood between us by pryin’ this thing open.”

“So…you didn’t do anything to help her?”

”Rainbow said she’d take care of it! Besides, it ain’t our business to pay mind to what’s between them!”

“I was just asking.”

She seems to catch herself a bit, ”Well she’s a very competent mare, I’m sure she can handle the fella.”

“Yeah, sure. And what does Fluttershy have to say about this? I mean he is her brother.”

”Fluttershy’s…doing her best, but she’s just not used to putting the hoof down.”

So Dash came to them for help and they all just blew her off? 

“He’s not still pestering her is he?” 

You don’t like her attitude at all. Why would she, or any of her friends just pretend like it was nothing? “You’ll have to ask Dash.” You pay the cashier and grab your bags—handing the small ginger roots to Applejack in the process.

”Oh…alrighty then. Thanks fer the roots I really—”

“—Tell Applebloom I hope she gets well.” 

You don’t remember the walk back to your apartment, nor do you remember much of your dreary afternoon routine. You finish a science-fiction book Twilight recommended during the time you would’ve typically met up with Dash. She’d wanted to have a follow up ‘appointment’ to discuss how it related to fiction ideas you were already familiar with. Something about literary epistemology…not exactly a conversation you were looking forward to. And even if you were you’d already forgotten the first half of the book…as well as the part you just finished.

It wasn’t that you couldn’t remember you just didn’t have the capacity to try. Throughout the day you’d been bothered by the events of the morning, and what Applejack had told you only made things worse. It felt like you were buried in the sand and a tide was rising—steadily demanding more of your attention. You’d contemplated going to check up on Dash; a dozen decent excuses and a few pretty exceptional ones had crossed your mind, but even if you could fool her as to your true motivations where would that get you? What would you even say?

You sit up from your couch with a frustrated sigh. Obviously she’d come to you with her problem because her other friends left her hanging, and now you’d messed up…somehow? It could’ve been the sleepover, but maybe the whole reality of what she’d agreed to finally caught up with her. What if…she isn’t comfortable around you? What if she doesn’t fully trust you?

Cupboards slam as you angrily navigate your small kitchen in search of dinner ware. You're on edge because that uncomfortable theory answers a lot of questions, her odd behavior this morning, keeping her distance from you, her apparent sudden change of heart. And it was something you could’ve prevented. All you had to do was not be so…enthusiastic. It suddenly clicks. She must’ve caught on to your enthusiasm; she thinks you’re taking advantage of her.  Your stomach sinks just from the though of it. You’d just betrayed the trust of your best friend, or at least she felt that way. And since perception is reality that means you’re guilty of it.

“Dammit!” You go to slam the knife drawer but your hands are full so you hobble a knee up to complete the angsty task. The metal knurled handle hits the base of your kneecap and a sharp pain shoots through your leg, “Gah! Stupid thing!” You contemplate opening it up to slam it again…just to teach the rebel appliance a lesson, but from prior experience you knew that only tended to miraculously compound your injuries. You painfully swallow your remaining anger and do a short breathing exercise to smother it before you lower your property value.

A moment later your placid eyes focus on the things you’d acquired in your dinner preparations. A small frying pan, a spatula, a fillet of bass, a mixture of spices, and a large bread knife…don’t need that. You open the knife drawer again and gingerly replace the knife, closing it gently. 

As the smells of cooking fill the room your thoughts return one by one. Most get thrown out as you resign yourself to deal with it in the morning. But one thought wouldn’t leave you alone. Regardless of where you were at and how Dash thought of you, the fact still remained that she had a problem with Zephyr…one that made the confident, independent pegasus seek help on at least two separate occasions. It was clear that her security and peace of mind was a top priority, and as her friend it was your duty to see her through it. Knowing she’s safe is better than knowing you’re on perfect terms with one another. You never really believed you could have that severe a problem with your friendship, but it felt good to set your priorities straight. 

The fish was worse than you remembered it being; not enough of the right spices. You’d attempted to keep a record of recipes before, but you were too lazy to maintain them and even if you did you’d yet to make something that was worth writing down. Your laziness wasn’t confined to just the stovetop, you’d also gotten in the habit of not using your proper plates and silverware relying instead on the fortitude of your paper towels and a wooden spork you’d picked up for a tenth of a bit at a swap meet. You still had to wash the spork, but it sure made clean up a lot easier. 

After your nightly routine you settle down in your bed and assume a horrible lounging posture. You reach down to the bag beside your nightstand to grab another one of Twilight’s recommended readings at random. You honestly had no idea what she had in there besides a five pound thesaurus and that sci-fi fantasy. But judging by the bag’s heft she’d overestimated your reading ability and your enthusiasm. A narrow book with leather binding fills your fingers. Perfect, a small one. You retrieve the book and settle back down in your comforter. Scarlet-Hewn Wings—A Tale of Love and Tragedy.

“Seriously?” Your initial impulse is to exchange it for something else, but then you realize no one’s watching you so you don’t have to feel guilty. If anyone catches you with it you can just say the Princess ordered you to read it. 

You flip to the first blank page to read Twilight’s note: This is the only classical text I could find that combines sociology with sexuality, a perfect starting point to help get you adapted in the vast field of romance!

“I guarantee you this book doesn’t have squat on Romeo and Juliet.” You say to her as if she’s sitting next to you. You knew she was doing it from the kindness of her heart, and probably a bit more for academic reasons, but you can’t help but feel a little weird. It was like having your mom sign you up for a dating site because she knows you’re too incompetent to get a date on your own. 

You experimentally flip to a page part way through and a steamy cry of pleasure pops out from the text in all caps. Scratch that, more like having your mom subscribe you to Playboy.

The events of the day had put you through too much mental gymnastics to grasp the intricacies of another drama, so you close the book and set it on your nightstand. The lamp clicks off and you’re plunged into darkness.

Again, thoughts of your prismatic friend creep into your lethargic mind. It momentarily occurred to you that you might be overthinking things a bit…

…No…not a chance.
> Feelings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following morning began just as unremarkable as every other one. Voices from the street venders were the first thing you heard, and the stifling room offered little means of escaping their berating soliciting. You groan in bed for a moment. No wonder you never spend all day in this apartment. If you lived anywhere quieter you’d probably be a shut-in.

But breakfast lightened your mood and you mentally reviewed your daily agenda while cleaning out a tub of yogurt. Clean the apartment, pay the land-lady…land-mare, make your bed…what else? You know what else, but your experience yesterday had conditioned you to avoid the thought. Got to talk with Dash at some point, or at least make an effort to. You’d heard the phrase ‘sleeping on a decision’ before, but only now did you fully appreciate its meaning. It seemed that your brain had worked out all the hassle with yesterday’s conflict while you slumbered, and at no cost to your health. The answer to your problem, or at least, the best option you have was as clear as day.

You were going to call this off. This act, this game, this charade…whatever you want to call it, it has to stop. Not because it was too awkward or too embarrassing like you'd expected, but because it was driving a rift in between the both of you. As much as Dash needed a solution to her problem, she needed a friend more so. Someone she can trust and confide in…like she had been with you. Once that’s established you can work from there to tackle her problem from a different angle.

It had also occurred to you that no one had made any mention of talking to Zephyr about this. As far as you were concerned, everyone was beating around the bush to avoid direct confrontation. The answer was obvious, just go talk to him about it and tell him the truth. Sure it’ll be awkward to admit it was all a farce, but it’ll be less painful in the long run. Strange how easy that was after you were well-rested.

After breakfast you start knocking out your list of errands. By midmorning you find yourself back in your flat with Scarlet-Hewn Wings on your lap. The book was cheesy as expected, but surprisingly enthralling. It was about a pegasus stallion and an earth mare falling in love with each other during the time when the three Equestrian species were segregated into their respective factions. It had a lot of similarities with Romeo and Juliet with its juxtaposed families plot, but it added in the fact that both the characters were officers in their military forces. Honestly you didn’t really get into it until you started noticing the small details that set equine thinking apart from humans. The cultural differences in regards to romance were also pretty interesting. You found that more than a few of the daily behaviors ponies exhibit had meanings that were obvious to all but you. It’s like unlocking the Da Vinci code in a way. 

The valiant mare had just freed her downed lover with her political connections and now they were both hunkered down in her cellar to hide from the stallion’s vengeful brother. Oh…this looks like a good set-up for…You skip to the next page and see the familiar text from last night. Yep, here comes the steamy stuff. You check the windows one more time just in case someone wanted to blackmail you for reading erotica. Coast is clear. You really shouldn't feel guilty, it probably has important plot elements. 

It didn’t.

The uncomfortably long scene was more graphic than you thought necessary, but at the same time you had to admit it was educational. Twilight wasn’t lying about it being a good starting point to learn romance. You keep telling yourself ‘just one more chapter’ until you finish the last parting confession on the last page of the book. 

Glancing at the clock it was well into the afternoon. Damn that book was good. Suddenly you remember the last thing on your to-do list, talk to Rainbow. You finish a small plate of leftovers while practicing some conversations in your head. Before you can perfect your opening line your plate runs dry and you no longer have an excuse to stall. You clean yourself up a bit and head out into the golden evening sun to find your friend. With her show coming up she’s definitely going to be practicing in the park. You start jogging just to prove to yourself that you’re committed.

That, and you’re a bit eager to see Dash. It’s been almost two days since you’ve seen her…well not quite. Just over twenty-four hours. Geez…when you look at it like that it sounds like you’re a clingy girlfriend or something…

Your jog slows back to a walk. But you’re not…right? You’re just friends. 

As much as you tried to apply that label to your relationship it didn’t fit and you knew it. The title never really did describe what she was to you, even before you’d gotten to know each other that well. More than once you’d been caught off guard by how similar your thinking was. At times you felt like a pair of comical twins finishing each other’s sentences, but you sure weren't siblings. There were no ties that bound you other than the ones you created. And your differences only made your time together more interesting, it almost seemed to strengthen your bond. 

You’d always considered yourself a logical and practical person—someone who could judge things rationally without the distortion of emotion. You were used to having your better judgment opposed to your emotions, but for the first time in as long as you can remember, both were pointing to the same conclusion. Your relationship with Dash seemed more romantic than friendly, at least to you it did. Her unusually long absence from your life seemed only to highlight that. You enjoyed her company for the sake of her company and when you weren’t around her you couldn’t seem to get her off your mind.

You take a deep breath, all the signs are there…but you can’t actually like your friend that way can you? She’s not even the same species! But that argument was dead on arrival. You’d gotten over that after the first week, and any subsequent reservation had been smothered the better you got to know each other. That would also explain why you liked ‘fooling’ Zephyr so much, and why you were hesitant to switch tactics.

Ok, so maybe you do like her, but you’re not actually attracted to mares…You try to think of examples that would help you escape the inevitable conclusion. Despite your best efforts you’ve long since adjusted to find the contours of the equine form appealing. Ok so she’s not unattractive…for a pony. You try to move on but your train of thought hangs up on that half-truth.

Fine then, Dash is pretty good-looking…for a pony. Dammit! Why’d you all the sudden have to realize how good looking she is? That’s what you get for reading that stupid romance novel. You blame what you can but deep down you know the truth; you had known it for months now, it just took a while to get yourself to admit it. You’re falling for your best friend.  

You pick up your pace until you’re in a dead run. The park was mostly vacant except for a group of fillies and a few isolated couples. You finally reach the hillside where she normally practices and come to a stop. Looking back at Ponyville in the distance you let out a snort. Came quite a ways in that short jog. You’re eyes turn skyward. No Dash in sight.

The sun was approaching the horizon and ponies were starting to filter out of the park. Dang, you really expected her to be practicing. Your eyes survey the fields. An elderly couple sitting on a park bench, two kids having some kind of magic duel in the volleyball pit, a green pegasus flying from treetop to treetop. Wait, what? You focus in on the suspicious activity. Definitely Zephyr. Dang he’s the last thing you want to deal with right now. You sigh and contemplate going to talk to him. You’ll have to do it eventually. But you need to work things out with Rain—

”—There you are I was just about to go find you!” Your heart lurches at the sound of her scratchy voice. It’s not lurching she just startled you. You spin around to see Rainbow Dash hovering behind you. For the first time you see her in a different light. 

She notices your thousand yard stare, ”Heh, I know I sound too awesome to be real, but I’m not!”

You try to remember what you’d rehearsed but can’t. Why is she doing that cute grin? She’s never done that before. “N-no, I just th-thought I saw Zephyr over there and was going to make sure he wasn’t still stalking you.”

She lands next to you before feigning flattery, ”Aww how sweet, my personal guardian.”

Your face heats up, “Come on Dash, this whole thing’s your idea.” She hops a fore hoof up to your shoulder and punches you before using you to keep her balance. In a second she closes the distance and pecks your cheek. The action stunned you because you’d spent the entire morning telling yourself that wasn’t going to happen anymore. You feel the delayed reaction of butterflies bubbling up as if you’d swallowed a Mentos. 

”D-don’t look so surprised, he’s right over there doofus.” Her ticklish muzzle whispers in your ear.

Oh of course, “Oh, y-yeah I did see him.”

”And for the record it’s not completely my idea ya know, you kinda walked into it.”

That is also true, “I think it’s more like I gave an inch and you took a mile.”

She rolls her eyes and grins, ”What’re you doing out here anyways?”

“I was just going for a run and stopped for a breather when you found me.” Why didn’t you say you were coming to look for her?

“Well thanks for doing my work for me, I woulda had to fly all the way to your dumb apartment to find you. Where’d you see Zephyr again?”

“Over near the trees, he was looking kinda suspicious so I thought he might be up to something.”

”Hahahaha! Something suspicious—ahahaha!”

The more she laughed the more dignity you lost, “Care to enlighten me as to what you find funny?”

“Dude he’s helping Fluttershy!”

“Helping her? With what?”

”She needs to collect all the baby birds that got abandoned or something. So they’re going from tree to tree looking for them. I was helping her until Zephyr showed up. That’s when I went looking for you.”

“Oh…” You suppose he must have a life outside of his obsession with Rainbow. You scratch the back of your head in astonishment, “It didn’t even occur to me—“

She reaches over and punches you in the thigh.

“—Ow!” 

She gives you a sly grin before blowing a strand of red from her muzzle, her cute muzzle. ”Thanks anyways dude. I’m glad you’re looking out for me.”

“Y-yeah. Sure.” No. Stop blushing you idiot. ”So…why were you coming to look for me again?”

Something clicks in her mind, “Oh yeah! C’mere I gotta show you something!” She doesn’t wait for your response before spinning around and trotting off down a trail.

You take off obediently behind her, following her prismatic tail in the waning sunlight. You realize how much you’ve missed her enthusiastic voice and cocky grin…and everything else…You do the only thing you can to save you from your thoughts—keep the conversation going, “Where are we headed?”

She doesn’t bother looking back but replies in a chipper tone, ”Just chill dude it’s a surprise.”

“Okay…? Do I need a blindfold or something?”

”Hah! Do you expect me to hold your hoof until we get there!”

You dodge a root that almost catches your foot in the shadows, “Yeah I think that might be nice.”

She finally looks back at you to see if you were kidding or not, ”Seriously? In your dreams!"

“How much farther?”

”Quit whining it’s just over this hill.”

You snap out of your trance and appraise your surroundings. You were in a new part of the park now and the sun was resting on the horizon. The warm summer air was beginning to cool and it wicked away your perspiration. Trees parted and gave way to a small clearing with a perfectly still pond in the middle. The sky was exploding with red and orange hues which reflected off the mirror-like surface of the water.

It was so mesmerizing that you didn’t see Dash approaching you. She puts her hooves on your hips and gives you a shove. You fall on your butt onto thick grass. ”Now watch this!” And with that she launches herself into the air, propelling higher and higher with powerful wing strokes.

You’re caught speechless as you trace her through the evening sky. You pull your legs up to a more comfortable sitting position just as she reaches the apex of her climb. From there she noses over into a short dive, just enough to gain speed for two consecutive, lazy loops. Her final loop levels into a sharp-looking knife edge turn before she goes into another short spinning dive. She pulls out of that into a shallow climb while simultaneously flipping onto her back. Her mane is blowing across her face, but you spot her wave a hoof and smile at you from her lounged position. She looks relaxed, like someone floating on an inflatable pool chair.

You wave back.

She takes that as her queue to move on to the next trick. You stare on in amazement for the next few minutes as she swims through the air above the water. It was different from most of her practices, she looks much more relaxed—sticking with tricks that don’t require a lot of effort to pull off. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t trying. Every movement was executed flawlessly as far as you could tell. It looks like she’s trying to show off something besides her speed. As you begin to contemplate what that thing is, you notice her start gaining speed. She was flying level away from you and was going faster than she had all night. Just as you think she’s making a run for the border, she pulls up vertically and leaves her wings outstretched. You immediately recognize it as the wingtip turn you’d been helping her with before the whole Zephyr incident happened. You swallow some nervousness; she’d never been able to get it right before. Up she climbed, propelled only by her momentum. You hold your breath as she gets closer to stalling out. Right before she runs out of speed, she tucks one wing to her body and angles the other.

Her timing was perfect and it looks like she pivots in place around the pinfeather of her outstretched wing. As she noses over from her vertical turn her other wing shoots out at just the right time to stabilize her dive. She did it! She did a perfect wingtip turn!

You’re up on your feet in a flash, “Whooohooo! Way to go Dash!” She can’t hear you but it doesn’t matter.

She gains incredible speed in her dive—rocketing straight for the water before pulling up at the last moment. She tucks her legs to her body, allowing her to get a few feet off the surface without danger. As she approaches the shore she dangles a fore hoof low enough to break the surface tension, leaving a trail of golden mist behind her with the setting sun.

She finally comes to a stop ten feet in front of you with a flare and a violent whoosh of air. Realizing you’ve flinched, you lower your guard to see a beaming pegasus. She’s looking right at you with toothy grin, her nostrils flare with every breath but she wasn’t breathing hard. Her mane has a whipped back appearance from her final dive.

“You pulled it off!” You couldn’t resist. You close the distance and throw your arms around her neck in a hug.

She doesn’t hesitate returning the gesture briefly before pulling away, ”I couldn’t have done it without your help dude."

“Sure, but even when I was helping you you never got it down that well.”

She shifts her gaze and drags her hoof through the grass, ”Well I’ve had all morning and yesterday to practice.”

“Was that what you were doing all day?”

She glances at you before going back to drawing imaginary circles, ”Yeah…I was m-motivated to learn it and I didn’t want you to see until I had it down perfect.” She winces at her own stutter but you barely notice. 

She answers your question before you can ask it, ”I…remembered how you said you felt bad about ruining my practice…even though you didn’t. S-so I wanted to show you so maybe you wouldn’t feel as bad.”

You do remember saying that, but just barely…it was more of a passing comment before you hit up the donut stand. Did she take it that seriously? You try to catch the eye of the sheepish pegasus to no avail. Her mane was frazzled and her coat was pressed flat from the air. She needed to have it down by her show time, but there was no reason she had to push herself that hard.

The reality of your situation finally hit you. She doesn’t seem mad at all about yesterday morning, it’s like it never happened. Instead she’d orchestrated this whole private airshow just to ease a concern that she though you might’ve had. It was ironic how she could flip one-eighty from her typical egotism and pull off things like this. But you didn’t question it in the slightest. That’s why you like her so much.

As the burden of your repressed emotions evaporates you feel indescribably happy. You don’t know what to say. But you need to say something, she’s looking at you expectantly. You reach out and hold her shoulder; her face lights up with emotion and blood flow as you plant a kiss on the crown of her head before grabbing her in another hug. She shuffles a bit but you only use the opportunity to squeeze her tighter. She stops struggling and relaxes into your chest with a sigh—trusting you to bear her weight.

”Heheh! Y-you’re a bit clingy tonight dude.”

“Just happy is all.”

”Yeah! I can tell!”

Her spicy scent makes its way to your nose. She’d definitely been working all day. Even though it was stronger than normal, it still wasn’t unpleasant. It brought back drowsy memories of falling asleep a few nights ago, and you can’t help but get absorbed in the embrace. Does this mean she feels the same?

Your cheeks flush red and you’re glad your face is hidden in the hug. There’d been a few tender moments between you both before, and you weren’t surprised that she never talked about them. After the moment passed, the casual observer wouldn’t be able to tell it ever happened. But the both of you knew, and that was all that mattered. You weren’t as ashamed to admit your feelings to yourself as you expected to be, and you attributed that to your history. You’d had a home, some friends, and even some ponies that were better to you than the average family, but Dash was where it all started. She was the first to take genuine interest in you, and she helped you get over missing your old home. When you came to Equestria you lost everything except the clothes on your back. Your friends and family were gone. She willingly filled the gap they left in your life. And after the initial pain was over, your friendship only strengthened more. 

The only thought that occupies your mind at the moment is how to express your gratitude to the prismatic mare. Just in case you hadn’t already gotten the message across. One opportunity stands at the forefront of your mind. Come on Anon, you said you were going to stop this before it messed things up further. But that was before you realized you’d been overreacting…and before you realized your feelings.

Besides, you didn’t really want to stop, and you had the mother of all excuses to back you up. Apart from that, something told you she probably wouldn’t want to complain about it anyways. What better way to express your gratitude? You slowly pull her off you until she brings her wavering gaze up to meet yours. You couldn’t decipher the message in her eyes, but by the way she was sitting she was clearly at ease.

Somehow, at some point, you’d managed to earn her absolute trust. She knew for a fact that you’d never hurt her, and you would do everything you could to keep that unspoken promise. She proves that trust by not even flinching as you lean in and close the distance. Whatever was happening she was okay with.

Your pucker meets her fuzzy muzzle and she adjusts to match you. The minty smell of her moist lips returns, but along with it comes the cool sensation you normally attribute to mint. Her lips tremble slightly at your touch but remain dormant. This kiss felt different than the ones before, it wasn’t forced, it wasn’t faked, it was a genuine expression of your feelings, and at that moment there was no doubt in your mind as to how you felt about Rainbow Dash. She’s not kissing back. Despite your exhilarating touch your stomach turns to ice and your heart rate starts skipping out of fear. You should’ve known she didn’t feel the same! You idiot! Now she is going to be mad at you!

You pull away and fearfully meet her eyes. But what you see isn’t anger, it’s…surprise? “D-Dash, I-I’m so sorry, I-I—“

You’re cut off by Rainbow pulling herself back into the kiss. You had no idea you could experience such a wide range of emotions so quickly, but you don’t contemplate it. 

Arms wrap around her petite frame and hooves hook around you—neither had any intention of letting go anytime soon. You honestly had no idea what you’re doing, you’d never kissed like this before. You twist to match her contours better and boldly run the tip of your tongue across the gap made between her lips. Dash misunderstood it as an advance and opens her mouth enthusiastically. You pause for a second, trying to take stock of the situation with your eyes still closed. Dash begins trembling again, and in an instant you can tell that she was nervous she’d made a mistake. 

Your tongue accepts her generous invitation, quelling her fears. She lets out a sigh and a shudder as she lets you freely explore new grounds. Her taste is amazing. It’s a milky-sweet tang that you could only explain as a flavor native to Dash’s natural salivation.  It’s like a candy shop…except it’s harder to breathe. Her own tongue remains surprisingly still as you run yours first across her front teeth, then her molars, touching the inside of her cheek in the process. Hooves massage your neck and head, telling you to ’make yourself at home’. As if rewarding herself for her abstinence so far, her tongue finally shoots out to find yours. Her level of experience seems to match yours as you tangle in a playful struggle.

At first, she takes to using her longer tongue to her advantage, licking up and down the length of your shorter, wider one. Your well-lubricated taste muscles slick past each other over and over, never tiring of sampling the other. Your strategy is to curl your tongue in an O-shape to try and encapsulate hers. She was more than willing to get caught too; but there was too much that you both wanted to do, so no one task was followed to completion. Eventually you both resign to resting the flats of your tongues against the other while you try to catch your breaths through your noses. Dash’s hooves were no longer moving, and instead she’d locked your head in a death grip. Once you remembered you had hands, you move one up to scratch behind her ear. She grunts comfortably into your mouth in response, giving you a few licks of appreciation. The feeling of her taste buds sitting directly against yours clouded your mind and numbed all your other senses. 

As much as you wanted to stay like this forever, you knew your time was running out. Your nose just couldn't feed your rabid heart. You figured you’d run out of air first anyways, you'd learned that Pegasi had more hemoglobin in their blood that let them function at high altitude. You open your eyes for the first time in a while and immediately cross them in an attempt to focus on your partner. From your distance you see that her eyelids are closed and her ears are folded in submission; your index finger is still scratching the warm fur behind one of them. She tries to keep it folded over the welcome digit, but you can tell she’s fighting her own reflexes. The ear flickers in sequence with a quiet grunt when you hit a particularly good cluster of nerves. 

You hated yourself for it, but your time's up. You interrupt the oral caress and break the seal with a loud smack. An inhale brings much needed air into your tortured lungs. She exhales some breath that she still had—filling your senses with her warm air. That felt incredible. You gaze deep into her half-lidded magenta orbs, still keeping tabs on her heartbeat and breathing. Judging by how into it she is, she just might feel the same way you do. You can literally feel your heart lurching at the thought. Either that or lack of oxygen. 

A shy smile appears on her flushed muzzle, and her blissful eyes bolster your confidence. You smile back.

Both of you are far too embarrassed to form any words. Realizing she’s still leaning against you, you shift to allow her to find her hooves. Her eyes drift off you as she shuffles. You become aware of a force pressing against your crossed leg. It had been there the whole time, you just now realized what it is. It's her wing trying to extend itself; the other had already spread quietly during your embrace. You shift your leg out of the way as she finds her hooves…albeit a bit shakily. Her restrained wing suddenly launches out to mirror her other one.

*pompf

She loses her balance and catches herself while doing her best to avoid eye contact. Panic strikes her features and she desperately elbows and pulls at her wings to get them to deflate. She's incredibly flushed and it looks like she’s trying to shrink from your presence. Applejack’s voice comes back to you clear as day. She’s fond of you. You smile wider as the true meaning of the words becomes apparent. The fluttering heart in your chest distracts you from the absurdity of it all.

“There’s no reason to feel embarrassed.” You whisper. She looks up questioningly—her blue face an impossible shade of red. After all she’s done for you, she doesn’t deserve to feel like this. You coax her closer and she shyly complies, sitting uncomfortably on her haunches in front of you. She doesn’t have enough room for both her fore hooves so she tentatively places one on your shin. Her eyes dart around nervously to make sure no pony’s around. You’ve never seen her this shaken up before. 

”I-I-I’m not s-sure…”

“I like you too.” 

She stops her fidgeting and stares at you, though her blush doesn’t fade. “R-really? Like, l-like-like me?”

“Yeah…a lot.” This is your chance to tell her how you feel and that’s all you say?

Short or not your message was clear. As is the reply. She lunges at you and wraps you up in a bear hug. “I-I’ve been trying for so long I thought you wouldn’t ever like me back!” Is she choking up?

Your hands move to the fur of her shoulders and you hold her against you, “What do you mean?”

“Ever since you helped me with my broken wing I’ve liked you and you just ignored me!”

Oh…damn now you feel really bad. This poor mare had been dropping hints for months now and you didn’t even see them. You sigh. “Dash I’m sorry. It’s hard for me to notice these things sometimes and—“

*smack

“—Ah! What now?”

“J-Just shut up…”

“Yep.” You comply and start stroking the back of her mane. In all the feelings rattling around in your chest—of which your throbbing shoulder was one—the most powerful by far is happiness. The blue pegasus clinging to you had managed to bring you a special brand of unbridled joy that hadn’t existed in your heart since you were a young boy. Back when you didn’t have to pay bills or care about what people thought; it feels like you didn’t have a care in the world to weigh you down. It feels like freedom.

Dash loosens her hug just as a lump forms in your throat. She’s still flustered, and her wings are still awkwardly sticking out, but you can see it in her watery magenta eyes that she feels something similar. You withdraw your hugging arm and it grazes the leading edge of her wing. 

The dopey look on her face gets replaced with an embarrassed one again as she snaps back to reality, you want the old Dash back. “You don’t have to feel embarrassed.” 

Her uneasy silence gives you another opportunity, “Listen…D-Dash…” your gaze moves to her wings and they begin throbbing from the added attention. “I-I know what the wing thing means…it seems a bit unnecessary though don’t you think?” Why the hell did you bring that up of all things!

Amidst her already radish-like appearance she finds a way to look even redder, ”Y-you know?” 

You nod slowly. You might have to tackle her into the water to keep her from spontaneously combusting. It’d do you some good too. 

She shuffles a bit more, but you still hold her steady, even her breathing is shaky. “Considering w-what we just uhh…l-learned about each other, I don’t know why you’re embarrassed over a little body language.” Way to call her out on it! You’re just going to ruin this!

“A-a what?” Her confused look makes you wonder how you even got as far as you did.

As much as you already hate yourself for your lack of eloquence, you were too far to abandon ship now, “Your body language…you’re saying you like me.”

”Well y-yeah b-but…” She stutters and her wings stiffen further.

“You already did a pretty good job with the kiss you know.” Ok…better.

You give her shoulder a gentle squeeze of reassurance. She finally regains her sense enough to tell you what’s on her mind, ”Uhh…it’s not exactly like that.”

Applejack lied to you? Wasn’t she the honest element or something? “What do you mean?”

”It’s…they’re kinda s-sensitive.” She turns her eyes earthward in an effort to shield her blush, instead you get to watch her ears turn red.

Surely she can’t mean…that kind of sensitive. The spot below her shoulders was, you found that out by accident. But unlike her back, you came in contact with her wings quite often. She used them when wrestling and they could withstand a sonic boom. They couldn’t possibly be…that sensitive, could they?

”…A-And I, I think I tweaked something…” 

Oh, it is the painful kind of sensitive...obviously from practicing so hard for your private airshow you inconsiderate idiot. “I can rub it out for you if you want.” Her eyes shoot wide and her feathers ruffle on her outstretched wings. 

They look almost painfully stiff. Oh wait, they are. You probably just hurt her worse when you hugged her too. That’s no way to treat your…mare friend. “I hate to see you suffer from a cramp, especially if it’s there because of my airshow.”

She still looks like a million volts of electricity are running through her, “All I’m saying is that I bet my hands are pretty good for massages.” You pull your hand from her shoulder and wiggle your digits in front of her face for emphasis.

“Yes!” 

Wow, that seemed like the selling point.

”I-I mean, a-as long as you're ok-k-kay with it...”

"Of course Dash!"

"...And you don't t-tell anypony..."

Figures. If word got out that the fastest pegasus in Equestria got flying cramps she’d lose her invincible reputation. You motion for her to come closer. She hesitates at first.

”Like…really d-don’t tell any pony.”

“My lips are sealed.”

She slowly turns around so her back is facing you. From your new position you can see her toned muscles stuck in a contraction that kept her wings extended. You scoot closer, careful to move her tail out of the way lest you sit on it. She looks back over her shoulder and bites her lip. You catch her eye and spot a hint of nervousness. Your hand moves to her shoulder and you hold it gently. She’s trembling…

“Hey, Dash. It’s just me okay? You have nothing to worry about.” 

She takes a deep breath before nodding, ”I-I know, just…go gentle…a-at first.”

“Absolutely.” You reassure her by massaging her shoulders a few times. Your gaze moves to her impressive, and rather beautiful wings. She didn’t give you any guidance, and you felt like asking would undermine your claim to be a good masseuse. Your eyes trail along the throbbing appendages in front of you. The leading edges were covered in fine feathers, the farther down her wing, the larger the feathers. The trailing feathers—her primaries, were the longest and you could see them separate slightly every time her heart beat. In all the times you’d hung out before you’d never gotten to examine her wings up close…nor did you get to massage them. 

You waste no more time keeping her waiting. You reach out and tentatively grab the leading edge of her wing root. Her ears snap flat, and she lets out a shaky breath as your fingers wrap around the powerful muscle that attached the four-foot plus wing to her body. Slowly, you begin kneading the tissue—starting off with very little pressure and slowly working deeper and deeper until you feel yourself pinching bone. Working your way out, you squeeze the muscle around her leading wing bone until you reach her first joint, then stop. You’re tempted to ask her how you’re doing, but you decide not to. She’s definitely the kind of mare to let you know if you’re doing it wrong.

Your hands separate now, one moves back to the root, the other moves back down her leading edge. You gently work your fingers in between tendon and muscle to apply pressure directly to her deep tissue. You know the objective is to work out the lactic acid buildup that causes muscle cramps. You lean over and check her expression to see how you were doing. She’s got her eyes cinched shut and she’s biting her bottom lip. You immediately become concerned and stop your movement, “I’m sorry Dash! Am I hurting you?”

”No! Just…keep going!”

Well okay then, looked like she wanted to tough through the pain. You hate to be the one inflicting it upon her but it’s for the best. Your hands return to their positions. She leans back into your touch. One hand finds her first wing joint and you knead it carefully—exploring its structure in the process. Fingers trace the contours of the joint in your head. Seems pretty similar to an elbow.

”Mmph!”

You stop again, “You sure you’re good Dash?”

”Yes!”

You suppose she gets a pass to yell since it hurts and all. “You know if it hurts too much there’s other ways—”

”—Stop teasing and rub me out already!”

Ok now that just sounded suggestive. She seems to catch herself and peeks back at you sheepishly.

”I-I…I mean, if Zephyr’s still w-watching…it’d be pretty c-convincing.”

Convincing? It almost sounds like she’s pleading with you. Either way if this is part of the…convincing, then that means she probably doesn’t have a muscle cramp...meaning her wings are the other kind of sensitive…the kind that gives you butterflies to think about. Overburdened with thoughts, you begin to triage them like a battlefield surgeon. First things first, keep Mr. Stalker convinced. He may not be watching, but you know he's in the area, the risk associated with that chance had to be mitigated. Your hands resume their function and her blood flow surges again under your touch with a gasp.

You do your best to shove her signals from your mind as you tackle the next problem: what you were doing with your hands. You enjoyed the intimacy of your kiss, but this is on another level entirely…or is it?

“Gaah!” 

Yeah. It is. Like a car on idle, your thumbs rub in circular motions across the exact same spots repeatedly. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, you just confessed your feelings for each other, right? There’re no rules against taking it fast. The two circles of fur at her wing roots were starting to look irritated and red underneath the pads of your digits. You don’t notice, but luckily she doesn’t find it painful. Racing thoughts succeed only in revealing one truth. You cared deeply for this mare, and it wasn’t something you decided on your way to the park. You are where you are now because you’d been a loyal and trustworthy companion to your pegasus partner. You wouldn’t have gotten this far with her if she didn’t want you to. 

You stop mouth breathing in a trance like a retard and snap your attention back to the mare in front of you. You study the back of her head and let the sound of her elated breathing clear your mind. Her ears quiver and her tail twitches, you can see the corner of her muzzle pressed into a nervous squiggle. You're more than ready for this. A wave of heat hits your whole body and you take a moment to appreciate the fact that she was facing away from you. Dash’s twitching slowed as her nerves numbed under the repetitive motion of your thumbs. Her wings were still outstretched, but you could tell she was a bit unsure of what was happening. Luckily for her, catharsis demands action.

Hands move to caress her wings with newfound purpose. 

”Aaah!"

You start massaging both wing roots at once and she arches her back letting out a surprisingly sensual cry. You congratulate yourself on your good decision, in regards to both the motivation and orientation behind your action. You work the thick muscle all the way out to her joint; there you spend a bit of extra time feeling around it with your nimble fingers. Her breathing gets heavier and heavier and she tries to push her wings up into your grasp with each slow rub. Getting the gist of what she was trying to do, you reach out a bit farther and pull down lightly—as if you were folding them for her. They don’t bend very far under her muscle tension, but she definitely feels it.

”Ooh! Anon!” She’s tucked her snout to her breast and has one fore hoof pulled up. Hearing your name like that stirs something inside you that you haven’t felt in…ever. Her voice unlocks a floodgate of warm feelings that washes away any remaining inhibitions.

You pull back on the appendages a few more times before picking up where you left off. You run your index fingers along the full leading edges of her wings in long strokes. Her muscles contract in rhythm with your touch, making her feathers ripple and shimmer in the waning sunlight. That looks absolutely gorgeous. 

You move your attention down to her larger, trailing secondaries.  Open hands slide across the slick feathers on the top of her wing until they reach the items of interest. You start with one feather at a time; you gently isolate the closest one to her torso and gently pinch it. Then you pull back gently on it, as if you were weakly trying to pluck it. One small slip up would mean you’d prematurely pull the feather, which she’d informed you was very painful. But if you pull with lightly enough, it just…might…

”Mmmh!"

Yep. You guessed right. You start on both wings simultaneously—intending to give each and every feather the attention it deserves. There are a lot more than you thought but you don’t mind how long it takes, and you doubt she does either.

"Nngh!"

If this was a horror movie, her…sounds would be like a beacon for the murderer.

Not wanting to waste any more time on what appeared to be a less-sensitive part of her, you rake across the bases of her primaries with spread fingers before returning to the leading edges.

*gasp “R-right there!”

Yep, that’s her favorite spot. You were getting a feel for how she worked, and it helped that she wasn’t holding back any expressions. You almost wondered if she was exaggerating on purpose, to put on a show for any eavesdroppers. But the theory didn’t survive long, you can feel that every last gasp and cry is genuine. Better ask her just to be sure.

“Heh, enjoying this Dash?” She looks back at you with a half-lidded eye in response. Her mouth is parted and she’s openly panting now, a drop of drool falls from her bottom lip to the grass below.

Holy shit that’s hot. She’s still looking at you but hasn’t replied, just more heavy breathing, and drooling. You reach up to scratch behind her ear and her open mouth morphs into a smile.

”I-it's really goo-aaaaaah!” She gets cut off by an unexpected sigh of pleasure.

Poor thing can’t even speak properly. This was just inhumane; you need to finish her off. But before you resume she shifts position a bit. In a desperate bid to get more stimulation her forelegs push off the ground and tip her onto her haunches where she leans her wings back into your hands. She pauses for a moment and you try to figure out what she’s doing. When you don’t immediately gratify her she leans back further—slipping off her balance and into your chest. Her weight takes you both to the ground with her on your chest.

“Well ok then.” Your hands find their positions on her now semi-familiar wings and start massaging again.

“Ahhh…” 

The sigh of relief motivates you even further. The new position with her balanced on your chest leaves her rear legs up in the air and free to move. You sift through the minute chords of tendon and muscle running underneath her skin and down feathers until you find one that makes her kick.

”Nyah!”

You pinch the tendon lightly and follow it until it disappears into a major muscle group near her joint. The action made her look like she was trying to doggy paddle with her hind hooves, occasionally a fore hoof would twitch, but her hind legs did most of the work. The sight makes you grin like an idiot; it’s like controlling a puppet. You fish your nimble fingers around some more and find another. This time you roll the taut cable slowly between the digits. She kicks again.

”Oah!” 

You repeat.

”Gaah!”

Again…slower.

”Hhnnng!"

As your hands explore her natural wiring, you feel her powerful glutes contract and ripple slightly with each kick.  Her tail swishes happily across your knees. It was stuck straight out, giving anyone in front of you a clear line of sight to her excited rear. You can’t see anything from your position, but you were starting to wish she had thigh cramps too. No…you don’t wish that on her, you just wished you could…no, focus. You turn to try and get a glimpse of her facial expression. Her ears were still folded and any semblance of her rough and tumble attitude was replaced with a more deep-rooted desire to interact with you. You catch her eye just as your rubbing intensifies.

You abandon your specific approach and return to stroking and squeezing major muscle groups. The sudden influx of stimulation quickly begins to overburden her already strained system, and she starts flexing both her wings in sync. You imagine your hands as little shuttles, aiding the circulation to the edges of her wings in accordance to her heartbeats.

You can feel her getting close now. Your hands run her length until you feel the meat of her wingtip stop at the base of her pinfeather. You can’t reach the other wingtip so you massage what you can. You experimentally pull out gently on her pinfeather and get an overwhelming response. Her back arches off your chest and her legs stick straight up in tension.

”Ooaahhg!”

Well if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing twice.

”Goaaahhh!” Her savage panting and the puddle of drool you feel running down the side of your neck tells you she’s extremely close. You had to get her off with the next event. For her sake as well as your own.

You start kneading the leading edge of her wing while massaging the pinfeather root on the other. When you get to her mid-joint you start pulling back against her muscle tension. 

”Uuuh!” She can’t decide whether to pull her legs to her torso, or extend them. You keep going. You work the pressure on her leading edge farther down while still keeping back pressure on her wings. You feel her powerful back muscles twitching against you as electricity builds in her body. You pull back roughly on one wing and with your other hand you gently twist her pinfeather in its socket…just…a little bit…more—

”Ano—aaaaaaah!"

Heavy, rhythmic shudders overtake her body. Her individual feathers separate and stick out as every muscle in her wing contracts with electricity. She pulls her head out from under your chin to arch her back, her mouth open in a silent scream of pleasure. Forelegs clench to her chest and hind legs stick straight back, pointing her hoof tips at the horizon as her brain forces every muscle she has to wince in pleasure.

You bask in the overwhelming satisfaction of success and strain to hold her close to you. Eventually the clutches of pleasure release her and she melts back into you with a happy sigh and cloudy eyes. Her muzzle tip turns to rest on your cheek, breathing rapidly against you to replace her lost oxygen. She's exhausted. It felt like she got hit by a taser…except it felt good.

Your hands abandon her erogenous zone and move to stroke her chest and belly as her wings slowly deflate. Her breathing stabilizes, as does her heart rate. A small grin teases her muzzle as she spreads her fore hooves a bit—giving you permission to reach more of her chest. She prods her muzzle farther up your face, bumping into your nose with some force. You can tell she’s still out of it, dopamine release had compromised her motor function. But that doesn’t keep her from trying to express her gratitude. Her tongue slides lazily across your cheek in a ‘thank you’ lick. A quick readjustment allows you to go nose-to-nose with her. You see her glazed over, half-lidded eyes looking longingly into yours. 

Her smile doesn’t leave her face as she pushes her muzzle against your lips in a lazy kiss. She doesn’t bother to pucker or move them, she just wanted to make contact with you. You do the work for her and give her a lingering kiss before she pulls away again. Then you kiss the tip of her nose. Her warm giggle makes your heart well up in your throat. You're so happy right now, you just can’t imagine how you managed before she came into your life.

Your gaze shifts to the darkening sky across the pond. The sun was already below the horizon, but the residual light was just enough to navigate by if you left now. You signify the conclusion of her belly rubbing with a few pats. “I think it’s time to go Dash.”

She searches you a bit with her dilated eyes before nuzzling the top of her soft snout against your jawline. She says nothing but her body complies. Her wings had returned to her sides—making it possible to roll off your chest onto her hooves. You climb to your feet as blood rushes back to your slightly tingly extremities, and you pull your long shirt down below your waist. Dash finally stands next to you on shaky hooves. “You alright Dash?”

She lets out a short giggle but doesn’t say anything. You move next to her, allowing her to lean into your dangling hand for support. Then you start your journey back to your apartment. She follows next to you for a few paces before one of her hind legs gives out and her butt slumps to the ground. You look down with concern and she looks back with a slight blush.

”Heheh, uhh…it might take me a bit to find my hooves.” She looks like she just ran a marathon, but you let her give it another shot. She was sort of hopping each leg as if she was walking on hot concrete. That is officially the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. She hop-steps another three paces before her hind legs give out again. You crouch down and scoop her up in your arms. She flips into your chest and immediately finds a place for her forelegs around your neck, ”H-Hey! What’s the big idea?”

You snicker a bit at her protests, “Just taking care of my Dash.” You reply. You crane your neck back and peck her cheek which she abashedly tolerates. She makes no rebuttal, but instead tucks her blushing face farther behind your neck. Now that your passenger was cooperating you start your more successful walk back to your apartment. 

But when you make it to the forest’s edge, you hear a branch snap. You whip your head around, ready to valiantly defend your mare against a sleuth of bears. Instead you spot an all-too familiar lime green pegasus staring at you from behind a cluster of bushes, and from the look on his face he’d been there for some time. His hooves cover his nether regions, and his wide eyes lock onto yours. No way…was he…watching you!

Your blood begins to boil as full realization of what he’d been doing hits you, “What the fuck is this!” 

Dash’s eyes shoot open and she also spots the silent voyeur, ”Zephyr! What’re you doing out here!” You feel her tense up and her feathers ruffle with adrenaline. 

He knows he’s in deep crap now, ”I…uh…um…” He’s shuffling backwards, trying to make it to a clearing so he can use his wings.

You’d always believed that violence had no place in civil life, but dammit you were fixing to do some violence. You gently place your precious cargo down on her hooves and take a deep breath before launching yourself at him in a full sprint. His fight or flight kicks in and he chooses to flee from the alien predator. 

He looks back mid-scramble, his face locked in terror. It only fuels your rage and in an instant you’ve closed the distance. You grab a handful of tail hair and pull. He doesn’t stop, even though part of his tail does. You time a kick and deliver it to the side of his rear leg. The force from the kick pushes his rump into the path of a quickly approaching evergreen. It happened too quick and he can do little but tense for impact.

Pine leaves gently rustle as the energy from his body travels throughout the wood fixture. You approach the wheezing creature as he bucks his legs at you in defense. You swipe the first blow away, but catch a second hoof to the gut.

*ooph!

It hurt…bad. But you did your sit-ups. And you were betting he did not. The next frantic kick is caught by ready hands and you throw his legs to one side—pinning them to the ground with a knee. You wind up and deliver a punch to his stomach but you crack your knuckles on his defensive fore hooves. “Agh!”

The pain made you even more determined to land a solid hit and you tangle with his fore hooves to create an opening. You had felt anger like this before, but never really had an excuse to act upon it. The fact that he violated Dash’s privacy, probably more than once, made you incredibly mad. Zephyr flailed frantically aided by his will to live. His hard hooves were a formidable weapon, but he was no predator. He lacked a certain capacity for provoked violence that you had. 

Finally you catch an opening and pin his hooves. You begin landing blow after blow. He starts fighting them off and you manage to grab hold of his muzzle, squeezing his jaws together with painful force…right before punching him straight on the nose with all you’ve got.

You hear an audible pop, ”Ah!” That wasn’t like the movies. You reel your hand back, shaking it painfully. He may have the broken nose, but that really freaking hurt.

As if on queue his nose immediately starts gushing blood, his fore hooves shoot to his face and you weren’t punching through those again. In your brief respite he comes to his senses and bites down on your hand.

That was easily solved by pushing his broken nose back with an open palm, ”Gaaah! Ok! Stop stop!” You relent but you keep his legs pinned. You allow him movement to hold his nose; he chokes on a bit of blood before spitting it out, ”I’m sorry ok! I won’t do it again!” 

That's it? It's not even you he should be apologizing to! But in the midst of your rage you knew that the battle was won, any more retribution would feel...wrong.

You let him go and he stays on his back until you're a few feet away. You avoid the look of the shocked mare behind you. Part of you felt good doing that. But another part hated yourself for doing that in front of her. You weren’t sure how she’d take it. 

Zephyr gets to his hooves and spits out some blood, "What the hay is wrong with you!" 

To your surprise Dash takes off in a wobbly sprint. You look down at your hands and see that they’re a bit bloody. You don’t want to touch her and make a mess of her coat. You make an effort to roll them into your shirt…which also had a few specks of blood on it. It’s not quite a murder scene, but the closer she gets the guiltier you feel.

She steps past you and takes an aggressive stance flaring her wing, ”Get lost already! Can’t you see we’ve had enough!”

Whether it was her wording or her gestures something worms its way through your adrenaline filled veins and warms your heart. Despite the weird and awkward past few days, despite your ignorance of her feelings and the pain you put her through, despite the fact that you were a lone creature from another world and had very little to offer her…she never once considered leaving your side.

Her angry gaze holds until Zephyr shamefully limps into a clearing a short distance away and takes off. She follows him until his form is lost behind the trees before turning to you. When she does her expression is changed, ”Dude you okay?”

“I’m fine…” You reply as she checks you over. She spots the damage immediately.

”Anon you’re hurt!” She stands up on her rear legs and gently takes your hands in her hooves. Her wings wrap around your back protectively. She inspects the minor cuts and abrasions before visually checking the rest of your body for injuries. Her eyes return to your hands and her face is stricken with pain.  She holds them against the soft fur of her chest before swiveling her head to your surroundings. The fine fuzz and warmth of her chest adds a level of comfort to your stinging appendages, but it didn’t fix it.

You know she's looking for something to wrap them with, “Dash…” She stops her panicked searching and looks up at you, “…I’m fine, let’s just get back to the apartment.” Your comment seems to have the opposite affect you intended.

”But you’re in pain.” Her eyes are welling up. She’s actually crying…over you. You’re not sure what to make of it coming from the brash pegasus. She’d never done that before. Just as you think your heart's about to stop, she spots something out of the corner of her eye, ”W-wait here big guy I’ll be back in a snap.”

She takes off with a woosh of air, leveraging her trained speed for something other than show. A moment later she returns with a leafy branch in her teeth. How did she even spot that in the dark? She drops it in her hoof, “Ok I need you to wipe the dirt off with your shirt and hold them out.” You resist the urge to say ‘yes ma’am,’ you didn’t honestly think her plan was going to help much, but you also didn’t want to be patronizing. She was trying to help you and the last thing you wanted to do was embarrass her for it. Besides, it’s really heartwarming to see her so concerned.

“Ok.” You do as she asks. Then you watch with growing interest as she does something unexpected. She eats the leaves off one side of the branch. What does she want me to do? Hold the branch while she finishes eating or something? 

She chews them thoroughly but doesn’t swallow anything. She holds it in her mouth while her eyes inspect your cuts. One particularly nasty part of his bite was openly bleeding. After a few more chews, she leans over and spits out a glob of the green mush onto your skin and rubs it around slowly with the tip of her hoof. What the heck?

It stings at first and makes you draw your breath. She makes sure to rub the slob into each cut and over every abrasion, spitting out more where necessary. That’s just about the opposite of what you’d do for an open cut. But you know Dash wouldn’t be doing it if she thought it would harm you, so you let her continue against your better judgment. 

Suddenly the pain starts to diminish. Not just the cuts, the aching wrist, the throbbing knuckles…it’s like someone’s turning the temperature down on the thermostat.  Then it disappears completely. You inspect your hand and see that even the redness and swelling has all but disappeared as well. Only small, paper cut-like lines were left as indications that you’d been bitten. It’s like magic. Oh…it probably is magic. The same process gets repeated with your other hand, and when she’s satisfied, she spits out the remainder into the grass next to you.

”Bleh! That stuff’s bitter!”

”Uhm, Dash. What just happened?” She looks up at you as if she’s surprised you don’t know.

”I made a slave with that…uh…plant. It numbs the pain and cleans the cuts!”

“You mean a salve?”

“Yeah, that.” 

She looks so proud of herself, “Well, it definitely feels better…” She just beams at you. There’s some serious voodoo at work here, “Wow…I never thought you could do that, it feels amazing!” She blushes lightly, happy for the opportunity to take care of you, ”We should probably head back now.” You look at the almost dark skies. 

“Yeah…”

“You can ride on my back if you want?”

Remembering her handicap, her blush deepens, ”I should be fine now, I just got a bit warmed up.”

“Ok Dash.” You make the journey back to your apartment and she explains to you how Fluttershy taught her about the salve. By the time you reach your front door the sky is black and she still hasn’t managed to walk normally for more than a few paces at a time. Dash opens the door for you and flips the lights on before closing it behind you. You head over to the kitchen and go for the medical kit to get some bandaging for your hands, but she intercepts.

”I’ll get it Anon.”

“Thanks, it’s…”

”Gow ih!” She says through a mouthful of fabric.

Oh yeah, she knows her way around here. She tosses the red bag on the counter and unzips it before sifting it for what you needed. Finding the white wrap, she bites one end and lets it unfurl. She goes to wrap your hands but stops when you speak up, “Dash, I’d like to shower first, can we do this after?”

Her eyes find yours before darting away as if preoccupied, ”Why? You smell fine.”

“Dash, I…” Wait, you smell fine? Is that a compliment? “…I  uh, haven’t showered since this morning and I’ve been running around all day.”

She looks a bit disappointed, ”Well if you gotta I guess. Coulda mentioned it a bit sooner though.”

You let out a chuckle at her feistiness. You don’t want to touch her with your smothered hands, so you bump her rump with your knee. She looks at you questioningly before smiling and returning the bump. God she’s cute. You go to move past her and head to the shower, but a hoof grabs your leg to stop you, ”Wait a sec lemme get it.” She blows past you and disappears into the bathroom.

“Dash, I’m not handicapped or anything.” You get no response. Dang she really overestimated your injuries. Then again those hooves were hard as rocks. You stop by your dresser on the way to the bathroom and pick out a change of clothes. The sound of running water draws you to the shower. You enter the room and drop your clothes on the ground. Dash is leaning into the tub with one fore hoof in the water.  Her rear end is sticking up and her tail is swishing side to side…almost enough to catch a glimpse of what it covered.

Don’t think about it. The water soon reaches a temperature to her liking and she pulls the valve to turn on the shower head.

She spins around like a prismatic pinwheel and dries her damp hoof on a towel before laying it out on the ground, ”I still don’t think you smell ya know.”

“Yeah, but I got blood on me so…”

“Not enough in my opinion…” She mumbles.

“What?”

She looks up with a smile and motions towards the tub, ”Well there ya go hotshot! Uhh…it might be a bit too warm for your sensitive skin so be careful.”

You catch onto her jibe but disregard it. She's probably right. You’re not exactly sure what you’ve done to deserve it, but she’s taking really good care of you. Actually you have a few ideas, but it still seemed a bit out of character for her, “Good to know, thanks.”

She trots past you and bumps your leg with her rump before closing the door behind you. You take the moment of privacy to look at yourself in the mirror and catch your breath. You honestly looked a bit mangy after the scuffle. Or was that just how you normally looked? Hair was a mess and your eyes were still a bit dilated from adrenaline. But the fight didn’t concern you in the slightest; in fact, the only part of you that actively remembers the brawl was your aching gut. You mind is occupied with far more important matters. Like the prismatic pegasus who’s undoubtedly raiding your pantry right now. There was no doubt in your mind as to what you’d done to her with your ‘massage.’ You also knew Dash’s motivations for the evening’s activities were not entirely forced. She wanted it to happen, maybe even planned it.

You also knew Dash well enough to know that she didn’t take intimacy lightly, and aside from all the other reasons she made you happy you can’t help but feel privileged that she chose you to be the one she opened up to. So it’s official now, well…unofficial since you haven’t really admitted it. But then again, you’d learned in law class that speech can be symbolic as well as verbal...you’d symbolically admitted it then.

The point was you both knew the gig was up. Well not really, not until Zephyr disappeared for good…it just wasn’t a gig any more. It’s the real deal. And you couldn’t be happier. Time to clean up for your mare. 

A few minutes later, you were thoroughly cleaned and dried. The water was a bit hot, but it didn’t bother you enough to change it. What did bother you was that the soothing salve on your hands got washed off and the stinging began to return. You head back to the kitchen for the first aid kit and immediately spot Dash. She looked the same—plus a few crumbs around the fur of her muzzle—but the atmosphere feels warmer. Seeing her making herself at home in your apartment so late in the day excited you with the prospect that she had no plans of leaving tonight.

”Enjoy the shower?”

“Yeah…thanks, you really outdid yourself.”

”Pffft! A mare of my caliber outdid herself by setting a shower?”

“Well when you put it that way…”

”I’m just kidding dude! Whaddaya need the aid kit for?”

“The stuff you put on my hands washed off, I was just going to wrap them up before I hit the sack.” Concern returns to her face.

”They still sting?”

“A little.” 

She grabs the first aid kit and pushes you towards your couch with the top of her head. At this point you weren’t even thinking of arguing, just enjoying the ride. You sit down and she sits next to you. She takes your hands in her hooves and immediately begins licking them, “Uhh…Dash what are you doing?”

She pauses her ministrations for a moment, ”What? Humans don’t lick their wounds?”

“Not really, and I wouldn’t go as far as to call these wounds.”

”Sure they are…just stop overthinking things and let me do it. I’ve lived here longer than you ya know.”

That is true. Wait what did that have to do with anything? She gets another lick in before seeing you were unconvinced. With a huff she adds, ”It helps clean them so they don’t get infected smart one.” She obviously knew it all so you stop arguing and lean back into the couch.

“I’m all yours doc.” You focus on the feeling of her felt-like tongue debriding your damaged skin. Her nimble, warm muscle seems to caress each aching knuckle, form fitting around the hills and valleys. It's surprisingly soothing, you could easily fall asleep to this. Dash seems to notice the relaxing effect it has and humors you with more licking than was necessary. She works steadily for a few minutes and the only sound that fills the room is the one made by her smacking, wet tongue. Whether it was psychological or medicinal, her spit works its magic and the stinging subsides again. Maybe that plant didn’t do anything, maybe she's the secret ingredient.

It barely surprised you anymore. Everything else about this mare is somewhat therapeutic, why wouldn’t her saliva numb pain? You wake yourself from your daze and look down to see her preparing the gauze. She wraps it around your hands like a boxer before tying it off in an impressive display of dexterity.

”They comfortable?”

“Not too loose, not too tight.” Your comment fails to express how impressed you actually were with her treatment. You wiggle your fingers to emphasize her professional job, “You missed your calling, should’ve been a doctor.”

”Hah! Not likely! I just have a lot of experience because I get a lotta injuries during training.” You sit back and look at her with a smile. She returns your expression and you both hold it…until it gets awkward.

”Sooo…”

“I’m pretty tired.” 

”Me too.” 

“I have a lot of spare room…for, you know, f-for an apartment.”

”And my wings are a bit…tired, thanks to you.” She blushes, but manages to keep eye contact.

“So…I guess if you can’t fly, you’re free to spend the night here.”

She notices your nervousness and decides to poke some fun, ”There you go champ. That wasn’t so hard was it?”

“Heheh…yeah I guess.” 

She scoots a bit closer to you. You scratch the back of your head in embarrassment and your heart races with anticipation, “So…what happened back there was…I guess you do like me then?” Stop. Go back. You’re going to undo all the good things if you keep talking.

She snorts a bit amidst her blush.

“Sorry I guess I’m just not used to this stuff…”

She moves to put her nose against yours, looking deep into your eyes, ”I’m not either.”

You pull her into your chest and she willingly complies—keeping the tip of her nose against yours the whole time. She snorts and giggles blowing hot air against your face. Her hind legs wrap around your midsection and her tail hangs straight down as you stand up. She had no intention of spending the night on the couch, and neither did you.

You carry her over to the bed in the corner and gently set her down. She makes herself at home and starts digging up your bedding. She looks completely exhausted; she watches curiously as you take your socks and shirt off. She never really understood why you wore clothes so it wasn’t something you felt self-conscious of.

You place a hand on her foreleg for reference before turning off the lamp and climbing in bed next to her. Your world goes dark and immediately after you hit the mattress you feel her snuggle up against you. It was obvious any frisky business was out of the question, you just wanted to be close to each other. A hoof hits your ribs and you wince as she tucks them between your bodies. Her hair tickles your face as she turns to face you—resting her muzzle against your neck. Your hand finds the soft fur behind her ear and you begin scratching. Your close proximity forces you to examine the scent of your bed mate. She definitely needs a shower…but she doesn’t. Her spicy smell was pungent but not bad. Hers works like that but there’s no way she can actually think the same about yours…right? In a way it's actually really nice, you feel...closer to her because of it. A wing unfurls to cover your chest. She was being even more cuddly than during your naps. This is heaven.  

“Dash, I’ve been wondering…I’ve never seen you with a stallion before. Have you had any prior relationships?” She grunts and leans into your scratches.

”A few *mgh…but, none like this. I’ve never *ngh…gotten this far before.” Her scratchy voice cracks and you scoot into her warmth.

”H-how about you?”

”Same here. To be honest with you I’m flying blind right now.”

”Hehe, then we can fly together." She moves to kiss your jaw. 

“You know, before today I never thought you could be this sappy.”

That flusters her a bit, ”I-I’m just…I’ve liked you for a while, and I thought…well I don’t know, I guess it just kinda happened.”

“I’m glad it did Dash.”

You scratch her jawline with your thumb and earn another satisfied coo from her. Another spot she likes.

”It did kinda surprise me when you went straight for the wing job though.”

Wing job? Was that what it was called? “You mean when I rubbed your wings, and you…”

”Y-Yeah…you didn’t know about those?”

Your face heats up, the book sure didn't mention it, “N-No I-i thought that they weren’t that kind of sensitive.”

”Ahahahahahaha!”

Damn that was loud. She pokes your chest with a fore hoof, ”Wait…hahah…wait, so you’re telling me you thought you’re working out a cramp or something!”

“Yeah…I don’t know. I just didn’t think you’d come onto me like that I guess.”

”Me? Come on to you? Dude! You straight up tongue twisted with me and got me all turned on with your uhh…yeah. Then you offered to rub one out for me! That’s exactly what you said!”

Come to think of it those were your exact words. “I never thought of it that way. I mean I figured it out about half way through, but…sorry.”

”Don’t apologize! You’re not gonna hear me complaining about it.” She almost sounds angry that you said sorry. ”If it was any pony else though they would’ve lost a leg.”

“Heheh…so I guess I’m special huh?” You can almost feel her blush at the question.

”Y-Yeah…and your hand things are nice too…”

“I’ll say! You were in your own world for a minute there.”

”W-well don’t blame me! I’ve never had a g-guy d-do that before!” Your heart lurches again at the confession.

“Any girls then?” You add a brow wiggle she can’t see.

She smacks your chest, ”Shut up you know what I mean!”

“Just messing with you.” You feel her relax a bit and settle down next to you. Your arms move to encompass her and you pull up the bed sheets across your bodies. Cloth rustles together as you fidget to find a comfortable position where your arm won’t fall asleep.

”Wait.”

“Wha…mmpf!”

She pushes her muzzle into your mouth before you can get your word out. Reaching behind her head you pull her against you and hold the kiss. Neither of you make efforts to intensify it; you were content with your simple contact. Hot breath fills your faces as you both smack back and forth on moist lips for what seems like minutes, taking turns initiating and savoring the mutual sensations. You both quickly find that you're hooked on affectionate acts and how close it makes you feel to one another. The addiction keeps you going until Dash yawns—interrupting your intimacy with her hot hay-breath. She found the granola bars. You snort a bit and she giggles.

She finds your mouth one more time and properly finishes with a lingering good night smooch. You could do that for hours. Her fore hoof rests on your bare collarbone and you hear her tail swishing happily under the covers. She finally releases you and tucks her muzzle into the crook of your neck. That was one of the most pleasant things you’ve ever experienced before. You can’t remember the last time anything left you feeling this content and happy. Fingers massage the back of her neck and you hear a similar content sigh. Her ears flicker across your jaw and her hooves gently knead your belly and arms as her overworked system slowly winds down. Your hands find real estate on her lower back and shoulder to hold her warm furry body against you. 

Suddenly Dash’s belly gurgles lightly and she lets out a short burp. A smile crosses your face and you just hug her tighter.

You’re going to remember this day for the rest of your life.
> Perspective
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*thump

The muffled sound wakes you from your slumber and you open your eyes to see your dimly lit ceiling. The first thing you notice is that the soothing smell that coaxed you to sleep was still there snuggled up on your chest. Her rhythmic breathing told you she was in deep sleep.

*thump

Her rear leg kicks lightly across the mattress traveling through a rut she’d made in the sheets with the previous few kicks. You smile; she must be having a dream. It takes you a moment to realize your covers are down at your feet. The warmth surrounding you was all thanks to your bedmate. At some point in the night she’d shifted and ended up laying across your chest with her wings spread over your body and thighs. One of her hind legs stuck out and hooked over yours. You look down and steal a peak at the blue mass attached to you. Her eyelids fluttered in REM; her tail occasionally twitches and brushes across the matted sheets. Each exhale hot-blasts a small piece of sheet against the mattress, it pops back towards her nose upon inhale then repeats. You never thought it would be this interesting to watch a pony sleep.

You look over at the clock and notice it reads close to 9 AM. You were honestly surprised you slept so well considering how much of an active sleeper Dash was. Luckily she had no responsibilities until the weekend so you don’t have to wake her. Your hand slowly emerges from the sea of multicolored hair splayed out across your side. Careful not to disturb the pegasus, you gently stroke the side of her exposed neck. She was facing away from you so it was a bit easier to go undetected. The pads of your fingers trace across her short fur—contouring along the skin underneath. You make your way from the base of her ear to the top of her shoulder, then repeat, careful to never stroke against the grain of her hair. You follow a slightly different line each time as if you’re plowing a field. The pegasus shuffles a bit and twitches her ear—subconsciously pleased by your touch. 

Eyes travel over the sleeping mare’s form, you almost feel indecent for studying your snoozing bedmate, but you’d never really looked at her before…at least, not like you are now. To say she was athletic was an understatement, her body was so finely tuned for her profession that it looked like there wasn’t an ounce of fat on her...except maybe on her rump. To be honest it was fairly narrow, especially when compared to other mares, however her nimble frame made it appear perfectly proportional. But with her pretty face turned away her wings were what stole the show. They were muscular, but not obscenely so—toned is the right word. You’d always been fascinated by flight, and for some reason the cyan feathered appendages accented her form perfectly. The sight of the beautiful creature splayed out over you made your heart stutter. This amazing pony could have anyone she wants but she picked you. You’re momentarily forced to breathe past a lump in your throat. The thought was endearing and sobering at the same time; you can’t help but feel a bit out of your league.

You suddenly notice a disturbance in stroking her fur: a small bump under her hair. You graze over it again to narrow down the spot in her perfectly hued sea of fur. It was really small and if it was anything other than your sensitive fingertips brushing her you would’ve easily missed it. After isolating the spot you carefully spread her fur apart. Naked white skin stares back at you. It was a bit unusual seeing that color on her. Pegasi only shed hair or feathers when molting, and you hadn’t known Dash long enough to experience that. Her blue fuzz so evenly covered her that you almost forgot it was fur at times. But there it was, white skin at your fingertips, plain as day. 

Your attention shifts to the slick hair spanned between your index finger and thumb. Her hair was a much deeper blue near the ends, and as it got closer to the follicle it got lighter and lighter until it turned completely white a few millimeters from her skin.  You do some math and figure the overlay of the two produced the azure color you’d come to love. Despite these interesting revelations, you didn’t find the one thing you were looking for. 

You make a dead reckoning and move up a bit on her neck, parting her fur again, this time revealing a small freckle. It was the diameter of a small pea and was slightly darker than the rest of her skin. A few wayward hairs sparsely populated the perfect blemish, “Didn’t know you ponies had these.” You whisper to your unconscious companion. Your index finger snakes down and pokes it gently; the area turns whiter than its surroundings, then red from resurgent blood flow.

It feels just like one of yours. The way you made connections in this alien world still boggled you. You smooth down her hair again and comb through it a few times to straighten it out. With all trace of your intrusion gone, you make a mental note of its location on her geography before leaning back into your pillow. Have to save some exploring for later. Your hand makes long, slow strokes down her neck and shoulder as you entertain your thoughts.

Her fur wasn’t as fluffy as it normally was. Unhampered by a soapy shower, her skin oils had begun to clump it together. You couldn't notice just by looking at it, but it sure wasn’t the fluffy coat that you’re familiar with. Twilight, Princess Twilight…had told you that all pegasi produced a lot of body oil to keep their hair aerodynamic and feathers waterproof; it apparently made it easier to fly without the drag of a luscious fur coat. Dash had told you the only pegasi who let their coats get like that were the ‘wierdo-nature ponies’ that ‘smell like the backside of a manticore.’ She usually washed twice a day so others wouldn’t be put off, though she emphasized that she did not have a hundred different shampoos like Rarity. But you suspected she did suspend her shower before competitions, if not that only makes her impeccable record that much more impressive. 

Your fingers continue to gently glide across her until her heartbeat and breathing begin to lull you back to sleep. They finally come to rest on her frame, and you whisper a parting promise to your snoozing mare before you drift off again, “I’m going to find every one of those freckles…”
> Dreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You are running for your life.

The forest path ahead is dark, but defined. Your legs sprint over roots and rocks. One hand is up by your head to block wayward branches from putting out an eye. The other clutches a handgun.

Your head is on a swivel—vigilant of the wolves that stalk you not far behind. The path straightens out and you relax your guard for a moment.

But not for long. 

A silent flash of glistening teeth launching out of the bushes to your right jolts you back to the moment as you reflexively fire the pistol at the attacker. He’s down in two shots, but your foot catches a rock and you trip head over heels. You hear another wolf barreling through the underbrush behind you, you level at him and pull the trigger. Nothing happens, your pistol stove-piped after the last shot.

You clear the jam quickly and put a bullet through the top of its head just in time as momentum carries the lifeless body skidding to your feet. Now, more wolves approach from all angles. You spin in place and fire at every one of them until only one remains. But the pistol is locked back on an empty chamber and you had no more ammo left. Your heart races as you see hunger flash through the creature's eyes. You toss the empty gun at it and it easily ducks away. Your heart races and you try to find your feet, but your ankle must’ve been twisted because you can’t find your balance. You turn to face the threat and back away as the drooling monster approaches; your hands search for a rock or stick or anything you could use to even the odds. Suddenly it lunges at you with a growl and you throw your arms up in defense. But instead of a crushing bite you feel a gentle nip. You lower your guard out of curiosity and it licks your hand. What?

In an instant you’re awake. You jerk your head up in a panic and catch Rainbow in the middle of…playing with your hands? She jolts in place—startled at your sudden movement. You both lock eyes in a frozen stare.

She’s now laying on her back across your stomach. Your resting hand had suspiciously migrated from where you left it on her shoulder to her exposed belly, and she was holding the other in her hooves above her face; her muzzle was buried in your wet palm. Your eyes move up to meet hers and you hold the stare for a few seconds while a powerful blush forms on her cheeks. She’s obviously been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar, but she still doesn’t release your appendage.

“Dash. What’re you doing?” 

”Uhh…I…woke up a while ago and your hoov-uh…hands started twitching…so, I wanted to see how they worked.”

You suddenly remember what happened in your dream and you become concerned, “I didn’t flail around and hit you did I?”

She furrows her brow, ”No…why would you? And by the way they look a lot better than last night."

Whew, that’s a relief, “Really? Let me see." You pull your hand from her belly letting her keep hold of the other. You scrutinize the appendage. It's amazing, there's no swelling or soreness, and only a few thin red lines were you got cut. "Dang Dash, now I can do all sorts of crazy stuff as long as you're there to lick the wounds." 

She chuckles, "Heh, told ya. So were you just pretending to be asleep to scare me or something?"

"No...uh, a dream, I had a crazy dream."

She holds your hand to her chest and grins, ”I’ll say dude! These little guys were trying to run a marathon or something!” Her infectious smile hid her glowing cheeks and spreads to you.

“And, you thought you could get free belly rubs from it?” You ask with mock condescension.

She looks down at her belly, ”Ahh…well if you were awake I would’ve asked, but I thought you wouldn’t mind—”

“—C’mere!” You launch up and wrap an arm around her rump and neck, pulling her warmth farther up your chest. Your smirk morphs into a twisted grin, “You’re gonna have to pay for those belly rubs Miss Dash!” She finally gets the gist of what you’re doing but it’s too late to escape. You bring your head into her belly and buzz your lips into the sensitive flesh. 

”Bawhawhawhawha! Staaap! Sta-hahahahap!” Your head wiggles side to side, soaking her flexing abdominals with vibrations. She kicks wildly, but you’re too far past her defenses for her to leverage any strength.

”Hahahaha! Anon! Anoooon! Sta-hah-hop!” You pause for a second and look up at her. She’s trying to catch her breath and has the biggest playful grin you’ve ever seen.

”Ano-ha, Anon…stop! I’s not fair!” She moves her forelegs to the side of your head in a feeble attempt to push you off. Aftershocks from her belly tickling messed with her diaphragm and made her struggle for air. Your twisted grin just gets bigger.

“On the contrary my Dash—”

”—No-no-no-no-no wait wait—”

Her scratchy pleading falls on deaf ears, “—I charge five seconds of tickling to rub a mares belly—” 

”—Anon, Anon listen, hold on—”

“—Ten more seconds if the mare has wings—”

”—Please just-haha! Dooon’t! I’m not ready!—”

“—Twenty more seconds if she’s got beautiful eyes—”

”—Anooooon-hahaha! I won’t do it again!—”

“—Thirty more seconds if she’s got an adorable snout—”

”—Hahaha! I’m no-ahah! I’m not adorable! Haha!—”

“—And an extra minute if she’s a sneaky, blue, Wonderbolt named Rainbow Dash—” You punctuate the statement with a poke to her sternum.

“…Noooo! Anon! You ca-hahaha! You can’t do that it’s not fair!”

You wait for her to settle down and accept her fate. Her laughter had weakened her. She writhes and bucks, but your strategic position kept her firmly locked in place on your chest. She makes one final push and grunt but doesn’t succeed in budging your head. Her hooves drop to her chest in defeat and her smiling eyes stare at you expectantly, her open muzzle blasts your face with morning breath as she prepares to exert herself.

Looks like she’s ready to pay up now, “Because I like you I won’t charge interest.”

For a split second she forgets where she’s at and stares at you blankly. Well, almost blankly. You can practically read the affection in her eyes. The fuzzy moment doesn’t last long though, you still have a debt to collect. 

You bury your face back into her belly fur and by random chance find your lips conveniently placed over her naval nub; before she can react you paralyze her by blowing a raspberry.

”Haaahahahahahaha!”

You strategically roll her on her back and free your hands to attack other areas. They snake towards the pits of her forelegs and dig into the hot, sweaty fur underneath them.

”Noooo-ah! Not t-th-there! Ahaahaha!”

She wiggles her forelegs to try and dislodge the invasive digits to no avail. As a last resort she squeezes her forelegs to her sides—clenching her pits shut in the hopes of immobilizing your hands. But all it did was trap your wiggling fingers closer to her body.

”Hahahahaha-Anon! It’s too much!”

“You’re not even close to paying up yet.” You pull a hand from her sweaty pit and slide it underneath her equally sweaty wing pit; she kicks wildly at the air.

”Nnoooohohohoh!”

Your fingers start wiggling across the seldom-touched fur. In her hysteria she manages to trap the arm between her hind legs and pull it from the battle. You put your mouth back on her belly to compensate. She explodes with laughter again and tries to roll out from under the torrent of tickles. This time she succeeds. She struggles shakily to her hooves and backs away over the tangled sheets. You lunge after her form and snag a foreleg—halting her retreat.

”Lemme go!”

“No!”

”Then I’m gonna get you back!” She tackles your torso to the mattress and immediately establishes dominance by pinning your shoulders. Her muzzle disappears from sight as she starts nibbling on your exposed ribs. 

“Agh! Quit it!!”

You push her away before she can drift any lower. Friction creates heat and sheets fly as you wrestle, neither allowing the other to gain the advantage. That is, until you suddenly find yourself pinned again, her forelegs hold your hands above your head as you both reach an impasse of strength. This is just embarrassing you’re at least two of her. Her nose meets yours and you exchange hot breath and an intense look at close range; despite your position you let the law be known, “Stop struggling Dash! You still owe me ten seconds!"

”Come and get ‘em hotshot!” 

You lunge up but go nowhere, how is she that strong? A triumphant smile splits her face as she stares down at her contained prey. That’s just annoying. You make another move before she can taunt you. This time you do break free…right as she shifts into a sort of side-mounted position. Does she take Judo lessons or something? Is that even a thing here—“Oh cra-ap-ahahahaha!” Her forelegs clench around your waist and her muzzle plunges into your belly button. Everything about her narrow muzzle, from the fine fur to the powerful lips colludes to hijack your body with laughter. Your arms push against the furry menace but quickly weaken when you feel her tongue begin to excavate the gold mine of tickles, “Hahahahahaha-Daaash!” You catch sight of the mare’s prismatic tail swishing happily across the sheets. Streams of broken consciousness conclude that you’re going to suffocate, and you stop resisting to focus on catching short breaths when you can.

Then suddenly: respite, ”Not so tough now are ya! I’m not the only one with a belly button ya know!”

She just had to tease you didn’t she? You waste no time exploiting her ego. Arms shoot down and break her hold on you,  she recovers to her hooves and you quickly find yourselves staring each other down on opposite sides of the bed. You can see her sizing you up—planning her final attack. She has the advantage in speed and leverage, though you still have raw strength and fingers. She’ll probably go for your belly button again, but if you go for something different…like her hooves, she won’t expect it. It was a risky gamble, you weren’t even sure if her hooves were ticklish or not. But worst-case scenario you’d be at the mercy of someone you trusted completely, so the consequences of failure did little to affect your strategy. Like a showdown at high noon, silence falls and a cool breeze wafts through the window and across the battlefield to ruffle the tangled sheets. 

She bores into you with steely magenta eyes…Draw!

She lunges high and you dive low. You manage to snag a hind leg while she springs her trap—vying for position over your belly button and poising her feather-tipped wings over your sides. You didn’t expect the wings, but it didn’t matter. Your fingers find the sensitive pad of her under hoof and start tickling before she can subdue you.

“Hahahahahahha!”

A sense of relief washes over you, that three pronged attack would’ve been fatal. Dash collapses head-to-toe next to you as her body rocks with laughter. You start back nibbling and tickling on her frog. It was surprisingly clean for the pony equivalent of a foot and it didn’t smell like anything at all. Her paralysis allowed you to relax your defenses; you were safe as long as you kept constant contact with her hoof.

“Hahahaha-Anon you said ten-hahahaha! Ten seconds!” She’s right, but you’re going out with a finale. You snatch her bucking hind leg out of the air and shift to nibble on it all while maintaining control of her fore hoof with your fingers.

”Qui-ihit! Hah-it hurts ahahahaha!” She stops bucking her hind leg out of fear of kicking your face. The courtesy isn’t lost on you and you finally cease your ministrations. A final massive wave of laughter slowly escapes her body leaving her breathless. You relax against the bed while still keeping control of her two hooves. She looks over at you with a heavy-breathing grin and wild eyes. Her mane was a frazzled, cosmopolitan mess.

You smile smugly at her, “Your bill has been paid in full Ma’am.”

"*huff…You promise?” Her eyes are wide, her body tense with anticipation.

“I promise.” She lets her guard down and rests her head on the mattress. She didn’t care that you still had two of her weak points under your control, you promised you wouldn’t tickle her any more and she had no reason to doubt you. So you do what anyone would and take the unique opportunity to compare her hooves. 

“Whatcha doing dude?”

“Just…seeing how they work.” You copy her from when you first awoke. 

Her head thumps against the mattress again, and she resumes catching her breath, apparently indifferent toward your curiosity. Her rear hoof is slightly bigger with a deeper set frog, and her fore hoof is narrow with a puffy frog—probably for holding things. You let go of her fore hoof and bring her easier to reach hind hoof back to your lips. She jolts up but relaxes when she feels a gentle kiss grace the sensitive pad. You briefly make eye contact and notice her muzzle is red. She lays back down—thinking she was fast enough that you didn’t catch her embarrassment.

After a moment she pipes up, ”I’m hungry.”

“Me too.”

”You have some cereal or something?”

“Nope, all out.”

”Nothing? No food at all?”

“I got some more granola bars and a few packets of tuna and—”

”—What the hay! You invite me over and don’t even have anything to eat!”

“I said we have granola bars and tuna.”

”Bleh! Tuna! And those granola bars are getting old, especially since you always get the same honey flavored ones.”

“Those are the only ones that you eat.”

“Well…whatever.” 

You look up and see her peeking at you with a grin, “Besides, my paycheck would have a hard time feeding you alone, not to mention both of us.” You give her a condescending mom look to complement your playful rebuttal.

She thinks for a moment before swiveling around to lie across your chest. She plops down with her chin on your sternum, her forelegs tucked comfortably against your side, ”Well, then just…make more money or something.” 

“Hahaha, I wish it was that easy Dash.”

She matches your smile, “It is, you just gotta make that bread oven.”

“The toaster?”

“Yeah that.”

“I will, I just need to uhh…start.”

Her grin grows wider, “You mean you’ve got a job interview in a few days and you haven’t even made it yet?”

Of all ponies you were getting lectured by Rainbow Dash on procrastinating, “Well I don’t exactly have to build it I just need to draw the plans for it.”

“Pfft that’s all? I could do that after a day of training in a snowstorm!” 

“Sure you could Dash.” Your tone wasn’t condescending, but that didn’t keep her from seeing it that way.

“Hey! I paid attention in school!”

“I never said you didn’t!”

She shoots you a fake glare until you poke her nose with your finger.

*boop

She scrunches it and squints her eyes. Her mouth opens up reflexively.

*Achooo!

The sneeze hits you right in the face. You wince and close your eyes as until you feel the last bit of aerosol settle. You blindly bring your hand up to serve as windshield wipers, ”Heh sorry dude.” You open to see a sheepish looking Dash with an apologetic smile.

“Now I know what that button does.” You return her smile.

She wipes your cheeks with the side of her foreleg and shoots you a wry smirk, ”Now you owe me a few minutes of tickling and a sneeze!” Whoa! Back up, that doesn’t add up at all. But she doesn’t give you time to work out the math, ”Let’s go out, I’m buying.”

“I hate to say it, but there’s not much choice there.” 

”Be grateful I’m not leaving your butt here to starve on honey granola bars.”

“Oh believe me I am.” You honestly feel pretty bad about not being able to pay for your mare friend, but she couldn’t care less. The last thing she is is high maintenance. 

She squints at you, surprised at your sincere tone, “So is this a date Dash?”

She snaps out of her stare and blushes a bit, flicking her tail at your knees, ”A date?”

“Yeah. I mean aren't we kinda...together now.” You hold your breath. You know how she feels, but getting her to verbally confirm it would be a major milestone for the mare.

Her ears flop back and her eyes dilate ever so slightly, ”Y-yeah…we are.”

You seize the moment and lean in to peck her tacky lips. Despite the brief contact and distinct morning breath you can’t help but feel elated at her taste and sensation. You can already tell you’re going to get addicted to kissing those lips…assuming you’re not already. Her ears perk in surprise and she blushes. You bring a hand up to scratch behind her ear in hopes of breaking the ice. She better get used it that because it’s going to happen a lot. She’s still a bit zoned out—either the ear rub or the kiss you’re not sure which. 

“So…you want to get off me now so I can get cleaned up?”

Her blush deepens and she licks her lips, ”You’re not going anywhere til’ ya kiss me.”

You definitely just did that, and you were definitely eager to do it again. But she’s got to earn it. Your playful smile returns, “Make me.”
> Altercation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After nearly half an hour of stalling you finally get through your morning routine. Luckily you had a spare toothbrush on hand for Dash to use, it’d taken you two thorough brushings to get the smell of your partner’s morning breath out of your mouth.

The weather outside was nice as usual, and Dash trotted along in front of you leading the way to the establishment of her choice with a perk in her step. Your position in tow afforded you the privilege of observation. The bustle of Ponyville went unnoticed as your eyes follow Rainbow’s tail through the crowd. The world around you was filled with a myriad of colors, but hers were the only ones that stood out. It was possible your feelings were augmenting your perception of reality, but her mane and coat somehow seemed more vibrant than everything else…she’s like a fresh oil painting in a world of water colors. Each tone in her spectrum was distinct, but they didn’t clash, they complemented each other. She really is quite beautiful.

You walk into a building behind her and quickly get seated at a large family booth in the corner. You had recently been made aware of another luxury that you’d been overlooking. Mares can have attractive lines too. It didn’t come to you in a single moment of Nirvana, but instead it was the result of a gradual shift in thinking. In the absence of human interaction evolution had restructured your perspective, not only could you distinguish minute differences between the equine’s remarkably similar traits, but you could appreciate them as any stallion could. Your…interactions with Dash only seemed to propel you faster up the learning curve. Even as you sat across from her now you noticed things you never noticed before. Her ears are perkier than most, her chin’s got a very feminine curve to it, and her muzzle’s slender and really…kissab—

”Whatcha gettin?” Her eyes meet yours but it doesn’t stop your inner monologue. She looks a bit surprised to see a blush on your face, but she doesn’t mention it.

“Oh…um…” you look down at the table and realize there’s a menu in front of you, “…where are we at?”

She shoots you an unimpressed look, ”You mean you didn’t see ‘Haypatty Paradise’ in big red letters when we walked in?”

“I was…preoccupied.” 

”Well you don’t need to know the name of a place to eat its food.”

“No you don’t, I guess I’ll…take a look.” You pop the menu up and try to steal another peek at your date over the top of the laminate card. She catches you and your eyes revert to the menu.

“It’s upside down ya dork.” 

You clear your throat and rotate the menu one-eighty while the mare across from you chuckles, “Heheh, see anything ya like?”

You swallow a lump in your throat, you’d never needed to be smooth with your compliments before, “Y-yeah…everything.”

She looks confused, “Even that boiled spinach junk?”

What is she talking about? It takes a moment to find the disconnect, “No! Um…not that.” Maybe you need to be more overt.

“Okay…just making sure because it tastes worse than it smells.”

At least she didn’t notice, “Have you ever tried it or did you just decide you didn’t like it by looking at it.” 

“When I was a filly my parents always tried to feed it to me but I would just drop it through the cloud floor when they weren’t looking.” She chuckles a bit at the memory, “Until this uhh…this farmer sent us a letter asking us to stop feeding his pigs because they were getting sick.”

“Really?”

She snickers mischievously, her face full of mirth, “Heh yeah. The wind currents up there would carry it like a mile over into this guy’s pigpen. My parents tried to ground me but-heh, they decided not to once they realized if it made pigs sick it probably wasn’t any good to begin with!”

“Hahaha! That’s great! I wish my house was in the clouds, would’ve made it easier to sneak the asparagus off my plate.”

Your conversation develops smoothly once you both forget you’re supposed to be on a date. The mild intimidation you experienced from being out with a beautiful mare disappeared completely once you realized this was no different from how you used to hang out. 

”Hello Rainbow, Anon! Fancy seeing you two here!” You spin around and see Applejack and Rarity walking up behind you.

”O-oh! Hey guys! Haha, didn’t think you’d be here!” And there goes your privacy.

”Oh of course darling! Today is the tenth anniversary of our weekly spa day and we thought it a marvelous idea to stop by for a bite to eat.”

”You got that right Rarity! Ah never thought I’d take a likin’ to them pretty-fyin places, but ah just feel so refreshed after the spa, ah can’t wait for it errey week!”

Dash makes no effort to contribute to the conversation, so you take up the slack for her, “That’s great you two! It’s good that you found something you both enjoy.”

”I see you and Rainbow seem to take that maxim to heart.”

From what Dash had said at the lake she wanted to keep your relationship between the two of you for now. On second thought that’s not a bad idea. She’s a Wonderbolt with a public image to maintain, who knows what would happen if people found out she was dating an alien. 

“Yeah, we always enjoy hanging out.” You catch Applejack’s eye and remember your encounter the other day in the corner store. You really hope she doesn’t bring up the wing thing.

”Oh how nice! We rarely see Rainbow with company, especially when the weather is great for flying like it is today…right Rainbow?”

”O-oh y-yeah! You know me haha! I just looove practicing. Especially cuz I’m a Wonderbolt now! It’s just practice practice practice! Haha!” She would sound more convincing if she wasn’t trying to fake the laugh.

Applejack catches onto her nervous behavior, ”Riaght…soo…whatcha doin’ here Anon? Ah mean, no offense or nothin’ but you ain’t exactly the hayburger eating’ type.”

Only a fool would think gossip wouldn’t spread amongst girlfriends like wildfire, chances are she’d filled Rarity in about the details from your earlier conversation. You just need to limit the information you give them, “Well I don’t really like hay, but—”

”—Hey! Just cuz he’s an ahmivore doesn’t mean he’s an animal!” You resist the knee-jerk urge to correct her pronunciation, and instead notice that she was practically on the edge of her seat, where’d that sudden anger come from?

”Slow down there partner! Ah never said he was. Ah’m just sayin’ I didn’t think he’d like this place is all.”

”Well he does! It’s got peanut butter and cranberry jam sandwiches and they’re his favorite!”

It does? Nice! 

Applejack takes a step back with a confused look on her face—at a total loss for words, ”Well Rainbow! There’s no need to get upset, dear Applejack was merely asking a question.” 

Dash finally catches herself, ”Sorry AJ, I just…uh…” 

“…She’s been under a lot of stress since joining the Wonderbolts. She’s just too prideful to let anyone know, isn’t that right Dash…” You make eye contact and she picks up the story.

”Oh dear, Rainbow why haven’t you told us? You know we’ll do anything to help.”

”Shucks ah’m sorry. I didn’t know you were avin’ that hard uva time.”

”Heheh, it’s ok guys, just the price I pay for being one of the best. I’ll get used to it.”

Underneath her obvious Dash-ism was a shaky tone; remnant adrenaline from her previous outburst. She sounded really…defensive. 

”I’m sure you will darling. You two won’t mind if we join you…seeing as you have the whole corner to yourselves?”

Dash shuffles a bit, ”Well, it was kinda supposed to be—”

”—Yeehaw the day’s gettin’ better by tha minute! It’s been forever since we got to hang out!”

”Um…about that…” Dash looks at you pensively; you can tell she’s asking for your approval before she invites her friends. You wink at her inconspicuously and she visibly relaxes, ”…Yeah, we’ve got room for two more.” Dash scoots over to sit next to you and ruffles her wing against your side. You glance over but she doesn’t make eye contact.

”So has Flutters told ya about Zephyr yet?”

Wait what. You snap out of your trance as Dash anxiously answers her, ”N-no, what happened?”

Your adrenaline was beginning to flow a bit. Of course, you hadn’t thought about it at the time, but there were laws that prevented assault and battery…even if they deserved every last bit of it. If Green guy chose to contact the police, your story would likely be insufficient to justify your actions. The more irrational part of you starts looking for escape routes.

”He was flyin around the park helpin’ Fluttershy with some errands and he flew right inta the side of a tree! The crazy feller broke his nose!”

Rarity shakes her head slowly while looking out the window.

Dash lets out a snort before breaking down into full-blown laughter—entirely out of relief. You can tell she’d been thinking the same thing you were. Relief washes over you as well and you let a smile creep to your face. Applejack joins in with Dash and Rarity’s normal composed facade cracked a smirk before she dabbed her napkin to her mascara laden cheeks in an attempt to hide it.

”A tree? Really?” Dash chokes, disbelievingly.

”That’s what he told Fluttershy apparently.”

Your thoughts masked any amusement at the situation. Hopefully this meant he finally got the message and just wanted to put everything behind him and move on. But despite your sudden stroke of luck, you can’t help but feel a bit guilty. The fight was starting to seem less and less necessary in hindsight. But what he was doing was pretty unnecessary too, that justified it right?

Rarity finally chimes in after a spell of silence, ”I must say it doesn’t surprise me, he was always an odd one.”

Dash chuckles and looks over to you, her eyes relay even more relief than yours, ”Speaking of which, Rainbow darling you do remember the time he tried courting you?”

Yeah, like it was yesterday. ”Heh, yeah, I almost felt bad for him.”

”Ahn why’s that?” Applejack asks curiously.

Dash’s smirk explodes into a toothy grin, ”Cuz I’m only into stallions.”

This time the whole table cracks up laughing, yourself included. The two mares sitting across from you didn’t realize that her comment makes you feel like you grew a foot taller. Even if it was more of a statement than a compliment, you couldn’t help but feel more attached to her because of it. Normally she was the one constantly getting her ego boosted by others, it was a rare occasion when she did the same for someone else. Her hoof intentionally bumps your leg under the table as the laughter dies down. You channel your reaction into reaching down and straightening out your silverware.

Your tedious habit doesn’t go unnoticed, ”Ya been awfully quiet 'oer there Anon.” Applejack's southern drawl forces you to look up at two inquisitive pairs of eyes.

Shit she’s onto you, “Sorry, just been doing a lot of thinking is all.”

”What about?”

You stare Applejack down, as innocent as her intentions are, you were not about to let your favorite pegasus get embarrassed by letting anything slip about your relationship, or the fight, “The toaster I have to build for the government.”

”Toaster? I assume this is a device that makes toast?” Rarity’s tone sounded more amused than inquisitive.

”Ah always just toss ‘em on hot a pan with some butter, don’t see why tha government’d want a fancy contraption to do it for ‘em.”

Well if that’s how she wants to play…“Sure, but you can’t cook four pieces in thirty seconds that way, and besides, the efficiency factor for electric heat transfer is much higher than the stats for natural gas so the process is much more effective from every standpoint…including safety.”

No one at the table looks too terribly impressed, ”Uh huh, so how does this do-hicky work exactly?”

“It just runs electricity through a circuit that modulates its voltage and amperage, then the electricity travels through thin strips of resistant metal—heating them up and cooking your toast. After an adjustable period of time, a thermocouple triggers the circuit to close and pop out the finished toast.”

The mares sitting across from you raise their brows at your explanation—Dash rolls her eyes; after an awkward silence Rarity pipes up in an altruistic attempt to salvage your dignity, “Well I surely would’ve never thought of such a marvel.”

“Thanks but it wasn’t my idea to begin with. I’m just copying someone else.”

”Either way I would say you’re very well educated.” Rarity offers.

Dash speaks up next to you, ”Yeah like that time you were talking to Twi about the pet that can read minds.”

What the hell? “Oh, you mean the PET scan?”

”Uhh…yeah that one. What’s it again?” 

Even Applejack leans in over the table, clearly interested in your tale of otherworldly technology. Anything to keep her off the topic of you and Dash, “It stands for Positron Emission Tomography, it basically reads the little flashes of light that occur when anti particles called positrons annihilate with matter in your bloodstream. You can get a pretty good picture of active areas of the brain by seeing where most of the blood flow is, or where the majority of annihilations occur."

”Ahn anti what now?”

”It sounds a bit perilous, annihilating ponies heads with particles?”

The conversation continues for the next few minutes as you ended up giving a brief overview of classical physics to the best of your knowledge. Like most, they preferred the application to the theory and were more than once impressed by your recollections of space travel and the like. You’d subverted Applejack’s inevitable relationship prying and even your undercover partner seemed to be enjoying herself. Not too bad for a first date.

A smallish unicorn mare finally swings by to take your drinks, halting the conversation, ”I apologize for the wait, what will you have to drink today?”

You notice something off about her when she glances coldly at you with pursed lips. Much to your amusement, she continues her sly glances as she takes everyone’s order. Unbeknownst to you, your blue companion is onto her behavior as well.

When it's your turn, she skips you and goes to Applejack, “Hey there, ah think ya skipped Anon over here.”

”Oh…what does it want to—“

—*ping!

Before she can finish her slur a fork launches across the table and bounces off her forehead—the silver streak of tumbling metal surprising every witness with its velocity. Like a coiled snake Dash springs up with her fore hooves on the table, her wings threateningly half-flared. Her herbivorous teeth were bared in a snarl and it looked like she was trying to set the waitress on fire with her glare. 

Applejack is the first to react, ”Rainbow! What’re ya doin!” You reach over and grab her shoulders in an attempt to keep her from advancing any farther.

”He’s got a name you know!” She growls.

Rarity uses her magic to hold her back by the tail. It doesn’t fare well against the athlete’s strength, ”Rainbow, darling stop! Calm down!”

Dash points a hoof menacingly at the cowering form of the waitress, ”Apologize to him!” Everyone in the restaurant is looking at your table now. 

“Dash!” She snaps her head to you in an instant, the death glare in her eyes replaced with a concerned one, “It’s okay, calm down.” You say in a quiet voice. It looks like someone’s twisting her insides with a red-hot poker.

”No it’s not. You deserve better than this...” The care expressed in her voice almost makes you choke up.

“I know but she got the message.” She looks into your eyes to see if you had any reservations, a very real, but subdued anger present in her own. At that moment you knew that if you’d given the word, she would’ve probably tore the waitress's head off. But the last thing you want is your favorite pony getting charged with murder, “I’m not upset, it’s over.”

You feel her tense withers relax under your touch as she slumps back down into her seat—reluctantly accepting your decision. You’re too concerned about Dash to notice her friends are staring at you with shocked expressions; you’d just tamed a wild lion as far as they were concerned.

The waitress scrambles to her hooves and grabs her notepad and pen, mumbling an apology before turning tail. A blue aura surrounds her and holds her in place, ”Waitress dear, I forget your name, if you’ll do us the favor of sending another to attend to us we won’t speak with your manager about your uncouth behavior towards customers.” The wide-eyed waitress nods furiously, eyes still full of fear before Rarity releases her and she skitters off around the corner. 

The other customers—disappointed that it didn’t devolve into a full-blown hoof fight—return to their usual banter and background noise returns. 

Dash turns to Rarity, ”You’re just going to let her, that…arrrgh! Just let her off like that!”

“Dash if Rarity didn’t cut the deal she did, there’s a chance we could get in trouble.” The last thing you wanted was to come between her and her friends. You’d apologize, but that would only exacerbate the situation.

”He’s right ya know.” Applejack adds.

You could tell Rarity was a bit miffed. She tucks a lock of hair away, ”Rainbow, I understand your frustration and I think it’s noble of you to defend Anon, but that type of behavior is entirely uncalled for!”

”Have you seen how some of the ponies in this town treat him! And you call that uncalled for!” She did have a point, some ponies did discriminate against you, but only the more old fashioned ones. Luckily there weren’t many of those around. That being said, Rarity also had a point, Dash has an image to maintain and you’ll be dammed if you’re the reason she ruined it.

”All Rarity’s tryin ta say is you’re goin about it the wrong way.”

The atmosphere was full of tension, and you were in the eye of the storm. You hated taking sides, but you had to. For her sake, “Dash listen…” Again, her fiery attitude changes and she drops her head a bit, knowing exactly what you were going to say, “…I appreciate what you did for me, I really do. But…you’re a Wonderbolt now, you have a reputation, a standard of behavior to uphold. Whether you agree or not, I don’t want to be the reason you get suspended or fired from your dream job. Quite frankly it's not worth it.” She looks at you with concern and compassion in her eyes, disagreement on the tip of her tongue, “It’s happened before and it’ll happen again, it’s just something I have to live with.”

Her eyes drop from yours and she audibly gulps, swallowing any arguments she still had. You just shot down your mare friend for defending you and your stomach felt like it was full of cement. You really wish there was another way to go about this. You realize her stubbornness wouldn’t have permitted it, but it doesn’t bring you any consolation.

”Yeah I guess…” She nudges your shoulder, ”…but don’t expect me to let them get away with it.” Her compassionate eyes lock on yours and she smiles weakly.

If only you could wrap her up and kiss her to show her how much you appreciate her. But the look Rarity was giving you already told you she caught on to more than you’d intended. Applejack was just staring at Dash like a disappointed sibling.

Hoof steps sound beside you. You look over to spot a chipper young earth stallion with a prepubescent mustache, ”I’m sorry for the inconvenience, what would every pony like to drink today!”

Eventually conversation returns to normal and you enjoy your cranberry jam sandwich in peace. Dash stayed mostly quiet and you did your best to pull her into conversation, you also cracked a few jokes that got a laugh out of her. You figured it was the best case scenario considering the circumstances. Upon departure, Dash remembered her promise and signed the check for both of you, Applejack and Rarity paid separately. You said your farewells and went your separate ways. The victory of not tipping anyone off to your relationship seemed trivial in light of the altercation, but Dash didn’t have to face the embarrassment of admitting it in public so you considered yourself successful.

Dash had a few days until her next Wonderbolt performance, she’d mastered her wingtip turn, but she still had to practice her timing with the rest of the team. She hadn’t said anything this morning, but chances were she would have to leave sooner rather than later. You contemplated asking her, but she seemed to prefer the silence as she followed you back to the apartment. You open the door and you shut it behind her, kicking your shoes into the corner. You turn around just in time for Dash’s fore hooves to land on your shoulders and pin you against the wall. 

Suddenly you found yourself eye to eye with the pegasus as she stands up on her hind legs…what has gotten into her today? “Uhh…hello?”

Her intense magenta gaze locks on your face and carries an authority that tells you not to look away. Fuzzy ears act like a second pair of eyes and plain breaths leave her nose in succinct bursts, slapping your face and keeping your attention. She doesn’t respond for a moment and you try to comprehend her distraught features.

”I don’t ever wanna hear that again.”

The seriousness of her tone strikes a chord in you, but you’re still at a loss, “Hear what again?”

”That you’re not worth it!”

“Oh, Dash I’m just looking out—”

”—Because you are!” She cuts you off mid-sentence; clearly she had something to say and was intent on saying it. Her confidence wavers a bit as she blinks a few times and moves her fore hooves up your shoulders—her soft frogs resting above your joints, ”And just because I'm a Wonderbolt doesn't mean I have to let ponies hurt you.” She finishes with a tone of finality, her eyes on yours, she meant every word of what she’d said. That scene with the waitress really upset her more than you thought.

You suddenly find it difficult to breathe as your throat chokes up. The things she was saying and the way she said them conjured up feelings that you’d never known before. Deep feelings. Good feelings. You swallow and nod, giving her the satisfaction of knowing she got her point across.

Her remaining confidence leaves her and floods to her cheeks in the form of a blush. Her slender pink tongue darts out to lick her lips and her ears fold against her nape, warning you of her intentions. Humid air wets your face as her parted maw draws closer to yours. You lean forward a bit and bring your hands to her shoulders, ready to receive her affection. The sight of her leaning in for a kiss starts your heart racing and your confused brain races to release endorphins in your sobered state. Seconds feel like minutes as you visualize her nearing muzzle behind closed eyes. 

Eventually, short, wet fur finds your upper lip and she adjusts to massage it. She sucks in slightly to pull your lip comfortably between hers where the additional saliva made the massage a much smoother process. Eager to reciprocate, you mirror her actions with her bottom lip and pull her more into you. The connection you shared was worth a thousand words, and not just words but things you couldn’t describe with words. Emotions. The caressing quickly synced your intentions and communicated affection faster than you could confess out loud.

The light fur on her lips was the second most alien thing about the kiss next to the narrow muzzle. As you deepen the kiss, the soft short fibers tickle the inside of your lip, making you giggle silently against her. You didn’t even know you could be ticklish there. She snorts lightly in response to your laughter, a smile forming against your mouth. Her muzzle pulls off you with a pop, leaving a semicircle all the way to the base of your nose a bit red and glistening. She hides her blush by nuzzling your jawline, the smile still evident in the form of her tense cheek.

She pulls back until your noses are touching. You hold the position for a while, minds on each other’s tastes and smells, your arms keep her stable on her hind legs while you share air. Tendrils of lethargy tug on your eyelids and numb your senses; realizing this was no place to fall asleep, you force your eyes back open. Something about the combination of her taste and smell and touch just knocks you out like a pound of sleeping pills. 

Finally realizing her blushing wasn’t going to recede you give her another peck, refreshing her grin. How is such a simple action so satisfying?  “Just be careful alright. Between my park brawl and your restaurant fight we just might become the next Bonnie and Clyde.” 

She quirks an eyebrow, ”The next what?”

“Uh, sorry…they were a famous outlaw couple from where I came from.”

”Heh, that might be fun.”

“No Dash, no it would not.” She only grins wider, “But for the record that was a pretty good throw, I never saw it coming and I was sitting right next to you.” 

She chuckles, warming your face with her hot breath, ”What can I say…I’m—”

“—awesome.” You finish for her. You didn’t really have much relationship experience, so you measured your success by how many cheesy one-liners and compliments you could come up with. So far she seems to appreciate it. 

She cranes her neck and stretches on one hind leg to bring her muzzle back to your mouth, the other leg kicks fruitlessly as you pull her up against you. Her tongue precludes the kiss and you find yourself tangling with something you were much less familiar with. She wasn’t trying to use it in any manner you expected, instead she simply licks at your mouth. The implications of the uniquely pegasus gesture aren’t lost on you. It was more than a display of simple affection, it showed commitment and loyalty…it showed love. 

You didn’t have a manual on this stuff, and your previous misunderstandings were proof that Twilight’s recommended reading was lacking in necessary detail, so you figure your best bet is to mirror your partner. Your tongue leaves its home to return the message and Dash pauses to receive it. She lets out a shaky breath and her shoulders shiver in anticipation. Intimate contact with her pointed muzzle quells any irrational fears she may have had about you not reciprocating her feelings. She holds still and lets you lick her fuzzy lips, submitting entirely to your gestures. The intimacy of the activity finally sinks in and you’re suddenly struggling to balance on weak knees. Her milky flavor, spicy scent, and wet maw swirl into a dopamine-rich haze of joy that commands all of your senses and inflates your chest with butterflies. 

Dash finally pulls away and after a brief struggle, manages to focus on you. Her ardent gaze told you your suspicions were right about her intentions. If there had been any lingering doubt there wasn’t any longer; this brash mare was much more than a friend. You’d somehow managed to pass all her tests, infiltrate all her defenses, and now you found yourself privy to her raw feelings—feelings she’d never had for anyone else. Her gaze falters and she tucks her muzzle as her self-consciousness finally catches up to her. She’s going to give you a heart attack someday from that cuteness. 

“Y-You d-don’t think that w-was too ss-sappy…do you?” Her scratchy voice stammers. 

You pull her into a tight hug, lifting her a few inches off her hind hooves. She sheepishly tolerates it, “Of course not Dash.”

You let her go and she falls back to her hooves, red as a beet, “I just…uh, I-I’m not usually l-like that.”

The poor mare sounds like she’s about to get scolded, “Everyone’s got their own way of showing their feelings, there’s nothing wrong with that.” You wanted to punctuate it with another kiss, but it seemed like she needed space to work out whatever it was she was battling.

She looks at you with fire in her eyes, and on her cheeks…and spreading down her muzzle. She’s definitely not used to opening up like that. For that matter, neither are you. Her ears flicker and she shifts weight on her hooves, “S-so it’s okay if I’m…I’m not c-cool all the time?”

Where the heck did that come from? Better nip that at the bud, “Hey, listen.” Your tone commands her attention. “I don’t know what’s bothering you, but I can tell you this. Nothing you ever do will tarnish your reputation as far as I’m concerned. You’re even more awesome-er underneath that still pretty awesome exterior…“

You poke her chest, “…and it makes me feel very special that you’ve chosen to share that with me.” 

You begin to contemplate how many more degrees she’s got to climb before the sweat on her nose tip boils off, but you get interrupted by her squeezing your chest, “Ooof! Hey take it easy, I’m supposed to last eighty years you know.” You joke as your arms move to encompass her nimble frame.

“You better…” She mumbles into your shirt. 

Is she crying? “Hey, don’t cry…”

She shudders silently against you before sniffling. A knot forms in your chest. It actually physically hurts to see her like this. “I’m n-not crying i-idiot…” Yeah, you definitely are, “I’m just…*sniff …n-no pony’s ev-ver said that before, and I’m happy you s-said it.” 

“Hey, I’m happy too…it’s good to talk about things like this, to get them off your chest.”

“Yeah…*sniff”

You hold onto each other for as long as it takes Dash to find her composure. She finally unburies herself from your chest—leaving two small wet spots on your shirt. You cup her hot, furry cheeks and plant a kiss on the crown of her head. “I better not hear any more of this ‘how sappy's too sappy’ nonsense Ms. Dash.” She wipes her nose and nods with a broken smirk, “Now, I think it’s high time we finish that book we started a few weeks ago.”

She looks up at you with a bit of confusion, sloppy emotions still present in her eyes, ”You have it here?”

“Yeah, remember. You made me read the whole damn thing aloud.”

She brings a fore hoof to her mouth and chuckles lightly at your annoyance, ”Heh, oh yeah, I remember now. You weren’t very good at it either.” Good to see her back to normal. You move to the kitchen to grab a bag of chocolates to snack on.

“Well of course I’m going to stutter when you keep poking me in the side with your feathers.”

”Hey I only poked you after you stuttered! It was to train you not to do it again.” Just like Pavlov’s dog. How touching.

You pick up the humor in her voice but play along anyways, “Oh of course! Because everyone reads better when they know they’re one mistake away from being tickled.”

”Hahaha! Come on! You can’t say it wasn’t fun!” 

You make your way over and plop down on the couch next to her, her book already in her hooves, “Fun for you maybe. But I’m not gonna let you get away with it a second time.”

She smirks and slides over next to you, passing off the book, ”Like you’re gonna stop me!”

“More like I’m just going to stop reading.”

”Aww…party pooper. Fine then no feather jabbing.”

“I’m taking your word for it.” You open up to the bookmark and quickly find where you stopped reading last. Dash lays across the couch, resting her head on your leg, her fore hooves tucked and her muzzle pointed straight up. Her multicolored hair pours across your lap, spilling between your legs like a trippy waterfall. You scratch the scruff of her chest before plopping a chocolate into your mouth. Magenta eyes follow your movements as you gulp it down. 

You fumble with the book on your knees and hold it with one hand, the other returns to Dash’s chest. Eyes study the words on the page and you begin reading, still a bit self-conscious of any stuttering. As you pick up a rhythm you’re hit with a wave of nostalgia. One of the first things you did together when you and Dash became friends was read a Daring Doo book. Back then there were only three books on the market…now you were working on the fifth. And back then your couch sat under the window. A few sunburns from afternoon naps fixed that problem.

You reach down and grab another chocolate at random. It’s funny how times change, the last time you opened this book you would’ve laughed at the thought of giving your best friend a wing job. You flip the page and reach for another chocolate. The second it clears the bag Dash comes to life next to you, ”Wait! Those are my favorite!”

You glance at the chocolate then look down at her wide eyes with passive interest, “Your point?”

”My point is you need to give it to me!”

You smile inwardly, time to teach her some manners, “So you’re saying that because this…” You glance at the chocolate again and so does she.

”—Milk Chocolate Bite.” She finishes impatiently.

“…is your favorite…” She nods enthusiastically, “…that means I should give it to you?”

”Yeah. And all the other ones in the bag.” Wow she’s not kidding, she must really like these. She hungrily eyes the chocolate that’s slowly starting to melt against your fingers.

“Well too bad cuz they’re my favorite too.” You plop it in your mouth and exaggerate the pleasure of its flavor with a few moans. The smile on her face comedically morphs into a frown in a matter of seconds, “Mmmm, this is really good, I see why you like them so much.”

She scrambles to her hooves, her features alert. You hide your grin by licking your fingers and patting your belly for emphasis, ”Y-you…that was mine!”

You look over into her fiery eyes, luckily you saw nothing like what you saw at lunch, just mild annoyance, ”You hear me? You ate my chocolate!” Okay maybe severe annoyance.

“I don’t see what makes it yours? I bought the whole bag you know.”

“You had two already! It was my turn!” You struggle to keep from snuggling her lest you get a hoof to the jaw. She’s so damn cute when she’s angry!

“Well considering you eat everything else I have I think it’s only fair I get a whole bag of chocolates to myself.” She’s too flustered to pick up on the fact that you’re joking.

”Nice try but you have to share! It’s a…rule.”

“When I read through the Ponyville city code I never came across anything that said I have to share.”

”It's a federal rule doofus!” 

Ok that was unexpected, a really good comeback, but unexpected, “Uhh…” You struggle to come up with a defense. The scary thing is, considering they have princesses of love and friendship, a rule about sharing doesn’t sound that unrealistic, “…I don’t know anything about any rules, but if you want one…you’re going to have to come and get it.”

You look into the chocolate bag: there’s one sitting right on top. You look back at your nemesis. Her eyes narrow on you and she crouches, letting out a threatening puff of air from her nose. Gone was the desire to snuggle her and rub her belly.

You could just hand over the bag and this would be over in an instant. But then you wouldn’t have any battle scars to tell your grandchildren about. What the hell. You shoot your hand in the bag—clutching the milk chocolate bite. Dash springs onto your arm; her hooves intercept your hand as it clears the bag. Despite your best efforts, she somehow begins prying your fingers open with the edges of her hooves. You hastily set the book on the coffee table and bring your other hand into the fight. She rotates around your arm until her back is against your chest and her hind leg is pressing on the armrest. It was a pretty smart move, her new position allowed her to push your arm away from your torso with a lot of force. Your other hand holds your fingers closed as you struggle to bring them to your mouth. ”Stop. Struggling!” She yells. Her wing shoots out and presses against your face, blinding you. It doesn’t matter. You were born in the dark. Molded by it. You feel a tongue lash out at a small gap in between your fingers.

“No!” Suddenly you switch directions, leaning forward in the direction of her force. The move throws her off balance and she falls forward onto her chest, face wincing as her chin impacts the cushion. You fall on top of her slender figure, your nose painfully bouncing off her shoulder. With your chest across her back her wings now flutter pointlessly at her sides. Azure legs kick, but your greater weight allowed you to pin her to the couch while you brought the chocolate to your face and plopped it in your mouth. You sit up and take your weight off of her, she spins around in a multicolored flurry, her messy mane complementing her incredulous look. You lean back against the arm rest, taunting her with the melting chocolate on your outstretched tongue. It makes its way safely back into your mouth and you tuck it to your cheek.

“And the winner of round one is—oopf!” You’d underestimated her resolve. She rockets into your chest and throws her hooves around your head. Your arms struggle to push her back as she positions herself on top of you looking straight down at your face. Half-extended wings arch across you for balance as hind hooves come dangerously close to stepping on your balls. Her mane hangs down and tickles your forehead between huffs of breath. Her playful eyes and mischievous smile contradict the blush on her muzzle. What does she think she’s doing?

*mmmpf!

In an instant her mouth is on yours, spreading your lips with her own. Her tongue darts down between your clenched teeth and your cheek as she fishes for the milk chocolate bite. The tip of her nose mashes against your upper lip, occupying you nostrils with the scent of her muzzle. She breathes openly and hastily through her mouth and you quickly begin to heat up. A soft, furry torso lays against yours and her hind legs spread out to either side of you for balance. She’s not fighting you much anymore, it’d be easy to push her off…but that wouldn’t be any fun.

Her tongue slaps around against the inside of your cheek until she eventually finds the chocolate mass. Her nimble appendage hooks around it and begins to pull it towards her maw. Instinctively, your tongue darts out to intercept her. The process causes the chocolate to fall against the back of your tongue. You catch it before you have a chance to choke. Dash wastes no time in going after it. She tilts her head slightly and buries her muzzle in your open mouth, her hooves press your head even farther into the couch cushion. Her tongue easily reaches the back of yours and begins fishing for the chocolate lump. 

A tail whisks giddily across your legs.

Adrenaline flows through your veins and heightens your senses. This is fun. You begin the delicate act of fencing with her while protecting your chocolate prize. You find yourself feeling a bit disappointed when her natural milky flavor gets replaced by a coco one as the sweet melts between your slick, thrashing muscles. Your hands no longer fight her, instead they hold her, gently scratching her neck and the side of her face. This isn’t a battle anymore. More than once she gains the upper hand but hesitates long enough for you to snag it back. This is probably the closest she’s ever come to sharing. You experimentally give her control of the slobbery mass but she doesn’t return it. Yep, still competitive as ever.

Her muzzle leaves your mouth and she takes a deep breath, both of your eyes open to meet each other and you realize how messy your embrace had been. Her lips, chin, and a speck on her nose were tainted with chocolate slobber. Chances are you didn’t fare much better. Four cheeks flash red as she sheepishly chews the sad remnants of her milk chocolate bite. She swallows audibly and cracks a shy victory grin, shyness accentuated by folded ears.

You throw your hands up in submission, “You win.” She just giggles and licks away some chocolate beside your lips. You return the favor by smooching her grinning gooey ones. Tasty. Both of you hold the position for a moment, catching your breaths after the make out and savoring the intimacy. She finally plops down with her rump right above your belly button, fore hooves rest on your chest. Her wings sat at an unintentional half-mast and were slowly shrinking back to her sides. You keep from staring at them lest you embarrass her or make them go the opposite way. Your hand reaches out to tuck a bit of stray mane from her eyes.

”T-that w-was…fun.” She whispers while barely keeping eye contact. She flinches at her own flustered stutter but you just smile.

“Yeah. I never knew sharing could be fun.” She taps your shoulder and chuckles at your cheesy remark. Your eyes drift over to the mess of assorted chocolates spilled across the cushion next to you. Dash’s eyes follow and come to rest on the item that’s holding your attention. 

A lone milk chocolate bite sat in the center of the cushion…the last in the bag. Your eyes meet again; the same thought occupying both your minds, “Do you want to share it?”

Dash licks her lips as her smile grows, ”Not a chance.”
> Bonding
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The afternoon went by in a blur and before you know it you’re sprawled on your bed in your sleeping attire with a big stupid grin on your face. The dark room was partially filled with a soft moonlight that gave the ceiling just enough detail to hold your passive interest. Your blush had long since receded, but your lips still tingled when you thought about what had happened on your couch earlier. You swear you’ll never get tired of her. You also need to check the couch cracks for chocolate. You briefly contemplate getting up but your body resists…you’ll do it tomorrow. 

You glance over at the alarm clock to make sure it was set. Dash was adamant about sleeping in as late as possible before her show. 

The monotonous drone of your shower travels down the dark hallway and reaches your ears; your mind drifts to the mare it contained. You have to admit things had progressed pretty quickly between you two, but it brought no cause for concern. First and foremost you’d known almost everything about each other for nearly a year so you got to skip that part of relationship building. Seldom did a day go by where you didn’t grab lunch with her, or watch her practice. For some reason she always seemed to enjoy hanging out with you…even though you hated sports. You didn’t hate the idea of sports, you just weren’t any good at them. Early on you’d wondered why she kept stopping by to drag you to the park every afternoon. Not that you didn’t enjoy it, on the contrary, you thought it was awesome that you got to interact with a supersonic flying pony. The best explanation you could come up with was she thought you were cool because you were an alien. But as time passed your novelty never seemed to wear off; you eventually put your pointless questions behind you and started enjoying her for who she was. 

It took some effort to see past her brazen first impression; it wasn’t uncommon for her to tease you and ‘borrow’ your stuff without permission. You just had to read the fine print. It was in the way she never teased you in front of other ponies, the way she’d return your coffee mug cleaner than she got it. She never let on of course, and you never mentioned it, but in the back of your minds you both knew how much you valued each other’s friendship. In retrospect, you were surprised it took as long as it did for you two to pair up. And to think…all because Zephyr was bugging her. You would’ve figured it out eventually right?

…Eventually

You hate to admit it but you kinda owe him one…in a really screwed up sort of way. Honestly you don’t blame him for his obsession, after all, you were guilty of the same charge when it came to the rainbow pegasus. She’s a mare worth obsessing over. The way he dealt with it is what you have a problem with.

You pause your thought locomotive when a particularly cool breeze travels through your open window and chills your bare body. With fall approaching you’re going to have to upgrade from boxers to footsie pajamas. The shower turns off and you hear a hoof smack your porcelain tub—undoubtedly a coordination error. Good thing hooves are tougher than toes…wonder if they get wrinkly in water like toes do? That would be weird... 

In the absence of the droning showerhead, sounds of the night greet you from the empty street outside your window. Crickets were the only thing that dared disturb the peaceful town at this time of night. A familiar tune comes to mind and you start humming with your thoughts as best you could. After a year immersed in another world you rarely reminisced, but music was something that always stuck with you. The bathroom door hastily opens and a soaking wet Rainbow stumbles out, tripping over her hooves and bumping into the hallway wall.

”This stupid, ahh…Anon!”

You launch to your feet, concerned by her pained tone, “What’s wrong Dash?”

”I got soap in my eyes! Can’t find the towel!” 

You feel a bit of relief…but only a bit, you know how painful soapy eyes can be. Immediately you go to her side and place your hands on her wet withers—guiding her back towards the sink. She has trouble walking as her fore hooves focus primarily on rubbing at the pain.

“I know it hurts Dash but you’re only spreading the soap around more.” She lets out a frustrated grumble but complies with your logic, resorting to furious blinking. You make it to the sink and prop her fore hooves on the counter for her, “It’s going to feel a bit weird, but try to keep your eyes open I’m going to flush them out.”

”Yeah just hurry!” Unable to resist, she buries her face in her forelegs to mitigate the incessant stinging. It must suck not to have hands. But she was luckier than most. Your hands were entirely at her disposal. You take up position behind her with her back against your chest. The faucet comes on full blast with a mix of hot and cold water. One hand cups the refreshing liquid while the other gently coaxes her head away from her legs. You bring the water to an eye and flush it out. The process gets repeated several times with each of her irritated orbs and she does her best to fight her blinking reflex. You pause to check your progress.

“Still burn?”

She blinks a few times. Her hooves return to her eyes now and resume their circling with vigor, ”They’re better…just…itchy.”

“That can’t be comfortable Dash.”

”What, the…uhg itching? Nah it's…wha…?” Your hands shoot underneath her hard hooves, padding her sensitive eyelids with your fingers. You take over for her and begin rubbing her eyes in gentle circles, ”…aahhh…hands are the best.” 

Knew it. Her hooves linger in front of her face for a moment unsure of what to do. They soon brace against the counter allowing her to push into your pleasing touch with a content smile. You delicately massage her eyelids with the soft pads of your fingers, her quiet grunts the only noise in the small room. You can’t help but smile at the sight. Her scent is interesting, a bit of her natural spiciness remains, a sharp tang from her pure sport shampoo, and something else much more prominent…

…Petrichor


You don’t remember where you learned the colorful word, but it described her scent perfectly. The smell of a warm rain on dry ground. You glance at the shampoo bottle in the corner of the tub. It’s not coming from the soap, must just be the way her fur smells when wet…like a dog…but a lot better. After a minute you stop. She opens her eyes and blinks a few times to clear them. Content that the itching was gone she pushes back into your chest, looking up at you with a smile. The damp fur of her back wets your chest and her wings readjust as she awkwardly tilts her head back to nuzzle the side of your face, “Heh, Dash, you’re still a bit wet.” Despite your comment you hold her against you.

A bit is an understatement. She withdraws her muzzle and grins at you in the mirror while you wipe water off your face. Her ears fold back and she looks overly happy about what she’s about to say, ”Sorry, I uhh…heheh, I kinda forgot to dry off.”

“Let’s get you dry then, can’t get any rest if you’re all wet.” 

She turns around and looks at you with half-lidded eyes, ears fold back as a darker tint begins to fill in under her cyan cheeks. A lock of wet orange and yellow mane droops down between her eyes and sticks to her muzzle, ”No…I can’t.”

Her breath seems to put you in a trance the moment you inhale it. Holy…that was the first time you’ve seen that look. Even during her wing job she didn’t do that…thing, with her eyes; and her voice too, it sounded different. Your heart lurches a little bit and you become aware that you have her undivided attention. In the back of your mind you know what it is, but nervousness overcomes you and you look for an avenue to escape her sultry gaze, “Uhh…heheh, let’s uhh…get you dry.”

You let her stand on her hooves and snatch the towel off its rack. She turns to face you as you kneel down in a small puddle in front of her. Despite your best efforts you start to feel the bathroom close in on you as your face heats up. Why is blushing a thing? It’s just embarrassing and unnecessary. 

She sits slightly lower than you and leans in to bump her nose into your neck. Looking over the top of her matted hair, you can see her toned musculature move underneath her fur, ”Whatta ya waiting for Anon.” Her voice and your name are a dangerous combination. The proper tuning of one or the other could easily make your heart stop beating. Unsure of how to handle this yet unseen side of her you opt to start drying her off as soon as possible. Her head stays suspiciously close to your face and it makes it awkward to do your job.

You toss the towel around her neck first and gently rub it down. Invisible droplets of water sprinkle your face and arms—a refreshingly cool sensation in contrast to her hot breath. The droplets freed from her fur create a cloud of petrichor into the air, adding a sense of immersion to the whole experience. Moving farther back you dry off her withers, then the cradle of her wings. Her head moves underneath your chin and you gulp as she brings her nose to your collarbone—nuzzling it softly. 

That’s not a good spot to do that. Her fur is a bit ticklish, but not to the point it makes it un-enjoyable. In fact, it feels really nice. Too nice. This time your blush doesn’t intensify—your blood flow switches tracks and heads south instead. Boxer briefs hide little evidence of your reaction. Crap…focus on something else!

You do your best to focus on your job, but you end up mindlessly scrubbing the water from her back. Her tail flicks every time you pull it back against the grain of her short fur; a fact you unfortunately begin noticing. You feel her nibble on your collarbone, moving out to your shoulder, “Um…D-Dash?”

Her only response is to place a hoof on your chest. The added force pushes you off balance and you fall back on your butt from your kneeling position. Now she’s got the height advantage by a few inches. The same heaviness you were feeling was pulling her own eyelids down. She studies your face and her smile grows. A wet nose affectionately bumps yours and she returns to her nuzzling—this time at your cheekbones. You really hope she doesn’t see your blush…or your boner. But in reality both of those things were very difficult to make disappear. Especially if she continues whatever it is she’s doing.

Suddenly remembering she still needs to dry off, you pluck her fore hoof from your chest and rub her leg down. You move to the other leg, then her chest. Productivity is good. Keep doing that. Her enticing scent was even more potent around her spectrum mane. A hot breath skips across your ear as she moves farther around to the back of your jaw, “Dash th-that’s a b-bit distracting.” Her tongue shoots out and dabs the outside of your ear canal, giving you a very loud sample of a licking sound and leaving a supremely distracting wet spot.

”Heh…is it?”

That was obviously a rhetorical question…unnecessary…just like it was unnecessary to rub her chest down for half a minute. Realizing you can’t multitask, you do your best to work around the distractions. You switch to a fresh part of the towel and reach between her forelegs to get her underbelly. You detect a faint change in her breathing when you rub down her soft stomach, that must be soothing, maybe if you keep doing that she’ll let up. Her nosy muzzle moves to your jawline and she traces a fat lick from your chin to your ear. Oh dear god…

*pfft!

She suddenly snorts and shakes her head to clear a ticklish hair in her nose—showering you with more invisible water droplets. Her bedroom eyes briefly turn apologetic as she flashes a shy smile, ”Heh, sorry about that.”

Your wide eyes betrayed what you intended to be a cool response, “N-n-no worries!” That wasn’t very calm, and she notices.

”You uhh…sound a little enthusiastic…”

“I’m just…e-excited to see your pretty face.” That was a pretty good recovery.

Her nostrils flare and she blushes harder in response. Her eyes remain locked on yours, ”Heh, I can see that.” She puts a hoof on your thigh without looking down…right next to your bulge. There’s no way she doesn’t notice it.


You feel like you’re on fire, everything is simultaneously uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time. She leans in, homing on your breath…until a drop of water falls from a strand of hair into her eye. She flinches, saving you from your aneurism and giving you another coward's way out, 

“H-here let me get that for you.” The towel covers her flushed face and you rub a bit more vigorously than you should. You finally muster the courage to withdraw the towel. She opens her eyes and stares right into yours. The same smile, the same flush, the same sultry look…if anything you only wound her up more, “A-all done!”

But you don’t move to get up. You can’t while she still has you in her paralyzing gaze, ”You forgot my back end.”

Forget wasn’t the right term, more like…you knew that if you had to tend to her rump you’d have a stroke so you just pretended it didn’t exist to the point that you convinced yourself Dash ended at her wings. It was an instinctive response, a memory lapse for the purpose of self-preservation. But what would you be if you were a slave to you inner uncertainties? You certainly wouldn’t have discovered your affection for her. Her eyes flash their own brand of uncertainty as she fears she’s said something wrong. That is one thing you’re definitely not going to let happen.

“Turn around then.” You sound more confident than you are, but she complies. Presented with her broadside, a new thought comes to mind, “Dash…what about under your wings?” 

She looks over her shoulder at you, now she’s the one looking nervous, ”No, it keeps the feathers healthier if they’re a b-bit damp.” You learn something new every day.

“Oh…” You wonder what her wing pits smell like. It’s probably a mixture of thunderstorm and fresh, zesty—dammit don’t be weird! You clear your head with a forceful blink before laying the towel down across the small of her back. Well, you try to clear your head, Maybe after she falls asleep you could test your theory…ten bits on it smelling like a thunderstorm. As her back and sides receive their treatment you try not to stare at her cutie marks, but you find your eyes consistently drift back as if a magnet was attracting them. She either doesn’t notice or doesn’t mind because you get no response from her…though you’re too afraid to look at her face. The thoroughly damp towel travels down her hind leg, covering the outside and inside. Awkwardly you reach underneath her belly and pat down her other leg, your nose inches from her white cloud. Finally finished, you lean back with a deep breath, signifying the end of your work.

”Y-you missed a ss-spot.” Your eyes meet hers briefly before you both look away. She picks up one hind leg and holds it out…opening up a bit so you could reach underneath. This behavior is not helping your problem go away. But at this point you weren’t sure if you wanted it to go away anymore…maybe she doesn’t want it to either.

*gulp

You quickly shove that thought from your mind and instead shift to something equally as awkward. She obviously wants you to dry her teats. You’d learned first hand that ponies didn’t consider that area private. Dash wasn’t aware of the dichotomy, as evidenced by her open nature about it. You did your best and mostly kept your eyes away from them out of respect, and because they were just around the corner from an area that was very much private. But needless to say…self control becomes difficult when her sleeping posture leaves them all out in the open.

So really the only thing weird about this is you making it weird. You really ought to stop being such a pussy…she is your mare friend after all. You take a deep breath and your toweled hand disappears under her abdomen. Initially you aim too high and hit her ticklish belly button nub—earning a giggle from her. You move down, and down, and down…holy crap how far do you have to go? Eventually your hand gets pushed out by a fatty mass. Cupping it, you find that it’s much smaller than you anticipated, kind of like a tennis ball, but cut in half. Her tail flicks a few times in quick succession. From the ‘brief glances’ you’d had before you knew they weren’t very substantial, but the tactile sense added a new level of depth to that knowledge. They have to fit between her hind legs so you guess it makes sense.

Either way disappointment never crosses your mind, as far as you were concerned they were the best pair of tits…teats in the world. Suddenly remembering your primary mission of drying her off, you move to the other mound and rub it down, unable to resist giving it a few squeezes in the process. She looks back inquisitively but opts not to question when she sees that you’re practically sweating blood. You run the towel one last time between her fleshy mounds and powerful thighs before finally withdrawing it. You toss the towel aside for finality sake and she turns to face you. 

Without giving you a chance to speak she closes the distance and puts her nose on yours. The heat coming off both of your faces could boil an egg.

”I’m s-still wet…” The words roll off her tongue as a whisper, tickling your parted lips. 

At this point you were little more than a flustered mess with a very apparent tent in your shorts, “D-do you need the towel aga-again?” The sound of your heartbeat filling your ears makes you ignorant to your own pitiful, poorly coordinated question. An awkward pause fills the room as she holds her nose to yours—stealing your breaths as you let them out. Half lidded eyes study your face and her ears twitch in their backwards-folded position. 

“This is my l-last night here…f-for the air show and all. I…I want to remember it…” She leans in and nuzzles your cheek hard, her fore hoof resting softly on your thigh as her muzzle travels up to your ear, ”And I w-want you to remember it too.” The whisper sends shivers down your spine and gives you goose bumps.

“You’re only gonna be gone for a…a f-few days.”

”That’s a long time…” There was no question about it, there never was really. Dash wanted to go all the way…tonight. Right now. With you. 


You swallow a lump in your throat. You love Rainbow Dash. You never gave it much thought the past few days because it didn’t require much thought. You just knew it. No…you felt it. It was like a gut feeling, a deep rooted intuition, a voice in the back of your head that told you she’s the one. You enjoyed absolutely everything about her and your greatest joy would be in knowing that she feels the same way about you. Considering her nature as the element of Loyalty and her self-admitted inexperience with what she was asking of you now…there was a good chance your dreams had come true. Intimacy was never something she took lightly, this is a one-of-a-kind thing for her. Looking into her eyes you detect a bit of nervousness and embarrassment, but there was also a deep sense of familiarity, and from that, confidence. She wasn’t asking some stallion she’d been with for only a few days, she was asking you…a friend, someone she knows. 

Someone she trusts.

The fact that she was a talking pony with six appendages, well…seven if you count her tail…didn’t make you hesitate in the slightest. It only made the prospect of intimacy more exciting. It’s just more of her to love. Despite your strong feelings for her, you can’t help but be a bit nervous. A hundred thoughts as to what could go wrong play out in your head. What if you’re not ‘adequate?' What if ponies look down on her because of you? Would she give you a second chance if something went wrong? Your breathing picks up a bit. 

you really don’t want to mess this up, maybe you should hold off until—

—*smooch

Her lips mush yours and you suddenly lose your train of thought. Your loving friend’s mouth massages away all traces of fear and doubt in your head, replacing them with desire. She breaks away with a cliché kissing sound and you open your eyes. Smiling magenta orbs beam with hope; she was acting on the deep unspoken trust you both shared. It was something unique between the two of you and the prismatic pegasus was counting on it being enough. Her tail swishes enthusiastically—stuck somewhere between excited and turned on, ”S-so is that a yes?”

Only a sliver of sultriness remained, she’d lost track of her mesmerizing tone in her excitement. But in the end it was her characteristic scratchy voice that helped you overcome the last of your doubts. She’s a stunning mare, a world class athlete, and a Wonderbolt…but she’s still your loyal companion. Because of that simple fact you knew things were going to be alright between you despite whatever obstacles you may encounter. 

“Absolutely.”

Her nervous smile blossoms into a genuine toothy grin, eyes portraying unimaginable happiness. Unimaginable to all except you that is…you’re the luckiest guy alive. Your heart lurches in your chest. You just set some extremely exciting plans into motion. Before you know what’s happening, Dash is behind you, pushing you onto your feet with her forehead. Her hard skull punishes your lower back for your slow transition. Once you’re on your feet, she nuzzles into your hand which instinctively moves to reciprocate. She catches your fingers in her mouth and clamps down on them with careful calculated pressure—her teeth gently and painlessly claim your hand as her own. She looks up at you and blushes as endorphins flow and her eyes dilate. 

A grin forms on both your faces as your blood rushes from excitement. You were both going somewhere that neither of you had gone before, and you were going there together. You’d never admit your insecurities to her, but knowing that she’d have your back no matter what added a comfortable margin of safety to the adventure. It was a forgiving environment, a learning one. That didn't mean you didn't feel any pressure...or feel the heat still coming off your face. 

Deciding she likes what she sees, she tugs on your hand.

She begins excitedly trotting out of the bathroom in front of a swishing tail, dragging you along with a giggle and a perk in her step. You manage to flip the light off as you leave, and Dash leads the way through the moonlit hallway. Her ears perk up when she looks ahead, but the moment she looks back at you they fold again and you feel her lips grin around your fingers. You’ve never seen her like this before, she’s not just excited, she’s not just happy…she’s in love with you. That apparent fact was a better gift than anything she could ever offer. But you have a feeling she was going to do her best to challenge that pretty soon.

You make it to the main room and she redoubles her efforts, no longer leading you…pulling you. The closer you get to your bed in the corner, the more the intimacy of the situation seems to soak in. This is happening. 

She doesn’t slow her pace until she’s on top of your mattress. Her gentle bite pulls you onto the bed and she pounces, pinning you against the sheets with fore hooves. Mouths seek each other out in the dim moonlight and eagerly reunite in a flurry of teeth and tongue. Her hind legs prop up her rear end over your belly and she lowers herself to lean on the elbows of her forelegs, locking your head between them. You tilt a bit to allow unrestricted access and a fresh, wet scent overcomes you—milky essence flowing freely from her mouth to yours.

*mmmf

Your tongue shamelessly explores her, relishing the alien feel and flavor of your mate. Your taste buds run along the sharp edges of her incisors as you count them outwards from the center, detecting their separations with the tip of your tongue. She calms herself, her movements becoming slower and more predictable to keep from accidentally biting you; her own muscle acts as an escort by laying across the top of yours. Your hand finds the crevice of her ear and you begin scratching the damp fur underneath out of appreciation. A cool draft invades the room through your open window, but even your exposed legs are kept warm by the thought of her presence. You hear her wings move, but can’t see them.

Your short tongue glides across her first, then second, then third incisor. No wonder she beat you at that apple bobbing contest, she’s got one more pair than you do…better recount just to be sure. 

Blistering air escapes her nose in increasingly frequent intervals as she gives herself wholeheartedly to the slobbery embrace. Luckily you’d both gotten some experience as of late, namely, you’d learned how to breathe around each other through your noses—allowing you to prolong the kiss for as long as you’d like. Sensing that she hasn’t had nearly enough, you keep counting past her incisors. One molar…two molars…three molars…Your taste buds suddenly flag a foreign flavor lurking amidst her natural taste. A remnant vein of chocolate in the crevice of her tooth; placed there this afternoon and overlooked by her soft bristle toothbrush. You can’t help but linger for a moment until your conforming tongue routes the invasive sweet from her tooth’s crevice, spreading its essence thinly through the rest of your loving environment. 

Her fourth molar was just on the edge of your influence; two of her four spires tease your short reach. You angle a bit and push farther into her. Your tongue stretches, but you only manage to reach the other corner of the same tooth. She giggles at your antics. Ow, you might’ve just strained your tongue…and you still don’t know if she’s got a fifth one hiding back there or not. Finally sensing a respite, Dash’s organ snakes around your tired one and into your mouth. You resign to licking her length as she counts your teeth in much the same fashion you did. The feeling of swiping her taste buds with yours is incredible…you’re pretty sure your legs would collapse if you were still standing. She reaches your canine and gets caught up on the sharp spire.

*mmmmm…

Her tongue starts roughly scraping across your carnivorous enamel. Surprisingly, a shudder runs through her body and she seems to melt further into you as she angles to focus on the pointy tooth. She’d known about your omnivorous tendencies, she’d probably even glanced across your canine before…or at least seen them. But now she was up close and personal with reality. 

You were still a predator to her. If her instinct had its way it would send her into fight or flight, but she was comfortable enough with you that the urge was confined to her subconscious. Instead it manifested as an adrenaline rush from a suppressed intuition. You can hear her taste buds scrape against your teeth of interest as she aggressively licks them. You find it a bit funny and a lot of a turn on so you initially allow her to satisfy her need—interrupting only to swallow her tasty donations and readjust. But after a solid minute of scraping she shows no signs of stopping, she bounces between all four canines with increasing haste and waning composure. You taste a dramatic increase in her salivation and the smacking sounds of your embrace amplify in accordance with her out of control appetite. It’s apparent that she’s not in her right mind. She withdraws to swallow and take a few rapid breaths before pushing past your lips again to seek out more of her drug. If she keeps this up she’ll rub herself raw.

Hands move to squeeze her flat ears and you move your slick tongue with hers—hopefully distracting her before she hurt herself. For a moment she tries to lick around it, but soon finds the enthusiastic muscle too tantalizing to ignore. She follows suit and begins gently caressing your tongue with hers. You make sure to thoroughly sample her appendage for the iron taste of blood to ensure she hadn’t scraped herself. The ear rubbing manages to calm her and she stays still long enough for you to lick away any soreness she may have inadvertently caused. 

Your hands move from behind her ears and crawl towards the cradle of her wings. Four fingers and a thumb sprawl through her warm fur and coax a happy coo straight from her throat to yours. They glide past her toned shoulder muscles and you feel them tense and twitch from the strain of holding herself up. Dash’s kissing gets heavier and heavier as you get closer and closer to escalating your encounter. Your fingers begin to detect electricity in her back—tense muscles belonging to her wings. Wasting no time, you invade her erogenous zone and begin exploring.

“Mmgh!”

She jumps a bit. Unlike her wings, this was a completely new area for you. You take time feeling out every muscle, adding to your mental ‘Dash anatomy’ map. As you piece together how she works she begins to stir and arches her back to rub her chest fluff against your sternum. What is she doing…?

It was strange in a way. You have absolutely no idea how Rainbow Dash works. All the pornography you’d seen in your high school years didn’t really apply to the pegasus mare, or real life for that matter. And the few sex jokes that you’d heard since you got here did very little to prepare you for this encounter...not to mention that book which, for the record, made no mention of the teeth fixation or the chest rubbing. But despite your fear of the unknown you’re overcome with excitement. You have the distinct privilege of being the first human being to learn about pegasi up close and personal.

You start by digging your fingers into her sinewy back

“Mmnh!”

That one sounded a bit more feminine. You continue doing your best to follow and massage single muscles from end to end. In a way her anatomy was reverse that of a human girl. Her chest and belly had been fair game from the start of your friendship. She’d asked for belly scratches before, usually before a nap and only when alone of course. There was absolutely nothing erotic about touching her underside. You’d first learned when she asked you to scratch some hard to reach itches; she’d even asked you to ‘hit that hairy spot behind my teats,’ before promptly rolling over and showing you the precise location. Apparently her hooves didn’t quite get past the thick fur. 

You made up some excuse at the time to decline helping, but now you weren’t about to decline anything. Strange to see how close you’d been to stepping on a land mine all this time. In some areas her erogenous zone began mere inches from places you distinctly remember touching her before. Needless to say you were enjoying the new privileges.

You finish exploring her cradle and move a hand to the root of her wing, the other hand remains to deal with any residual twitching. Her tongue had long since grown tired and resigned itself to bathing in your flavor by snuggling up to yours. The two muscles hold each other as their owners continue their ministrations elsewhere. She’s still not showing any signs of breaking the kiss. You had to agree with her that the wet oral contact was entirely necessary, you wanted to feel as close to each other as physically possible. However, air was becoming scarce. Your nose was serving your needs just fine, but hers was having trouble. Hands had been working her up for some time now and she’d yet to hit any of your hot spots with her hooves. You felt almost felt bad for her, she only wanted to return the favor. 

Since she didn’t have any jokes or books to take hints from, she was forced to methodically touch every part of you until she found something. But as far as you were concerned you felt good when she felt good. And she’s feeling pretty damn good. She lets out a cry into your mouth as you pinch a tendon in her wing and knead along its length, her glute twitches as it fruitlessly tries to get her rear leg to buck. Another draft comes in through your window, but this time you feel a cold spot on your stomach—right below your belly button and trailing down your side. You peek over as her messy lips readjust, allowing her to burrow her tongue underneath yours. What you see makes you blush so hard you feel your own heat reflecting off Dash’s face.

Her hind legs propped her rear up in the air over your prostrate form, each one grazing your hips with long ankle fur. Her tail is held up and away from her rump in excitement. In between her hind legs dangles a long, quivering string of sex fluid—crystalline and glistening in the reflected light of a full moon. Your lone dilated eye traces it from the small pool on your abdomen to where it visibly disappears between the silhouettes of her quivering teats. The fervent musk of your partner reaches your nose despite her rapid breathing—completing circuits in your brain only she could. The powerful indication that the mare you loved was aroused by you was unbelievably satisfying. You pull down on her wings and massage the leading edges in small circles.

”Ngh!” 

Her belly undulates and the string snaps, a new drop begins to form between the crevice of her teats—clear and sparkling like the last. Your member twitches in response to both her moan and her show as hormones flood your blood stream. Your eyes remained wide open even as you tear your gaze away, the erotic image burned into your retina. You turn your efforts back to your nearly expired kiss in hopes that you wouldn’t finish before you got started. Nimble fingers weave around her wing joint forcing her to finally break the kiss so she could feed her body some much-needed oxygen. She pulls off you with a loud smack—arching her back and trailing a string of saliva from your mouth to hers.

Her urgent inhale is quickly followed by a loud exhale. Hands move farther down her wings simultaneously. Her chest continues to gyrate against you satisfying some unknown urge. She moves back to kiss you again and manages brief contact before her head is once more torn away by sensations in her wings. 

“Ggah!”

She drops her head next to yours and pushes her wings into your hands. Digits move with an objective, sorting and tending to the plethora of small tendons and muscles that made her complex wings possible. Heat radiating from her furry, feverish body forces a reaction and you feel a few droplets of sweat form on your nose. Her wings flex under your touch and you return to spots that needed more attention. Her damp muzzle finds the top of your ear. Lips nibble on the cartilaginous structure until she reaches your softer earlobe. She bites down on it and pulls, relenting just before it starts to get painful, “Agh!” You grunt in satisfaction. 

She snorts, excited that she finally found one of your hot spots. The mare goes to town nibbling with sharp teeth and tracing your intricate ear with the tip of her tongue. Fingers start delicately digging between feathers in search of naked skin underneath to stimulate. Hind hooves tread quietly on the bed, causing your hips to rock side to side from their impressions. 

She finally tires of propping herself up and rests her abdomen on yours. Fuzzy teats mash against your belly and two colder nipples press into your abdominals right below your belly button. The added warmth and positioning forces to you hold back an instinctive thrust of your pelvis. Your hungry pegasus does some mapping of her own as she follows the nerve trail down your ear to your jawbone. Sealed lips provided the suction needed for teeth to bite shallowly at your skin. Instead of breaking the connection every time she wanted to move somewhere else, she simply nibbles her way down your jaw, keeping constant suction and leaving an unbroken red line of moist skin in her wake.

Pads of your fingers make lazy intrusions between her mid-wing feathers, temporarily disappearing in the sea of blue to rake the clammy, naked skin underneath. The room is filled with the music of rapid breathing and moans as you find your predicament getting increasingly heated. 

Her hips begin to slowly gyrate on their own accord and her tail lifts subconsciously. Any sex fluid that escaped went undetected between your flushed crotches. Her mouth pauses on your chin to plant a few kisses leading up to your bottom lip. You’re slightly disappointed when she stops her advance before you got to kiss her back. Luckily she wasn’t in the mood to tease and at the first hint of need she quenches your thirst. Her tongue fans out in wide arcs across your lips, moistening them with her intoxicating flavor. She readjusts her hooves and resumes your treatment up the opposite side of your jaw, leaving you with the musty scent of her cooling saliva across your mouth. 

Your fingers withdraw and you lay your hands on the root of her wings again, but she suddenly twitches out of your grasp. Must be getting close…You chase them down and grab hold again. 

”Ngh!”

You get two quick kicks out of her before her wings tear away from you a second time. Oh crap did it hurt her? Dash senses your fear and pulls away from her nibbling. She turns her wet muzzle sideways and lays it underneath your nose, pressing the side of her slender snout to your lips. She coos as she starts nuzzling affectionately against them; the smell of her sloppy, spitty lips hits you like a truck. Everything about her is a turn on now…Slightly bolstered by the results of your efforts thus far, you manage to voice your concerns just as she moves to plant a kiss on the side of your nose.

“D-D-Dash…” 

Her giggle tickles the small hairs inside your airway. Holy crap get it together, “…I-Is everything alright?” Your marginal improvement is nullified by her lips pressing against your nose, closing off one of your airways and giving your words a nasal pitch. She giggles again—vaguely aware that her teats are now gliding across your belly on a layer of her own lubricant. Her muzzle withdraws an inch to respond.

”I-I…don’t want to uhh…fini-finish until you do…Anon.” Despite her stuttering her sultry tone comes off just as hot. But you barely heard her stutter; you were more focused on her intentions. She’s getting close but she doesn’t want to go over the edge without you. Just when you thought she couldn’t get any fuzzier and sexier and more perfect, she does something like this that sets a new standard for how amazing she is. You love this mare so much!

Honestly you didn’t really care if she did anything for you or not, simply seeing her body rock with pleasure, pleasure that you were giving her, was all the stimulation you required. 

But Rainbow Dash would have none of that. In an instant she rolls off of you; a quiet squelch is heard as discharge-coated bellies peel off one another. The wet layer on your abdomen wicks away much desired heat. Oh that’s cold.  But you don’t have much time to contemplate it before she moves her muzzle near your crotch. Your shaft bobs under its thin covering and the pre-soaked wet spot at your tip grows a bit. Her muzzle drifts closer and closer and your heart rate goes through the roof. Breath permeates the fabric and wafts over your tortured member as she bumps the tip of her nose right against the wet spot. Oh geez!

She bites down on the waistband. The short-wet fur of her lower jaw tickles your sensitive abdomen and forces you to flex as you hold a deep breath. Someone’s ready to move on!

Before you can lift a hand to help her she yanks them free and revels your diamond hard appendage. You start to sit up in a panicked effort to hide your sudden and unexpected exposure. 

Your member bobs and twitches above a pair of loose balls, and you actively suppress the urge to cover up in front of her. Come on, commit to this…You watch her face like a hawk, looking for any indicator of whether she liked what she saw. She wastes no time gawking however. Hooves dig into the sheets as she struggles to pull your boxers free from your legs. Hot breath blows across your sensitive skin as she pulls on them like a dog in a game of tug-o-war, and if you weren’t so overcome by being naked you’d marvel at her strength.

“Here, l-let me—”

—*rrrrrrip

And just like that you’re down one pair of special order underwear, “That…cost twenty bits…” You say, more shocked at her sudden aggressiveness than your loss of clothing. The torn fabric falls from her teeth as she giggles. Her eyes linger on yours for a bit before they drift down to your throbbing member. You shift your legs uncomfortably beneath her gaze as you come to terms with being bare in front of your best friend. She slowly moves to sit by your side, eyes stare at you unabashedly as a drop of pre forms at the tip and runs down the underside of your head.

She gulps audibly, ”L-looks like you’re…ready.”

She doesn’t look upset with it, “Y-yeah, I’ve uhh…be-en ready.”

”Oh…y-yeah…” Her eyes finally look to your flushed face and you can see she feels just as nervous as you do. Then they go back to your erection. Much to your discomfort she starts paying even closer attention to it. You could just ask her to stop staring. But hesitation tempers your embarrassment. This is a new thing for her and she needs to get familiar with you first.

She leans down closer and closer until her lips bump against the wet spot at the tip of your head. Her tongue licks her lips and she grins at your taste. Your head reflexively flares in front of her inquisitive eyes. What is there to look at it’s just a dick!

But Dash is not particularly concerned with your indecent exposure. Her lean muzzle maneuvers around you and you brace yourself for inevitable fellatio…except it never comes. You open your eyes to see her sniffing unabashedly at your musk. Even if you could comment in your current state you wouldn’t. It was just one more instinctive ritual that was new to you in this alien world, and you definitely weren’t about to put the brakes on now regardless of how awkward it gets. 

She leans forward and places a fore hoof between your legs allowing her the freedom of movement to test you from every angle. The only indication of her sampling is the cool air on your member and the minuscule nose twitches that were just visible in the moonlit room. Finally, she raises her flushed face with a dopey smile. Apparently you passed whatever test that was. Without stalling, Dash promptly rises to her hooves and saunters over next to you—leaving your confused member to bob in the night air. 

You were on your back, but her body language wasn’t dominant. She spins around until her rump faces you and nervously takes a half step backwards. Her tail twitches twice before lifting half way revealing private skin barely visible in the shadowy crevice of her cheeks. You freeze for a moment. Your mind fights against her oppressive musk to connect the dots before things get awkward…as if they’re not already. 

You can’t see very well because of the shadow, but that doesn’t detract from the significance of your position. Do you…touch the butt? She didn’t really touch you when she had the opportunity. Maybe you’re supposed to eat her out? You feel incredibly clumsy attempting to partake in this dance to begin with, and to top things off the instructions to it were pretty much in another language. So many possibilities presented themselves and you really didn’t want to mess this up. The best you could do was follow the rainbow mare’s lead. And that means you have to do what she did. 

So you choose to go against your better judgment and adopt the practice for the time being. Any way you imagined it, it seemed like something that would earn you a hoof to the face, but that alternative was still better than asking a blunt question and ruining the moment. Besides, Dash wouldn’t kick you…probably…

Your hands base on the bed and you lean up into her tempting rump. Her tail waves and she squats down to meet you half way. You readjust to get more reach and her hind hoof slips into the mattress divot made by your heavier body. She shuffles to get better footing all while keeping her posterior awkwardly thrust into your face. Very slowly, you bring your face up to the furry globes. In your periphery you notice that she’s got her head turned to watch you out of the corner of her eye. Your nose disappears in the shadow cast by her tail and you slowly inhale the mare’s musky scent. Dear Celestia that's amazing... 

The mixture of her spicy sweat and the musky excitement of private flesh awakens a deep-rooted motivation that no amount of imagery or teasing could've evoked. 

Apparently your risk paid off; you made the right call. She leans away from you and lifts her tail a bit more—just enough to catch a glimpse of naked skin. She knows damn well you can’t make out any detail. Your self-control keeps you from swiping away her concealing tail and getting your fill of eye candy. You lean back in and audibly sniff at her sex, making your actions very apparent for her just in case she didn’t catch them the first time. She flexes something that makes a smacking noise and a drop of her warm fluid hits your arm. What was that? The base of your shaft begins to tingle as you close your eyes and lose yourself in the mare’s alluring pheromones. 

Her amorous eyes hold yours for a moment before she looks to your midsection to gauge your response. Your obvious excitement from her mating scent seemed to make her happy. Without another word she gathers her courage and spins back around, simultaneously flashing you a confident grin. Her ears fold back and she rolls her shoulders, flexing and stretching her wings at full span. Slowly, she walks across you, her hooves delicately landing around your legs and brushing your balls as she crosses in front of you. Her tail flicks and she parades in a small circle, showing off her lean figure in another bizarre courting ritual.

It suddenly occurs to you how lucky you are. You always knew, but now you could see it. Before you is no average mare. Dash had been training as an athlete her whole life, and she’s totally got the body to prove it. Toned legs meet her slender torso; trained muscle spanned her joints and supported her large, powerful wings, emboldening her femininity and giving her just the right proportions everywhere. A mare didn’t get this body overnight, nor could she be born with it. Dash’s physique was the result of years of dedication and hard work…and she was willing to share all of that with you. 

Once she’s on your other side she turns around, presenting her rear.

She lays on her forelegs to arch her back as her wings point straight out. She looks back at you with an embarrassed blush. She holds her prismatic tail to the side and you feel your heart skip for the umpteenth time that night. Every detail of her sex is immediately apparent. Her two furry cheeks taper off to naked tan flesh in the center. A dark patch of wet fur extends outwards from the source. Engorged folds of sensitive skin glisten with sexual excitement—her plothole: a modest donut spectating just above. She flexes something that clenches her anus and pops out a small nub from the bottom of her crevice. So that’s what made the noise.

Despite your situation you find it in yourself to take a moment to think. Her comfort is top priority. It sobered you how something this amazing was practically right in front of you the whole time you were friends and you never concerned yourself with it. 

You were going to concern yourself now. But the moment you move she does too. She spins around, interrupting your view of her nethers and puts a hoof on your leg to stop you, ”Lemme g-get you ready first.” You gulp and nod. She turns back around and backs up until her hind legs straddle your hips.

She positions herself with her belly over your midsection, tail in your face and fore hooves next to your knees—facing away from you. Eagerly, she plops her rear down on your member with a muffled thud. You feel her teats sandwich your shaft as she begins to rub up and down against it. The soft fur and natural sex lube that coated her mammaries practically turned the fatty masses into warm clouds. The contact drives you insane and you immediately start humping against her body. You reach out and grab onto her hind hooves eager to find something to hold onto. Thumbs circle her frogs and make her giggle a bit. She rewards you further by lifting her tail out of the way just in time to watch her curve her back—rolling her wet slit onto your erection.

“Aaaaagh!” You can’t help but cry out as the sensations overtake you like nothing else before. Musk floods your nose and you watch as her swollen lips part around your member, the incredibly soft, raw flesh of her sex is complimented by her natural lubrication. Her engorged crevice feels like a hot, wet kiss on the underside of your shaft. She slides her rear up and down your full length, from the tip of your head to where your shaft sunk into your balls. As she moves towards your base you feel her taut plothole rock down and kiss your member. For a brief moment she pauses and you can feel the ring twitch on you. 

A quiet grunt escapes her throat as she generates satisfaction from humping her firm and apparently sensitive plot hole against you. She seems to get carried away for a moment until she looks back to catch your eye, she blushes hard and pulls her ears tighter to her head before stopping the gratifying behavior. She resumes grinding her sexual genitals, and as she rocks back her tail can't help but pin itself to her back. The mare's glistening wet plothole and labia force your whole body to flush like you’re standing in front of an open oven and you’re almost tempted to place a hand on your heart to keep it from running away. 

The wet slicking sounds that fill the room get interrupted only by her soft grunts.

“Mmg!” Her head is bowed and her wings are so rigid they look like they’re made of titanium. You reach out to grab their trailing edges but she senses your movement, ”N-no, not-ngh! Not now! Uh!” She was steadfast in her resolve not to be over stimulated so you do your best with her hooves as she continues to familiarize you with her most private of areas.

She moves back until the top of her crevice just overhangs your tip, but on her way back down she miscalculates her angle and you find your head pressing into the top of her wet hole—perpendicular to her wall. Luckily she was taking it pretty slow, because it brought her to a complete halt as it physically stops her.

“Ahg!”

”Gaah!” She arches her back a bit and shallows out her approach, allowing her to continue lubricating you without interruption. Her pace picks up a bit as she affectionately rubs her genitals against yours in an attempt to satisfy her basic drive for pleasure. She finally gets her fill and pushes forward to lay across your legs, leaving your warmed member free to pop up again. It bobs back to its protruded angle—hot strings of her mildly viscous liquid connect your throbbing sex organ to your abdomen in long, dripping arcs.

The sight of your friends laying across your legs with her arousal covering you seems strangely surreal. But the mounting pressure in your shaft sure isn't.

“Dash…” She looks back with her mouth open, huffing hard, “I…think I’m p-pretty close now too.” You try to flash her a smile and she takes that as a mission accomplished. Her eyes portray only heated excitement before she nuzzles into your calf…urging you to part your legs. Once you make enough room for her she assumes the same head down, butt up orientation she had before. She looks back with nervous eyes.

”Y-you can g-go ahead now…” 

You contain a chuckle at her nervousness; she makes it sound like it’s an assembly line or something. But before you can act, a thought stops you…You don’t have any condoms.

“Um…D-Dash?” She looks back sharply; her stallion was hesitating and she feared it was her fault, “Um, do you have any…protection?”

For a moment her expression doesn’t change, then she gets more confused, “N-no why? We're both, uh…r-rookies, r-right? ”

You glance back to your dripping organ, it's a bit too late for that kind of protection anyways, “Yes, absolutely! Umm, I don't know, just w-wondering if you wanted it?” You really had no reservations with her and the more you thought about it the stupider you felt for asking. Besides, it's not like you can have kids...as far as you know...

Her expression along with the rest of her body are temporarily frozen in time, except for that pink thing in her vagina. That’s starting to pop out a lot more. Finally an audible gulp breaks her trance, “…No.”

Well then. That’s exciting. You stop staring at the poor embarrassed mare and move to the main event. Her apparent tepidness however, tempers the fires inside you. You move to your knees and take up position, ensuring every movement is gentle and deliberate. The last thing she needs is a surprise. Hands gingerly cup her furry rear and you notice small drops of sweat  under the short hair. You gently massage her rump as you inch forward on your knees. Hot pheromones drift up to your nose and harden you even more. Your throbbing organ hovers inches away from your excited mate as you mentally prepare yourself to use it as nature intended for the first time. Despite the situation, you don’t feel nervous anymore. Or at least…you can’t name a feeling among the turmoil in your chest that belongs particularly to nervousness.

You bring your glans to touch her, thrusting slowly up and down between the crack of her ass. Sensitive skin of your underside floats between her meaty lips and your tip bobs off her puckered butt hole. This was the exact same motion you were making before except this time you were in control. As you slide up you press flat against her, mashing the base of your shaft and testicles against her spongy tissue in small circles. It feels so good, so right…but it’s not enough. 

You move to insert yourself into your pegasus, but she turns her head back and grabs your attention, ”A-Anon…please g-go easy on me…” Your animalistic urges get swept away by an equally powerful love as you look into her trusting but unsure eyes. You weren’t going to fuck a mare, you were going to have sex with your best friend and the love of your life. This was her first time too; you were going to make sure she loved every second of it.

“I promise Dash…” You muster the most comforting tone you could and give her a gentle smile. 

One hand pulls her tail to drape over your shoulder. Testosterone flows through your veins as your spread fingers graze through the fur of her narrow rump. You take a deep breath and she does too. You push your hips forward and slowly enter her 

”Aahaagh!” 

Your smooth, lubricated head parts her sweltering crevice and tracks into her canal towards the top. Nerves fire off like they never have before causing you to see flashes of white amidst the dark room, ”Ooh…Dash!” Thicker shaft follows behind your head and her labia begins to stretch—forming an elastic circle of warmth around you. Her tail twitches and she hops her hind hooves in an attempt to deal with the new sensations.

You sense a bit of nervous resistance a quarter of the way in so you stop and pull out a bit until you’re back at her entrance. You struggle to gain your composure as both of you twitch madly against each other—heavy breathing fills your ears. A sharp line of lubrication part way down your shaft shows you how far into her you got. The fluid she excreted—the same fluid that was messily smeared across your tip—seemed to be a biological version of Viagra. Your shaft felt so much harder and bigger than you ever remember it being during your alone time. Your glans was slick and nearly purple with blood flow, and you realized your flares were lasting much longer than before. Her winking nub teases the underside of your head as you hold position and massage her cheeks, comforting her as best you can, “Shhh…Shhh…it’s okay…I’m not going to hurt you…” You repeat in a soothing tone.

She relaxes at the sound of your voice and you feel her release her clench, ”S-sorry I-I’m…it’s just so m-much!”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about Dash, just take it easy.” Wow, now that you’re actually doing it you stopped stuttering. Weird. 

Her hind legs readjust and she begins leaning back into you, signaling she was ready to try again. Again you press into her relaxed canal. You reach the quarter-way point and feel her come to a halt on your member as she takes the thickest part of your girth, ”Gah!” She clenches on you again and her wings try to stiffly flap. You go to pull out a second time but she intervenes, ”Wait! Just…t-talk to me. P-please?”

Talk to her? You can’t explain exactly why or how but that really tugged at the heartstrings. You give her a smile she can’t see as the warm implications of her words fill you with a childish giddiness. You lean forward until your chest lays across her back, your arms reach over her erect wings to lay next to her fore hooves. Her eyes are closed—too embarrassed to meet yours. Her ears are folded back but you wiggle your nose in behind one and kiss on the fur there. The amazing natural rain scent in her mane forces your eyes closed as you do your best to comfort her. You feel her body tremble underneath you as she tries to rectify the conflict of input. The smooth member twitching inside of her canal excited her, but the nibbling behind her ears and your encompassing warmth draped across her back soothed her. You pause your kissing for a second leaving her ear sticking straight up hoping for more attention.

It stays perked as you breathe loving words to the pegasus, softly…quieter than a whisper, “Shhhh shhhh shhhh…it’s okay, it’s fine…it’s just me, no one else…” Fingers curl against the fur near the bottom of her fore hooves as you pause to plant a few more kisses behind her ear. Her blush deepens and her eyes remain closed, but you feel her take a deep breath as her body starts to relax.

“I’m not going to ask you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, but I promise it will feel good once we get going.” Another pause, another kiss, “We’ll take it slow…I’m not going to hurt you, I’d never hurt you…because I love you.” You finish your efforts with a final kiss and nuzzle into her ear as she coos lovingly back at you. Her posture remains the same, but all the nervous jitters and tension had left her body—replaced by consistent, deep breaths. Only her wings and her winking nub told you she was still turned on. Fingers move to squeeze her fore hooves—communicating that she needn’t respond to your confession right now. By the time you realize your member has free range of motion, she begins pushing back against you.

“Mmmmm…” 

Unwilling to leave her side just yet, you arch your back allowing her to take more of you. You resist the powerful urge to hump into her, you wanted her to be able to determine a depth suitable to her comfort. She keeps pressing.

Loose skin of your shaft rolls up on itself just outside of her opening as her constricted passage creates friction despite the fact that she’s the pony equivalent of a leaky faucet. You can feel the skin behind your head stretching as if you were pulling back on your erect shaft with your hand. The sensation made you feel very exposed inside of her sweltering innards and you grit your teeth as your engorged tip flares against her slimy walls. She endures her penetration in silence and eventually takes everything available. Your thighs come to rest against the fluffy fur on the back of hers and her cheeks cushion against your hipbones. An incredible fluttering wells inside your chest once you realize you can feel her heartbeat.

Testes press into her sweating butt crack and her tail twitches violently against your hips as she takes deep breaths. You plant one last kiss behind her ear, then on her mane, and push off the bed with a squeak to return to your upright position behind her. You can’t help but lean back a bit and bury yourself just a half-inch deeper. She lets out a few grunts and squints with gritted teeth as uncontrollable clenches try desperately to collapse her canal around you. Her nub peeks out to tickle your dangling sack. Hands stroke her tail against your shoulder and massage her lower back as she adjusts. The unparalleled feeling of being balls deep in your pegasus was heightened when you finally hear a moan of pleasure accompany one of her clenches. She’s starting to enjoy it!

Her insides were incredibly heated, she probably has a higher core temperature than you do. Your intimate nakedness starts to rearrange neural pathways in your brains as you develop an incredible attachment to each other through pleasurable touch. You hold out a moment longer before you begin gyrating your hips in tiny circles, ensuring you stayed completely buried. Her head quickly pops up, throwing her mane across her shoulders, ”Nhg!” Your hands move to grip the front of her thighs right where they meet her torso. Your gyrations get wider as you seek to rub your shaft against every corner of her walls; the only thought on your mind is to make sure every inch of your genitals make contact. The circling motion starts to act as a tap screw and fluids start to seep from her entrance at a much higher rate than before. 

”Ooooh…” Her scratchy voice made her incredibly cute when she moaned…probably cuter than when she’s angry. You’d begin to feel a tingling in your groin as your member starts getting more and more sensitive. Dammit this soon? You stop moving altogether and try to fill your mind with something that will keep you from busting in her right there. Old people…no, public restrooms…you never had any bad enough experiences, there’s got to be something—

—*smack

Without warning she pulls off you an inch before slamming back and slapping your hips, “Whoa…D-Dash…you gotta warn me when…” 

—*smack

She does it again but pulls out farther this time. You feel her spread her legs more and thus lower her rear. She looks back at your expression with a dazed grin and lustful eyes, all traces of discomfort finally gone from her face, ”Rut me.”

And just like that you found your motivation…in something much more pleasant too. It's simple; you can’t finish now because you had to rut your mare. 

You begin slowly thrusting as you give way to your instinct. She stays stationary for a bit before finally starting a rhythm of her own, rocking back to slam her butt against you with each thrust. The fur on her rear served to muffle the impact, turning a slap into a softer thud. Her eyes are closed and her brow is furrowed in concentration as she bites her bottom lip. Sensitive membranes lubricate and stimulate each other as your bonding experience goes into cruise mode.

”Naagh!…Anon!”                 

Each time you bottom out in her you add a bit of an upward flare and pull on the top of her slathered crevice. The sensation makes her pucker her anus and her hind legs buckle. If not for your hands and penis supporting her she’d collapse.

”Ahagh!…An-Anon!” 

As her glands continuously seep more lubricant into her canal, the excess fluid gets trapped in the ridge behind your head and ushered to her entrance. The result was a semi-constant dribbling of juices that followed her crotch’s profile and seeped down to permeate the longer fur of her muff. Each time you pull back out, your dangling testes draw a string or two from that muff, each time you thrust, they swing back and slap her as her fur re-applies its coating.

”An—nuuugh!”

Oh, she might actually be trying to get your attention. Her hind legs suddenly flex as if they’re getting hit with a stun gun and you have to react fast to keep her from kicking her own support out from under her. You pause your movements to let her speak and find that in the absence of a rhythm, her body is trembling. Her genitals are spasming and her wings are rippling with twitching feathers, “Dash…you good?” She doesn’t respond until her wings finally calm. She collapses into your supporting hold and her vagina continues flexing its nub spastically. What was that all about?

”…I…c-c-cum-mmed…!” 

She lurches momentarily as a residual spark shoots through her nervous system. Oh…so that’s what a pony finish looks like…You freeze for a moment to let her comment sink in. Dash in the meantime preoccupies herself with your hard shaft splitting her overly sensitive labia. You just gave Rainbow Dash an orgasm…that’s…awesome! Do it again! But a returning pressure in your groin forces a much more coherent game plan. As much as you loved this ‘pony-style’ position that she found so natural, you didn’t want to finish your first encounter without looking into her eyes. You weren’t a romantic or anything…you just really liked Rainbow.

	You really loved Rainbow…ok that might make you a romantic.

You take a gamble and pull out completely. Once free of her embrace, your member sways side to side—dangling a string of Dash-juice in the moonlight. She looks over her erect wing in confusion and flicks her nub furiously, ”Wha…put it back!”

“Lay on your back first.” Slightly irked by your inconvenient timing, she huffs and hurriedly rolls to her back before adjusting an uncomfortably angled wing. Her beautiful face, full of uncertainly, stares up at you. You slide over and position yourself near her parts. You place your hand on the inside of her leg and she spreads them for you, her smile finally returns to her face as the geometry of your new position dawns on her.

”Is this how humans do it?” You look at her with smiling eyes and nod. She looks so cute when she’s nervous. Screw it, she looks cute all the time.

Her beautiful nether lips lay exposed and pale in the moonlight. The short fur surrounding her opening was clumped and matted with a glistening mixture of fluids, the lips themselves engorged and inflamed from their first encounter. Her muff looked similarly messy and a patch of matted fur spread all the way to her teats. Damn she’s pent up.

”H-hurry up!” She spreads her legs a bit wider for you, parting her folds a bit and popping a few capillaries in your brain. You spread your legs to get closer to her and angle your almost painfully throbbing shaft with your hand. Her lubricant had already dried a bit on you and was beginning to get a little tacky. 

She raises her neck to look down at the action with folded ears. Your blushes deepen as the new position allows you to see every nitty-gritty detail of each other. You pass her tail between your legs and press your tip into her, leaning forward with hands beside her shoulders. Her forelegs come up to grab your midsection and you wait for her to look into your eyes. She actually takes a few seconds to soak up the sight of your throbbing shaft against her as she rocks her hips to get you just a bit deeper; her shy intrigue makes your smile grow wider. Dash finally looks up at you and blushes madly realizing that you saw her curiosity at work. 

You just smile and press the rest of the way until you hilt against her with an obnoxious squelch. The pink bean of flesh pokes out again and slimes your pubes, what the heck is that? She bites her lip out of pleasure and averts her eyes out of embarrassment, but you bring a hand over to rub her heated cheek, eventually coaxing her to look up again. Her eyes stayed locked on yours as you resume thrusting into her. You both begin to fully appreciate the new position, bringing your noses together to share breaths and exchange greedy kisses. You lock your lips to hers and experimentally hilt hard against her. You feel her hind legs buck, and she lets out a little grunt into your mouth. 

Her muzzle fur was matted with saliva from your earlier attempts at kissing, the smell of it made you want to taste it, and the taste made you want to feel where it came from. Your tongues reunite and you pick up your pace as she finds a way to rock against each thrust. One hand snakes to her wing and you spread your fingers out on the underside of it before tracing them to her leading edge. Hind legs buck out of unison as you stimulate her from two different directions. 

”Ano-ugh! Anon!” Seeing her show off her body for you was great, having sex with her was amazing, but hearing her cry your name as you plundered her slobbering hole was the icing on the cake. Speaking of icing…you’re not going to last much longer.

You angle your thrusts to maximize friction on her walls, you’re going to make her cum again. The downward angle rubs the top of your shaft against her violently winking nub, your tip digs into the back of her canal. Feathers rippled across her wings and her hind legs began to seize and shake. You could feel her heartbeat accelerate in your buried shaft. Her body is trying to tell you something.

”Gaaah! I’m-aagh!”

You get the message. Your thrusting picks up speed; copious amounts of ever-present lubrication make it sound like you’re stirring butter into a bowl of recently microwaved mashed potatoes. That’s actually exactly what it sounds like.

She couldn’t cry out anymore, only bite her lip as she held onto you for dear life. You move to lay your torso down across hers, careful to not place any real weight on her. Your bare chest picks up traces of sweat as her rapidly undulating chest fur brushes against you. You bring your nose to hers and leave one hand on her wing root, the other cups the side of her face. She opens her eyes to look into yours and locks one foreleg around your arm, the other pulls on your neck. In a surprising display of cognizance, she pulls her muzzle up to your ear.

"C-cum...in me..."

Her words take a second to soak into your hormone-flooded brain. Once they do, you give her a short kiss to let her know you got the message. Neither of you could get enough oxygen by breathing in each other’s hot breaths, but you didn’t care. She opens her mouth and you do the same, still silent as you thrust wildly into her fatty folds of nerves. She doesn’t even try to kiss you, her tongue shoots out and laps passionately at your open mouth. Knowing you weren’t going to fool her, you avoid any formalities and lick back for the sole purpose of ingesting as much of her raw taste as possible. The rush in your loins intensifies as each thrust makes you more and more sensitive to her every internal detail. 

Then it hits her.

Her tongue freezes and her jaw locks open, she arches her head back into your waiting hand in a silent scream. Her powerful athlete’s body shakes against you as jolts of pleasure contract her musculature. Fuzzy azure legs spread even wider as her remaining consciousness focuses on wiggling the last bit of your length in between her sticky folds. Her uncontrollable moments combined with the satisfaction of bringing her pleasure, pushes you over the edge. You lose track of her lips and frantically search for another part of her to taste in your blistering haze. Your mouth finds an ear and anchors to it as your eyes get forced shut from the orgasm.

You weren’t you anymore; your body was following ancient instructions as your autopilot quickly calculates the most effective way to inject your partner with your DNA. Hips angle as you throw a leg over hers to push into her just a bit deeper, your crotch mashing her folds between you as you hilt. Your testes twitch and contractions launch hot sperm into her eagerly waiting tube. Tethered to your body only by strings of pleasure, your mind floats among the white flashes you see behind closed eyes. Dash’s body communicates pure bliss as more of your seed erupts into her thirsty organs. You can almost hear it as it rushes out of your canal at high velocity and splatters her insides. For the remainder of your orgasm, the only thing that exists is the mare you’re holding onto. Eventually the rest of the world returns to you as Dash’s body slowly eases you off of your homemade high. You regain your senses just in time to feel the last of her contractions wrack her body.

The sound of heavy breathing and crickets fills the otherwise silent room as you remain numbly hilted in the only mare you could ever love. You hold onto her and she holds onto you as you let the dopamine clouding your minds to get wicked away by your rushing bloodstreams. Eventually you unfold from your sensual embrace to look at what you’d done. Your sweaty, smelly, messy little blue pegasus stares back at you with tucked hooves, a dopey grin and amorous eyes. Her loving look told you she was incredibly grateful for all the attention you’d given her. It also told you she’ll never leave your side…and you’ll never leave hers.

You both lean in and nuzzle each other, inhaling the scents you now associated with unparalleled pleasure. That was a million times better than…the next best thing, whatever that is…money trees, or infinite pizza…or something…

Your member starts to shrink inside her and her elastic orifice helps squeeze the used blood back into your body. The thought occurs that you might stain your sheets, but you quickly decide that you don’t care. They’re probably beyond saving by now anyways. Your nuzzling concludes with a picturesque popping kiss on the lips. 

”I love you Anon.”

You wince a bit as your chest physically hurts from emotion. Your faces lean into each other and nuzzle affectionately, “I love you too Rainbow Dash…” Her fore hooves come up to hug you and you both roll onto your sides—her deflated wings held loosely to her torso, “…and I’m going to love you forever.” The hefty promise was made with no reservations.

She nuzzles you harder and lets out an emotional whimper. Her muzzle finds your ear and she chokes out, ”M-me too.” 

And with that you both succumb to the aftereffects of intensive cardio and biological drugs. You move only to hold each other closer as you stare into each other’s eyes with soft smiles until sleep forces them closed.
> Morning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gentle warmth slowly nudges you back to consciousness. But it doesn’t come in the form of sunlight or a smooth breeze. It comes in the form of warm breath washing against your face with the rhythm and calm of waves on a beach. You struggle to open your eyes as memories come back to you. In your lethargy, it takes you a moment to find your arms in the entangled mess of limbs and wings that holds your bodies against each other. You curl your fingers and feel feathers and mane. There they are. 

One hand cupped around the root of your partner's limp wing and the other snaked under her neck and wrapped around her head. Her hooves are similarly placed on you. You hadn’t even bothered getting under the sheets; you were all each other needed to keep warm. As long as she's propped up against something she seems to not snore as much. The mare you are studying is as peaceful as can be. Dash has her muzzle half an inch from your nose resting on the other side of your pillow, eyes closed, mouth slightly agape above a large spot of drool. Her frazzled mane drapes over her eyebrows and snakes outwards across your pillow—her myriad of colors surrounded by a golden hue from the rising sun.

You can’t help but smile at the sight of the beautiful mare; your chest sits warm against her breast fluff and is made warmer at the thought of the new intimacy you now shared. All of her smells suddenly register and you try to sort them out. A bit of spicy body odor, heavy musk…and definitely morning breath. You’d be lying if you said she didn’t smell, but you’d also be lying if you said she smelled bad…even her breath is soothing in its own way. Those smells belonged to your mare, and you were willing to bet they were completely unique to her alone…provided you got to know them well enough.

Another breath kisses your face and you return it. Ears twitch occasionally, but otherwise she stays completely immobile next to you. Well, she’s a bit closer than just next to you…and you’re slowly growing a bit closer to her the more you think about it. You reluctantly inch your hips away from her midsection and note that you’d fallen out of her at some point during the night. Probably all for the better, otherwise she’d definitely be awake by now. Not that you didn’t want to go for round two...you just don’t want to wake her up like that.

Oh crap! 

Your head pivots in place as your eyes dart around to find the alarm clock. Spotting it, you reach out and turn off the alarm five seconds before it was due to go off. Crisis avoided. She’ll appreciate not being woken up by that horrible machine. It was set for a reason though.  

Today is the big day. Your Wonder Bolt has an airshow to put on. But before she can do that she needs to wake up. She’d probably sleep till noon if you let her. You turn back to her and take one last moment to appreciate the fact that both of you occupied the same six-by-two foot section of your queen sized bed. She’s so much more affectionate than you thought she’d be…and it’s great. You bring your hand to her face and tuck her mane away from her eyes. Fingers cut to the base of her hair and infiltrate her colors; they gently trace her scalp like an oversized comb.

“Dash” You whisper. She stirs a bit from your combination of touch and sound, her breathing paused. You comb her scalp again and her breathing resumes its steady pace. Waking up something this cute is on par with yelling at a puppy…it just makes you feel guilty, “Get up Ms. Wonderbolt, got to get ready for the airshow." Still nothing.

You shake her shoulder a bit, “Dash.”

Again, “Dash.”

”You’re supposed to wake me up with a kiss ya know.” Her scratchy voice coming from her apparently sleeping form stuns you.

“How long have you been awake?”

”Heh, since you turned the alarm off.”

You recover from her rebuttal and move to fix your mistake. She grows a small smile when she feels you shift to show her affection. Your lips meet her muzzle and press against the side of her mouth that wasn’t hidden by the pillow. You caress her just long enough to get a proper taste and then withdraw. She peeks one eye open at you, and starts to giggle.

”Heheh, you shoulda just done that to begin with.”

Your head plops back down in front of hers, “Well they don’t have manuals on this stuff.”

She snorts and leans forward to rub her nose on yours, ”You seem to be doing pretty good on your own.” She ruffles her wing and moves it up to hug your shoulder. A blush forms on your face from both her comforting gesture and her compliment. Regardless, you hold her penetrating look and force the blush to mirror on hers.

“I’m glad you think so.” You gaze into her loving eyes and start scratching behind her ear to bleed off your already overflowing affection. A painful twinge jabs your chest, you love this little blue creature so much it actually hurts a bit. Her scent fills your lungs and you lose yourself in her magenta seas. You couldn’t possibly be more comfortable than you are now. And judging from her lack of fidgeting, neither could she. But all good things must come to an end.

“You have an air show today you know.”

”Mmhm…” She makes no effort to move and instead pushes the back of her head into your hand to give you better access to her ear. Dang she's really making this difficult for you. You’re forced to stop scratching her ear for her own good.

“Rainbow you can’t be late to—“ Her hoof grabs hold of your hand and pulls it back behind her head, she flickers and rubs her ear against your limp digits in an attempt to get them to move on their own. She’d given you the choice between scratching her ear or having a heart attack. Your hand prioritizes your life, “—D-Dash you need to get cleaned up.”

”Why clean up…” Her husky voice forces you to look into her now half-lidded eyes.

“B-because uhh…” Her nose presses into your upper lip and nukes your train of thought.

”…when we’re just going to get messy again.” Her breath pushes past your lips before her tongue does. Mouths press against each other and all the familiar tastes and sensations of the previous night return. She presses her belly to yours. The dried sex fluid matting her crotch fur made her teats and muff a bit scratchy. But as much as you want her, she really needs to get going if she doesn’t want to be late.

“Mmmpf…Dafh we, mh…mmph!” She breaks the kiss with a smack.

”Just shutup and put it in me!” Holy crap she’s horny. So are you, but you have a duty to her. In this particular case it means getting her to her job on time instead of rutting her until she's a puddle of fur and love. 

“Dash, remember how we talked about setting the alarm as late as possible because you were ‘totally sure you could get ready in like ten minutes.” Her frustrated features whip to the machine in question.

*6:03

”We can do it in the shower!” She rolls onto your chest—her weight pinning you to the bed. Her tail brushes across your bare legs in excitement

Lord give me strength, “Believe me I want nothing more, but you know we’d get carried away…when you get back this weekend we can spend as much time together as you want.”

She looks disappointed for a moment but you can tell she understands your reasoning, ”Is that a promise?”

“Absolutely…you’re not the only one who wants to stay in bed you know.” You give her a wink.

She stares at you for a moment, the ticking of your alarm clock in the background becoming more and more apparent with each passing second. Finally accepting your promise, she leans forward and tenderly licks your sessile lips before pulling back and smiling warmly, ”I love you Anon.”

“I lo—

*smooch

The smacking of a kiss interrupts your confession, “I love you—“

*smooch

You give her a chastising look you don’t really mean; her knowing smile sees right through it. Go faster so she can’t interrupt, “IloveyouRain—“

*smooch

“Ok now you’re just—*smooch—Hey!—*smooch—You can’t!—*smooch—Hahaha sto-mmmm…” Her lips land a final blow, ensuring your defeat. You dance with her a bit and revel in the joy of knowing your over-the-top affections were appreciated.

She pulls off with a pop and immediately starts cooing and nuzzling your jaw. You tap her shoulder and forcefully nuzzle her back, "Get going you crazy pony!" 

"Heheheh..." She chuckles before scrambling off your chest like she'd been caught stealing. As she clambers off the mattress you get an eyeful of her stained rear. Strands of her tail were stuck to her rump and she had to flick it a few times to break free of the uncomfortable sensation. Your daydreaming moment is put on hold when you notice she’s got a little perk in her step, like how a child would hop around after they got the present they wanted. At least, that’s what it seems like until one of her hind hooves bucks mid-step. It catches her off guard but she takes it in stride and disappears into your bathroom. You don’t snap out of her magical hold on you until you hear the door shut behind her and the shower turn on. Damn…you had no idea she’d be like this when you first started your relationship. You crash back into your pillow and blindly stare at the ceiling. You had no idea it would be this…good. Do all pegasi do the licking thing that much or just her? You’ll have to read another book—

“—Anon! Where the hay are the towels!” 

She’s out of the shower already? She wasn’t lying about being fast, “Under the sink!”

”…Got’em!”

You suddenly realize you’re still laying butt naked on your bed and you reach over the edge to grab your boxers…that are torn. You stumble to your dresser and find something to cover yourself. Dash opens the door and trots out. Her eyes linger on you for a moment and she stumbles, “You alright?” You ask skeptically.

She blushes and moves into your kitchen to grab a protein bar, her wings suspiciously puffed out a bit, “Uhh…yeah, haha…I’m fine!”

Okay…“Just asking because it looks like you’ve got a twisted hoof or something.”

She looks at you with wide eyes, ”N-No! I-I mean I’m fine!”

“If I hurt you any please let me know so—”

”—It’s not that!” Her outburst stops you in your tracks. It also warrants an explanation and she knows it. She looks to her hooves and shuffles a bit, ”I uhh…I just still f-feel it…there.”

Oh.

She raises her head just enough to for you to see her fiery blush, ”It’s like it’s s-still i-inside.”

That made you feel ecstatic…was it supposed to make you feel good? How do you respond? “I…hope you get better soon.” What the hell is that supposed to mean? Regardless, your cheesy remark gets rid of some of her shyness.

She shoots you a halfway confident smirk, ”Heh, I don’t.” Oh boy, this mare is going to be a handful. You look at the clock.

*6:09

“Looks like you’re still on time.”

”Yeah, but I’d better get going, the Cap’n wanted me to lead morning warm up.”

She trots over to the door and tosses her food in her saddlebags next to her flight suit before strapping them on, “So I guess I’ll see you when your last show is over on…Sunday?”

”Yeah…Sunday.” Her tone is a bit sullen.

“You’re going to do great Dash.” 

”I know, I just…” Her eyes leave yours as she trails off.

“Just what?”

”I-t’s a long time…ya know?” Oh, do you ever.

You kneel down to look her in the eyes and her ears fold back, “I’m going to be right here when you get back, and I promise we’ll spend all day in bed if you want.”

She smiles weakly, ”I love you dude.”

“I love you too Rainbow.” You cup her face and plant a kiss on her forehead. No matter how well you get to know each other, those three words will never cease to have the same breathtaking effect, “Now get out there and kick some butt…or flank or whatever you call it.”

She chuckles at your blunder before turning around and opening your door. Fresh air greets you and sunlight makes you squint. Ponies meander the street going about their daily business; a few take a second glance when they see Dash’s characteristic colors. She awkwardly steps outside, trying her best not to feel whatever it was that effected her walking. She looks at you one last time as she arches her back—intentionally spreading her wings in a show-off style stretch, ”Catch ya later Anon!”

And with that she launches off her hooves into the air. Her wings carrying her higher and higher on somewhat uncoordinated flaps. You notice her hind hooves twitching with each flap. That…hopefully gets resolved before her show today. You turn around in your doorway and look inside. Evidence of the wild mare’s residence in your humble abode abounds. Food wrappers on the counter, her extra saddlebags hanging from the coat rack, twice as many dishes in the sink, chocolates in your couch cushions…thank Celestia you remembered those. You get caught up with cleaning plans and fail to notice a heavy flapping get closer and closer until it’s suddenly behind you. You turn around just in time to have your vision swallowed up by blue, Dash presses her face into yours and gives you a deep kiss on the lips. Her forelegs anchor her to you and her wings keep her rear half suspended in midair. Before you can bring a hand up to hold her she breaks the kiss and flies off at high speed without saying a word. In shock, you bring the back of your hand to wipe your mouth and in doing so you make eye contact with a young wide-eyed unicorn stallion across the street. His mouth hangs slightly agape at your attractive mare’s antics.

You see him mouth the words “lucky bastard.” You smile and wave before closing the door behind you. Yes you are.
> Showtime
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning went by in a blur thanks to your unparalleled motivation. With your leftover rush you managed to make breakfast and clean the entire apartment in a little over an hour. 

The last thing remaining was the bed sheets. A few down feathers go airborne as you whip the linens off the mattress. Static forces several of the blue fuzzies to stick to your hands and the back of your wrists, and you pick them off one by one with dexterous fingers. You try to toss them on the floor but they curve back and stick to your hands again. You proceed to spend an unreasonable amount of time clearing yourself of your partner’s down while pointlessly muttering curses at Coulomb. Of course you weren’t really upset, just annoyed. There’s no way you could be upset after last night. There’s no way you could be upset, period. You do your best to not let your mind wander, but you only succeed in forgetting what you’re supposed to be doing. The pile of linens on the floor next to you still carried her powerful scent and with it, vivid memories of ecstasy. It’s still a bit surreal to think about…you are in a relationship now, with a talking rainbow pony…that can fly. The more you think about it the more ridiculous it sounds. You bunch up the pile of sheets and carry them to the wash machine—generously supplied by your landlady at no additional cost.

What would your father say? You pause a moment and struggle to match a face to a figure. The image of your father was a faint one, the accompanying emotions even fainter. 

Who cares? All that mattered was that you made her happy, and in turn, that made you happy. This is your life now. This weird land of voodoo. This small apartment. Your friends. Your mare.

You hadn’t really discussed your relationship with Dash yet but you doubted this was temporary. That thought alone filled you with excitement. How many more nights will you spend like that? How much more will you get to learn about her? A big stupid grin splits your face and you were sure that if your washer could see you, it would be really creeped out right about now. 

The both of you still had a lot to figure out, but you’ve been the closest of friends for so long you can’t imagine ever wanting to leave her. Sure she may be rash sometimes…and messy…and a bit egotistical, but you love those things about her. Even when she does get on your nerves. 

How much thought has she put into this? Your hand hovers over the wash cycles while you meditate on your multicolored companion. She definitely takes her time opening up to others and, judging by her choice in books and conversation, you knew nothing made her more uncomfortable than a good romance. The trust she had in you wasn't built overnight, so this decision had been a long time coming.

You turn the dial to warm wash and hit start. You can’t wait until she gets back so you can hug her and ruffle her hair and...

Geez. Take it easy. 

You’re not obsessing over her, you did get tickets to her Wonderbolts show this afternoon, but that doesn’t make you obsessive…right? Dash didn’t know you planned on going to her Canterlot performance. As far as she knew you were spending the weekend getting ready for your job on Monday. Luckily for you, you’d recently gotten a letter informing you that the job start date got postponed until Tuesday. You figured you’d surprise her with a visit. You hoped it wouldn’t look too clingy, but with how she was acting this morning you doubt she’d mind. Besides, you’d never actually been to one of her official air shows. 

It wasn’t supposed to start until three in the afternoon, but you didn’t pre-order any train tickets so the earlier you leave the safer. Thirty minutes later you were showered, shaved, dressed and ready to go.

The ride to Canterlot was uneventful. The same double takes from ponies, the same short ceiling and awkward seats. Despite its pains, the steam powered machine of steel and coal provided a measure of comfort. It wasn’t driven by magic, just good old reliable physics. You almost felt a connection to it in a way you never could with the magically drawn buggies and flying chariots. Despite its merits you never trusted magic, it was too complex and intangible, and worst of all you still didn’t understand how it worked. The train on the other hand, was something you understood in detail, and you found it fairly easy to doze off to its rhythmic bumping and clacking. When you finally arrived in the mountaintop city a few hours later you almost regret leaving it for the foreign unknown.

You hop the steps out of the passenger car and make your way into the bustling city like a kid at the first day of school. The cobblestone street beneath your feet reminds you of asphalt as you take in the striking scenery. It wasn’t so striking in the sense that it was awe-inspiring; it was striking because it was so familiar. Buildings stood several stories high and were made of stone or brick, roads crossed at ninety-degree angles and there even seemed to be a standardized traffic sign system for buggies. It was much more modern than the backstreets of Ponyville you were used to. You catch yourself gawking and snap out of it, you’d have plenty of time to check it out when you started your job.

Ponies traveled every which way but a good many were all headed the same direction. You join them and pass a few Wonderbolts event banners along the way. The group of ponies grew larger and louder as it carried you down the streets and past the entry booths to the stadium. You pay for a front row seat at the gate and make your way inside. The size of the whole thing surprises you, it's a lot bigger than a football stadium and much higher as well to allow for better visibility. You stare in awe at the myriad of cloud columns and other obstacles that hovered in place above the field—obeying some invisible command to stay put despite the cool breeze. A rainbow colored waterfall pours from a cloud off to the side and you follow the colors until they hit the ground. You suddenly realize there is a ground and it’s marked not unlike a soccer field would be. This stadium probably hosts a hundred different events. You take a moment to ponder whether or not they could flood it like the Roman coliseum and conduct miniature sea battles…nah, too violent for them…it’d be awesome if they did do it though. 

You spot a group of griffins a ways off. Maybe they serve meat here! 

Thirty minutes later you were disappointed but not empty handed. If they did serve meat anywhere it was on the opposite side of the stadium, but you had yet to sample the glorious smell of hot dogs so you doubted they had any at all. However, you did find a vendor that sold giant soft pretzels with butter and salt on them and that was the next best thing. You take a bite out of the hot pretzel and savor its buttery goodness. You could live off these if you had to. 

You still have about thirty minutes before the show kicks off and it was beginning to get packed with excited pastel ponies. And you thought it was crowded heading in when you did. You notice quite a few minotaurs and griffins milling about as well, that’s probably why you weren’t getting as many strange looks as you got elsewhere. The new anonymity spurs you on to explore around a bit. You find your way into a merchandise shop and immediately notice a dozen giddy fillies and colts dragging their parents around with wild eyes and excited grins. You smile warmly at them as you begin to walk the isles. They’ve even got junior sized Wonderbolts outfits.

A giggling filly weaves through your legs and her mother darts after her giving you a tired, apologetic look. That’s what you get for hanging out in the kids' section. The other side of the store is definitely catered more toward the adult enthusiast. Puzzles, coffee mugs, lanyards…immediately your mare’s striking colors jump out at you, and you find yourself looking at a life-sized 'Rainbow Dash the Wonderbolt' poster. Despite it being a mere picture, you can’t help but feel your heart skip a bit at her striking beauty and confident grin. You slow your pretzel chewing as you look out to either side. Her and the rest of the active members of the team take up the whole wall. It suddenly hits you that Dash is actually a celebrity of sorts. You never realized just how popular she was until now.

You swallow the lump in your throat and get a bit closer. The backdrop is the same as all the others, but the detail is incredible. Your eyes study her magenta ink ones and you follow every line—testing the photo’s accuracy. Not to brag, but you were probably more qualified to judge its authenticity than anyone else. Her fur lacked the definition it had in real life, especially around the mouth and eyes, and her mane looked suspiciously smooth. She probably had to get all pampered up before they let her take pictures. You’ll have to tease her about it later. Apart from the few nitpicking details it was definitely Rainbow Dash—right down to that confident smirk she’d mastered. That’s gotta be the most kissable face you’ve seen on—

“So are you a fan or just daydreaming?”

One of the store clerks is suddenly next to you. You meet his eyes and notice he’s been watching you with a humorous smirk, “Uhh…I was just…admiring the photography, very skilled photographer with the…the uhh…the way the light is cast in the foreground and um…” You trail off when you notice his disbelieving look. It also didn’t help that you knew nothing else about photography. 

“You’re a photographer then? You must be with the media, not just any pony can afford a camera around here you know.” He replies with a hint of condescension. 

He’s onto you, better come clean before you dig yourself deeper, “No sorry, just an enthusiast. If you want to know the truth I was looking at the price tag.”

His grin only gets wider, ”You must have pretty good eyes to see something that isn’t there.”

You were trying not to look suspicious, but you can’t help snapping back and searching for a price tag. He was right. And you’ve run out of fallbacks.

”Haha, don’t worry there’s a reason we’re almost sold out of number six you know.”

Wait, what did he call her? “Number six?”

”Yeah, six for the sixth in formation. She’s the newest team member so she gets the last spot until they recruit another or she proves herself.” The statement raises a few questions in your mind. Obviously you could just wait until the show was over and ask her yourself, but this is interesting.

“So how does she prove herself?” You could just imagine the kind of antics Dash would go through to do that.

Your genuine interest seems to spark the clerk’s inner nerd, ”Well for starters, every new recruit is expected to organize the pre-flights. That means they check the weather, test the flight routine in the venue, and give the morning brief.”

“Wow that’s a lot of work, do they do that for every event?” 

“Just about, oh and they also run the snack bar back in squadron.” 

Dash, running a snack bar? What, does it only stock protein shakes and granola bars? “Ok so how do they move up in formation? Is it a rank thing or what?”

“Yes and no, they’ll never let a lieutenant lead the formation, but most of the other spots are based off of competency.”

If that’s true then you’d bet Dash will be number two in no time at all, heck she might even steal Spitfire’s spot. ”If they do all that as well as execute their show routines well, they get more responsibility in the form of a solo event.”

“Like a wingtip turn?”

His eyes light up in excitement, ”Exactly! And if they do good in that, the other members will convene to determine if they’re ready for a bigger role in the flight.”

“Sounds like you really know your stuff.”

”Yeah? Well, working here has its perks; plus we get the inside scoop on all the happenings.”

This is too fun, “Inside scoop?”

He wiggles his brows in response, ”I’ll let you in on a little bit of info but you have to promise not to tell any pony else, my friend only told me because I’m good at keeping secrets.” Oh really.

“My lips are sealed.” 

He stares suspiciously at a pony couple as they walk through the isle behind you. When they’re out of sight he leans over and whispers, ”She’s single.”

You try to contain your smile and whisper back, “Who?”

”The one you’ve been ogling genius.” His eyes nod to the life size poster of Rainbow.

“How do you know that?”

”I’ve got a friend who’s a locker room janitor, she overheard the conversation about a week ago.”

A lot has changed in a week, “Oh really…so you’re saying I’ve got a chance?” 

He chuckles at your comment. Wait did he think that was a joke? ”I don’t know, maybe, she doesn’t seem to go for any of the world class stallions she hangs around all day, exotic might be her thing.” 

Exotic? You’d never considered yourself exotic before, in fact, you were the least exotic thing in the whole country as far as you were concerned. You do your best to shrug it off.

”So, you want to buy one or what?”

It’s not exactly a pin-up, but it does feel a bit awkward, “Uhh…” You don’t have any photos of Dash yet, and considering how scarce cameras were around here this might be your last shot at getting one for a while. You take in the size of the whole thing one last time and come to a conclusion, “…it might be a bit…big. Do you have anything smaller?”

”You sure? It might be another month before we get more of hers in stock.”

“That popular?”

”Popular, heh! We just got done filling back orders from last month’s show two days ago. Marketing says her uh…male fan base is already bigger than Spitfire’s.” Holy shit. More popular than Spitfire?  You weren't one to judge based off of status, you'd love her all the same if she was a janitor in a garbage dump, but the fact that her reputation was eclipsing the iconic captain of the Wonderbolts is shocking. You’re beginning to realize just how lucky you are to have snagged her when you did. In the very back of your mind, a slight feeling of inadequacy begins to take hold.

“Yeah I really don’t have enough wall space.”

”Suit yourself.”

The stallion leads you over to another isle decorated with calendars and team member photos with copied signatures on them. You immediately spot a scaled down version of the life sized one and pick it up. ”So is that going with the rest of your team memorabilia, or on your dresser?” Dang this dude is onto you. Is it that apparent?

“It’s a gift.”

He gives you a flat stare, ”That’s the fourth time I’ve heard that excuse today.”

You sigh, “It’s…yeah, it’s probably going on my dresser.”

He nods with a touch of smugness, ”Just make sure you put it away if you have a mare over or something…my last mare friend almost broke up with me over my Spitfire poster.” That poor mare.

“Ok thanks for the tip.” Somehow you doubt you’ll have the same problem. You check out and bid farewell to the clerk; the throughways are jam packed by the time you leave the store. As you wade through the waist deep sea of pastel fur, pegasi zoom past your head, buffeting you with wind. At this rate you won’t have time to get another soft pretzel before the show starts. You make eye contact with a disgruntled looking minotaur in the same predicament you were. You both exchange a brief nod of mutual understanding. It takes some time to get to your seat in the front row, but you eventually make it.

A sea of colors flows into the stadium accompanied by the dull roar of a couple thousand conversations. You’d never seen this many ponies in one spot before.

”MARES AND GENTLE COLTS PLEASE FIND YOUR SEATS, THE SHOW IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!”

You jump a bit as a unicorn accidentally smacks her shoulder into the back of your head. The ponies behind you might have a harder time seeing because of your height, but unfortunately there wasn’t much room to slouch. More furry creatures fill in to your left and right. Good thing you used the bathroom before you left the apartment. Soon enough, a kind of electric guitar riff begins playing over the megaphones and the announcer begins his intro. This was actually more exciting than you thought it’d be. 

The crowd roars as Spitfire leads the six-pony wedge formation into view of the stadium at high-speed. You look up and focus on the minuscule specks, searching for the characteristic color scheme that was attached to your mare. There she is! 

She was pretty far away, but she was in the back right of the formation; number six position. Suddenly the team noses over into a dive and kicks on some kind of smoke maker that leaves contrails in their wake. You end up losing her in the mess of smoke as they break out into their routine. You watch in amazement as the six ponies time all their maneuvers and flaps so perfectly they look like a single object.

The show consisted mainly of formation flying and high speed turns, but a few of the ponies had solo parts where they demonstrated a maneuver they perfected. Each time some pony pulled off something death-defying the crowd rose to their hooves to cheer and you got showered with popcorn. You lost Dash in some of the maneuvers, ponies were much more agile than you expected and it was surprisingly difficult to track her even with her distinctive tail. But even without color you found you were able to distinguish between Wonderbolts. When the pegasi weren’t in formation they had distinctly different flying styles; some banked harder into their turns, others streamlined their hooves differently. Dash was unique in the way she swept her wings back ever so slightly.

The demo lacked the ear-splitting turbofans and streaking metal that you normally attributed to airshows. But it was still impressive in its robot-like precision and physics defying stunts.

”TURN YOUR ATTENTION TO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FIELD WHERE THE NEWEST MEMBER RAINBOW DASH WILL PERFORM A SKILLFUL WINGTIP TURN.”

Looking over you spot Dash circling in a wide loop. The announcer's voice reaches her and she goes into a steep dive, somehow picking up more speed than gravity could accelerate her. You move to the edge of you seat and watch intensely. She’d practiced countless times before, but you can’t help but feel a bit anxious. She levels out briefly before going into a climb—wings outstretched. Oh no. 

Whether it was fatigue or strain, her wings weren’t cooperating. Her vertical climb was more of a wobbly line. She senses she can’t hold it straight and throws in a few showy rolls to cover up. The crowd doesn’t know any different, but you’re grinding your teeth. She reaches the apex of her climb and tucks a wing to roll over. Another miscalculation makes her late on the draw. Instead of extending her wing into a vertical dive, she overshoots and goes past vertical. Your stomach drops as she looses lift and her form tumbles uncontrollably in the air. She's a lot closer to the ground than when she practiced these in the park. The cheers of the crowd fade into oblivion as you rise to your feet. Time seems to slow and fear travels cold through your veins. She maintains her posture as she completes another full cartwheel. She was starting to pick up speed and she should be able to use her wings...anytime now...just when you think she's past the point of no return she angles sharply and pulls out of the dive with a toothy grin on her goggled face. You let out your breath. It wasn’t what she’d practiced, but it definitely looked cool. To everyone but you at least. You almost forget you’re not the only spectator until the crowd begins cheering. You shake the last bit of adrenaline from your head and join in. 

Twenty minutes later the show’s over and they announce a half-hour break until the Royal Guard Air Wing demonstration. Confused, you fish the ticket out of your pocket and read the itinerary.

WONDERBOLTS 12:30, RGAW 1:00, Obstacle course competition 1:30

‘Wonderbolts’ was a few fonts bigger and in bold, makes sense since you’ve never even heard of the other groups. Most of the ponies were filtering around you to go back into the concession stands, but a few were going the opposite way. It caught your eye and you followed them to the edge of the arena where you see the team members were writing signatures. That gives you an idea.

You look down into your bag and check to make sure your photo was still there. Children and adults alike flood to the edge in increasing numbers, your mind races, plotting the fastest route. Luckily you’re already close to the front. 

Despite your advantages, the line had doubled in size by the time you got there. You were a good twenty ponies back or so, but the hardest part wasn’t the waiting, it was trying to pick the right line. Your tall frame was obscured by a few griffins right in front of you. Your patience pays off and eventually you get within line of sight of Dash. You can’t help but smile when you see her soaking up all the glory from her fans. She’s definitely in her element. She has a marker clenched in her teeth and is preoccupied signing various things—mostly hats and patches of her cutie mark. They make patches of her cutie mark? You need one of those.

The line inches closer and closer until only the group of griffins stand between you and her. She looks up at them and you avert your gaze so she wouldn’t notice you. Her familiar scratchy voice cuts through your thoughts, ”What’s up guys?”

”Hi uhh, Ms. Dash…” 

The flustered griffin’s friend cuts in, ”It’s his birthday and he was hoping you could write him a note or something!”

”Hah! Sure thing.”

Your gaze is still averted and you coincidentally make eye contact with another member of the team off to the side. She’s a teal color above her flight suit with silvery white hair. She holds the stare before glancing at Dash then back to you. A wide grin splits her face and she goes back to signing autographs. What was that all about?

”…Wait wait wait can you kiss it too?”

”Hey shutup! Sorry Ms. Dash my friends aren’t the most polite.” The flustered griffin elbows his friend.

”Haha! No worries! Go ask Fleetfoot if you want something like that.”

”O-okay, uhh…thanks it was awesome to meet you haha!”

The silver haired pegasus to your left turns in response to her name and Dash offers a parting ‘happy birthday’ to the nervous griffin. Finally your turn, you walk up to the surprised Wonderbolt with a big grin, “So it’s not my birthday or anything, but I am your biggest fan so if you could write me a note too that’d be great.”

Unable to think of a response she just stares at you and struggles to suppress a blush as she takes the picture from your hand. She fails horribly once she sees her own portrait. The mare you’d figured was named Fleetfoot broke out laughing mid-writing. She hands the cap back to the young filly who was ecstatic despite the abrupt squiggle in the middle of the signature, ”What’s the matter Dash? He’s your biggest fan.” 

Your mare shoots an annoyed look at the smug pegasus before regaining her composure. Dash turns back to you with a confident smirk, ”So…biggest fan huh? You know some ponies come all the way from Las Pegasus to watch the Canterlot show?” Her eyes hold yours and you pick up the hidden mirth in her flippant tone.

You lean over the railing and lower your voice a bit, “Well I came all the way from another planet so…” You hold your stare as you slowly infect her with your grin.

”Okay fine, just don’t frame it and put it on your dresser or something.” What is with ponies reading your mind today? Her brow furrows as she takes a second to contemplate her message. It was at this moment you become distinctly aware that you’re standing in the front of a very long line. You turn back to avoid eye contact with angry ponies and see Dash furiously writing something in the bottom corner of the picture. She finally finishes and hoofs it back to you. You don’t take the time to read the note yet; you’ll save it for later.

“So are you going to kiss it, or should I ask Fleetfoot?” You nod over to the grinning pegasus who was still very much in tune with your conversation. That definitely put her on the spot. You’d feel bad if she didn’t have such a massive ego.

“Yeah she won’t do it, hop over in my line big guy and—“

“—Shutup Fleet!…Arrgh!” She takes the picture back with suppressed rage and hastily kisses the backside of it, leaving a light blue lipstick mark. She can’t avoid her blush now. You lean in close to her fiery eyes and take it from her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you a zap apple sandwich to make up for it.” You whisper.

”You’re gonna do a lot more than that.” She replies under her breath. Despite your tense moment you linger enough to breathe in each other's scent. 

You lean back, “I guess there’s a line so…” She drops her eyes before flashing a smile of gratitude; the fact that you came all the way up here just to watch her perform wasn’t lost on her. Unfortunately the setting limited her dialogue.

”Later Anon uh…” She realizes she wasn’t supposed to know your name and shuffles while awkwardly looking away. Fleetfoot giggles and Dash shoots her another venomous look. Dash must’ve told her about you. You knew the last thing Dash would want is to make a scene, so you keep it brief.

“Thanks Ms. Dash.” Your eyes linger on each other until you turn around and head up the steps to the top of the stadium. You carefully place the picture back in its envelope and wrap it up in your bag. As you make your way up, you can’t help but glance back a few times at the purpose of your trip. You caught her glancing back up at you just as you make it to the top, her smile returning full force.

Leaving the venue was much more difficult than getting in. Not only did you have to deal with a few thousand ponies getting food and drinks, but the exits were also clogged from ponies who only came for the Wonderbolts show. Despite this you manage to retrace your steps to the train station and order your ticket back to Ponyville. Finding an empty waiting bench, you take a seat and enjoy the scenery looking off the mountaintop city.

The sun was well on its way towards the horizon and it cast short shadows over the crystal clear countryside. An athletic looking pegasus stallion trots over and takes a seat at the opposite end of the bench. That’s strange, normally ponies didn’t choose to sit next to the bipedal alien. You contemplate striking up conversation with the stranger, but decide not to out of fear of scaring him away.

”You must be Anon.” You turn to the silvery stallion who apparently wasn’t as much of a stranger as you thought. 

“Y-yeah…I’m sorry have we met before?”

He relaxes a bit once you confirm his guess, ”No no I’ve just heard a lot about you.” 

Was he working in the research department that you were going to? “Really? From who…if you don’t mind me asking?” You feel a brief rise of excitement. You’d never exactly been popular before.

”Crash—uhh, Rainbow talks a lot about you.” 

That explains it, he must be another Wonderbolt. You quickly glance down at his cutie mark. You don’t have them memorized, but you figured just about every Wonderbolt you saw had some kind of lightning something or other. You still weren’t sure how socially acceptable it was to look at another ponies butt…especially since he was a guy, but that unfortunately came as an afterthought in the following awkward silence. He clears his throat and fills in the blank for you.

“Sorry, I’m Soarin by the way.”

Oh yeah, you’ve heard of him. He extends a hoof which you go to shake, at the last moment you catch yourself and do the formal fist bump instead, “Nice to meet you, I’m Anon, but I guess you already know that?”

”Yeah, sorry if it’s a bit weird, but the way she described you, I figured you had to be him.”

You weren’t sure if Dash told her team about your relationship so you figured you’d play it safe, “Hopefully she told you the good stories.”

”Haha, the way she talks, all there are are good stories.” 

You can’t help but smile at the thought, ”I’m glad to hear that. Say, why aren’t you back with the team?”

”Oh, I sprained my rotator cuff and can’t use my left wing for a few weeks.”

“That sucks.”

”Yeah, but I was still down with the team earlier today to run their ground coordination. Cap’n gave me the rest of the weekend off to go visit family so that’s where I’m headed now.”

“You have family in Ponyville?”

”No, Appleoosa, about an hour past there.”

“Ok…”

”How about you? I take it you’re not from around here.”

“No I’m from another universe.”

”Uhh…what?”

Dash and Twilight were the only other ponies you’d dropped that on before, but it was accurate to the best of your knowledge, “Yep, as far as I can tell, that pretty much sums it up.”

To your surprise it looks like he believes you, ”So…what’s it like from where you come from? Uh, if you don’t mind me asking?”

He actually sounds curious, “Not at all. It’s mostly the same, but with more smog and no magic.”

”What’s smog?”

You figured he’d ask about the magic first, “It's kinda like smoke but from burning petroleum. Makes everything look brown and hazy.”

”Huh, sounds…interesting.”

“I don’t miss it, well, some things I miss but not that.” He takes a moment to think of his response as if to avoid any potentially touchy topics. You appreciate the concern but there wasn’t much that bothered you about it anymore.

”So I take it you like it here?”

“Yeah, I actually like it a lot, I got an apartment set up in Ponyville.”

”With Rainbow?”

That catches you off guard, but you do your best to roll with it. You knew she was close with her team, you should’ve known word would get out to them first. At least it would help explain Fleetfoot’s behavior.

“Well…kind of.”

He grins and wiggles his brows at you. The train suddenly arrives in a roar of hissing and steam—momentarily saving you from the awkward turn of conversation. Soarin wasn’t about to let you off that easy though and he follows you aboard to take a seat next to you, “So how does ‘kind of’ living together work?”

You always considered yourself a fairly private person, and you felt much more inclined to keep your life private now that Dash was involved as well. But something about the stallion put you at ease; the fact that he was her team member was added insurance that he could be trusted, “We never actually discussed anything…that I can remember. She just…started staying there.” Confessing it out loud made you realize how spontaneous it seems.

“When exactly did it start though?”

That seems oddly specific, “Uhh…I guess a few days ago. Why?”

He waves his hoof dismissively and leans back on the bench as the train lurches forward, “Oh no don’t worry about it I just owe somepony ten bits.”

“For what?”

“Spitfire said you two would get together before the end of summer. I bet her it would take longer than that or it wouldn’t happen at all. Gotta admit she makes a good cap’n, she sure knows her wing ponies.”

“Wait hold up. She bet on…she knew about us? For how long?”

His eyes squint as he struggles to recall, “We made the bet on the day training season started in March…” He trails off only to return a moment later with more confidence, “…yep because that was the day she wouldn’t shut up about her awesome new friend who was like a minatour but didn’t smell as bad.”

“Hahaha! I’m glad she has such a high opinion of me.”

“Yeah well that’s the closest thing to a compliment I’ve ever heard from her so be grateful.”

“Tell me about it…”

The train rolls on and you keep each other entertained for the duration of your trip. Topics range from mares to ale and finally to your mutually shared skepticism that Celestia actually moves the sun. You voiced your very legitimate fear that you’d be burned at the stake for saying such things, but he just laughed it off. You wouldn’t have expected to get along that well with a jock like him, but he’s a pretty cool guy.

The train finally comes to a halt in front of Ponyville station and Soarin snags your arm after you part ways, ”Hey listen, I uhh…as a friend, of Dash’s that is. Take good care of her. She’s had some bad experiences in the past, and she deserves a good stallion.” 

The weight of his words sober you up, “That I can promise.”

He nods before stopping you again, ”Oh, and remember to go easy when she’s got a show the next day. It was a mess trying to coordinate for the time she lost during her solo.”

Go easy? Oh, that. That’s why she messed up…and he knew. Your guilt is covered up by a light blush as he chuckles and waves you off. You step off the train and make your way through the dirt streets back to your humble apartment. The sun was just beginning to set so you turn your lights on to make some dinner.

An hour later you were curled up on your fresh sheets, reading through ‘Introductory Electrical Engineering.’ It was a bit simplistic, but it gave you a few ideas on how you were going to build your toaster. The whole idea is pretty stupid to begin with. Of all the things you were qualified for, you got a job pulling a toaster out of your ass. But money is money.

You set the book down and go to turn off the lights, but you stop when you realize you still hadn’t read Dash’s note. You fish for the bag and remove the picture. Your Wonderbolt’s bright smile stares back at you. You love her so much. Even this picture of her got you feeling all fuzzy inside.

The note in the corner reads, “I’m really bad with mushy writing but I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get home. ~Love Dash”

Your own laughter surprises you as it echoes through the empty room. You briefly wonder if she was referring to your apartment as 'home.' The picture turns over in your hands and you study the blue puckered lip marks on the back. You’d never seen her wear any sort of makeup before, must be something they do for shows. You avoid your urge to touch it out of fear of it smearing. 

The bed feels empty and the blankets feel cold; it suddenly hits you that you won’t see her again until Sunday. Call it needy or clingy or whatever, but you really miss her. You never realized how much you’d gotten used to having someone around.

You take a deep breath and lean the picture against your lamp, her confident eyes looking at you. Knowing Dash she probably didn’t let the cat out of the bag intentionally, and she might still even be fighting it, but knowing she’d been bragging about you really warmed your heart. it made you feel…valued, like nothing else ever had before. Soarin’s parting words echo through your thoughts, “I promise I’ll be good to you.” It sounds a bit silly talking to a picture but you ignore those thoughts. You flip the lights off and struggle to fall asleep without the extra warmth. Eventually you doze off as you mentally plan your next few days alone.
> Reconciliations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following day was largely swallowed up by your ‘homework.’ Like any homework you weren’t too enthusiastic about it, but it was exciting in the sense that it made you feel like you were an inventor. It was also going to be responsible for your substantial bump in income, so you weren’t about to complain. But the more you worked on it the more hesitant you felt about the whole deal. Part of you wanted to improve breakfast making efficiency for every equine household, but another part of you was afraid of breaking some unspoken prime directive. What if you interfere with their timeline and the universe just disappears you because you're not supposed to be here or something, wasn’t there a Twilight Zone episode about that?

Your reasoning nullifies that fear before it gets too out of hand. Even with the butterfly effect or whatever it’s not like a toaster is going to change the course of history. Speaking of which, the little ‘bread oven’ as Dash put it was proving much more difficult to design than you anticipated, especially since you couldn’t take simple things like nickel wire for granted. Or pencils. 

It was a pain in the ass having to dip a quill in ink every ten seconds. But as predicted your diligence pays off and by dinnertime you have a full size set of schematics for a 4-piece toaster. They were by no means pretty, but they contained all the proper dimensions. In the end it cost you three broken quills, two vials of ink and the better part of your temper. You neatly align the papers on their end and place them in a stack at the corner of your coffee table. Joints pop as you arch your back for the first time in hours. You’d taken a break earlier that morning to make brunch, but you were too lazy to make anything other than buttered bread and apple slices. 

Numb feet shuttle you around to the necessary food and utensil dispensaries until you’ve created an equally pitiful dinner. You plop down on the kitchen stool with a creak and bite into your food. The calendar on your fridge draws your eyes as you chew your welfare sandwich. You can’t help but chuckle inside at the crude blue drawings Dash did of herself performing radical tricks on the date blocks. She said it was to help you remember where she was during her trip.

	Today is Saturday. Two more days…counting today. Two more days and then Dash gets back. Then you get a whole day with her before you start your job.

You start with the blue pegasus speeding through Friday, pulling a banner that said ‘Canterlot’. The next block has her cartwheeling over a skyline that was apparently Manehatten, Sunday’s block shows her standing triumphantly over the crumbling word ‘Baltimare’—apparently she was going to crush it. You snort at the ridiculousness; you still can’t get over how similar Equestrian names are to US cities. It was like one giant cosmic joke delicately interwoven into this world just so you could find some temporary humor in it. Or maybe you weren’t the first human? If you weren’t, no one’s ever mentioned anything of it. You’re momentarily overcome with the desire to find a library and search the history books for references to humans. Nah…you’re not in a book-scouring mood right now. You take another bite.

And of course there was also the possibility that it could all just be a dream induced by a coma, and one day you’ll wake up in a hospital…or if they pull the plug you’ll probably just pass out…or maybe you’d stay in your dream?

But it’s probably not a dream because they don’t usually have the long boring parts where you sit by yourself in a dimly lit apartment and chew your bread to the sound of a ticking clock. 

Before you take another bite you go to pinch yourself, then pause. You’d done it a hundred times before; you knew what the outcome would be. But deep down there was still that nagging fear…what if you wake up this time? A few months ago it wouldn’t have bothered you that much, but now…you look back at the crudely scribbled azure pegasus on the calendar. There was far too much for you here to go back to what was. You’d found something, someone else to live for. And that came with responsibilities…like not pinching yourself.

It was probably just your lethargy and paranoia talking, but either way you go back to eating your dinner. You finish up rather quickly and rather than bum around inside, you decide to take a walk in the cool evening air. A few ponies are still out and about, mostly the younger types heading out to socialize on a Saturday night. Despite the fact that the pegasi weather teams actually changed the seasons practically overnight, there was a bit of a general climate shift throughout the year. The change was much more noticeable to your bare skin, and over the past few weeks, the evenings had been getting a bit nippier.

Winter is coming.

Of course, there wouldn’t be any morning frost or snowfall until it got ‘scheduled,’ but shorts and a t-shirt was still a bad choice of attire. You break into a light jog to warm up.

A few minutes later you find yourself on the path to a familiar grassy knoll in the park—one you frequented when you first arrived. When you get to the base of the hill you notice someone, or rather some pony silhouetted against the skyline at the top. Whoever it was is demurely sitting on their haunches watching the golden aftershocks of the recently set sun. Couldn’t hurt to make new friends right? Worst case scenario they’d freak out and run away; that happened once before.

You walk up the side of the hill making sure to step heavy enough that they would hear you coming. But the stranger doesn’t turn around. As you get closer you could distinguish the frame of a skinnier stallion and he was…crying? You were never very good at calming people down, but it was too late to turn back now. Besides, you felt kinda bad for him…crying to himself all alone in the park. What could be so bad as to…oh shit.

It's Zephyr.

Unfortunately the lighting didn’t make his coat and mane distinct until you looked at it from a different angle—that angle being right next to him.

His watery eyes meet yours before widening. He shoots to his hooves and takes a step back, “Whoa! Calm down, I’m just here for the scenery.” You put your hands up in a universal disarming fashion. You weren’t sure how you were going to handle this, but you didn’t want to bring up any bad blood between you again.

He watches you warily, a hint of suppressed anger behind his watery eyes, ”I was just about to leave anyways.” He mutters venomously before sniffling. He turns around to go.

“Wait.” Oh shit man, what are you doing.

He stops and looks back at you with an annoyed expression. Dammit why’re you trying to be nice?

“I uhh…I’m sorry.”

His expression doesn’t change, but nevertheless he doesn’t immediately blow up on you. It’s extremely awkward, but you were too deep down the rabbit hole to stop, “I’m sorry about your nose.”

You leave it at that and wait for a response. He glances at his own snout before looking back to you, ”You think I care about my stupid snout?” You half expected him to get mad again, who wouldn’t. But what he was saying didn’t add up. Your confused look prompts him further. 

“If I cared about my snout I would’ve told the guard you assaulted me! The reason I didn’t is because I didn’t want to involve her in this!” 

His words stop you in your tracks and you feel your chest go cold, not out of fear, but out of guilt. This whole time you acted like you were the only one who could care about her, but you’ve just been proven wrong.

His voice pierces your thoughts louder than he was yelling before, “But now that my life is ruined I’m thinking I just might! I don’t know where you came from but here you can go to jail for that sort of thing!”

“Yeah and what are the laws on voyeurism and stalking! You think they won’t charge you with something too?”

The sharp rebuttal silences him for a moment and he looks away, there was no escaping the facts of what both of you had done. You take a deep breath, as much as you wanted to argue the morality of what you’d done this isn’t going to help anything.

“Look, I said I’m sorry can we just move on?”

”You think everything’s just gonna go away because you said sorry!” 

He takes a step towards you and his eyes burn with anger, ”You ruined my life you big…bald…m-monkey!” He struggled with that last part. You resist the urge to escalate the situation, it was your sympathy that got you into this after all.

“You done?” You ask monotonously. 

He just sits there breathing heavily through flared nostrils, “You of all ponies stole her from me!” 

Now he’s done. You take a moment and consolidate your thoughts over the sound of his heavy breathing, “Look, I don’t want to be your enemy.”

”But you are!”

“No, I’m not.”

”I loved her and you stole that away!”

All this yelling was beginning to get on your nerves, “I didn’t steal anything because she wasn’t yours to begin with. She wasn’t anyb-anypony’s. She’s an individual with individual feelings, and she gets to decide what she wants to do with them. And from what I’ve seen, you were pretty far from winning her over even without me around.”

He winces at that last line and his eyes start to water up again. Shit, you’re not here to make him feel any worse dumbass.

“That was…I’m sorry that was uncalled for.” You pause for a moment and let it sink in for what it was worth.

Whether it was your comeback or the fact that you were still trying to make peace with him, he seems to calm a bit. His voice comes out much quieter this time, ”She just made me so happy, I loved talking to her and…and…” He starts to choke up a bit.

Damn, you actually feel his pain. The thought of losing Dash to someone else made you nauseous.  That mutually shared sobering idea is what allowed you to feel empathy for your self-proclaimed enemy. 

You suddenly feel a bit awkward looking down at him, so you sit facing the horizon, “I uh…I know these words mean nothing coming from my position…and I understand your anger, but you can’t look at this thing in terms of absolutes.”

More sniffling. ”W-what?”

“I mean, you can’t just say ‘I’m right, he’s wrong,’ I don’t think it’s as simple as that.”

”So you’re saying I shouldn’t think what you did was wrong?” You can hear a hint of rage working its way back into his side of the conversation.

”I was wrong.” He gives you an intrigued stare.

“I was wrong to try and shun you off when we first met, I was wrong to punch you…and kick you…and pull on your tail—”

”—So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying we both have to look at our actions first before we blame each other. Did you ever think that Dash deserves some privacy and respect? You were so focused on how she made you feel, you didn’t stop to think how you made her feel.”

Damn, where did all that come from. You ought to be a relationship counselor or something. Your words hit him like a freight train and you can see all of his anger and frustration melt away as realization dawns on him, “I’m in no position to judge whether one love is more valid than another, I don’t think anyone is, but it’s not hard to see what the results of our actions are.”

He stays seated next to you and a moment of silence passes as the sky gets darker and darker. You cross your arms to keep them warm.

”You’re right.” His hoarse voice breaks through the breeze.

You look over at his crestfallen features—surprised at his confession, ”All I could think about was how mad I was at you for what you did, it didn’t occur to me whether she was happy or not.”

For some reason your guilty feeling returns full force and you both share a quiet moment of reflection. The sun slowly slips below the horizon waving a golden-red goodbye to the day. Both of you watch in silence until one of you clears their eyes and nose of lingering tears.

“For the record I’d be just as pissed if I were you.”

He manages to crack a small smile underneath his drying eyes, ”Heh, yeah…”

“And if you think your nose was bad, my gut still aches every time I sit down.”

He chuckles lightly at your joke before going back to staring at the horizon, ”Hey…thanks for apologizing. I still feel like crap, but uh…it’s nice to not want to murder you anymore.”

Geez. You weren’t sure how to take that, “Yeah…”

Another awkward silence, ”Soo…I’ll uh, be on my way.” You turn back and nod to him as he slowly walks away, leaving you to contemplate what just happened. 

That was…interesting, but it did feel good in the end. You were always bad at holding grudges. You can’t be friends with everyone, but at the very least you can keep this thing from getting any worse. It’s also nice to know he doesn’t want to murder you anymore. You wait until he’s long gone before heading back towards the town lights. You almost forgot how much ponies liked to party on Saturdays until you walked through town. It's like a holiday or something. Luckily your apartment was fairly secluded, its closed door provided a high level of sound mitigation.

Your apartment seems just as empty as when you left it, but now you have a plethora of thoughts to entertain you. You’d all but forgotten about Zephyr over the past few days. Needless to say it was pretty sobering realizing he was still messed up over your encounter…in more ways than one. It was even more sobering realizing you’d been the equivalent of your high school bullies. Well it’s not a perfect analogy, but you definitely misjudged him. 

You juggle some thoughts as to how to breach the topic to Dash when she gets back. You need to let her know what’s going on, but if you tell her the truth it’ll make you look like the jerk that you are. You already know the answer to the unspoken question, you were going to lay it all out and be truthful with her, she needs to know what kind of person she’s involved with. 

You’re suddenly overcome with feelings of inadequacy, it was the same nagging feeling you got back in the shop at the Wonderbolt’s show, but this time it was stronger and identifiable. It was more than a feeling; it was a flurry of odd emotions shrouded by an overarching dread that pulled the strength from your diaphragm. It was like the feeling you get after you do something wrong but before the impending retribution. You felt many things, but they all pointed towards the same conclusion. 

You don’t deserve her.

That one thought rings out like a bell and sends a chill down your spine. You hated the very idea of it but you can’t argue its validity. She’s incredibly beautiful, she’s a national hero, she’s famous, she’s definitely not strapped for money and she’s dating…you.

The more you entertained it the more the poisonous thought spread. It wasn't a sudden revelation either; it'd been surviving in the recesses of your mind ever since you first considered a relationship with Rainbow. The encounter with Zephyr had emboldened your self-esteem, but what does that mean? Just because he was unqualified to be with her that made you a better choice? By what metric? 

	What are you even…a bald monkey for one…your existence here is probably a mistake. If there is a God, he probably just messed up…that or he put you here because he thought it’d be entertaining. 

That mistake was now involving your best friend…someone you genuinely cared about. You’ve seen how half the ponies act around you, what they think of you…what will that do to her career once everyone finds out about you? Sure her team knows but they’re her friends too. She’ll get eaten alive by the newspapers, they’ll make her the laughingstock of the team and destroy her reputation…because of you. 

And even if that didn’t matter there was still the fact that you’d never be able to give her children or pony-lets or whatever they’re called. You punctuate your thoughts with a deep breath to calm yourself down. Foals, that’s what they’re called. You can’t give her foals…even with the help of magical voodoo. That was one thing you knew for a fact, Twilight had entertained your question on the specific topic of interspecies children during one of your 'orientation classes.' Something about two different magic’s not being compatible or something.

You hated yourself for it, but you can’t deny the fact that Rainbow Dash was pretty far out of your league by any standard. That was something you weren’t sure how to talk about. You want nothing more than to stay with her, but she needs to know what she’s getting into. 

You crash on your fresh bed sheets but you don’t feel any more comfortable. You weren’t even sure what you want anymore. You wanted what was best for her, that you were sure of. But the last few days had undoubtedly been the best of your life and you don’t want that to stop. Can you have both?

Despite your catharsis on the hilltop, you find nothing but inner turmoil as you struggle to clear your mind and get some sleep.
> Welcome Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following morning you wake up with a bad taste in your mouth and a thirst that only a glass of ice cold orange juice could fix. The time spent preparing breakfast is lost in your grumpy morning haze and before long you find yourself reviewing toaster schematics over a plate of jellied bread and fruit. Other than a unit error on one of your dimensions the plan was spotless…hopefully. You look at your disappointing meal. Too much jelly. You could really do with some buttered toast right now. 

You consolidate all your papers and fasten them with a paperclip. If you actually managed to get this thing into production you were going to be damn sure to get the first copy. 

You take a moment to appreciate the fact that today was the day your mare friend got back from her air show tour. Excitement takes hold and your mind races over some ideas that had been floating around in your head for the past few days. In your well-rested state you find it difficult to jump to the same conclusions you did the night prior, and you take solace in the fact that as of yet Dash has been nothing but happy with you. You’d discuss your concerns with her when the right time comes, but for now you were going to be the best boyfriend…stallion-friend you can.

Before you know it the clock strikes noon and you decide to try out your cheesy idea. Dash will probably think it’s ridiculous, but it’s worth a try. 

Your first stop is at the general store to get some food and supplies. While you’re there you catch a glimpse of Fluttershy browsing the aisles. Despite your reconciliation the last thing you wanted to do was talk about her brother so you duck away before she spots you. You play the one sided game of cat and mouse for the better part of ten minutes, but eventually you have to make a run for the exposed checkout line. You use your height advantage to double check that the coast is clear and then make a run for it. The one thing you miss is being able to blend in. No matter how casually you walk or how much you avoid eye contact you could never disappear into a crowd. 

“Hello Anon.” 

You almost jump at the voice that snuck up in line behind you.

“Hey Fluttershy.” So much for avoidance…

“What are you shopping for?” She quips.

“Uhh, just some stuff for dinner.”

Her eyes judgmentally gloss over the contents of your basket: wax candles, high quality bed sheets, a new set of drinking glasses and some packaged ingredients. They look back up, “Do you, um…cook a lot?”

You shift hands so the basket and its telling contents were out of sight, she knows, “I do actually, I took it up during college because I got sick of Ramen and hot dogs.” 

“What’s a hot dog?”

“It’s like a…” animal intestine stuffed with liquefied flesh, ”…a high protein snack, of sorts.”

“That’s very interesting, it sounds like something Applejack or Rainbow might like.” 

Yeah let's go with no on that one…although Dash eats tuna and sometimes egg, that’s only a step away…”What’re you here for?”

“Oh I’m just buying some things for the family of echidnas that live in the garden.”

“E-kidnas? Is that some sort of beetle?”

“No they’re monotremes.”

“Oh…neat.” You shuffle up again. 

“They eat a lot of earth worms, but if they eat too many it could upset the balance in my garden, so I got them corn flakes instead.” She nudges the box of corn flakes in her basket, “All the nutrients they need in something much tastier.”

“You sure know your stuff Fluttershy.”

She looks at her hooves bashfully, “Oh, it’s nothing really. Any pony would know just as much if they spent time on it.”

“Oh I don’t know about that, I think you’re pretty talented.” You’re just glad she didn’t bring up her brother. You’re not sure what he told her, but it was a topic you wanted to avoid right now. 

Finally you move up to the cashier and start unloading your items for him to record, “Zephyr mentioned you last night.”

Oh crap…You finish unloading before you realize she’s waiting for some acknowledgement, “Oh, did he?”

“Mmhmm…he said something about how you helped him gain a new outlook. Whatever that means he seems to be in high spirits, compared to how he’s been that is.”

Phew…that’s not so bad, at least he took the heart to heart…to heart.


“I asked him what he meant but all I got from him was that he ‘finally knows what he needs to do.’ Do you know what he could be talking about?”

And you jinxed yourself. Maybe. Whatever he meant sounds…ominous, “Um, not really. We had such a short conversation you know.”

She seems to lose some enthusiasm, “Oh, I see.” You hated shunning the quiet yellow pegasus, but you really didn’t want to spill your guts to her. Especially since you weren’t the only one involved.

“Well anyways, you should stop by for dinner sometime before Zephyr leaves for his hairdresser job in Canterlot.”

“He’s leaving?”

“Oh yes, he was at the top of his class so they offered him a job once their summer interns leave.”

Maybe it’s not as ominous then…”I’m glad he found something he enjoys.” The cashier finally finishes ringing you up and you hand over your payment.

“Yes, well he is very good. Like I said if you’d like to come over for dinner—“

You grab your bags and back out of the conversation slowly, “—Uh…heh thanks Fluttershy, but I’m really busy with my new job and all. I appreciate the offer though.”

“Oh…I apologize I didn’t mean to sound pushy.”

“That was the opposite of pushy, don’t worry about it.” You’re now far enough away that the conversation was becoming awkward.

“I’m sorry I know I’ve got this problem sometimes but I’m trying to keep it in check.”

A problem? She is the least pushy pony you know, “You’re fine Fluttershy, see you later!”

You wave and make a beeline for the door before she has a chance to apologize again. Phew! That was like walking a knife-edge. Keeping secrets is hard. You make a short stop at the town florist on the way back. Roseluck, the mare that ran the shop, was one of the nicest ponies you knew, and her eyes lit up when you opened the door. You'd suspected that she was sweet on you, but you'd never seen her with other customers so you didn't know for sure. Either way it wasn't something you thought about any longer. With a bit of sobered enthusiasm she helps you pick out the perfect flowers to compliment Dash's coat and you get back to your apartment as quickly as possible. You didn’t want to risk running into any other ponies you knew because you were running short on time if you wanted to get things set up before Dash got back.

The moment you open the front door you waste no time getting to work. You spent the rest of your afternoon balancing two separate tedious tasks: cooking and interior home decorating. A new formal dining set complete with crystal cups—somehow those were cheaper than glass; a few candles on some spartan, but quality candleholders, a set of high thread count sheets to replace your cheap ones, and finally the bouquet of flowers. You knew she probably wasn’t the romantic dinner type, but you did it anyways so she’d at least see that you put in the effort. Two baked potatoes were already in the oven, and you planned on making some of her favorite ravioli. Dessert would be a handful of milk chocolate bites.

You’ve always felt like you had an eye for symmetry and tasteful combinations but the responsibility of making the perfect dinner seemed to inflate that attitude. Whenever you stood still you noticed a piece of silverware misaligned or changed your mind about where you wanted the glasses grounded. Likewise the ravioli never seemed to taste right, and you found yourself digging through your cabinets to find more spices and herbs to add. The result was an unending blur of overthinking and mismanaged productivity that made you lose track of time.

A few hours later the food is finished and the table is set. The only thing you were waiting for was a customer. You leave the ravioli to stay warm on a low burner and crash on the couch exhausted. You get no farther than closing your eyes before you hear the doorknob turn.

*thud

The sound of a pony walking into the unyielding door quickly follows, ”Hey! You locked me out!” 

A lump forms in your throat at the sound of the scratchy voice you’d come to love, “Coming!” Adrenaline pumps at the thought of your reunion and you lurch to your feet to open the door. 

One ruggedly beautiful rainbow pegasus stands there rubbing her nose with a fore hoof, but she stops when she sees you. Dash’s nimble frame is still cloaked in her Wonderbolt’s uniform—her mane whipped back from hours of hard flying. She wastes no time with formal greetings and instead makes a beeline for you, literally. Wings negate the height disparity and she’s on you so quickly it’s surprising. She grips you in an incredibly tight bear hug while hastily licking your face. You chuckle at the wet affection and make note of her tail swishing happily before meeting her in the middle; locking her enthusiastic muzzle in an exhilarating reunion. The taste and feel of her mouth quells an ache that had been smoldering inside you in her absence…and for a moment she's the only thing occupying your world.

She pulls away for air, teasing your appetite for her warm breath. You go to speak but she leans back in to kiss you again, her tongue beckoning entry. You let her in without hesitation and tangle softly as your hearts thud against each other’s chests. Eventually, your second helping is also abandoned for want of oxygen and you find yourself staring into Rainbow Dash’s lovely eyes.

Her ears splay back as you lean in for a final ‘welcome home’ peck. You could kiss her all day if she’d let you…Your eyes find each other again and a deep, relaxed breath through your nose picks up the strong essence of ozone from high altitude flying. 

“Hey.” You offer.

She matches your grin, “Hey.”

Your mutual obsession with contact coerces a mutual nuzzle. Her muzzle was still a bit chilled from her late evening flight so you try to warm it up for her. You rake your fingers through her equally cold scalp and mane as you get lost in her heat and scent. You’d already communicated all you needed to, but there was nothing wrong with redundancy, “I—”

”—I love…”

You crack a smile at your jinx as Dash blushes and chuckles.

You jab your nose at hers, “You first.” 

She drops her snout and glances up at you with folded ears, her hooves still hooked around your neck, ”I-I was just saying that, I…kinda love ya.” She looks up at you expectantly. 

You move a hand to gently lift up her chin and kiss the tip of her cold nose. Her blush deepens as she’s forced to watch your affection, “Well I guess I kinda love you too.” You wiggle a finger behind her folded ear and scratch it as she beams with happiness.

”So uh…d-does that mean we can kinda r-rut now?”

As much as she choked on her own words you can’t help but get a bit flustered at the sight of your mare requesting intimacy, “N-no, it means we can definitely rut now.” She quirks an eyebrow at you despite her apparent excitement.

“Get it…because two kinda’s make a definitely.” She stares blankly at your explanation.

“Like how two wrongs make a right, but with…you know what I mean.” She’s just looking at you like you’re stupid. Way to ruin the moment dumbass.

”Dude you really should think less.”

“I know that was horrible.”

She cocks a grin at you and moves to tap your shoulder, ”But that’s why I like ya.” 

Really? Of all your traits she likes your tendency to overthink things? “That’s a weird thing to li…kmpf!” Her muzzle shoots in to steal a sudden peck.

She pulls off you with a pop and pulls her head back over your shoulder in a deep hug, ”You’re a weird thing to like but I like ya!”

Well now that you know how she really feels, “Heheh…I wouldn’t have been able to tell.”

Dash suddenly lifts her head off your shoulder and sniffs the air, ”Is that…*sniff…feta-marinara?”

That’s exactly what you made…or were trying to make, “You can smell that?”

She has her forelegs on top of your shoulders and she’s using you as a kind of perch to crane her detective’s nose farther out, “The garlic and onion make it hard to tell, but yeah…you can’t?”

“I smell tomato sauce but nothing that specific.”

”Probly cuz your nose is so short dude.”

“Probably. So…I take it you want to wait until after dinner?”

”To do what…oh…heheh I think it would be better on a full stomach.”

“Agreed.”

You let her drop to her hooves and ruffle her hair, which she fixes with a grin before dropping her saddlebags, “For a moment there I thought I wasn’t going to even make it to the couch.”

She trots along next to you as you head into the kitchen, ”You weren’t, but your cooking saved you.” You look back and see a cocksure grin on her muzzle.

But that doesn’t last long as the product of your hours of effort suddenly presents itself. She slows and then stops altogether as she sees the ornately laid out dining setup. Her jaw hangs slightly loose as she watches you go around and quickly light the candles on your small dinner table. You prep the plates with the baked potatoes and ravioli—placing them in their appropriate places. To top everything off you add a small bowl of milk chocolate bites and some Zap-Apple cider for the crystal glasses. The whole time your self-consciousness grows as she silently watches you out of the corner of your eye. Finally finished, you move over to pull her seat out for her. She just stares at you with a surprised ‘deer in the headlights’ look.

“Uhh…I know you don’t really like fancy stuff, but I…wanted to make things nice for a change.” She swallows a lump in her throat and trots over to her chair with the lost look still in her eye. She hops on and holds the edge with her fore hooves as you push it in too close to the table. Ponies’ heads are centered over their forelegs when they sit, not their hips. You correct your misjudgment and pull her out until it looks more comfortable for her but feels more awkward for you. Hastily taking your seat at the other end of the table you watch anxiously as her eyes dart from her plate to her glass to the vase of flowers. 

You weren’t sure what she thought of it, “Don’t worry about using the silverware if you don’t want to, I just put it there to make it look nice.” Her eyes go down to the silverware in question and she nudges her fork with her fore hoof. The silence is painful.

”You…did all this?”

“Yeah…I just thought it’d be nice, you know?” For the first time in a long time you can’t tell what emotions are flashing behind her eyes, and it makes you nervous, “If you don’t like it we can just go out and…”

”No! I mean…this is nice. Really nice. I just…wasn’t expecting it is all.” You weren’t sure if she was just being courteous or was genuinely surprised. Well she's obviously surprised, but what else does she think? She catches your eye and reads your anxiety, “W-what I mean is, well…no pony’s ever really, done anything like this…f-for me.” Her eyes drift to the unique breed of cyan colored roses.

So she’s actually just surprised? At least she doesn’t dislike it, “I know it’s not exactly your style, and I didn’t mean to make you feel out of place with the silverware and all—“

“—No really it’s fine Anon. I like it, really…” Her scratchy, sincere tone accents her beautiful magenta eyes.

“…I just wanted to let you know you’re worth it.”

Her ears fold and she blushes—breaking eye contact. She swallows a lump in her throat, “I-I…thanks.”

An awkward silence lingers for a moment until you hear Dash’s stomach growl. The sound makes you make eye contact again and a shy grin parts her flushed features, “Well what are you waiting for! Dig in!”

Despite your encouragement, Dash restrains herself for the duration of the meal. She makes an obvious effort to be ‘civilized,’ delicately drinking her cider and actually attempting to use the silverware. For once you were able to keep up the same eating pace.

She really liked the ravioli, that much you could tell, but otherwise she was unreadable. Your conversation was equally sparse. The most you got out of her was about her solo mishap. Apparently it was due to ‘aftershocks’ of the previous night’s activities like Soarin predicted. This fact wasn’t lost on the captain, so she let Dash reattempt in the following shows with successful results, albeit not without due harassment. The senior members of the team were going to meet and discuss giving her a promotion in the flight, you had no doubt she’d get it. 

Soon enough the table is clear and the sink is full. Dash pours herself another glass of cider and viciously gulps the whole thing, ”Where’d you get this stuff dude? It’s the best!”

“Got it from Applejack a few months back for fixing her gopher problem.”

She wipes her muzzle and looks at you with skepticism, ”And you never told me?”

You shrug, “I wanted to save it for a special occasion.”

Her smile grows, ”Every occasion’s a special occasion.” She gets up and puts her glass in the sink next to everything else.

“If that’s true then what would make a special occasion special?”

Her slender frame approaches you and she props her forelegs on your thigh; her myriad of colors dance in the soft candlelight, ”It’s special cuz of your special some pony, doofus.” She pokes your gut and waits for her inevitable ear rub.

You smile as she leans into your hand, “I learn something new every day,” You respond with aloof sarcasm.

Her hoof moves to the inside of your opposite thigh and she leans in to rub her muzzle on your neck. Your hand follows her ear and she shows her appreciation by gently nipping at your skin. Well obviously someone is done with dinner…

“D-Dash, do you want any dessert?”

She licks your neck before breaking away and following your finger to the bowl of chocolate. She turns back to you with half lidded eyes and a sultry smile. You gulp as she trails her muzzle up your jawline to your ear, ”Not that kinda dessert.”

As much as you thought you were ready you quickly found yourself getting flustered at her advances, “Oh.” 

Heavy breathing washes your face and her mouth parts. She hesitates for a moment but finally finds the courage to trail the tip of her tongue across your lips. The tacky, ticklish muscle sends shivers down your spine, and she pulls back to gauge your reaction with perked ears.

You taste her essence, “Mmm…apple cidery.”

Her ears fold at your obvious acceptance of her advance…as if there was any question about it…you smile at the nervous pegasus. You're the one who should be nervous not her. But you don’t have time to entertain that thought because she bites down on your collar and tugs you out of your seat. Her dominant behavior leaves no room for questions, but you do voice your concerns, “I can walk just fine you know.”

“Sthu-up.” In her feistiness she tugs harder.

She maneuvers you closer before letting go and hopping on the bed enthusiastically. You can tell she’d been waiting for this all weekend. So were you.

She flashes you an excited and flustered grin before she rolls on her side and tugs the breast zipper with her muzzle. You watch in fascination as the Wonderbolt violently tries to disrobe. Dash impatiently pulls on the stubborn zipper underneath her chin, unknowingly displaying her attractive contours. As far as you were concerned, she was model materiel on a bad day after crashing in a mud puddle—and you’d seen that. But this was on a whole other level. Her suit fit like a glove and squeezed her fur against her body highlighting her defined lines. She writhed angrily with the fabric, flaring her wings and giving you a quick glimpse of her cute teats. It starts to get harder to breathe through your nose so you open your mouth to take a deep breath. No wonder she was the hottest-selling poster girl for the Wonderbolts. She struggles on, indifferent to her power over you. Your eyes trail farther south to barely make out what appeared to be a dark spot between her thighs…or is that a shadow—

”—A-Anon?”

You yank your eyes from the cookie jar and see her looking at you with a sheepish blush, ”I should shower first. I’ve been flying all day.”

“What? Why?”

“B-because I haven’t really…I didn’t hit the locker room shower, I was too excited to get back.”

“That didn’t stop you from pouncing me at the door earlier?”

Her eyes shift to the side, “Y-yeah, but that was like…different…” 

No, no it wasn’t. Dash was rarely self-conscious when it came to her body, probably because she has nothing to be self-conscious about. Her sheepish behavior thus far had been mostly centered around her actions and words, so this was a new one for you. You honestly thought it was ridiculous; you weren’t about to let your long-awaited reunion get put on hold for something so inconsequential. If it continued to concern her you’d stop, but you felt like it would help her shyness if you proved that you appreciated her the same regardless of how desirable she felt.

“Dash it really doesn’t matter to me.”

She wasn’t completely convinced, but she trusted you enough to put aside her uneasiness. She spreads her forelegs in response, ”Then h-help me outta this thing…please.”

Her uniform was thin and gelatinous, almost like a wetsuit. But unlike a wetsuit it was supposed to keep her warm at high altitude and cool on hot, humid days. What it isn’t supposed to do is get between you two. The zipper soon gives way to your imposing willpower and you pull it down; careful not to tangle her fur in the metal teeth.

Her suit splits open under tension to reveal swirled, matted fur of her chest. The smell of your companion hits you and you realize what her more sensitive nose did a moment ago. The abnormally pleasant spice of her natural scent was, as you expected, more appealing the stronger it got. As promised you don’t draw attention to it, and instead focus on the unusually timid mare you’re helping.

This is supposed to be fun for her not nerve-wracking. You bottom out the zipper and pull her into a hug. She squee’s in surprise before tentatively hugging back, you pull back and flash her a morale-boosting smile, which she mirrors. Your apparent acceptance of her fills her with joy and she leans in to mirthfully poke her nose at your cheek. You retaliate by trying to fence her nosiness into submission. Amidst smiles and hot breath your free hand moves to her exposed belly. Digits swim between her sweaty fur and damp uniform—naturally drifting to her teats. Your heart rate increases as you knead and palm the fatty mound.

After feeling a snort you stop your nuzzling to see some humor in her eyes, “I don’t know why you like those so much dude.”

Your cheeks heat up instantly, “I-I’m it’s j-just…”

”Hahaha! Calm down I’m just messin with you!”

You recompose yourself enough to appreciate her humor. Dash’s confidence starts to fade again, ”You're my coltfriend, you can do whatever you want.” Ears splay back and she tries to suppress her blush. 

The hunger in her eyes was very real and you decided not to starve her any further. You lay down and pull her with you so you can nibble on her nape…a distraction for your migrating hand. She lets out a shaky breath and instinctively turns her head the other way to let you reach more of her sensitive neck. You made contact with the short blue fur a few inches below her mane in an open mouth kiss. Sealing the area with your lips, you swirl your tongue around in a small circle. A hint of saltiness occupies your sense…evidence of a light coat of sweat from hard flying.

”Mmmmmmh…” She rolls her head back to stretch her neck muscles under your kiss—letting out a soft moan. You finish her swirly and repeat farther up.

Your hand is well past her teats now, following a more restricted and sweatier pathway to her nether bits. You can feel the sharp increase in heat and humidity as you home in on the intersection of her legs and tail. You spread your fingers across her muff. 

“Mgh!” 

She suddenly grunts and curls into your touch; abdominals flex and her hind legs press against the bed to push her crotch into your hand, ”R-right there! It’s…i-itchy!”

Her features are crossed in a wince of desperation, her tongue hangs out the side of her clenched teeth, “It’s what?” 

“It’s, really…itchy.” She chokes out one word at a time. Apparently so…you could only imagine what it was like to be covered in fur and constrained to a wetsuit all day. Such cruel treatment deserves some compensation. Your fingers dig into the dense fur of her crotch and you scratch around giving her the consideration demanded by your empathy. You temporarily abandon her nape and pull back to watch with a smile as her eyes squint shut in satisfaction. Your fingers fight the tension of her suit and snake to the crevices of her hind legs where you make sure to fire off every coiled nerve in the sweaty channels. Returning to the center of her muff, you dig past fur above her pubic bone and roughly stimulate the skin underneath. She lets off a few more little grunts as you finish relieving her itch. Finally satiated, she lowers her midsection back down and regains her composure.

“You alright Dash?”

She peeks an eye over at you and races to come up with a response, ”W-what? I’ve been itching at it all day but my hoof doesn’t work through the—”

“—Dash…” She stops and looks at you wide eyed, “…you don’t have to make up excuses to ask a favor.”

She grins, “Heh, I’ll keep that in mi-aah!” Her fore hooves tuck and electricity forces her hind legs to rocket straight out. You’re almost as surprised as she is when your finger tips the ledge into her crevice, you thought she would’ve felt it coming. You weren’t really into surprises, but you have to admit it was a bit fun to watch her go from cozy to screaming in pleasure in a heartbeat. Besides, it’s about time to get the show on the road.

You roll the pad of your finger around in a small circle at the top of her moist opening. You’d never felt her with your fingers before, and it was astonishingly exhilarating. The movement works past the smooth lips and into the hot, slimy flesh between. Her hind legs kick away, halfheartedly trying to escape the sudden overload of stimulation, ”Gaah!”

You move back to her neck as you feel her wing harden underneath you, “You’re really sensitive you know.” 

Her eyes stay shut, ”I-I am not! Your fingers are co-h-hold!”

You slide your other arm under her neck and pull her opposite shoulder into you—kissing her flushed cheek, “You know, I think you just don’t want to admit it.” She pouts and turns her head, determined to stick to her story. But your finger was determined as well, and it currently had the high ground. You finally find the muscular nub buried deep in the corner of her protective folds; her trembling thighs confirm the importance of your discovery, “Aw come on, there’s nothing wrong with being a bit sensitive.”

Her indignant attitude was giving way to embarrassment as her will to resist got weaker and weaker. You see her muzzle part and you brace yourself for a snarky comeback, “…Right…agh!…” She gasps.

Sounds like she’s breaking down sooner than you thought. As interested as you were in feeling her you retreat back to the edge of her labia in teasing circles, “Didn’t catch that Dash.”

You watch with amusement as her hind legs attempt to push her hips towards your shy hand, “I d-didn’t s-s-say…”

“Didn’t say what?” You stifle a chuckle as she spreads her legs further and scoots back even more, a clear attempt to coerce more contact from your stubborn finger. 

“Quit your…grr! I’m t-tryin’ t-t…eh!”

Your finger remained steadfast—driving her insane on the fine line of her erogenous zone, and despite her best efforts to take matters into her own hooves she was getting nowhere without your cooperation, “Remember what I said about asking favors?”

Her fore hooves smack the mattress in frustration as your teasing pushes her past her breaking point, “Oh for cryin’ out loud! I said rub it you oaf!”

So much anger…”Rub what?”

“My cli-ieeep!”

You give her what she wants before she has a chance to get any more worked up, you didn’t need any clarification anyways. You watch with a smile as your adorable pegasus abandons her ego to shamelessly hump her pleasure button against you. 

“You could’ve just asked you know.” You add some pressure on her clitoris and it slips past your pad in a wink, so that twitching thing is her clit…how did you not connect the dots before? But you don’t have time to contemplate  your stupidity, she winks again demanding attention. This time you put pressure on it forcing it to stay exposed in its erect position. 

“Aaaagh!…Ngh-hhnnnn…” She squeals before moaning. Her face is locked in a grimace of pleasure and she tries to retract her vulnerable mare button to no avail. You slowly bring your thumb down to massage it against the top of her wet lips. 

Suddenly her body goes rigid and the nub starts to throb against your fingers, there it is…You plant a kiss on the side of her cheek; with her remaining coherence she brings up a fore hoof to hold your head there as she silently endures her orgasm.

After more than a few seconds you feel her relax and let out a shaky breath. You withdraw your finger from her overly sensitive bits and instead circle your palm slowly across her slippery lips—just to make sure she didn’t go into withdrawal.

She turns to peck your lips with a rare timid smirk, “M-maybe a little…”

“What?”

Her rosy cheeks flash in humility, “I might be a b-bit s-sensitive.”

“Hahahahaha!” Her ears fold as she watches you with a fond smile, “Your secret’s safe with me.” Eyes meet in a loving gaze and you hold the romantic look long enough to make most children puke.

Suddenly a shiver runs through her body forcing her to blink, “Uhh…Anon.”

“Hmm?” You hum as you nuzzle up against her nose.

“This is great and all, b-but uhh…” She trails off as another shiver runs her spine, “…I s-should probably g-get outta this thing.” She tugs at her collar flap for emphasis.

Her comment brings you back to reality and you realize your hand is still giving her attention. You regrettably pull it out from her suit before you get her too worked up again, “Right…I forgot, you got us sidetracked.”  

“I got us sidetracked? You’re the one who wanted to feel my teats!” She jabs playfully.

“Well you said I could…and they’re your teats.” You poke her sternum with an accusing finger for emphasis. 

She parts her lips but pauses; her eyes squint and search your mocking ones as her mind races to find a worthy comeback. Yeah…think about that for a while. Suddenly remembering your abandoned mission you resume helping her escape her suit. After a few frustrated grunts and painful wing slaps your mare finally stands naked in front of you. The suit gets tossed aside and she pounces on her human.

”Your turn.” Her husky voice breathes into your ear. She leans into you to reach your shirt buttons and your hand searches for the furless skin under her tail. Teeth quickly unbutton the top of your polo, but the second one gives her trouble. You overshoot at first and swipe her taut anus. She flinches but otherwise doesn’t move. You take that as a green light and gently rub the smooth circle again before trailing lower to her sopping lips. A quiet schlicking noise emanates from between her legs as your gyrating fingers swipe her winking clit.

”Ghh!” Dash’s muzzle yanks down and she presses the top of her head into your belly in an attempt to handle the stimulation. The button that was between her teeth…was still between her teeth. You look down to see a few snapped threads trailing from your shirt. What was with this mare and tearing your clothes? Not that you minded, but—

*thwp

Dash spits out the button and it gets lost somewhere across the room, “Dude!”

You focus on her frustrated features.

”Take it easy! I wanna get you off too ya know!” As if on cue, another shudder racks her body, courtesy of your hand. You can’t tell whether it made her mood better or worse. What you do know is that as good as it felt it was keeping her from doing what she wanted. Reluctantly, you decide to play it safe and withdraw your digits from her slippery region. Instead you comb through the place you were itching for her before. Her pubic fur was a good inch longer than the short fur that covered the rest of her. No wonder it got irritated in that outfit. 

She grunts angrily, apparently that was still too much distraction. You’ll help her unbutton, that’s what she wants anyways… Your fingers move to the button under the one she’s working on.

”Stop!”

“Huh?”

”I wanna do it!”

Okay…so much for that. You throw your hands up in surrender and she leans in again to undo the remaining buttons with her teeth. Apparently she wanted the satisfaction of disrobing you herself. Crazy mare probably thought of it as a challenge or something. Without your distraction she finishes quickly and all remaining buttons remain sewn. You slide your arms out from your shirt and barely have time to toss it aside before her muzzle goes to your crotch.

“I go…you got it…” Your words fall on deaf ears as she works her furry muzzle in to clasp your zipper. She yanks the zipper down and nips threateningly at your fingers when you go to pop the button.

With the help of a very enthusiastic companion, you shimmy out of all your trousers in one awkward motion emerging completely naked at the end of the process. Your erection stands tall and proud and you suddenly find it difficult to look your mare in the eye in your exposed state. You still can’t get over the feeling of being naked and turned on in front of someone else, especially when you were turned on because of them. Her tail flicks as she takes position beside you and lays a fore hoof across your abdomen; her muzzle points towards your midsection and you can feel her breathing deepen.

But before she proceeds she turns back to you with an inquisitive look, ”Did you shave your hair or something?”

“Y-yeah.” Your face was beat red, you could feel it. Her eyes linger on yours, taking note of your sudden nervousness. Being naked was a much more jarring thing for you than it was for her. 

”I…I like it,” She gulps and looks away, mustering the courage to meet your gaze for her follow up, “I…y-you look really g-good Anon.”

Her cheeks now matched yours, but your unspoken gratitude and morale boost was all the reward she needed. She cracks a smile. Eyes suddenly unfocus as she looks right through you; you study the perplexing expression and notice her nostrils are flaring. Her gaze follows her nose as it homes in on the point of interest.

Your nerve doesn't get a break as her attention turns back to your midsection and immediately nuzzles your sack. Sampling breaths turn into indulging ones as she finds the apparent source of your male scent. Her eyes roll back as she closes them—your musk unlocking every last bit of tempered arousal. The air tickles and her hot breath cools quickly over the light layer of sweat on your organs. With each breath she seems to relax and sink a bit farther into the sheets.

You lay your head back and feel embarrassing heat rush back to your face as she brings a hoof to gingerly hold your bobbing shaft. The cyan appendages take special care to only touch you with their soft frogs. She’d never actually gotten a chance to see you before, the last time you two had fun it was dark and she likely missed all the details she was shamelessly soaking up now. 

Finally she withdraws and angles your member right at her lips, teasing your skin with the thin layer of fur. A quick change of position and Dash suddenly has her hooves around the base of your member and her tongue splayed out across your glans.

“Whoa!” Her tongue retreats—leaving a glistening coat of her saliva on your pink head. Her head darts back to evaluate your response, she stares at your breathless expression for a moment before leaning back in and eagerly licking at the smooth bulb. Unable to tear your eyes away from your treatment, you prop yourself up and stare on as Dash goes to work. Her rapid licks slow a bit as she starts tending to your full length: starting at your base and escalating to your tip. 

“Ohh Rainbow!”

Out of the corner of your eye you see her tail swish happily in response to her name. 

The mare continues lapping at your shaft like it was her favorite popsicle on a hot day. She works her way around the nearest side before pinning the top of your head to your belly with her hoof. Her actions leave your underside completely exposed to her and she starts attending to the full length of your newly exposed angle. A throaty moan leaves her body as her invasive tongue moves from your testes to your very tip, displacing the spongy tissue and squeezing a few drops of pre out of your tube.

"Oh shi...Rainbow!"

A surprisingly girly giggle surprises you and she makes no effort to conceal it. Your positive feedback makes her shift position again. Both her hooves move to opposite ends of your member and spread it out across your abdomen. She wasn’t exactly sure how to make you feel any better, but her inexperience wasn’t going to keep her from trying. She rights herself completely to give her muzzle the best angle and leans in with pursed lips.

Her warm pucker seals against your spongy undershaft and she swirls her tongue around in circles.

“Ngah!” Your toes curl and eyes shut as her hot, wet, sucking kiss fires off every nerve it covered. You see her prismatic tail swim across the sheets again—elated with your response. Her seal finally breaks and she separates with a loud pop, a red circle of flushed skin glistens under a liberal amount of her spit. She moves farther up and repeats the process, all the while paying close attention to every bit of physical and verbal feedback you were providing. Her technique was interesting but surprisingly stimulating. Whether it was due to inexperience, creativity, or culture you don't know. And you don’t care.

Your head thumps against the bed and the world swirls around you as you enjoy your Dash-style blowjob. Heh…Rainblowjob…Hooves and a warm mouth shelter you under her caring embrace as she lathers you up in an expression of her love. Her long, pink tongue trails a few more affectionate licks above the red circles on your under-shaft, subduing the inflammation with a million stippled taste buds. You were starting to feel a building pressure but you bite the bullet and fight it off. The assault of hot breath, spit and dexterous lips continues for the better part of the next minute until you begin to fear an early finish to your romantic evening.

“Dash…” She gives your head a final lingering lick before turning her flushed cheeks and dilated eyes to face you. A long string of saliva stretches between her chin and your spoiled member, and she breathes deliberately—hungry gaze locked unwaveringly on yours.

“…your turn.” You can tell she has mixed feelings about leaving a job half finished, but her excitement gets the better of her. She comes crashing into your outstretched arms and you fight to get in front of her pointed muzzle. Her body snuggles against yours before she allows you to land the kiss. Any hint of dinner had long since been washed away by copious salivation; only the natural flavor of your mare and the smell of her spit soaked muzzle remained.

She breaks the kiss, “I don’t mind finishing you.” Your reassurances and her apparently stellar performance had given her the chest full of confidence she lacked before. 

How do you put this...“I was kinda hoping to…uh—”

”—like last time?”

“…y-yeah.”

”Heheh! I w-was hoping you’d say that.” ...That's it...you're going to marry this mare. You pull her wet lips back into yours and lose yourself in the sheer intensity of her encompassing presence. You reach across her back dragging your fingers against the grain of her fur. You focus your hands on the terse muscles in the cradle of her wings. She unwillingly arches her back away from you in response to the sensations and you pull her thumping breast into yours in one swift movement.

You start to feel her shudder and giggle. You don’t get what’s funny, but you keep working her out, ”Hmhmmm-hmhmhm!” She chuckles into your mouth.

“Whath’s uh?” You manage with a tongue half way between your teeth.

Her chipper grin fills your vision, ”It’s just…heheh this is fun!”

It overjoys you to see her back in her typical high spirits, “Well…ready to make it more fun?”

”Buck yeah!”

She gets up and spins around planting her forelegs on the bed and sticking her rump in the air, “Oh…that’s not what I—“

”—Hurry up and put it in!”

On second thought this angle should work too. You scoot closer to her and sit back on your knees. She’s got her smiling muzzle buried in the sheets with some fabric clenched between her teeth; her eyes are squinted shut in anticipation and her wings are perfectly rigid. The sight of her like this almost makes your heart stop, but you don’t want to keep her waiting. You lift her tail out of the way to reveal her gorgeous mare parts in all their wet splendor. The multiple colors converge right above a smooth donut, beautiful naked skin spans the short distance to the next crevice in her geography, her flushed innards barely visible behind puffy pink lips, ”Ayy, 'r theeth new theets?” She asks with genuine interest—the fabric in question filling her mouth.

“Yep.” You spread her furry cheeks and place a fat lick across her folds. 

“Eeeep!”

She jumps and squeaks, distinctly aware and thoroughly embarrassed that you were now tasting her unwashed genitals. But your firm hold on her thighs kept you cemented between her butt, ”Anon! An-aah!” The smooth, bare skin spasmed underneath your tongue as she furiously winked into your mouth. Her lips were primarily salty from sweat, but the spot between them was much smoother and milkier. Whatever it is you want more.

”Anon!” You raise your head from her nethers to see her flustered face looking back at you, ”Isn’t it a b-bit…d-dirty?”

“What?” Your chest flutters as you look down between her legs and pull one fold aside with a thumb. She winces as her sensitive canal gets exposed to the cool evening air, “I told you before I don't mind Dash.”

She averts her gaze and shuffles her hind legs uncomfortably, ”I-it's just…s-stallions don’t usually d-do that sorta th-thing.” That just didn’t make any sense, what are they all gay or something? Dash squirms nervously in your hold and shamefully keeps her eyes from meeting yours.

“That’s ridiculous.” You spread her and lean back in.

”Aaghaaah…”

After a bit of prodding you manage to slip into her clitoral hood. The taste and unmasked scent of her raw sex was intoxicating; her powerful pheromones flood your senses and send your vision swimming. The tang of her sheltered corner gives way to milkier sweetness the farther you move up her cleft and dance around the precipice of her depths. She soon forgets her inhibitions amidst the pleasure and leans her rump back into your maw in a desperate attempt to penetrate herself on your tongue. 

You dive into her hole and curl up on her slippery wall while your nose vies with her protruded anus for space on her plot, ”Whah! Right there!” 

You’d need a longer tool to reach anything of value since she lacked the nerve density she had elsewhere, but she seemed to get enough pleasure from the knowledge of the intimate act in itself. You lose track of time as your cunnilingus continues through countless bouts of quivering and moaning, but as predicted, she starts to lose it.

”Oaaagh!”

A few more prods send her over the edge and her walls block you off as every muscle in her crotch flexes. You circle the tense hole a bit, no longer able to push your tongue past her resistance. You braced for more vocals, but they never come. Instead a prismatic fluttering catches your attention. Her dock was having some sort of seizure; the colors of her tail blending in a blur of movement. The affects of her orgasm were too distracting and you’re suddenly overwhelmed with her demanding movements. You struggle to keep your position as she grinds desperately against your mouth, her powerful winks drawing stimulation that prolonged her release. Her musky smell intensifies and gives you more incentive to give her what she wants. 

After a few seconds of fireworks she takes a deep breath. Her rigid spine finally relaxes and you feel her soft belly breathe out a relieved coo. With her immediate tension relieved you pull back and look at what you’ve done. Her butt was covered in spit and juices—its hair a matted and lumpy mess. She looks back at you with an open-mouth smile and rosy cheeks, nostrils flared with each breath and her submissively folded ears complemented loving, thankful eyes. Nothing you could possibly do would make you deserving of her. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t try.

You give her labia one parting kiss before guiding her to lay on her back. Hot Dash breath warms your face as you lean in towards her smiling, amorous eyes. As soon as you get close enough she steals a soft kiss from your lips indifferent to where they’d been a moment ago. It wasn’t anything like her slobbery assaults from earlier, it was much more sensual. You wrap her up in your arms to snuggle closer to her warmth as you match her kiss straight on. Your noses rest against each other and share each other’s air in an intimate display of mutual comfort.

You break the kiss and caress her cheek, your other hand reaches back to hook around the crevice of her knee. Her legs automatically spread in anticipation of the next event. 

Fuzzy lips steal your breath at its source. You pull off her with a pop and peck the tip of her sweaty nose. Dilated magenta eyes pry open your emotional floodgates as her scratchy giggle goes straight to your heart. You take a deep breath and lower your member into her sea of moist skin.

She gasps but maintains eye contact as you grind against her hot folds to refresh its layer of lubrication. You let out a satisfying grunt of your own as you realize how pent up you’d been in her absence. You ensure there’s enough lubrication to keep her comfortable, then adjust to lay your tip against her glistening sex. Hearts race and you swallow a final lump in your throat. She hadn't asked you to take it slow this time and you could tell she wasn't going to, however her cocky eagerness tapered off a bit at the prospect of imminent penetration. Remembering how you calmed her before, you lean forward and pull away from her hips.

Mouths hover next to each other with enough of an overlap to pass breaths freely. Her eyes bore questions into yours as she inhales your whisper of comfort, “I love you more than anything in the world Rainbow Dash…”

She chokes on a lump in her throat when she hears your heartfelt words. Then she tries to take you right there; your member pierces her fatty folds before you counter and pull away—a lone string of sex fluid connecting your glans to her crevice, “Shhhhh…shhhhh…don’t rush this…take it slow, make it last…”

Simple words seem to possess a magic of their own as the puddle of pegasus in your arms whimpers as she tries to snuggle even closer to you. She couldn't speak past her stifling attachment, but you understood everything she was saying.

Tendrils of her deep rooted drive to mate snake up around the corners of her mind and begin to pull her deeper into the pit of lust. You patiently wait as you experience her whimpers turn into nuzzles and her nuzzles turn into licks. Soon enough she’s rubbing up against you—ready to take you in again.

You withdraw from your hug just enough to nuzzle your nose against hers and look into her eyes. Coming to terms with your fluttering chest, you slowly push your hips forward and watch as Dash’s eyes struggle to stay open. Her body tenses as the diamond-hard member between your legs lances her engorged labia and your head flares just underneath her lips.

”Mmmmmhg…” Her chin tucks to her chest and her ears fold from their half-forward state as she moans in pleasure. Inch by inch you disappear into her feverish body; the counter-instinctive slow penetration was worth every second. 

“Agh!” Your teeth grind together as the tightness of her canal pulls back on the skin of your shaft and exposes the rim of your slick glans to contact her hot walls.

”Goaoh…” More of your weight leans onto her as you finally bottom out. The audible indication of her penetrated sex squelching against your crotch goes unnoticed to the near-unconscious mare, ”Ooooooh…Anooon.”

You give the top of her snout a kiss before leaning back a bit. She flexes her abs sporadically in response to the foreign object inside her. The clenching tugs on the natural angle of your erection and you fight a shudder. Her half-lidded eyes meet yours and all you can make out is that she wanted to be rutted…hard. Hips start to pump against each other and her wetness starts to lather your crotch. Her folds slobber even more as you begin to pick up speed—stimulating the deep tissue of her innards.

”Ooagh!”

Her tail flicks against your butt in sync with your heavy thrusts and the mattress starts to squeak with repetition.

”Anon!”

You take advantage of your tempered member and chisel away at different parts of her inner wall. After a few thrusts you find a patch of wrinkles that bulge out from top of her canal.

”Yes! Keep it-aah!…there!” 

You angle to rub harder against her little speed bumps—forcing her legs to buck wildly every time you hit it. You shift your attention away from her nethers to see an incredibly satisfying open mouth grin on her face. You continue rubbing on her strangely obtrusive mound of flesh and savor every grunt and cry. 

”A-Anon?” The inflection in her voice is lost on you over the plethora of sensations you’re experiencing, but the sound of your name makes you pump harder. She starts to squirm as an unfamiliar tingly pressure builds in her nether region, "An-nuugh!" You kiss her mouth as she grits her teeth and winces with every thrust into her g-spot. You break the kiss to let her breathe and she blurts out, ”Wait I-I-I have t-to-uugh!—“

By the time you realize what she’s saying and slow down, it’s too late. Your colorful pegasus lets out a frightened whimper as she crests the peak of another climax. The unknown sensations were startlingly close to something she desperately did not want, yet they were indescribably wonderful. The luscious blue feathers of her wings quiver and spread under muscle tension while her dock pulls as far back as physically possible. Her face freezes in a grimace of pleasure and you feel her wink so hard you’re afraid she might pull a muscle. Suddenly a pressurized stream of hot fluid escapes the strong seal her clenched canal had on you—spurting down your half-buried penis with a loud squelch.

“Ngaaah!” She cries as the torrid stream tapers off then returns with a second contraction.

You hold her waist and watch with surprise as the clear, viscous fluid warms your crotch and audibly splatters anything in its path. A third contraction sprays you with more of her concentrated mare slime and she finally breathes again. You stare down in shock at the wore out pegasus as her hooves tremble with the slightest of movements and her whole body shudders with every exhale. The pegasus juice drips off you in long, thick strings. That was incredible.

Despite her experience she didn’t seem as enthusiastic in the afterglow; her hoof covered her rosy muzzle and her eyes wavered with embarrassment, “I-I’m s-sorry, I didn’t realize I ne-eeded to…” Her voice comes out as a hoarse whisper and she looks off to the side. She’s so embarrassed her ears are turning red.

You’re hit with strong empathy for the mare, “Hey it’s fine, why would I be upset at you Rainbow?” You clear an orange lock from her brow, but she still hides behind her muzzle. 

Her eyes start to well up as they did everything to avoid your confused gaze, “I-I didn’t kn-ow I-I had to uu-use the b-bathroom…” Her quaking, almost sobbing voice cracks under emotional strain. Oh no, the poor thing, that’s why she’s so upset... 

Your hand moves down to swipe the inside of her soaked thigh, and you bring it to your nose, then your mouth. It carried a sharper tang—a strange cross between detergent and chlorine, and it tasted like very tangy milk. Nothing but natural product of a young, healthy, horny pegasus mare. Your actions prove what you’ve known all along and Dash finally musters the courage to meet your eyes. You seize the moment and pull her hoof away to bring your mouth to hers. The taste and smell of your lips assured her that it wasn't what she initially feared. And with your lover back in high spirits, it was time to finish what you started.

Remnant shudders still travel her nimble frame, but you allow them no time to abate. With your lips still locked you hilt yourself into her by the roots of her wings. Her grunts tickle your throat and your hands go to work on her feathery leading edges.

Her lubricant production tapers off to a comfortable mean but your member slides into her like glass on ice. Her body didn’t know what to do. Commands coming from her oversensitive crotch and flight muscles conflicted with the scattered ones coming from her brain. The result was a twitching, drooling mess of a pegasus that could do little more than breathe and process pleasure. Laying your belly on hers you manage to match up the angle of your throbbing erection with the angle of her canal. The result was frictionless but deeper penetration.

”Eeep!”

Her cervix teased your glans with harder thrusts. The mucous slick donut tickled your very tip and made you flare uncontrollably in an attempt to grow the last fraction of an inch. You’d never considered yourself big by any means, but her biology was optimized for normal equine mating which included a longer penis, but also a less efficient mounting position. In the end your flexibility won the day and allowed you to give your mare the experience of her life. You hilt again before grinding deeper into her body.

”Gaooohohohoh!”

You could just…”Ngh!”…barely…”Mph!”…reach….”Gaaah!” Dash holds onto your torso and lets out airy squeals of pleasure from the deep stimulation. You continue your short bobs into her depths until your breathing gets shakier and your joints begin to tremble. A familiar pressure begins to rapidly mount behind your shaft. Your hands barely continue to stimulate her wings as you collapse onto her sweaty form. You bury your nose in her mane and nudge into her a few more times as you struggle to hold the dam of fluid in your groin. Recognizing the drop-off quickly approaching, you devote your remaining lucidity to putting delicate down-pressure on the throbbing flight appendages.

“Ahhhhg Rainbow!”

Your long-awaited orgasm finally hits you. The dam collapses and hot fluid screams down your tube. Your shaft and head swell as a high-pressure stream of semen spurts into her deepest of parts. The second contraction is just as powerful as the first and more of your virile fluid paints Dash’s cervix. She revels in the unparalleled satisfaction of being inseminated as the feeling of your erupting sperm psychologically trips her final climax. You float with your mare on a cloud made of happiness as your testes finish making a mess in her. Finally, a sweeping calm washes through you to gently extinguish the burning lust that had carried you to this point. The frantic motion of your hips devolves into a gentle rock and the post-orgasmic sensitivity keeps you from doing anything drastic.

You snap out of your high to find yourself staring down at Dash’s glassy eyes. She struggles to hold your gaze and you realize she still in the midst of her orgasm. You knead her wing joints and plant gentle kisses on her quaking muzzle until she’s done. Ecstasy releases her back to you and she sighs with an incredulous smile—her pent up libido more satisfied than she ever thought possible. Dash gives you a final goodbye wink as you withdraw your still hard member from her comforting clutches and rest the numb hotdog against her meaty buns. You crane your head up and balance with your noses touching—sharing breath.

”Hmhmhmhmhmm…” Her dopey giggle made her sex high very apparent. Her features portray a unique cross between happiness, playfulness, and exhaustion as she gazes up at you.

“What now…” You prod breathlessly.

”N-Nothing…Hmhmhmm!”

“Tell me.”

”No it’s stupid!…Heheh!” Her giggling scratchy voice was music to your ears.

“Dash tell me!” You cup her face to give the semblance of interrogation.

”Hmmhmm…haha—” You kiss her in an attempt to stifle her laughing. She keeps on regardless, but eventually concedes when your ticklish fingers move to her sweaty leg pits, ”—mmkah! Maky I’ll tell!” You break the seal to allow her to speak.

”I was just uhh, thinking of a stupid joke I heard a while back, it’s not very—“

“—Just spit it out.”

”…Heh! Okay, it’s like-hahahaha—” You haplessly let her ride her bout of laughter, ”—Is that melted ice cream or are you just happy to see me-hehe-hahahaha!”

She’s totally out of it, “Yeah the store was all sold out of human jizz so I figured ice cream would work just as good.”

”Hahahahahahaha!”

“Heh, maybe I’ll just stick a popsicle stick inside you and put you in the freezer. Make myself a homemade vanilla ice pop.”

”Hah-*gasp-ahahahahahahaha!” The ridiculous amount of endorphins that you’d flooded her system with seem to compromise her sanity as she laughs relentlessly against you. You finally lose to the sight of her and join in. Your recovery takes longer than it should have, but you both eventually get control of yourselves. 

You boop her nose and she playfully tries to bite your finger, “Truthfully, yes, I’m very glad to see you.” Happiness replaces most of her humor and she locks onto your eyes with a loving gaze, “I’ve been thinking about you all weekend.”

”Me too I…” Her cheeks flush red and she pauses, ”…I kept looking to see if you were in the stands.”

You quickly bury your face in her mane to avoid letting her see the unmanly emotions that were welling up in your eyes, “Well here I am.” You hug each other tighter, rolling onto your sides before scooting away from the sizable wet spot on the mattress. Brand new sheets too. You idly stroke the fur of her shoulder and neck—her powerful post-coitus smells blending into a soothing haze. Hooves gently circle your back and you both silently agree to call it quits for the day.

You awkwardly lean over her and flip the lamp off. Now only the candlelight remained. You find your spot again and Dash makes herself at home on you. Her muzzle finds the crook of your neck and her belly presses up to yours. One loving wing moves to shelter your shoulders and back and she nuzzles against the base of your jaw. No matter how tangled up you got in each other it never seemed to be enough. 

"You know I was going to rut you even if you hadn't made me dinner right?"

The serious question made you chuckle and you sift through the fur of her shoulder, "Well I had to show my appreciation somehow." 

Dash stays silent for a moment, your breaths the only sounds in the dark room, "...You don't need to do things for me to prove you l-love me."

Your chest constricts and your heart pauses for longer than it should, you love her so much it actually hurts a bit, "I know...but I enjoy it."

She nuzzles your jaw hard, "You're the best dude."

"I know."

She smacks your shoulder...very weakly. A content grin cements itself on your face as your post-orgasm brain shuts down. Her wings make such good blankets. You squeeze her tighter but her stomach gurgles and she shifts in your grasp.

"Hey...Anon."

"Huh?" You mumble.

"Guess what?" Her whisper had a dangerously mischievous tone.

"Huh?" You ask. 

"You might need a napkin, your ice cream is dripping."

"......" Dash is silent while you return from the edge of slumber to re-evaluate her comment, "...Aww gross!"

"Heheheh you better hurry it's really runny-heh." She lays her hind hoof on top of your thigh but otherwise remains lounged against you.

"Dash come on it's late."

She prods your chest, "It's only midnight."

"Yeah...you go to sleep at nine, how are you not tired?"

"Tired? After that like...four...no five orgasms. Are you kidding me I've never felt more awake!"

Dear Celestia, "I'm pretty sure it was four."

"No cuz that one counted for two."

"Which one?"

"The one where you were like mpf mpf mpf, and I was like ngh ngh ngh, and then whoosh!"

"...You mean the one where you sort of...mare-jizzed." 

"Uhh yeah..." The first hint of sobriety taints her mirthful attitude as she recalls her fears. But it quickly subsides, "...wasn't that awesome!"

"It was pretty cool...now get to sleep." 

"...But it's still running."

"That's your problem not mine."

You feel her clench her abs and let out a quiet grunt, "Oh geez that's a lot—"

"—Don't push it out!"

"Heheheh...I thought it wasn't your problem."

"Well it'll be both our problems if it gets everywhere!"

"......"

"Dash?" You wait a moment but she stays silent, "Rainbow!"

"...Heheh it tickles."

"Just...squeeze your legs or something—"

"—Wait..."

"What?"

"...It just dripped."

There was a trade off between caring about staining the sheets and getting out of bed to get some tissues. And at this point there was very little that could motivate you to move and the linens were probably ruined anyways...back to sleep.

"All over your brand new sheets."

"I don't care—"

"—Oh, that was a big drip it's like a—"

"—Shutup already—"

"—Like a big...vanilla waterfall—"

"—I'm an inventor now I need to sleep—"

"—A fountain...no...a geyser, a geyser of warm vanilla—

"—Rainbow quit it!" As much as you hated it her explicitly humorous comments had you on the brink of laughter...her feathers tipped you over the edge, "Hahahahaha!"

You move your arm to shield your side, but her wing returns its warm, protective hold. You feel breath on your face and open your eyes to see hers. Magenta irises flicker in the waning firelight.

"The sheets are clean...I just wanted to see you smile again." 

Your heart wells up in your throat and you grant the one in-a-million-mare her hard earned smile. She moves to give you a passionate goodnight kiss and you focus on her every taste and texture in hopes of carrying the heavenly sensation with you to the dream world.

“I love you more than anything Rainbow Dash.”

Her smile curves against your cheek as she finds a resting spot for her head, ”I know.”
> Socializing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You wake up in the same position you fell asleep in—minus one Rainbow pegasus. The blankets had been pulled up in her wake but your arms hold nothing but warm air. You pat the area around you, lazily searching for fur or feathers in your groggy state. Nothing.

Unreasonable fear begins to well up in the pit of your stomach, and you look at the clock—ignoring the shooting pain that fills your eyes from the morning light.

*8:12

You groan. It’s way too early for her to be up on an off day where could she be? She was an adult and all, but it was unlike her to just disappear without warning. You sit up rather quickly to take a look around. Fear turns to relief when you see her prismatic mane bobbing just above the kitchen countertops. At the same time your nose picks up the smell of toast and fried eggs. Dash is making breakfast. You lay back down but continue watching as she goes about her own little routine. She stands on her hind legs and opens the cupboard to get something before setting it on the counter; both her hooves return to gently close the door. She must be afraid of waking you.

You could tell her not to bother, but you weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to observe her behavior. Between your history as friends and your relationship you felt like you knew her pretty well. Even so, there were obviously some things you still had to learn. Like the fact that she hummed when she buttered toast. 

The familiar tune was punctuated by focused periods of silence while she carefully angles her knife between clenched teeth. Soon enough she finishes and her little song ends half way through. She goes over and props herself over the sink to place the butter knife down but pauses. Her ears go on alert, she’s onto you. You slowly sink back into the sheets and close your eyes until you’re peeping through a slit. Surprisingly she doesn’t turn around and instead sizes up something on the adjacent wall. What is she—

In a flash she pushes off the sink and slashes the knife through the air at an imaginary assailant. Her momentum carries through and she spins around to slice through another air enemy. No way…you can’t help your ear to ear grin. The rainbow blur of play fighting carries on for a good thirty seconds as she throws hooves and swings your benign cutlery in a ferocious manner. Even though she was clearly making up some of her moves, she looked like she knew enough of what she was doing that it was actually rather impressive; you sure wouldn’t mess with that. The silent combat abruptly ends when one of her punches accidentally connects with your cabinet in a loud—

—*crack!

You wipe the smile off your face just in time for her to spin around to check on you. You hear her holding a breath of anticipation across the room, and you didn’t dare peek. After a moment she turns to inspect the cabinet and rub at the divot her hoof left in the wood. She looks around nervously before gingerly placing the knife in the sink. Without further ado she places breakfast on a tray and softly approaches the bed. The tray gets gently deposited on your nightstand and she turns to look at you but pauses as if contemplating how to wake you. You can feel her breath from a distance; her penetrating gaze making you sweat bullets behind closed eyes. Does she know? 

Finally she trots around the bed and steps up on her side. Her hooves rock the mattress ever so slightly as she takes up position behind you. The same, distanced breath teases the back of your neck when a sudden sensation tickles your ear lobe. Is that a feather? She holds another breath and shifts weight on her hooves. Again the sensation returns, this time tracing the outside of your ear. Yep, definitely a feather. It takes every ounce of willpower to keep from swatting the ticklish intruder. She relents again but only for a moment before she plunges her pinfeather into your ear.

“Aaah!” Before you have a chance to react she tackles your prostrate form and traps your arms underneath the sheets, “Get it out!” You rock your head violently to dislodge the assailant and she finally abates but keeps it threateningly posed.

“Only if you promise not to tell any pony what you just saw!” You try to move but she only clamps you tighter. You grab her fore hoof to dislodge it but a threatening wingtip at the entrance of your ear dissuades you from escaping.

“What I didn’t see anything!”

She squeezes you tighter and swipes your ear, “Try again!”

“Ok! Ok! I promise not to tell any pony what I saw!” You shout. You hold your breath in anticipation for a moment as she evaluates the sincerity of your tone. 

She finally releases her hold, “You better…”

Your hand frees itself and itches your tortured ear before booping her nose. She scrunches and snorts but sits down next to you undeterred, “How’d you know I was awake anyways?” You stare into her eyes, her seemingly ever present smile had already made your day.

“Because the blanket was off your withers—“

“—Shoulders…”

“…Y-yea those…I definitely covered them when I got up because I, uhh…kn-know how weak and cold you get.” Her stutter brought the slightest hint of pink to her cyan cheeks.

“Well I’m glad you’re looking out for me otherwise I might’ve caught hypothermia or something.”

She grins before collapsing onto you, her chin landing squarely in your unprotected stomach, “Heh, just be glad I’ve got wings,” She extends her wing out to playfully bat at your face. You catch it and hold it to your chest, “Oh and your breathing’s different when you sleep.” She adds as an afterthought. 

“Well I guess I can’t fool you.”

“Nope!” She grins confidently.

“So did you win the battle?” 

Your question wipes the smirk off her face, “I-I was just practicing for the new sparring classes we’re taking!”

“Suuure…and did they give you an insurance plan with that to cover property damage?”

Her eyes drift to the marred cabinet and her ears fold, “Uhhh…I-I—”

“—Hahahaha! Relax Dash I’m just messing with you!”

The active little listeners pop back up, “Wait, really?”

When will she ever learn it’s impossible for you to be mad at her? “Of course!” You ruffle her hair, “You’re not the first one to leave some dents, have you seen the doorways around here?”

The look of mild confusion accompanies her face as she turns to inspect the front door across the room; the top of the five foot door jam had a few scuffs and the bottom corners were practically black from being kicked, “Ouch! That looks like it hurt.” 

“It did for the first week or so before I realized that the doors were smaller here.”

Magenta eyes turn back and glance at your fore head, “Well it won’t happen again because I’m gonna get a lot better at it!”

“Doesn’t that mean you’ll do more damage?”

“Heheh, yeah probly.” She snickers and play fights your hand as she rolls onto her back for belly rubs. You forget the world as you get lost in the mare’s antics; suddenly she perks up, “Don’t forget your breakfast dude.”

Right. Breakfast. She makes no effort to move from her lounged position as you retrieve the tray. Two sunny side up eggs greet you next to some buttered cinnamon-sugar toast and hash browns. Dear Celestia it’s beautiful, “You know this is the most effort that’s been put into my breakfast in a year.” The statement was meant as a compliment, but it comes out sounding like you’re in shock. 

She blushes, “Heh, well I’ve never cooked eggs that way before so I kinda just winged it until they looked edible…by your standards.”

You quirk an eyebrow at her, “Are you implying my tastes in cuisine are sub-par?”

Her grin teases you, ”Yeah.” You can’t say you’re surprised; she’s definitely the kind of mare to tell it like it is, ”What! You don’t even like hayburgers!”

“That’s because I don’t have the enzymes that allow me to digest beta-glucose Dash.”

Her brow furrows in frustration, ”Then just…I don’t know! Quit speaking nerd!” You move your free hand to rub her belly—turning her frown upside down as she stretches under your pleasant touch. A powerful yawn overtakes her and she blinks a few times before focusing back on you; her wings still limp in relaxation.

“I don’t think you realize how much fun it is to annoy you.”

She raises her brows at your boldness and her eyes drift towards the framed portrait of herself on your nightstand. An amused smirk worms its way to her face. 

"You know I almost got the life sized poster, but I figured you'd just get jealous so I went with that one instead."

She nods condescendingly and purses her still smirking lips. 

"It's only a matter of time before they come out with plushies you know...then I'll have something to cuddle to sleep *smack—ow!"

”Better eat up before I decide to unmake your breakfast.”

“That sounds…excessively violent.” The threat coupled with the wonderful smell of the food in front of you finally breaks your resolve and you unceremoniously inhale one of the cinnamon-sugar covered toasts, “Aw man these are great! I’ve never had anything besides jam on toast before.”

She watches with satisfaction as you hungrily eye the rest of the meal, “My mom used to make that for me.” 

“Well I’ll have to thank her when I meet her.”

“You…want to meet my parents?” She asks as if surprised, but not unpleasantly so.

“Of course! They’re both tied for second on my list of favorite pe—ponies.”

She ignores your linguistic correction like she had countless times before, “But you don’t even know them? How can you like them yet?” 

She walked right into this one, “Because they made my number one favorite pony in the whole wide world.” You pinch her cheek like a toddler.

Her hoof slaps it away, “Gross dude!” 

“Hahahahaha!” She stays indignantly flustered and refuses to meet your eye. Your laughter dies down and on a more serious note you add, “Not sure if they’ll see me in the same light but still…”

Her ears detect your sobriety and she turns back, “Whadda ya mean?” 

“Well…not being a stallion and all…”

“…Seriously?…” She locks you in her incredulous trance, “…The only ponies who care about that are jerks, and my parents are like, the exact opposite of that. Like super not jerky.”

Not jerky…sounds pleasant enough…

“So get those dumb ideas out of your head…or at least try, I know there’s a lot of ‘em.” She insults you with a smile—successfully lightening your mood as intended, “Besides, it’s not like they don’t know all about you already I-uh…um…” She trails off abruptly.

“You just said I’ve never met them how can…ohhh-ho-ho-ho…” She drops her muzzle as it flares up and averts her gaze thinking it would somehow hide her, “…has a certain blue pegasus been writing home about me?” 

A grin splits your face, but it wasn’t to taunt her, rather it was an uncontrollable reaction to the revelation of the new and endearing information. The colors of her mane tickle her flushed cheeks as you comb through them affectionately; she tolerates it begrudgingly. The feeling was surprisingly warming, and the longer you pondered it the more you appreciated it. For a moment you regret that you’ll never be able to give her the same experience. It takes her a moment to compose herself, “I told them a bit a-about…us…t-that we’re, sorta together…” She stutters. 

“Good, so they won’t freak out when they see me then?”

“Heh, m-maybe a bit…you’re pretty tall.” 

“You know I’m pretty average by human standards.”

She quirks a brow at this and pauses, “Well you’re a-above average, t-to me…” Her eyes dart around and she starts to second-guess the wording on her cheesy compliment. 

You cup her cheeks, “Heheheh, you’re just a little love-bug aren’t you—“

“—Finish your breakfast already!” She explodes but doesn't break away from your touch.

“Yes ma’am.”

She squints at your sass, but you pay no mind and continue eating, “Wait, did you make anything for yourself?”

Her eyes divert, ”I’m not hungry…y-yet.”

“If you say so.” After a few bites of everything, two things become apparent. Dash over salted the eggs and the cinnamon flavored buttery toast only got better with every bite. You meet her expectant eyes and finish chewing, ”This is really good, and I’m not just saying that because I love you.”

She fights off the blush this time but her ears still move, ”R-really?”

You nod in assurance before selecting the toast for further consumption. Before you can stuff your face two blue hooves intercept your arm and Dash pulls it down to take a bite. You take the detour in stride and conclude your mission of stuffing your face. Both of you keep awkward eye contact as the sound of crunching toast echoes through the room. You finish first, “Hungry now I take it?”

”Heh, uh…I was just testing it to make sure it was…” She trails off as you bring the half-eaten toast back down in front of her muzzle. She looks questioningly at you and you poke her nose with it.

*crunch

You chuckle to yourself as Dash graciously accepts your offering. In less than a minute your plate is clean and Dash is nibbling at breadcrumbs in her chest fur. You help her pick the last few out and down half of the juice before offering her the rest. She takes it without hesitation and sits up to keep from choking. Finally finished, you take the empty glass from her and the tray and set them on the floor next to your bed. You lean back using your arms as a headrest. Dash wiggles her way under the covers and lays her head across your bare chest, her chin resting on your sternum, orange-breath blowing across your face.

You look into her eyes and share a smile. Neither of you speak, but that doesn’t make it awkward. The affection that hung thick in the air between you said enough, but of course you couldn’t stay that way for long.

You lean forward to kiss and she springs up to eagerly reciprocate as if she’d been waiting for this moment all morning. Your lips meet and dance around like the well-acquainted partners they are, reveling in the simple joy of intimate touch. Despite having done this countless times she put her all into making the kiss as passionate and meaningful as she could. And as far as you were concerned, nothing in the world would ever be able to top the feeling of being on the receiving end of that kind of love. Finally, you break with heavy breath. 

You spot a speck of cinnamon on her nose from earlier and flick it away with the tip of your tongue. She wipes her nose with a foreleg and cocks a grin at you. Whether she knew your intent or not she doesn’t hesitate to reciprocate and her tongue flicks out in a similar fashion. No matter what you do you just can’t one-up her with affection.

“I guess now would be a good time to thank you for the best breakfast I’ve ever had in my entire life.” Your flattering exaggeration carried enough truth to make her feel proud.

”It’s just…I wanted to repay you for last night, you know, the dinner and…o-other stuff.” She shivers at the thought.

You bring a hand to cup her face and she looks down sheepishly at your chest, “Dash, you don’t owe me anything, I did it because I wanted to.”

”I know but you put so much effort into it and I didn’t even properly thank you!”

What is she talking about? “But you did thank me properly remember?”

”Wh-what?” 

“You thanked me when you smiled at me, when you kissed me…when you made love to me. You don’t have to say anything to thank someone.” Arms wrap her in a bear hug before she has a chance to argue her case, “Besides, remember what you said to me last night?”

“Uhh…sorta…m-maybe…” 

“You said I don’t have to do things for you to prove that I love you. That goes for you too.” You poke her nose for emphasis.

”Y-yeah…I guess—”

“—Shhhh…”

”But I—“

“—Shhhhh!” Your finger effectively suppresses her side of the argument.

”Okay geez. Point taken.” She submits and lays against you for some early morning cuddles. Now’s a prime time to start making good on your promise to find the rest of her freckles. Golden rays of morning sun pierce the gaps in your curtains and warm the end of your bed. Your eyes follow dust particles ducking in and out of the celestial light on unseen air currents. Fingers tickle a touchy spot on your companion’s back and her hind leg bucks under the covers. The resulting dust cloud momentarily passes through the ray of morning light before settling. Her breathing becomes more rhythmic as you keep playing around in her fur and her beating chest starts to mirror yours. 

“Hey, if you want something more than half eaten toast we can go out and get you something.” To be honest you were offering out of courtesy. Nothing would make you happier than lounging with her on bed all day.

She pokes her head up from under your chin and tries to focus out of her sudden bout of lethargy, ”Huh? Oh…no that’s fine.” She punctuates with a yawn.

“Well you can’t just skip breakfast entirely.”

She grins and nudges your chin with her nose, ”I don’t plan to…as-uh, as long as you got some ice cream left over…”

The sudden boldness of her request is surprising. Her ears fold and she looks up at you—waiting for your response. Waiting for your permission…“Uhh…I-I…I guess…”

Your somewhat confused consent was all she needed. She gives your chin a hard nuzzle before promptly spinning around with an excited grin—burrowing her upper body into the sheets on top of you. 

“Dash what are you…whoa!” Her wet muzzle clarifies her motivations, “Gah! Rainbow I freaking love you!”

Her giggle sends a shudder through your body as much as hers. Unable to rest with her butt that close to your face you let your own appetite get the better of you. You lift her prismatic tail out of the way and your heart skips a beat, “Dash, I’ve got to-ah!…a-ask you something?”

You feel her ministrations pause, “How much do you plan on walking today?” 

She snorts and her tail twitches in your grasp, ”Not one bit.”





”I thought you said you didn’t have to do any walking today!” You yell down the hallway as you search the dresser for your favorite shirt.

Her scratchy voice echoes back from the bathroom, ”I’m not walking I’m flying!”

“Ohh yeah, nothing’s going to go wrong there, just ask the entire population of Canterlot.”

“Hey! No pony knew what the trick was supposed to look like!”

“Yeah I guess, but you’re still going to have to walk when we get there.”

”You’re blowing it way out of proportion! I’m not that sensitive!”

“Ok Dash.” Her lingering tremors were incredibly cute to watch, but it would definitely draw some questions in public. Hopefully she’d be over it by then, or the party would be so busy no one would notice. Speaking of which, apparently birthday parties for alligators were a thing here. You weren’t keen on going to begin with, primarily because you’d planned to spend your last off-day alone with your pegasus. The other reason was because the eccentric pony that was hosting tended to get on your nerves after a while. But Rainbow wanted to go and she wanted you to come with her; you weren’t about to turn her down.

Besides, it would be good to get out for a change and work on your sociability. And it’s not like you wouldn’t be with her anyways. You hear the bathroom sink finally turn off, “What if someone does notice though? I mean, you can’t exactly pass it off as sore legs.”

You’re met with unusual silence as you move on to another drawer in search of your shirt. Hooves land on your shoulders and her muzzle nips your ear—her stealthy approach taking you completely by surprise, ”Then we’ll have to tell them every. Little. Detail.”  

Her savory tone forces a grin from you and you grab hold of her hooves, “So you want me to tell them how you screamed like a little filly when I—”

”—You can leave that part out.”

“Hahaha, if it comes to that I’ll just let you do all the talking. Sound good?”

”Heheh, yeah you’d better.” She licks your ear before lowering herself and heading into the kitchen intent on depriving you of more food. You return to your own agenda.

“Dash have you seen my black and white checkered button up?”

The rustling in the kitchen pauses while she thinks, ”Uhh…I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“You know, the shirt I wear almost every day…”

She laughs nervously, ”Oh haha! Yeah that one.” 

Your movements become more frustrated as your searching reveals nothing, “I thought I threw it in the hamper last week, but it wasn’t in the wash when I did laundry.”

”Yeah, um…we’re kinda running late already so just pick out another one, I’ll help you look when we get back.” You let out a defeated sigh and humbly comply. A few minutes later you’re walking down Ponyville Main in a child’s medium minotaur t-shirt. Even with the age difference the neck size on minotarus was huge compared to yours. Luckily most ponies don’t know what it’s supposed to look like or didn’t care, and you walked through the streets largely unnoticed, “Hurry up, we’re already late!” Powerful gusts of air flattens your hair and kicks up dirt as the exasperated Wonderbolt orbits around your head.

“It’s not my fault you waited until midmorning to remember the party.”

”Well…you made me forget it!” 

You smile up at her. She isn’t wrong, “Can’t you just enjoy a nice leisurely stroll on a sunny day?”

”You don’t understand Anon we’re gonna be last!”

“We might be late, but I doubt we’ll be last.”

”Then why are you still walking?”

“Because if I ran then I’d be giving into peer pressure.”

”Arrrrgh!”

“But…” Her ears perk up and she hovers in place, “…If someone were to treat me to a chocolate chip cookie later that might convince me to pick up my pace.”

She squints at you with crossed forelegs, ”One cookie.”

“Mhm,” you nod.

”And not any super expensive imported Zebraland flavors.”

“I didn’t know they had such a thing, but chocolate chip will suffice.”

She seems to mull it over for a moment, and if you looked hard enough you could read the slightest hint of a smirk that gave away her nearly impeccable act, ”Fine…but you’d better run.”

“Deal.” You hold out a fist and she bumps it to seal the pact. You take a deep breath before taking off down the street, Dash’s powerful flapping following close behind. You’d thought your relationship would’ve put an end to your old antics, but she was still your best friend. The little bet was completely irrelevant of course. There was absolutely no need to reimburse each other for favors, but the obvious underlying trust that came along with the playful banter seemed to make it more fun. You round the corner to Pinkie’s place and Dash of course shoots past you. 

She finishes the one-sided race about twenty seconds ahead, and comes to a stop in front of the door. Fulfilling your end of the deal, you sprint all the way to the mock finish line before coming to a stop, ”Eh, that was kinda slow…don’t know if I’d consider it running.”

“Don’t try and weasel-*huff…your way out of it, you owe me.”

”Yeah…you’re right. You were only about a minute behind me that time.”

“A minute! That was like ten seconds! You can’t—”

”—All I hear are excuses Anon.”

You scowl down at her and she returns the look until some pony approaching breaks your trance. The colorful mare was second guessing herself as she looked at a Wonderbolt and an alien standing between her and the door, ”Oh I’m sorry, but do you know where the birthday party’s being held? I think I got the wrong address,” She asks timidly.

”No the party’s right through here,” Dash points towards the door that contained muffled laughter, “Don’t mind us we’re just arguing over how much I won by.”

Her sly comment refreshes your scowl. The mare giggles nervously and you move to open the door for her. The moment you do sounds of the ruckus inside increases tenfold. Geez, are the walls to this place soundproofed? “After you Ma’am.” You complete your charade with a short bow, and the earth pony giggles at your antics.

”My, such a gentle colt…hehe” She flashes you a flirty smile as she trots past.

You keep it open and look to your azure companion leaning against the railing with a bemused smirk, “Ms. Dash.”

She struts by purposefully exaggerating her hip sway and stretching her neck to show off. She pauses in front of you to twirl her hair with a hoof and bat her eyelashes in mock flirtation, ”My, such a gentle colt…hehehe!” Her voice was artificially raised to mimic your tan admirer. You hold your stoic look as any true gentleman would…until she flicks your chin with her tail.

*smack

A stout spank to her furry blue globe sends her skittering through the door. You follow her inside just as she whirls around furiously—her tail tucked between her legs. If looks could kill you might regret your actions. But they couldn’t, and her indignant rage was cute. Liking her when she was mad was probably right up there with liking cigarettes when it came to your health, “Dang Dash that had some jiggle, I think you need to lay off the honey bars.”

Everyone inside was far to involved in their own conversations and games to pay any mind to either of you, but Dash kept her voice checked anyways, ”Anon I swear…” Her magenta eyes did their best to set you on fire.

“Please don’t there might be children around.”

Her eyes narrow sharply and she takes a deep breath to give you a piece of her mind.

”Rainbow Dash!” The shrill voice of a pink sugar-strung pony saves you from imminent doom. More surprised than you were, Dash turns around just in time to get tackled by her friend.

”Haha, how ya doing Pinkie?”

”I’m doing great of course! But you really should be asking Gummy because it's his birthday and I’m just hosting the party for him can you believe it’s been a whole year since his last birthday party! Anon!”

What? You look to Dash and see she’s just as lost as you are. You turn back to the walking pink grin, “What?”

”I haven’t seen you in forever have you been hiding in your alien spaceship or something?”

“I-I...”

”Just kidding of course you don’t have one otherwise you would’ve left or conquered the world already.”

“Yeah.”

”Oh! Why don’t you come over and drop off your presents for Gummy then you can get some snacks!”

Dash’s features jump in shock, ”Umm well…” she looks up at you for an emergency answer, she obviously forgot the whole present thing. Luckily for her you weren’t as absent-minded. You just grin and wink at her, effectively telling her you got it covered, ”…yeah, sure.”

“Awesome!” Pinkie leads the way through the crowd to a corner of the room where the little green lizard creature was sprawled across his offerings, gnawing on a still wrapped gift, ”Gummy! Look, uncle Anon and aunt Rainbow are here!”

You reach in your pocket and withdraw a small rubber band ball you grabbed off your work desk before you left. Dash snorts at your ingenuity. You crouch down to hold it out to the reptile. He remains motionless for a moment while you watch the reflection of your hand wave in front of his lidless eyes. Before you can recoil he snatches the rubber ball from between your fingers and begins thrashing around with it.

”Omigosh he loves it!”

“I’m glad, we both chipped in on that one,” You nudge your feathery friend with an elbow and smile. Dash finally swallows her pride from earlier and returns a grateful look.

”Wow, if you two make presents this good then you’d make great babies!” And on that note Pinkie leaves you two to check up on one of her countless other social circles. A madly blushing pegasus turns to you and lifts up a wing to shield her conversation.

”T-That’s not p-possible is it? I-I mean I’m not actually going to get pregnant right?” She urgently whispers. Your own flushed features told her you were also grateful for the privacy of her wing.

“She’s just joking, I’m pretty sure it’s impossible.” You’d laugh at her unfounded fear, but you were busy trying to suppress some very vivid and recent memories.

Her minty breath assaults you again, ”How sure’s pretty sure?”

“Dash I guarantee with all those wings and legs and colors you’re at least a hundred chromosomes ahead of me,” Her brows furrows in contemplation, “And you’re not in heat so it wouldn’t matter anyways.” 

Her muzzle flushes red, “I-I knew that!” 

You go to respond but get cut off, ”Well well well if it isn’t Ms. Crash herself and her number one fan!” Oh shit you recognize that voice. Dash freezes and her ears perk up in a panic, eyes stare wide at yours, ”What kinda steamy secrets you think they’re sharing under there Soarin?”

”I don’t know but I doubt they’re gonna stay for the whole party if you know what I mean.” The same thought raced through both your minds. How the hell did two Wonderbolts get invited to a gecko’s birthday party? 

Dash’s wide eyes told you she really wasn’t ready for this. But Fleetfoot’s teasing voice reminded her that life isn’t fair, ”Hmm, you think they’re busy making out or just ignoring us?”

”Maybe…what are the kids calling it nowadays? Prench something or other…”

Dash snaps her wing back to her side and hastily clears her throat, ”Fleetfoot, Soarin! I didn’t know you two were going to be here haha!”

Fleetfoot nudges her grey companion, ”Looks like they finally came up for air.”

Oh this Is going to be rough. Dash pipes up, ”It’s not what it looked like!”

”Perception is reality; that’s the first rule of airshows. Come on Crash don’t tell me you slept through every lesson.” Soarin smiles provokingly at the both of you as Dash stutters to come up with a rebuttal.

“But all judgment is subjective to the individual whose world views are shaped by past experiences.” You knew that philosophy class would pay off eventually. 

”Yeah what he said!” Dash quips.

You contain your smile as you watch Soarin struggle for a valid comeback. Fleetfoot turns to the weak link, “So I take it you typically wait until you’re out of public?”

”Of course! What kind of mare do you think…” Dash catches herself before she can finish her confession, but the message was already out. A powerful blush quickly begins to contrast her blue fur, and Fleetfoot only grins wider. It was as if the teal pegasus sucked the last remaining confidence from your blue one. 

Fleetfoot hoofs her shoulder, ”Hahaha! Chill a bit Dash, you two are cute together! Look at em’ Soarin aren’t they cute?”

”Like two peas in a pod. They’ll be getting married in no time.” And you thought he was going to be a bro. You shoot him a ‘really’ look but he just smirks.

”Almost as cute as in the hotel when—”

”—Shush!” Dash explodes to cover Fleetfoot’s muzzle with a hoof while half the room falls silent and looks your direction. Well there’s a touchy subject.

”Oh you-mm muh not’ve-mmpf tolhd em?” the pegasus manages as Dash follows her muzzle around with a panicked hoof.

“Told me what?” 

“Anon don’t listen to her! She’s lying!”

Soarin looks on in similar bewilderment, ”Whatever it is, it’s news to me.”

Most of the ponies return to their conversations, but Dash was still actively suppressing Fleetfoot’s freedom of speech. You’d step in, but it was far too entertaining. Fleetfoot finally pins Dash’s fore hooves to the ground and spills the beans, ”Every night she’d-mmpf…” She fights away a wing, “...wear your shirt to bed."

Dash was too mortified to keep resisting and instead focused on taking deep breaths as the room started to close in around her, “Is that so…” You add thoughtfully. So that’s where your button up disappeared to.

“I thought it was just some new fashion trend at first, but when our luggage got delayed in Manehatten she tossed and turned all night, and I realized she couldn’t fall asleep without her stallion’s scent! It was the absolute cutest thing!” She elbows Rainbow who is so petrified she almost falls over. 

The mare looks like she’s about to have a stroke. Unfortunately your smile is unable to affect her frozen figure. Fleetfoot sees what you see and takes pity, ”Aww come on Dash it’s perfectly normal! Let's go get you something to drink and loosen up a bit.” She nudges your mare to follow alongside and Dash doesn’t bother to fight it. At this point she’d do almost anything to keep from having to look you in the eye.

Soarin lets out a deep breath next to you—reminding you he was still there, ”Well, never seen that before.”

“Yeah, that was…interesting to say the least.” To be honest you felt a strange mix between flattery and confusion.

”What do you say we hit the snack bar, give em’ some space to sort things out?”

“Fine by me.”

Soarin leads the way to the nearest table covered in sweets, and you numbly follow. You grab a few small cupcakes, but you’re primarily focused on digesting your most recent revelation. Who would’ve thought a crocodile’s birthday party could be this crazy, “So how’d you know Dash and I were going to be here?”

Soarin doesn’t bother looking at you as he leans across the snack trays to inspect a row of pastries, ”We didn’t.”

“So I take it you know Gluey then?”

”Yeah sure I know Gummy.”

Gummy, right, “I’m sorry, I just have a hard time picturing how two Wonderbolts ended up at a caiman’s—

”—Crocodile’s.”

“…crocodile’s birthday party.”

He finally chooses his victim and turns to meet your eyes, ”Not any less likely than an alien and a Wonderbolt.”

He does have a point. 

”The train stopped here on the way back from Appaloosa and I noticed a massive banner advertising free party pastries.”

”Pinkie solicited her pet’s birthday party on public transportation routes?” 

”I guess that’s one way to put it. Either way we couldn’t turn it down.”

“Yeah I don’t blame you…” Soarin digs into his cherry croissant and you turn to survey the crowd, ”So Fleefoot is…“

”…Putting her experience to work and helping me clear up some family matters, trusts and estates and such. She’s dealt with this stuff before.”

You’re not about to steer the topic to family drama, “Oh, so you’re not together?”

”Well…not officially, the ‘Bolts don’t really tolerate teamcest, uhh…mixing personal lives with work. It complicates things when the chain of command starts playing favorites.”

“That makes sense I guess. But…unofficially…?” You pause to stuff your mouth with some licorice while he takes his time to respond. 

“Unofficially we get along quite well and enjoy each other’s company. But the moment we put on our uniforms it’s business as usual. We both know there’s more at stake if we brought the relationship to work, and we don’t take it personally when we have to make practical decisions…that’s probably why we’ve lasted as long as we have…” You nod in agreement and you both take a break to fill your faces with the unnaturally good pastries. 

A myriad of colorful ponies are engaged in various conversations and several glance over to briefly catch your eye. You’d grown accustomed to your relative height advantage, but you never felt natural—especially in crowds. Luckily most ponies who weren’t already used to you were cordial enough not to stare. The little equines were on the smaller end of all the fantastical species you’d seen; the average stallion was a smidgen taller than you on his hind legs, and the average mare, a head shorter. 

Ironically, you’d be in an even more awkward predicament if you were in a Griffin establishment. They were much taller on all fours, but their architecture favored the sheltered feel of a low roof. Most of the diverse places like Ponyville sported high ceilings and windows in order to accommodate pegasi. The clearance wasn’t for flying though, it aimed instead to ease the instinctive discomfort the winged creatures had for enclosures. 

You cease your pondering and finally look to a particular set of colors that had never left the corner of your eye.

Dash was standing next to the bar with Fleetfoot and Fluttershy…Applejack was on her way to join in. She’s got her back to you but you don’t need to see her expression to know her company isn’t letting her catch a break. Her tail sways nervously and her wings are held tensely to her torso. Ears twitch and dart to whomever happens to be talking to her. You never would’ve noticed these intimations a few months ago, but your friendship had forced some learning. Living with her had forced some more.

You tell yourself not to stare, but you can’t help it.

”So is she everything you ever hoped for?” Soarin finishes wiping some cherry filling from the corner of his smirking mouth.

“Is what?”

He wags his eyebrows towards Dash and his smirk widens, “Y-yeah. We’ve been friends since…well, pretty much since I got here, and she’s been supportive and—” 

”—Aww come on you’re totally shaggin!” He elbows you. 

You choke on a bit of spit and look down to kick some dirt off your shoes, *cough-“Yeah she’s amazing,” You reply under your breath.

”Hahaha! I knew it!” 

You look around nervously as his laugh somehow seems louder than the ruckus in the room, “Why don’t you tell the whole world while you’re at it.”

”Oh it’s not me you gotta look out for…” He nods back towards the familiar group of mares, in particular, Fleetfoot, “…But I doubt she’d do any damage anyways, if Rainbow’s civilian friends are anything like the team then they’ve known for a while.”

You nervously scratch the back of your head. Your initial feelings towards going public were starting to give way to self-consciousness. No doubt everyone would be thinking the same thing you were. She’s way out of your league, “So…you guys have known about us then?” 

“Well, not about you in particular, but we knew she was seeing some pony when she was just as eager to get back to Ponyville as she was to clean the trophy room…she loves that trophy room…” 

“It’s that obvious?”

He pauses to think, “Not really. Spits and Fleet and the other mares picked up on it long before we did. I swear mares are the strangest creatures.”

So you may have fooled the general public, but her friends had known since it started…great. You sigh. One of her friend groups was the Wonderbolts team and the other's were national heroes, talk about pressure…”Geez Soarin I had no idea.”

“Ha ha! No worries dude. Trust me when I say you seem to have a better head about you than most stallions your age…” He pauses and eyes you suspiciously, “…I’m guessing you’re not like a hundred years old or something right?”

“What do you mean? My mom was well into her two hundreds when she had me.” You keep a straight face and enjoy the look of pure astonishment that crosses his.

“You’re kidding me…you can’t be…” He dissects your features for any sign of lying. You simply shrug and take another bite, “…holy cow that’s like, wait how old do you get!”

He looks so excited you almost regret taking it this far, “Well there’s a legend that this guy named uh…Methuselah I think, lived well into his nine hundreds.” 

“That's amazing! Ha ha! Whoa that’s like right up there with the princesses and…” He carries on and on awhile longer until the sight of your uncontrollable smirk makes him stop, “…You are kidding aren’t you?”

“Yeah, by an order of magnitude or so. I’m just like you guys.”

He lets out a disappointed sigh that almost makes you feel guilty, “You must’ve picked that up from Rainbow, she’s always messing with us.”

“Yeah I guess I have.” Come to think of it, it’s been a while since she pranked you.

“So…she says you’ve got a job as a full time genius?” His tone was serious despite his skepticism.

“Yeah, sort of…I start tomorrow at a R&D department in Canterlot.”

“Ok…good pay?”

What is this an interrogation? “I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be doing yet, but it sounds pretty lucrative. Why do you ask?”

He waves a hoof dismissively, “Oh you know, just looking out for my friends…” He’s been nothing but nice since you’ve met, but you somehow doubt he’s talking about you, “…what’re hours like?”

“Again, not quite sure but if I had to guess I’d say it’s a typical nine-to-five.” 

He nods, “Throw on a couple hours for the commute, assuming you’re taking the train…” 

“That long?”

He nods again, slowly, “You a herding man?”

If you didn’t know any better you’d say this guy was Dash’s father…wait…”What?”

“A herd. You plan on starting one?” 

You’ve heard of them before, but no one’s ever talked about them and you’ve never really seen any unless…that family in the park had a few older mares…were those daughters or wives? “No I always thought it was like an outdated tradition or something.”

Soarin scratches his neck, “Depends on who you talk to, but most mares’ll go along with it if you’re honest.”

Somehow you doubt Dash is ‘most mares,’  “Wait seriously? I’ve literally heard it mentioned like…twice before and I don’t think I’ve seen any.”

“Hahaha! No stallion in his right mind would take the whole herd on a date at once, that’s just asking for trouble! You got to give each mare her own time otherwise you start having problems.” 

You thought that guy across the street was just a player…“Wow that…that explains a lot.” You lean back against the pastry table and contemplate the whole new aspect of your reality. Dash definitely never mentioned anything about it. She either thought you knew, or she didn’t want you to find out. Either way the thought of giving Dash anything less than all your affection was…revolting. You could understand how the stallion found the prospect of having more than one mare desirable, but the fantasy only seemed unsettling to you, “I don’t think I can handle a herd.”

“I think you could. If you can handle her as well as you do then I don’t see you having any problems with—“

“—I don’t want one.” You’re sure he didn’t mean it, but the semantics of the conversation objectified your partner and you weren’t comfortable with it one bit.

”Really? Well I guess you do have your hooves full.” 

“Yeah, I sure do.” You relax once he drops the topic. 

”I was thinking about starting one up when I retired, but I’m already getting my flank kicked by the briefing room staircase.” He circles his weathered leg joints, “One too many hard landings I guess.”

You prepare a cup of punch and collect some more cookies on a napkin, you need to run this off later. 

“Listen, Anon.” The Wonderbolt’s somber tone snags your attention, “Crash has uh…she hasn’t had the best experience with stallions in the past…” she’d told you that much before, “…in all the time I’ve known her, I haven’t seen her get a second date with any pony.” 

Your heart twinges. On one hand you were glad to be the only one to know her like you do, but on the other, she must’ve suffered through a lot of loneliness…

“So I guess what I’m trying to say is…if you break her heart, I’ll break your jaw.” 

At least he’s honest. Despite the threat you’re not the least bit deterred. If anything it was reassuring knowing that she had friends that cared for her as much as you do, “If it comes to that you’re gonna have to beat me to the punch.” You lock eyes for a moment.

“Hahahahahaha! I like it! I like it! Sit tight pal I need to hit the head.” If you’d been acquaintances before you were surely friends now. 

You smile as he disappears through the crowd, then you look for your Rainbow. Dash had since migrated into a larger group with the rest of her friends and it looked like she was enjoying herself. You could only pick out snippets of her tail and mane…and an eye? She cranes her neck a bit to look at you with perked ears and you wink at her. She just blushes and disappears again amidst a circle of giggles. Crazy mares.

”Ahem…excuse me…Anun?”

That voice sounds familiar. You look over to see the multicolored mare from earlier standing uncomfortably close even by pony standards, “Yes?”

”That is how you pronounce it right?”

“Close enough.”

She shuffles nervously but her gamey smirk never leaves her muzzle, ”My name is Firegrass, I just wanted to say thanks for getting the door earlier.” Your situational awareness tips you off towards a few unfamiliar mares at the edge of the crowd giggling and watching your exchange.

This is trouble, “It’s a common courtesy,” You offer dismissively—trying to balance disinterest with politeness.

She giggles and looks up at you with dilated eyes, ”Maybe for you it is, but we don’t get many gentle colts around here.”

“Oh I doubt that, I know plenty of—“

”—I know the bartender and I can get us a good deal on some ale…if you’d like.”

You know where this is going and you rush to think of a way to decline her offer. Apart from Equestrian alcohol being the nastiest thing you’ve ever tasted, you were sure that walking in Dash’s direction with another mare at your side would lead to a bloodbath. Not that you even want to go anyways…But all things considered you want to avoid hurting her feelings, after all, she doesn’t know you’re here with someone else.

You look over to see if Soarin was back yet and maybe use him as a cop-out, but he’s nowhere in sight. You take a deep breath and meet the mare’s lively hazel eyes. Well you can’t make everyone happy, “Sorry but I’m with—“

”—What are you doing?” A scratchy voice poignantly interjects.

You look over to see a very familiar rainbow pegasus trotting your way with a purpose, “Hey Dash. Enjoying the party?”

She completely ignores you and instead focuses on the confused mare next to you, “M-me?” the mare poses.

“Yeah. You.” She maneuvers between you two and ruffles her wings, her hindquarters nearly leaning against you. Oh shit she looks upset.

Firegrass looks at you and sees you’re completely unfazed by Dash’s close presence. You estimate that it was also around the same time she realized your marefriend was none other than the Rainbow Dash, “I-I was uhh…just s-striking up conversation.“ 

As much as you don’t want to be involved you feel a bit of sympathy for the flustered earth pony. Dash looks to you with skepticism. You nod, “She was just introducing herself.” 

The fiery pegasus’s eyes turn back and narrow on the slowly retreating mare, her voice comes out a bit more threatening, “His name’s Anon, what else do you wanna know…” 

“I-I…uhh…” A plethora of emotions cross the tan mare’s face; surprise, shock, and a fair amount of fear. The imposing figure that shielded you effectively curb-stomped any desire Firegrass had to interact with you. That didn’t faze you one bit, but you were worried Dash might have an outburst like at the restaurant. You watch the next few heart-pounding seconds closely—ready to intercede at a moment’s notice, but predictably, the mare backs down and slips back into the crowd without even a parting glance.

Dash turns to the pastry table and starts browsing the delectables as if nothing happened, “Dude there’s no cupcakes left, don’t tell me you ate ‘em all?”

The strange turn of events and her obvious disregard for them told you she probably didn’t want to talk about it, or at the very least didn’t want to talk here. A blotch of yellow catches your eye and you see Fluttershy making her way towards you. Behind her the rest of her friends look over inquisitively, “Um…yea-I mean no, I only had a few.”

She forces a smile; you can see her pupils are dilated with what can only be adrenaline. You wanted to quell the obvious discomfort she felt, but your situation didn’t afford you the opportunity.

“Oh my…Anon you didn’t eat all of these did you?” Fluttershy asks.

“I had more than I should, but not all of them.” She nods and grabs the last vanilla cupcake for herself. Dash seems oblivious to her friend; her attentions turned elsewhere, still vigilant for the mare that violated her territory. 

“Hey! Looks like the party was just waiting for me to leave.” Soarin jokes as he makes his way back from the restroom. 

Now he shows up, “Yeah, you just missed everything.” He doesn’t seem to realize the hidden sincerity in that comment.

He looks to the table in shock, “Who ate all the cupcakes! I swear there were two left a minute ago!” 

Fluttershy gulps and guiltily hides the small morsel of cupcake left in her hooves. 

“Rainbow was it you?”

“Huh…” She breaks her trance and finds her teammate. 

“You know those were my favorite cupcakes?”

“Oh…nah, ask Anon he’s been standing in front of them all night.” She goes back to monitoring the crowd, albeit slightly more at ease. Fluttershy, on the other hand, starts sweating.

“A lot of ponies have been by, try interrogating them.” You point off to a random group. 

“Hahahaha I was just kiddin! The less I eat the sooner I can get out of rehab.”

“You got that right!” Fleetfoot saunters over with a smug grin on her face. Dash just rolls her eyes and pays her no mind, “Say, you haven’t had too much have you Crash? I’d hate for you not to get the new flight position because your lap times take a hit.”

”Fleetfoot! It’s bad enough I have to room with you on tours, the least you could do is leave me alone for ten bucking seconds!”

”She sounds a bit worked up Fleet.”

”Should be working out if you know what I’m saying. Really helps with the stress.”

The vicious circle of verbal fencing continues between the Wonderbolts and you take the opportunity to excuse yourself from the epicenter. You retreat to the opposite end of the table and get yourself a cup of punch but notice some hoof steps behind you.

Fluttershy had also evacuated, if only to finish her dessert without judgment. She files in behind you and gets herself a half-glass of refreshment. Neither of you say anything as you watch the party, or what’s left of it. It had quieted down significantly and was now consolidated to a few small social circles. This whole thing is just an excuse for a get-together. That crocodile probably has a birthday every few months.

The yellow pegasus stays characteristically quiet beside you. As awkward as it seemed you were grateful for a bit of silence, to be honest the loud party was starting to wear on you. Eventually she decides to break the ice, ”Umm…Anon…”

“Hey Fluttershy, what’s up?”

You strain to hear her quiet reply over the din of the room, ”I don’t mean to bother you, but I wanted to speak with you if you have a minute.”

“Of course, take however long you need.”

”I was…well, I’ve known Rainbow ever since we were fillies, and I’ve never seen her like this before.”

“I haven’t either, that’s the second time she’s gotten confrontational with someone.”

”That’s not what I meant…” She swipes her hair across her muzzle, “…she’s never been this um…interested in some pony before.” Your receptiveness prompts her further, ”I don’t know what she’s told you, but she’s been interested in you for a lot longer than you might think, and…I just wanted to make sure you know how much you mean to her before you have to make any important decisions.”

Important decisions? Like what? The herding thing? You muster as much sincerity as you can and look her in the eye, “Thank you Fluttershy, I’ve thought about it too and I won’t disappoint her.”

A smile surfaces on her reserved exterior, “She’s always been a good judge of character and we all trust her with her decision. Take good care of her.” The butterscotch mare walks back to the rest of her friends and leaves you at the end of the empty snack table. Ok. That was a bit strange...what a heck of a party. And to think you almost went back to sleep instead.

Fluttershy apparently knew about Dash’s feelings for you even long before you did…meaning the rest of her friends did too. Maybe your relationship was never a secret to begin with…maybe Dash just isn’t comfortable in public like that. You let your thoughts carry you until they bore and force you to return to the rambunctious flyers. You finish the night on a lighter note—laughing and joking until nearly everyone else had left. Eventually Fleetfoot and Soarin call it quits and head back to the train station, and in no time at all you’re waving goodbye as you exit the door.

You take a deep breath of cool night air and start your long walk home as Dash falls in line with you. You look down at her and she looks up—stumbling as she does, “Dash I think you’re a bit drunk.”

”I am not!” She snorts.

“Then do a wing flip right now.”

”No.”

“I’ll spot you if you’re worried.”

”M’not worried, just don’t want to.”

“Suit yourself.” You continue walking in silence and enjoying the cool night sky as Dash drifts closer and closer to your stabilizing hip. You learned to avoid calling her a lightweight a long time ago, but that’s what she is. You reach out to lay a bracing palm on her withers, but she dodges away—intent on proving she was fine.

You decide to leave it there in case she changes her mind, and your mind wanders to the events of the evening. The incident with the other mare hitting on you seemed to affect her pretty bad, but you can’t figure out why it took such a lingering toll on her morale. Your stomach goes cold, she doesn’t think you were being receptive to her does she?

Unbeknownst to you your partner’s mind was on the same boat and your expression prompts her to open up about it, “Hey, dude…about tonight…”

“I’m sorry Dash, I was trying to tell her I was with you but she wasn’t listening and I was confused because I thought she knew and—“

“—Anon.” She meets your eye, “It’s fine, I’m not upset with you. I’m the one who should be sorry…I-I just…” She starts to choke up and her eyes waver, “…I know it’s your choice. I w-was being selfish and I shouldn’t have acted l-like that-*hic…an-and I wanted to keep you all t-t-to myself a-and—“

“—Whoah…slow down there.” You stop in the middle of the empty street and tend to your inexplicably broken mare. 

For the first time in your life you see a tear leave your friend’s eye. It blazes a dark blue trail through her fur and falls from her chin, landing audibly on the cold cobblestone. Your heart falls with it. Her voice comes out in a broken sob, “I-It would be *hic good to f-f-find another m-mare *sniff s-since I’ll be gone a lot an-*hic s-so you won’t be all alone all the-e time!” 

“Hey hold on!” You throw your arms around her rigid frame. Her imagination was running amok and filling her head with flawed logic and misled reasoning. Rainbow Dash breaks down crying in your arms—completely indifferent to whomever saw her. The feeling of having the powerful, confident, successful pegasus sob against you was as terrifying as it was heart-wrenching. In this moment she was completely defenseless and dependent on you; as much as you hated yourself for causing it, you don’t have time to contemplate. The sight is so shocking that it takes longer than it should’ve to come up with a rebuttal, “Whatever made you think I wanted someone else?”

“B-b-because you’re a s-stallion.” She manages between shudders.

That’s not true! Just hearing her say that was unbelievably painful. You hold her withers and look her in the eye, “Listen Rainbow, you’re the only mare for me. The time I’ve spent with you is the happiest I’ve ever been and as far as I’m concerned I’m only falling in love once.”

Her tearful eyes start to shine with hope as your words work their way to her heart. 

“Not every stallion’s the same, and where I come from herds are very uncommon. In fact I can’t think of a guy in his right mind who would want one. You’ve got all of my love for as long as you want it. I don’t want a herd, I don’t want to think about a herd, and I don’t want you to either…ok?…All I want is you.”

“R-r-really?” Her eyes shine bright with water and the hint of pure joy. She wipes her nose as her sniffling tapers off.

“…Really.” You move to hug her but she beats you to it and clenches you in a death grip, "Oh-hoho...ok...it's ok..." Suddenly she pulls back and rams her lips into yours without any reservation. Your teeth barely click off each other's from the force, but the minor pain is quickly drowned out by a sloppy tongue and sheer passion. The empty street is filled with the obnoxiously loud sounds of your catharsis as you taste each other's mouths. The unexpectedly steamy kiss lingers until the last remnant sob leaves your precious mare's body. Somewhere you hear a pony quickly trot past you but you just ignore them.

After far too long Dash finally pulls away and tries to wipe her eyes; you beat her this time and she looks at you sheepishly as your softer thumbs wipe away her lingering tears. You finish by cupping her cheeks and planting a long kiss on her forehead. By the time you pull away she’s red as a rose in the lantern light—her eyes portrayed a measure of childish giddiness and you knew yours did too.

Still, she keeps you in check, “Anooon…we're in p-public...” she stutters more from remnant sobriety than embarrassment, but also smiles at her apparent hypocrisy.

Despite the wet trails down her face you can’t help but be happy that she’s behaving more like herself, “Well miss you’re just going to have to tolerate it.” You lean down and peck her nose while she smiles and pushes into your kiss. You pull away but she follows and pecks your lips once more before nuzzling into your sternum, “Heh, I know…I love you too.” You give her withers a good rub. Her blush deepens but otherwise she remains silent with her unshakable—almost triumphant smirk.

With a final mane ruffle, you set off down the road again with a much happier companion. You draw in a deep breath of the crisp night air. Tomorrow is a pretty big day. You’re about to start a job appointed to you by the princess herself, and the expectations of you were pretty high. Apparently being an alien meant you knew things no one else did. In any other situation you’d find a way to stress yourself out about it, but right now you can’t bring yourself to worry, not about that anyways…

You focus back on Dash and examine her for any remnant sobriety. She was much more of a romantic than she let on and she definitely needed just as much emotional attention as any other mare. You were glad to give it to her. It feels good to be her shoulder to lean on.

Your legs get out of sync and her lighter one stumbles around your heavier one—forcing her to fall into you. Her eyes jolt open and a wing half-extends for balance.

She looks up with a snort and a cocky but still apparently happy smirk, “Watch where you’re walking.”

“You’ve got twice the legs I think it’s your responsibility to look out.”

She bumps into your thigh again, ”No that means I’ve got the right-a-way doofus.”

“I’m pretty sure the rules always favor the more handicapped individual…doofus.” You continue on in silence another few yards and you start to realize how dumb that sounded coming out of your mouth. Dash could pull it off fine, but it fell off your tongue like a bad taste.

”Anon, do us both a favor and never say that again.”

“Hahahaha! But I want to be cool like you!”

She adds a quirked eyebrow to her amused grin before murmuring something that gets lost amidst the gravel crunching under your feet, “What’s that?”

”I said you’re cool already!” She practically yells while looking straight ahead.

“I don’t think the entire town cares about that particular—“

”—Then listen up better…geez, you’re ears r’so small.”

You reach down and wrap your arms around her torso, ”Hey!” Her wings shoot out in surprise as you pick her up off her hooves. It wasn’t easy to do, but you manage to shoulder the flailing pegasus, ”Anon, what are you doing!”

“I’m carrying you the rest of the way back.”

”Why!”

“Because I love you and I want to.”

”B-but we’re outside! What if some p-pony sees us!”

“Then they’ll think about how cute you look all asleep in my arms.”

Her voice returns as a rushed whisper this time and she feebly tries to push off your chest, ”B-but what about…what if they take a picture or something and-and—“

“Dash, no one’s ever out at this hour and if any one shows up then I can just set you down.”

”But I…ugh, f-fine.“

She offers no more resistance and instead chooses to cling to your neck and humor your intentions. Secretly you figured she appreciated it, but outwardly she kept up appearances as best she could by keeping a lookout for pedestrians. You navigate the dark alleys back to your apartment with your mind on the events of the evening and what the morning might bring.

By the time you find your door, her form is limp against you and you could feel a bit of drool on your back from where her muzzle hangs. She might not be completely asleep, but her hind legs weren’t supporting her weight anymore. You unlock the door quickly and flip on the light as you stumble inside.

The disturbance jostles your partner, and you let her down to her hooves. She avoids eye contact and immediately trots down the hall to get cleaned up—probably to avoid admitting she dozed off. You change into your nightclothes, set your alarm, and pack your bag for the morning. When you finish, you trade places with Dash and find your toothbrush in the drawer next to hers.

You begin your routine and take a moment to soak up your surroundings. Rainbow was a very low maintenance pony. The only things she’d added to your bathroom clutter was a multipurpose body/mane wash, feather conditioner, deodorant, and hoof file…and her toothbrush. She shared her toothpaste, mouthwash and comb with you.

You finish up and rinse off your brush before putting it back in the drawer next to hers. To the best of your knowledge she’d never picked anything up from her house, all of this was stuff she’d stowed here months ago when she realized how much time she spent around here. Wait, when was the last time she went to her house?

You walk out to find her curled up in a ball on the bed—her nose buried in your pillow. She jerks her head up the moment she sees you and tries to cover up by pretending to finish some fluffing adjustments to the item in question. You keep the little nugget to yourself and pretend not to notice, “Dash I was just thinking, don’t you need to anchor your house down or something?”

She turns to you with a slight blush as she tries to forget getting caught in the middle of her indulgence, ”A-anchor it?”

“Yeah a while ago you told me about how the winds would pick up and you’d lose clouds.”

”Heh that usually only happens over the Everfree where all the chaos is and stuff.”

Oh of course. She pulls up the blankets for you and scoots over. She’d laid on your side to warm it up for you, how thoughtful. 

Once you get down to your boxers you crawl in beside her and start getting comfortable. It doesn’t take long at all and before you know it you find yourself laying down, looking straight into her eyes. Her pupils dilate and constrict depending on which part of your face she studied. Your thankfully fresh breaths mix while you study the amazing detail of her beautiful magenta irises. The detail was mesmerizing and you could spend all day counting the canyons and subtle color variations, but the really interesting part of them was how vivid and alive they looked as a whole. You can feel the tenderness in them, the overflowing affection they contained. The saying that ‘eyes are the windows to the soul’ may be overly romanticized, but it’s not wrong. Everything, her desires and fears, her thoughts and feelings, all sat just on the surface of the glistening orbs. They were always there. You just never knew how to read them before.

“You doing ok?”

For a moment you wait for her to respond…until you realize she was the one that asked, “Y-yeah, fine. Why?”

“You seemed a little…bummed out or something since I got back.” Her voice carried concern.

“You mean from the trip?” 

She nods.

“Yeah I’m uh…” Be honest with her, trust her. You owe her that much at least, “…I guess something’s been bugging me a-a little bit.” Honestly you hadn’t thought much about it as of late but you knew the underlying ideas that tormented you weren't going away. You were just surprised she picked up on it. You were also surprised she was just sitting there patiently waiting for you to talk.

Her eyes linger and when you meet them she flashes a reassuring smile, “I promise I won’t sell your secrets to any pony.” She jokes to boost your confidence.

“Hehe, glad to hear it.” Her ears fold before perking back up—giving you her full attention, “I guess uh…I got to thinking about…us, and…I can’t help but think that you deserve better.”

“Are you kidding me!—“

“—Dash just…listen, please. I need to say this.” She grumbles but complies.

“I love you very much. I…I’ve never felt love before I found you, and I know I’ll never feel it with anyone else. But…” 

She takes a breath but your finger silences her before she can speak, “…You’re a Wonderbolt, an element of harmony, and obviously a very attractive mare…” She blushes but doesn’t waver in her disapproval, “…You’ve got your whole life ahead of you and I would only hold you back. I can’t fly with you, or walk on clouds, or give you foals, or buy you nice things…well I might be able to do that if I play my cards right but—“

“—Alright listen up!” Her take-charge tone told you your time was up.

“I’ve waited way too long to get my hooves on you…I fought off Rarity and Cloudchaser and that gay stallion down the street that runs the fruit stand…” Ohh so that's why he always gave you a good deal, “…and a bunch of other mares who I can’t think of their stupid names now because I didn’t want to lose you! It took even longer for me to grow a pair of teats and finally act on my feelings, and when I did all I could think about was whether or not I was good enough for you! And once I realized you liked me back I was still afraid of having to share you with other mares!” The weight of her rant starts to sink in.

After a pause and a breath her voice comes back quieter, “I’ve thought about all of that and it doesn’t matter…foals are neat, but if I want one someday there’ll be options for us…clouds are nice, but, this is nicer…” She says patting the mattress, “…and who cares if you can’t fly? I always thought you could maybe...ride on my back or something.” She trails off and flashes red as she reveals one of her fantasies.

Your heart’s in your throat from the deep conversation but also the excited realization that your long time fears were unfounded.

Her hoof finds your hand and you feel the warm frog contour to your palm. Her voice returns as a hoarse whisper, “The point is none of that matters because I love ya dude.”

Finally, you muster the courage to meet her eyes. The same ones that scolded you moments before carried a level of vulnerability that translated to a mutual, unspoken dependence. If her words before hadn’t convinced you, that look did. You’re never going to leave her.

You nod to symbolize your acceptance, and you’re rewarded with the feeling of her relaxing a bit. She leans in tentatively and you press the rest of the way in to touch lips. The feeling of her soft, heartfelt kiss quelled every bit of lingering pain and left you floating on a sea of tranquility. 

A moment passes and you break away with a moist pop. She licks her lips with a blush and you do the same.

“I guess that was a dumb thought wasn’t it.”

She chuckles, “Heheh, ya think?”

You lean back in and nuzzle for a bit; the act of brushing your faces against each other was a crucial last step in your mutually therapeutic process. The affections transition smoothly to prone and you both start preparing to end your day together.

You finagle for a bit but realize that Dash is going for something different this time. Intrigued by her intentions, you silently let her have her way. She gets higher up on you so she can hook her muzzle over the top of your head, her fore hooves hold your neck and her hind leg lays across your hip. Almost like she was trying to be the big spoon. 

You reach out and flick the lamp off before getting comfortable with the new dynamic. You still had full access to pretty much anywhere she needed a scratch, but for the first time, she was actually able to return the favor. The hard edge of her fore hoof gently traces your neck and back smoothing out any tension you had there. You press the side of your face into her breast fluff and your arms hook under her wings; she extends one to hug you tighter into her encompassing embrace.

A new realization slowly dawns on you, as does a stupid grin. This is ridiculously cozy.

You were literally surrounded by a cushion of Dash. 

Her heartbeat was as obvious as her breathing and you could feel hot air from her nostrils part your hair, “This is nice.”

She giggles a bit, ”Good cuz I’m not moving.”

You’ve got no quarrel with that. You reach up and gently run your fingers through her oily feathers. You moved slowly and deliberately so as not to arouse her, she’d commented before on how soothing it was and you hoped you could return some of her comfort, “So I guess you’re uh…living here now?”

She pauses her back rubs, ”Well like you said you can’t walk on clouds so…yeah.” 

	She didn’t even consider living separately from you. You’d always heard how clingy partners were annoying, but you can’t help but feel grateful for her assured companionship, “I should be able to get a better place once I start getting a steady paycheck.”

”Why?”

“…Why?”

”Yeah, this is pretty coz-uhh…nice dontcha think?”

You weren’t sure what she was getting at, “It’s cozy sure, but I can’t have my Wonderbolt come home to a hole in the wall on a back street now can I?”

She stays silent for a moment while you work your fingers past her feathers down to the hot bare skin of her wings, ”I don’t care as long as you stay stocked with those honey-oat granola bars,” She replies earnestly. She pulls her head back a bit to bury her muzzle in your hair and take a deep breath.

“Heh, well I do…and it’s not like I’m going to save up for a Corvette or anything. Might as well spend my money on something we can both benefit from.” You can feel her nose twitch as she takes in your scent. Another moment of silent examination passes.

“…Dash.”

She stops what she’s doing and snorts to clear her head, ”S-Sorry!”

“You know I would’ve given you my shirt if you’d asked for it.” You swear you can feel her neck start to sweat.

”Uhh…I’m, I was going to give it back, it’s sitting in my saddlebags right now and—“

“—Dash it’s fine. It’s just that humans don’t use our noses like you do.”

”Heh, y-yeah I kinda figured that out.” 

“…But that doesn’t mean we can’t!” You suddenly wiggle your nose in her damp leg pit.

”Heheh-ahahaha! Sta-hahap!”

As usual her spiciness was a reward rather than a punishment, and you know your mission is accomplished when she finally buries her muzzle in your hair again. 

“Anon…” She sighs. You could practically hear the smile on her face.

“Hmm?”

”I like you a lot.”

For the first time ever she doesn’t sound embarrassed to admit it…just happy. You choke up a bit and clear away some pent up emotion by nuzzling her hot, fuzzy chest. If there's a heaven then this is it... 

“Yeah, I think I’ll keep you too.”

”Heheh, you better.”

You squeeze her tighter and plant a kiss right on her thumping chest...as close as you could get to her loving heart. Whatever tomorrow may bring, you rest easy knowing it can’t bring you down.
> Loyalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You get jostled out of your dream as one side of your cushion moves. For a brief moment you roll into a heated depression in the bed and regain some lucidity behind closed eyes. A short reality check assures you that you did remember to set your alarm for work and until you hear it, you don’t plan on moving an inch. Something rustles in the background before your warm blanket returns to hold you. Crap now your back’s cold…but before you can finish manifesting the thought something covers the exact area you were thinking of and reflects your escaping heat back at you…ahhh perfect. 

Your half-awake mind doesn’t question it and simply revels in the heavenly reality of your situation.

*ba-dump…ba-dump…ba-dump

The strangely familiar rhythm fills your ears and reverberates through your body. You try to press your face closer to the source, but you’re stopped by a hot fuzzy wall…good enough. You warm your cheek on the somewhat pliable barrier and transition smoothly back into your dream.

*lick

Something warm and wet drags across your forehead, forcing your dream world to hover on the knife-edge of existence.

*lick

The same hot brush paints a wet swath from your brow to your temple. Whatever it is, it intends to wake you up. A boost of unwelcome consciousness allows you to remember your bed mate and you put two and two together. The shock of full lucidity brings with it the disappointing realization that you can’t remain in this blissful state forever. But much to your delight, the fleeting state gets replaced by an equally content feeling.

*lick

“…Hmm?” Dots continue to connect behind closed eyes, Rainbow Dash…that’s who’s doing this.

The realization comes just in time for the assaulting tongue to slick up a tuft of hair. You reach up to confront your wake up call but your arm is trapped under a sweltering wing. It’s not heavy, but you quickly decide that it wasn’t worth leaving the warm clutches of its embrace just to satisfy your waning curiosity. Dash licks you again, this time down your cheek.

“Rainbow?…” You croak.

”Hmmm?”  Her response is more passive than receptive.

Your cracked eyelids can’t make out much besides the longer hair of her chest tuft a few inches off your nose. Unfortunately you could also make out that it was dawn—meaning your alarm was closer to sounding than you’d hoped. You would give anything for it to be 3am right now…The grogginess in your head is taking much longer to clear than you’re used to. 

“What time is it?”

”We’ve got a few more minutes…” She whispers, her mind more focused on her primary duty. You take a deep breath and relax back into your mare’s furry embrace, simultaneously giving her permission to continue doing whatever it was she’s doing.

*lick 

”I turned the alarm off early…I thought I’d wake you up instead.”

She woke up before the alarm went off? “I like this alarm better.”

“Heheh…” Her hot breath sews moisture across your face.

You spread your fingers through the clammy fur under her wings and her tail swishes in response. Her tongue grazes the corner of your eye and forces you to close it. Despite her intrusiveness you can’t help but smile, that cheesy romance novel hadn’t warned you about any of this stuff…

Your fingers trace the faint outline of her ribs and her progress continues unfazed. The best you could figure, she was trying to organize your messy hairline. You chuckle to yourself as her ticklish ministrations get a bit more forceful between some affectionate nuzzles. 

Her tongue is surprisingly effective as a comb and after a few dozen efficient swipes, your bed-head is still pretty unkept but heck of a lot more stylish. Her fore hoof moves to gently stroke through your hair while she touches up some spots around your ear. Wait…is she preening you? You don’t have feathers so preening’s not the right word, but—

—*lick

She smudges up your cheek once she’s finished with your hair. An ear-to-ear grin splits your face as she licks you for no apparent reason. The ticklish but strangely pleasant affections show no sign of abating and you're forced to let out a giggle you're not proud of. She meets your eye for a moment and you can see her own brand of dopamine high clouding her gaze; after a brief, blank stare she moves to your other cheek.

"Hehehehe...what're you doing..."

She ignores the question and doesn't even slow. As soothing as it was, the longer you go without showing any return affection, the more uncomfortable you feel. You wait until her humid breath closes in again and you pull your lips into her wet, furry muzzle. A quiet, elated squeak escapes her throat and you hold the lip-lock for quite a while. Finally, you break with the soft sound of sticky lips parting ways. 

“Good morning love.” You look past your own reflection in her dilated pupils and wait for a blush to blossom on her cheeks.

It doesn’t take long, “G’morning…Anon.”

You take a second to appreciate the role she's taken as your comforting 'big spoon' last night as well as its therapeutic affects on your psyche, “I didn’t say you had to stop…”

She blushes rather apparently and you're suddenly struck with the realization that she had a lot less confidence when you understood the underlying heartfelt confession behind her actions. A very faint grin appears and her ears splay back the last half-inch they could. You feel her heartbeat speed up as your intentions sync and to your elation, she chooses to give in to her affections. She leans in a bit but hesitates; you cover the distance her confidence couldn’t and peck her sweet lips. The opener returns her appetite and her slender tongue rolls out to tenderly meet your mouth. You remind her that she’s always welcome by returning the favor—wetting the fine hairs of her maw. Your noses press against each other and you savor your shared air as you alternate your affectionate gestures. There’s no sense of urgency, the knowledge that either one of you could intensify it if they desired made you content to enjoy the gentle pace.

Your morning breaths go entirely unnoticed as you focus on the tastes and textures of a creature you love more than you ever thought possible. A dozen rounds made your lips tingly and her acute attention begins to tickle. Like two different turn signals at a red light—you slowly shift out of your alternating sequence and find yourselves swiping your tongues against each other. Something about the act of tasting each other felt incredibly intimate in ways nothing else could. 

You break it off and pause a moment to breathe in each other’s exhales, then you open your eyes and study your partner. The telltale matted fur around her muzzle was evidence of the attention that her eyes craved more of. You’d love to lay here all day with her, but that was something you needed to earn.

“I’ve got to get up now.”

She shows no intention of moving, and with how tangled up you were you need a little cooperation, ”You could just find another job you know.” She sounds so serious that you have to hold her gaze for a few seconds to tell she’s kidding.

“Heh, it took a while to find this one so I think I’d better show up.” You glance at the clock and notice that you were still one minute ahead of schedule.

You start to slide away from her but her wing and fore hoof tighten their grip, ”What if I don’t want you to?”

You smile at your captor, “You know you’ve got somewhere to be too right?”

”You know I can get there in about two minutes right?” She rebuts.

“Yeah but I can’t…” You grab her hoof from your shoulder and hold it in front of you “…that’s why I set the alarm.”

Her cocky smirk grows and she blows some of her messy mane off of her muzzle, ”I could just fly you there—“

“—Dash.”

Her fore hoof moves back to bat playfully at your hair, and at that point you realize she’d given you a decent mohawk, ”That’d give us like…another thirty minutes.”

“I don’t think that’s realistic.” Her train of thought comes to a halt and she narrows her eyes at you, “I-I mean I’m not doubting your abilities, but I’m like twice your weight and…”

Her nose leans in until it bumps against yours, her menacing look told you to choose your words carefully.

”…and besides, I already bought train tickets.”

Her look doesn’t abate. You try to think of something else to say, but nothing comes to mind. Why work smarter when you can work harder? A quick peck on her nose momentarily stuns her so your tickling hands can take her by surprise.

”Ahahahaha! That’s no-ot fair you can-tahahaha!”

She tries to push away from you but her forelegs aren’t doing what she wants them to. These ponies had no effective counter for hands, it took an experienced unicorn to even come close to replicating your dexterity and efficiency.  You were going to make sure Dash knew exactly where she sat on the food chain…metaphorically of course.

”Haha A-Anon! Ahahahahaha!”

Your wiggling fingers stop their torture and your palms come to rest in her damp leg pits—rendering her forelegs useless. She stops her flailing in turn and grins playfully back, a spark of retribution in her eye.

“You going to let me go now?” She still had her hind legs locked around your hips so the question wasn’t entirely patronizing. 

She ponders for a moment, ”Only if you let me take you to dinner tonight.” She powers through the sappy comment with what seemed like an unnecessary overdose of confidence; her inevitable blush a mere afterthought.

“Deal.” A mare of her word, she lets you go. You give her a parting belly pat of appeasement and slide out from under her appendages, "Also I think you owe me a cookie from that run yesterday." 

"Nice try, but that wasn't even a run."

You squeeze her hind hoof affectionately, "Whatever you say Dash." You look at the clock: one minute behind schedule, you can manage that.

Your morning routine passes quickly—your mind on more pertinent matters.

”Anon where’s my flight suit?” A scratchy voice interrupts your Windsor knot.

“Should be hanging next to the washer.” She never asked you to wash it, but you liked to help out. You finish up and check your breath before heading out to grab your things. All of your items pile into one backpack. It didn’t really match the suit you were wearing, but it was all you had.

”Whoa! Dude where’d ya get that?”

You look over to see Dash trotting your way with her uniform draped over her back, “I got it at the World Market thrift store place, they said Diamond Dogs make them to carry around stuff they scavenge.” 

“I’m talking about the cool suit dummy!”

“Oh, yeah, Rarity made it for me on credit a while back once she found out I got a job.” She tosses her clothing in her saddlebags while her eyes unabashedly look you over.

”It’s uhh…you look good…”

“My eyes are up here Dash.” Her eyes snap up to meet yours before she looks away.

”Don’t g-get ahead of yourself, you don’t look that good.”

“Really? I must be if I managed to snag you.” She’s a bit taken aback at the unexpected compliment and after a brief battle, her ears finally give in and fold. 

You ruffle her mane and shoulder your backpack, “I better get going now, but I’ll be looking forward to dinner tonight.”

She finally formulates a response and opens with a cute voice crack, ”Ye-eah, how about seven…f-for dinner?”

Heh, it’s been a while since it’s cracked like that. You do some quick mental math, “Seven should work for me, do I need to bring a date?”

She hits your leg and tries to glare, ”Get outta here before I buck you out dummy!”

“Alright, alright, no dates then. We’ll just awkwardly stare at each other while—“

”—Anon!”

“Yep leaving now.” You open your front door and adjust your tie in the doorway. Dash watches you with mock annoyance.

“I’m headed out.” She just stands there, waiting.

You make direct eye contact and take another half step, “Have a good day and be safe doing Wonderbolt stuff.”

”You know me, safety number…third.” She finishes after a genuine pause. You rest your hand on the doorknob. She closes some of the distance, anticipating your departure amidst the awkwardness. 

You stare at her, “I think I might be missing something.”

”What is it?” She frustratedly looks around the floor to see if you’ve dropped something.

“Oh there it is.” You lean down and reach over her back. She looks back to where your hand was reaching and sees nothing. She twists around in confusion and her momentum completes your calculation.

*smooch

Her lips mash against yours in a surprise kiss and she takes it in stride. You pull off each other with a satisfying smack. Magenta eyes cross to focus on your smile—her confusion still evident.

“Found it.”

”Aw for cryin out loud! You shoulda just said that to begin with!”

You make your escape through the door as Dash’s yelling transitions to laughter. You start your short walk to the train station; the tingling on your lips topped off the well of happiness in your chest. You’ve never been more motivated to invent a damn toaster.





The train ride passes quickly. You spend the bumpy ride reviewing your notes and practicing a dozen conversations in your head. 

Canterlot was pretty busy. The commuters getting off the train added to the multitude of ponies filling the streets and skies. Everyone was moving with a purpose and you were able to slip through the crowd without turning as many heads as you’d expected. You check your watch, crap the train was slow…now where’s that map…

Ten minutes and a few unplanned detours later you find yourself at the castle gates. The guards weren’t exactly cordial, but they have your name on their manifest so they send word that you’ve arrived; after a few short minutes a small unicorn stallion greets you at the gate.

”Mr. Anonymous, pleasure to meet you.” He extends a hoof and you lean down to bump it.

”You as well Mr…”

”I’m Gold Ray.”

”…Mr. Ray.”

His eyes are wide as he stares up at you, or at least his glasses make them look that way. It makes it difficult to tell if he's nervous, ”You can call me Ray; Gold’s a bit tacky for my tastes and I’m just an intern.” He motions for you to follow him.

“Fair enough, call me Anon. Are you going to be working with me then?”

”Yea Anon, well…in a way. Same branch different shop.” You nod in agreement even though you have no idea what he’s talking about, ”Dr. Waveguide is the division head, you’ll meet with him first.”

You make your way through the more sparsely populated streets. You’d only been to the castle once before, and you hadn’t had the time to appreciate your surroundings. The cobblestone road was a lattice of asymmetrical pieces cut and placed to fit against each other almost seamlessly. Impeccable architecture stretched up several stories on either side of you. Either the construction's brand new or they'd unlocked the secret of Roman concrete…or they controlled the weather.

Your eyes wander and you briefly spot a Wonderbolts poster farther down the street. Immense pride wells up in your chest when you see the pegasus you share a bed with is emblazoned on the front with her characteristic cocky grin. They sure were getting their marketing’s worth out of her.

You take a turn before you have a chance to trip over yourself, but the well-timed morale boost bolsters your confidence, “This city’s amazing,” You try to spark a conversation with the quiet unicorn. Everything from the stained glass windows, to the buildings, to the tasteful placement of vegetation at street corners had the telltale mark of magic. That perfect, smooth, uncanny look that couldn’t be replicated with tools.

Your comment sparks his inner geek, ”You think so too? They say it took the ancient mages twenty days and twenty nights to make this place.”

“That’s all?”

”It’s just a story, but no written records have survived since then so it’s all we have to go off of.”

“Wow…it looks like it was made yesterday.” You trace your hand on a building’s wall as you round the corner.

”Yeah, well that’s magic for you. It’s too bad we lost track of the ancient spells.”

“You mean no one can do this anymore?”

He looks up at you like you were dumb, ”If we could, all of our cities would look like this.”

You’ve never been to any other city but that makes sense.

“Well then can’t you like, recite a bunch of different random words and sounds for as long as it takes until you happen upon the one spell they used?”

“Uhh…yeah, it’s a lot more complicated than that.” Well there goes your first impression, “I assume you don’t have magic like that in your world?”

So he knows you’re an alien. That saves you a painful and boring explanation, “No, actually we don’t have magic at all.”

That gets his attention, ”You mean your race doesn’t practice it?”

“No…magic doesn’t exist, I’ve never seen it before I got here.”

His mind races to come up with some sort of explanation as he trudges on with his mouth a bit agape, ”So…you can’t use magic…” 

He sounds like he’s talking to himself but you respond anyways, “Not one bit. Pretty useful with my hands though.”

He snaps out of his trance and looks to the wiggling fingers, ”Huh…”

You sense this is going to be an uphill battle to prove your usefulness. The two of you take a few more turns before you come to an inconspicuous building separate from all the rest. A thick oak door stands in your way. Surprisingly it looked tall enough that you wouldn’t have to stoop. Gold Ray knocks on the door and a peephole opens up.

You can’t see who’s looking at you, but whoever it is approves. The door unlatches and opens without a creak.

”This way.” 

You follow him into a dark hallway and the door closes behind you, ”Hold up!” A gruff voice calls out. You freeze and look back—more startled by his urgency than his coarseness. A burly unicorn stallion lurking in the shadows hoofs you a light blue glowing crystal and you take it, ”Can’t get in without that.”

“Thanks.” He nods and returns to his spot behind the door to write something down on a list.

”Sorry I forgot that you needed a pass.” 

You look at the jagged crystal in your hand, “Is it like a visitor's pass or something?”

”No it’s a nullifier.”

You don’t respond and he catches himself, ”Sorry, uhh…this hallway is filled with a resin field…you can’t see it, but if you didn’t have that it’d feel like you were swimming through glue.”

You wave your hand pointlessly and feel nothing but thin air. Neat.

”Just don’t drop it, you won’t be able to bend over and pick it up.” His comment had a certain matter-of-fact tone that only extensive knowledge could give. Scarier implications start to sink in and you clutch the gem tightly in your hand until you make it to the end of the long hallway. Another door, same size, less security.

The other side of this one was much brighter and you squint at first as your eyes painfully adjust. Immediately your senses register the smells and sounds of a busy but organized workshop. Your eyes focus and you realize that you’re standing on a catwalk that’s suspended about ten feet over the working floor. Everything is bathed in a familiar orange tint unique to incandescent bulbs; this place has electricity. You don’t even have to look up to recognize the technology you’d taken for granted until you got here.

Below you unicorns, a few zebras, and a minotaur are all busy at their workstations or walking purposefully; only a few stop to stare at the newcomer. You just look on in amazement as Golden Ray starts heading down the catwalk.

The hangar-sized room was divided into segregated clusters of cubicles and had larger swathes of floor space cleared for unfamiliar machinery. Towards the back, more hallways and rooms could be seen leading off into yet unknown areas under Canterlot Castle. The catwalk had staircases leading off to the work floor and led to a large office that had oversight of the workshop.

”On the left is the magic workshop, it’s pretty much ERD’s main focus, they get most of the funding.” You look over and see a bunch of unicorns staring back at you, the ones who weren’t had their horns lit up as they marked papers and chalkboards.

“ERD?”

”…Equestrian Research and Development. Did you not get an orientation packet?”

“No, Celestia just told me—“

”—You spoke with Princess Celestia!”

“Yeah for like two minutes…she gave me the job.”

”Well you can’t use magic but you got appointed by a princess…you’re one interesting character that’s for sure.”

“Thanks. I guess.”

He shakes his head clear and carries on, ”Uh…on the right is the physics, electrical, and chemistry workshops. They’re all part of the secondary branch and the magicians make up the primary branch.”

Your eyes follow his words towards the more interesting looking side of things, “And which do you work in?”

”Secondary branch, physics. I’m an intern with Dr. Steelhammer—he’s the minotaur towards the back there.” You make eye contact with the burly blue creature looking haggard with a cup of coffee in his hoof; he waves. Seems friendly enough. You wave back.

”This is just the working floor, most of the advanced projects take place in the north and east wings.”

The sheer scale of the facility is astounding—at least for these ponies it is. In reality it's probably no bigger than a supermarket back home, but the apparent sophistication is surprising. The hint of ozone and the familiar din of electrical machinery was also surprisingly nostalgic.

The catwalk quickly terminates at a door that reads “Dr. Waveguide.” 

Golden Ray knocks.

You’d be nervous if you weren’t thrown off by how surreal it all was. A muffled ‘come in’ is heard amongst the background noise of the room. Your pony escort opens the door for you so you take the initiative and walk in. He closes it behind you without a word—stranding you in foreign territory. 

An older unicorn stallion in a suit peers at you above half-moon glasses. The desk in front of him is clear with the exception of a few trinkets, a notepad, and a bowl of almonds, ”Ah, you must be Mr. Anonymous.”

“Yes Sir I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you Dr. Waveguide.” 

He hoof bumps you. You mentally congratulate yourself at the solid first impression, ”Have a seat, have a seat, let's not get caught up in formalities, besides, you’ve done quite a bit of walking to get here.” His deep and weathered voice is the opposite of grating. He sounds like he’d be a good narrator.

“That’s alright Sir I stay pretty active.” You have your quadrupedal friend to thank for that.

You pull up the chair and sit down at his bidding, ”Well it’s good to hear that. So many colts and fillies these days don’t value a healthy lifestyle like they should. But then again…you may have had a different upbringing I take it?” A sage smile portrays a genuine interest that came uniquely from elderly charisma.

”We have a similar issue where I’m from, but I managed to avoid the situation myself.”

”Yes well, you may have to run if we accidentally conjure up another ancient monster.”

“…Okay.”  The uncertainty in your voice was apparent and the unicorn’s worn features crack into a laugh.

”Ha ha ha ha! Don’t fear, it’s a mere jest! I play the same joke on all the newcomers.” 

You like this guy already, “Well you had me scared for a minute.”

He adjusts his glasses and scrutinizes you for a good ten seconds, mumbling to himself like a doctor during a check up, ”Mr. Anonymous you’re the first alien I have ever met.”

“I hope you’re not disappointed.”

”Not at all, in fact I’m surprised that you’re so decipherable.”

“You are?”

He leans down to pull out a manila folder as he starts his lecture, ”If I didn’t know otherwise I’d say you were merely a strange looking foreigner. You’re clearly bipedal, but you have the same bone structure for the most part and…the cephalization of a predator.” He says the last part without the slightest hint of concern.

“You’re accurate as far as I know Sir. But I don’t eat ponies in case you were wondering.”

He plops the folder on the sturdy desk with a loud smack, ”Ha ha yes…the powers that be wouldn’t have allowed our meeting if you were. Omnivore?”

“Correct again.” 

He nods, “You must not be looking forward to working with all these snooty unicorns then?”

What did that have to do with anything? Was he being racist? He himself is a unicorn so you juggle the question intensely before answering.

“I…get along with them.” That was true, but you definitely did prefer the company of pegasi and ‘standard ponies’ as you liked to put it. Strange how you didn’t realize that before he mentioned it. Unicorns just seem a bit more temperamental. Kind of like your neighbor’s spoiled poodle that barked all the time. Except worse because they talk…

That doesn’t make you racist…right?

”Nonsense! You prefer the company of a griffin or pegasus over a fish fillet meal in the back corner of a quiet restaurant.” He says it matter-of-factly and doesn’t bother to look up as he starts flipping through the folder. 

How is he doing this? Is it some kind of unicorn kung-fu that you’d never heard of? 

“You’d make a good detective Sir.”

”Yes well that’s an overgeneralization of course—an educated guess based off your anatomy and temperament. I like to think of it as my curse for spending my college years studying biology.”

“Well, you were dead on. How’d you know? Magic?”

“Oh dear no, nothing that complicated. I prefer to avoid the use of magic when I can, keeps the mind sharper. It was a shot in the dark to be honest—based of your tendencies as you stated them. The winged ones among us tend to be the ones with the most fight in them—something you would probably relate to more than you might think.”

“Huh…ok then.”

“It’s not an isolated trait, the minotaurs that work here have similar complaints.”

“So you’re a...sociologist by trade?”

”And a physicist.” Wow, he’s one of those really smart ponies. He flips another page, ”And dabbled a bit in magic studies…” He adds as an afterthought.

Makes sense. Your thumbs twiddle and your eyes wander to the bookshelf that engulfed the wall behind him. You could make out a few titles, from ancient, cryptic titles you suspect have to do with spells, to more familiar topics.

”Don’t worry though we’re all professionals here so you will be working with ponies, not their emotions.” That’s good to hear, emotions were never your forte…makes you wonder how you got lucky with Dash.  He flips another page. 

”Now let’s get down to business shall we? It says here that your species has made advances in the fields of physics and electricity. Is this true?”

You didn’t know how they were keeping a file on you, but you don’t question it. After all, you’d pretty much walked into the Equestrian equivalent of DARPA. “We’ve made advances everywhere, but yes, magic doesn’t exist on Earth.”

He looks up at you before scribbling something down, ”You’re referring to your ‘earth’ I assume.”

“Yes Sir.”

”Interesting…I don’t mean to pressure you at the moment, however as you can imagine I have more than a few questions to pose you.”

“It’s no trouble, I’d be happy to talk about what I can, unfortunately I’m not really an expert in much.”

”What is your level of education?”

This was more like the interview you were expecting, “High school and a bit of college.”

”Only a bit?”

“My…unexpected transplant interrupted it.”

”Ah I see. We’ll discuss that in depth later; can you expound on your knowledge?”

That's a broad question. He shifts in his seat and tosses a few almonds into his mouth—crunching loudly, “Well, every school pretty much touches on biology, chemistry, math, physics, and history…and usually some kind of foreign language.”

He’s leaning in on his fore hooves, ”Very interesting.” If his interest wasn’t genuine before, it was now. The Equestrian equivalents of high schools had their own focuses much like college degrees. And the global standard for college was only two years instead of the typical four. You highlight this as one of your strong points.

”I focused on engineering in college, but I didn’t have much time to specialize; I was only in it for two years due to circumstances.”

He ponders his options for a moment, ”Well Mr. Anonymous, I’m not sure how to apply you to Equestria’s defense; but since you’re familiar with such a broad range of topics, how about we take a little tour to help find the best fit for you.”

Defense? As in national defense? “This is a military installation?”

”Not strictly, but we’re the only established lab with the necessary resources, so our primary focus has been on countering foreign developments…I take it you didn’t receive the orientation packet.”

This is unexpected, “No, Celestia just told me to draw out my toaster idea and show up.”

He raises he brows and fights a smirk, ”She did? Well she did tell me I’d have fun with this one…” He mutters to himself under his breath, “…I’m sure your toaster will be quite valuable to large families with many young ones. But here we tackle the bigger problems.” He makes a broad gesture.

You were fairly familiar with how guns and bombs worked, you just weren’t sure about introducing this benevolent land to your ideas. Assuming you could even come up with a working plan that is, “I uh, I’m just not sure how I feel about building things that kill ponies…or gryphons or whatever.”

”Oh dear me, no. You won't be doing any of that...at least not primarily."

"What else can I do if not build weapons?"

"That’s a bit shortsighted don’t you think?”

In the short time you've known him you came to realize that he was probably the smartest pony you know, but something about being lectured to by someone half your size irked you, “How so?” You were trying your best to keep your formal tone.

”How can a military force navigate if they can’t see the sun?” You’re not sure what he’s getting at.

”How can they communicate if they can’t use magic, or eat if their food is rotten? How can we tell an attack is coming before we can see it? These are the questions we tackle here Mr. Anonymous.”

You’d never thought of that, “So you don’t build weapons here?”

”We do. Most of them revolve around magic, but the majority of what we do here is never intended to see a battlefield.”

That doesn’t do much to ease your conscience and Dr. Waveguide seems to read your unease, ”Do me a favor and think about it while we take a look around, you just might change your mind.” 

A few minutes later you were on the work floor introducing yourself to ponies and seeing all of the little projects that were going on. You weren’t the smartest person and a lot flew right over your head, however you did recognize some more familiar ideas, and you feel some relief when you realize that a lot of it wasn’t entirely out of your reach. Telegraphs, more efficient coal for steam engines, plastics, a pulley system for what looked like a compound bow. You get led around for the better part of two hours, and while it was definitely interesting, your lingering reservations grew. 

You hadn’t discussed pay yet, but whatever you get paid it would be better than nothing. And you’re not sure if you could forgive yourself if your mare had to cover the tab the next time you go out. However, you can’t shake the feeling that this was all part of some grand malicious scheme to milk you of knowledge…just like in those movies where humanity weaponizes everything, but this time with little ponies instead. Once you’ve made your rounds to nearly every cubicle, Dr. Waveguide pulls you aside.

“So Mr. Anonymous, what do you think?”

”It’s really interesting Sir, but uh…”

“You’re still not comfortable with our purpose? Is it not what you expected?”

“I’m just not sure it’s my place to intervene.”

”Intervene in what?”

You were going to say something about the prime directive, but the more you think about it the more stupid it sounds, “I don’t know it just…doesn’t seem right being an outsider and all.” You don’t want to sound condescending, but you’re still uncomfortable with the idea of using your brain as a weapon. 

”Preposterous! You’re an Equestrian are you not?”

Your naturalization papers say you are, “Well, technically yes…”

“Then why do you think of yourself as an outsider…I can tell you no one here does.”

You don’t really have a response for that.

“I’m not here to convince you that we’re worthy of your loyalty, and honestly, if I earned it after knowing you for only a few hours I would be more concerned than relieved. But if you see everything in black and white then you’ll miss some of the amazing work we do here.” You feel bad that your lack of commitment seemed to be wearing on him, but you couldn’t come to terms with yourself. The weathered pony decides you need some more convincing, ”Follow me if you will, I have one more thing to show you.”

You follow his lackluster black tail as it weaves through a few cubicles—headed toward the corner of the working floor. You pass ponies you’d been introduced to, but you can’t remember their names. Each of these ponies apparently had the same mindset Dr. Waveguide did, and you had to admit he did make a good point. You weren’t entirely opposed to violence, especially if it was used to save yourself or someone else. Some things are worth fighting for, and some lines should never be crossed, but building weapons for someone else to use as they see fit, for good or for evil, just doesn’t sit well with you. Granted, you could probably avoid specific projects if you asked…

Dr. Waveguide presses through a door in the corner of the room and you follow. The busy sounds of the work floor fall completely silent as the door closes behind you. Your eyes take a moment to adjust to the darker hallway. Rustic oil lamps light the walls and illuminate the artwork adorning it—a stark leap from the rough utility of the rest of the facility, “What is this place?”

He responds without looking back, ”This is our history room; the last part of the tour.”

You study the paintings as you walk by. A unicorn with a beard and some chemistry flasks, a young pegasus adjusting some measuring equipment on his back, a group photo with Princess Celestia in the center. The doctor doesn’t slow so you don’t stop to read the captions. 

The hallway makes a turn and opens up into a mid-sized room. The atmosphere held the tinge of old paper and ink. Carpet squishes under your shoes and you’re immediately struck with an air of luxury. Every wall of the room was covered in memorabilia and displays. There’s so much to take in that you don’t notice the familiar item Dr. Waveguide b-lines for.

”My late wife and I had three fillies.” The somber tone of his voice catches your attention.

”Being a father was my biggest challenge but also biggest reward, and if you ever get the chance to have some of your own, don’t pass it up for anything.” You absently stare at some kind of telescope in a wall cabinet—you wanted to give him space to tell his apparently important story. ”Well they all grew up and went their separate ways and I was left to my work. I thought that all my worrying was over, they’d become capable mares that could take care of themselves.”

He sounds like he’s starting to choke up.

”Morning Star was my youngest, she was working as an event planner for a wedding when those…bugs attacked the castle.” You hear him sniffle behind you, and you feel a lump forming in your throat, ”She got separated during evacuation and…they found her b-body in an alley outside of the castle.”

He didn’t need to tell you to know what had happened to her. You’d read about the attack and Dash had told you her own version of her heroics more than once. One of the less savory and often unmentioned things you’d read was about how changelings can feed off their own positive emotions to a lesser extent. If they couldn’t trick someone into loving them, they could do the next best thing. No doubt they’d used his daughter to do just that. The room loses its warm tone and the gadgets lose their intrigue. 

A painful silence fills the room and the stoic stallion breathes heavily to compose himself. You wanted to comfort him, but you get the feeling that he needed his space. What could you even do for him? Nothing you could say could dull that kind of pain anyways.

He speaks up again sooner than you expected, ”There has never been a doubt in my mind that what we do is for the greater good.” He seemed much better now and you turn to look at him still staring at the display case, ”And every time I sign something into production that can kill or maim…I have the same doubts. But I always think back to those I love and I find the courage to do what needs to be done.”

You finally look at what he’s staring at. Inside the display case is a series of pegasus outfits, all the same type, but apparently different models. The one on the far right has the familiar yellow and blue pattern of the Wonderbolts. Reality hits you like a truck.

Rainbow Dash is in the military too. You’d never thought of it that way but technically the Wonderbolts were an auxiliary unit of the Equestrian guard. Just like any other unit during peacetime, they put on shows for the public. But she’s definitely being trained to fight…the divot in your cupboard is proof of that. Dr. Waveguide turns to you, all remnants of emotion gone from his face, ”I hope that you never have to face what I did years ago, but if you do…think of this as an opportunity to be proactive.” He nods to the uniform.

He knows? “Wait, you know about—“

”—Your significant other, yes. Your companionship has been noted in your file.”

You weren’t sure which emotions to tackle first, “You’ve been watching me!”

”Not us, no, some pony else. I merely received your file when you were appointed to work here.” 

Your anger was quickly diffused, but it left you unfulfilled. There was no one nearby to blame, ”Before you get upset please realize that whatever they did was completely necessary. If you’d made contact with other nations, or vice versa, we’d understandably have cause for concern.” 

He’s right and you know it but that just makes you more angry, ”Think about the offer and…think about her,” you follow his eyes back to the uncomfortable dilemma, “You know the way out and I’ll be in my office when you need me.” And with that the stallion walks out of the room leaving you to your thoughts.

Who would’ve thought an unassuming unicorn like him could turn your life upside down in less than a minute. Honestly you expected as much when you first got here at least, but you still felt like your’s and Dash’s privacy’s had been violated. Either way there’s nothing you can do about it now.

What matters is the decision that stands before you. It had never occurred to you that you could have any part of what she did. Flying, the Wonderbolts, those were always just some distant adjectives that others used to describe the mare you love. But they were as inseparable from her as her cyan fur and contagious laughter, and if they ever had to go into harm’s way, you know she wouldn’t think twice about being up there with her teammates. 

Of course this was all speculative right? They haven’t been called up in forever…well, the changeling invasion was the last time. But how often does it happen without anyone knowing about it? What do they even do? Dive-bomb the enemy and kick them or something? How dangerous is it exactly?

So many questions raced through your mind and you feel your heart sputtering at the weight of it all. You’d always felt a bit nervous when you watched her pull off daring stunts—the first time you watched her fly you were gritting your teeth the whole time and that was before you learned to love her. She’d proven her abilities and quelled some of your fears, but those same fears were resurfacing with a vengeance at the thought of her being in deliberate danger. If she ever gets called into action…handling herself might not be enough. As much as you hated the thought of it, you can’t tear your mind away from the plethora of horrors that could befall your precious pegasus.

Your shallow breaths barely fog up the glass in front of you. The placard reads: ’Breeze Gen 4 Flight Suit: Developed by the ERD team to help our flyers fight the frigid temperatures and demanding rigors of aerial combatives. Incorporates a magic lattice that prevents sharp object penetration and stiffens upon impact.’ 

Wow.

The weight of the words sink in and in your moment of crisis you see a light at the end of the tunnel. You take solace in the fact that some of the smartest ponies in the country were working on keeping your mare safe. You never knew that smelly suit that always got tossed on your couch had that much thought put into it. You’re definitely going to take better care the next time you wash it.

You suddenly feel overwhelmingly incompetent. Someone, somewhere in here made something that made your mare safer. These strangers were doing more for her than you were…Your obsession with her made you think she was invincible, that everything was rainbows and butterflies. It was an irresponsible and selfish way to look at things. Up until now you'd had your head in the clouds and that kept you ignorant of reality and all its unpleasantry. The fact is she was flesh and blood like anyone else. Her livelihood is potentially more dangerous to her than her own thrill-seeking stunts. And you had a responsibility to accept her choices and support her any way you could.

Your chest cramps up at the thought of her getting injured…or worse. Granted Equestria hasn’t gone to war in forever, but still. If they ever did, you want to know that you’d done something to help her in some way. Heck, you'd want to be right up there with her. You’re not exactly sure how you can affect that directly, but you sure as hell weren’t doing anything by turning down the job because of some lofty ideals. 

That was something you didn’t have to think twice about. In an instant you make your decision and head out the door with a purpose.

You’d do whatever they asked of you as long as you could justify it by Dash. You weren’t sure if it was Dr. Waveguide’s intention to manipulate you like that, but you don’t care. It worked.

You climb the stairs and knock on his door. You have a lot to discuss if you were going to take this job.





“Hey look out!”

“Sorry!” You yell back at the narrowly missed pedestrian. The rest of the ponies scurry out of your way as you bolt to the train station. You were about to miss the 6:25 to Ponyville, and in turn, your dinner date.

You blame your lack of a watch for your miscalculation, but in all honesty you just got carried away. You’d had your conversations with Twilight before about space and other things, but you never thought you could nerd out that hard. 

You round the corner out of breath and out of hope. The train was already a quarter mile away and gaining.

You let out a sigh and sink into an empty bench nearby—loosening your constricting collar. Well this sucks. You just stood up your favorite mare. Your only mare. You mentally kick yourself for your stupidity.

The sign in front of the ticket office informed you that the next train wouldn’t arrive for another hour and a half. There’s nothing to be done now, you could choose to brood or be productive. The sun is almost touching the horizon and you decide to thumb through the orientation packet in the light you had left. It had some neat pictures, but it was mostly generic garbage about helping other ponies and furthering your education. Nothing you hadn’t already covered in your hours of conversation. You stuff it back in your pack; back to brooding.

Time ticks by and you feel every second as your self-loathing deepened. Dash never liked the formal approach to things, especially when it came to your relationship. She’d really gone out of her comfort zone to ask you on a dinner date. And you’d completely thrown that away. 

By the time the next train arrives you’ve plateaued at the limit of sobriety. You half-expected Dash to suddenly land next to you in a cloud of dust and wind—ribbing on you for how slow you were. But that doesn’t happen.

You board with the few other late commuters and try not to doze off as the rhythmic sound of the tracks serenades you. Ponyville wasn’t completely shut down, but most of the restaurants had already closed. A few drunk stallions laugh loudly to themselves as you pass them on your way back to the apartment. You honestly didn’t know what to expect from Dash, you’d never really let her down before. You have to think of someway to make it up to her.

Before you know it you’re at your door. The apartment light is on so you know she’s in there. You swallow a lump in your throat before you head in. You’re greeted by the familiar sight and smells of your shared flat…but no pegasus. Damn, she probably left. You’d leave you too if you were her.

The fact that you’d savored your date all day only made the situation that much more difficult to swallow. You drop your backpack on the couch with a sigh. As you start unloading it your door flies open so violently you jump.

”Sorry I’m late! Spitfire made me teach a class and I had to clean up a-and I got here as soon as I…” She trails off at the surprised look on your face. Her eyes glance to your bag, then your shoes, then back to you, ”…Did you just get back too?”

You nod to the sweaty, slightly out of breath pegasus—still in shock at your luck. She stares at you for a moment before she cracks a grin, ”Geez dude how come you’re always so slow?”

You smile at her intentional lack of logic and close the distance. She hops her forelegs onto your shoulders as you drop to a knee—a confident but flushed grin on her face. You lean in and her cold nose fences you away with a snort, “Come on Dash I need my kiss, it’s been like…a whole day.” 

“Heh, how do I know you’ve earned it?” Her crystal eyes bore into yours.

“…Uhh…”

“Good enough.” A short reposition puts her lips to yours and quells the fire in your chest while simultaneously lighting a new one. The post-flight ozone smell overpowered her cool sweat and your nose works in conjunction with your tongue to embolden the taste of her mouth. She whimpers and pulls harder on your neck. A hand moves to caress her nape, mirroring her action.

Her tongue begs for entry and you allow it…but the appendage immediately shoots to the back of your throat—gagging you.

*gack!

“…What the heck!” You fall back on your butt and wipe your mouth. 

Her toothy grin looks more mischievous now that she’s at eye level with you, ”That’s for being late.”

“But you were late-er…m-more late!” She moves towards you—using her nose to push yours back. Her legs straddle your body and you can’t help but yield to her advantageous position.

”I have to fly all the way back from the academy in the cold and dark and all you have to do is get to your train on time.” Her sultry eyes made your face flush as much as her hot breath. She has a point.

She also has the high ground. Her nose now pins your head to the floor and she takes the moment to share your breath. Your chest flutters, “I don’t have a watch--”

She presses her lips hard to yours.

”Ohohoo duude! Check out that action!” Both of you are so lost in your reunion ritual that you forgot to close the door. Several drunk ponies just caught a glimpse into your lifestyle.

Without breaking the kiss Dash brings up her hind leg and blindly kicks at the door. The hinged piece of pine bounces off the toe of your shoe and drifts back open. That kinda hurt.

”No way that’s Rainbow D—“

—*wham!

Your foot wasn’t in the way the second time. Now there was nothing to interrupt the smacking sounds of your embrace. She’s pushing against you pretty hard and the only thing keeping the back of your head from bruising is the dirty apartment carpet. Both your arms constrict around her neck and withers, and your strength and weight force her to lay down on you. Her powerful lips nibble yours, her fore hooves reposition, her breathing becomes erratic as she starts to get carried away like she just found out where you hid the candy. You’d been looking forward to this from the moment you woke up this morning. 

A slender tongue infiltrates your mouth and introduces a hint of oats and barley. You stay away from her wings and back, but eagerly entertain her kiss. She breaks your typical twirling dance and gingerly moves the smooth tip of her tongue farther back on yours. For a moment you fear another playful gag, but were pretty confident she wouldn’t do that to you again. Fingers spread through her damp neck fur and you remain motionless—trusting your partner to navigate you carefully.

To your surprise, she leaps across the chasm to the roof of your mouth. The tip of her nimble tongue starts to tickle at your soft palette.

“Hmhmhmhmm…” You giggle into your partner.

”Hmhmhm…” She giggles a bit in response before curling her muscle up the roof of your mouth until it rested behind your front teeth. She finally pulls away, but you bite her tongue between your lips and tug on it. Her eyes dart open and look into yours, ”Aun leh eeh gho”

“Hmm-um.” Her tongue quickly starts to dry—making it easier to hold on. You playfully pull on it some more like you were stealing a spaghetti noodle from her. She’s beginning to look annoyed.

You loosen your grip and the noodle escapes your grasp. She lifts her head and smacks her lips trying to re-wet her uncomfortably dry tongue, ”What the heck dude?”

“That’s for being late.” Her eyes narrow but her smirk betrays her respect for your clever retaliatory jab. Instead of letting you up, she makes herself comfortable on your chest.

”So I guess that was like a, uhh…kiss and make up?”

“Yeah, I forgive you.” She hoofs your shoulder, “Ow!”

”I’m not mad that you’re late so you can’t be mad I’m late.”

“Fair enough. Oh! Almost forgot to tell you, I got the job!”

“Awesome dude!” She holds a hoof up and you high-five it.

“Now I can buy you all the honey granola bars you could ever eat.” 

“Pfft!” Her folded ears betray her tough attitude. You’re not sure she knows exactly how readable her body language is.

Out of nowhere she kisses you again. Just a quick peck, but you didn’t see it coming. For some reason she seems extra affectionate tonight, at least compared to normal…or what you’d seen of normal. In all honesty you don’t really know, but it sure seems like something’s gotten into her…speaking of which, she’s staring at you.

The strange look in her eyes demands all of your attention. It was a look you’d never seen before…not nervousness, you’d seen that plenty of times. This was something deeper; a product of a thought in her churning mind.

She pre-empts you before you have a chance to ask her what it is, ”Let’s go out.” Her words carried a hint of finality as if they were rehearsed.

You wanted to appease her, but you’d missed your window of opportunity, “I’d like to but all the restaurants are closed.”

”Not to eat, just…somewhere else besides here.” You weren’t sure what could be open at this hour except the Ponyville bar. You weren’t in the mood to go drinking especially after a long day, but she sounded hopeful and you weren’t going to snuff that out.

“Sure.”

She visibly brightens though it looks like she's holding herself back. She rises to her hooves—standing over you. A lingering smooch lands below your eye, ”Gimme ten minutes.”

She hops over you, wafting you with her powerful scent and giving you a quick flash of her form through her wonderfully fitting suit. The bathroom door closes down the hallway and you just lay there trying to figure out what’s going on. This must be what people mean when they say it’s hard to understand women. 

You roll to your hands and knees, then to your feet. You’ll have time to contemplate it later, right now you need to freshen your breath and change. 

Twenty minutes later Dash walks into the living room to see you minus one suit and tie and plus one button up and jeans. It was a relatively easy transition for you. But you can’t say the same for her.

Her bangs flow in a glossy cascade down one side of her face and the back was tied in a  sort of pony tail. Her tail had undergone a similar transformation—losing its fuzzy air-whipped appearance. Primary feathers glisten with a coat of conditioning oil and her cyan fur is brushed free of any sweaty clumps. She looks…gorgeous. Not that she doesn’t always, but especially now.

You weren’t sure how she made such a transformation in this short of a time, but it was amazing. Unfortunately she didn’t tell you she was ‘dressing’ up, and now you feel inadequate without your suit. You must’ve stared for too long because she looses her nerve and breaks eye contact, ”I-I’m ready to g-go, s-sorry I took so long.”

“Rainbow you look beautiful.”

Her tail sways at the compliment, but other than that she just stands there apparently uncomfortable with the attention. You walk over to her and she keeps her eyes awkwardly locked on the half of the room you weren’t in. Fingers run through her glossy colors confirming the silky texture they portrayed, “I like your hair this way.”

She finally looks at you, “Really?”

You nod, “Really.” You wanted to tell her it was the cutest thing you’d ever seen but she doesn’t need to be smothered right now. You lean in and plant a kiss in front of her ear; heh, her fur smells fruity.

The action reminds her who you are and she gains some confidence, turning and looking you in the eye, ”Y-you look good too.”

Obviously you didn’t, but you don’t want to torture the mare’s fragile nerves, “So where are we headed miss Dash?” She blushes further at the charade, but answers.

”Th-The park…?”

The statement was partially a question; she was waiting for your approval to proceed, “The park it is then.” 

You lead her to the door and open it. A bit of relief washes over you. Dash isn’t much of a drinker, and the park is a nicer place for a date anyways. You head out the front door and make a left.

The night air had gotten a bit cooler in your absence, and Dash stuck by your side. She couldn’t lean into you because your height difference would cause her to trip, but she sauntered in a way that made the nature of your relationship apparent. You had to resist the urge to ruffle her hair or play with her ears, you didn’t want to ruin all the work she’d put into herself. As you walk farther out of town the absence of lantern light reveals a multitude of celestial objects in the vast sky above you. You make it to the entrance of the vacant park and Dash takes the lead.

Apparently she has a specific place in mind—though for what still remains a mystery. It is possible that she wanted to spend a romantic evening stargazing…it just doesn’t seem her style. The moon is waning, but the starlight is more than enough to see comfortably by. It glints off her tail as you follow her impeccable form down familiar paths and bends. Even if you’d worn your suit you’d still feel underdressed in the presence of the naked pegasus.

The path disappears into a small cluster of trees and you struggle to keep the mare in sight. In all your time here you’d never been in the forest at night. To your amazement, plants all around you start to glow at the slightest disturbance. Mushrooms, flowers, and ferns cast their soft blue-green glow onto the beaten path. The bioluminescence mesmerizes you; there was nothing like this back home, why hadn’t anyone told you about it? Twilight would know about the glowing plants, probably something to do with magic. Soon, you pass the last mushroom clinging to the shadows and find yourself in a very familiar clearing.

Calm water gently ripples and distorts the night sky above. 

Ankle-high grass sparkles with the occasional firefly and sways gently in the silent breeze.

It was here that you first started watching her airshows, where you’d shared your first real kiss, where you’d first been intimate…the spot clearly held some meaning for both of you. You look to your hiking partner but she’s already making a beeline for the water. 

You chase after her—leaving an angry trail of fireflies in your wake. She stops a few feet from the water's edge and sits down, you take up a spot next to her. It takes a moment but you start to see through the darkness and take stock of your surroundings. The area immediately becomes familiar, it was right here. This exact spot was where you confessed your feelings for each other...promptly before her wing job. The nearby tree, the shape of the horizon, the weirdly shaped rock that stuck out into the waterline, it's all burned into your memories which flood back to you like it happened yesterday. 

You look out of the corner of your eye, admiring her sleek contours while her attention remains diverted. Your luck quickly runs out and she glances over to catch you staring. Her eyes dart back across the water and she shuffles on her hooves. Why is she being so shy? Is it because of her prettied up hair? You throw an arm around your companion and look at the celestial reflections in the water. It's much easier on your neck, but not quite as fulfilling.

You need an icebreaker, “So how long do we have before the Timberwolves trace our tracks?”

You feel her turn in your arms to look at you. A delayed chuckle blasts your cheek, ”Heheh, we’re not in the Everfree dummy, we’re fine here.”

“So I don’t need to go piss on a tree to mark our territory?”

”Hahahaha!” You smile; her characteristic scratchy laughter is nothing less than music to your ears.

She loosens up a bit and you find yourself staring into her eyes. She bites her bottom lip and breaks eye contact, ”F-for the record, I’m kinda glad I don’t have to go to some fancy restaurant with silverware and stuff.”

“Yeah me too.”

She perks up and her tail swishes once, ”Really? I thought you liked fancy stuff after that dinner and all the candles and things.”

“Well I was just doing it for you, I thought you might enjoy that kind of thing, and I’ve also never done something like that before so I just wanted to see if I could.”

”I did! I mean…I know how much work you put into it, but you don’t have to do that for a mare like me.”

You don’t like her tone, “What do you mean ‘mare like me?’”

Her eyes divert again and you bring a hand up to scratch behind her ear. The action seems to put her at ease.

”It’s just that I’m not like Rarity or anything and I’m bad at looking pretty and being fancy—“

Your finger on her lips takes her by surprise and silences her. She crosses her eyes on it before blinking and looking up at you.

“That is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. You’re great at looking pretty Rainbow Dash, you just don’t realize it because you never have to try.” Even in the dark you can see her cheeks dim. Your finger is still awkwardly shushing her, “Rarity is good at the fancy stuff because that’s who she is; you don’t like it because that’s who you are, and I like who you are.”

”A-all of it?”

“Huh?”

”D-do you l-like all of who I am?” She asks nervously.

What kind of question is that? You almost chastise her for not knowing the answer, “Every. Last. Bit,” You punctuate each word with a tap on her nose.

She soaks up her emotions for a moment before turning away, ”S-sorry, I know you do and I shouldn’t question you like that…it’s just…”

“…Just what?”

”…Other stallions, when I tried to date them…they didn’t like all of me.”

“I doubt they’d date you if they didn’t like you Dash,” You try to bolster her esteem.

”No, not like that…they liked what they saw, being an athlete and awesome and all that. But that’s all they wanted.” She’s trying to piece together words and you patiently stroke her shoulder while she does, ”They didn’t like that I wasn’t like that all the time…I didn’t want to settle with some pony who I couldn’t relax around, and I didn’t want to be with some pony I wasn’t going to settle with…”

“…So you cut your relationships short because of that?” She looks over as you complete her thought.

She nods. You had a pretty good idea of what she meant, and you intended to specifically nullify that fear, “Dash, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. I love you especially when you’re all soft and mushy, you don’t have to try and be number one all the time for me to still love you.” Those words force a smile of pure joy to her face.

She scoots closer before turning back to the sky to pointlessly hide her blush. But she can’t hide her uncontrollable grin. You look up too so she doesn’t feel self-conscious. 

"For the record though I'm glad I turned them all away...otherwise I wouldn't have found you." 

Arms wrap around your furry mare and she drapes her wing over your shoulder in response, "Me too, it's always easier when I don't have to fight off a bunch of stallions first."

She snorts, "I doubt you would've had to. It never felt right with any pony else."

You look over at her upturned eyes, she's surprisingly sappy tonight.

The sky was clear enough to trace the outline of the galaxy. You lean back and stare up at it, futilely trying to find a familiar constellation. You had to admit you were skeptical about the whole going out thing, but this was worth it. Both for the scenery and for the company.

”So you’re from out there, somewhere?”

You never would’ve pegged her for a romantic stargazer either, but tonight was already a unique one for her so you don't question it further, “Somewhere…probably.”

She stays silent for a moment staring up. You’d looked at astronomer charts, but none it looked recognizable. Even if you knew what to look for, contemporary optics weren’t good enough to see far enough to matter.

"I always wondered what it's like out there. If you fly too high the air just gets too thin and you pass out."

You squeeze her a tad tighter at the thought, "Yeah don't do that."

She nuzzles into your cheek, "Heh, don't worry, I'm not that crazy."

"Trust me, space isn't somewhere you want to go anyways."

She looks at you, contemplating the things she doesn't know, ”Do you want to go back?” She’d never asked that question before, and honestly it’d been a while since you’d thought about it, ”Like, if you could, would you?”

“No.”

Your quick response stuns her, ”Why not? Don’t you miss your family and friends?”

“Sure I do. But I’ve got friends here that I’d miss more if I went back,” You squeeze her shoulder for emphasis.

She audibly gulps and shuffles a bit. Despite your experience together the silence is painfully awkward. You can’t help but feel Dash has something she wants to get off her chest. You lean over and kiss the side of her muzzle.

”An—...umm…*ahem”

Another voice crack, that's two today. Her ears flicker and her wings ruffle as if she’s agitated, ”Anon, you can have f-family h-here too…i-if you want…”

“...What do you mean?”

She gulps as something prompts her to her hooves and she steps out of your reach. A shiver runs down her spine and she takes a deep breath. 

She ducks her head over her wing and maneuvers around it with her nimble muzzle. She stops, checks over it with critical eyes, then dives back in to fix something. Must have a twisted feather, she told you how painful those can get. A moment later she surfaces, finally satisfied with how things are.

Her expressive eyes meet yours and she takes a shaky breath. Before you can react she walks deliberately to your side and…bows? One of her forelegs buckles and she drops her torso in a formal fashion. Ears fold to her nape and she turns her head to the side. Her wing slowly unfurls in front of you until it’s sticking straight out.

She reveals the purpose of her actions before you can ask, ”Anon…w-will you be my mate?”

Time comes to a standstill and your senses distinctly heighten as your furiously beating heart floods your body with adrenaline. Fireflies blink in the background and for a moment you could swear the stars looked like they were spinning around the both of you. Dash’s muzzle was buried in her fore hoof, one eye watches you intently—as if her life depends on your next move.

There was no doubt in your mind as to what she meant. And there was no doubt as to what your answer would be. She made you happy, and more importantly, for whatever reason you made her happy too. Your eyes gaze over her shaky wing. Her largest primary feather, the most important one on her wing, was bent out of place. She'd cautiously plucked it to ensure it would grow back.

It doesn’t take a genius to know what to do. You reach out and gingerly grasp the feather; it comes free with the slightest effort.

Once it’s in your grasp she folds her wing and stands up, pulling a fore hoof to her breast nervously. 

The six-inch feather seemed to encapsulate her natural beauty in the moonlight—glinting from pale to deep blue at its tip. You look over to the mare next to you who’s still waiting for your answer. So you give her the only answer you could the only way you know how. 

You tackle her with a hug.

Your bodies roll around in the grass desperately clinging onto each other with every limb you had at your disposal. Her muzzle nuzzles into your cheek as she releases her nervous, happy laughter. You do the same all the while careful to hold onto her feather.

Somehow across an innumerable distance, against all odds, you’d found your other half. You were made for each other, and nothing would make you happier than dedicating the rest of your life to that.

Your mouth meets hers in a kiss before she has the chance to beg for one.

Your feelings were so strong for her that when you weren’t expressing them like you were now…your chest actually hurt a bit. Expressions of her own convince you to lose track of time and when you come to, you’re staring down at her sparkling magenta eyes, her grinning muzzle as out of breath as yours.

“I would be honored to be your mate Rainbow Dash.”

All the nervousness in her body gets replaced with excited shuddering. You pull her to your chest and squeeze her tight to try and stop it. Tears of joy begin to well up in your eyes. You had no idea it was possible to feel this happy.

You look at the blue feather in all its beauty. She could still fly without it, but it would be more difficult. 

Marriage was a legal status, but it was traditionally a simple agreement. In less civilized times, the loss of her pinfeather would make her more vulnerable until it grew back. Symbolically, it meant she now depended on you. You can’t say you expected this so soon from her, but that doesn’t mean you’re not ready.

There was nothing to think about, nothing to debate. Because there was nothing to argue otherwise. You pull back to look at her. Her watering magenta eyes, her pretty face. You’d always heard of people talk about the ‘honeymoon phase’ of the relationship—the time when you thought your partner was perfect in every way. The feelings you had toward her sure seemed to fit, but you were hesitant to call it a phase.

You weren’t fooling yourself, you knew that the novelty of her body and her fame would wear off with familiarity. But her cocky smile, her sarcastic sense of humor, her soft scratchy voice whispering lovingly into your ear while she kept you warm with her wings. Those were the reasons you fell in love with her.

You didn’t need to make any excuses for your feelings anymore.

Because those things would never get old.