Rainbow Dash had the same dream again. It was the same dream that she'd been having for the last month. Every time it was nearly identical to the last. This one was no different.
Not that she didn't enjoy it. Quite the opposite, in fact- she looked forward to her daily naps with great anxiety, becoming quite disappointed when the breaks yielded no visions of her favorite mare....
This was her favorite part. She hardly ever got this far- usually a wayward friend awoke her from deep slumber just to greet her with a casual "hello". Needless to say, she was extremely grumpy after these incidents.
Dash gazed into her lover's golden eyes. She melted into her embrace- her grey fur warm and soft to the touch. Her pace quickened. Their hooves touched, their lips met in romantic embrace. Rainbow felt hooves up and down her body, over her wings, and back to her face. She couldn't take it anymore. She NEEDED this. They pressed their hot, sweaty bodies against each other and both moaned in ecstasy. "Dash! Dash! Oh! Oh, Rainbow! Oh--
"OH RAINBOW DAAAASSSHH!!" Rainbow nearly fell off the cloud she had been asleep on. She couldn't form rational thought, having been so violently aroused, in more ways than one, and didn't understand why Derpy was calling to her from below and not to her side. "I've got a letter for you Rainbow Dash! I see you up in that cloud! Can you come down please?" "h-h-huh? Oh, uh- yeah! Sure! Be right there!" Dash replied hastily, finally having reformed the ability to speak, period. "Alright, be cool," Dash told herself. This was the chance she had been waiting for. She wouldn't dare screw it up.
She flew down from the aeronautical bubble and landed next to Derpy Hooves, with a flair of her tail upon landing. "Hey Derpy." "Hi Rainbow Dash!" she grinned, which did nothing to help Dash's nerves. "I've got a letter for you!" "oh...cool...uh, cool. Hey listen, maybe do you wanna-" "I think it's from Twilight. I'm not sure, the handwriting is kinda hard to read-" "go hang out or something, y'know, maybe go eat something together or-" "so I'm not sure. Or maybe it's from Pinkie Pie, that would make sense, it's probly another party invitation-" "I dunno, just go watch the sunset I guess. How does that sound?" "I'd like to go if that's the case." "you want to go? Really? That easy? Awesome! I'll uh, see you tonight then, over by the farm then! See ya!" Dash flew off, hoof-pumping in her "success", leaving a very confused Derpy Hooves behind. "uh...you forgot your letter, Rainbow Dash."
* * *
Rainbow sighed. It had been 30 minutes. The sunset was about to start and Derpy was nowhere to be seen. Dash sulked, knowing that her luck might have dwindled after the fateful encounter that afternoon. She was even about to get up from the tree she had picked out for the "date", but she stopped when she saw a silhouetted figure against the sunset. It was majestic. It was beautiful. It was- "Oh there you are Rainbow Dash!" "Yes, Derpy, it is I! The lovely, graceful Rainbow Dash!" They rushed into each other's hooves. The embrace they held seemed to last forever, and neither wanted it to end. They kissed passionately, knocked to the ground by their love for each other, and Dash wrapped her hooves around Derpy, who exclaimed-- "What are you doing, Rainbow Dash?" Derpy giggled. Dash realized she had hugged Derpy, and quickly retreated, a blush forming on her face. "S-s-sorry..." she stammered, head down in bashfulness. "I've been looking all over Ponyville for you!" "You have?" her ears perked up. "Yep, I forgot to give you your letter earlier!" she said, pulling said letter out of her bag and handing it to Dash. "Oh...right," Dash took the letter, looking a little more than crushed. "What's the matter? Is something bothering you Rainbow Dash?" Derpy stared benevolently at Dash- or the trees behind her, it was hard to tell which eye was doing most of the looking. "Yes Derpy!" Dash threw her hooves around her, on purpose this time, and they embraced tightly. Derpy pushed Dash back against the tree and they kissed tenderly. They held each other for what felt like an eternity in heaven when they broke the kiss. As the sun set behind them, Derpy looked longingly into Dash's eyes, and said-- "Oh, the sun's setting, that means my shift is over. See ya later, Rainbow Dash!" and with that, she flew away.
Rainbow sighed, and watched her fly in awkward loops away, also getting a nice view of her plot in the process. "Looks like another lonely night with the pillow again for me..." Dash sighed again and trudged home, wondering just what had gone wrong. She just didn't know.
* * *
Dash perched in her tree, watching the window for signs of life. So far, nothing moved inside the house, but Rainbow was persistent and stayed. Her patience paid off when she saw a flash of golden blonde mane out of the corner of her eye. She sat up so quickly that she almost fell off the branch she had been lying on, but held on and continued to watch.
Derpy sat down on the couch that was completely visible from Dash's viewpoint. She was still wearing her mailmare outfit. Dash watched with anxiety and hoped it was dark enough so she wouldn't be seen. After a few minutes had passed, Derpy got up and began removing said outfit. It was slow, and deliberate. It was almost as if she knew Dash was watching and wanted her to get the best view possible.
Dash's wings were stiff just from watching her take off her hat. She rubbed her hooves together, anticipating what would come next. But instead of changing downstairs, Derpy went up to her room on the second floor.
Dash knew this sometimes happened, and compensated by flying up the next branch, giving her a view, albeit a lesser one, of Derpy's bedroom. Derpy walked in and stretched. She walked to the window. Dash panicked. She would stick out like a sitting duck- or rather, she was a sore hoof. Derpy threw open the pane and stuck her head out. "Oh hi Rainbow Dash! What are you doing in that tree?" "Oh- uh- nothing- I'm just- uh-" Dash stammered. "Oh, are you pruning the tree? These branches really are getting close to the house," Derpy grinned. "Well I'll leave you to it Rainbow Dash! Goodnight!" and with that, she shut the window and closed the blinds.
Rainbow cursed her horrid luck. Now not only was she not going to get a good view of what was going on inside, but now Derpy expected her tree to be pruned back, leaving her with even less of a view for next time. But maybe she would appreciate it! And talk to her! And invite her inside for lemonade, and maybe a snack, and then she could-
What was she thinking. She was trying to get a date by cutting off branches on a TREE. That was pathetic.
Tree...tree...Fluttershy, maybe she could give her some advice. After all, she had been seeing Rarity recently, and if anyone was hard to please, it would be her. If she could procure some tips or something from Fluttershy, then hooking up with Derpy would be a piece of cake. She resolved to visit her in the morning.
* * *
"Um...let me get this straight...you want...dating advice...from me?" Fluttershy sat on her couch across from a rather impatient Rainbow Dash. "Yes, for the thousandth time, yes! Geez Fluttershy!" "s-s-sorry..." Rainbow sighed. "So, do you have ANYTHING for me? Or should I just give up now and go elsewhere?" "N-no, I think I...um...I can help..." "Great!" Dash sat back against the wall. "Tell me everything you know," "Well, um...when two ponies love each other very much, they get together and-" "No! I already know that! I mean, how do you GET to that!" "Oh...right. Of course." Fluttershy looked down out of her bashful demeanor. "Um...have you tried getting her flowers? Or maybe some chocolates? You know those are real winners..." "Yeah yeah, whatever," Dash perked up. "Maybe I could...send her a letter, have it be to me, and then she'll be at my house, and I could invite her inside, and then we'd..." Dash stood up and started pacing the floor, muttering. "Oh, that's a wonderful idea!" Fluttershy giggled. A sound came from upstairs, which sounded half like a plea and half like impatience. "Oh, excuse me, I forgot, I'm um...tending to some...animals, yes, that's it, they're very sick and um..." Fluttershy started to push Rainbow out the door. "Good bye and thanks for visiting Rainbow!" and with that she slammed the door in Dash's face. Not that she even noticed, she was too preoccupied with her plan to care.
Dash stood by the door, waiting to throw it open the second she heard a knock on it. She had actually brushed her hair- though it hadn't done much good- and she had cleaned up all the trash and food she had left lying around. She shifted, trying to pass the interminable time.
Suddenly there was a knock, and she shoved the door open so hard she almost knocked down the pony outside. "Are you okay?!" She hadn't meant to open it with such fervor. "I'm fine!" Derpy smiled at Dash, which pretty much stopped any rational thought from her. "uh...er...heh..." "I've got another letter for you Dash!" "oh...really? Thanks..." she was about to turn around and go back inside before she remembered the whole intention of the letter. "Oh! Would you like to come in?" "uh, I dunno Dash, I've still got a lot of letters to deliver, and I really should be-" Dash ignored her excuse and pulled her inside and shut the door quickly. "I've got some...uh...food...somewhere..." Rainbow realized she really should have thought this out thoroughly before carrying it out. "Uh, sure, I guess I could stay a little bit for my lunch break..." "Great!" she rushed into the kitchen, frantically searching for anything edible. "Uh...let's see...there's the...no, that went bad last month...oh, how about...oh wait, I ate that...oh, maybe we could...no, she'd hate that...aha!" she proudly held up a loaf of half-eaten moldy bread. She dropped it and held her face in her hooves and sighed. This wasn't going to be easy at all.
When she returned to the living room she found Derpy quietly munching on a sandwich. "Where- where'd you get that?" "Oh, I brought it for lunch! Where's your lunch, Rainbow Dash?" "I..." she sighed. "I don't have one." Derpy patted the seat next to her. "Well why don't you sit down and share mine?" "I dunno Derpy, it's your lunch, I don't really want to take that away from you..." "It's alright, I probly won't eat all of it anyway! It's the least I can do for a friend who let me stay for lunch!" Rainbow half-smiled and sat next to her. "I...I guess if you don't mind, then."
After they had finished the sandwich, and two muffins besides, they began to chat nonchalantly, Dash forgetting her crush anxiety and relaxing. "I really ought to be getting back to work, Rainbow Dash," Derpy finally said after an hour or two of just talking. "No- please, just...stay a little while longer, okay?" "Uh, okay, Rainbow Dash," she smiled, and Dash smiled back. Rainbow couldn't help but keep glancing up and down Derpy's slim, curvy figure. The highlights of her mailmare outfit accented her golden eyes and hair. Derpy herself seemed content to just stare out the window and at the wall, sometimes both at the same time, and Dash just utterly adored that. When Derpy looked her direction, she didn't turn away. Their gazes met. And held. And held...
Finally, Derpy broke the gaze, a light blush on her cheeks. "I...I should go Rainbow Dash. It was fun...thanks," and with that, she got up and left. Rainbow didn't know what to think. Her mind was way too full of ideas and images and scenarios...and when her head got too full, she always did one thing to sort her ideas out- sleep.
* * *
Three hours after clambering into bed, Dash still didn't feel the least bit sleepy or even tired. Way too much had happened for that. Finally she just gave in and let her mind roam wild, bringing her back to the day when she realized her own feelings for the grey mare....
"Careful Derpy!" Dash scolded, having narrowly avoided being struck by lightning. "You don't want to cause more damage than you've already done," They had been setting up the reception to send Applejack to the Equestrian Rodeo Nationals, or something like that, and Derpy had been doing more bad than good.
Frankly, Dash was kind of pissed at her. "I just don't know what went wrong!" Dash sighed in annoyance. "Yeah. It's a mystery." "Good work, Rainbow Dash!" she landed quite heavily and knocked down what little was left of Town Hall. Dash groaned. "You okay Rainbow Dash? Anything I can do to help?" "No!" Dash shouted. "Nothing! In the name of Celestia herself, just sit there! And do nothing!" She did as she was told, clumsily smacking her plot on the remnants of the floor, shattering the boards and sending her tumbling down, but not before she had grabbed Dash's flanks and pulled her down as well. "Oops, my bad."
Dash groaned and tried to move, but realized that they had twisted in the fall and something was on top of her. She squirmed and tried to make her escape. She wouldn't budge- then she looked up and saw those gorgeous amber eyes that she had since come to love. She wasn't sure whether Derpy was looking at her as well, or checking the ceiling for additional damage- but it didn't matter. She could feel herself being straddled, and it felt amazing. She had never experienced so tender an embrace, albeit an accidental one, and it felt so right.
Derpy got up and brushed herself off, then offered a hoof to Rainbow, who eagerly accepted it. She had been "observing" her ever since.
Rainbow Dash sighed and turned over on the bed. Did Derpy feel the same way for her? Could she be thinking about her right now, at this very second? Dash rolled over again. She might not even like mares...and of all the mares in Ponyville, how likely would it be that she would be the object of the clumsy pony's affections? She clutched the pillow closer to herself, feeling lonelier than ever.
* * *
Ding-Dong!
"Urgh, five more minutes..." Dash complained and held the pillow to her ears.
Ding-Dong, Ding-Dong!
The doorbell ringing seemed odd to Rainbow. Who would be at her door this early in the morning? Unless it was Scootaloo, trying to get her attention, AGAIN, in which case she would tell her to screw off.
Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Dong!
Suddenly, Dash sat up, realizing what had felt so strange. She didn't have a doorbell on her house. Then what the hell was making such a racket- CRASH
Well whoever was at the door was most likely inside now.
Dash crept downstairs, trying to figure out whose house she was in, and why. She had fallen asleep in her own bed, she distinctly remembered that, so either she sleep-flew again, or somepony had moved her there. But why? And why did all the furniture look so familiar?
Then it hit her like a ton of bricks- this was Derpy's house. She entered the living room and her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Derpy sitting crossed legged on the couch. "Good morning sleepyhead! I was wondering when you'd wake up!"
"How...what...why am I..." Rainbow Dash whispered as she looked at the gray colored mare in front of her. Derpy glanced to the left side, avoiding her eyes. "Uh, well, after I left, I was wondering about you, and uh...I went back to your house...and uh, you were sick. Yeah, sick. So I took you back here." Rainbow Dash stared disbelievingly at her. Derpy tried to cover her nervousness with a smile, which was unsuccessful. "Why did you bring me here, Derpy?" she asked emotionless as Derpy sighed. "I suppose it's no use lying to you, Rainbow Dash..." Derpy looked off to the side, but turned and stared at Rainbow Dash with a deep determination. "I...well, I sort of....like, well...I mean....I....-" she paused for a second before releasing her most deepest emotions to the mare before her. "I...love you, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow Dash was in shock. She couldn't believe it. Here she was, standing in Derpy's very own living room, and she had admitted to liking her too! It was like a dream come true, it was everything she had ever wanted, she never wanted this moment of pure joy to end, it was like a-- "GAAAHHHH!!" Rainbow yelled at the top of her lungs. She found herself on the floor, covered in her ow bed sheets. "Oh crap!" a familiar voice beside her blurted. "Scootaloo?! Is that you?" Dash threw the covers off her, revealing Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle in her bedroom. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU LITTLE MEDDLING FOALS!" All three crusaders yelped and galloped off in different directions.
Rainbow didn't bother to follow them, but instead seethed in the pile of blankets. She wasn't pleasant on good days when she was woken up. Add to the fact that she was awakened from a wonderful dream, which was another reason in itself, and to find three, albeit cute, intruders in her house, made her furious. After she had settled down a little, she glanced about and noticed a bell and a broken window, which explained the loud noises she had heard in the dream. After her anger had completely settled down, she began to feel despondent. It had just been a dream. Just another dream. But this had felt so real. It was nothing like the other dreams she had about Derpy Hooves She felt lonelier than ever and even began to sob into a pillow.
Finally Rainbow got over her feelings and determined to venture out into town and see what was going on. Maybe she could find a friend to console her, perhaps she could visit the library, Twilight knew what it felt like to be lonely.
They could be lonely together.
This boosted Dash's confidence, so she flew straight to the treehouse, and knocked on the door. There wasn't an answer, even when Dash stayed around for half an hour. She gave up and flew high up over town. She landed on a fluffy cumulus and collapsed into it. "Cloud...sometimes I think you're my only true friend." Cloud, being unable to speak, didn't say anything. They drifted for well over an hour, without event, so Dash had drifted off to sleep.
Rainbow waited by the door, awaiting a response. It wasn't like her to take this long. Finally Derpy answered the door, her hair tied up with a lovely muffin covered bow, and they grinned excitedly at each other. Dash extended the crook of her left foreleg, and Derpy took it, giggling like a school filly, as they strolled off into town.
Dash slowly awoke. It was nice, not having her slumber disturbed. She liked it, it gave her brain a few minutes to wake up and start functioning again. She stretched all the way across her tree branch, and-- "Wait...tree branch?" Dash suddenly sat up. Why was she in a tree branch? She had fallen asleep on a cloud, right? She peeked out of the branches. This was the tree in front of Derpy's house. This day was just getting weirder and weirder.
She didn't see Derpy anywhere, which was a relief, she was in no mental state to deal with that right now. She cautiously slipped out of the tree, and stalked away. Right into Rose Luck's garden. "Ow, ow eep, agh, OUCH!!" she leapt out of the bushes and clung to the tree she had just left. Well, it was obvious she wasn't leaving that way. She slid down the other side of the tree and slinked away.
She hadn't even left stealth mode before she bumped into Derpy staring down at her, with her right eye observing her curiously and her left glancing into the garden. "Heya, Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?" she asked harmlessly. It was almost possible to see the exclamation point above Rainbow Dash's head. She yelped, fell backwards, and crawled away a few feet before running into yet again the same tree. "H-h-hi Derpy!" Rainbow Dash shouted before squeaking as loud as Fluttershy in a crowd would.She nervously tried clearing her throat to compose herself,but she was shaking all over.
Derpy giggled. "What were you doing in that tree again, silly filly?" "Oh, you know, just...running a marathon." Rainbow Dash answered, wanting nothing more then to bash her head into a tree for such a stupid reply as Derpy giggled again. "I didn't know I had a race going in my tree!" she said looking at her tree with fascination, well her left eye was at any rate, but she was all giggles today. Rainbow Dash loved it and could barely contain herself at how cute she was acting. "Hey, do you wanna come inside Rainbow Dash? I'm not working today, so we could hang out again if you want." she smiled widely. "I love you! I mean- I'd love to!" she shouted causing Derpy to chuckle.
After they had settled down in the living room, with a platter of mini-muffins and some carrot smoothies, they began to chat again. "So you're not working today?"Rainbow Dash asked Derpy calmly while taking a bite of a banna nut muffin. "Nope, I got a day off for fixing the post office!" she replied with a large grin on her face, unaware that crumbs of her blueberry muffin was smeared all over her muzzle. "Yeah...fixing." Dash was pretty sure it was unfixing, but she didn't want to screw this up by saying something rude, and she was having enough trouble resisting the urge to wipe the paste on Derpy's muzzle with her own tounge.
"What about you, Rainbow Dash? How come you haven't been taking care of the weather?" Derpy asked shyly finally noticing she had jam on her face as she licked it off, much to Rainbow Dash's disappoinment. "Oh...well, I took a break for awhile. This time of year the weather doesn't take too long to fix up anyway, usually it only takes one pegasus." Rainbow Dash replied as she munched on a apple preserve muffin this time. It was silent for a little while, Rainbow Dash began to look around at the decor. The only pictures she could see in the room were of Derpy and/or some place or event. There weren't any that showed signs of any friends or family.
She turned back to Derpy when she felt eye pressure from her direction. Derpy quickly looked away, but Rainbow Dash could tell that she had been staring at her for a long time, or maybe one of her eyes had, at the very least. They both turned a light shade of red in embarrassment. "Hey Rainbow Dash..." "Yeah Derpy?" "Um...I've been wondering...have you been...seeing uh, a special somepony recently?" "No, I haven't...why?" Rainbow Dash could feel butterflies in her stomach. "Oh, it's just I wouldn't believe it if somepony wasn't dating a pretty pegasus like you...." both their blushes deepened at Derpy's thoughtful and meaningful comment.
"Th-thanks, Derpy...." Dash smiled bashfully at Derpy who grinned back. "Uh, Derpy...I've been meaning to ask you...." "What is it, Rainbow Dash?" Derpy smiled very pleasantly making it so much harder for Rainbow Dash to get her question out of the jumble of junk she called her brain. "If you..." she sighed. "If you could have just one pony to spend your time with...who would it be?" Derpy didn't have to think twice. "It would be you, of course, Rainbow Dash, your my best friend." she grinned from ear to ear. "Yeah but...why is that Derpy?" "Because..." she paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Because you're the most awesomest, nicest, and most beautiful mare ever!"
Rainbow was shocked. Did she truly hear Derpy Hooves say that to her face? She smiled but in a good way, she had never been praised so highly of before, let alone by her crush. "I...I'm flattered, Derpy. Thank you." Derpy smiled pleasantly.
"Um..." Rainbow Dash began. "Derpy...are you...seeing anypony?" she asked who shook her head. "Would...would you..." Dash stumbled over her words, her voice leaving her as she gathered her words and shouted them...Rainbow Dash style. "Can I be your marefriend?!?" she nearly shouted. Derpy recoiled just a bit, but quickly resumed her happy demeanor, her eyes both of them for the first time for a long time looking straight at her for a second before her right drifted lazily to the left and she was back to her normal self .
"Of course, Rainbow Dash! I'd love to have you as my marefriend!" she threw her forelegs around Rainbow Dash and they embraced tightly. For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel anything but this moment of pure excitement before her. "Oh please, oh please let me not be dreaming again..." she thought to herself. Derpy's hug pinched a bit of fur on her back. She shuddered a bit. "Nope, definitely not dreaming..." she smiled widely and held Derpy tighter.
They finally let go of each other, blushing deeply. "Heh...that was cool." Dash smiled giddily at Derpy. "Yeah, definitely." She smiled back in the same manner. "So...uh...are we gonna..." Derpy blushed even more. "Um...maybe we should save that for later. We should, y'know, get to know each other a little bit better." Rainbow Dash was so red she could've been mistaken for a rainbow maned tomato. "It's getting late Rainbow Dash...it's time for bed..." Rainbow Dash got up. "...Right. Of course. Um, goodnight Derpy." And with that, she left. Leaving the wall eyed Pagasus to her blissful but troubled thoughts as she grimly smiled. "Good night." she whispered and went up to her bedroom at she heard her front door close.
Rainbow tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't sleep, oh no, not with this much excitement. She couldn't get her mind off of Derpy- she kept thinking about her. She thought about her mane...her tail...her eyes...her nose...her rear...her curves...she wanted every inch of the grey mare. And soon she would be hers- all hers, and nopony else's , just the thought of that turned her on.
She should've just stayed with Derpy for the night. They wouldn't have been sleeping anyways, even if they weren't doing it. She wondered if Derpy was thinking about her too. It was likely. Oh, she wanted nothing more right now than to just wrap her up and snuggle her to death. Well not to death- that would suck if she did that accidentally. Then she would kiss her neck...
Dash yawned. She was falling asleep. She didn't want to- there was too much to think about, and likely her dreams would take her off onto some unrelated, boring topic like what she was going to eat for breakfast. It tended to do that. Oh damn it- she knew what she wanted for breakfast. A full order of Ditzy Doo, with a side of muffins. And it would be so sweet and satisfying- just the thing she had been craving for, for so long.
She realized her wings were as stiff as steel. She didn't care. In fact, it was kind of liberating. Just the likelihood that Derpy would find it cute rushed her pulse. She sighed dreamily and clutched her sheets, giggling erratically and snorted, as though she was again a mindless infatuated high school mare. Dash just wished it would be morning so she could go see her again.
She wondered if they would have cute nicknames for each other. Maybe something like, "Dashie Waashie" and "Derpy Werpy". She chuckled. They were pretty generic, but she could care less. She would let Derpy call her anything she wanted if it meant spending more time with her. She couldn't take it. She had to. It was the perfect time. She couldn't sleep, no one was around, and her thoughts were filled to the brim with her favorite mailmare. She slowly reached under the covers and...
...pulled out a tan box. She opened the lid, and inside was...
...assorted pictures of Derpy, some letters addressed to Dash, and some unfinished confessions to her. There were also a few splinters of wood she had gathered from the time they fell through the floor, and she had realized how she felt about the grey mare. She sighed. She loved looking through her "Stalker Box". Though now that it was unnecessary, she still wanted to keep it. Maybe she could put pictures of them together and simply call it her "Love Box".
She facehoofed. "That's what she said..." she giggled again. She closed the box and snuggled with it, picturing it as Derpy instead of boring, lifeless cardboard. She grinned widely, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
Rainbow found herself in a cafe. Strangely, there wasn't anypony around, not even waiters. She glanced about, wondering where everypony was. Curiosity overcame precaution, and she went over to the counter. She found a brown paper bag with something metallic clinking against itself. She opened it and peered inside, and found it to be about half filled with gold bits. She closed it, an annoyed look on her face.
She sighed and glanced about, knowing she was in a dream and there was nothing to do about it. She wouldn't care except that it was so BORING. Where were the zombies? The cool gravity distortions? Anything that was out of the ordinary? The only thing slightly interesting was the fact that there was nopony else, and even that novelty would fade soon. She wished she could be with Derpy. That would be exciting. But no. She was stuck with a bag of bits, and that was worthless to her here. She looked around again. Suddenly, Derpy was beside her, looking as gloriously attractive as ever, looking at Dash with longing and desire. They embraced and as their lips met, Rainbow-- ...woke up. "Damn it!" Dash cursed. Things were just starting to get hot. She looked about and saw nothing that could've awoken her. "Stupid brain...." she curled up again but couldn't get comfortable, and ended up just tossing and turning for over an hour. She was about to go for the warm milk trick when she saw the first streaks of Celestia's sun rising out her window. She gave up and decided to get ready to go see Derpy. She trotted over, all freshened up, and with an annoyed huff giggled excitedly. She knocked on the door and brushed her hair back with her forelegs, trying to not look so frazzled. Derpy answered, in muffin pajamas complete with a hat that had a cotton muffin on the top that fell into her eyes which she ignored, looking as adorable as ever.
"Rainbow Dash?" she yawned. "What are you doing here?" "I came to see you of course!" "Rainbow Dash..." she giggled, "it's five in the morning." "Oh...yeah. I knew that." She answered with a hoof rubbing the back of her head causing Derpy to giggle again. "Well, won't you come inside Rainbow Dash? Since you're here and all." "Of course! Thanks!"
After they had settled into the living room for the second time in twelve hours, Derpy rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Don't you usually sleep in, Rainbow Dash?" "Well, yeah, but I couldn't sleep, and uh...yeah. So I decided to come and see you." Derpy smiled. "Well alright Rainbow Dash, I was gonna have to get up soon anyways." she grinned, letting her know this wasn't a problem. Rainbow stretched her wings, yawned, then tucked them back in at her sides, Derpy watching, fascinated. Derpy tried stretching her wings like Dash had but ended up tumbling off the couch onto the floor. "Are you okay?" Rainbow asked, concerned. Derpy grinned. "I'm just fine Rainbow Dash!" Dash chuckled lightly and helped her up.
Twilight screamed and landed in a pile of leaves. She coughed, dust scattering about. "What are you doing in the leaves, silly? C'mon! Get up!" Pinkie Pie giggled. Twilight shakily got to her hooves. "Okay...I'm okay. Let's keep going." "Hmm...for some reason I feel...out of place. Isn't that weird, Twilight?"
"Um...I don't think that's such a good idea," Dash bashfully studied her hooves. "Oh come on Rainbow Dash, it will be fun!" "I'm not a good dancer..." Rainbow muttered. Derpy giggled and rolled her eyes. "I'll teach you then," Derpy Hooves smiled warmly at Rainbow Dash. "Well...alright then. Okay. But um...what if my friends are there? What would they think if they saw me-" "If they really are your friends, they'd be happy for you," Derpy giggled again. "Hey, maybe they haven't told you about their special somepony yet either!" "Well...that's a good point," Dash smiled. "So...see you at eight tonight, right?" "Yeah. See you then, Dash!"
Rainbow Dash shut the door quietly behind her and sighed loudly, wondering how she would pass the long hours between now and the Royalty Reform Dance. Getting ready would probably take about five minutes, but since it was Derpy we were talking about, maybe seven. "Great, now what do I do with the rest of the five hours and fifty three minutes?" she wondered aloud. Well there were all of the dirty dishes piled high in the sink, the trash on the floor, the fur on the ceiling...nah, that could still wait.
Dash wandered around the house, aimlessly shuffling, mind, if it was drawing, would still have a plain white piece of paper. She sighed and flopped onto the couch. She was so bucking BORED. If she was any more bored, they'd have to use her as a sheet of plywood. After rolling on the floor for sheer entertainment for what felt like an hour, she sat up and glanced at the clock. Five hours and forty eight minutes until the dance. She groaned and fell back to the floor. She wondered if there was anything she could do while waiting for the interminable minutes to drag themselves by.
Rainbow mulled over her options of activities in town, and concluded that seeing Rarity to throw together an outfit might be a wise choice. She threw the door. Luckily it didn't hit anypony that would've happened to be in its arc of momentum. She really had to stop tossing that thing about.
Over at Rarity's boutique, Dash decided against going through the front door, and instead flew through the roof. Luckily the hole she had made last time was still there. She landed not-so-gracefully, and rolled straight into a mannequin modeling some important looking dress, probably for some high-end client that she had. She stood it back up, hoping Rarity wouldn't notice its recently acquired tears and missing jewels.
Rainbow stalked downstairs, alert for any sounds that indicated that anypony was present downstairs. She faintly heard conversation, and paused at the base of the steps. "Yes, it is quite large," mused a voice, presumably Rarity's. "Definitely. Want a closer look?" a stallion's voice nearly smirked. Dash's eyes grew wide and she pressed her right ear to the door. "Oh, yes, that would be lovely," Rarity purred in what Dash thought might have been a tone of seduction, was she cheating on Fluttershy with this guy? Dash pressed her ear harder against the door, trying to figure out what the hay was going on, and found on accident that it hadn't been properly shut. She tumbled out into the clothes shop.
Rarity and a stallion Rainbow didn't recognize were standing in the center of the displays, their heads turned towards her. In the stallion's hoof was a rather large gem, which must have been the object of their conversation. "Uh...hi." Dash tried to stand up and look like she had meant to fall onto the floor, but knocked over another mannequin, which fell on another, which fell onto a glass case, which smashed open. The next few moments were silent. "Rainbow Dash," Rarity began, her tone even but hiding anger, "Get. Out. Now." "But I-" "Now!" Rarity screamed as she escorted her to the door, not very gently, and shoved her through the entrance.
"Shoo, and don't come back!" Rarity yelled, slamming the door in her face as Dash sighed and sat on the porch with a thud, accidentally falling on her own tail, looking a little more than embarrassed and guilty. She got up again, waving her tail to make sure it was not too damaged and tried to figure out what to do next. Well, at least that had been more exciting that aimlessly pacing the house.
She then, through boredom and dumb luck with flight, chose to visit her good friend Applejack. "Hey Applejack, you got anything to do around here?" Applejack was toting two full saddlebags of apple seeds. "Rainbow Dash? Doin' useful jobs? Hah!" she chuckled. Dash rolled her eyes. "Well, we sure got plenty of jobs 'round here to do, if ya ain't afraid to get your hooves dirty." Applejack added with a smirk knowing that the Pegasus could never turn down a challenge. "Bring it!" Rainbow Dash shouted with her right hoof hitting her chest in cockiness.
Dash was slightly regretting this decision after an hour. She struggled with the load on her back, having to give extreme effort just to keep it balanced, let alone actually walking to its destination, never mind flying or even flapping her wings. Her legs wobbled and she grit her teeth. "Havin' trouble there, sugarcube?" Applejack grinned, hauling twice as much and going three times as fast as Dash was. Rainbow shook her head, her pride not allowing her to admit she was wrong or for that matter, struggling. Applejack for her part was obviously enjoying watching Rainbow Dash attempting to maintain control of the apples she was carrying. Dash thought Applejack must still be mad about losing the Iron Pony competition. Even though that was well over and behind them.
"Nah. I just, uh...forgot to stretch. Yeah," Dash flashed a wicked grin and lied straight through her teeth. "Well, why don'tcha go stretch in the barn then? Can't be strainin' those ham strings, can we?" Applejack lightly kicked Rainbow's right hind leg who winced upon contact.
Dash muttered curses as she did her normal warm-up routine, even though it was usually for flying, it could be modified for ground work. She grimaced as she popped her muscles and sighed when relief flooded in. Now for the jumping jacks. She had done about eight when she bumped into a barrel. "Oops," she stopped and turned around. The first barrel teetered precariously on the edge towards Dash. It leaned a little more, and fell the other way. Dash breathed a sigh of relief. She continued her routine. She snapped her head around when she heard a barrel splinter. "What-" she only had time to say before all the barrels were rolling in different directions. "Ah, crap..." She tried catching the barrels, which was no use and not a great thing to do with hooves, wishing she had Spike's claws for once as the barrels tumbled every which way too fast, and just flew over the whole mess of applesauce the barrels had contained. Suddenly the barn door flew open. "What in the hay is goin'-" Applejack received a direct splatter of applesauce in the face. As she stood in dumb shock, apple preserves dripping off her, she looked to Rainbow Dash. "What the buck didja do?!" "I-I...it was an accident! I swear! I'm sorry!" Applejack lowered her head and shook it. "Out. Now." "But I could help clean-" "No. Jus' leave Rainbow Dash." she had annoyed look on her face and was about an inch away from screaming cuss words at her. Rainbow had just destroyed about 5 shipments of applesauce in one fell sweep.
"Whatcha waiting for? Princess Celestia's invitation? Get!" Applejack shouted as Dash zipped out the barn door trying her best not to scream or cry, but the problem was she did not know which she wanted to do first.
Rainbow Dash rocked on the edge of her bed. She was kind of disappointed for causing her friends problems like that, but there wasn't much she could do about it now. The most she could hope for was that she wouldn't see them again until her clumsiness had blown over-again. She glanced up at the clock. Two hours and thirty four minutes until the dance. What to do? Or rather what could she do? She rolled over onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, legs and wings outstretched. She couldn't think of anything interesting in the least to do. "Argh!" Dash groaned and slammed her head against the pillow. She was just so freaking BORED.
She hadn't recalled ever being this anxious since that one time at flight school when the Wonderbolts had been scheduled to appear for a show. She had nearly even gotten to talk to Spitfire. The autographed picture of the flight captain she still had was lying around somewhere. She had to admit to herself that she still had a crush on her, although that wish now seemed distant and insignificant at this point.
Two hours and sixteen minutes until the dance. Rainbow Dash sighed and figured that a brief nap might do her some good. She sat back against the mattress, trying to get comfortable, and drifted off to sleep.
Rainbow Dash adjusted Derpy's blue bow tied in her mane. They giggled but Rainbow herself covered it up as a cough, trying not to seem too girlish. They trotted along quietly together for what could've been minutes or hours, as time was a relative term when she spent it with Derpy Hooves. They turned a corner and were greeted by festive lights.
She awoke slowly, smiling dreamily from her nap. She lazily turned to check the time. It had probably been about thirty minutes since she last checked. Maybe an hour. Fifteen minutes until the dance. Dash was still not quite awake and squinted at the clock again. "OH, BUCK!" She jumped out of bed and scrambled on the floor. She had about five minutes to throw herself together to appear reasonably presentable.
As she was simultaneously awkwardly brushing her teeth, brushing her mane, and trying to find some clothes that didn't happen to be visibly dirty, the clock ticked on. Twelve minutes until the dance. "Oh buck, buck, buck, buck, BUCK!" she cursed while lifting piles of clothes with her wings to find something, ANYTHING. She threw the brush in the sink and spat in the drawer. She paused, and then slowly shut the drawer.
She rooted through the abyss of her dresser and pulled free an old pink ribbon Fluttershy had given her a long time ago, after they had gotten out of Flight School. It would have to do for now. She tied it quickly and admired her right foreleg. "...Maybe this would go better in my mane." she giggled nervously. She pulled it loose and tied back her mane, quickly glancing at herself in the mirror and nodding in approval. Seven minutes until the dance. She flew out the window, hoping she would make it in time.
She arrived at the outside of the dance, which was just beginning to pick up, and she looked around for Derpy. She saw her flying and awkwardly trying to keep her elaborate hat from falling off her head. Their eyes met and they both grinned. Derpy landed, almost falling over into the dirt but Rainbow caught her, and they grinned at each other again.
"Hey there Rainbow Dash, sorry I'm so late, I kinda...lost track of time. I didn't keep you waiting, did I?" Derpy asked a bit embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her neck with her right front hoof as Rainbow Dash waved her off. "No, no. I just got here too," she giggled before covering it up as a cough, she was NOT a filly anymore, and no way in hay was she ever going to act like it, even in front of Derpy.
"What are you wearing?" she glanced up and down Derpy. "Oh, this...?" she shifted nervously. "This is my grandmother's old green dress with white snowflake trimmings...I don't look too silly, do I Rainbow Dash?" "No, no, it's absolutely beautiful!" she answered with an honest grin making Derpy smile wide. "Thanks Rainbow Dash!" She hugged her tightly. Dash chuckled and hugged her back. "Well? Shall we?" Rainbow extended the crook of her left foreleg and Derpy took it, giggling.
Inside the dance floor, which was entirely outside but lit up by lanterns, it had a perimeter of tables, leaving a large area for the ponies to dance together. Dash glanced around, looking for anypony she knew. She suddenly froze in place. "Something wrong Rainbow Dash?" Dash gulped. Over on the opposite side of the dance floor, stood Rarity in a stunning blue dress with ruby gem trimmings with Fluttershy who wore a pink with blue ribbons trailing the sides dress, the former looking rather annoyed.
Fluttershy looked as though she was trying to calm Rarity down, but was doing poorly. Applejack was a short distance away in a green with red apple designs printed on the bottom dress, looked about twenty percent more annoyed than Rarity herself did as they glared at one another in anger. "Ah, horseapples...." Dash muttered under her breath.
