Watching the Rain
A drop of sweat ran down Izzy's forehead. She watched it in her reflection in the rain-streaked window of the Crystal Brighthouse as it made its path down her forehead before disappearing into her mane.
Logically, there was no reason for her to be sweating, not in the dim, cool room, not during a mid-autumnal evening thunderstorm. There was also no reason for her heart to be thumping against her ribs like it was using her own chest as a drum when she had been sitting still at the window for the past twenty minutes, or for her entire skin to be tingling like her coat hairs were dancing to the music.
"Izzy? Izzy?"
"Huh?" Izzy turned around to face the other mare, whose head was cocked to one side so that her multicolored mane spilled down her shoulders like a river made of a rainbow, blinking at her in confusion (her eyes shone like they were genuine emeralds).
"I was saying that we should try to bring back the Running of the Leaves," Sunny said, gesturing out the window. Beneath them, the rolling hills of Maretime Bay stretched out before them, the prismatic array of autumn leaves swaying in the wind.
Izzy's face scrunched up. "How do we get the leaves to run?"
Sunny giggled. "No, Izzy, the Running of the Leaves was a tradition in some parts of old Equestria. During the fall, they'd race through the forests; the motion of so many ponies would cause the leaves to fall off."
"Oooh, we could make a race for Bridlewood Forest!" Izzy cried, delighted at the idea.
"I imagine that it looks really impressive in the fall," Sunny said, looking down at the scant trees of the seaside town.
"It's absolutely beautiful," Izzy replied, her mind drifting back to her old home, recalling the vibrant colors of the massive curtains that would adorn the forest, filling the air with that fresh blend of scents that could only be collectively identified as autumn. "The trees are just covered in these big splashes of color--reds and oranges and browns and yellows! I like to collect leaves for unicycling and make them into collages or canvasses for painting!"
Sunny's face lit up in delight, glowing like the rising sun. "We should go there sometime soon!" she declared. "You could show us and we could arrange a Running there!"
"I'd love that!" Izzy beamed.
Her throat instantly dried up. Why had she said that word? Why did it make her heart skip like it was jumping rope in her chest? And did it suddenly get hot in here when Sunny smiled, as though she really were glowing like the sun?
A thunderclap suddenly roared through the air, the sky flaring white. Sunny let out a yelp and her hoof darted out on instinct, seizing Izzy's fetlock.
The tingling sensation intensified across Izzy's entire foreleg, spreading across her body, like ants crawling up and down her form. She froze beneath the sensory barrage, her heart rate accelerating like she was running for her life.
Sunny let out an embarrassed cough and retreated. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, her orange cheeks turning a shade of pink.
"It's okay," Izzy replied, trying to keep her voice even. Her pulse slowed and the tingling sensation faded to a distant sensation in the back of her mind, which was a relief, but part of her mourned for the loss of the warm touch of Sunny's hoof against hers.
"I used to be scared of thunderstorms," Sunny said.
Izzy turned and raised an eyebrow at her friend, whose cheeks darkened. "Okay, I still am kinda scared of thunderstorms," she admitted. "I'd hide under the bed and wait for it to go away. My dad would tell me stories about the Weather Factory back in Cloudsdale and how the pegasi would clear away the storms, and I'd wish I could have a friend to make the thunderstorms go away so we could go out and play."
Izzy chuckled. "Well, now you've got two pegasus friends who can make thunderstorms go away," she said.
"If they weren't back at Zephyr Heights right now," Sunny chuckled back.
"Well...at least you've got a unicorn friend to sit and talk with while it rains," Izzy stammered out. For some reason, that made the weird fluttering feeling in her chest even worse.
Sunny chuckled and leaned up against Izzy. "Yeah, that's true," she replied, nuzzling into Izzy's mane.
The unicorn was suddenly petrified, her heart racing in her chest like she was running a marathon. Her face was so warm that she distantly marveled at the fact that the sweat on her forehead wasn't evaporating off her; the fluttering feeling in her chest had increased tenfold, but she didn't care because Sunny was warm and soft and her mane smelled so good, like sunflowers and rain...
"Izzy? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Izzy squeaked out.
Another thunderclap sounded, more distant than the one before and Sunny retreated with a gasp. After the echoes faded away, she turned and looked at Izzy.
"Izzy, you've been acting weird," she said. "Especially when you're with me. Is there...something you want to tell me?"
Sweat was cascading down Izzy's face and the fluttering sensation had moved down to her tummy, making her stomach turn flip-flops inside her. She swallowed to try to force some moisture down her desiccated throat and sucked in a deep breath.
"Sunny...do you ever feel...funny?" Izzy stammered out, trying and failing to force herself to look up at Sunny's eyes.
Sunny cocked her head to one side. "Funny how?" she asked.
"Like..." Izzy swallowed, her heart palpitating against her chest with the rapid tattoo of a marching band's drum. "When you're near somepony, your heart starts beating really fast..."
"And you start to sweat...?" Sunny prompted.
Izzy nodded and took in a breath that smelled of sunflowers and rain. "And you get this weird fluttery feeling in your tummy like you swallowed some butterflies...?"
"Uh-huh..." Sunny asked, the wind of her breath brushing against Izzy's cheek.
Izzy looked up at last to meet Sunny's emerald eyes. "And when you look at them, you suddenly feel like you could just float away...?"
"And it makes you feel really nervous and really happy at the same time...?" Sunny blinked slowly and licked her lips. "Yeah, I...I think I feel funny like that sometimes..."
For a moment, there was silence between the two of them, save for the water pattering against the window, sounding in Izzy's ears like the thumping of her heart. Sunny was so close that she could feel the heat radiating from her face; no wind brushed against her face and she realized that she was holding her breath as well.
Izzy took in a breath, then leaned forward and pressed her lips against Sunny's, closing her eyes so that the only thing in the world now was the warm, wet taste of berry smoothies and cupcakes against her lips. She felt Sunny let out a muffled squeak of surprise, then she started to kiss Izzy back, melting into the embrace. There was a distant thunderclap, but Sunny didn't react at all save to continue the kiss.
After a few moments, the two pulled away from each other. They stared at each other for another long moment of silence, breathing heavily.
Sunny cracked a nervous smile. "Wow," she breathed.
Izzy giggled, the fluttering sensation slowing to a pleasant tingle and spreading down to her hooves and tail. "Wow," she repeated, her heart slowing down to a calm rhythm and her sweat evaporating.
Sunny leaned up against Izzy's shoulder, nuzzling into her mane. Izzy tucked her head against Sunny's, closing her eyes to enjoy the scent of sunflowers and rain. A comfortable silence fell between them, save for the pattering of the rain against the window.