> No Matter What!
>  by Cupcakes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> See Dash Run
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Twilight!"

Twilight Sparkle dropped the stack of books she was levitating, turning as Rainbow Dash flew in through the library window.

"What's wrong, Rainbow!? Is Ponyville in danger?" Twilight looked out through the open window, but there was nothing to see but blue skies and puffy white clouds.

"Ponyville? No, just me!" Dash darted around the room like a hummingbird, not sticking to one place for more than an instant. Wide-eyed and panting, Rainbow turned to Twilight. "You gotta let me hide in here!"

"Hide?" Twilight asked, one eyebrow raised. "Really. Rainbow Dash, hiding? From what?"

"Not what! Who!"

"Ohhhhh Daaaaa-shieeee," a high-pitched voice sing-songed from outside the library, setting Dash's mane and tail on end.

"Horse apples!" the pegasus squeaked, zipping up into Twilight's bedroom. There was a thud and a squeak of wood on wood before silence fell. The quiet was interrupted by a musical knocking on the front door, set to some tune Twilight didn't recognize.

"Come in!" Twilight called, opening the door with a casual application of magic. Nopony was there. Before Twilight could even react she caught movement from the corner of her eye: it was Pinkie Pie, hopping in through the same window Dash had just used.

"Hiya Twilight!"

Twilight blinked, glancing back and forth between the door and the window. She shrugged and shut the door, turning to smile at her newest guest. "Good afternoon, Pinkie Pie!" Twilight's horn glowed as she lifted up one of the books she'd dropped on the floor. "Can I help you with something?"

"Uh huh, uh huh!" Pinkie replied, hopping in place. "I'm looking for Rainbow Dash. Have you seen her?"

Twilight hmmed, pretending to browse through the book she was levitating. "I'm not sure." She turned to look at Pinkie again. "What do you need her for?"

Pinkie wiggled. "Our veryvery first date ever was three months ago today!"

Twilight smiled wide. "That's quite the little anniversary. Congratulations!"

"Thanks!" Pinkie said with a bounce, her face nearly split in two by a tremendous grin.

The librarian shelved a book, fidgeting with it for several seconds and peering with one eye, not releasing her magical grip until certain it was placed just so. "Mind if I ask you a few questions later about your relationship? The transition from close friends to long-term relationship could be an interesting topic of research on the magic of friendship."

"Sure!" Pinkie leaned closer, waggled her eyebrows, and dropped her voice to conspiratorial levels. "As long as you tell me where Rainbow Dash is."

Twilight tilted her head forward and whispered, "In my room. Under the bed, I think. But you didn't hear it from me."

"Hear what?" Pinkie gave an exaggerated wink before turning away. She somehow hopped silently up the stairs, Twilight watching all the while.

"How does she do that with everything she eats?" Twilight asked herself under her breath, then shrugged and put another book away with meticulous attention. "They really are a cute couple. I wonder why Rainbow Dash is trying to run away from her?"

"Awgh!" came a voice from above, and then a high-pitched giggling.

"Got you!" Pinkie cackled. "Goochie goochie goo!"

"No, wait! Not agai--Eeee!"

There was a thump and rustling, then more wood squeaking on wood. Twilight looked back up at her bedroom door and perked her ears as the two voices giggled together.

"No, Pinkie, stop it!" Dash called out between helpless chuckles. "Eeh hee hee, no, no, oh-gosh-not-there-EEEK!"

"I'm not letting you get away this time!" Pinkie declared, and then laughed along with the sounds she seemed to be forcing out of her poor pegasus victim.

"Oh," Twilight said, shelving another book. "That's probably a good reason to run away from Pinkie."

Rainbow Dash burst through the door, feathers askew, panting as she hovered in the middle of the room. She shook her head as if to clear it, then met Twilight's eyes. "Can't you levitate her or something?!"

The unicorn shook her head. "And choose between my friends? Who's to say I shouldn't levitate you instead and hand you over?"

Pinkie leapt through the open bedroom door and into a perfect swan dive directly into Rainbow Dash, sending them tumbling end over end together until they landed against a wall. Pinkie looked down at Dash, pinned beneath her.

"Gotcha again," the party pony said, grinning and leaning in to smush their noses together.

"Pinkie," Rainbow said quickly, squirming under her fillyfriend, "d-don't do it!" Her eyes flicked to Twilight and then back up into Pinkie's piercing blue gaze. "Twilight's watching!"

"Sooo?" Pinkie trailed a hoof along Rainbow Dash's side with a delicate touch, slow and smooth, making Dash cringe but not enough to cause ticklish giggles. "You know whatcha gotta do to make me stoooop," Pinkie teased in a voice equal parts sultry and playful.

Dash's heart was racing. She gulped hard and stared into Pinkie's eyes for a long moment, their lips so close they were sharing breath.

Twilight almost didn't ask, but the pause stretched long enough for her curiosity to overwhelm. "What, uh, what does she have to do to make you stop?" she asked, looking at them out of the corner of her eye. The next book she shelved was noticeably askew.

Pinkie sat up and turned to Twilight. "She just hasta s--eep!"

Rainbow Dash was gone with a rush of wind that rustled the pages of every open book in the room, not to mention leaving Pinkie Pie flat on her back.

"Awww, shoot!" Pinkie hopped to her hooves, smiling despite the turn of events.

"Oops," Twilight said with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"S'okay! It just means that intrepid hunter Pinkie Pie is back on the prowl." Pinkie deposited a safari helmet on top of her head and bounced out the library's front door. "Seeya later!"

"Bye, Pinkie!" Twilight closed the door behind her friend, then giggled. "Yeah, Rainbow doesn't stand a chance."





A streak of rainbow movement caught Applejack's attention. Her eyes tracked it until the Apple Family barn blocked her view, her ears perking at the creak and slam that followed. "What the hay?" Applejack asked nopony in particular, trotting through the barn. She pulled open the wood door set into the ground on the other side.

"What're y'all doing in my apple cellar?" Applejack asked blindly into the darkness.

"Nothing. Shut the door!" Rainbow Dash's voice was unmistakable.

"Not 'til you start explaining yourself, missy."

There was a pause, then, "I'm hiding, okay!?"

Applejack snorted. "Rainbow Dash, hiding? What from?"

"... Pinkie Pie."

AJ blinked, then chuckled. "First off, sugarcube, since when does hiding from Pinkie Pie ever work? And second..." The earth pony's voice stiffened. "Why're you hidin' from Pinkie? Did you two have a fight? You didn't break that poor little pony's heart, did you?"

"What?! No way!" Dash suddenly flew up to hover in front of Applejack, a hoof prodding the farmer's chest. "Liked I'd ever..." Then, with a blink, Rainbow dropped to the ground and looked down at her hoof as she scuffed the grass beneath it. "At least, I don't think--"

"DASHUMS!"

Rainbow Dash had barely enough time to perk her ears and unfurl her wings before she was once again tackled at full speed, the wind knocked out of her as she rolled through the grass with a familiar weight clinging to her middle. As the panting pegasus got her sight back, she found herself once again staring straight up into Pinkie Pie's huge blue eyes. A tiny smile came to her lips before she remembered she was supposed to be fleeing in terror.

The pink pony was happy to remind her. Pinkie smooched her fillyfriend on the nose and grinned as she simply said, "Mine." And then the tickling began again.

"AHH! No, wait Pinkie! Eeeahaha, nooo!" Dash squealed, blushing as she tried to pretend Applejack wasn't right there watching her fail to squirm away from Pinkie's devilish hooves digging into her sides.

Applejack chuckled and shrugged. "Looks t'me like everything's just fine and dandy!"

Pinkie stopped as abruptly as she started. "Saaay iiiit," she insisted with a grin, giving Dash's belly a warning prod that elicited a twitch from the pinned pony.

"P-Pinkie, I just... Um..." Dash looked over at Applejack as if for support, but the farm pony was already walking back to her barn.

"I'll just give you two some privacy," AJ said with an audible smile in her voice.

"What's all the commotion?" a younger voice asked. Apple Bloom's head peeked out from the barn before Applejack reached it. "Oh, hi Pinkie Pie! Hi Rainbow Dash!"

Pinkie sat up and waved a hoof. "Hiy--ahh!"

The pink pony found herself upside down on the ground again, a rainbow streak making its way into the distance. "Nuts!" she said, bouncing upright.

Applejack grinned. "You wanna borrow my rope?"

"Ooooh, rope!" Pinkie put a hoof to her chin, brow furrowing, but then shook her head. "Nah, maybe next time. I think I'm wearing her down! Buhbye for now!"

"Bye!" Applejack and Apple Bloom said together, and as Pinkie bounced away the little sister asked, "Now what was all that about?"

Applejack smiled and rustled Apple Bloom's mane. "Nothin' for you to worry that pretty little head about at your age. Go on, git back to work."

"Awww," Apple Bloom groaned, "you always say that," but she was already heading back to the fields.

Applejack looked back over her shoulder toward Ponyville, watching a puffy pink tail bounce out of view. "Go get'er, Pinkie Pie."





Hunkered down behind the stage curtain in Rarity's basement, Rainbow Dash shook her head and caught her breath. "Oh gosh. Oh jeez, oh gosh! What am I gonna do?!"

"You are going to giggle," Pinkie whispered into her ear.

"AHH!" Rainbow yelped, hooves scrabbling against the stage as she tried to somehow run away and lift off at the same time.

Pink hooves snatched up the pegasus, pulling her close to Pinkie's warm body. Rainbow's mouth opened to shout something, but soft, sweet lips nestled to her own. "MmmMMmmph," Dash 'complained,' then melted up against her fillyfriend. Their lips started to open for a deeper kiss, and Rainbow wrapped her hooves back around Pinkie...

And then Pinkie pulled out of the kiss and dug her hooves into Dash's sides with a breathy giggle. "Say it! You know you wanna!"

"Ack! No-wait-Pinkie-stop! NOT FAIR!" Rainbow soon found herself pinned down to the wood of Rarity's stage, squirming and trying to lever the rabid earth pony off with her hooves even as she wriggled. "Pinkieeee!"

"Saaaay iiiiit!" Pinkie sing-songed, pressing the attack, keeping Dash too weak and off balance to worm free.

"PINKIE!"

The pink pony finally stopped tickling, both mares panting softly as they lay belly to belly on the stage, eyes locked, lips nearly touching. "Yeeeesss?" Pinkie asked, tenderly rubbing her nose to Dash's.

"I..." Rainbow took a deep breath, closed her eyes, then opened them again to stare back at her fillyfriend. "Pinkie Pie..."

Pinkie's grin dropped to smaller smile. "You do wanna say it... don't you?"

"Pinkie..." Rainbow Dash gently extricated herself, standing to look at the curtain instead of the other mare. "It's just... I don't know what..." She gave one last pause, and then Rainbow pecked Pinkie on the cheek and blurted, "I'm sorry!" before taking flight and squeezing out a basement window.

Pinkie was still looking out that window when Rarity suddenly threw the curtain open with her magic. The unicorn was wearing a white towel around her mane, a bathrobe, and a mud mask, but she magically held a frying pan overhead. "Who--?!" When she saw Pinkie's back turned to her Rarity let the pan drop. "Oh, it's just you, Pinkie Pie!" Rarity said, stepping up onto the stage. "That ruckus scared me half to death! Whatever are you doing down here, all alone in the dark?"

Pinkie sniffed, not turning away from the window. Rarity hesitated before stepping closer, almost near enough to touch. Her voice softened. "Pinkie, dear, is... is everything alright?"

Pinkie blinked her eyes several times and rubbed the back of a hoof across her face before turning to smile wide at Rarity. "I wasn't alone! I've been playing Hide and Seek with Rainbow Dash alllll day long!"

Rarity paused and looked close at Pinkie's face before smiling back. "You'd think she'd know better by now. How do you do it, anyway? You always win Hide and Seek."

"Pinkie Sense!" Pinkie announced, starting to bounce toward the stairs with Rarity following. "It works on anypony, but especially-special super-duper well for Dashiekins."

Rarity's face lit up with a smile, eyes wide. "You have special Pinkie Senses just for Rainbow Dash?"

"Uh huh!"

Rarity held the back of a hoof to her forehead and gushed. "How absolutely romantic! Why, it must be true love!"

Pinkie stopped bouncing at the top of the stairs and her smile faltered. A second later she giggled weakly and stepped across the room to the boutique's front door. "Hee, yeah, that must be it. See you later, Rarity."

Pinkie left, gently shutting the door behind her. Rarity looked at it, then down at Opalescence rubbing against her leg. "Was it something I said?"

"Mrowr."





Rainbow Dash heaved a big sigh--her third in the last ten minutes--as she watched the Sun setting over Ponyville. The biggest branch of the lone tree on a hill overlooking the town was maybe the best vantage point one could have of Ponyville without being in flight, and Dash didn't really feel like flying. She fidgeted a little, leaning against the tree's trunk, then bumped the back of her head against it in time to the words, "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

A whiff of caramelized sugar hit Rainbow's nose, and she spoke without turning her head. "You're already up here, aren't you?"

"Uh huh," came Pinkie's soft response from somewhere in the foliage.

Rainbow sat up, her eyes glued to the reds, yellows, and oranges of the sky over Ponyville. "How long?"

"One hour and seven minutes. Give'er'take."

Dash blinked. "Pinkie Pie, you sat still for over an hour?"

"Uh huh." Pinkie's voice was reserved, almost solemn.

"Why?"

"'Cause I wanted to be with you, but I didn't know if you wanted me to be with you."

Rainbow took a deep breath. "So you sat still for a whole hour... for me?"

"I guess so?"

Dash tilted her head to thump it against the tree trunk. "Ugh. And all because I'm too much of a scaredy cat to say three words."

Pinkie hopped onto the branch next to Rainbow and wrapped her up in a tight hug even as the pegasus tensed up at the contact. "I'm sorry I tried to make you say it! You don't have to!" Pinkie sniffled. "I'll still love you even if I'm the only one who says it!"

Dash felt moisture on her shoulder. Her heart and mind suddenly raced; before she knew it she had already taken off. But this time she stopped a dozen feet from the tree and treaded air several long seconds before she turned to look over her shoulder. Pinkie Pie was looking up at her, tears in the corners of her eyes, biting her lower lip.

Rainbow looked back at Ponyville, then slowly flapped her wings to take her back to the branch. She sat down, not quite touching Pinkie, but so close she imagined she could feel the other mare's body heat. Her eyes went back to Ponyville and stayed there, out of focus.

"Can I," Pinkie started, then stopped to sniffle. "Can I tell you why I love you, Rainbow Dash?"

Responses whirled through Rainbow's mind, but she couldn't decide how to answer fast enough to stop her, so Pinkie continued.

"'Cause you make me all happy, inside and out, Dashie. You make me smile, and not just smiles, but super-big-humongo-grin smiles that could power the Friendship Express for a year! If, heh, you know, if trains ran on smiles." Pinkie giggled quietly, then sniffled again. Dash didn't respond.

"And you like me for me, no matter how Pinkie I might be! You listen to my songs, even the really bad ones! You cut into your reallyreally important flying practice time to be with me, and sometimes you help out at Sugarcube Corner even though somehow you still can't tell the difference between sugar and flour without tasting it!" Pinkie giggled again, a little louder.

Pinkie wasn't done yet. "And most of all, I know that no matter what, through thick and thin, come rain and snow and hail and really raining actual cats and dogs..." Pinkie raised her front hooves over her head. "Even if Nightmare Moon came back and teamed up with Discord and the changelings and Sombra to make some Ministry of Evil and took over Equestria using Ursa Minors and Manticores to enslave all the cute little ponies of Ponyville...!"

Pinkie settled back down and set her cheek on Dash's shoulder. "You'll always be here for me, Rainbow Dash, no matter what. Just like I'll always be here for you."

Rainbow swallowed hard and finally looked at Pinkie. "No matter what?" she whispered.

"Uh huh," Pinkie replied, but now when she said it there was energy and conviction behind her voice. Her eyes still shone with recent tears, but her smile was almost Pinkie-sized.

Rainbow Dash looked back at Ponyville, but this time she noticed she was staring at Sugarcube Corner, and realized she had been all along. She put a hoof to her face and groaned. "Why is this so hard?"

"Because you're Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie offered. "Not that I'm complaining! I like you for you, no matter how Dashie you might be!"

Dash looked back down at Pinkie Pie, then at Sugarcube Corner again in the distance, Pinkie's loft easily the most visible part of the building. "Pinkie... the last three months have been awesome. The best. I lo--" Dash stopped and swallowed, then restarted, "I really, really like being with you. You're really fun, and so cute, and you're... random and full of surprises! It's like, every day is an adventure with you. Daring Do, eat your heart out!" Dash grew a small smile, and Pinkie giggled quietly with a tiny sniffle.

Rainbow's voice lowered, her short-lived smile fading. "But what if I said... it? Then it's not just for fun anymore, is it? Then we're playing for keeps. What if..." Dash's voice tightened, her throat starting to burn. "What if I said it... but it doesn't last?"

Rainbow's eyes filled with tears as she looked into Pinkie's. "What if we break up and I never see you again?"

Pinkie moved to hug Rainbow and the pegasus met her in a rush halfway, the pair hugging tight enough for Rainbow's ribs to ache. They kept the embrace for a long, long time, even as a pair of birds met in the tree, chirped, and flew away together. Finally, as the last of the disk of the Sun sank below the horizon, they pulled apart far enough for Pinkie to lock gazes with Rainbow and smile.

"Dashie, even if we're friends, or bestest friends, or super-duper bestest friends with benefits, or fillyfriends, or, or married! I'm happier 'cause you're around." Pinkie smiled and beeped her nose to Rainbow's, infecting the pegasus with a little smile of her own. "You're never, ever going to leave me forever, are you? No matter what?"

"No matter what!" Rainbow replied with a firm nod.

"And I, Pinkamena Diane Pie, do hereby Pinkie Promise that I shall never, ever, evereverever, eeeeever... never-see-you-again!" Pinkie crossed her heart with a hoof, then held it over her eye.

Rainbow sniffed once, then took a deep breath, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. "Sorry I was too scaredy cat to say it--"

"It's okay!" Pinkie butted in, hugging close and rubbing cheek to cheek. "You don't have to!"

Dash pulled Pinkie away from her by the shoulders and shook her head. "Yes I do!" Pinkie shook her head, but Rainbow put a hoof over the pink mare's lips. "You were brave, and took a big risk. That's my job! How can I let my fillyfriend out-Dash the Dash?" Pinkie giggled.

Rainbow looked back at Ponyville one last time, then closed her eyes and tilted her head until she was resting her nose against Pinkie's. With her heart thumping in her chest hard enough that she could hear it, Rainbow Dash whispered, "I... love you, Pinkie Pie."

There was a rush, a tingle through her body, and she opened her eyes to say aloud, "I love you, Pinkie Pie!"

Dash looked back at Ponyville, then laughed as she cupped her hooves to her lips and shouted, "RAINBOW DASH LOVES PINKIE PIE!"

The town was too far away to hear Rainbow, but somepony on the other side of a nearby hill responded with a distant, "Duh!"

Pinkie and Dash shared a glance, then fell into helpless laughter, holding tight to each other as all the tension of the day seeped away.

Rainbow Dash rubbed jovial tears from her eyes with the back of a hoof as they started to recover. "So, heh, so I guess everypony but me knew I love you?"

"Prob'ly!" Pinkie replied, still struggling with aftershock giggles. "I still, heehee, still can't believe, hee, you shouted like that! I thought I was supposed to be the cute, random, surprisey one?" She poked Dash in the chest with a hoof. "Is my fillyfriend gonna out-Pink the Pink?"

Dash smirked, which suddenly became a full-out wolfish grin. "Speaking of switching things around..." Rainbow's wings perked up, feathers rustling. "Never have a tickling contest with a pegasus. When I'm through with you, you'll be begging for mercy!"

Pinkie grinned back, flicking her tail. "Not if I kiss you first..."

"You're on!"

And, in The End, they both won...