> Rain > by Toraka > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Storm > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The skies over Ponyville were dark. This was highly unusual to happen by itself, much more so on a warm Tuesday morning, and even more so just a few days after the last thunderstorm. One pony in particular wouldn't react even if the Sun came crashing down onto Equestria, though seeing the weather unfold filled her with an odd glee. She quickly dashed back into the library and into the kitchen. She knew exactly what to do and when it had to be done. Humming a gay little tune to the empty room, she used a combination of magic and hooves to simultaneously operate the stove and portion about two cups of milk. As the liquid was set and the time for another game of waiting had come, she gazed out the window. There was nearly no sound save for a crackling fire somewhere in another room and the gentle tapping of raindrops on said window. Her dearest would return soon, she never took too long after each storm broke out. Indeed, just after boiling point had been reached and she'd filled the milk into two white-spotted red cups and added cacao powder to both, there was the sound of a heavy door falling shut coming from behind. Leaving the drinks steaming where they stood, she bolted back to the main room and tossed her arms around the neck of the prismatically maned mare who had just arrived, only to recoil once she realised that her love was soaking wet. "Heh, sorry, lemme just," Rainbow Dash began, but before she could actually finish her sentence, a selection of fireplace-warmed towels had floated their way towards her. She took one of them and wrapped her mane in it while the others gently rubbed her down. "Thanks. Can't imagine what I'd do without you, you're always so thoughtful and... stuff." "You wouldn't know how much you do for me," Twilight before tossing the used towels onto a designated rack far away from any kind of paper and going in for a quick, but nevertheless sensible kiss. "Mh, you taste bitter. Had only a hay sandwich all day again?" "Y'know, I gotta be agile and back up in the sky as quickly as possible. For Ponyville's good," Rainbow defended herself. "Didn't doubt that for a second. Come on, I made something to change that - or, actually, you stay right here, warm up the fire for me, I'll go and fetch them." Resuming her tune, Twilight pranced back into the side room, pleased to find that the cups had hardly lost any of their warmth, before coming back into the main chamber with them floating beside her just a little too fast for safety. Luckily, their contents remained where they were until she reached Dash who, by this point, was stretched out on her side, exposing her belly to the fire's blessed warmth as much as possible. "Cold out there?" the unicorn teased while setting down the drinks and laying down nearby. "Scheduled to be a perfect two degrees above freezing point and manufacture didn't disappoint. Would ya believe that? Two! How do they expect ponies to fly in such weather or even build it?" She sat up and took an initial sip of chocolaty goodness. "I swear, I ain't workin' again until they make that difference at least twenty degrees. Kelvin, of course." "Of course. What else would you use?" Now that she too could feel the physical warmth as opposed to simply the one she always experienced in the pegasus' proximity, Twilight had to admit that it simply melted away a pony's pride, and rolled onto her side, pressing the back of her head into her friend's flank. "Sparky, I still deal daily with ponies who insist on Fillyheit. Impractical dumbheads." With a spare hoof, Rainbow began to slowly stroke her lover's mane, to which said pony always responded with something Dash insisted was literally purring. She didn't disappoint this time either. "You're not like that. I know, that's obvious, but... still." Twilight didn't respond. There was no need for further conversation, they were both content with simply laying next to each other, staring into the flames, always slightly shuffling in order to increase contact between their bodies. After an eternity of silence which was broken only by their hot breaths and the sound of Dash's successful work outside, the pegasus had to get something off her chest, "Sparky?" "Hmm?" "It's just, you're always there for me. Since that storm tore up my cloud house and I showed up soaking at your doorstep..." "Much like today," Twilight intercepted. "Everypony would do it. After all, it's just a night until you can rebuild your own home, right?" She let out a giggle that stood to rivalry for the most adorable thing Dash had ever heard. "Besides, I'd say I'm getting something pretty awesome in exchange. Oh, but ignore my manners, keep going." "Yeah, about that, but also everything else you did for me, without asking for a thing." For some reason, despite the fact that all that should be awkward had been said and done long ago, Rainbow felt that she was fiddling with her words as a young filly would. She liked to blame it on her friend's aura, always putting her to awe simply by being there. She felt insignificant, unworthy to even speak to her, and her tongue certainly obeyed that sensation. "I really appreciate that. Don't ever leave me." "No worries. After all, staying with your friends is what the Element of Magic is all about, right?" the unicorn teased. It was that attitude of hers, that constant refusal to take things seriously that made Rainbow Dash want to hate that wonderful filly, yet only reinforced her actual emotions for her. She'd only stumbled into this relationship, but now she could not imagine a thing in the world which she'd trade for it. "Oh, be quiet and kiss me," Dash said before bending her head down the remaining distance. It tasted sweet as nectar.