> The Night Claims A Rainbow > by CloudWatcher > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: The Eventful "Night" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash takes off from Ponyville, talking to no pony but herself "Why do I need to take a break? They don't know what they're talking about!" She flew toward Canterlot with an increasing speed, attempting to escape the constant nagging from her friends to take a break. The moon slowly rose as she got closer to Canterlot, causing her to slow down, allowing her muscles to relax. Dash begins to realize that she was enjoying this sight much more in the open, than when she was stuck in Ponyville or surrounded by her friends. She shakes her head trying to clear it, nearly causing her to lose her balance in the air and she lowers a bit, still staring at the moon. She continues flying at this slow speed, seeming only to hover across the ground as she got closer to Canterlot, stopping as she hears somepony. Keeping very quiet as she got closer , she notices that the mare was singing softly while trotting slowly through the Canterlot garden. Come Little Children I'll Take Thee Away, Into A Land Of Enchantment Come Little Children The Time's Come To Play Here In My Garden Of Magic Follow Sweet Children I'll Show Thee The Way Through All The Pain And The Sorrows Weep Not Poor Children For Life Is This Way Murdering Beauty And Passions. Dash takes one step closer and sees the mare she had been listening to, her eyes widening. "P-princess Luna...?" Luna stops singing and turns toward Dash the moment that she begins to speak, jumping slightly as she was not expecting anypony to hear her. "Rainbow Dash... We are, curious, of why you are here?" Rainbow looks at her again and smiles awkwardly, the cool-headed pegasi seeming more flustered now than she ever had before. Princess Luna tilts her head, still waiting for an answer, "Rainbow, we are not infuriated, only curiosity strikes," Dash stares at the princess and a feeling that she had never felt before spread throughout her as she watched the ebb and flow of her mane, the motion seeming as water. Luna stands patiently, unaware of Dash's changing thoughts nor of Rainbow's wings, which had been flared from the moment she had seen the Princess of the Night in front of her. Luna's mane flowed freely around her, it's beautiful deep blue flowing like water around her as she walked slowly toward Dash with a smile. "We would enjoy the company of one such as yourself, would you perhaps, consider the offer?" Luna speaks freely, her attitude different now, much less like her own. She reaches out her hoof and sets it on Dash's cheek, kissing her softly on the lips a moment later. Dash jumps from her slumber in the Ponyville park. hitting her head on a branch of the tree she laid in. "Ow!" Her yell caused a filly closeby to jump, screeching loudly below her, "S-Sorry about that.." Rainbow says with a slight chuckle. The filly turns and looks at her, noting the deep red of her cheeks before she says something. "It's fine!" She runs off to another part of the park, giggling at the blush on Dash's cheeks. > Part 1: In Love? You've Got To Be Kidding Me! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shortly after Rainbow's strange dream, she had gone to Twilight's home, Golden Oaks library. She had hoped that this would solve the problem of her dreams, as she believed Twilight would be able to help her find out why she had had this dream in the first place. Twilight only replied with a few short, in Twilight's eyes anyway, words. "I'm not really sure, Pinkie or Rarity might be able to help you with this. I suggest Rarity be the first one to visit, as she's the one to talk to about these matters." Twilight continued talking for a good five minutes before realizing that Rainbow had already started on her way to Carousel Boutique, Rarity's home and business. By the time that Twilight had noticed Rainbow's leave of her, Rainbow had already gotten halfway to Rarity's boutique. Though not flying as she normally would, she had been trotting faster than an average pony would, her head down as she was deep in thought. Rainbow looks up and to the left in time to see Applejack selling apples in the market area of Ponyville, she smiles as best she could and continues trotting toward the boutique. As she arrives at her destination she nearly trots into the door, shaking her head and regaining her focus, she knocks quietly on the door. "Just a moment dear, in the zone!" Rarity speaks the moment a sound is heard at the door, in her voice was a sophistication that resided in only her, the only pony in Ponyville who lived and breathed fashion. Rainbow begins to pace back in forth in front of the door for a moment before she sees Rarity at the door, waiting for her. Turning quickly toward her she dashes inside of the boutique and pulls Rarity in, causing Rarity to yelp in surprise as sash closes the door and locks it. "Help me!" For a few seconds after Rainbow had spoken she receives a blank stare, a confused Rarity being the one in a confusion at this point. "Rainbow darling, whatever do you need my help for? Surely you're not looking for a dre-" Dash cuts her off as she speaks, trying to explain a dream she didn't quite understand. "Earlier in the park, when I fell asleep-" 'Shocking...' Rarity whispers in an exaggerated tone. "-I had a dream where I found Princess Luna singing..." "This isn't much to go on dear, please explain this "dream" of yours, in more detail?" Rarity asks, now curious as to what this dream really was and why Rainbow seemed so bothered by it. She never seemed bothered by the dreams she had, what was so different about this dream? Rainbow nodded slowly, a slight blush appearing on her face again as she thought of the dream. "I flew toward Canterlot to get away from the constant begging for me to relax. I kept going faster and faster until the moon started to come out, it enticed me to the point where I unintentionally started to relax my muscles as I slowed down to a lower than average flight speed." Rarity smiles as she continues, another thing sparking curiosity, Rainbow was beginning to sound like Twilight in her explanation. The cyan pegasus chuckles nervously before continuing her explanation, "It didn't seem odd until I heard singing... Beautiful, enchanting singing coming from the Canterlot Gardens... As I got closer to the gardens I realized that it was the Princess, Luna... I listened for another moment before I took a step forward and said her name, she looked at me and asked what I was doing there. After a moment of waiting for a response she smiled and walked toward me, she put her hoof on my cheek and... she... she k-kissed me..." Rarity continues to smile throughout the explanation until the last part, which caused her jaw to drop slightly, "Darling, it seems to me, from what I've heard, that you've begone to fall in love with Princess Luna. Have you, ever received any other idea of this thought?" Rainbow blinks a few times after Rarity finishes talking and shakes her head, "This- This is the first time it's happened... L-love...? Me? Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria, and most awesome pegasi, has fallen in love... with a princess!?" Rainbow turns toward the door and opens it, running out and slamming it closed again, leaving Rarity in a slight daze. "Well, I only told her that she may be in love. Isn't that a grand thing?" Rarity turns toward the dress she had been working on and continues to stitch the lace design into one of the seems. "Love? No, not me! I'm not in love, I can't be! It's not possible!" Rainbow Dash jumps and falls onto her plot as Pinkie Pie pops out of a bush and gasps loudly, "You're in love? Why didn't you tell me!?" Pinkie Pie yells excitedly, hugging her close friend very tightly with her trademark smile on her face. "Who is it? Is it one of our friends?" She gasps loudly again, realizing what she thought was the truth, "It's Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash gasped for air as her friend held her tightly, too tightly for her to breathe at the moment. She finally got her hoof up to push Pinkie off a little, getting enough room to speak, "I'm not in love! At least... I think I'm not... And it's nothing to do with our friends, Fluttershy included..." "It was a dream then? And no matter what you say or do, you can't convince yourself that this dream wasn't just a random occurrence with no bearing on your feelings toward this pony in particular?" Rainbow stared at Pinkie for a moment, unable to understand how she could know. "H-how did you know...?" Pinkie just smiles and slowly walks in the direction that Rainbow was going, toward SugarCube Corner, talking quietly in a rare calm tone. "Come on Dash, I'll show you." Rainbow gets up and follows behind Pinkie, admiring the pink pony for understanding her feelings and for having a rare moment of calmness with a very hyper friend. After a few minutes of silent walking on the oddly empty streets of Ponyville, they arrived at SugarCube Corner, heading in without a word to the other. "In my room, I have a way of knowing the feelings that you have, in my own way." Rainbow follows her inside and quietly closes the door, quietly walking through the building as not to cause any distraction to the Cakes as they work in the kitchen. She follows her friend as she goes up the stairs, yawning from a lack of sleep. Pinkie turns toward Rainbow and giggles, stopping before opening her door. "What you see in here, is a secret. Pinkie promise you won't tell anyone?" She sighs as she begins to speak, mimicking the movements of the "pinkie promise" with her hoof, "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She smiles slightly after finishing the statement, always having loved the creativity of her pink friend. As she finishes saying it Pinkie smiles and opens the door, stepping inside. She follows her friend yet again and looks around the room, what she sees in the back corner of Pinkie's room, causes Rainbow's eyes to widen, unsure of how to think. "H-how long... have you been drawing these and... taking these pictures...?" She blushes slightly, unwilling to ask what it was she was seeing. > Part 1.5: Pinkie's Violet Obsession > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pinkie chuckles as her friend looks at the pictures she had drawn, and taken with a camera of her favorite pony in Equestria. "I started them a few days after we had all become friends, when I started getting the dreams of her.." She smiles happily, her trademark smile oddly shining in the dark room. Rainbow continues staring at the pictures for a moment before she snaps out of the daze they had encased her in. "Have you... told her about this Pinkie? She might share the same feelings as you..." The pictures move to the back of Dash's mind as Pinkie yawns, being calm for so long had made her tired. "Oh Pinkie... If you're tired, I can let you sleep." "You could spend the night, I have an extra bed!" Pinkie hops up excitedly and smiles at Dash, "Would you like to stay Dashie?" She looks out the window and realizes, "It's still barely afternoon, Oh. I thought it was later than that... Well! If you'd like to spend the night, come back over when it gets dark!" Pinkie smiles and hugs her friend tightly before nudging her out of her room and gently closing the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pinkie's Side~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pinkie hugs her friend tightly before pushing her slowly out of her room and closing the door, hearing hoofsteps move away shortly before a door closes. "Well! Cupcakes are calling my name!" She waits a few moments to make sure that Rainbow Dash had really left before she opens the door and steps out, heading down the stairs with a slight bounce in her step as she went. Mrs. Cake looks at Pinkie and smiles awkwardly, "Pinkie Pie, are you going to be able to help me make cupcakes while he's out?" Pinkie nods before heading downstairs, humming a happy tune as she went along. She continues humming as she gets to the basement door, opening it and turning the light on before she heads in and locks the door. As the light illuminates the once dark stairwell and room, many, many pictures of Twilight were hung on the walls. Some were hoof drawn by Pinkie herself, others were ones she had taken when Twilight was sleeping. "I can't wait for the day where I can make sweets for our special day!" Pinkie begins to hop down the stairs with a smile, hoping deeply that her dream truly does happen. To have the one mare that she loved, love her just as much in return. As she gets to the bottom of the stairs, she pulls a whisk out of her mane and blows it off as she begins singing and sorting out her baking ingredients. My name is Pinkie Pie And I am here to say I'm gonna make you smile, and I will brighten up your day-aaay! It doesn't matter now If you are sad or blue She finishes organizing her ingredients and begins to put them in mixing bowl in the proper order, "I was once to!" Cause cheering up my friends is just what Pinkie's here to do Cause I love to make you smile, smile, smile Yes I do It fills my heart with sunshine all the while Yes it does Cause all I really need's a smile, smile, smile From these happy friends of mine I like to see you grin I love to see you beam Smiling as she puts the cupcake batter in the tray, a single tear falls from her eye. "I love to see you shine!" The corners of your mouth turned up Is always Pinkie's dream But if you're kind of worried And your face has made a frown I'll work real hard and do my best To turn that sad frown upside down Cause I love to make you grin, grin, grin Yes I do "Maybe one day you'll have a clue?" She smiles when she thinks of Twilight, continuing the song and baking, as well as looking at the many pictures around the room. Busted out from ear to ear, let it begin Just give me a joyful grin, grin, grin And you fill me with good cheer It's true, some days are dark and lonely And maybe you feel sad But Pinkie will be there to show you that it isn't that bad There's one thing that makes me happy And makes my whole life worthwhile And that's when I talk to my friends and get them to smile I really am so happy Your smile fills me with glee I give a smile, I get a smile And that's so special to me Cause I love to see you beam, beam, beam Yes I do Tell me, what more can I say to make you see That I do? It makes me happy when you beam, beam, beam Yes, it always makes my day Come on everypony smile, smile, smile Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine All I really need's a smile, smile, smile From these happy friends of mine "I hope you feel for me and that i'm not out of line..." Rainbow steps away from the window looking into the basement, and jumps into the air as her wings flare out instantly, heading off into the direction of Golden Oaks. "You're not out of line Pinkie... And neither am I!" > Part 2: Rainbow in the Dark > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow's wings move at a steady pace as she flies, still covering ground quickly as she continues toward the library once again. Her thoughts change to how Twilight would react, causing Dash to slow to a stop in mid-air. "If I tell her and... she doesn't feel the same about Pinkie... Then I could ruin their friendship... and mine with it..." She changed direction to another place, the one closest to her mind, absentmindedly flying toward Canterlot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later That Night~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Rainbow Dash! We're supposed to read Daring Do tonight!" Twilight stands below Rainbow's cloud house as the moon had begun to rise in the sky, trying to get her friend outside so they could do what they had planned for tonight. She turns away from the cloud house takes a few steps before she disappears in a purple aura, appearing inside her library and toppling over a pile of books. "Aaah! Not again!" Spike yells as a large pile of books falls directly on top of him, "Twilight, I just had those organized!" He pushes the books off of him and begins stacking them again, organizing them by name. "Sorry Spike! I can't aim where I appear, I just appear in the general vicinity of the last place I thought of." She helps him get the books from over top of him and watches him organize them again, reading the titles of every one of them, "Spike, stop." A title had stuck out to her, a book in her library that she had never seen before? "May I have the book that you're holding? The title of the book was "Dreams and Reality, A Connection Unbreakable". Spike shrugged an slid it over to her, he gets a motherly kiss on the forehead and stops. "Twilight?" He looks over at Twilight and notices a tear sliding down her cheek. "Never you mind Spike... I'm fine..." Twilight He continues to organize and pile the books, which earlier had taken him over a half an hour. This time however, Twilight had helped him and piled half of them with her magic, organizing them as well. After only a few moments, he had finished organizing them and had begun to trudge up the stairs to his bed. "Spike? If you'd like, I'll bring your bed downstairs, so you won't have to lie alone?" Twilight smiled as her horn began to glow, his bed slowly coming out of the upstairs room and down the stairs surrounded in her purple aura. "Also, your company would be greatly appreciated." Spike's ear twitches as Twilight begins to talk to him, turning around and walking down the stairs as his bed floats over him. "Well, I wouldn't mind Twilight..." Spike blinked a few times, thinking to himself, 'Is...Is this, really Twilight...?' Twilight sets his bed next to her and opens the book to the the title page, waiting for Spike, "If you'd like me to read it to you until you sleep-" Spike interrupts her as he lays in his bed and covers himself with the blanket, "I'll fall asleep without the book Twilight." Twilight nods, "Yeah, I guess it's not the greatest bedtime story in the world..." She thought to herself, 'I wish you would let me...' Her thoughts kept changing to a certain friend of hers, one that she had always found peculiar and odd. Though, now, they were thoughts of love and romance. 'Why is this happening to me now...?' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash shook her head as she landed in front of Canterlot came into view, "Why did I come here of all places?" She looked at the opened gates to Canterlot and began to walk through the gateway, unable to make up her mind as she the moon reflected off the water of the fountain near the entrance. "Well, I'm here so, why not visit the princesses?" Rainbow nervously continued walking slowly toward the castle and hoping that the princesses were already asleep. "Rainbow Dash? We are surprised to see you here during my night." Luna had seen her coming from the window of her room, "We are curious, why have you chosen now to visit us?" Rainbow Dash's facial expression turned to an awkward smile as she turned toward the princess, "P-Princess Luna..." She blushed lightly as she looked over the princess's features. Her calming eyes that were, at this moment, melting her to the core. "Your luscious, beautiful mane..." She blushed deeply as she realized that she had thought out loud, "Oops..." Now, it was Luna's turn to blush, "We, Aren't quite sure we understand..." Luna shifted her hooves, balancing herself as she stood, watching Dash making the same nervous gestures. Dash's face turned a bright red as she looked at the Princess, continuously thinking the same thing over and over, 'She's right there... Tell her!' She smiles nervously and begins to speak, "Princess? I-I have to tell you something..." She takes a slight step forward and tries to whisper something, but something in her mind changed as she kissed her on the cheek, turning around and taking off as fast as she could. A rainbow formed behind her as she made her way to Ponyville, trailing several feet before disappearing. Luna stood there looking at the spot where Dash just was, her jaw hanging slightly agape as she realized what had just happened. "Rainbow... Dash...?" Dash continued as fast as she could to Ponyville, not looking back even a single time. "Why!? Why did you do that!? She probably thinks you're a freak, or a stalker!" She stops and lowers herself to the ground slowly, tearing up as she thought about what she had just said Somepony had heard her yelling and came outside, "Darling, What happened? What has gotten you so miserable?" Rarity walks over to her friend and gently runs a hoof through her mane. Dash looks up at Rarity as she somepony touching her mane, "Hey... Rarity..." She looks back down at the ground starts walking toward Carousel Boutique, "Could I... spend the night...?" Surprised that her friend had asked to stay over, instead of "tearing her hoof off", as was threatened many times by Dash, she nods. "Certainly Dash, I only have two beds however... One for me and one for Sweetie Belle." She begins walking next to her friend, Dash looks up at Carousel Boutique and shivers, noticing for the first time, the cold air of the night. "I'll take the couch... I-" "You most certainly will not. I will not have a dear friend of mine sleep on the couch. You may share my bed with me. It is large enough for us to have enough space. And much more comfortable than a couch." They get to the door and Rarity opens it with a small glint of magic from her horn, "That's peculiar, I left the lights on." She reaches around the door frame and turns on the light, inside of the house stood Luna, smiling serenely at Dash. Dash walked in and saw Luna, immediately trying to run out the door, which Rarity had just shut when she saw the calm smile. "Rainbow Dash? We apologize for confronting you tonight. If we had known you felt this, we would have allowed you to visit us inside the castle." Luna bows her head slightly and looks back up at Dash, still holding the smile and a small amount of the blush that Dash had caused. She steps toward Dash and puts a hoof on her shoulder, causing Dash to look up at her, tear trails staining her cheeks. "Why must you cry Rainbow Dash? Have we hurt you?" Dash takes the chance and stands, embracing the princess tightly in her hooves as the princess begins to speak. "Rainbow Dash, we would like to ask you... Would you accept us as your..." She looks toward Rarity, "Special Somepony..?" Rarity nods and Luna looks back toward Dash, "Would you accept us as your, Special Somepony...?" Dash pulls away slightly and looks up at the princess, wide eyed, "You... You're asking me..." > Part 3: I Shine...? What're you-! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~The Next Day~~~~~Ponyville 5 A.M.~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash lifts her head from the cloud she was lazily dozing on, hoping that it hadn't drifted as she shuffled in her sleep. The cloud, however, had only shifted an inch or two to the side, so she could still watch over Sweet Apple Acres for Applejack. "Glad she hasn't come back yet, she would ki- !" Dash jumps as she hears a voice calling up to her, a stern voice that didn't sound, in the slightest bit, happy. "Dash, ah told ya not ta fall asleep! Anypony coulda mosied on in here an' taken anythin' they'da seen!" Applejack stood below her, standing tall and proud against the small crowd of ponies rushing by around her, on their way to the library. "Do ya happen ta know why everypony fancies tha library today?" Rainbow Dash kicks the cloud away from her and instantly connects with the ground next to Applejack. "I don't know, maybe her eggheaded self spread her reading hobby?" "Startin' with yerself?" Applejack chuckles as she passes by Dash, heading through the gate to her farm. Noticing her friend fidgeting with her mane causes her to stop, and look at her, "Ya alright sugarcube? Ya'll look a might nervous." Dash stops messing with her mane and nervously blushes, "Of course I'm alright. I'm awesome!" Quickly, she turns around and lifts into the air, taking off toward the library. Applejack stands behind the gate to her farm, confused for a moment as she shakes her head and calls to her family, "Ah'm home ya'll!" Rainbow stops as she nears the library,proceeding slowly toward the branches above it, making sure not to be seen by anypony, and listened. Her friend Twilight was speaking, about what, she could not yet understand. "Good morning everypony, I mainly have two things to say-" Everypony in attendance listened closely to every word that Twilight said, "It has come to light that I, Twilight Sparkle, officially have a crush." She chuckles and shakes her head, noticing how odd it must feel to be attending something just to hear that. "Secondly, Princess Luna is going to stay in Ponyville a few days. Remember, treat her as you would anypony else, not with fear, but with admiration." She takes a step back from the podium, a slight murmur coming from the crowd. Rainbow Dash jump off of the branch and flies quickly down toward her friend, beginning to yell as soon as she left the tree, "Luna's come here!? To stay?! Twilight is startle when she hears Dash's voice from above her, not knowing that she was there. She looks up at Dash and watches her land near the podium. "Yes Rainbow, Celestia sent a letter stating that Luna was coming to stay for a week. She didn't say exactly what it was for but, she did however, say that it was very important." Twilight looked around for a moment before a question popped into her head, "By the way, have you seen Rarity? I haven't heard from her or seen her since yesterday. Shortly after you left, she ran by me and went into the train station... The next train was coming from Canterlot so, I figured she-" She nodded, confusing Rainbow Dash and began to slowly walk away, giggling slightly as she quickly picked up why Luna had come to Ponyville. "We would've liked to tell you before, however, the time hadn't seemed right then. Now, the time is perfect. We would like for you to be ours. Do you accept?" Princess Luna asks her question, the look on Rainbow Dash's face slightly changed, she began to blush but still looked confused. "We mean to ask if, you'd be our, "special-somepony"?" Luna stands there smiling for a moment as the sound of a train picks up, slowly fading away as the train went back to Canterlot. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as her cheeks began to flush an even deeper shade of pink than the night before. Her mouth opened, but the only sound that escaped was a squeak, much like the ones that Fluttershy made daily. Luna blinks, and began to speak. "We apologize sincerely if-" She's cut off by Rainbow Dash. "P-Princess...?" She begins to speak, but is unable to finish the sentence yet. "Yes, Rainbow Dash?" She smiles and looks over Dash, her lean yet muscular legs and build. and her wings that were the most perfectly cute size for her muscular body. Though, the part of her that Luna pondered over most, was her eyes. 'They compliment her facial features so perfectly...' Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Rainbow Dash closing her eyes. It took her only a moment to realize, her question had been answered, by an action in place of words. > Part 3.5: The Egghead, and The Cupcake > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight smiled and took a step back, turning around toward the stairs while the Princess and Rainbow Dash began talking. Slowly stepping down the small stairs at the end of the little stage that had been set up for Applejack's award a while back. She turned to the left and slowly walked toward the library, thinking to herself about how pointless the first part of her "speech" had been. "Did I really think, that having a crush was that important? It's a natural thing, they probably all expected it anyway. I probably just made a foal of myself in front of the whole populace of Ponyville..." She sighed loudly as she continued her walk, subconsciously heading toward where she truly wished to avoid. Not to stay away from the pony inside, but moreso wanting to avoid anymore embarrassment. "Keep it together Twilight, just remember what you read..." 'Stay calm, rational, and be yourself.' "Okay, okay... I can't just avoid her, I have to go and talk to her." Upon this thought, which had been spoken aloud, and was awarded with a chuckle from a passing mare. Twilight put a single hoof forward when she heard the chuckle, that caused her to take off in a fast paced trot, hoping to get to Pinkie without either falling, or voicing her thoughts again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SugarCube Corner~~~~~~~~~~Last Night~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pinkie was in the kitchen, nodding her head side to side as she frosted 6 cupcakes, each one being of a different shade of purple or pink. The frosting itself, was a soft lime green that was just colored vanilla frosting. "I wonder what she's doing right now, maybe reading a book or studying, or... Showering..." She moved the cupcakes to the side after she had finished frosting the last one, starting then to draw a picture on the counter with the tube of frosting, a small smile crawling onto her face that was accompanied by a soft blush. "Pinkie? Are you still down here? Don't you think you should be in bed, it's a big day tomorrow, don't you want to surprise Twilight with your gift? It'll be quite hard to plan a surprise if you've no sleep." The voice was soft, but a little louder than Pinkie's had been, and it belonged to Mrs. Cake. "If you'd like, I can keep you company while you finish off the last few batches?" She'd noticed the oven was still on as the temperature was still reading on the little screen, and the light for the inside of the door's glass made it clear that she had begun more already. Pinkie turned around slowly, giving Mrs. Cake a nervous smile as she quickly ran over and gave her a tight, Pinkie style, hug. "I'm so sorry Mrs. Cake... I know I should get some sleep but, if I sleep I don't know if I'll wake up, I might not be fully awake, or I might drop the cupcakes! I don't wanna mess up the gift I'm making for her, that's the worst, worst thing ever, ever!" She said this, sniffling after she had finished, and laid her head on Mrs. Cake's shoulder. Mrs. Cake put her hooves around Pinkie as soon as Pinkie had gotten close, embracing hyperactive, pink pony as she were her own daughter. "I know how you feel Pinkie, but I promise I'll get you up as soon as you'd like me to." She broke the embrace for one single reason, the Pinkie Promise, "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She did all the motions of said phrase, with impeccable accuracy, even though she had never once seen it from Pinkie or her friends. "You'll be ready, I promise." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SugarCube Corner~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Current time~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pinkie had, as Mrs. Cake had promised, been woken at exactly 9 in the morning, only moments before Twilight's little speech in the Square. She immediately got up and started assorting the cupcakes in the pattern she had planned them in, the colors of both the cupcakes and the frosting beginning to make a portrait in the center of the several hundred baking sheets she had laid out. After about 5 minutes she had finished being a pink blur in the room, picking up and setting down cupcakes in certain positions. When she had finished, she had gone upstairs to shower, not knowing that a certain pony was going to be coming up to the door soon. After a couple minutes of running, Twilight had arrived at SugarCube corner, the small swinging doors having been long replaced with a standard door. She slowly brought her hoof up to the door to knock, stalled for but a moment before lightly tapping the single hoof against it three times. "H-hello...?" Normally, she would have just walked in, but she felt it more appropriate at this time, to knock and be respectful. As soon as the knock sounded, Pinkie was up and at the door, her heart soaring at the sound of Twilight's soft, sweet voice in front of her. Slowly opening the door she composed herself, planting her trademark smile on her face as she saw the most beautiful mare in Equestria standing in front of her. "Hiya Twilie! -er... Twilight!" Her eyes went to the right and she saw a little floating version of herself shaking it's head, it turned to her and spoke. "Dang it Pinkie, don't use nick names with her! You've never done that before, she's definitely going to know something's up you dolt!' Pinkie's eyes flashed back to Twilight, noticing now that the usually calm and collected mare's face was that of a bright pink, 'It looks great on her...' "Hey, Pinkie... Would we be able to talk for a little while, it's nothing really important but..." She thought to herself for a moment, 'Why keep it from her any longer? The worse she can do is say no.' She sighed softly and put on a little smile, "Okay, it is kind of important... Or, really important.." She was going to try and speak, but as she started to move her lips, Pinkie had begun to lean forward and stolen the words from her. Her heart, was next, and quick to follow as she had returned one of the gifts that she would be given this day. "And let it be known, thoughts are nothing without the words, or actions, put behind and working with them." "The ultimate goal of life, is to live, and to love, and find those that complete you." > Part 4: To Lay With The Moon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash had begun to freak out as soon as she had acted, the kiss being a mere subject changer that she hadn't thought through at all. The subject change had, in only a split second, lead to the answer she had wanted to give, the answer that both ponies desired. One, showed it much more than the other, but both had the same feeling in mind. Luna only took a moment to wrap her larger wings around Rainbow Dash, closing her eyes and kissing back as gingerly as anypony could. Pulling away after near a full minute, "We take this, as a yes...?" Her voice was softer than normal, more a whisper than the normal 'Canterlot Voice' that she held. For the first time since she was returned from the moon, in which she had stayed for a thousand years, she had begun blushing. Rainbow's own blush had begun seconds before, as she leaned in toward the princess. Now, she could only give a slight nod, not entirely sure whether her words would agree with her mind, or whether it would be words that came out at all. She blinked a few times before she leaned against the princess, laying her head on her shoulder, something she had thought that she would have never done. "We think that, perhaps we should bring thee to a less... Public, opening? Seeing as we are still on a stage?" She chuckled softly, gently putting a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder and standing straight up to allow her wings to fully outstretch. After allowing her wings to stretch to the full length she lifted off into the air, her larger wings moving much slower than Rainbow's, she needed much less work to catch the air to hold her in flight. She lifted into the air and headed for the small cloud castle that Rainbow called her home, she had made the thing out of clouds she had gotten from the sky. She was one of the single most crafty pegasi that either of the princesses had ever met. Now, Rainbow had begun to think of what the Wonderbolts would think of her, seeing as she was the one lucky pony that was able to call the Princess of the Night, her own. However, after a moment she dismissed those thoughts, as they were rooted from the prideful side of her thoughts, thoughts that she didn't want to take control her actions now, as they had quite a few times before. "Princess? What is it about me, that you find worth your time?" Her voice was quiet and soft, unlike her normal tomboyish voice and attitude. The princess just gave her a smile that was as happy a smile could be, unless you're Pinkie Pie of course, and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Rainbow Dash, there isn't just one single thing about you that we find worthy. We see things inside you that we've not seen in anypony, a heart that dreams, and a courage to face things no pony ever would. But, after that, you've a heart that cares deeply about those who you hold close, though you don't always attempt to show it." The smile softened a bit as slowed to a stop in her flight, the cloud castle being just ahead. "We believe this is what you call your home?" Rainbow had a tear forming in her eye as she listened to the princess speak, turning her head as she asked the single question. Along with a nod she spoke, quietly, but happily. "Mhmm, but it looks different inside than the outside.. I had more time to decorate the inside than when I made the outside of it. The other pegasi tell me that I'm the only one that they've ever seen to be able to make entire house out of clouds that hadn't fallen to the ground or dispersed." This single thing in her life, fired a whole new battlefield in her egotistical behavior. At that time, it had caused her to become ever more arrogant in flight school, until she was eventually chastised by both teachers, and students. This calmed her down a bit, but the arrogance still remained, and showed in certain activities. Especially now, even as she had been trying to keep it from being obvious. She noticed this shortly after she had finished speaking her piece. "Oh... Sorry Princess, I wasn't trying to-" Rainbow's words were silenced as she felt the Princess's hoof around her, a soft voice whispering into her ear. "Shush Rainbow, you've not a reason to be sorry for who you are. If such things bother you, than we shall work and try to fix these points. The Princess tightened her grasp on the flustered pegasus, who had begun to understand how Fluttershy felt. > Part 4.5: The Wall that Tumbles > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Moments Earlier~~~~SugarCube Corner~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pinkie Pie, much like Rainbow Dash had only a few minutes before, acted on impulse, and tried stealing the words from the one that she desired. This, however, was much different than that time, as the reaction from Twilight flustered Pinkie. "Wh-what... Are you d-doing..?" Twilight said this quietly, wanting to talk to Pinkie before either of them rushed, much too quickly, to the point. She blinked a few times as Pinkie stopped her advance, looking into Twilight's eyes with one feeling showing obviously in her own. Fear, is one of the several feelings she got from Twilight's unexpected reaction, this was the emotion that showed plainly above all others at this moment. "I thought that you were here to talk to me about how you felt about me... To tell me that you were in love, with me..." Pinkie gave Twilight a rather large smile, her trademark, but it made her nervous feelings obvious. She sighed softly and turned away from her friend slowly as her eyes closed, afraid that she had just ruined what she wanted so badly. "A-anyway... I made you something..." Pinkie stepped out of the doorway, allowing Twilight to see the large cupcake portrait that took up most of the floor in the main room of SugarCube Corner. In the portrait, Pinkie Pie and Twilight were embracing each other, but Pinkie was kissing Twilight's cheek and blushing. "You... How long did it take you... To make this?" Twilight's words were almost entirely lost as she saw the portrait, and in reality, Twilight regretted refusing Pinkie's kiss. The kiss would have been the easiest way to explain both of their feelings, even though they would still talk over it afterward, it would be much easier. "A few hours for the cupcakes, and only a few minutes to place them.." Pinkie spoke quietly as she remained turned away from Twilight, gasping softly as Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder and turned her around to face her. "Talking can wait, because you, again very oddly, were correct in your hunch..." Twilight said this, explaining way too much as she always did, and quickly put her lips against Pinkie's. In truth, she had never kissed anypony before, other than her parents of course. This simple action made Pinkie giggle as she wrapped her hooves around Twilight and picked her up, holding her like a bride as she pulled away from the kiss a bit. Pinkie had a genuine smile on her face now as she looked into Twilight's gorgeous eyes, loving the way that they saw right into her. "You need some practice with that Twilight, but you're not bad for a first time." She giggled softly as she set Twilight back down on her hooves, "So... Is that a yes, to my question...?" Twilight was blushing deeply as Pinkie spoke, barely able to find the words she wanted, "Q-question..? You n- Oh!" She smiled happily and nodded her head, leaning forward and nuzzling Pinkie's cheek softly. They remained like this for near ten minutes when they both remembered that they had plans for the other. "Hey Twilight-" "Hey Pinkie-" Pinkie spoke up a little, "You go first..." Twilight rubbed the back of her own head with a hoof as she began speaking, "Sorry... Well, would you like to go somewhere with me today..? It's not much but, Applejack has a little thing set up for us..." Pinkie gasped softly in excitement as she nodded her head giddily, "Will we still have time after? Rarity has something going for us later today! She was so happy when I talked to her last week... I've got to go in first though, because she's in Canterlot right now. I've gotta get everything set up!" Twilight's smile brightened, she was, for once, genuinely happy with how a day had turned out. "Of course Pinkie, we don't have to be at Applejack's all day.... We should get going though, the plans she has are pretty time exclusive to this..." She gasps softly as Pinkie grabs her hoof and gently pulls her to the door, which she hadn't realized was open still, "Wait, what about the-!" She looked back at where the cupcake portrait had been and saw nothing but the floor, turning her head back toward Pinkie, who had a bit of frosting on her muzzle. "I took care of them silly!" She giggled loudly and continued pulling Twilight toward Sweet Apple Acres with her, her mane blowing back a bit, but not very much as it always seemed to be still.