The Wind Beneath Her Wings

Timeline: Two Months Later

"Oh, and this one was taken at last year's try-outs!" Rainbow Dash continued, holding up a picture of the Wonderbolts flying in formation across an open sky. Twilight Sparkle had made the mistake of asking Dash what she was reading.

Equestrian Fliers Monthly was, as the name suggested, a monthly magazine full of articles about the hottest fliers in Equestria. Rainbow Dash still had the cut-out from her own article, after winning the Best Young Flier's competition a few years back, where they had praised both her speed and agility. Dash had circled the particularly awesome sections in red pen.

Twilight hadn't recognised this month's cover, and had absent mindedly questioned it after finishing her own book, a rather dry piece on aerodynamics. Not Twilight's favourite subject by a long way, but she'd grown sick of not being able to comment on any of Dash's tricks beyond a rather shallow 'Wow, Dash, that looks even better than your last one!'

Now, Dash was walking Twilight through this month's Wonderbolts gallery. From pictures of Spitfire that were perhaps a little racier than she would have expected from a national institute's lead flier to carefully orchestrated images of them in the middle of a complex stunt, the multi-page spread must have been almost like pornography to the Wonderbolts-obsessed mare.

Twilight noticed the date on that last image, which showed the 3 members of the first Wonderbolts flight wing handing over some jumpsuits to three lucky new recruits - it was just under a week from now, except last year. If the try-outs were yearly, then that meant they'd be coming up very soon!

"Try-outs, huh? Are those a yearly thing?" Twilight coyly asked, using every last ounce of espionage ability she'd picked up from reading a few too many spy novels.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Dash admitted, "I think I missed this year's though. I'll try next year."

That was weird, Twilight though, she would have expected Dash to be sure whether she'd missed something that important to her.

"I don't think so, Dash, that date isn't until next week!" Twilight insisted, pointing at the photograph. "Luckily for you, that's more than enough time for me to organise everything!"

Twilight grinned, knowing for sure Dash would love the chance to finally get into the Wonderbolts. She was more than happy to help Dash achieve her dreams, because she knew that the blue-feathered Pegasus had what it took.

"Hm," Twilight added after a moment, not noticing that Dash's facial expression was frozen, "everypony else is going to want to see you succeed too. Oh, I know, let's all go!" Twilight exclaimed, wiggling her ears in excitement as she started to imagine all the things they could do. "We barely saw any of Cloudsdale last time, let's spend a few days there and see the sights! Oh, I've heard such wonderful things, you'll have to show me them all, Dash!"

"Heh, uh, you don't need to do that, Twi! It can wait, really." Dash back-pedaled. It wasn't that she didn't think she could get in - she was Rainbow Dash, of course she could get in - or that she didn't want to - it was her dream - it was... Scary.

"Oh, I don't mind, Dash, I'd love to, really!" Twilight insisted.

Dash realised she had no other option. She could do this, she told herself, it wouldn't even be fair on the other competitors. 'Competitors' - like there'd even be a competition.

"Awesome, what're we waiting for, then?"

"Ooh, ooh, there she is!" Pinkie Pie squealed as she spotted Rainbow Dash soar over the horizon. Jumping up and down and pointing over with her hoof, she continued, "I told you she wouldn't be late for her own party!"

"I never doubted you, darling, I was simply expressing my dislike of standing out here in the wind for so long. My mane is ruined." Rarity complained, despite her mane looking as hair-perfect as it always did.

Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were waiting on top of one of the highest hills within trotting distance from Ponyville. Cloudsdale was a moving city, and of course this meant that it was about as far away from Ponyville as it was possible to be. Rainbow Dash had been sent to retrieve Twilight's balloon, and then pull the lot of them across Equestria.

While they waited, Twilight was preparing the spell that would allow them to not immediately fall to their deaths the moment they set foot on a cloud. This was an important step. Given that the plan was to head for Cloudsdale a few days early, and make the whole thing a trip, the regular 3-day spell wouldn't suffice, and Twilight was having to get imaginative, something which required the utmost concentration.

"Hey Twilight! Hey! Twilight, hey! Twiiiiilllliiiiiiight!" Pinkie gasped, prodding Twilight's side with her hoof incessantly and pushing her face between Twilight and her spellbook.

"What?!" Twilight snapped, completely forgetting what stage of the spell she was at.

"Dash is over there! Look, she's got the balloon!" Pinkie gasped as Dash got closer. Twilight sighed.

Picking Pinkie Pie up in a magic glow, Twilight moved her somewhere else. Somewhere not on top of her. The spell shouldn't be that difficult, she thought. The existing one was a short-term spell because it was designed to be cast once and then forgotten about, like most enchantments. With a few alterations, Twilight felt certain she could make it continually draw power from her until it was dispelled. The upshot of that would be that they could stay in Cloudsdale as long as they liked - the downside was that if she needed to, at any point, completely exhaust her magical reserves, her and her friends would fall to their deaths. Twilight hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"Okay, everypony! Stand still!" Twilight warned as she put her spell into action, closing her eyes and letting the magic flow through her. One by one, she found each of her friends, save Fluttershy, and carefully weaved her own magic around their essence, weakly binding them to her. An instant later, Twilight let her magic flow through them, casting the enchantment.

"There, done!" she grinned, fairly sure that clouds would now appear fairly solid to each of them. The drain from keeping the enchantment active was noticeable, but barely - Twilight would get used to it.

"Y'all sure about that, Twilight?" Applejack asked, "Y'all struggled a mite more last time."

Her concerns were understandable, what with the falling to her death and all that, but Twilight brushed them aside. "Of course I'm sure, Applejack. I'm just better at it this time around, it'll be fine! Dash can catch you if you fall anyway, right Dash?"

Rainbow Dash had set hoof on the ground a few moments before, and had been trying to sneak up behind Twilight. She hadn't decided what for yet, it might have been a hug, it might have been to ruffle her mane, or any number of possibilities. Sneaking up on Twilight when she was actively using magic to probe around the area was impossible - not that that stopped Rainbow Dash trying.

"I uh," she said, freezing on the spot and looking particularly downtrodden - she'd been sure she'd make it this time. "Sure yeah whatever."

The 4 gathered ponies not capable of flight didn't seem very comforted by Rainbow Dash's enthusiasm.

"C'mon, let's go, I don't wanna fly at night." Dash suggested, flaring her wings and pointing back into the balloon's basket. It was early in the morning, but Cloudsdale was at the opposite side of the country and it would be a long, hard flight.

Fluttershy pulled on the second pair of reigns and stood by Dash's side while Twilight and the rest jumped into the basket. It wasn't a lot of space for 4 ponies, but Twilight felt confident that they could all huddle together and have fun throughout the whole trip.

"Are we there yet?" Pinkie asked, for the hundredth time.

"No," Twilight replied, for the hundredth time, "You'll know when we're there because we'll be in Cloudsdale!"

"Oh, that makes sense!" Pinkie accepted, before lying back and staring off into the sky. "Ooh, I know, let's play a game! I spy with my little eye, something beginning with C!"

The five ponies around her all simultaneously shouted "Cloud!". As they had the last four times Pinkie had tried to play that game.

"Oh! Yes, just like that, Twilight! Maybe a little to the left?" Rarity instructed as Twilight tried her best to tidy Rarity's mane after a particularly strong gust of wind had ruffled a few of the hairs. "Oh, excellent, thank you dear. I don't know how I'd have gotten through this without you."

Pinkie Pie was uncharacteristically silent. This was due to the gag. Three hours into the journey, Applejack had given her an ultimatum - stop talking, or Applejack would make her stop talking. Pinkie Pie had giggled, stuck her tongue out, and asked Applejack to make her.

The next several minutes were uncomfortable for everypony present, and left Pinkie Pie tied up on the basket floor, and Applejack blushing profusely. Twilight and Rarity knew better than to ask what that was really all about.

Many hours later, the sun was just setting over the distant horizon as the six finally started their descent into Cloudsdale's landing strips. Fluttershy had given up quite some time ago, and was exhaustedly sleeping on the basket floor. Pinkie Pie also slept soundly, quite comfortable in her impressively tight binds, and Rarity was lying in the small strip of available sunlight, sunbathing like she had been for most of the trip.

Twilight had been amusing herself mostly by trying to create a perfect magical replica of the balloon, at 1:25 scale. She thought she had it, but the project had been problematic. Making a magical model of something required getting a very good mental model of something, and doing that required looking at it from all sides and paying great attention to detail. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash's rear end was connected to the balloon, and that meant it needed to be included in the model.

The model replicated it with outstanding detail.

Twilight noted that Dash's movements were a little jerkier than normal. Not something anybody else could have noticed, but for somebody who pays attention to the way Dash bends quite often, it was as clear as day. She didn't seem to have any muscle damage, so Twilight couldn't pinpoint why - she made a mental note to ask Dash about it later.

Applejack finally finished off the single length of hay she'd been chewing on for the whole journey as the balloon set down on the cloud, and the journey was finally over.

"Are we there yet?" Pinkie Pie asked, slipping out of her binds and jumping out of the balloon, bouncing along the cloud. "Gosh, we are! Come on, everypony, let's go exploring!"

The five tired ponies looked at her - all they wanted to do was book the nearest hotel and sleep until morning. Pinkie Pie had entirely too much energy at the best of times, never mind after a whole day of cramped travel. She did her best to calm down after the stares stopped being so piercing.

"We can just leave this here, right?" Dash asked, stifling a yawn as she unclipped herself from the reigns and let them fall to the cloud.

Twilight jumped out of the basket, mentally preparing herself for falling straight through and having to let Dash catch her in those lovely strong arms of hers. Twilight momentarily considered dispelling the enchantment, but thought better of it - just a side effect of having spent a 12 hour trip staring at Dash's ass. She touched down onto the soft cloud a moment later, feeling just enough pressure beneath her to hold her up.

It'd been so long since her last trip to Cloudsdale she'd almost forgotten what it was like, and even then she'd barely spent more than a few hours enjoying the sensation. It felt nothing like Rainbow Dash's house - it was like the difference between walking on a tiled floor and trotting along an open field. As uncivilised as it seemed, Twilight had always enjoyed the feeling of walking on grass, and this wasn't much different.

"Yes, Dash, I hired the whole strip for the duration of our stay, we can just leave this here." Twilight answered, more easily silencing her own yawns. She was no stranger to a late night, after all. "Come on, girls, the hotel is this way."

Twilight set off at a slow trot down the landing strip, heading into the city, while her friends hurried behind her. Everyone but Pinkie Pie was more interested in a good night's sleep than much else, but even she was looking forward to slipping between a comfortable cloud-bed and some nice, warm cloud-covers.

"Sorry, we've only got the one room left," the receptionist apologised. "The good news is that it's one of the suites, with an alicorn-size bed and an on-suite bathroom, for only 395 bits a night!"

Twilight sighed. The price was extortionate, the single bed was problematic, the single bathroom would drive Rarity mad, and they were all absolutely exhausted from walking around what felt like the entire city - twice - to find a hotel that wasn't fully booked up. Twilight hadn't realised how much of an event the Wonderbolts try-outs were, and figured she should be happy with what she got.

"Alright, fine," Twilight conceded, pulling out a large bag of bits, and returning a much lighter one a few moments later, "Where is it?"

"Up the stairs, to the left, down the corridor, to the right, down the stairs twice, and then it's the room with the 'one' on the door." the receptionist directed.

The price didn't seem so unreasonable as the six walked into the huge bedroom. "Down the stairs twice" hadn't been a slip of the tongue - the suite was located immediately below Cloudsdale's ground level, and the view from the many windows was "Simply spectacular!", according to Rarity.

The important part of the room - the bed - also exceeded expectations. "Alicorn-size" apparently didn't mean 'Could fit an Alicorn', it meant 'Could fit several Alicorns with room for an entire guard battalion'. Twilight made a beeline for it, grabbing a protesting but tired Rainbow Dash as she went, before shoving her under the duvet and getting in alongside. She'd spent the entire journey there staring at dat ass, and she wasn't going to let something like all her friends being in the same room watching keep her from giving it a squeeze. Twilight had read enough spy novels to be an expert at stealth, she was fairly sure.

"Twilight, I-" Dash began, before Twilight wrapped her forehooves around Dash's neck and pulled her in tightly, squeezing the beautiful blue face against her chest.

"Shut up, Dash." Twilight whispered, closing her eyes and squeezing a little tighter. Both of them were exhausted, and in a room full of friends this was about as intimate as they could get.

A moment later, Pinkie Pie joined them, cuddling up against Twilight's back and almost immediately falling asleep, leaving Twilight sandwiched between two snoozing ponies. Before long, that was three snoozing ponies.

Main disadvantage of sleeping slightly below cloud level: The first rays of sunlight stream directly through your windows and wake you up.

Twilight discovered this first hoof. Sleeping with her chin resting on top of Rainbow Dash's head had seemed like an excellent idea the night before, but now it only served to put her head first in the firing line for a blinding shaft of sun, unfairly awakening her.

She couldn't move. In front of her was a tightly held Rainbow Dash, and behind her was a tightly holding Pinkie Pie. Behind Rainbow, Fluttershy had decided to join in, resting against Dash's back just a little too close for comfort.

Twilight wasn't jealous, was she? That would be ridiculous. Fluttershy was a) a good friend to both of them, and b) far too kind and shy to ever do something like that maliciously. So why did seeing somebody else huddle close to her Rainbow make her heart twinge so?

Twilight tried to set the thought aside, and pulled down the blinds on the offending windows, figuring she could just rest a few more minutes before getting up and starting the day.

Four hours later, Twilight Sparkle awoke to the sound of shouting.

"Applejack, you open that door this instant or Celestia help me I shall break it down!" Rarity yelled, hammering at the bathroom door with an insistent hoof.

"Rarity!" Applejack shouted back, her voice muffled by the thick bathroom clouds, "I ain't done yet! Y'all can wait your turn like everypony else."

Rarity walked away pouting. It was a pout that, had Applejack been able to see it, would probably have killed her. Twilight stopped paying attention, letting her head fall back onto the comfortable cloud pillow. It reminded her of Dash's old house, except about a dozen times more comfortable. The mare she'd wrapped herself around was just as comfortable as she used to be, though.

"What time is it?" Dash groaned, shaking her head and trying to wake up. Dash liked to wake up with the sun, which meant keeping blinds open so she could know when the sun was up. She'd overslept.

Twilight rolled over. Pinkie was nowhere to be found, giving her the room to manoeuvre she needed to finally get out of bed. Unfortunately, the moment Twilight had rolled onto her back, and was preparing to go the rest of the way and finally land on her hooves, Rainbow Dash took the initiative and was pinning her to the bed in the blink of an eye.

Rainbow Dash looked down at her prey and grinned a sly grin. "Didn't think you were getting away that easy, did you?" she whispered, lowering her head to Twilight's ear and giving it a teasing nibble. Twilight knew she should remind Dash there were others in the room, but every time she opened her mouth, all that escaped was a happy sigh as Dash's mouth nibbled away at her ear, or her hooves stroked against the side of Twilight's body, or any number of other wonderful things that Twilight simply couldn't bring herself to stop.

"Da-" Twilight tried, knowing that she really should stop her. "Da-aahhh!" she quietly moaned, a stray tickle of Dash's wing rendering her completely incapable of speech. Twilight gave up, she couldn't stop Dash, and she certainly didn't want to. The idea of Rainbow Dash taking her there and then, in front of all her friends, even gave her some perverse sense of excitement.

Something squeaked. Bedsprings squeaking wasn't new to either of them, but clouds don't have springs.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Fluttershy squeaked from the far side of the bed, "I was just startled."

"Twilight," Dash whispered straight into the blushing purple mare's ear, "Why didn't you say anything?"

Dash's face was tinged slightly pink for various reasons - unfortunately, Fluttershy being behind her, Rarity having left the room, Applejack hiding away in the bathroom, and Pinkie Pie being Elsewhere had led Dash to believe they were alone. They were not alone.

"I was trying!" Twilight protested, picking Dash up and dropping her onto the bed beside her while she rolled over and stumbled onto her hooves. "Anyway, come on, Fluttershy, this is no time for sleeping! We have a long day ahead of us!"

That day was the last day for triers to register to compete. The next day would be when the games began, and the several hundred hopefuls would be whittled down to just one or two successful competitors. That meant that, apart from the few minutes it would take to register Dash, they should have the whole day free. Twilight was looking forward to being shown around Cloudsdale - last time had been so rushed.

The bathroom door opened, finally, and Applejack walked out with her mane wrapped up in a thick towel. "Rarity!" she yelled. "Rarity? Oh, for pete's sake, has that fussy little mare really left?"

"Oh, Applejack, lovely! I'll just quickly wash up, then." Twilight suggested, starting her walk across the room.

As if somebody had notified her, Rarity chose that moment to storm back through the door at a full gallop, diving into the bathroom with a triumphant "Ha!" and swinging the door shut behind her.

This was going to be a long morning.

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash stood at the end of a spectacularly long queue. It was one of four queues, all leading to an impressively understaffed desk. Apparently the Wonderbolts were quite well known, and there were a lot of ponies wishing to compete. Twilight maintained that she couldn't have predicted the sheer quantity of attendees, but her friends were unsure.

One by one, the others had left to find something else to do - except Pinkie, who still had yet to surface - leaving Twilight and Dash alone together. Not as alone as they'd have liked, given the hundreds of ponies around her, but together all the same.

"You think they'll know who I am?" Dash asked excitedly as she peered over the crowds, looking towards the staff.

"Maybe," Twilight replied, "but they might just be temporary staff, they might not care about flying at all." she warned, not wanting Dash's hopes to be dashed too hard.

"Oh, and over there's where I won my first race! And my second, and my third. Man, I loved preschool."

"Hey, you can see my old house from here! Look over there!" Dash insisted, jumping on Twilight's back and grabbing hold of her horn between her hooves, pulling Twilight's head until it was pointing in the right direction.

"Dash!" Twilight complained, her irritation twofold - partially, she didn't like having her horn grabbed and yanked around (understandably), but mostly because Dash resting on top of her and letting her little legs dangle at Twilight's sides gave her far too many ideas she simply couldn't follow through on with the hundreds of ponies present.

"No, look!"

Twilight looked at where Dash was pointing. The house there looked almost exactly the same as her one back in Ponyville had - cute. Slightly worrying, but cute.

The sun was directly above them, and the queue still stretched ahead of them far enough that Twilight was having difficulty making out who the staff were. Dash told her that she didn't recognise any of them, which probably meant they weren't anybody important.

Dash continued pointing out landmarks (Cloudmarks?) and all the places she remembered from her past. Twilight found it adorable how wide Dash could smile when she remembered all the different places she'd won races, and thankfully she'd won enough races that she could pass the time reminiscing about them.

Unfortunately, without any cloud cover to speak of, the sun was punishingly hot, and both mares were parched, tired, and a little sweaty. That didn't help Twilight's fascination with Rainbow's rear one bit.

Twilight bit her lip. "What about that one over there?" she asked, waving her hoof in the general direction of something she couldn't really make out, and trying to let Dash's words distract her.

Celestia only knows how much later, the two were nearing the front of the line. Dash had run out of cool stories to tell about the places she could see.

She'd been telling them continually for hours for a very good reason - now that she'd stopped, her heart felt like the drum in a marching band, and her mouth felt like a desert. Her hooves were shaking, and her face felt a little less blue than normal.

"Hey, Twilight?" Dash asked hopefully, "Maybe we should just come back next year, maybe it'll be less crowded, huh?"

"Huh? What do you mean, Dash, we're almost there!"

"I mean, can we go? Please?" Dash almost-begged. If it was up to her, she'd already be halfway back to Ponyville, the try-outs could wait until next time, when she was completely certain she'd win, rather than just almost complete certain. She couldn't fail, she just couldn't. She didn't know what would happen if she failed.

"Dash, are you feeling okay?" Twilight asked, concern tingeing the edges of her voice as her face grew a little worried. "Are you sick?"

"No, I- I'm fine, I just can't do this, not now." Dash tried to explain, her breathing growing slightly erratic. She was panicking, her instincts told her to fly and not to look back, and the only thing stopping her from doing it was knowing how worried Twilight would be if she just took off.

"What's gotten into you, Dash? Of course you can do this, you just have to sign your name!"

"It's not that! Twilight, I only got Best Young Flier because I was lucky, what if I can't do this? I'm sorry, I just can't risk it." Dash stammered, before taking off as quickly as she could, pointing her nose in the direction of Elsewhere and beating her wings with as much strength as she could muster.

She went nowhere.

"Dash," Twilight gasped, holding the terrified mare in place with a red glow, "What are you talking about? You're a fantastic flier! You could fly circles around anypony here!"

"What if I fail?" Dash whispered quietly, more vulnerable in that one moment than Twilight had ever expected to see the overwhelmingly confident mare ever be.

"I'll still think you're the best flier in Equestria." Twilight replied, after a few moments. "But you won't fail. I know you won't, I believe in you."

She meant it, too. For maybe the first time, she hadn't really had to think about it. Her answer wasn't thought out, or designed to motivate, and it wasn't a quote from any book. It came, as disgusting and cliché as it sounded to the overwhelmingly practical and realistic mare, from the heart. She had to suppress a gag when she realised that.

Dash seemed to shrink. Her wings pulled back to her sides, and when Twilight let her go and she dropped back to the cloud, she didn't quite have the same stature she had before. Her eyes didn't have the same overconfident edge to them - but they weren't darting around in fear either.

"Okay," she said after several very long moments. Her eyes hardened as she looked into Twilight's, "I'll do it. I'll show them all what I can do."

The ponies in front of them chose that moment to step away. Rainbow Dash was next in line.

"Name?" the staff pony called out to her.

"Rainbow Dash." Rainbow Dash replied, putting as much of her characteristic egotism into it as she could.

"Alright, sign here." they replied, unimpressed. They hadn't heard of her.

Dash took the quill between her lips and signed her name. That was all she needed to do, and they were free to go.

"Name?"

They stepped away, walking silently back towards Cloudsdale's centre, where most of the interesting things lay. Rainbow Dash wasn't really in the mood for a city tour, though.

"Hey, Twi, I wanna show you something." Dash said after a few minutes of silent walking. She broke off at an angle, speeding up into a gallop as she made her way to one of Cloudsdale's many racetracks.

When she arrived, Dash began jumping from cloud to cloud, making her way to one in particular. Twilight did her best to follow, repeating to herself "Just don't look down" every time she leapt over one of the gaps. She knew Dash could catch her long before she got near the ground, and failing that she could probably catch herself. Still, it was a long way down.

Twilight finally caught up with Dash, and immediately collapsed into the cloud. It was the furthest cloud from the city, at least in this particular course, and was quite secluded. It was hidden from the main city by the other clouds in the course, making it almost private.

While Twilight struggled to catch her breath, Dash rested against the cloud. It was angled, and facing outwards - lying on it, you could look out across the land, or stare up into the sky without obstruction. The view was beautiful, even Dash couldn't disagree.

"This is the only course in the city I've never won anything on," Dash admitted once she was sure Twilight was paying attention, not just gasping for breath. "and the one I lost the most on."

"Huh?"

Twilight rolled over, lying next to Dash and really taking in the view for the first time. "Oh, wow. Dash, this is beautiful!"

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway," Dash countered, not wanting to get sidetracked from what she wanted to say, "I like this cloud. This is my favourite. I've seen a lot of clouds, but I'll always remember this one."

"I thought your favourite cloud was back home?" Twilight asked, referring to the tiny cloud Dash currently kept in one of Twilight's cupboards. "The one in the jar?"

"Yeah, that's a bit of this one. Anyway, I uh, this is where I had my first kiss. And a bit more. It was kinda like this, the sun was setting, we were all alone, and I thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world." Dash remembered, thinking back to her Flight School days. It felt like a lifetime ago, now.

Twilight's heart twinged again. She didn't understand why - Dash was talking about the past, not now. There wasn't even anybody to be jealous of, why would she feel like there was?

"I was wrong, then. I'm not now," Dash said, letting her head fall to the side to look straight at Twilight, not the vista in front of her. "She wasn't, but you are, Twilight. You think that's beautiful?" she asked, pointing out at the landscape ahead of them both. The sun was setting, and it cast long shadows across the land from every hill and mountain. It was unquestionably gorgeous. "You, Twi, are like, a million of those to me."

Twilight blushed.

"I couldn't have done today without you. Hay, I've been putting it off for years, waiting until I felt ready. You made me feel ready today," Dash gushed, blushing in return. She scratched the back of her neck with an idle hoof and squirmed, "Man, when did I become so... soppy? Promise you won't tell anyone?" Dash joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Only if you keep going." Twilight joked, giggling at the unexpected compliments. She'd only been doing what had felt right.

"Aw, really?" Dash half-complained before continuing anyway, "My whole life felt like it was waiting for something big, ever since I was a filly. My parents said that was just me being me, and I believed it until you came along. Then we kicked Nightmare Moon's flank and I thought that was it, that was me, I was special again."

Dash looked back over at the horizon. "I'm no good at this." she whispered, still blushing profusely.

"You're doing fine, Dash, but you don't have to continue. I already know." Twilight reassured, touching the side of Dash's leg with a hoof.

"No, I wanna finish," Dash responded, the touch giving her all the courage she needed, "After that, it took me a while to realise that I still felt like there should be more, like I had some other destiny. Wasn't Discord, the feeling didn't go away after that, it was you. I don't feel it any more, Twi, I look at you and I see everything I've been flying for my whole life."

The two stayed silent while Twilight absorbed Dash's outpouring. After a few minutes, when Dash felt confident she could do anything at all without being incredibly uncool and starting to tear up, she added "But seriously, you tell anypony about this, and I won't do this for a month."

Dash stretched out a leg and slowly traced her hoof down Twilight's chest. She gasped as the simple motion sent a jolt through her entire body, running from the tips of her hooves to focus on the thin line Dash drew down her body with the lightest touch.

"Oh!" she sighed, wanting to continue and say something else as her mind still struggled to comprehend just how Dash had described her feelings, but finding herself unable to form the sentences. Her mouth remained open for just a moment, before she reigned herself in, nipping her bottom lip between two teeth.

Her breaths were shaky and uneven as Dash's hoof went back for another stroke, simply brushing against her coat and nothing more. Twilight's already flushed cheeks grew redder as the little bit of her mind that still wanted to retain rational thought realised just how badly she was smitten, that a single touch was enough to turn her into putty at Dash's hooves.

"And you are so cute when you're horny." Dash whispered into her ear immediately before rolling over and pressing their bodies together. Twilight could only quietly moan in response as she felt Dash's weight push her an inch further into the cloud, convincing that one little bit of her mind that there was only one thing in the world she wanted right now. Not knowledge, not books, not even to impress Celestia herself, just Dash.

Rainbow Dash sensed Twilight's helpless and complete submission, and took charge, leaning in and lightly nibbling the tip of her ear, slowly drawing an arc across it. Each breath she took sent tiny winds rushing through Twilight's inner ear, the almost imperceptible sensation pulling her over the edge - to hay with everything else, she wanted this mare right here, right now.

Twilight's body felt like it was on fire, every inch of her skin burned with the desire to touch, or be touched. Her forelegs moved to grasp Dash's face, lightly pulling it to her, letting Dash's cheek brush against every hair on her head as it made its slow journey towards her mouth.

Her hindlegs simply wrapped around Dash's lower body, moving and writhing with everything she could spare. Feeling Dash's body against her sent shivers through her form, and the only cure was feeling more Dash.

Finally, Rainbow's head was brought alongside, and Twilight's forelegs pushed backwards, feeling their way through the gorgeous multicoloured mane to wrap around the pegasus' neck and hold her close.

Twilight's lips were ablaze with need, requiring Dash to touch them just as badly as every other part of her body. Dash was happy to oblige, softly pressing their noses together as she let her lips roam free, pushing and rubbing against Twilight's to sate her own desires, too.

"Da-aah," Twilight attempted, trying her best to whisper around the indescribable lips pressing against her face, "I-"

"Shut up, Twi." Dash wasn't having it. Her hooves found their way around Twilight's body, pushing between her and the cloud to rub and press against every part of her back, instantly robbing her of speech once more. The sensation sent a thrill through Dash's body, easily comparable to the sparks, jolts, and shivers coming from every single point the two mares' bodies touched - Twilight was hers. In every way that mattered to her, she finally had her right where she wanted her.

The place where Dash had kissed the first person she'd ever kissed was also going to be where she kissed the last, she promised herself as she let her tongue slowly slide out of her mouth and push between Twilight's slightly parted lips.

Twilight's tongue played its part, not resisting Dash's advances, but playing along with them, happily mirroring her action with enough force to be pleasurable to both of them, but not enough force to get in Dash's way - both of them knew who was in charge here.

Their mouths opened wider as theirs heads tilted and their arms pulled tighter, trying to pull their bodies tighter than they could physically go and become closer than it was possible to become. Every centimetre further either of them got was a victory, and one they instantly celebrated.

Their mouths locked, becoming airtight as they realised they couldn't go any further, and became content just to stay where they were. Their hooves jumped over each other's bodies, appeasing centre after centre of burning passion that told them to touch somewhere else, because there was always a somewhere else that needed touching, and their tongues explored the very deepest points of each other's mouths, tasting everything the other had to offer.

The absorptive properties of the cloud were essential, easily mopping up the waterfalls down below as both of their arousals went into overdrive. Simply twisting and writhing against each other wasn't enough, they needed more. The empty spaces between their legs throbbed and yearned for something - anything - to fill the gap, and a desperate and frantic hoof just wasn't enough.

Dash pulled away, leaving Twilight to gasp into the air as she felt the blue hooves press against her chest as Dash slowly pushed herself downwards, scrunching her eyes shut as the wet, matter hairs on Twilight's body brushed lightly against the very centre of her passion. Twilight thought the feeling was overwhelming, and Celestia only knows how Dash could have described it.

Twilight refused to let go of Dash's lower body, and as she moved and shifted, bending her legs to keep hold lifted her a little way out of the cloud, just where Dash wanted her. Dash's slippery sliding journey ended the instant Twilight's back arced with intense pleasure, as their two slits rubbed together.

Their juices mixed freely as Twilight's helpless writhing ground them together, every movement filling her body with ecstasy, and every ecstasy-filled moment causing her to move more. Dash joined her, leaning forward to put all of her weight against Twilight's chest as she ground back in response, letting both of their bodies push together and try to fill the aching gap.

Dash's head fell forward as she put every bit of her concentration into staying connected, letting her mane flow forward around her face and brush against Twilight's coat - even that tiny sensation still registered in her lust-addled mind, though it was lost among the boundless pleasures.

Twilight's legs gripped tighter, holding Dash as close as she could, as if begging for more. Every time she managed to squeeze a little bit harder, the sensations multiplied as their two bodies entwined harder, scraping and rubbing, twisting and turning, and driving both of them closer and closer to the release they both yearned for so dearly.

Twilight felt the sensations racing through her body start to solidify, and the ache was slowly replaced with a dumb tingling as all feeling, bar one, was purged from her body. Slowly, the pure pleasure spread outwards, moving from between her legs, to the end of her legs, and slowly up to her head.

"Da-aah-ash!" Twilight moaned, deciding and assuring herself that she was going to tell Dash if it was the last thing she did. The pleasure became overwhelming as it finally stretched up her neck and took the last few threads of conscious thought from her as she finally climaxed, her entire body jerking and spasming as she completely lost control.

"Dash, I love you!" she screamed absent-mindedly as the sun finally swung behind the horizon, her voice filling the air, and her declaration being the one thing to finally push Dash over the edge into mindless ecstasy with her.

Dash's arms couldn't hold her up any longer as her muscles forgot what they were meant to be doing, and she collapsed on top of Twilight's half-conscious form in a haze of pleasure, their two bodies sticky and warm as they pressed back together, sated for the moment, but by no means done with each other.

When Twilight returned to consciousness, the stars were all that lit the landscape in front of her. Dash was still lightly slumbering on her chest, curled up with her tail pulled around her body for warmth. Twilight's heart melted at the sight - that was the mare she loved. There was no question about it in her mind any more. She didn't understand how anybody could look at Dash and not instantly fall in love. On the other hoof, she was happy they didn't, Dash was hers and hers alone.

"Hey, Twi." Dash whispered a few minutes later, catching Twilight off guard as she stared up into the sky with a single tear at the corner of her eye, marvelling at how beautiful everything seemed to her at that one moment.

"Hey, Dash."

"It's kinda late, isn't it? Maybe we should head back?" Dash whispered, uncurling and wriggling over to Twilight's side, lying next to her and staring out into the sky.

"Can we just stay here?" Twilight asked, with a happy sniff. "I don't think I could jump back across the course anyway, but... Oh, Dash, isn't it all so beautiful?"

Dash looked out across the stars. It was, but she wasn't about to admit it. "Gee, Twi, when did you get so soppy?" she joked, wiggling a little closer to the mare of her dreams and pushing a leg under her body to hug her tighter.

"Hey, it's your fault," Twilight joked back, leaning into Dash's embrace and resting her head on her shoulder, pushing into Dash's even-frizzier-than-usual mane, "You did this to me."

Dash smiled, and hugged a little tighter. It was late, it had been a long day, and sleep sounded just... perfect.

Main advantage to sleeping outside: the first rays of sunlight shine straight onto your body, warming you and waking you, and letting you stare into the love of your life's eyes.

"Morning." Dash yawned, before pulling her wing back - she'd been using it to cover Twilight's body and keep her warm, but she needed it comfortable and ready to work at top performance later, for her show.

"Hey, Dash," Twilight yawned in response, shakily getting back onto her her hooves. "Your wings look a little unsteady, want me to take a look?" she asked, knowing how important the day was going to be for her.

Dash nodded and sat down, closing her eyes. She didn't let Twilight concentrate on her wings too often, not because she didn't trust Twilight to a good job, but because she didn't trust anybody but herself to do a good job. Maybe it was worth a shot, though.

Twilight closed her eyes too, concentrating on the pegasus' wings. Her magic travelled across every feather, muscle, bone, and tendon in them, doing what it could. Feathers were straightened, muscles were massaged back into full heath, bones were checked for micro-fractures and fixed where any were found, and tendons were exercised and made ready for anything. A few minutes later, the slight glow around Dash's wings died down, and she flared her wings experimentally.

Taking a run, she dived off of the cloud, doing a few testing loops in the air before stopping dead and slowly gliding back to the cloud. "Perfect!" she grinned, nuzzling the side of Twilight's neck. "But I need to head over there now, I think, you coming?"

Of course Twilight was coming.

"Sorry, only competitors allowed." the receptionist blocked, holding out a hoof to stop Twilight from entering.

"But... Dash is a competitor!"

"Yes, and she can come in. You can't."

Twilight and Dash walked a few meters back. "H-hey, it'll be fine, Twilight! I can do this without you there, can't I-I-I no I can't, Celestia damn it." Dash admitted, collapsing to the ground.

"Dash!" Twilight snapped, "Get up. You can, and you will. I'll be there for you, just waiting outside. I still believe in you, even if I can't watch you win. Now, get in there and show them what a real pegasus can do." she demanded, pulling Dash to her hooves with a magical glow and giving her a forceful, albeit short, kiss.

Dash blinked - Twilight was normally a lot more sedate.

"Go!" she snapped, pointing at the door. Dash couldn't be scared of competing if she was more scared of NOT competing, right?

"Ooh! Where were you last night, Miss Sparkle?" Pinkie Pie giggled as Twilight's 4 other friends arrived at the stadium, a few minutes after they were meant to. Twilight had counted. She had nothing else to do. "And where's Dashie, we made a card!"

Pinkie held out a hastily made "Good Luck" card, complete with a crude drawing of a sonic rainboom on the front. Pinkie still had the crayon colours smeared around her lips.

"Non-competitors aren't allowed inside." Twilight bitterly responded.

"Oh," Pinkie replied, slightly annoyed that she couldn't deliver her card, "well that's okay, we'll just wait until she comes out!"

"Oh, Applejack, where did you say that shop was? I'm simply parched, if I don't get a glass of water soon I fear I'll shrivel!" Rarity asked, the beating sun proving quite the irritation to her.

A few minutes later, Rarity returned, holding five glasses of water in a magic glow. Three of the gathered ponies gladly accepted them, but Twilight was too lost in thought to notice.

"Twilight?" Pinkie asked, prodding the distracted mare with the end of her hoof, "You okay?"

Twilight sighed. "Not really, Pinkie, but thanks."

"Oh... wanna talk?" Pinkie asked. Pinkie Pie was good at talking - she liked to think she was pretty okay at listening, too.

Twilight turned around and looked at the concerned blob of pink hair and energy. "What if she can't do it, Pinkie? I practically forced her every step of the way because I think she can do it. What if she can't? What if she hates me? What if-"

"Silly Twilight, she won't hate you!" Pinkie giggled, scolding Twilight, "I don't think Dashie could ever hate you, even if she wanted to!"

"Yeah, Twilight!" Applejack chimed in, "You'n Dash are like Apple Pie!"

"You've used that one before, Darling." Rarity interrupted.

"Uh, are like Apple Strudel, then! Y'all can have the ingredients on their own, but you put them together and it ain't like nothing else."

Twilight smiled. "Thanks, guys."

"Oh!" Fluttershy added, "and you're just so adorable I want to just run up and hug you sometimes."

Everybody looked at her.

"Um, or I could not do that."

They laughed. Even Twilight, though her laugh was still tinged with worry and concern.

"Aagh!" Twilight groaned, "Where is she? She should be out by now!"

The sun was soon to set behind the mountains, and the five had been waiting outside all day. Rainbow Dash should have been out ages ago.

"Well," Pinkie suggested, "Maybe she was under R for Rainbow, not D for Dash!"

"She should still be out!" Twilight countered.

"Twilight, darling, please calm down. I'm sure she'll be out soon." Rarity offered, resting a hoof on Twilight's back in support.

"But... what if she couldn't do it, what if-" Twilight started, before being interrupted.

Her face broke into a grin as her brain processed the sound - a massive explosion from somewhere up above. A completely unmistakable sound, and one that marked the end of any of Dash's "I'm doing this to impress you" routines. The multicoloured rings of the Sonic Rainboom filled the skies, tingeing the light from the dying sun with colours from every end of the spectrum. Dash's unmistakable rainbow trail curved back down into the stadium, and Twilight lost track of her again.

"Woah." they all said, in perfect synchronisation.

A few minutes later, Dash left through the same door she'd entered. She looked devastated.

"Dash?" Twilight asked in response to her silence. "I love you." she reassured, in lieu of any question on her performance. Hopefully that'd help.

Dash smiled weakly for a moment, but her face returned to glumness. "Reserve!" she spat. "I'm on reserve!"

"What does that mean?" Rarity asked a moment later. They were all fairly ignorant of the specific terms the Wonderbolts used, and even Twilight could only have guessed.

"Yes, but not yet. There's no room." Dash sighed, "I won't be a Wonderbolt until somepony else leaves."

"When'll that be?" Twilight asked.

"I dunno. They dunno. Could be months, could be years," Dash sighed, kicking at a lone tuft of cloud. "I just... I'll be at the hotel, guys." she sighed, before kicking off and soaring through the air, diving underneath the city to take the shortest route.

"Oh no," Pinkie gasped, "She didn't seem happy at all!"

"Oh, it's terrible, isn't it? She does her very best, but they just can't give her what she wants! Why do they have these awful competitions if there's no room!" Rarity wondered out loud.

Twilight sat in silence - was this her fault? Undoubtedly, yes. She got Dash here, she convinced her to register, and she convinced her to try. It was her doing. She was the problem here.

And she was going to fix it.

"Twi, I'm not really in the mood." Dash sighed, not even bothering to struggle as Twilight pulled her out of the hotel room, telling her that she wanted to go back to that cloud from yesterday.

"No, I've got something to show you, Dash."

"Fine."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the course. "Follow me, Dash!" Twilight instructed, before taking her first jump. It was dark, and she could barely see further than the next cloud. A single slip and she'd fall - she knew Dash would catch her, but that would ruin her surprise.

Through a combination of skill, calculation, having practised the path about a dozen times before going to get Dash, and most importantly, luck, Twilight made it through to the cloud. Dash had easily kept up with her, and landed beside her an instant later.

Jammed into the side of the cloud were three metal rods - a tripod, supporting one of Twilight's favourite telescopes. Twilight hadn't realised how much more expensive luxury items were in Cloudsdale, but she didn't particularly care, a lighter saddlebag was a bargain to lighten Dash's mood.

"Yeah I've seen telescopes before, Twi." Dash said, unimpressed.

"Look through it."

Dash did, bending down before the eyepiece and staring through it. Twilight had aligned the telescope to point towards one of the few planets visible in the night sky.

"Cloudsdale is better for this," Twilight explained as she walked over and sat next to Dash, not touching her to ensure Dash could properly absorb the view. "There's no cloud cover, no lights dirtying the view, nothing.

"I know you agreed yesterday, Dash, the night sky is beautiful. It was beautiful last night, it was beautiful before I met you, and it'll be beautiful when we're gone."

"Yeah..." Dash whispered, still absorbed by the view. The rings of the distant planet looked almost identical to Dash's Sonic Rainboom, just a few million times bigger, and a lot further away.

"Just because you didn't get what you wanted today hasn't made anything less beautiful, Dash. It's a setback, but that's all. I still see the best flier in the world when I look at you, Wonderbolt or not."

Twilight leant to the side, resting against Dash's body. Dash pulled back slightly, giving herself just enough room to uncurl a wing and rest it over Twilight - it was a cold night. It was a cold night, and Dash didn't want to be anywhere else.