Dash wasn’t a pony that stuck to schedules. She slept through many an alarm clock, forewent a lot of chores, and was held accountable more than once for saving work up until the last minute. There were only ever three things that she was sure to do on time; her training regimen, her naps, and her marefriend.

Currently she was working on the last one.

The morning air was frigid on her wings, but it was nothing she wasn’t used to. It only took a few stretches to get her wings warmed up and a few minutes for her to be out of her home and on her way to Twilight’s. The alicorn’s now-famous library home was a short flight, practically a glide, and it was one the pegasus could make in her sleep.

She reached the tree in a short amount of time, circling the hollowed home before stopping in mid air. She beat her wings in a hover, keeping her hoof level with one of the many windows decorating her marefriend’s home.

Normally, Dash would already be inside and standing on Twilight’s wooden floor with a proud smile on her face, making the whole journey from her home to the alicorn’s without ever letting her hooves touch the ground. But right now, however, she had a different idea.

The silence from the home was more than evident, made only clearer by the still air of Ponyville’s morning. The months of dating the princess had taught the pegasus a few things about the mare that most other ponies didn’t know. Things that, to be completely clear, most ponies wouldn’t want others to know.

Dash was about to use one of those lessons now.

With all the gentleness of a freshly-formed cloud, Dash lightly pushed open the window of the alicorn’s bedroom, moving it at the perfect speed to ensure its silence. When it was propped open far enough, she gave her wings a strong flap before folding them to her sides. The force from her powered muscles sent her in the perfect arc, moving through the available space without touching the wood around her.

Her wings immediately extended when she made it inside, letting her slowly fall to the floor. Her hooves made a patter quieter than a scurrying mouse. Dash opened her eyes to their widest, hoping to adjust them to the shade of darkness that still covered Twilight’s room.

As softly as her landing, Rainbow began to tip-hoof across the room, looking for the familiar basket and blanket of young Spike the Dragon. He was easy enough to find, his snoring a constant reminder of his sleep. The pegasus licked her lips in concentration as she slowly wrapped her legs around his basket, carefully lifting him into the air.

The dragon squirmed at the change, but didn’t wake up. Biting back a small chuckle, Dash moved with the same level speed and care as before towards the door. When she was close enough, her wing extended, wrapping around the handle of the object. With a bit of movement on her torso’s part, her wing slowly pulled the door open.

She made a grimace as a slow creaking noise filled the air.

Her ears perked and twisted as she heard a ruffling from the bed, sheets being creased with movement. Dash stopped on a bit, waiting still as stone until the noise died.

Dash carefully set Spike’s basket down outside of the room, making the baby dragon stir in his slumber, pulling the blankets closer to his scaly skin. He did nothing more. With a bit more care than before, Rainbow shut the door.

When she turned back to the bed, even in the dark, the pegasus was wearing a positively devious expression.

There were a lot of things that Rainbow learned about Twilight that not many ponies knew. She had learned some of them out on their walks, but she’d discovered a lot more in the bedroom, specifically late in the night or early in the morning. Her personal favorite was the one she was about to exploit.

Twilight was always “warm” in the mornings.

Dash’s body slunk to the ground as she carefully moved her way across the floor, keeping her wings flexed to her sides. The bed was easier to see, with its thick outline even in the dark of the room, than most other objects in the room. It helped that the occupant of said bed was currently moving. However, Dash was undeterred, as she continued her slow approach towards the vulnerable mare.

Her body stopped only when she was nearly leaning against the wood of Twilight’s bed, feeling the small ruffling of the sheets that hung over the side. Dash had her ears perked like fine points, listening intently for the mare on the bed. She heard the breathing of the pony, the inhale and exhale of air, soft and rhythmic like one would expect from a mare deep in the enthralls of a dream.

What Rainbow did not expect to hear was the small shake on those breaths.

As a pony that was used to exercising until her body shook with exhaustion, she knew the telltale breath of a trembling body. Small breaks in the periodic breathing, the minute quakes of her voice edging through her respiration, they were key things Dash was trained to not miss, as training past exhaustion had hurt her one too many times before.

But now the question was obvious. Twilight certainly wasn’t back from a hard workout, Dash herself was warm without the blankets the alicorn had, so it was unlikely Twilight was cold, so what was making Twilight shake like a scared filly?

All Rainbow had to do was remind herself that her marefriend was asleep, and the idea came to her like a stray cloud in an open sky.

“Oh this is just too good,” Dash whispered hardly above a breath’s volume. “You must have been thinkin’ the same thing as me Twi.” The mare on the bed moaned through her breathing, twisting as she did so. The covers by Rainbow were pulled further onto the bed, sliding over the pegasus’s coat as they traveled. They didn’t wipe the grin from the mare’s face.

As careful as when she had entered, Rainbow peaked over the edge of the bed, looking for her mare. In the darkness, she was able to see the outline of the newly crowned princess, but hardly a detail more. Dash licked her lips in mild frustration.

Carefully, she raised and lowered her forehooves onto the bed, tucking her wings tightly against herself. She did her utmost to keep her weight on her hind legs, preventing the bed from dipping towards her. Dash licked her lips in concentration

The further onto the bed she crawled, slower and slower to prevent any drastic movements, the easier it was to see Twilight’s state. Her body was shivering, the blanket on top of her lightly shaking. Her breath was hot, leaving little clouds of smoke as they passed her lips. Then she was still moaning, no differently than before. Dash licked her lips in excitement.

That was up until she saw the light strands of tears falling from her eyes.

“Twi?” The pegasus spoke carefully, all thoughts of stealthily assaulting the alicorn gone. Her hooves forcefully dimpled the bed as she made her way next to the newly crowned princes.

Though the veil of darkness still hindered much of her vision, it was only clearer now than before. Glistening trails of tears were falling down Twilight’s lavender coat, matting her fur and staining the pillows beneath her. Dash’s reaction was as quick as before.

“Yo, Twilight,” she spoke her marefriend’s name as she placed her hoof Twilight’s shoulder, lightly shaking her form. “C’mon Twilight, wake up.” A heated whimper came from the mare, something Dash could honestly say she didn’t want to see. Not with the tears at least.

Regardless, the alicorn slumbered fitfully through the pegasus’s cajoling motions, not waking at the actions of the athlete. It made Rainbow bite her lip in annoyance. If there were three things she couldn’t stand it was quitters, failure, and seeing her friends being hurt. Twilight was crying, and she was more than just a friend, she was her marefriend. That made it only so much worse.

“Twilight.” Dash spoke louder, foregoing whispers now for volume. “Twilight, what’s wrong?” Rainbow gave another shove of the alicorn, turning Twilight over onto her back. Her eyes didn’t so much as flutter at the force.

Pushing wasn’t working, volume wasn’t working, there had to be something else. The idea that followed was natural, and yet, Rainbow had a hard time thinking of anything more foalish. Seeing Twilight crying, however, she couldn’t care. She’d dye her mane and call herself Ditzy Doo if it meant making the alicorn feel better.

Puckering up, Rainbow planted a heated kiss on Twilight’s lips.

The moment she touched the alicorn, the sensation of heat overcame Dash. She wasn’t sure if it was because Twilight was as warm as a drink left in the sun or if she still got “hot” from kissing the mare. Either way, it was a great feeling. If Dash wasn’t so concerned with Twilight’s inability to wake up, she might have savored it a bit more. Thankfully, however, Loyalty was her middle name.

Dash ended the kiss chastely, pulling back to see if anything about Twilight had changed. She was still the same lavender alicorn, lying under her star adorned covers. The wet markings of tears still marred the sides of her face.

But her eyes were open, and she was staring right up at the Dash.

“Rainbow?” Twilight whispered quietly, eyes staring upwards. Dash expected the surprise, she wasn’t too worried about the haziness that came with most early mornings, but there was something else in those eyes that Rainbow couldn’t let go of.

It was a void, the kind of emptiness that Dash only saw Twilight give when she had bad news.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Dash nodded her head as she spoke. “What’s wrong Twi-whoa!” The exclamation left the pegasus as she found herself being pulled down to the alicorn.

Twilight’s hooves were wrapped tightly around Rainbow, pulling at her neck and hugging her close. It buried Dash’s face into the moist pillows of the princess, doubtlessly from the tears that were being shed. But while her eyes and muzzle were muffled, her ears were left perked and up.

It made the soft sobs of the alicorn only that much easier to hear.

One part of Rainbow was ready to beat her wings out of the embrace, to set herself above her marefriend and demand to know what was wrong. That would be the normal thing to do. However, this wasn’t a normal situation and Twilight wasn’t a normal mare.

So instead, Dash let herself be hugged, letting Twilight continue to shed her tears over the pegasus as she stroked her coat. Rainbow only adjusted herself to make it easier to breathe.

The darkness around them was a cold blanket, but it was not unwelcome. Dash was sure from the multitude of interactions with her friends that some things were better off remaining unseen. Rarity would not want to be seen in the early mornings, Applejack wouldn’t be kind to anyone spying on her family private time, and Twilight, most of all, would not enjoy being watched while she was crying.

“Difficult” didn’t begin to describe what the situation felt like to Rainbow. This was outside her usual norm, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t stand it.

“It’s okay Twi,” she whispered into the alicorn’s ears, lightly rubbing her leg on Twilight’s side. It was a difficult position to hold, but she could tell it helped; at least that’s how she interrupted the increased strength in the alicorn’s grip.

It was beyond odd, Dash realized, how she had come in here hoping to get Twilight off, nearly thinking that it was going to happen, only to end up comforting the princess through her tears. It was odd, no doubt, but oddities seemed to be the norm in their relationship.

“I-I’m sorry,” Twilight blubbered through her still wet throat, her gripping starting to shake, deciding if it would be more appropriate to either let go or hold onto the pegasus. “I… I-I just had a…I-I don’t know.”

“A bad dream?” Dash didn’t think it was that hard to figure out what it was. Twilight, however, wasn’t so quick to judge, even things she had been in the middle of.

“No…” She whispered. “No it wasn’t a bad dream. I mean, I wanted to dream. I even cast a spell on myself to make it happen. So-”

“Wait.” There was something Twilight said that had to be addressed. “You wanted to dream?” She pushed herself up, the force being enough of a queue for the alicorn to release her. In the darkness, Rainbow could only hope her look of confusion was clear. “Why the hay did you want that?”

“It’s…” Twilight began, but her voice quickly fell off, eyes searching for something beyond Dash. The pegasus fought the urge to look behind her. “It’s a long story. I-I just… I cast a spell on myself to dream.”

That settled a piece of the puzzle Dash wasn’t expecting to solve.

“That’s why you wouldn’t wake up,” she muttered to herself, letting her head drop into the alicorn’s exposed belly. A quick gasp and tension of the muzzles came from Twilight, but both settled as quickly as they came. “So… are you gonna tell me about this dream?”

She felt the alicorn adjust herself, sliding over the bed with small adjustments. Dash lifted her head up, letting the alicorn move with more ease. The moment she did, Twilight began to lower herself as well. She slid down the bed, stopping only when her eyes were even with the pegasus. Rainbow blinked as Twilight stared at her.

“Dash?” The alicorn spoke her name questioningly. Rainbow wasn’t sure if it was to assure herself she was awake or that Dash was real.

“Yeah?” Dash felt the alicorn slip her hooves around her, pulling her way to the pegasus’s chest, stopping only where the muzzles were breaths apart.

“Why do you love me?”

Of all the questions the pegasus could have expected, that was the least likely on her list. Given this was Twilight, the mare she had dated for the better part of a year now, a princess who never quite left the curiosity phase of her foalhood, it was still something she never expected.

If she was expecting a question at all, it would have been closer to why she was in her bedroom so early or why she was so worried even, regardless of the alicorn crying. Asking why she was in love, however, was probably the farthest thing from her mind at the moment.

“You must have had one heck of a dream.”

Twilight laughed lightly, letting her head fall into the crook of Dash’s shoulder. Rainbow folded her wings over the alicorn, holding her mare possessively close. Twilight repeated the action in kind.

“I want to talk about it later.” She whispered. “I… I want to talk about everything.”

Dash blinked, unsure of what the mare was referring to. It was one thing for Twilight to be curious, more like something she could always count on the princess to be. But the statement, the openness to the comment… It had no specific context, no subject to solely focus on. That was unlike the alicorn.

Then again, she had never woken up a mare with a kiss before. If new things had to happen, better they come in pairs.

“I love you Dash.” Twilight whispered to Rainbow, snuggling closer the mare. Dash only pulled her closer.

“Love you too, egghead.”

Author's Notes:

And that's the show folks!