You wake up this morning just like you do every morning. Quickly getting ready, you race down to your workplace. Before long, you arrive at the house of Derpy Hooves, or, as it’s often called, the post office. Looking up, you suddenly realize the sky is dark. Frustrated, you know that, once again, you’ve shown up way too early. She isn’t awake yet. Hell, the sun isn’t awake yet. Not knowing what else to do, you start pacing around a nearby tree.

After what seems like an eternity, you see the gray pegasus open her door, slightly derping her eyes as she sleepily stretches. She invites you inside to get your things and start working. You excitedly rush through the house to the backyard- this is what you’ve been waiting for. You step into the basket of a large hot air balloon, already filled with boxes of varying sizes. This is your daily routine, but you still haven’t gotten used to it.

When you came to Ponyville, you befriended Derpy and helped her with her deliveries however you could. Whether it was actually delivering mail on hoof, or simply licking stamps all day, she was your only friend, so you would do anything to lighten her load a bit. Plus, if it wasn’t for Derpy, you would have never found your current job.

You now spend your days delivering large packages that Derpy herself can’t handle, in a large hot air balloon. There was something about the thrill of being out in the open air, touching the sky, being free, that always got you excited. You were born an earth pony, but you’ve always dreamed of flying. Lifting into the air in the balloon was the closest you could get to your dreams.

So there you are, slowly lifting into the air in your balloon. Flashing a friendly wave to Derpy, you get shivers as the ground inches away from you. The rising feeling in your stomach is simply invigorating. You must have had this feeling hundreds of times before. Though it was always exciting, something about today was different. You were going to try a whole new kind of delivery.

You begin to fly your balloon high up into the sky. Though you aren’t moving particularly fast, the tranquility of the sky engulfs you, the sun cascading down onto your face. You let out a deep sigh. This- up here- is your true home.

Before long, you’re higher than you’ve ever been before, pulling up to a large cloud. Setting down the balloon on the cloud, you timidly step out onto the fluffy mass below you. You’d been given special shoes to allow you to step on the clouds- and it was certainly.....different. You’re nervous, but being on the cloud has a strange calming effect that you can’t quite put your finger on. After a few minutes of marveling at this new sensation, you remember that you have a job to do. Reaching into the basket of the balloon, you pull out a large package with your front hooves. You lift the heavy package up, and slowly begin inching toward the large cloud house ahead. After a few steps, your hind legs begin to buckle. You plop down the package onto the cloud- it was just too heavy to carry that way. You could just leave it right there- but something tells you that you’d regret that. You may never have the chance to spend time on a cloud again.

Determined, you decide to just push the package to the door with your head. To your surprise, this is extremely easy. The cloud seems to be almost frictionless. You quickly reach the front door. You attempt to knock on the door, but, along with everything else, it is made of a cloud, so your knocking is almost silent. Despite your confusion, you can faintly hear someone walking up to the door.

When the door swings open, you’re paralyzed. You didn’t know a mare lived here! Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but there was something different this time. It’s not the fact that she’s attractive- though she is attractive. There’s just something....enthralling.....about her. Her eyes, deep pools of amethyst, seem to call to you. Her colorful mane contrasting against the plain white cloud only makes her more alluring. Staring aimlessly, you suddenly notice her mouth moving. Was she talking?! You suddenly snap back to your senses, shaking your head a little while collecting yourself.

“Umm...can I help you?,” she said. Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke, but the distinctiveness of her tone instantly became an object of your obsession.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I have a...package for you?” you say, stuttering. This shouldn’t have been a question, but the astonishing mare causes your anxiety to show in your speech.

Suddenly, you see her eyes light up.
“Ohmygosh! I’ve been waiting for this like, forever! Thankyou thankyou thankyou!”

You can’t help but smile along with her. Her happiness seems to radiate throughout your entire body, as you start to feel butterflies.

“Oh, huh, it’s no problem, ma’am. Just, uh, doin’ my job! Could you sign this?”

As she quickly signs your paper, holding a pen in her teeth, you realize how ridiculous your attempt at being cool was. You didn’t even need her signature, but something tells you that you won’t be forgetting about this mare anytime soon. Handing you back your paper, you see her lift the package and carry it inside with ease. You’re a bit embarrassed with this, hoping she didn’t see you struggling with it earlier. Stepping back into your balloon, you look down at her signature.

Slowly beginning to lower the balloon, you read the signature to yourself, letting it resonate in your mind. Looking up into the sky, you repeat her name once more, out loud.

“Rainbow Dash”

You feel a smile creep across your face. You’ll meet her again. You just know it.
* * *

After finishing work, you finally arrive home, just after dusk. Lying in your bed, you think back on the day’s events, with the signed piece of paper in hoof. She hasn’t said more than a sentence to you, but you just can’t get her out of your head. You can’t help but daydream about seeing her again. Snapping back to reality, you realize that you’ve been doodling small hearts on the piece of paper this whole time. Your face suddenly turns a deep red, embarrassed at yourself. You quickly shove the paper into your saddlebag next to the bed. As butterflies surround your weary mind, you drift off to sleep.

The next day seems to merge into a single, ambiguous blur. You go about your daily deliveries, never ceasing to admire your special paper. You begin to associate Rainbow Dash with the sky you love so dearly, daydreaming as you admire the cool embrace of the afternoon breeze. You’ve already faced the fact that you’ve essentially gone crazy. You don’t care. Thoughts of the stunning mare continuously echo in your mind as your infatuation grows.

You return home just like any other day, eager to get some rest. Just before you do so, you realize that something is amiss.....YOUR PAPER! Noticing the absence of your keepsake, you feverishly search your saddlebags and belongings to no avail. After a few minutes, your fatigue begins to get the better of you. You sullenly drift off to sleep, heartbroken at the loss of your revered memento.

The next morning, you wake up much later than usual. You force yourself out of bed and solemnly walk to Derpy’s home. With your ears tucked down to the sides of your head, you walk into your balloon. Things just don’t seem the same. The excitement just seems to have....disappeared. As your head points to the ground in sorrow, you see something. Doing a double-take, you quickly snatch up your paper and tuck it away, hoping Derpy didn’t see. Though you’re joyful to have gotten your paper back, finding it makes you take a look back at your own feelings. You weren’t some little colt. You were obsessed over nothing. It was just a waste of your time. With these thoughts, you crumple up the paper and toss it to the floor of the balloon. With a newfound strength, you start your deliveries.

Rising into the air, you take a look at the first package. It was large, but extremely light. You happily look around for the next package. After circling a few times, you find something strange.

“Only one package? Well that’s....weird....” you think to yourself.

Shrugging off the odd situation and looking forward to a short workday, you look at the address on the first package. As you read it, you feel a lump forming in your throat. You instantly recognize the address. You blink multiple times as you follow a maze of conflicting emotions in your mind. You’d spent the last two days obsessing over the mare, but, you also JUST NOW convinced yourself to get over her! You had no idea how or what to feel.
In the time you spend contemplating your feelings, you reach her cloud. You suddenly find yourself practically shivering in anxiety as you walk up and knock on the door. Your face turns flush red as the door opens; you try to avoid eye contact.

“Got a package for ya, ma’am!” you say, attempting to muster your most confident voice.

“Hmm. Strange. I’m not really expecting anything....”

She looks confused as she studies the address on the top of the box.

“Sorry, but.....this isn’t my address...” she says, pushing the package slightly back toward you.

You look down at the address as well and instantly notice your mistake.

“Oh, um-....”

You stop, noticing something strange about the address. You’ve been doing this job for quite a long time, and you know your way around. The address on the package was fake. However, you don’t mention a thing. You just sit there with an awkward smile, blushing feverishly, stumbling over your words. Before you can do anything else, she cuts you off.

“Wait a second....weren’t you just here a few days ago?”

You stand there motionless and blush even harder as she starts to smile.

“You know......if you wanted to hang out with me, you could’ve just asked.”

“Meet me in the park later, so we can talk, alright?” she adds, as you stand there shocked beyond belief.

She smiles at you warmly and closes the door. The address mix up was an honest mistake- it wasn’t a plot to hang out with her, as she thought, but, hey, you definitely weren’t complaining. Still a bit shocked, you walk back to your balloon and decide to open the package. Inside, you find a little note.

Hey there-
Found your paper....Rainbow Dash, huh? Have Fun. Thank me later. :)

-Derpy

You can’t hold back a smile as you read. Perhaps the gray pegasus was smarter than you thought.
* * *

It was a beautiful afternoon. Probably the most beautiful afternoon this year, you think to yourself. With a little smile, you neatly tuck away a slightly wrinkled piece of paper covered in tiny hearts as you head for the park.

Once you arrive, you sit beneath a large tree and wait patiently. After only a moment, you feel something fly past your face, followed by a gust of wind. Looking around, you see a bright streak of rainbow shooting around a curve, coming straight for you. Doing a double front flip and sticking the landing, a stunning light blue pegasus lands in front of you.

“Hey there! I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself. I, am Rainbow Dash- the greatest, coolest, fastest flier in all of Equestria!” she exclaims, lifting a front hoof and spreading her wings out wide.

You’d met a few other mares in Ponyville, but none of their introductions were quite this......awesome. You tell her your name and she walks up to you, smiling confidently.

“Well then, it’s nice to meet ya! Hey, do you wanna go for a walk?”

You smile and nod. With that, you were off. You two walk for hours. It started off with just small talk- she could tell you were shy. But, over time, you opened up, and so did she. You even told her about your dreams of flying- why you loved your job so much. She told you about her troubling youth, her sonic rainbooms, and of course, her dreams of becoming a member of the famed Wonderbolts. You didn’t really have as exciting a history as hers, but you just adored listening to her stories.

Before you knew it, the sky was completely dark.

“Hey, um, do you wanna do this again some time? I had a lot of fun...” you ask, suddenly blushing and becoming timid all over again.

“Of course!” she says, wrapping her front hooves around you. You instantly smile and melt into her embrace.

“How about, uh, tomorrow? Same time?” you ask, barely able to speak over your now severe blushing.

“It’s a date!” she exclaims, before flashing you a smile and speeding off into the night sky.

This became a normal thing for you two. Every day, after work, you would go on long walks in the park. You were always there for her, and she was always there to support you too. As you grew closer to one another, sharing problems and increasingly deeper secrets, you gradually became the best of friends. Every day became the perfect day, and nothing else mattered. However, today was different. Maybe it was the beauty of the warm spring day. Maybe it was the excitement of another evening at the park. Whatever it was, in your moment of distraction, you got lost while making your deliveries. It’s not easy to get lost in the sky, but once you do, you can find yourself dozens of miles away from where you started. You were trained for things like this, so you eventually found your way back to town. By the time you got back, however, the sun was well into setting. You grit your teeth, wishing with all of your heart for the balloon to move faster. Neither you nor Rainbow Dash had ever missed a day at the park. You knew it was too late to try and make it to the park- you were headed straight for her cloud.

Landing on the cloud, you quickly run up and knock on the door. There’s no answer. At first you think that she’s not home, but then you hear something: running water. She’s in the shower. You decide to wait outside until she’s finished.

After about 15 minutes, you hear the water stop and knock on the door once again. She soon opens the door, still dripping wet from the shower. It takes a few seconds to focus on her speech- it’s near impossible to ignore her soaking wet body. Quickly shutting your dropped jaw, you snap back to reality.

“Oh my god! What are you doing here?” she says with a gasp.

“Well, I sort of got lost.....I felt so bad about not making it to the park....and....I really wanted to...see you....” you say, blushing slightly.

“Oh my god....” she responds, shaking her head. “There’s a big storm scheduled for tonight!”

“Oh....well I guess I better go...” you say solemnly, walking back to your balloon in defeat.

“Damn it....It’s too late!!!”

Looking down, you see the last of the huge, dark clouds moved into place.

“You’re gonna have to stay here for the night....”

“But...I couldn’t! ....I wouldn’t want to-“

“You’re gonna have to. It’s too dangerous to fly in this weather...” she says, sighing.

Flattening your ears to your head, you walk and sit on the edge of the cloud.

“I’m really sorry for all this...” you say quietly, your guilt showing in your voice.
She sighs and sits down next to you.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind spending time with my best friend! Besides, do you know how impossible it is to be mad at you?” she says, smiling, leaning against you.

You smile and blush again as she rests her weight on you. You then take notice of how beautiful the huge storm is from the outside. The rolling black clouds are about 20 feet below the cloud you’re on, surging brightly every few seconds. You should be afraid, but, for some reason, you’re the most relaxed that you’ve ever been.
* * *

After about an hour, the sky is completely dark, and you two head inside. As you both sit on the couch, you thank her for everything and start to apologize for being late.

“I’m so sorry for not making it to the park today....You know I wouldn’t miss it for the world if I had a choice! .....hanging out with you is the highlight of my day.....” you say, your voice getting quieter as you speak.

“You’re my reason for getting up every morning....and I just wouldn’t be able to live if you were-“

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash kisses you, then instantly pulls away, blushing incessantly. You’ve never seen her blush before, and the innocence on her face is adding to her radiance in each second that passes.

“Um....I’m s- sorry about th-“

Throwing caution to the wind, you suddenly press your lips against hers, with all the passion you’ve had building up inside you. She gives a little gasp as her eyes go wide, but before long, she’s pressing back with the same intensity. As time passes, she presses harder and harder against you, her breathing getting heavier. Before you know it, she pushes you down all the way, lying down on top of you.

You run your hooves down her entire body, beginning to kiss lightly down her jaw line. With this, she wraps one hoof around you and places the other on the back of your head, pushing you down onto her neck. You feel her deep and heavy breaths against the back of your neck as you kiss and nip at her neck and upper chest. You then slowly lick all the way from her chest up to her ear, gripping her body tightly. You feel her shiver as you do so, her wings suddenly at their full span.

Reconnecting your lips to hers, you begin to massage the underside of her wings with your hooves. Her tongue suddenly slides between your lips, as you begin to explore her mouth as well. She softly moans into your mouth as you move your hooves closer to the base of her wings, rubbing harder as you go. She breaks the kiss and gasps in ecstasy as you press at the base of her wings. You take this opportunity to work on the other side of her neck. Kissing and licking tenderly, you press again on the same spot, eliciting a loud moan from her. You can tell she can’t take much more, her eyes clenched tightly shut. As you begin to lick just below her ear, you press as hard as you can at the base of her wings. She suddenly screams out in intense pleasure at you actions and collapses on top of you, breathing heavily.

Neither one of you says a word. She simply rests on top of you, with your hooves wrapped around her. After about a half an hour, you realize that she’s fallen asleep. Admiring how beautiful she is asleep, you whisper into her ear, careful to not wake her.

“I love you, Rainbow Dash....”

As gingerly as you can, you lift her onto your back, lightly walking around her home. After a quick search, you find her bedroom. You begin to lightly rest her on her bed so that you can go sleep on the couch. Just as you’re about to let go of her, she grabs onto you, pulling you onto the bed with her. You gasp slightly in surprise as she does this, but instantly melt as she snuggles up against you, her eyes never opening in the process. While your eyes lull to a close, you feel breath against your ear.

“...I love you too....”

Only a few seconds later, you drift off into the deepest sleep of your life, lost in the ecstasy of the sound of those words.
* * *

Slowly waking up, you smile at the sight of two big beautiful eyes staring back at you.

“Good morning....” you hear her whisper, lightly kissing your lips.

As much as you wish that you could stay right there with her forever, you explain to her that you have work to do. You had missed the majority of your deliveries yesterday, and you just can’t miss another day of work. Hugging her tightly and giving her a long, passionate kiss, you tell her that you’ll see her back at the park tonight.

Walking out to your balloon, you hear something behind you.

“…Hey!” Rainbow Dash calls out to you.

“What is it?” You answer sweetly.

“Do you think I could....um....go with you?”

You suddenly see her start to blush again. The sight of her red cheeks against her bright blue face is beyond gorgeous. With a smile, you beckon her over. She quickly runs over and hugs you tightly, bearing a wide smile the whole time. Stepping into the balloon, you start to lift off of the cloud.

As you head off to your first delivery, she notices you staring out into the open sky, admiring every inch of it, as a light breeze blows against your face.

“You really love the sky, don’t you?”

“Yeah....I just feel so at home up here...and now, whenever I look out at the sky, all I think of is you...”

She suddenly wraps her hooves around you from behind, holding onto you tightly. You smile again, enjoying her warmth against you. If only you had seen the devious grin on her face....

Without warning, she pulls you out of the balloon, sending you two plummeting toward the ground at an alarming speed. Just as you’re about to yell out in fear, she kisses you passionately and holds you tight. You lose yourself in the sensation of falling so rapidly mixed with the butterflies constantly multiplying in your stomach from the kiss.
Spinning head first down to earth with your lover, everything suddenly seems to stand still. The rate that your heart is raising into orbit seems to match the speed that you’re falling. At this point, work is the last thing on your mind.

Suddenly, you feel Rainbow Dash begin to flap her wings furiously, diminishing what would have been a fatal fall. You crash to the ground, sliding along the grass. Your eyes are still closed. Surprisingly, you’re not hurt, aside from a scratch or two. Opening your eyes, you see your beloved mare standing over you. She’s just as breathtakingly beautiful as the first time you saw her, so long ago.

“How’s that for flying?” she says, breathing heavily.

“Oh, that was nothing.” you say with a loving smile.

Wrapping her hooves around you, she leans down and kisses you with everything she’s got. As your heart begins to beat at supersonic speeds, and the butterflies return, you get that rising feeling in your stomach once again.

You were finally flying.