“Oh Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy whispered as her cheeks gradually turned pink. Her wings fluttered at her sides as she resisted the urge to fan them out and pounce her one true love. Cyan orbs stared into her blue eyes, staring into her soul. “I… I feel the same way!”

Sunlight, trickling into Fluttershy’s bedroom, dimmed as a convenient cloud passed by. The romantic lightning gave the shy Fluttershy the courage she needed.

Fluttershy closed her eyes as she puckered her lips, waiting for the cool sensation of cyan fur brush against her cheeks. She turned her head and felt her lips interlock with Rainbow’s; she moaned and loosened her jaw, wings stiffening, and—

“Hey Fluttershy, what are you doing?” a voice asked from her windowsill. Fluttershy squeaked and shoved her Rainbow Dash doll™ under the bed as she turned to face the real Rainbow Dash, currently touching down beside her.

“Uh… nothing!” Fluttershy scooted back, using her body to shield the doll from sight. “So, uh, Rainbow Dash? Did you see anything?”

“Nope.” Rainbow Dash shook her head and frowned. “I didn’t see you playing with your dolls again.”

Fluttershy squeaked.

Rainbow trotted back to the window and opened the blinds, drawing the sunlight in. She rested her forelegs on the windowsill and stared up at the clear, blue sky. “You know, it’s beautiful outside… too beautiful.” She turned back to Fluttershy and narrowed her eyes. “I think you would know a thing or two about that.

Fluttershy blushed as her heart hammered in her chest. Can it… can it be? Is this really happening? “Oh Rainbow Dash… I didn’t know you felt the same way.”

“Well, of course!” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof as she averted her eyes. “We’ve known each other since, like, forever! You know, I know, we all know… Yeah. I mean, it’s pretty obvious.”

“Oh you…” Fluttershy chuckled. She raised her eyes from the ground as Rainbow Dash returned her gaze to her. The two stared into each other’s eyes, their souls singing to each other. “Maybe… maybe we should…” she said as her cheeks burned.

“Take it to the next level?”

Fluttershy nodded, slowly. She crept forward, leaned forward, and tilted her head…

“Great!” Rainbow Dash pounded a hoof on her other hoof. “I’ve always wanted to prank Rarity with you! Think you can sneak some itching powder into the spa?”

Fluttershy jolted and blinked. “Uh, um, excuse me?”

“What.”

Fluttershy frowned and cocked her head. “T-the next level?”

“Yeah! Remember that stuff about too hot and stuff? Rarity is soooooo obnoxious about it!” Rainbow Dash complained as she walked circles around Fluttershy. “Yeah, like, I get she’s crazy hot, but she’s, like, too hot! You get me?” Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy and waited for a response.

“...”

“Fluttershy, why are you pulling out a butterfly net?”

“Ugh…” Rainbow Dash groaned as her consciousness surfaced from the waters of oblivion. Feeling the sensation of soft cloud underneath her, she rolled over and picked herself up with aching limbs. The bright light blinded her, forcing her to blink until her eyes adjusted.

“Where… Where am I?” Rainbow Dash shook her head and took in the sight before her: an endless sea of clouds and a single, massive rainbow overhead. The twilight sky above her sparkled with a single constellation of stars that formed… a star.

The cloud she stood on, approximately the size of Pinkie Pie after hitting the all-you-can’t-eat-buffet on a Sunday night, shifted as something landed behind her. Rainbow Dash whipped around, preparing for a fight, only to be booped on the nose.

“Well hello!” a screechy voice greeted. Rainbow Dash reared back as she took in the sight of tiny gremlin-like creature dressed in green clothing waving at her. “Fancy seeing a little winter-snapper like you up in these skies!”

“Winter-snapper?” Rainbow Dash said, cocking her head. She raised an eyebrow as she asked, “What are you, anyway?”

The little gremlin waved his hand and chuckled. “Oh, me? I’m a leprechaun, lassie! And this—” he waved to the cloudlands before them “—is where I hid me pot of gold, you see!”

“Oh cool, gold,” Rainbow Dash said as she inspected a hoof, wondering how in Equestria she had even arrived in such an odd place. She put her hoof down and began looking over the edge of the cloud. “So, uh, know the way back to Ponyville?”

The leprechaun gawked. A moment later, or more appropriately five minutes as Rainbow Dash bit her tongue and wondered if she had broken the poor creature, the leprechaun shook his head. “But… you don’t want me pot of gold, lassie? You aren’t here to steal muh gold coins?”

“Uh, nope?”

The leprechaun shook his head, puffed out his chest, and smiled with brown teeth. “Well, lassie, aren’t you the generous one!”

“No, that’s Rarity’s thing—”

“So how about I give you the next best thing?” the leprechaun asked, snapping his fingers for emphasis. “A free wish for a gentle, honest, generous lass.”

“I’m not—Wait, did you say a free wish?” Rainbow grinned as she leaned down, bringing her eyes level to the leprechaun. “What kind of wish?”

The leprechaun leaned forward, touching his nose to her snout, and grinned a grin grinnier than her grin. “Any wish.”

Well… Rainbow Dash’s thoughts begin to spiral through all the possibilities. I could totally wish to be a Wonderbolt, but I’m already the fastest in Equestria. It’s only a matter of time, so it’d be a complete waste of a wish for whatever I want. Hm… what would Twilight wish for?

Images of her friends flickered through her mind. Rainbow stomped her hoof as it came to her. Of course! DUH!

“Okay, I got a wish for you,” Rainbow Dash said as she stood up and puffed out her chest. “Since I’m already going to be the fastest, richest, and famous-est, I have a better idea! I wish that I could, er… how do I put this?” Rainbow rubbed her chin.

“What do you mean, lassie?” The leprechaun scratched his beard, grabbed a random cheeto that fell out, and ate it. “You already have the athletic build. Do you wish to be the best fibber in all the land? All the stallions… or whatever you’re into? Or…” The leprechaun lowered his hand and smirked. “I see… you aren’t the brightest shamrock in the patch, are you lassie?”

“Er, uh, no?” Rainbow Dash scratched her mane. “Well, that would be cool and all, but I already have Twilight to do the egghead stuff. I meant more like… well, you see I’m totally cool and awesome, but so are my friends! Just… less cool and awesome, and I don’t get it. Like, I wish I could just ‘get’ them for once, and they’d get me too. ‘Cause they’re pretty weird and stuff.”

“Tsk, lassie. Seems like you have the emotional range of a teaspoon,” the leprechaun said as he pulled out a bubble pipe. “Why don’t we… open you up a bit?”

“Yeah, sure!”

The leprechaun raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A bright light exploded behind him.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as the single constellation in the sky fell apart, each star falling toward… her. The vast rainbow above her dissolved as the stars passed by, each stealing a single strip of its own, before looping above and falling once more. Feeling the intense heat of imminent impact, Rainbow Dash shut her eyes.

It suddenly occurred to her that Fluttershy was kinda hot.