“You're going to leave, aren't you?” asked Rainbow Dash, feeling the strain in her voice despite the fact that it barely approached a whisper. She didn't look up from the pillow that she had her forelegs wrapped around, but she sensed the blue hedgehog hovering uncertainly in her doorway. “Now that Twilight and your friend have repaired the portal between our worlds, you'll be gone in the morning.” The room was small and drably decorated; all of Twilight's friends had been given places to stay over if they needed them, but so far there hadn't been time to personalise them so there was only a bed and a cabinet with a lamp on it, though the light from the moon glittering off of the crystal walls usually kept it lit pretty well.

        “Uh.” Sonic hesitated, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he tried to decide what the best course of action was; words had never been his strongest suit, and having to comfort someone – somepony, he mentally corrected himself – was not something that came naturally to him. Though his time in this strange land called Equestria had been all too brief, he'd grown close to its inhabitants during the course of their shared adventures. The portal that Doctor Eggman had built collapsed shortly after his arrival, but experts on both sides had finally got it working again. Tomorrow, he'd be returning to Mobius, most likely to never return here again. “Yes, I expect so,” he said eventually. “Assuming nothing goes wrong, of course.”

        Fuelled by the collision of Chaos power on one side and Magic on the other, what was there to go wrong? Eggman's tampering with the Chaos Emeralds to tap into Equestrian magic had formed a rift between their worlds, but it came at the cost of leaving the precious jewels completely drained of energy until they were returned to the Special Stage to recharge. That, coupled with the damage that Eggman – or something or something worse than him – could do if he was to ever get his greedy hands on Equestrian magic, were good reasons to dismantle the portal

        But weren't there good reasons to keep it active to? Making no move to approach the prismatic-maned pegasus, Sonic said, “Are you upset about that? Me leaving?”

        So lost in thought was she, Sonic fancied that he could see the cogs of her mind whirring away, and the delicate curve of her muzzle creased in concentration. Not something that could be said of her very often; like Sonic, she appreciated speed, and she left the boring egghead stuff to those better suited to it. “I understand,” she finally said, cocking her head in his direction.

        It wasn't the answer that he'd been expecting, but he couldn't in all honesty say that he was terribly surprised by it either; the pegasus was almost his equal in many ways, so why would she be any better at expressing her innermost feelings than he? If Sonic left the room now, if he headed back downstairs to enjoy the victory celebration currently going on, he knew in his heart that Rainbow Dash would not follow him. She wouldn't try to stop him, much as he would like her to. Being straightforward was simply an impossibility for one so cool. Slowly, he blinked, hoping that she would say something.

        Nothing. For a long while: nothing.

        “Dashie?” Only Rainbow Dash's best friends were allowed to refer to her by that name, and Sonic idly wondered whether or not he'd done enough to earn that privilege.

        She did not deign to answer, settling instead to resettle her head more comfortably on the pillow. Sonic almost left right then, but something made him stay.

        “Do you have a problem with me leaving?”

        A tense, protracted silence ensued, but finally Rainbow Dash asked, “Why would I have a problem with you leaving, Blue Quill? You got your world, I got mine.”

        Sonic had to suppress a chuckle at that. Blue Quill was the nickname that Rainbow Dash had applied to him shortly after his arrival in Ponyville, and it had ended up sticking. Though she had an alarming tendency to use it most often when she was irked at him in some way. “Well, you've just seemed a little bit off ever since we got the message from Mobius that Tails had found a way to reopen to the portal temporarily.” His green eyes glinted in the soft light of the table lamp beside Rainbow Dash's bed. “I mean, it's not like you to skulk off in the middle of a party, is it?”

        “You don't know me,” Rainbow Dash said flatly, putting an edge into her voice. “You don't know anything about me.”

        Feeling a frown forming on his muzzle, Sonic pondered whether or not the best course of action would be to simply leave the pegasus to her thoughts and go enjoy his last night in Equestria. Somehow, though, he knew that he'd regret it if he didn't smooth things over with her first. Tomorrow, he'd be back home in good old Mobius, fighting Eggman's ridiculous schemes, dealing with that pest Amy Rose, and more often than not getting into scrapes involving time beasts, Gods of Chaos, and the like. “I do know you, Rainbow Dash. I know that you're the bravest, most loyal, and most pigheaded stubborn pony that I've ever met.”

        Rainbow Dash couldn't help but giggle at that most accurate of descriptions, and the crackly, tinkling sound was the most pleasant thing that Sonic had heard for years. “I get that a lot,” she said between chuckles.

        Finally entering the room properly, Sonic knelt by the side of the bed. “You can tell me what's really bothering you.”

        “Nothing's bothering me,” replied Rainbow Dash, her chest feeling tight with a pent-up sigh. “It's just-”

        “-Tell me, please,” Sonic said encouragingly, his warm eyes meeting Rainbow Dash's.

        It was a moment before she could say anything, and before she did so, she suddenly turned away as she found herself unable to bear Sonic's intense gaze any more. The hedgehog found himself agog at the fact that she seemed to be shy. That was more the style of her little yellow friend who had spent most of the party sitting on the fringes, afraid to get involved too much. A perfect match for Tails, really. When Rainbow Dash finally spoke, it was in a low, trembling tone that only served to emphasise the myriad little cracks in her voice. “I don't want you to leave. I know how selfish that sounds 'cause of how important you are to Mobius, but … the short time that you've been here has been the happiest of my life.” She turned to face him, her muzzle soaked red with embarrassment. Cerise met green and held for a moment before chagrin won yet another battle over her. “Even without wings, you were just about able to keep up with me at my fastest.”

        “Well, I didn't want to make you look bad in front of your friends,” Sonic said, grinning, then inwardly cursed himself for yet again turning an emotional moment into a joke. Luckily for him, Rainbow Dash simply smiled at the comment, and the expression on her face made his heart beat a shade faster.

        What was the right thing to say, though? Thank her for delivering a compliment that must've thoroughly galled her to utter? Tell her that he wished he could stay, but that it was impossible because of the situation at home? She knew all of this already, so what was the point of going over it? Words … they were just so ineffectual. “What are you saying to me, Dashie?” he asked quietly, moving in a little bit closer to her until they were almost nose-to-nose. She didn't move away.

        “I know that you're not as much of an idiot as you like to pretend, Blue Quill,” Rainbow Dash said, wishing that she had the energy to force a little bit more harshness into her voice. “You know exactly what I'm trying to say.”

        “This might surprise you, but-” Sonic smirked, putting a note of false levity into his voice “-I am that much of an idiot.”

        “Shush, you.” One of Rainbow Dash's hooves snaked out and went to his muzzle once he was close enough to her, silencing him. Her eyes were wet with tears.

        Slowly, Sonic took the hoof in his white-gloved hand and it examined the smoothness of its contours; despite the harsh beating it took when she ran, the flesh was remarkably unbroken. He stroked it with his fingers, tracing its delicate curves, eliciting a small giggle from the pegasus. She had mentioned that they were quite ticklish at one point and consequently didn't enjoy having them touched, so he felt a surge of gratification that she was allowing him such … intimacy. “It's okay,” he said, placing the hoof against his lips and brushing over it with them ever so gently. “I know exactly how you feel.”

        “You-” Rainbow Dash's muzzle registered shock “-you do?”

        In that moment, two hearts began to beat just that bit faster. The only sound that they could hear was their own quickened breathing.

        “Dashie.” Sonic's hands found the back of Rainbow Dash's neck and he pulled her in closer; before either of them were fully aware of what was happening, their lips met. It was nothing more than a gentle caress, nothing more than the sort of light peck that two friends might share upon greeting each other, but it held a certain … promise? The hedgehog was the first to break the contact and he wondered, if he was wrong about how the pegasus felt, if he'd live long enough to regret his actions.

        Two muscular forelegs reached out to embrace him, but now, as he feared, with the intention of crushing him to death; Rainbow Dash's muzzle clashed with his, and her pliant tongue soon found its way into his mouth, filling him with a pleasant cinnamon taste.

        Warmth. Sonic felt a glow suffuse him as the pegasus' cyan coat mingled with his own blue fur; he put his arms around her, craving the physical contact of her lithe, supple body against his. She was sinewy, all muscle, but as his hands roved over her he found that she was also surprisingly yielding to the touch. Her silky smooth coat was oh, so strokeable.

        Sonic felt a stirring in his loins at the realisation that this was something beyond a friendly clinch; it was a warm, passionate embrace, and he wondered just how far it could go. How far did he want it to go? How far did Rainbow Dash want it to go?

        Just as suddenly as it had started, however, it ended; Sonic looked at Rainbow Dash in confusion – trying to hide his disappointment – in time to see her turning her head to the side, her muzzle turning a bright red. She was … embarrassed by what had almost happened between them?

        No, that wasn't it.

        “Are you … crying?”

        “No,” Rainbow Dash said, silently rocking, but Sonic's sensitive ears were alert enough to pick up her gentle sobs of the pegasus. His heart almost stopped at the sound.

        “Dashie, what's is it? Did I do something wrong?” Sonic took her face in his hands and brushed her cheeks fondly with his fingertips. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you-”

        “-I'm sorry,” she said quietly.

        “What's wrong?”

        “You'll think it's silly.”

        He kissed her affectionately on the tip of her nose. It made her chuckle through her tears, which was the exact response that he'd been hoping for. “Tell me.”

        Taking a couple of deep breaths to calm herself, Rainbow Dash looked into Sonic's earnest eyes and said, “In Equestria, we have this thing. Special Someponies.”

        Sonic blinked several times in confusion. “Huh? What does that mean?”

        “Uh.” Rainbow Dash screwed her eyes up in concentration for a moment, trying to think of an explanation. “Soul-mates? Are you familiar with that concept?”

        Sonic nodded.

        “We're taught as foals that there's this one special pony out there for you, somepony that you'll fall in love at first sight with.” She shook her head, her prismatic mane falling fetchingly over her eyes. “I mean, I always thought that it was a crock, y'know? A fairy story that you told your kids, but … it's true, isn't it?” She looked at him intently. “You feel it, too, right?”

        “I feel something for you, yes.”

        “Something?” She shot him a lopsided glance.

        “Yes.” He stroked her cheek, then her neck, with the backsides of his fingertips, before leaning forward to embrace her. Rainbow Dash was reticent at first, but she soon relaxed into the hug, her muzzle nuzzling against the soft fur of Sonic's beige chest. “It's okay. We don't have to do anything else.”

        “Sonic-”

        “-We can just forget that anything ever happened, okay?” he said reassuringly, cradling her in his arms. “Tomorrow, I'll be gone as if I was never here in the first place, and you'll be able to find your true special somepony. Yeah?”

        “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, uncertainty lacing her voice. She knew what the hedgehog was trying to do; he was telling her what she wanted – what she needed – to hear, but since when did she start listening to the advice of others? Since never, that's when. Even if they were right. Especially if they were right. She was Rainbow Dash, and she did what the Tartarus she wanted. Lifting her head until it was level with his, she kissed him on the lips, taking his bottom lip between her teeth and biting it softly.

        “Dashie-”

        She shook her head, then kissed him again.

        Finally, Sonic got the message and returned her kisses; every so often, one or the other would stop, searching the other's eyes, as if seeking permission to continue the tryst.

        This went on until Rainbow Dash finally said, “I'm sorry. This isn't what you wanted, is it?”

        “Honestly?” Sonic let out a little sigh. “I don't know. I've never felt this way about anyone – er, anypony, sorry – before.” He looked at her with a sheepish smile. “I didn't expect my first love to be a pegasus pony from another dimension, but then, weirder things have happened to me.”

        Rainbow Dash smiled and Sonic's heart was momentarily lit aflame to see it again; she really was so incredibly beautiful, and it was down to the simple fact that she embraced the truth of who she was. Others would sit in front of a mirror for hours on end in search of an appropriate mask, but the fundamental truth was that self-confidence trumped all else. She owned herself in a way that very few ever learned to do. “Hold me,” she said.

        Sonic complied with her request, wishing that they could just stay like this for eternity. They lay down on the bed together, a tangle of arms and legs. “You could always come to Mobius with me,” Sonic said softly into her ear.

        “I can't. Even if it wasn't for the Elements of Harmony, I wouldn't be able to just up and leave everypony behind. Not forever,” replied Rainbow Dash.

        “Maybe we'll find a way to get the portal to work without the Chaos Emeralds.”

        “I hope so,” Rainbow Dash said, turning around and nestling her muzzle in Sonic's chest again.

        Just before she drifted off to sleep, Sonic ran his hand through her gorgeous mane and said, “Rainbow Dash, I love you.”

        “I love you, too, Sonic.”