You wake up in the same position you fell asleep in—minus one Rainbow pegasus. The blankets had been pulled up in her wake but your arms hold nothing but warm air. You pat the area around you, lazily searching for fur or feathers in your groggy state. Nothing.

Unreasonable fear begins to well up in the pit of your stomach, and you look at the clock—ignoring the shooting pain that fills your eyes from the morning light.

*8:12

You groan. It’s way too early for her to be up on an off day where could she be? She was an adult and all, but it was unlike her to just disappear without warning. You sit up rather quickly to take a look around. Fear turns to relief when you see her prismatic mane bobbing just above the kitchen countertops. At the same time your nose picks up the smell of toast and fried eggs. Dash is making breakfast. You lay back down but continue watching as she goes about her own little routine. She stands on her hind legs and opens the cupboard to get something before setting it on the counter; both her hooves return to gently close the door. She must be afraid of waking you.

You could tell her not to bother, but you weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to observe her behavior. Between your history as friends and your relationship you felt like you knew her pretty well. Even so, there were obviously some things you still had to learn. Like the fact that she hummed when she buttered toast.

The familiar tune was punctuated by focused periods of silence while she carefully angles her knife between clenched teeth. Soon enough she finishes and her little song ends half way through. She goes over and props herself over the sink to place the butter knife down but pauses. Her ears go on alert, she’s onto you. You slowly sink back into the sheets and close your eyes until you’re peeping through a slit. Surprisingly she doesn’t turn around and instead sizes up something on the adjacent wall. What is she—

In a flash she pushes off the sink and slashes the knife through the air at an imaginary assailant. Her momentum carries through and she spins around to slice through another air enemy. No way…you can’t help your ear to ear grin. The rainbow blur of play fighting carries on for a good thirty seconds as she throws hooves and swings your benign cutlery in a ferocious manner. Even though she was clearly making up some of her moves, she looked like she knew enough of what she was doing that it was actually rather impressive; you sure wouldn’t mess with that. The silent combat abruptly ends when one of her punches accidentally connects with your cabinet in a loud—

—*crack!

You wipe the smile off your face just in time for her to spin around to check on you. You hear her holding a breath of anticipation across the room, and you didn’t dare peek. After a moment she turns to inspect the cabinet and rub at the divot her hoof left in the wood. She looks around nervously before gingerly placing the knife in the sink. Without further ado she places breakfast on a tray and softly approaches the bed. The tray gets gently deposited on your nightstand and she turns to look at you but pauses as if contemplating how to wake you. You can feel her breath from a distance; her penetrating gaze making you sweat bullets behind closed eyes. Does she know?

Finally she trots around the bed and steps up on her side. Her hooves rock the mattress ever so slightly as she takes up position behind you. The same, distanced breath teases the back of your neck when a sudden sensation tickles your ear lobe. Is that a feather? She holds another breath and shifts weight on her hooves. Again the sensation returns, this time tracing the outside of your ear. Yep, definitely a feather. It takes every ounce of willpower to keep from swatting the ticklish intruder. She relents again but only for a moment before she plunges her pinfeather into your ear.

“Aaah!” Before you have a chance to react she tackles your prostrate form and traps your arms underneath the sheets, “Get it out!” You rock your head violently to dislodge the assailant and she finally abates but keeps it threateningly posed.

“Only if you promise not to tell any pony what you just saw!” You try to move but she only clamps you tighter. You grab her fore hoof to dislodge it but a threatening wingtip at the entrance of your ear dissuades you from escaping.

“What I didn’t see anything!”

She squeezes you tighter and swipes your ear, “Try again!”

“Ok! Ok! I promise not to tell any pony what I saw!” You shout. You hold your breath in anticipation for a moment as she evaluates the sincerity of your tone.

She finally releases her hold, “You better…”

Your hand frees itself and itches your tortured ear before booping her nose. She scrunches and snorts but sits down next to you undeterred, “How’d you know I was awake anyways?” You stare into her eyes, her seemingly ever present smile had already made your day.

“Because the blanket was off your withers—“

“—Shoulders…”

“…Y-yea those…I definitely covered them when I got up because I, uhh…kn-know how weak and cold you get.” Her stutter brought the slightest hint of pink to her cyan cheeks.

“Well I’m glad you’re looking out for me otherwise I might’ve caught hypothermia or something.”

She grins before collapsing onto you, her chin landing squarely in your unprotected stomach, “Heh, just be glad I’ve got wings,” She extends her wing out to playfully bat at your face. You catch it and hold it to your chest, “Oh and your breathing’s different when you sleep.” She adds as an afterthought.

“Well I guess I can’t fool you.”

“Nope!” She grins confidently.

“So did you win the battle?”

Your question wipes the smirk off her face, “I-I was just practicing for the new sparring classes we’re taking!”

“Suuure…and did they give you an insurance plan with that to cover property damage?”

Her eyes drift to the marred cabinet and her ears fold, “Uhhh…I-I—”

“—Hahahaha! Relax Dash I’m just messing with you!”

The active little listeners pop back up, “Wait, really?”

When will she ever learn it’s impossible for you to be mad at her? “Of course!” You ruffle her hair, “You’re not the first one to leave some dents, have you seen the doorways around here?”

The look of mild confusion accompanies her face as she turns to inspect the front door across the room; the top of the five foot door jam had a few scuffs and the bottom corners were practically black from being kicked, “Ouch! That looks like it hurt.”

“It did for the first week or so before I realized that the doors were smaller here.”

Magenta eyes turn back and glance at your fore head, “Well it won’t happen again because I’m gonna get a lot better at it!”

“Doesn’t that mean you’ll do more damage?”

“Heheh, yeah probly.” She snickers and play fights your hand as she rolls onto her back for belly rubs. You forget the world as you get lost in the mare’s antics; suddenly she perks up, “Don’t forget your breakfast dude.”

Right. Breakfast. She makes no effort to move from her lounged position as you retrieve the tray. Two sunny side up eggs greet you next to some buttered cinnamon-sugar toast and hash browns. Dear Celestia it’s beautiful, “You know this is the most effort that’s been put into my breakfast in a year.” The statement was meant as a compliment, but it comes out sounding like you’re in shock.

She blushes, “Heh, well I’ve never cooked eggs that way before so I kinda just winged it until they looked edible…by your standards.”

You quirk an eyebrow at her, “Are you implying my tastes in cuisine are sub-par?”

Her grin teases you, ”Yeah.” You can’t say you’re surprised; she’s definitely the kind of mare to tell it like it is, ”What! You don’t even like hayburgers!”

“That’s because I don’t have the enzymes that allow me to digest beta-glucose Dash.”

Her brow furrows in frustration, ”Then just…I don’t know! Quit speaking nerd!” You move your free hand to rub her belly—turning her frown upside down as she stretches under your pleasant touch. A powerful yawn overtakes her and she blinks a few times before focusing back on you; her wings still limp in relaxation.

“I don’t think you realize how much fun it is to annoy you.”

She raises her brows at your boldness and her eyes drift towards the framed portrait of herself on your nightstand. An amused smirk worms its way to her face.

"You know I almost got the life sized poster, but I figured you'd just get jealous so I went with that one instead."

She nods condescendingly and purses her still smirking lips.

"It's only a matter of time before they come out with plushies you know...then I'll have something to cuddle to sleep *smack—ow!"

”Better eat up before I decide to unmake your breakfast.”

“That sounds…excessively violent.” The threat coupled with the wonderful smell of the food in front of you finally breaks your resolve and you unceremoniously inhale one of the cinnamon-sugar covered toasts, “Aw man these are great! I’ve never had anything besides jam on toast before.”

She watches with satisfaction as you hungrily eye the rest of the meal, “My mom used to make that for me.”

“Well I’ll have to thank her when I meet her.”

“You…want to meet my parents?” She asks as if surprised, but not unpleasantly so.

“Of course! They’re both tied for second on my list of favorite pe—ponies.”

She ignores your linguistic correction like she had countless times before, “But you don’t even know them? How can you like them yet?”

She walked right into this one, “Because they made my number one favorite pony in the whole wide world.” You pinch her cheek like a toddler.

Her hoof slaps it away, “Gross dude!”

“Hahahahaha!” She stays indignantly flustered and refuses to meet your eye. Your laughter dies down and on a more serious note you add, “Not sure if they’ll see me in the same light but still…”

Her ears detect your sobriety and she turns back, “Whadda ya mean?”

“Well…not being a stallion and all…”

“…Seriously?…” She locks you in her incredulous trance, “…The only ponies who care about that are jerks, and my parents are like, the exact opposite of that. Like super not jerky.”

Not jerky…sounds pleasant enough…

“So get those dumb ideas out of your head…or at least try, I know there’s a lot of ‘em.” She insults you with a smile—successfully lightening your mood as intended, “Besides, it’s not like they don’t know all about you already I-uh…um…” She trails off abruptly.

“You just said I’ve never met them how can…ohhh-ho-ho-ho…” She drops her muzzle as it flares up and averts her gaze thinking it would somehow hide her, “…has a certain blue pegasus been writing home about me?”

A grin splits your face, but it wasn’t to taunt her, rather it was an uncontrollable reaction to the revelation of the new and endearing information. The colors of her mane tickle her flushed cheeks as you comb through them affectionately; she tolerates it begrudgingly. The feeling was surprisingly warming, and the longer you pondered it the more you appreciated it. For a moment you regret that you’ll never be able to give her the same experience. It takes her a moment to compose herself, “I told them a bit a-about…us…t-that we’re, sorta together…” She stutters.

“Good, so they won’t freak out when they see me then?”

“Heh, m-maybe a bit…you’re pretty tall.”

“You know I’m pretty average by human standards.”

She quirks a brow at this and pauses, “Well you’re a-above average, t-to me…” Her eyes dart around and she starts to second-guess the wording on her cheesy compliment.

You cup her cheeks, “Heheheh, you’re just a little love-bug aren’t you—“

“—Finish your breakfast already!” She explodes but doesn't break away from your touch.

“Yes ma’am.”

She squints at your sass, but you pay no mind and continue eating, “Wait, did you make anything for yourself?”

Her eyes divert, ”I’m not hungry…y-yet.”

“If you say so.” After a few bites of everything, two things become apparent. Dash over salted the eggs and the cinnamon flavored buttery toast only got better with every bite. You meet her expectant eyes and finish chewing, ”This is really good, and I’m not just saying that because I love you.”

She fights off the blush this time but her ears still move, ”R-really?”

You nod in assurance before selecting the toast for further consumption. Before you can stuff your face two blue hooves intercept your arm and Dash pulls it down to take a bite. You take the detour in stride and conclude your mission of stuffing your face. Both of you keep awkward eye contact as the sound of crunching toast echoes through the room. You finish first, “Hungry now I take it?”

”Heh, uh…I was just testing it to make sure it was…” She trails off as you bring the half-eaten toast back down in front of her muzzle. She looks questioningly at you and you poke her nose with it.

*crunch

You chuckle to yourself as Dash graciously accepts your offering. In less than a minute your plate is clean and Dash is nibbling at breadcrumbs in her chest fur. You help her pick the last few out and down half of the juice before offering her the rest. She takes it without hesitation and sits up to keep from choking. Finally finished, you take the empty glass from her and the tray and set them on the floor next to your bed. You lean back using your arms as a headrest. Dash wiggles her way under the covers and lays her head across your bare chest, her chin resting on your sternum, orange-breath blowing across your face.

You look into her eyes and share a smile. Neither of you speak, but that doesn’t make it awkward. The affection that hung thick in the air between you said enough, but of course you couldn’t stay that way for long.

You lean forward to kiss and she springs up to eagerly reciprocate as if she’d been waiting for this moment all morning. Your lips meet and dance around like the well-acquainted partners they are, reveling in the simple joy of intimate touch. Despite having done this countless times she put her all into making the kiss as passionate and meaningful as she could. And as far as you were concerned, nothing in the world would ever be able to top the feeling of being on the receiving end of that kind of love. Finally, you break with heavy breath.

You spot a speck of cinnamon on her nose from earlier and flick it away with the tip of your tongue. She wipes her nose with a foreleg and cocks a grin at you. Whether she knew your intent or not she doesn’t hesitate to reciprocate and her tongue flicks out in a similar fashion. No matter what you do you just can’t one-up her with affection.

“I guess now would be a good time to thank you for the best breakfast I’ve ever had in my entire life.” Your flattering exaggeration carried enough truth to make her feel proud.

”It’s just…I wanted to repay you for last night, you know, the dinner and…o-other stuff.” She shivers at the thought.

You bring a hand to cup her face and she looks down sheepishly at your chest, “Dash, you don’t owe me anything, I did it because I wanted to.”

”I know but you put so much effort into it and I didn’t even properly thank you!”

What is she talking about? “But you did thank me properly remember?”

”Wh-what?”

“You thanked me when you smiled at me, when you kissed me…when you made love to me. You don’t have to say anything to thank someone.” Arms wrap her in a bear hug before she has a chance to argue her case, “Besides, remember what you said to me last night?”

“Uhh…sorta…m-maybe…”

“You said I don’t have to do things for you to prove that I love you. That goes for you too.” You poke her nose for emphasis.

”Y-yeah…I guess—”

“—Shhhh…”

”But I—“

“—Shhhhh!” Your finger effectively suppresses her side of the argument.

”Okay geez. Point taken.” She submits and lays against you for some early morning cuddles. Now’s a prime time to start making good on your promise to find the rest of her freckles. Golden rays of morning sun pierce the gaps in your curtains and warm the end of your bed. Your eyes follow dust particles ducking in and out of the celestial light on unseen air currents. Fingers tickle a touchy spot on your companion’s back and her hind leg bucks under the covers. The resulting dust cloud momentarily passes through the ray of morning light before settling. Her breathing becomes more rhythmic as you keep playing around in her fur and her beating chest starts to mirror yours.

“Hey, if you want something more than half eaten toast we can go out and get you something.” To be honest you were offering out of courtesy. Nothing would make you happier than lounging with her on bed all day.

She pokes her head up from under your chin and tries to focus out of her sudden bout of lethargy, ”Huh? Oh…no that’s fine.” She punctuates with a yawn.

“Well you can’t just skip breakfast entirely.”

She grins and nudges your chin with her nose, ”I don’t plan to…as-uh, as long as you got some ice cream left over…”

The sudden boldness of her request is surprising. Her ears fold and she looks up at you—waiting for your response. Waiting for your permission…“Uhh…I-I…I guess…”

Your somewhat confused consent was all she needed. She gives your chin a hard nuzzle before promptly spinning around with an excited grin—burrowing her upper body into the sheets on top of you.

“Dash what are you…whoa!” Her wet muzzle clarifies her motivations, “Gah! Rainbow I freaking love you!”

Her giggle sends a shudder through your body as much as hers. Unable to rest with her butt that close to your face you let your own appetite get the better of you. You lift her prismatic tail out of the way and your heart skips a beat, “Dash, I’ve got to-ah!…a-ask you something?”

You feel her ministrations pause, “How much do you plan on walking today?”

She snorts and her tail twitches in your grasp, ”Not one bit.”

”I thought you said you didn’t have to do any walking today!” You yell down the hallway as you search the dresser for your favorite shirt.

Her scratchy voice echoes back from the bathroom, ”I’m not walking I’m flying!”

“Ohh yeah, nothing’s going to go wrong there, just ask the entire population of Canterlot.”

“Hey! No pony knew what the trick was supposed to look like!”

“Yeah I guess, but you’re still going to have to walk when we get there.”

”You’re blowing it way out of proportion! I’m not that sensitive!”

“Ok Dash.” Her lingering tremors were incredibly cute to watch, but it would definitely draw some questions in public. Hopefully she’d be over it by then, or the party would be so busy no one would notice. Speaking of which, apparently birthday parties for alligators were a thing here. You weren’t keen on going to begin with, primarily because you’d planned to spend your last off-day alone with your pegasus. The other reason was because the eccentric pony that was hosting tended to get on your nerves after a while. But Rainbow wanted to go and she wanted you to come with her; you weren’t about to turn her down.

Besides, it would be good to get out for a change and work on your sociability. And it’s not like you wouldn’t be with her anyways. You hear the bathroom sink finally turn off, “What if someone does notice though? I mean, you can’t exactly pass it off as sore legs.”

You’re met with unusual silence as you move on to another drawer in search of your shirt. Hooves land on your shoulders and her muzzle nips your ear—her stealthy approach taking you completely by surprise, ”Then we’ll have to tell them every. Little. Detail.”

Her savory tone forces a grin from you and you grab hold of her hooves, “So you want me to tell them how you screamed like a little filly when I—”

”—You can leave that part out.”

“Hahaha, if it comes to that I’ll just let you do all the talking. Sound good?”

”Heheh, yeah you’d better.” She licks your ear before lowering herself and heading into the kitchen intent on depriving you of more food. You return to your own agenda.

“Dash have you seen my black and white checkered button up?”

The rustling in the kitchen pauses while she thinks, ”Uhh…I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“You know, the shirt I wear almost every day…”

She laughs nervously, ”Oh haha! Yeah that one.”

Your movements become more frustrated as your searching reveals nothing, “I thought I threw it in the hamper last week, but it wasn’t in the wash when I did laundry.”

”Yeah, um…we’re kinda running late already so just pick out another one, I’ll help you look when we get back.” You let out a defeated sigh and humbly comply. A few minutes later you’re walking down Ponyville Main in a child’s medium minotaur t-shirt. Even with the age difference the neck size on minotarus was huge compared to yours. Luckily most ponies don’t know what it’s supposed to look like or didn’t care, and you walked through the streets largely unnoticed, “Hurry up, we’re already late!” Powerful gusts of air flattens your hair and kicks up dirt as the exasperated Wonderbolt orbits around your head.

“It’s not my fault you waited until midmorning to remember the party.”

”Well…you made me forget it!”

You smile up at her. She isn’t wrong, “Can’t you just enjoy a nice leisurely stroll on a sunny day?”

”You don’t understand Anon we’re gonna be last!”

“We might be late, but I doubt we’ll be last.”

”Then why are you still walking?”

“Because if I ran then I’d be giving into peer pressure.”

”Arrrrgh!”

“But…” Her ears perk up and she hovers in place, “…If someone were to treat me to a chocolate chip cookie later that might convince me to pick up my pace.”

She squints at you with crossed forelegs, ”One cookie.”

“Mhm,” you nod.

”And not any super expensive imported Zebraland flavors.”

“I didn’t know they had such a thing, but chocolate chip will suffice.”

She seems to mull it over for a moment, and if you looked hard enough you could read the slightest hint of a smirk that gave away her nearly impeccable act, ”Fine…but you’d better run.”

“Deal.” You hold out a fist and she bumps it to seal the pact. You take a deep breath before taking off down the street, Dash’s powerful flapping following close behind. You’d thought your relationship would’ve put an end to your old antics, but she was still your best friend. The little bet was completely irrelevant of course. There was absolutely no need to reimburse each other for favors, but the obvious underlying trust that came along with the playful banter seemed to make it more fun. You round the corner to Pinkie’s place and Dash of course shoots past you.

She finishes the one-sided race about twenty seconds ahead, and comes to a stop in front of the door. Fulfilling your end of the deal, you sprint all the way to the mock finish line before coming to a stop, ”Eh, that was kinda slow…don’t know if I’d consider it running.”

“Don’t try and weasel-*huff…your way out of it, you owe me.”

”Yeah…you’re right. You were only about a minute behind me that time.”

“A minute! That was like ten seconds! You can’t—”

”—All I hear are excuses Anon.”

You scowl down at her and she returns the look until some pony approaching breaks your trance. The colorful mare was second guessing herself as she looked at a Wonderbolt and an alien standing between her and the door, ”Oh I’m sorry, but do you know where the birthday party’s being held? I think I got the wrong address,” She asks timidly.

”No the party’s right through here,” Dash points towards the door that contained muffled laughter, “Don’t mind us we’re just arguing over how much I won by.”

Her sly comment refreshes your scowl. The mare giggles nervously and you move to open the door for her. The moment you do sounds of the ruckus inside increases tenfold. Geez, are the walls to this place soundproofed? “After you Ma’am.” You complete your charade with a short bow, and the earth pony giggles at your antics.

”My, such a gentle colt…hehe” She flashes you a flirty smile as she trots past.

You keep it open and look to your azure companion leaning against the railing with a bemused smirk, “Ms. Dash.”

She struts by purposefully exaggerating her hip sway and stretching her neck to show off. She pauses in front of you to twirl her hair with a hoof and bat her eyelashes in mock flirtation, ”My, such a gentle colt…hehehe!” Her voice was artificially raised to mimic your tan admirer. You hold your stoic look as any true gentleman would…until she flicks your chin with her tail.

*smack

A stout spank to her furry blue globe sends her skittering through the door. You follow her inside just as she whirls around furiously—her tail tucked between her legs. If looks could kill you might regret your actions. But they couldn’t, and her indignant rage was cute. Liking her when she was mad was probably right up there with liking cigarettes when it came to your health, “Dang Dash that had some jiggle, I think you need to lay off the honey bars.”

Everyone inside was far to involved in their own conversations and games to pay any mind to either of you, but Dash kept her voice checked anyways, ”Anon I swear…” Her magenta eyes did their best to set you on fire.

“Please don’t there might be children around.”

Her eyes narrow sharply and she takes a deep breath to give you a piece of her mind.

”Rainbow Dash!” The shrill voice of a pink sugar-strung pony saves you from imminent doom. More surprised than you were, Dash turns around just in time to get tackled by her friend.

”Haha, how ya doing Pinkie?”

”I’m doing great of course! But you really should be asking Gummy because it's his birthday and I’m just hosting the party for him can you believe it’s been a whole year since his last birthday party! Anon!”

What? You look to Dash and see she’s just as lost as you are. You turn back to the walking pink grin, “What?”

”I haven’t seen you in forever have you been hiding in your alien spaceship or something?”

“I-I...”

”Just kidding of course you don’t have one otherwise you would’ve left or conquered the world already.”

“Yeah.”

”Oh! Why don’t you come over and drop off your presents for Gummy then you can get some snacks!”

Dash’s features jump in shock, ”Umm well…” she looks up at you for an emergency answer, she obviously forgot the whole present thing. Luckily for her you weren’t as absent-minded. You just grin and wink at her, effectively telling her you got it covered, ”…yeah, sure.”

“Awesome!” Pinkie leads the way through the crowd to a corner of the room where the little green lizard creature was sprawled across his offerings, gnawing on a still wrapped gift, ”Gummy! Look, uncle Anon and aunt Rainbow are here!”

You reach in your pocket and withdraw a small rubber band ball you grabbed off your work desk before you left. Dash snorts at your ingenuity. You crouch down to hold it out to the reptile. He remains motionless for a moment while you watch the reflection of your hand wave in front of his lidless eyes. Before you can recoil he snatches the rubber ball from between your fingers and begins thrashing around with it.

”Omigosh he loves it!”

“I’m glad, we both chipped in on that one,” You nudge your feathery friend with an elbow and smile. Dash finally swallows her pride from earlier and returns a grateful look.

”Wow, if you two make presents this good then you’d make great babies!” And on that note Pinkie leaves you two to check up on one of her countless other social circles. A madly blushing pegasus turns to you and lifts up a wing to shield her conversation.

”T-That’s not p-possible is it? I-I mean I’m not actually going to get pregnant right?” She urgently whispers. Your own flushed features told her you were also grateful for the privacy of her wing.

“She’s just joking, I’m pretty sure it’s impossible.” You’d laugh at her unfounded fear, but you were busy trying to suppress some very vivid and recent memories.

Her minty breath assaults you again, ”How sure’s pretty sure?”

“Dash I guarantee with all those wings and legs and colors you’re at least a hundred chromosomes ahead of me,” Her brows furrows in contemplation, “And you’re not in heat so it wouldn’t matter anyways.”

Her muzzle flushes red, “I-I knew that!”

You go to respond but get cut off, ”Well well well if it isn’t Ms. Crash herself and her number one fan!” Oh shit you recognize that voice. Dash freezes and her ears perk up in a panic, eyes stare wide at yours, ”What kinda steamy secrets you think they’re sharing under there Soarin?”

”I don’t know but I doubt they’re gonna stay for the whole party if you know what I mean.” The same thought raced through both your minds. How the hell did two Wonderbolts get invited to a gecko’s birthday party?

Dash’s wide eyes told you she really wasn’t ready for this. But Fleetfoot’s teasing voice reminded her that life isn’t fair, ”Hmm, you think they’re busy making out or just ignoring us?”

”Maybe…what are the kids calling it nowadays? Prench something or other…”

Dash snaps her wing back to her side and hastily clears her throat, ”Fleetfoot, Soarin! I didn’t know you two were going to be here haha!”

Fleetfoot nudges her grey companion, ”Looks like they finally came up for air.”

Oh this Is going to be rough. Dash pipes up, ”It’s not what it looked like!”

”Perception is reality; that’s the first rule of airshows. Come on Crash don’t tell me you slept through every lesson.” Soarin smiles provokingly at the both of you as Dash stutters to come up with a rebuttal.

“But all judgment is subjective to the individual whose world views are shaped by past experiences.” You knew that philosophy class would pay off eventually.

”Yeah what he said!” Dash quips.

You contain your smile as you watch Soarin struggle for a valid comeback. Fleetfoot turns to the weak link, “So I take it you typically wait until you’re out of public?”

”Of course! What kind of mare do you think…” Dash catches herself before she can finish her confession, but the message was already out. A powerful blush quickly begins to contrast her blue fur, and Fleetfoot only grins wider. It was as if the teal pegasus sucked the last remaining confidence from your blue one.

Fleetfoot hoofs her shoulder, ”Hahaha! Chill a bit Dash, you two are cute together! Look at em’ Soarin aren’t they cute?”

”Like two peas in a pod. They’ll be getting married in no time.” And you thought he was going to be a bro. You shoot him a ‘really’ look but he just smirks.

”Almost as cute as in the hotel when—”

”—Shush!” Dash explodes to cover Fleetfoot’s muzzle with a hoof while half the room falls silent and looks your direction. Well there’s a touchy subject.

”Oh you-mm muh not’ve-mmpf tolhd em?” the pegasus manages as Dash follows her muzzle around with a panicked hoof.

“Told me what?”

“Anon don’t listen to her! She’s lying!”

Soarin looks on in similar bewilderment, ”Whatever it is, it’s news to me.”

Most of the ponies return to their conversations, but Dash was still actively suppressing Fleetfoot’s freedom of speech. You’d step in, but it was far too entertaining. Fleetfoot finally pins Dash’s fore hooves to the ground and spills the beans, ”Every night she’d-mmpf…” She fights away a wing, “...wear your shirt to bed."

Dash was too mortified to keep resisting and instead focused on taking deep breaths as the room started to close in around her, “Is that so…” You add thoughtfully. So that’s where your button up disappeared to.

“I thought it was just some new fashion trend at first, but when our luggage got delayed in Manehatten she tossed and turned all night, and I realized she couldn’t fall asleep without her stallion’s scent! It was the absolute cutest thing!” She elbows Rainbow who is so petrified she almost falls over.

The mare looks like she’s about to have a stroke. Unfortunately your smile is unable to affect her frozen figure. Fleetfoot sees what you see and takes pity, ”Aww come on Dash it’s perfectly normal! Let's go get you something to drink and loosen up a bit.” She nudges your mare to follow alongside and Dash doesn’t bother to fight it. At this point she’d do almost anything to keep from having to look you in the eye.

Soarin lets out a deep breath next to you—reminding you he was still there, ”Well, never seen that before.”

“Yeah, that was…interesting to say the least.” To be honest you felt a strange mix between flattery and confusion.

”What do you say we hit the snack bar, give em’ some space to sort things out?”

“Fine by me.”

Soarin leads the way to the nearest table covered in sweets, and you numbly follow. You grab a few small cupcakes, but you’re primarily focused on digesting your most recent revelation. Who would’ve thought a crocodile’s birthday party could be this crazy, “So how’d you know Dash and I were going to be here?”

Soarin doesn’t bother looking at you as he leans across the snack trays to inspect a row of pastries, ”We didn’t.”

“So I take it you know Gluey then?”

”Yeah sure I know Gummy.”

Gummy, right, “I’m sorry, I just have a hard time picturing how two Wonderbolts ended up at a caiman’s—

”—Crocodile’s.”

“…crocodile’s birthday party.”

He finally chooses his victim and turns to meet your eyes, ”Not any less likely than an alien and a Wonderbolt.”

He does have a point.

”The train stopped here on the way back from Appaloosa and I noticed a massive banner advertising free party pastries.”

”Pinkie solicited her pet’s birthday party on public transportation routes?”

”I guess that’s one way to put it. Either way we couldn’t turn it down.”

“Yeah I don’t blame you…” Soarin digs into his cherry croissant and you turn to survey the crowd, ”So Fleefoot is…“

”…Putting her experience to work and helping me clear up some family matters, trusts and estates and such. She’s dealt with this stuff before.”

You’re not about to steer the topic to family drama, “Oh, so you’re not together?”

”Well…not officially, the ‘Bolts don’t really tolerate teamcest, uhh…mixing personal lives with work. It complicates things when the chain of command starts playing favorites.”

“That makes sense I guess. But…unofficially…?” You pause to stuff your mouth with some licorice while he takes his time to respond.

“Unofficially we get along quite well and enjoy each other’s company. But the moment we put on our uniforms it’s business as usual. We both know there’s more at stake if we brought the relationship to work, and we don’t take it personally when we have to make practical decisions…that’s probably why we’ve lasted as long as we have…” You nod in agreement and you both take a break to fill your faces with the unnaturally good pastries.

A myriad of colorful ponies are engaged in various conversations and several glance over to briefly catch your eye. You’d grown accustomed to your relative height advantage, but you never felt natural—especially in crowds. Luckily most ponies who weren’t already used to you were cordial enough not to stare. The little equines were on the smaller end of all the fantastical species you’d seen; the average stallion was a smidgen taller than you on his hind legs, and the average mare, a head shorter.

Ironically, you’d be in an even more awkward predicament if you were in a Griffin establishment. They were much taller on all fours, but their architecture favored the sheltered feel of a low roof. Most of the diverse places like Ponyville sported high ceilings and windows in order to accommodate pegasi. The clearance wasn’t for flying though, it aimed instead to ease the instinctive discomfort the winged creatures had for enclosures.

You cease your pondering and finally look to a particular set of colors that had never left the corner of your eye.

Dash was standing next to the bar with Fleetfoot and Fluttershy…Applejack was on her way to join in. She’s got her back to you but you don’t need to see her expression to know her company isn’t letting her catch a break. Her tail sways nervously and her wings are held tensely to her torso. Ears twitch and dart to whomever happens to be talking to her. You never would’ve noticed these intimations a few months ago, but your friendship had forced some learning. Living with her had forced some more.

You tell yourself not to stare, but you can’t help it.

”So is she everything you ever hoped for?” Soarin finishes wiping some cherry filling from the corner of his smirking mouth.

“Is what?”

He wags his eyebrows towards Dash and his smirk widens, “Y-yeah. We’ve been friends since…well, pretty much since I got here, and she’s been supportive and—”

”—Aww come on you’re totally shaggin!” He elbows you.

You choke on a bit of spit and look down to kick some dirt off your shoes, *cough-“Yeah she’s amazing,” You reply under your breath.

”Hahaha! I knew it!”

You look around nervously as his laugh somehow seems louder than the ruckus in the room, “Why don’t you tell the whole world while you’re at it.”

”Oh it’s not me you gotta look out for…” He nods back towards the familiar group of mares, in particular, Fleetfoot, “…But I doubt she’d do any damage anyways, if Rainbow’s civilian friends are anything like the team then they’ve known for a while.”

You nervously scratch the back of your head. Your initial feelings towards going public were starting to give way to self-consciousness. No doubt everyone would be thinking the same thing you were. She’s way out of your league, “So…you guys have known about us then?”

“Well, not about you in particular, but we knew she was seeing some pony when she was just as eager to get back to Ponyville as she was to clean the trophy room…she loves that trophy room…”

“It’s that obvious?”

He pauses to think, “Not really. Spits and Fleet and the other mares picked up on it long before we did. I swear mares are the strangest creatures.”

So you may have fooled the general public, but her friends had known since it started…great. You sigh. One of her friend groups was the Wonderbolts team and the other's were national heroes, talk about pressure…”Geez Soarin I had no idea.”

“Ha ha! No worries dude. Trust me when I say you seem to have a better head about you than most stallions your age…” He pauses and eyes you suspiciously, “…I’m guessing you’re not like a hundred years old or something right?”

“What do you mean? My mom was well into her two hundreds when she had me.” You keep a straight face and enjoy the look of pure astonishment that crosses his.

“You’re kidding me…you can’t be…” He dissects your features for any sign of lying. You simply shrug and take another bite, “…holy cow that’s like, wait how old do you get!”

He looks so excited you almost regret taking it this far, “Well there’s a legend that this guy named uh…Methuselah I think, lived well into his nine hundreds.”

“That's amazing! Ha ha! Whoa that’s like right up there with the princesses and…” He carries on and on awhile longer until the sight of your uncontrollable smirk makes him stop, “…You are kidding aren’t you?”

“Yeah, by an order of magnitude or so. I’m just like you guys.”

He lets out a disappointed sigh that almost makes you feel guilty, “You must’ve picked that up from Rainbow, she’s always messing with us.”

“Yeah I guess I have.” Come to think of it, it’s been a while since she pranked you.

“So…she says you’ve got a job as a full time genius?” His tone was serious despite his skepticism.

“Yeah, sort of…I start tomorrow at a R&D department in Canterlot.”

“Ok…good pay?”

What is this an interrogation? “I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be doing yet, but it sounds pretty lucrative. Why do you ask?”

He waves a hoof dismissively, “Oh you know, just looking out for my friends…” He’s been nothing but nice since you’ve met, but you somehow doubt he’s talking about you, “…what’re hours like?”

“Again, not quite sure but if I had to guess I’d say it’s a typical nine-to-five.”

He nods, “Throw on a couple hours for the commute, assuming you’re taking the train…”

“That long?”

He nods again, slowly, “You a herding man?”

If you didn’t know any better you’d say this guy was Dash’s father…wait…”What?”

“A herd. You plan on starting one?”

You’ve heard of them before, but no one’s ever talked about them and you’ve never really seen any unless…that family in the park had a few older mares…were those daughters or wives? “No I always thought it was like an outdated tradition or something.”

Soarin scratches his neck, “Depends on who you talk to, but most mares’ll go along with it if you’re honest.”

Somehow you doubt Dash is ‘most mares,’ “Wait seriously? I’ve literally heard it mentioned like…twice before and I don’t think I’ve seen any.”

“Hahaha! No stallion in his right mind would take the whole herd on a date at once, that’s just asking for trouble! You got to give each mare her own time otherwise you start having problems.”

You thought that guy across the street was just a player…“Wow that…that explains a lot.” You lean back against the pastry table and contemplate the whole new aspect of your reality. Dash definitely never mentioned anything about it. She either thought you knew, or she didn’t want you to find out. Either way the thought of giving Dash anything less than all your affection was…revolting. You could understand how the stallion found the prospect of having more than one mare desirable, but the fantasy only seemed unsettling to you, “I don’t think I can handle a herd.”

“I think you could. If you can handle her as well as you do then I don’t see you having any problems with—“

“—I don’t want one.” You’re sure he didn’t mean it, but the semantics of the conversation objectified your partner and you weren’t comfortable with it one bit.

”Really? Well I guess you do have your hooves full.”

“Yeah, I sure do.” You relax once he drops the topic.

”I was thinking about starting one up when I retired, but I’m already getting my flank kicked by the briefing room staircase.” He circles his weathered leg joints, “One too many hard landings I guess.”

You prepare a cup of punch and collect some more cookies on a napkin, you need to run this off later.

“Listen, Anon.” The Wonderbolt’s somber tone snags your attention, “Crash has uh…she hasn’t had the best experience with stallions in the past…” she’d told you that much before, “…in all the time I’ve known her, I haven’t seen her get a second date with any pony.”

Your heart twinges. On one hand you were glad to be the only one to know her like you do, but on the other, she must’ve suffered through a lot of loneliness…

“So I guess what I’m trying to say is…if you break her heart, I’ll break your jaw.”

At least he’s honest. Despite the threat you’re not the least bit deterred. If anything it was reassuring knowing that she had friends that cared for her as much as you do, “If it comes to that you’re gonna have to beat me to the punch.” You lock eyes for a moment.

“Hahahahahaha! I like it! I like it! Sit tight pal I need to hit the head.” If you’d been acquaintances before you were surely friends now.

You smile as he disappears through the crowd, then you look for your Rainbow. Dash had since migrated into a larger group with the rest of her friends and it looked like she was enjoying herself. You could only pick out snippets of her tail and mane…and an eye? She cranes her neck a bit to look at you with perked ears and you wink at her. She just blushes and disappears again amidst a circle of giggles. Crazy mares.

”Ahem…excuse me…Anun?”

That voice sounds familiar. You look over to see the multicolored mare from earlier standing uncomfortably close even by pony standards, “Yes?”

”That is how you pronounce it right?”

“Close enough.”

She shuffles nervously but her gamey smirk never leaves her muzzle, ”My name is Firegrass, I just wanted to say thanks for getting the door earlier.” Your situational awareness tips you off towards a few unfamiliar mares at the edge of the crowd giggling and watching your exchange.

This is trouble, “It’s a common courtesy,” You offer dismissively—trying to balance disinterest with politeness.

She giggles and looks up at you with dilated eyes, ”Maybe for you it is, but we don’t get many gentle colts around here.”

“Oh I doubt that, I know plenty of—“

”—I know the bartender and I can get us a good deal on some ale…if you’d like.”

You know where this is going and you rush to think of a way to decline her offer. Apart from Equestrian alcohol being the nastiest thing you’ve ever tasted, you were sure that walking in Dash’s direction with another mare at your side would lead to a bloodbath. Not that you even want to go anyways…But all things considered you want to avoid hurting her feelings, after all, she doesn’t know you’re here with someone else.

You look over to see if Soarin was back yet and maybe use him as a cop-out, but he’s nowhere in sight. You take a deep breath and meet the mare’s lively hazel eyes. Well you can’t make everyone happy, “Sorry but I’m with—“

”—What are you doing?” A scratchy voice poignantly interjects.

You look over to see a very familiar rainbow pegasus trotting your way with a purpose, “Hey Dash. Enjoying the party?”

She completely ignores you and instead focuses on the confused mare next to you, “M-me?” the mare poses.

“Yeah. You.” She maneuvers between you two and ruffles her wings, her hindquarters nearly leaning against you. Oh shit she looks upset.

Firegrass looks at you and sees you’re completely unfazed by Dash’s close presence. You estimate that it was also around the same time she realized your marefriend was none other than the Rainbow Dash, “I-I was uhh…just s-striking up conversation.“

As much as you don’t want to be involved you feel a bit of sympathy for the flustered earth pony. Dash looks to you with skepticism. You nod, “She was just introducing herself.”

The fiery pegasus’s eyes turn back and narrow on the slowly retreating mare, her voice comes out a bit more threatening, “His name’s Anon, what else do you wanna know…”

“I-I…uhh…” A plethora of emotions cross the tan mare’s face; surprise, shock, and a fair amount of fear. The imposing figure that shielded you effectively curb-stomped any desire Firegrass had to interact with you. That didn’t faze you one bit, but you were worried Dash might have an outburst like at the restaurant. You watch the next few heart-pounding seconds closely—ready to intercede at a moment’s notice, but predictably, the mare backs down and slips back into the crowd without even a parting glance.

Dash turns to the pastry table and starts browsing the delectables as if nothing happened, “Dude there’s no cupcakes left, don’t tell me you ate ‘em all?”

The strange turn of events and her obvious disregard for them told you she probably didn’t want to talk about it, or at the very least didn’t want to talk here. A blotch of yellow catches your eye and you see Fluttershy making her way towards you. Behind her the rest of her friends look over inquisitively, “Um…yea-I mean no, I only had a few.”

She forces a smile; you can see her pupils are dilated with what can only be adrenaline. You wanted to quell the obvious discomfort she felt, but your situation didn’t afford you the opportunity.

“Oh my…Anon you didn’t eat all of these did you?” Fluttershy asks.

“I had more than I should, but not all of them.” She nods and grabs the last vanilla cupcake for herself. Dash seems oblivious to her friend; her attentions turned elsewhere, still vigilant for the mare that violated her territory.

“Hey! Looks like the party was just waiting for me to leave.” Soarin jokes as he makes his way back from the restroom.

Now he shows up, “Yeah, you just missed everything.” He doesn’t seem to realize the hidden sincerity in that comment.

He looks to the table in shock, “Who ate all the cupcakes! I swear there were two left a minute ago!”

Fluttershy gulps and guiltily hides the small morsel of cupcake left in her hooves.

“Rainbow was it you?”

“Huh…” She breaks her trance and finds her teammate.

“You know those were my favorite cupcakes?”

“Oh…nah, ask Anon he’s been standing in front of them all night.” She goes back to monitoring the crowd, albeit slightly more at ease. Fluttershy, on the other hand, starts sweating.

“A lot of ponies have been by, try interrogating them.” You point off to a random group.

“Hahahaha I was just kiddin! The less I eat the sooner I can get out of rehab.”

“You got that right!” Fleetfoot saunters over with a smug grin on her face. Dash just rolls her eyes and pays her no mind, “Say, you haven’t had too much have you Crash? I’d hate for you not to get the new flight position because your lap times take a hit.”

”Fleetfoot! It’s bad enough I have to room with you on tours, the least you could do is leave me alone for ten bucking seconds!”

”She sounds a bit worked up Fleet.”

”Should be working out if you know what I’m saying. Really helps with the stress.”

The vicious circle of verbal fencing continues between the Wonderbolts and you take the opportunity to excuse yourself from the epicenter. You retreat to the opposite end of the table and get yourself a cup of punch but notice some hoof steps behind you.

Fluttershy had also evacuated, if only to finish her dessert without judgment. She files in behind you and gets herself a half-glass of refreshment. Neither of you say anything as you watch the party, or what’s left of it. It had quieted down significantly and was now consolidated to a few small social circles. This whole thing is just an excuse for a get-together. That crocodile probably has a birthday every few months.

The yellow pegasus stays characteristically quiet beside you. As awkward as it seemed you were grateful for a bit of silence, to be honest the loud party was starting to wear on you. Eventually she decides to break the ice, ”Umm…Anon…”

“Hey Fluttershy, what’s up?”

You strain to hear her quiet reply over the din of the room, ”I don’t mean to bother you, but I wanted to speak with you if you have a minute.”

“Of course, take however long you need.”

”I was…well, I’ve known Rainbow ever since we were fillies, and I’ve never seen her like this before.”

“I haven’t either, that’s the second time she’s gotten confrontational with someone.”

”That’s not what I meant…” She swipes her hair across her muzzle, “…she’s never been this um…interested in some pony before.” Your receptiveness prompts her further, ”I don’t know what she’s told you, but she’s been interested in you for a lot longer than you might think, and…I just wanted to make sure you know how much you mean to her before you have to make any important decisions.”

Important decisions? Like what? The herding thing? You muster as much sincerity as you can and look her in the eye, “Thank you Fluttershy, I’ve thought about it too and I won’t disappoint her.”

A smile surfaces on her reserved exterior, “She’s always been a good judge of character and we all trust her with her decision. Take good care of her.” The butterscotch mare walks back to the rest of her friends and leaves you at the end of the empty snack table. Ok. That was a bit strange...what a heck of a party. And to think you almost went back to sleep instead.

Fluttershy apparently knew about Dash’s feelings for you even long before you did…meaning the rest of her friends did too. Maybe your relationship was never a secret to begin with…maybe Dash just isn’t comfortable in public like that. You let your thoughts carry you until they bore and force you to return to the rambunctious flyers. You finish the night on a lighter note—laughing and joking until nearly everyone else had left. Eventually Fleetfoot and Soarin call it quits and head back to the train station, and in no time at all you’re waving goodbye as you exit the door.

You take a deep breath of cool night air and start your long walk home as Dash falls in line with you. You look down at her and she looks up—stumbling as she does, “Dash I think you’re a bit drunk.”

”I am not!” She snorts.

“Then do a wing flip right now.”

”No.”

“I’ll spot you if you’re worried.”

”M’not worried, just don’t want to.”

“Suit yourself.” You continue walking in silence and enjoying the cool night sky as Dash drifts closer and closer to your stabilizing hip. You learned to avoid calling her a lightweight a long time ago, but that’s what she is. You reach out to lay a bracing palm on her withers, but she dodges away—intent on proving she was fine.

You decide to leave it there in case she changes her mind, and your mind wanders to the events of the evening. The incident with the other mare hitting on you seemed to affect her pretty bad, but you can’t figure out why it took such a lingering toll on her morale. Your stomach goes cold, she doesn’t think you were being receptive to her does she?

Unbeknownst to you your partner’s mind was on the same boat and your expression prompts her to open up about it, “Hey, dude…about tonight…”

“I’m sorry Dash, I was trying to tell her I was with you but she wasn’t listening and I was confused because I thought she knew and—“

“—Anon.” She meets your eye, “It’s fine, I’m not upset with you. I’m the one who should be sorry…I-I just…” She starts to choke up and her eyes waver, “…I know it’s your choice. I w-was being selfish and I shouldn’t have acted l-like that-*hic…an-and I wanted to keep you all t-t-to myself a-and—“

“—Whoah…slow down there.” You stop in the middle of the empty street and tend to your inexplicably broken mare.

For the first time in your life you see a tear leave your friend’s eye. It blazes a dark blue trail through her fur and falls from her chin, landing audibly on the cold cobblestone. Your heart falls with it. Her voice comes out in a broken sob, “I-It would be *hic good to f-f-find another m-mare *sniff s-since I’ll be gone a lot an-*hic s-so you won’t be all alone all the-e time!”

“Hey hold on!” You throw your arms around her rigid frame. Her imagination was running amok and filling her head with flawed logic and misled reasoning. Rainbow Dash breaks down crying in your arms—completely indifferent to whomever saw her. The feeling of having the powerful, confident, successful pegasus sob against you was as terrifying as it was heart-wrenching. In this moment she was completely defenseless and dependent on you; as much as you hated yourself for causing it, you don’t have time to contemplate. The sight is so shocking that it takes longer than it should’ve to come up with a rebuttal, “Whatever made you think I wanted someone else?”

“B-b-because you’re a s-stallion.” She manages between shudders.

That’s not true! Just hearing her say that was unbelievably painful. You hold her withers and look her in the eye, “Listen Rainbow, you’re the only mare for me. The time I’ve spent with you is the happiest I’ve ever been and as far as I’m concerned I’m only falling in love once.”

Her tearful eyes start to shine with hope as your words work their way to her heart.

“Not every stallion’s the same, and where I come from herds are very uncommon. In fact I can’t think of a guy in his right mind who would want one. You’ve got all of my love for as long as you want it. I don’t want a herd, I don’t want to think about a herd, and I don’t want you to either…ok?…All I want is you.”

“R-r-really?” Her eyes shine bright with water and the hint of pure joy. She wipes her nose as her sniffling tapers off.

“…Really.” You move to hug her but she beats you to it and clenches you in a death grip, "Oh-hoho...ok...it's ok..." Suddenly she pulls back and rams her lips into yours without any reservation. Your teeth barely click off each other's from the force, but the minor pain is quickly drowned out by a sloppy tongue and sheer passion. The empty street is filled with the obnoxiously loud sounds of your catharsis as you taste each other's mouths. The unexpectedly steamy kiss lingers until the last remnant sob leaves your precious mare's body. Somewhere you hear a pony quickly trot past you but you just ignore them.

After far too long Dash finally pulls away and tries to wipe her eyes; you beat her this time and she looks at you sheepishly as your softer thumbs wipe away her lingering tears. You finish by cupping her cheeks and planting a long kiss on her forehead. By the time you pull away she’s red as a rose in the lantern light—her eyes portrayed a measure of childish giddiness and you knew yours did too.

Still, she keeps you in check, “Anooon…we're in p-public...” she stutters more from remnant sobriety than embarrassment, but also smiles at her apparent hypocrisy.

Despite the wet trails down her face you can’t help but be happy that she’s behaving more like herself, “Well miss you’re just going to have to tolerate it.” You lean down and peck her nose while she smiles and pushes into your kiss. You pull away but she follows and pecks your lips once more before nuzzling into your sternum, “Heh, I know…I love you too.” You give her withers a good rub. Her blush deepens but otherwise she remains silent with her unshakable—almost triumphant smirk.

With a final mane ruffle, you set off down the road again with a much happier companion. You draw in a deep breath of the crisp night air. Tomorrow is a pretty big day. You’re about to start a job appointed to you by the princess herself, and the expectations of you were pretty high. Apparently being an alien meant you knew things no one else did. In any other situation you’d find a way to stress yourself out about it, but right now you can’t bring yourself to worry, not about that anyways…

You focus back on Dash and examine her for any remnant sobriety. She was much more of a romantic than she let on and she definitely needed just as much emotional attention as any other mare. You were glad to give it to her. It feels good to be her shoulder to lean on.

Your legs get out of sync and her lighter one stumbles around your heavier one—forcing her to fall into you. Her eyes jolt open and a wing half-extends for balance.

She looks up with a snort and a cocky but still apparently happy smirk, “Watch where you’re walking.”

“You’ve got twice the legs I think it’s your responsibility to look out.”

She bumps into your thigh again, ”No that means I’ve got the right-a-way doofus.”

“I’m pretty sure the rules always favor the more handicapped individual…doofus.” You continue on in silence another few yards and you start to realize how dumb that sounded coming out of your mouth. Dash could pull it off fine, but it fell off your tongue like a bad taste.

”Anon, do us both a favor and never say that again.”

“Hahahaha! But I want to be cool like you!”

She adds a quirked eyebrow to her amused grin before murmuring something that gets lost amidst the gravel crunching under your feet, “What’s that?”

”I said you’re cool already!” She practically yells while looking straight ahead.

“I don’t think the entire town cares about that particular—“

”—Then listen up better…geez, you’re ears r’so small.”

You reach down and wrap your arms around her torso, ”Hey!” Her wings shoot out in surprise as you pick her up off her hooves. It wasn’t easy to do, but you manage to shoulder the flailing pegasus, ”Anon, what are you doing!”

“I’m carrying you the rest of the way back.”

”Why!”

“Because I love you and I want to.”

”B-but we’re outside! What if some p-pony sees us!”

“Then they’ll think about how cute you look all asleep in my arms.”

Her voice returns as a rushed whisper this time and she feebly tries to push off your chest, ”B-but what about…what if they take a picture or something and-and—“

“Dash, no one’s ever out at this hour and if any one shows up then I can just set you down.”

”But I…ugh, f-fine.“

She offers no more resistance and instead chooses to cling to your neck and humor your intentions. Secretly you figured she appreciated it, but outwardly she kept up appearances as best she could by keeping a lookout for pedestrians. You navigate the dark alleys back to your apartment with your mind on the events of the evening and what the morning might bring.

By the time you find your door, her form is limp against you and you could feel a bit of drool on your back from where her muzzle hangs. She might not be completely asleep, but her hind legs weren’t supporting her weight anymore. You unlock the door quickly and flip on the light as you stumble inside.

The disturbance jostles your partner, and you let her down to her hooves. She avoids eye contact and immediately trots down the hall to get cleaned up—probably to avoid admitting she dozed off. You change into your nightclothes, set your alarm, and pack your bag for the morning. When you finish, you trade places with Dash and find your toothbrush in the drawer next to hers.

You begin your routine and take a moment to soak up your surroundings. Rainbow was a very low maintenance pony. The only things she’d added to your bathroom clutter was a multipurpose body/mane wash, feather conditioner, deodorant, and hoof file…and her toothbrush. She shared her toothpaste, mouthwash and comb with you.

You finish up and rinse off your brush before putting it back in the drawer next to hers. To the best of your knowledge she’d never picked anything up from her house, all of this was stuff she’d stowed here months ago when she realized how much time she spent around here. Wait, when was the last time she went to her house?

You walk out to find her curled up in a ball on the bed—her nose buried in your pillow. She jerks her head up the moment she sees you and tries to cover up by pretending to finish some fluffing adjustments to the item in question. You keep the little nugget to yourself and pretend not to notice, “Dash I was just thinking, don’t you need to anchor your house down or something?”

She turns to you with a slight blush as she tries to forget getting caught in the middle of her indulgence, ”A-anchor it?”

“Yeah a while ago you told me about how the winds would pick up and you’d lose clouds.”

”Heh that usually only happens over the Everfree where all the chaos is and stuff.”

Oh of course. She pulls up the blankets for you and scoots over. She’d laid on your side to warm it up for you, how thoughtful.

Once you get down to your boxers you crawl in beside her and start getting comfortable. It doesn’t take long at all and before you know it you find yourself laying down, looking straight into her eyes. Her pupils dilate and constrict depending on which part of your face she studied. Your thankfully fresh breaths mix while you study the amazing detail of her beautiful magenta irises. The detail was mesmerizing and you could spend all day counting the canyons and subtle color variations, but the really interesting part of them was how vivid and alive they looked as a whole. You can feel the tenderness in them, the overflowing affection they contained. The saying that ‘eyes are the windows to the soul’ may be overly romanticized, but it’s not wrong. Everything, her desires and fears, her thoughts and feelings, all sat just on the surface of the glistening orbs. They were always there. You just never knew how to read them before.

“You doing ok?”

For a moment you wait for her to respond…until you realize she was the one that asked, “Y-yeah, fine. Why?”

“You seemed a little…bummed out or something since I got back.” Her voice carried concern.

“You mean from the trip?”

She nods.

“Yeah I’m uh…” Be honest with her, trust her. You owe her that much at least, “…I guess something’s been bugging me a-a little bit.” Honestly you hadn’t thought much about it as of late but you knew the underlying ideas that tormented you weren't going away. You were just surprised she picked up on it. You were also surprised she was just sitting there patiently waiting for you to talk.

Her eyes linger and when you meet them she flashes a reassuring smile, “I promise I won’t sell your secrets to any pony.” She jokes to boost your confidence.

“Hehe, glad to hear it.” Her ears fold before perking back up—giving you her full attention, “I guess uh…I got to thinking about…us, and…I can’t help but think that you deserve better.”

“Are you kidding me!—“

“—Dash just…listen, please. I need to say this.” She grumbles but complies.

“I love you very much. I…I’ve never felt love before I found you, and I know I’ll never feel it with anyone else. But…”

She takes a breath but your finger silences her before she can speak, “…You’re a Wonderbolt, an element of harmony, and obviously a very attractive mare…” She blushes but doesn’t waver in her disapproval, “…You’ve got your whole life ahead of you and I would only hold you back. I can’t fly with you, or walk on clouds, or give you foals, or buy you nice things…well I might be able to do that if I play my cards right but—“

“—Alright listen up!” Her take-charge tone told you your time was up.

“I’ve waited way too long to get my hooves on you…I fought off Rarity and Cloudchaser and that gay stallion down the street that runs the fruit stand…” Ohh so that's why he always gave you a good deal, “…and a bunch of other mares who I can’t think of their stupid names now because I didn’t want to lose you! It took even longer for me to grow a pair of teats and finally act on my feelings, and when I did all I could think about was whether or not I was good enough for you! And once I realized you liked me back I was still afraid of having to share you with other mares!” The weight of her rant starts to sink in.

After a pause and a breath her voice comes back quieter, “I’ve thought about all of that and it doesn’t matter…foals are neat, but if I want one someday there’ll be options for us…clouds are nice, but, this is nicer…” She says patting the mattress, “…and who cares if you can’t fly? I always thought you could maybe...ride on my back or something.” She trails off and flashes red as she reveals one of her fantasies.

Your heart’s in your throat from the deep conversation but also the excited realization that your long time fears were unfounded.

Her hoof finds your hand and you feel the warm frog contour to your palm. Her voice returns as a hoarse whisper, “The point is none of that matters because I love ya dude.”

Finally, you muster the courage to meet her eyes. The same ones that scolded you moments before carried a level of vulnerability that translated to a mutual, unspoken dependence. If her words before hadn’t convinced you, that look did. You’re never going to leave her.

You nod to symbolize your acceptance, and you’re rewarded with the feeling of her relaxing a bit. She leans in tentatively and you press the rest of the way in to touch lips. The feeling of her soft, heartfelt kiss quelled every bit of lingering pain and left you floating on a sea of tranquility.

A moment passes and you break away with a moist pop. She licks her lips with a blush and you do the same.

“I guess that was a dumb thought wasn’t it.”

She chuckles, “Heheh, ya think?”

You lean back in and nuzzle for a bit; the act of brushing your faces against each other was a crucial last step in your mutually therapeutic process. The affections transition smoothly to prone and you both start preparing to end your day together.

You finagle for a bit but realize that Dash is going for something different this time. Intrigued by her intentions, you silently let her have her way. She gets higher up on you so she can hook her muzzle over the top of your head, her fore hooves hold your neck and her hind leg lays across your hip. Almost like she was trying to be the big spoon.

You reach out and flick the lamp off before getting comfortable with the new dynamic. You still had full access to pretty much anywhere she needed a scratch, but for the first time, she was actually able to return the favor. The hard edge of her fore hoof gently traces your neck and back smoothing out any tension you had there. You press the side of your face into her breast fluff and your arms hook under her wings; she extends one to hug you tighter into her encompassing embrace.

A new realization slowly dawns on you, as does a stupid grin. This is ridiculously cozy.

You were literally surrounded by a cushion of Dash.

Her heartbeat was as obvious as her breathing and you could feel hot air from her nostrils part your hair, “This is nice.”

She giggles a bit, ”Good cuz I’m not moving.”

You’ve got no quarrel with that. You reach up and gently run your fingers through her oily feathers. You moved slowly and deliberately so as not to arouse her, she’d commented before on how soothing it was and you hoped you could return some of her comfort, “So I guess you’re uh…living here now?”

She pauses her back rubs, ”Well like you said you can’t walk on clouds so…yeah.”

She didn’t even consider living separately from you. You’d always heard how clingy partners were annoying, but you can’t help but feel grateful for her assured companionship, “I should be able to get a better place once I start getting a steady paycheck.”

”Why?”

“…Why?”

”Yeah, this is pretty coz-uhh…nice dontcha think?”

You weren’t sure what she was getting at, “It’s cozy sure, but I can’t have my Wonderbolt come home to a hole in the wall on a back street now can I?”

She stays silent for a moment while you work your fingers past her feathers down to the hot bare skin of her wings, ”I don’t care as long as you stay stocked with those honey-oat granola bars,” She replies earnestly. She pulls her head back a bit to bury her muzzle in your hair and take a deep breath.

“Heh, well I do…and it’s not like I’m going to save up for a Corvette or anything. Might as well spend my money on something we can both benefit from.” You can feel her nose twitch as she takes in your scent. Another moment of silent examination passes.

“…Dash.”

She stops what she’s doing and snorts to clear her head, ”S-Sorry!”

“You know I would’ve given you my shirt if you’d asked for it.” You swear you can feel her neck start to sweat.

”Uhh…I’m, I was going to give it back, it’s sitting in my saddlebags right now and—“

“—Dash it’s fine. It’s just that humans don’t use our noses like you do.”

”Heh, y-yeah I kinda figured that out.”

“…But that doesn’t mean we can’t!” You suddenly wiggle your nose in her damp leg pit.

”Heheh-ahahaha! Sta-hahap!”

As usual her spiciness was a reward rather than a punishment, and you know your mission is accomplished when she finally buries her muzzle in your hair again.

“Anon…” She sighs. You could practically hear the smile on her face.

“Hmm?”

”I like you a lot.”

For the first time ever she doesn’t sound embarrassed to admit it…just happy. You choke up a bit and clear away some pent up emotion by nuzzling her hot, fuzzy chest. If there's a heaven then this is it...

“Yeah, I think I’ll keep you too.”

”Heheh, you better.”

You squeeze her tighter and plant a kiss right on her thumping chest...as close as you could get to her loving heart. Whatever tomorrow may bring, you rest easy knowing it can’t bring you down.