You get jostled out of your dream as one side of your cushion moves. For a brief moment you roll into a heated depression in the bed and regain some lucidity behind closed eyes. A short reality check assures you that you did remember to set your alarm for work and until you hear it, you don’t plan on moving an inch. Something rustles in the background before your warm blanket returns to hold you. Crap now your back’s cold…but before you can finish manifesting the thought something covers the exact area you were thinking of and reflects your escaping heat back at you…ahhh perfect.

Your half-awake mind doesn’t question it and simply revels in the heavenly reality of your situation.

*ba-dump…ba-dump…ba-dump

The strangely familiar rhythm fills your ears and reverberates through your body. You try to press your face closer to the source, but you’re stopped by a hot fuzzy wall…good enough. You warm your cheek on the somewhat pliable barrier and transition smoothly back into your dream.

*lick

Something warm and wet drags across your forehead, forcing your dream world to hover on the knife-edge of existence.

*lick

The same hot brush paints a wet swath from your brow to your temple. Whatever it is, it intends to wake you up. A boost of unwelcome consciousness allows you to remember your bed mate and you put two and two together. The shock of full lucidity brings with it the disappointing realization that you can’t remain in this blissful state forever. But much to your delight, the fleeting state gets replaced by an equally content feeling.

*lick

“…Hmm?” Dots continue to connect behind closed eyes, Rainbow Dash…that’s who’s doing this.

The realization comes just in time for the assaulting tongue to slick up a tuft of hair. You reach up to confront your wake up call but your arm is trapped under a sweltering wing. It’s not heavy, but you quickly decide that it wasn’t worth leaving the warm clutches of its embrace just to satisfy your waning curiosity. Dash licks you again, this time down your cheek.

“Rainbow?…” You croak.

”Hmmm?” Her response is more passive than receptive.

Your cracked eyelids can’t make out much besides the longer hair of her chest tuft a few inches off your nose. Unfortunately you could also make out that it was dawn—meaning your alarm was closer to sounding than you’d hoped. You would give anything for it to be 3am right now…The grogginess in your head is taking much longer to clear than you’re used to.

“What time is it?”

”We’ve got a few more minutes…” She whispers, her mind more focused on her primary duty. You take a deep breath and relax back into your mare’s furry embrace, simultaneously giving her permission to continue doing whatever it was she’s doing.

*lick

”I turned the alarm off early…I thought I’d wake you up instead.”

She woke up before the alarm went off? “I like this alarm better.”

“Heheh…” Her hot breath sews moisture across your face.

You spread your fingers through the clammy fur under her wings and her tail swishes in response. Her tongue grazes the corner of your eye and forces you to close it. Despite her intrusiveness you can’t help but smile, that cheesy romance novel hadn’t warned you about any of this stuff…

Your fingers trace the faint outline of her ribs and her progress continues unfazed. The best you could figure, she was trying to organize your messy hairline. You chuckle to yourself as her ticklish ministrations get a bit more forceful between some affectionate nuzzles.

Her tongue is surprisingly effective as a comb and after a few dozen efficient swipes, your bed-head is still pretty unkept but heck of a lot more stylish. Her fore hoof moves to gently stroke through your hair while she touches up some spots around your ear. Wait…is she preening you? You don’t have feathers so preening’s not the right word, but—

—*lick

She smudges up your cheek once she’s finished with your hair. An ear-to-ear grin splits your face as she licks you for no apparent reason. The ticklish but strangely pleasant affections show no sign of abating and you're forced to let out a giggle you're not proud of. She meets your eye for a moment and you can see her own brand of dopamine high clouding her gaze; after a brief, blank stare she moves to your other cheek.

"Hehehehe...what're you doing..."

She ignores the question and doesn't even slow. As soothing as it was, the longer you go without showing any return affection, the more uncomfortable you feel. You wait until her humid breath closes in again and you pull your lips into her wet, furry muzzle. A quiet, elated squeak escapes her throat and you hold the lip-lock for quite a while. Finally, you break with the soft sound of sticky lips parting ways.

“Good morning love.” You look past your own reflection in her dilated pupils and wait for a blush to blossom on her cheeks.

It doesn’t take long, “G’morning…Anon.”

You take a second to appreciate the role she's taken as your comforting 'big spoon' last night as well as its therapeutic affects on your psyche, “I didn’t say you had to stop…”

She blushes rather apparently and you're suddenly struck with the realization that she had a lot less confidence when you understood the underlying heartfelt confession behind her actions. A very faint grin appears and her ears splay back the last half-inch they could. You feel her heartbeat speed up as your intentions sync and to your elation, she chooses to give in to her affections. She leans in a bit but hesitates; you cover the distance her confidence couldn’t and peck her sweet lips. The opener returns her appetite and her slender tongue rolls out to tenderly meet your mouth. You remind her that she’s always welcome by returning the favor—wetting the fine hairs of her maw. Your noses press against each other and you savor your shared air as you alternate your affectionate gestures. There’s no sense of urgency, the knowledge that either one of you could intensify it if they desired made you content to enjoy the gentle pace.

Your morning breaths go entirely unnoticed as you focus on the tastes and textures of a creature you love more than you ever thought possible. A dozen rounds made your lips tingly and her acute attention begins to tickle. Like two different turn signals at a red light—you slowly shift out of your alternating sequence and find yourselves swiping your tongues against each other. Something about the act of tasting each other felt incredibly intimate in ways nothing else could.

You break it off and pause a moment to breathe in each other’s exhales, then you open your eyes and study your partner. The telltale matted fur around her muzzle was evidence of the attention that her eyes craved more of. You’d love to lay here all day with her, but that was something you needed to earn.

“I’ve got to get up now.”

She shows no intention of moving, and with how tangled up you were you need a little cooperation, ”You could just find another job you know.” She sounds so serious that you have to hold her gaze for a few seconds to tell she’s kidding.

“Heh, it took a while to find this one so I think I’d better show up.” You glance at the clock and notice that you were still one minute ahead of schedule.

You start to slide away from her but her wing and fore hoof tighten their grip, ”What if I don’t want you to?”

You smile at your captor, “You know you’ve got somewhere to be too right?”

”You know I can get there in about two minutes right?” She rebuts.

“Yeah but I can’t…” You grab her hoof from your shoulder and hold it in front of you “…that’s why I set the alarm.”

Her cocky smirk grows and she blows some of her messy mane off of her muzzle, ”I could just fly you there—“

“—Dash.”

Her fore hoof moves back to bat playfully at your hair, and at that point you realize she’d given you a decent mohawk, ”That’d give us like…another thirty minutes.”

“I don’t think that’s realistic.” Her train of thought comes to a halt and she narrows her eyes at you, “I-I mean I’m not doubting your abilities, but I’m like twice your weight and…”

Her nose leans in until it bumps against yours, her menacing look told you to choose your words carefully.

”…and besides, I already bought train tickets.”

Her look doesn’t abate. You try to think of something else to say, but nothing comes to mind. Why work smarter when you can work harder? A quick peck on her nose momentarily stuns her so your tickling hands can take her by surprise.

”Ahahahaha! That’s no-ot fair you can-tahahaha!”

She tries to push away from you but her forelegs aren’t doing what she wants them to. These ponies had no effective counter for hands, it took an experienced unicorn to even come close to replicating your dexterity and efficiency. You were going to make sure Dash knew exactly where she sat on the food chain…metaphorically of course.

”Haha A-Anon! Ahahahahaha!”

Your wiggling fingers stop their torture and your palms come to rest in her damp leg pits—rendering her forelegs useless. She stops her flailing in turn and grins playfully back, a spark of retribution in her eye.

“You going to let me go now?” She still had her hind legs locked around your hips so the question wasn’t entirely patronizing.

She ponders for a moment, ”Only if you let me take you to dinner tonight.” She powers through the sappy comment with what seemed like an unnecessary overdose of confidence; her inevitable blush a mere afterthought.

“Deal.” A mare of her word, she lets you go. You give her a parting belly pat of appeasement and slide out from under her appendages, "Also I think you owe me a cookie from that run yesterday."

"Nice try, but that wasn't even a run."

You squeeze her hind hoof affectionately, "Whatever you say Dash." You look at the clock: one minute behind schedule, you can manage that.

Your morning routine passes quickly—your mind on more pertinent matters.

”Anon where’s my flight suit?” A scratchy voice interrupts your Windsor knot.

“Should be hanging next to the washer.” She never asked you to wash it, but you liked to help out. You finish up and check your breath before heading out to grab your things. All of your items pile into one backpack. It didn’t really match the suit you were wearing, but it was all you had.

”Whoa! Dude where’d ya get that?”

You look over to see Dash trotting your way with her uniform draped over her back, “I got it at the World Market thrift store place, they said Diamond Dogs make them to carry around stuff they scavenge.”

“I’m talking about the cool suit dummy!”

“Oh, yeah, Rarity made it for me on credit a while back once she found out I got a job.” She tosses her clothing in her saddlebags while her eyes unabashedly look you over.

”It’s uhh…you look good…”

“My eyes are up here Dash.” Her eyes snap up to meet yours before she looks away.

”Don’t g-get ahead of yourself, you don’t look that good.”

“Really? I must be if I managed to snag you.” She’s a bit taken aback at the unexpected compliment and after a brief battle, her ears finally give in and fold.

You ruffle her mane and shoulder your backpack, “I better get going now, but I’ll be looking forward to dinner tonight.”

She finally formulates a response and opens with a cute voice crack, ”Ye-eah, how about seven…f-for dinner?”

Heh, it’s been a while since it’s cracked like that. You do some quick mental math, “Seven should work for me, do I need to bring a date?”

She hits your leg and tries to glare, ”Get outta here before I buck you out dummy!”

“Alright, alright, no dates then. We’ll just awkwardly stare at each other while—“

”—Anon!”

“Yep leaving now.” You open your front door and adjust your tie in the doorway. Dash watches you with mock annoyance.

“I’m headed out.” She just stands there, waiting.

You make direct eye contact and take another half step, “Have a good day and be safe doing Wonderbolt stuff.”

”You know me, safety number…third.” She finishes after a genuine pause. You rest your hand on the doorknob. She closes some of the distance, anticipating your departure amidst the awkwardness.

You stare at her, “I think I might be missing something.”

”What is it?” She frustratedly looks around the floor to see if you’ve dropped something.

“Oh there it is.” You lean down and reach over her back. She looks back to where your hand was reaching and sees nothing. She twists around in confusion and her momentum completes your calculation.

*smooch

Her lips mash against yours in a surprise kiss and she takes it in stride. You pull off each other with a satisfying smack. Magenta eyes cross to focus on your smile—her confusion still evident.

“Found it.”

”Aw for cryin out loud! You shoulda just said that to begin with!”

You make your escape through the door as Dash’s yelling transitions to laughter. You start your short walk to the train station; the tingling on your lips topped off the well of happiness in your chest. You’ve never been more motivated to invent a damn toaster.

The train ride passes quickly. You spend the bumpy ride reviewing your notes and practicing a dozen conversations in your head.

Canterlot was pretty busy. The commuters getting off the train added to the multitude of ponies filling the streets and skies. Everyone was moving with a purpose and you were able to slip through the crowd without turning as many heads as you’d expected. You check your watch, crap the train was slow…now where’s that map…

Ten minutes and a few unplanned detours later you find yourself at the castle gates. The guards weren’t exactly cordial, but they have your name on their manifest so they send word that you’ve arrived; after a few short minutes a small unicorn stallion greets you at the gate.

”Mr. Anonymous, pleasure to meet you.” He extends a hoof and you lean down to bump it.

”You as well Mr…”

”I’m Gold Ray.”

”…Mr. Ray.”

His eyes are wide as he stares up at you, or at least his glasses make them look that way. It makes it difficult to tell if he's nervous, ”You can call me Ray; Gold’s a bit tacky for my tastes and I’m just an intern.” He motions for you to follow him.

“Fair enough, call me Anon. Are you going to be working with me then?”

”Yea Anon, well…in a way. Same branch different shop.” You nod in agreement even though you have no idea what he’s talking about, ”Dr. Waveguide is the division head, you’ll meet with him first.”

You make your way through the more sparsely populated streets. You’d only been to the castle once before, and you hadn’t had the time to appreciate your surroundings. The cobblestone road was a lattice of asymmetrical pieces cut and placed to fit against each other almost seamlessly. Impeccable architecture stretched up several stories on either side of you. Either the construction's brand new or they'd unlocked the secret of Roman concrete…or they controlled the weather.

Your eyes wander and you briefly spot a Wonderbolts poster farther down the street. Immense pride wells up in your chest when you see the pegasus you share a bed with is emblazoned on the front with her characteristic cocky grin. They sure were getting their marketing’s worth out of her.

You take a turn before you have a chance to trip over yourself, but the well-timed morale boost bolsters your confidence, “This city’s amazing,” You try to spark a conversation with the quiet unicorn. Everything from the stained glass windows, to the buildings, to the tasteful placement of vegetation at street corners had the telltale mark of magic. That perfect, smooth, uncanny look that couldn’t be replicated with tools.

Your comment sparks his inner geek, ”You think so too? They say it took the ancient mages twenty days and twenty nights to make this place.”

“That’s all?”

”It’s just a story, but no written records have survived since then so it’s all we have to go off of.”

“Wow…it looks like it was made yesterday.” You trace your hand on a building’s wall as you round the corner.

”Yeah, well that’s magic for you. It’s too bad we lost track of the ancient spells.”

“You mean no one can do this anymore?”

He looks up at you like you were dumb, ”If we could, all of our cities would look like this.”

You’ve never been to any other city but that makes sense.

“Well then can’t you like, recite a bunch of different random words and sounds for as long as it takes until you happen upon the one spell they used?”

“Uhh…yeah, it’s a lot more complicated than that.” Well there goes your first impression, “I assume you don’t have magic like that in your world?”

So he knows you’re an alien. That saves you a painful and boring explanation, “No, actually we don’t have magic at all.”

That gets his attention, ”You mean your race doesn’t practice it?”

“No…magic doesn’t exist, I’ve never seen it before I got here.”

His mind races to come up with some sort of explanation as he trudges on with his mouth a bit agape, ”So…you can’t use magic…”

He sounds like he’s talking to himself but you respond anyways, “Not one bit. Pretty useful with my hands though.”

He snaps out of his trance and looks to the wiggling fingers, ”Huh…”

You sense this is going to be an uphill battle to prove your usefulness. The two of you take a few more turns before you come to an inconspicuous building separate from all the rest. A thick oak door stands in your way. Surprisingly it looked tall enough that you wouldn’t have to stoop. Gold Ray knocks on the door and a peephole opens up.

You can’t see who’s looking at you, but whoever it is approves. The door unlatches and opens without a creak.

”This way.”

You follow him into a dark hallway and the door closes behind you, ”Hold up!” A gruff voice calls out. You freeze and look back—more startled by his urgency than his coarseness. A burly unicorn stallion lurking in the shadows hoofs you a light blue glowing crystal and you take it, ”Can’t get in without that.”

“Thanks.” He nods and returns to his spot behind the door to write something down on a list.

”Sorry I forgot that you needed a pass.”

You look at the jagged crystal in your hand, “Is it like a visitor's pass or something?”

”No it’s a nullifier.”

You don’t respond and he catches himself, ”Sorry, uhh…this hallway is filled with a resin field…you can’t see it, but if you didn’t have that it’d feel like you were swimming through glue.”

You wave your hand pointlessly and feel nothing but thin air. Neat.

”Just don’t drop it, you won’t be able to bend over and pick it up.” His comment had a certain matter-of-fact tone that only extensive knowledge could give. Scarier implications start to sink in and you clutch the gem tightly in your hand until you make it to the end of the long hallway. Another door, same size, less security.

The other side of this one was much brighter and you squint at first as your eyes painfully adjust. Immediately your senses register the smells and sounds of a busy but organized workshop. Your eyes focus and you realize that you’re standing on a catwalk that’s suspended about ten feet over the working floor. Everything is bathed in a familiar orange tint unique to incandescent bulbs; this place has electricity. You don’t even have to look up to recognize the technology you’d taken for granted until you got here.

Below you unicorns, a few zebras, and a minotaur are all busy at their workstations or walking purposefully; only a few stop to stare at the newcomer. You just look on in amazement as Golden Ray starts heading down the catwalk.

The hangar-sized room was divided into segregated clusters of cubicles and had larger swathes of floor space cleared for unfamiliar machinery. Towards the back, more hallways and rooms could be seen leading off into yet unknown areas under Canterlot Castle. The catwalk had staircases leading off to the work floor and led to a large office that had oversight of the workshop.

”On the left is the magic workshop, it’s pretty much ERD’s main focus, they get most of the funding.” You look over and see a bunch of unicorns staring back at you, the ones who weren’t had their horns lit up as they marked papers and chalkboards.

“ERD?”

”…Equestrian Research and Development. Did you not get an orientation packet?”

“No, Celestia just told me—“

”—You spoke with Princess Celestia!”

“Yeah for like two minutes…she gave me the job.”

”Well you can’t use magic but you got appointed by a princess…you’re one interesting character that’s for sure.”

“Thanks. I guess.”

He shakes his head clear and carries on, ”Uh…on the right is the physics, electrical, and chemistry workshops. They’re all part of the secondary branch and the magicians make up the primary branch.”

Your eyes follow his words towards the more interesting looking side of things, “And which do you work in?”

”Secondary branch, physics. I’m an intern with Dr. Steelhammer—he’s the minotaur towards the back there.” You make eye contact with the burly blue creature looking haggard with a cup of coffee in his hoof; he waves. Seems friendly enough. You wave back.

”This is just the working floor, most of the advanced projects take place in the north and east wings.”

The sheer scale of the facility is astounding—at least for these ponies it is. In reality it's probably no bigger than a supermarket back home, but the apparent sophistication is surprising. The hint of ozone and the familiar din of electrical machinery was also surprisingly nostalgic.

The catwalk quickly terminates at a door that reads “Dr. Waveguide.”

Golden Ray knocks.

You’d be nervous if you weren’t thrown off by how surreal it all was. A muffled ‘come in’ is heard amongst the background noise of the room. Your pony escort opens the door for you so you take the initiative and walk in. He closes it behind you without a word—stranding you in foreign territory.

An older unicorn stallion in a suit peers at you above half-moon glasses. The desk in front of him is clear with the exception of a few trinkets, a notepad, and a bowl of almonds, ”Ah, you must be Mr. Anonymous.”

“Yes Sir I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you Dr. Waveguide.”

He hoof bumps you. You mentally congratulate yourself at the solid first impression, ”Have a seat, have a seat, let's not get caught up in formalities, besides, you’ve done quite a bit of walking to get here.” His deep and weathered voice is the opposite of grating. He sounds like he’d be a good narrator.

“That’s alright Sir I stay pretty active.” You have your quadrupedal friend to thank for that.

You pull up the chair and sit down at his bidding, ”Well it’s good to hear that. So many colts and fillies these days don’t value a healthy lifestyle like they should. But then again…you may have had a different upbringing I take it?” A sage smile portrays a genuine interest that came uniquely from elderly charisma.

”We have a similar issue where I’m from, but I managed to avoid the situation myself.”

”Yes well, you may have to run if we accidentally conjure up another ancient monster.”

“…Okay.” The uncertainty in your voice was apparent and the unicorn’s worn features crack into a laugh.

”Ha ha ha ha! Don’t fear, it’s a mere jest! I play the same joke on all the newcomers.”

You like this guy already, “Well you had me scared for a minute.”

He adjusts his glasses and scrutinizes you for a good ten seconds, mumbling to himself like a doctor during a check up, ”Mr. Anonymous you’re the first alien I have ever met.”

“I hope you’re not disappointed.”

”Not at all, in fact I’m surprised that you’re so decipherable.”

“You are?”

He leans down to pull out a manila folder as he starts his lecture, ”If I didn’t know otherwise I’d say you were merely a strange looking foreigner. You’re clearly bipedal, but you have the same bone structure for the most part and…the cephalization of a predator.” He says the last part without the slightest hint of concern.

“You’re accurate as far as I know Sir. But I don’t eat ponies in case you were wondering.”

He plops the folder on the sturdy desk with a loud smack, ”Ha ha yes…the powers that be wouldn’t have allowed our meeting if you were. Omnivore?”

“Correct again.”

He nods, “You must not be looking forward to working with all these snooty unicorns then?”

What did that have to do with anything? Was he being racist? He himself is a unicorn so you juggle the question intensely before answering.

“I…get along with them.” That was true, but you definitely did prefer the company of pegasi and ‘standard ponies’ as you liked to put it. Strange how you didn’t realize that before he mentioned it. Unicorns just seem a bit more temperamental. Kind of like your neighbor’s spoiled poodle that barked all the time. Except worse because they talk…

That doesn’t make you racist…right?

”Nonsense! You prefer the company of a griffin or pegasus over a fish fillet meal in the back corner of a quiet restaurant.” He says it matter-of-factly and doesn’t bother to look up as he starts flipping through the folder.

How is he doing this? Is it some kind of unicorn kung-fu that you’d never heard of?

“You’d make a good detective Sir.”

”Yes well that’s an overgeneralization of course—an educated guess based off your anatomy and temperament. I like to think of it as my curse for spending my college years studying biology.”

“Well, you were dead on. How’d you know? Magic?”

“Oh dear no, nothing that complicated. I prefer to avoid the use of magic when I can, keeps the mind sharper. It was a shot in the dark to be honest—based of your tendencies as you stated them. The winged ones among us tend to be the ones with the most fight in them—something you would probably relate to more than you might think.”

“Huh…ok then.”

“It’s not an isolated trait, the minotaurs that work here have similar complaints.”

“So you’re a...sociologist by trade?”

”And a physicist.” Wow, he’s one of those really smart ponies. He flips another page, ”And dabbled a bit in magic studies…” He adds as an afterthought.

Makes sense. Your thumbs twiddle and your eyes wander to the bookshelf that engulfed the wall behind him. You could make out a few titles, from ancient, cryptic titles you suspect have to do with spells, to more familiar topics.

”Don’t worry though we’re all professionals here so you will be working with ponies, not their emotions.” That’s good to hear, emotions were never your forte…makes you wonder how you got lucky with Dash. He flips another page.

”Now let’s get down to business shall we? It says here that your species has made advances in the fields of physics and electricity. Is this true?”

You didn’t know how they were keeping a file on you, but you don’t question it. After all, you’d pretty much walked into the Equestrian equivalent of DARPA. “We’ve made advances everywhere, but yes, magic doesn’t exist on Earth.”

He looks up at you before scribbling something down, ”You’re referring to your ‘earth’ I assume.”

“Yes Sir.”

”Interesting…I don’t mean to pressure you at the moment, however as you can imagine I have more than a few questions to pose you.”

“It’s no trouble, I’d be happy to talk about what I can, unfortunately I’m not really an expert in much.”

”What is your level of education?”

This was more like the interview you were expecting, “High school and a bit of college.”

”Only a bit?”

“My…unexpected transplant interrupted it.”

”Ah I see. We’ll discuss that in depth later; can you expound on your knowledge?”

That's a broad question. He shifts in his seat and tosses a few almonds into his mouth—crunching loudly, “Well, every school pretty much touches on biology, chemistry, math, physics, and history…and usually some kind of foreign language.”

He’s leaning in on his fore hooves, ”Very interesting.” If his interest wasn’t genuine before, it was now. The Equestrian equivalents of high schools had their own focuses much like college degrees. And the global standard for college was only two years instead of the typical four. You highlight this as one of your strong points.

”I focused on engineering in college, but I didn’t have much time to specialize; I was only in it for two years due to circumstances.”

He ponders his options for a moment, ”Well Mr. Anonymous, I’m not sure how to apply you to Equestria’s defense; but since you’re familiar with such a broad range of topics, how about we take a little tour to help find the best fit for you.”

Defense? As in national defense? “This is a military installation?”

”Not strictly, but we’re the only established lab with the necessary resources, so our primary focus has been on countering foreign developments…I take it you didn’t receive the orientation packet.”

This is unexpected, “No, Celestia just told me to draw out my toaster idea and show up.”

He raises he brows and fights a smirk, ”She did? Well she did tell me I’d have fun with this one…” He mutters to himself under his breath, “…I’m sure your toaster will be quite valuable to large families with many young ones. But here we tackle the bigger problems.” He makes a broad gesture.

You were fairly familiar with how guns and bombs worked, you just weren’t sure about introducing this benevolent land to your ideas. Assuming you could even come up with a working plan that is, “I uh, I’m just not sure how I feel about building things that kill ponies…or gryphons or whatever.”

”Oh dear me, no. You won't be doing any of that...at least not primarily."

"What else can I do if not build weapons?"

"That’s a bit shortsighted don’t you think?”

In the short time you've known him you came to realize that he was probably the smartest pony you know, but something about being lectured to by someone half your size irked you, “How so?” You were trying your best to keep your formal tone.

”How can a military force navigate if they can’t see the sun?” You’re not sure what he’s getting at.

”How can they communicate if they can’t use magic, or eat if their food is rotten? How can we tell an attack is coming before we can see it? These are the questions we tackle here Mr. Anonymous.”

You’d never thought of that, “So you don’t build weapons here?”

”We do. Most of them revolve around magic, but the majority of what we do here is never intended to see a battlefield.”

That doesn’t do much to ease your conscience and Dr. Waveguide seems to read your unease, ”Do me a favor and think about it while we take a look around, you just might change your mind.”

A few minutes later you were on the work floor introducing yourself to ponies and seeing all of the little projects that were going on. You weren’t the smartest person and a lot flew right over your head, however you did recognize some more familiar ideas, and you feel some relief when you realize that a lot of it wasn’t entirely out of your reach. Telegraphs, more efficient coal for steam engines, plastics, a pulley system for what looked like a compound bow. You get led around for the better part of two hours, and while it was definitely interesting, your lingering reservations grew.

You hadn’t discussed pay yet, but whatever you get paid it would be better than nothing. And you’re not sure if you could forgive yourself if your mare had to cover the tab the next time you go out. However, you can’t shake the feeling that this was all part of some grand malicious scheme to milk you of knowledge…just like in those movies where humanity weaponizes everything, but this time with little ponies instead. Once you’ve made your rounds to nearly every cubicle, Dr. Waveguide pulls you aside.

“So Mr. Anonymous, what do you think?”

”It’s really interesting Sir, but uh…”

“You’re still not comfortable with our purpose? Is it not what you expected?”

“I’m just not sure it’s my place to intervene.”

”Intervene in what?”

You were going to say something about the prime directive, but the more you think about it the more stupid it sounds, “I don’t know it just…doesn’t seem right being an outsider and all.” You don’t want to sound condescending, but you’re still uncomfortable with the idea of using your brain as a weapon.

”Preposterous! You’re an Equestrian are you not?”

Your naturalization papers say you are, “Well, technically yes…”

“Then why do you think of yourself as an outsider…I can tell you no one here does.”

You don’t really have a response for that.

“I’m not here to convince you that we’re worthy of your loyalty, and honestly, if I earned it after knowing you for only a few hours I would be more concerned than relieved. But if you see everything in black and white then you’ll miss some of the amazing work we do here.” You feel bad that your lack of commitment seemed to be wearing on him, but you couldn’t come to terms with yourself. The weathered pony decides you need some more convincing, ”Follow me if you will, I have one more thing to show you.”

You follow his lackluster black tail as it weaves through a few cubicles—headed toward the corner of the working floor. You pass ponies you’d been introduced to, but you can’t remember their names. Each of these ponies apparently had the same mindset Dr. Waveguide did, and you had to admit he did make a good point. You weren’t entirely opposed to violence, especially if it was used to save yourself or someone else. Some things are worth fighting for, and some lines should never be crossed, but building weapons for someone else to use as they see fit, for good or for evil, just doesn’t sit well with you. Granted, you could probably avoid specific projects if you asked…

Dr. Waveguide presses through a door in the corner of the room and you follow. The busy sounds of the work floor fall completely silent as the door closes behind you. Your eyes take a moment to adjust to the darker hallway. Rustic oil lamps light the walls and illuminate the artwork adorning it—a stark leap from the rough utility of the rest of the facility, “What is this place?”

He responds without looking back, ”This is our history room; the last part of the tour.”

You study the paintings as you walk by. A unicorn with a beard and some chemistry flasks, a young pegasus adjusting some measuring equipment on his back, a group photo with Princess Celestia in the center. The doctor doesn’t slow so you don’t stop to read the captions.

The hallway makes a turn and opens up into a mid-sized room. The atmosphere held the tinge of old paper and ink. Carpet squishes under your shoes and you’re immediately struck with an air of luxury. Every wall of the room was covered in memorabilia and displays. There’s so much to take in that you don’t notice the familiar item Dr. Waveguide b-lines for.

”My late wife and I had three fillies.” The somber tone of his voice catches your attention.

”Being a father was my biggest challenge but also biggest reward, and if you ever get the chance to have some of your own, don’t pass it up for anything.” You absently stare at some kind of telescope in a wall cabinet—you wanted to give him space to tell his apparently important story. ”Well they all grew up and went their separate ways and I was left to my work. I thought that all my worrying was over, they’d become capable mares that could take care of themselves.”

He sounds like he’s starting to choke up.

”Morning Star was my youngest, she was working as an event planner for a wedding when those…bugs attacked the castle.” You hear him sniffle behind you, and you feel a lump forming in your throat, ”She got separated during evacuation and…they found her b-body in an alley outside of the castle.”

He didn’t need to tell you to know what had happened to her. You’d read about the attack and Dash had told you her own version of her heroics more than once. One of the less savory and often unmentioned things you’d read was about how changelings can feed off their own positive emotions to a lesser extent. If they couldn’t trick someone into loving them, they could do the next best thing. No doubt they’d used his daughter to do just that. The room loses its warm tone and the gadgets lose their intrigue.

A painful silence fills the room and the stoic stallion breathes heavily to compose himself. You wanted to comfort him, but you get the feeling that he needed his space. What could you even do for him? Nothing you could say could dull that kind of pain anyways.

He speaks up again sooner than you expected, ”There has never been a doubt in my mind that what we do is for the greater good.” He seemed much better now and you turn to look at him still staring at the display case, ”And every time I sign something into production that can kill or maim…I have the same doubts. But I always think back to those I love and I find the courage to do what needs to be done.”

You finally look at what he’s staring at. Inside the display case is a series of pegasus outfits, all the same type, but apparently different models. The one on the far right has the familiar yellow and blue pattern of the Wonderbolts. Reality hits you like a truck.

Rainbow Dash is in the military too. You’d never thought of it that way but technically the Wonderbolts were an auxiliary unit of the Equestrian guard. Just like any other unit during peacetime, they put on shows for the public. But she’s definitely being trained to fight…the divot in your cupboard is proof of that. Dr. Waveguide turns to you, all remnants of emotion gone from his face, ”I hope that you never have to face what I did years ago, but if you do…think of this as an opportunity to be proactive.” He nods to the uniform.

He knows? “Wait, you know about—“

”—Your significant other, yes. Your companionship has been noted in your file.”

You weren’t sure which emotions to tackle first, “You’ve been watching me!”

”Not us, no, some pony else. I merely received your file when you were appointed to work here.”

Your anger was quickly diffused, but it left you unfulfilled. There was no one nearby to blame, ”Before you get upset please realize that whatever they did was completely necessary. If you’d made contact with other nations, or vice versa, we’d understandably have cause for concern.”

He’s right and you know it but that just makes you more angry, ”Think about the offer and…think about her,” you follow his eyes back to the uncomfortable dilemma, “You know the way out and I’ll be in my office when you need me.” And with that the stallion walks out of the room leaving you to your thoughts.

Who would’ve thought an unassuming unicorn like him could turn your life upside down in less than a minute. Honestly you expected as much when you first got here at least, but you still felt like your’s and Dash’s privacy’s had been violated. Either way there’s nothing you can do about it now.

What matters is the decision that stands before you. It had never occurred to you that you could have any part of what she did. Flying, the Wonderbolts, those were always just some distant adjectives that others used to describe the mare you love. But they were as inseparable from her as her cyan fur and contagious laughter, and if they ever had to go into harm’s way, you know she wouldn’t think twice about being up there with her teammates.

Of course this was all speculative right? They haven’t been called up in forever…well, the changeling invasion was the last time. But how often does it happen without anyone knowing about it? What do they even do? Dive-bomb the enemy and kick them or something? How dangerous is it exactly?

So many questions raced through your mind and you feel your heart sputtering at the weight of it all. You’d always felt a bit nervous when you watched her pull off daring stunts—the first time you watched her fly you were gritting your teeth the whole time and that was before you learned to love her. She’d proven her abilities and quelled some of your fears, but those same fears were resurfacing with a vengeance at the thought of her being in deliberate danger. If she ever gets called into action…handling herself might not be enough. As much as you hated the thought of it, you can’t tear your mind away from the plethora of horrors that could befall your precious pegasus.

Your shallow breaths barely fog up the glass in front of you. The placard reads: ’Breeze Gen 4 Flight Suit: Developed by the ERD team to help our flyers fight the frigid temperatures and demanding rigors of aerial combatives. Incorporates a magic lattice that prevents sharp object penetration and stiffens upon impact.’

Wow.

The weight of the words sink in and in your moment of crisis you see a light at the end of the tunnel. You take solace in the fact that some of the smartest ponies in the country were working on keeping your mare safe. You never knew that smelly suit that always got tossed on your couch had that much thought put into it. You’re definitely going to take better care the next time you wash it.

You suddenly feel overwhelmingly incompetent. Someone, somewhere in here made something that made your mare safer. These strangers were doing more for her than you were…Your obsession with her made you think she was invincible, that everything was rainbows and butterflies. It was an irresponsible and selfish way to look at things. Up until now you'd had your head in the clouds and that kept you ignorant of reality and all its unpleasantry. The fact is she was flesh and blood like anyone else. Her livelihood is potentially more dangerous to her than her own thrill-seeking stunts. And you had a responsibility to accept her choices and support her any way you could.

Your chest cramps up at the thought of her getting injured…or worse. Granted Equestria hasn’t gone to war in forever, but still. If they ever did, you want to know that you’d done something to help her in some way. Heck, you'd want to be right up there with her. You’re not exactly sure how you can affect that directly, but you sure as hell weren’t doing anything by turning down the job because of some lofty ideals.

That was something you didn’t have to think twice about. In an instant you make your decision and head out the door with a purpose.

You’d do whatever they asked of you as long as you could justify it by Dash. You weren’t sure if it was Dr. Waveguide’s intention to manipulate you like that, but you don’t care. It worked.

You climb the stairs and knock on his door. You have a lot to discuss if you were going to take this job.

“Hey look out!”

“Sorry!” You yell back at the narrowly missed pedestrian. The rest of the ponies scurry out of your way as you bolt to the train station. You were about to miss the 6:25 to Ponyville, and in turn, your dinner date.

You blame your lack of a watch for your miscalculation, but in all honesty you just got carried away. You’d had your conversations with Twilight before about space and other things, but you never thought you could nerd out that hard.

You round the corner out of breath and out of hope. The train was already a quarter mile away and gaining.

You let out a sigh and sink into an empty bench nearby—loosening your constricting collar. Well this sucks. You just stood up your favorite mare. Your only mare. You mentally kick yourself for your stupidity.

The sign in front of the ticket office informed you that the next train wouldn’t arrive for another hour and a half. There’s nothing to be done now, you could choose to brood or be productive. The sun is almost touching the horizon and you decide to thumb through the orientation packet in the light you had left. It had some neat pictures, but it was mostly generic garbage about helping other ponies and furthering your education. Nothing you hadn’t already covered in your hours of conversation. You stuff it back in your pack; back to brooding.

Time ticks by and you feel every second as your self-loathing deepened. Dash never liked the formal approach to things, especially when it came to your relationship. She’d really gone out of her comfort zone to ask you on a dinner date. And you’d completely thrown that away.

By the time the next train arrives you’ve plateaued at the limit of sobriety. You half-expected Dash to suddenly land next to you in a cloud of dust and wind—ribbing on you for how slow you were. But that doesn’t happen.

You board with the few other late commuters and try not to doze off as the rhythmic sound of the tracks serenades you. Ponyville wasn’t completely shut down, but most of the restaurants had already closed. A few drunk stallions laugh loudly to themselves as you pass them on your way back to the apartment. You honestly didn’t know what to expect from Dash, you’d never really let her down before. You have to think of someway to make it up to her.

Before you know it you’re at your door. The apartment light is on so you know she’s in there. You swallow a lump in your throat before you head in. You’re greeted by the familiar sight and smells of your shared flat…but no pegasus. Damn, she probably left. You’d leave you too if you were her.

The fact that you’d savored your date all day only made the situation that much more difficult to swallow. You drop your backpack on the couch with a sigh. As you start unloading it your door flies open so violently you jump.

”Sorry I’m late! Spitfire made me teach a class and I had to clean up a-and I got here as soon as I…” She trails off at the surprised look on your face. Her eyes glance to your bag, then your shoes, then back to you, ”…Did you just get back too?”

You nod to the sweaty, slightly out of breath pegasus—still in shock at your luck. She stares at you for a moment before she cracks a grin, ”Geez dude how come you’re always so slow?”

You smile at her intentional lack of logic and close the distance. She hops her forelegs onto your shoulders as you drop to a knee—a confident but flushed grin on her face. You lean in and her cold nose fences you away with a snort, “Come on Dash I need my kiss, it’s been like…a whole day.”

“Heh, how do I know you’ve earned it?” Her crystal eyes bore into yours.

“…Uhh…”

“Good enough.” A short reposition puts her lips to yours and quells the fire in your chest while simultaneously lighting a new one. The post-flight ozone smell overpowered her cool sweat and your nose works in conjunction with your tongue to embolden the taste of her mouth. She whimpers and pulls harder on your neck. A hand moves to caress her nape, mirroring her action.

Her tongue begs for entry and you allow it…but the appendage immediately shoots to the back of your throat—gagging you.

*gack!

“…What the heck!” You fall back on your butt and wipe your mouth.

Her toothy grin looks more mischievous now that she’s at eye level with you, ”That’s for being late.”

“But you were late-er…m-more late!” She moves towards you—using her nose to push yours back. Her legs straddle your body and you can’t help but yield to her advantageous position.

”I have to fly all the way back from the academy in the cold and dark and all you have to do is get to your train on time.” Her sultry eyes made your face flush as much as her hot breath. She has a point.

She also has the high ground. Her nose now pins your head to the floor and she takes the moment to share your breath. Your chest flutters, “I don’t have a watch--”

She presses her lips hard to yours.

”Ohohoo duude! Check out that action!” Both of you are so lost in your reunion ritual that you forgot to close the door. Several drunk ponies just caught a glimpse into your lifestyle.

Without breaking the kiss Dash brings up her hind leg and blindly kicks at the door. The hinged piece of pine bounces off the toe of your shoe and drifts back open. That kinda hurt.

”No way that’s Rainbow D—“

—*wham!

Your foot wasn’t in the way the second time. Now there was nothing to interrupt the smacking sounds of your embrace. She’s pushing against you pretty hard and the only thing keeping the back of your head from bruising is the dirty apartment carpet. Both your arms constrict around her neck and withers, and your strength and weight force her to lay down on you. Her powerful lips nibble yours, her fore hooves reposition, her breathing becomes erratic as she starts to get carried away like she just found out where you hid the candy. You’d been looking forward to this from the moment you woke up this morning.

A slender tongue infiltrates your mouth and introduces a hint of oats and barley. You stay away from her wings and back, but eagerly entertain her kiss. She breaks your typical twirling dance and gingerly moves the smooth tip of her tongue farther back on yours. For a moment you fear another playful gag, but were pretty confident she wouldn’t do that to you again. Fingers spread through her damp neck fur and you remain motionless—trusting your partner to navigate you carefully.

To your surprise, she leaps across the chasm to the roof of your mouth. The tip of her nimble tongue starts to tickle at your soft palette.

“Hmhmhmhmm…” You giggle into your partner.

”Hmhmhm…” She giggles a bit in response before curling her muscle up the roof of your mouth until it rested behind your front teeth. She finally pulls away, but you bite her tongue between your lips and tug on it. Her eyes dart open and look into yours, ”Aun leh eeh gho”

“Hmm-um.” Her tongue quickly starts to dry—making it easier to hold on. You playfully pull on it some more like you were stealing a spaghetti noodle from her. She’s beginning to look annoyed.

You loosen your grip and the noodle escapes your grasp. She lifts her head and smacks her lips trying to re-wet her uncomfortably dry tongue, ”What the heck dude?”

“That’s for being late.” Her eyes narrow but her smirk betrays her respect for your clever retaliatory jab. Instead of letting you up, she makes herself comfortable on your chest.

”So I guess that was like a, uhh…kiss and make up?”

“Yeah, I forgive you.” She hoofs your shoulder, “Ow!”

”I’m not mad that you’re late so you can’t be mad I’m late.”

“Fair enough. Oh! Almost forgot to tell you, I got the job!”

“Awesome dude!” She holds a hoof up and you high-five it.

“Now I can buy you all the honey granola bars you could ever eat.”

“Pfft!” Her folded ears betray her tough attitude. You’re not sure she knows exactly how readable her body language is.

Out of nowhere she kisses you again. Just a quick peck, but you didn’t see it coming. For some reason she seems extra affectionate tonight, at least compared to normal…or what you’d seen of normal. In all honesty you don’t really know, but it sure seems like something’s gotten into her…speaking of which, she’s staring at you.

The strange look in her eyes demands all of your attention. It was a look you’d never seen before…not nervousness, you’d seen that plenty of times. This was something deeper; a product of a thought in her churning mind.

She pre-empts you before you have a chance to ask her what it is, ”Let’s go out.” Her words carried a hint of finality as if they were rehearsed.

You wanted to appease her, but you’d missed your window of opportunity, “I’d like to but all the restaurants are closed.”

”Not to eat, just…somewhere else besides here.” You weren’t sure what could be open at this hour except the Ponyville bar. You weren’t in the mood to go drinking especially after a long day, but she sounded hopeful and you weren’t going to snuff that out.

“Sure.”

She visibly brightens though it looks like she's holding herself back. She rises to her hooves—standing over you. A lingering smooch lands below your eye, ”Gimme ten minutes.”

She hops over you, wafting you with her powerful scent and giving you a quick flash of her form through her wonderfully fitting suit. The bathroom door closes down the hallway and you just lay there trying to figure out what’s going on. This must be what people mean when they say it’s hard to understand women.

You roll to your hands and knees, then to your feet. You’ll have time to contemplate it later, right now you need to freshen your breath and change.

Twenty minutes later Dash walks into the living room to see you minus one suit and tie and plus one button up and jeans. It was a relatively easy transition for you. But you can’t say the same for her.

Her bangs flow in a glossy cascade down one side of her face and the back was tied in a sort of pony tail. Her tail had undergone a similar transformation—losing its fuzzy air-whipped appearance. Primary feathers glisten with a coat of conditioning oil and her cyan fur is brushed free of any sweaty clumps. She looks…gorgeous. Not that she doesn’t always, but especially now.

You weren’t sure how she made such a transformation in this short of a time, but it was amazing. Unfortunately she didn’t tell you she was ‘dressing’ up, and now you feel inadequate without your suit. You must’ve stared for too long because she looses her nerve and breaks eye contact, ”I-I’m ready to g-go, s-sorry I took so long.”

“Rainbow you look beautiful.”

Her tail sways at the compliment, but other than that she just stands there apparently uncomfortable with the attention. You walk over to her and she keeps her eyes awkwardly locked on the half of the room you weren’t in. Fingers run through her glossy colors confirming the silky texture they portrayed, “I like your hair this way.”

She finally looks at you, “Really?”

You nod, “Really.” You wanted to tell her it was the cutest thing you’d ever seen but she doesn’t need to be smothered right now. You lean in and plant a kiss in front of her ear; heh, her fur smells fruity.

The action reminds her who you are and she gains some confidence, turning and looking you in the eye, ”Y-you look good too.”

Obviously you didn’t, but you don’t want to torture the mare’s fragile nerves, “So where are we headed miss Dash?” She blushes further at the charade, but answers.

”Th-The park…?”

The statement was partially a question; she was waiting for your approval to proceed, “The park it is then.”

You lead her to the door and open it. A bit of relief washes over you. Dash isn’t much of a drinker, and the park is a nicer place for a date anyways. You head out the front door and make a left.

The night air had gotten a bit cooler in your absence, and Dash stuck by your side. She couldn’t lean into you because your height difference would cause her to trip, but she sauntered in a way that made the nature of your relationship apparent. You had to resist the urge to ruffle her hair or play with her ears, you didn’t want to ruin all the work she’d put into herself. As you walk farther out of town the absence of lantern light reveals a multitude of celestial objects in the vast sky above you. You make it to the entrance of the vacant park and Dash takes the lead.

Apparently she has a specific place in mind—though for what still remains a mystery. It is possible that she wanted to spend a romantic evening stargazing…it just doesn’t seem her style. The moon is waning, but the starlight is more than enough to see comfortably by. It glints off her tail as you follow her impeccable form down familiar paths and bends. Even if you’d worn your suit you’d still feel underdressed in the presence of the naked pegasus.

The path disappears into a small cluster of trees and you struggle to keep the mare in sight. In all your time here you’d never been in the forest at night. To your amazement, plants all around you start to glow at the slightest disturbance. Mushrooms, flowers, and ferns cast their soft blue-green glow onto the beaten path. The bioluminescence mesmerizes you; there was nothing like this back home, why hadn’t anyone told you about it? Twilight would know about the glowing plants, probably something to do with magic. Soon, you pass the last mushroom clinging to the shadows and find yourself in a very familiar clearing.

Calm water gently ripples and distorts the night sky above.

Ankle-high grass sparkles with the occasional firefly and sways gently in the silent breeze.

It was here that you first started watching her airshows, where you’d shared your first real kiss, where you’d first been intimate…the spot clearly held some meaning for both of you. You look to your hiking partner but she’s already making a beeline for the water.

You chase after her—leaving an angry trail of fireflies in your wake. She stops a few feet from the water's edge and sits down, you take up a spot next to her. It takes a moment but you start to see through the darkness and take stock of your surroundings. The area immediately becomes familiar, it was right here. This exact spot was where you confessed your feelings for each other...promptly before her wing job. The nearby tree, the shape of the horizon, the weirdly shaped rock that stuck out into the waterline, it's all burned into your memories which flood back to you like it happened yesterday.

You look out of the corner of your eye, admiring her sleek contours while her attention remains diverted. Your luck quickly runs out and she glances over to catch you staring. Her eyes dart back across the water and she shuffles on her hooves. Why is she being so shy? Is it because of her prettied up hair? You throw an arm around your companion and look at the celestial reflections in the water. It's much easier on your neck, but not quite as fulfilling.

You need an icebreaker, “So how long do we have before the Timberwolves trace our tracks?”

You feel her turn in your arms to look at you. A delayed chuckle blasts your cheek, ”Heheh, we’re not in the Everfree dummy, we’re fine here.”

“So I don’t need to go piss on a tree to mark our territory?”

”Hahahaha!” You smile; her characteristic scratchy laughter is nothing less than music to your ears.

She loosens up a bit and you find yourself staring into her eyes. She bites her bottom lip and breaks eye contact, ”F-for the record, I’m kinda glad I don’t have to go to some fancy restaurant with silverware and stuff.”

“Yeah me too.”

She perks up and her tail swishes once, ”Really? I thought you liked fancy stuff after that dinner and all the candles and things.”

“Well I was just doing it for you, I thought you might enjoy that kind of thing, and I’ve also never done something like that before so I just wanted to see if I could.”

”I did! I mean…I know how much work you put into it, but you don’t have to do that for a mare like me.”

You don’t like her tone, “What do you mean ‘mare like me?’”

Her eyes divert again and you bring a hand up to scratch behind her ear. The action seems to put her at ease.

”It’s just that I’m not like Rarity or anything and I’m bad at looking pretty and being fancy—“

Your finger on her lips takes her by surprise and silences her. She crosses her eyes on it before blinking and looking up at you.

“That is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. You’re great at looking pretty Rainbow Dash, you just don’t realize it because you never have to try.” Even in the dark you can see her cheeks dim. Your finger is still awkwardly shushing her, “Rarity is good at the fancy stuff because that’s who she is; you don’t like it because that’s who you are, and I like who you are.”

”A-all of it?”

“Huh?”

”D-do you l-like all of who I am?” She asks nervously.

What kind of question is that? You almost chastise her for not knowing the answer, “Every. Last. Bit,” You punctuate each word with a tap on her nose.

She soaks up her emotions for a moment before turning away, ”S-sorry, I know you do and I shouldn’t question you like that…it’s just…”

“…Just what?”

”…Other stallions, when I tried to date them…they didn’t like all of me.”

“I doubt they’d date you if they didn’t like you Dash,” You try to bolster her esteem.

”No, not like that…they liked what they saw, being an athlete and awesome and all that. But that’s all they wanted.” She’s trying to piece together words and you patiently stroke her shoulder while she does, ”They didn’t like that I wasn’t like that all the time…I didn’t want to settle with some pony who I couldn’t relax around, and I didn’t want to be with some pony I wasn’t going to settle with…”

“…So you cut your relationships short because of that?” She looks over as you complete her thought.

She nods. You had a pretty good idea of what she meant, and you intended to specifically nullify that fear, “Dash, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. I love you especially when you’re all soft and mushy, you don’t have to try and be number one all the time for me to still love you.” Those words force a smile of pure joy to her face.

She scoots closer before turning back to the sky to pointlessly hide her blush. But she can’t hide her uncontrollable grin. You look up too so she doesn’t feel self-conscious.

"For the record though I'm glad I turned them all away...otherwise I wouldn't have found you."

Arms wrap around your furry mare and she drapes her wing over your shoulder in response, "Me too, it's always easier when I don't have to fight off a bunch of stallions first."

She snorts, "I doubt you would've had to. It never felt right with any pony else."

You look over at her upturned eyes, she's surprisingly sappy tonight.

The sky was clear enough to trace the outline of the galaxy. You lean back and stare up at it, futilely trying to find a familiar constellation. You had to admit you were skeptical about the whole going out thing, but this was worth it. Both for the scenery and for the company.

”So you’re from out there, somewhere?”

You never would’ve pegged her for a romantic stargazer either, but tonight was already a unique one for her so you don't question it further, “Somewhere…probably.”

She stays silent for a moment staring up. You’d looked at astronomer charts, but none it looked recognizable. Even if you knew what to look for, contemporary optics weren’t good enough to see far enough to matter.

"I always wondered what it's like out there. If you fly too high the air just gets too thin and you pass out."

You squeeze her a tad tighter at the thought, "Yeah don't do that."

She nuzzles into your cheek, "Heh, don't worry, I'm not that crazy."

"Trust me, space isn't somewhere you want to go anyways."

She looks at you, contemplating the things she doesn't know, ”Do you want to go back?” She’d never asked that question before, and honestly it’d been a while since you’d thought about it, ”Like, if you could, would you?”

“No.”

Your quick response stuns her, ”Why not? Don’t you miss your family and friends?”

“Sure I do. But I’ve got friends here that I’d miss more if I went back,” You squeeze her shoulder for emphasis.

She audibly gulps and shuffles a bit. Despite your experience together the silence is painfully awkward. You can’t help but feel Dash has something she wants to get off her chest. You lean over and kiss the side of her muzzle.

”An—...umm…*ahem”

Another voice crack, that's two today. Her ears flicker and her wings ruffle as if she’s agitated, ”Anon, you can have f-family h-here too…i-if you want…”

“...What do you mean?”

She gulps as something prompts her to her hooves and she steps out of your reach. A shiver runs down her spine and she takes a deep breath.

She ducks her head over her wing and maneuvers around it with her nimble muzzle. She stops, checks over it with critical eyes, then dives back in to fix something. Must have a twisted feather, she told you how painful those can get. A moment later she surfaces, finally satisfied with how things are.

Her expressive eyes meet yours and she takes a shaky breath. Before you can react she walks deliberately to your side and…bows? One of her forelegs buckles and she drops her torso in a formal fashion. Ears fold to her nape and she turns her head to the side. Her wing slowly unfurls in front of you until it’s sticking straight out.

She reveals the purpose of her actions before you can ask, ”Anon…w-will you be my mate?”

Time comes to a standstill and your senses distinctly heighten as your furiously beating heart floods your body with adrenaline. Fireflies blink in the background and for a moment you could swear the stars looked like they were spinning around the both of you. Dash’s muzzle was buried in her fore hoof, one eye watches you intently—as if her life depends on your next move.

There was no doubt in your mind as to what she meant. And there was no doubt as to what your answer would be. She made you happy, and more importantly, for whatever reason you made her happy too. Your eyes gaze over her shaky wing. Her largest primary feather, the most important one on her wing, was bent out of place. She'd cautiously plucked it to ensure it would grow back.

It doesn’t take a genius to know what to do. You reach out and gingerly grasp the feather; it comes free with the slightest effort.

Once it’s in your grasp she folds her wing and stands up, pulling a fore hoof to her breast nervously.

The six-inch feather seemed to encapsulate her natural beauty in the moonlight—glinting from pale to deep blue at its tip. You look over to the mare next to you who’s still waiting for your answer. So you give her the only answer you could the only way you know how.

You tackle her with a hug.

Your bodies roll around in the grass desperately clinging onto each other with every limb you had at your disposal. Her muzzle nuzzles into your cheek as she releases her nervous, happy laughter. You do the same all the while careful to hold onto her feather.

Somehow across an innumerable distance, against all odds, you’d found your other half. You were made for each other, and nothing would make you happier than dedicating the rest of your life to that.

Your mouth meets hers in a kiss before she has the chance to beg for one.

Your feelings were so strong for her that when you weren’t expressing them like you were now…your chest actually hurt a bit. Expressions of her own convince you to lose track of time and when you come to, you’re staring down at her sparkling magenta eyes, her grinning muzzle as out of breath as yours.

“I would be honored to be your mate Rainbow Dash.”

All the nervousness in her body gets replaced with excited shuddering. You pull her to your chest and squeeze her tight to try and stop it. Tears of joy begin to well up in your eyes. You had no idea it was possible to feel this happy.

You look at the blue feather in all its beauty. She could still fly without it, but it would be more difficult.

Marriage was a legal status, but it was traditionally a simple agreement. In less civilized times, the loss of her pinfeather would make her more vulnerable until it grew back. Symbolically, it meant she now depended on you. You can’t say you expected this so soon from her, but that doesn’t mean you’re not ready.

There was nothing to think about, nothing to debate. Because there was nothing to argue otherwise. You pull back to look at her. Her watering magenta eyes, her pretty face. You’d always heard of people talk about the ‘honeymoon phase’ of the relationship—the time when you thought your partner was perfect in every way. The feelings you had toward her sure seemed to fit, but you were hesitant to call it a phase.

You weren’t fooling yourself, you knew that the novelty of her body and her fame would wear off with familiarity. But her cocky smile, her sarcastic sense of humor, her soft scratchy voice whispering lovingly into your ear while she kept you warm with her wings. Those were the reasons you fell in love with her.

You didn’t need to make any excuses for your feelings anymore.

Because those things would never get old.

Author's Notes:

Well that's the end of the story, hope you all enjoyed it! I realized when reformatting this chapter that I was going to hit 100k words for the total word count, so I made it my goal to hit it exactly. It honestly didn't feel like that much but I guess that's what happens when you enjoy what you're writing about.

Let me know what you think! Lastly, thanks to everyone from /mlp who supported me and encouraged me to keep writing! I would've quit if it wasn't for your constructive criticism...