The glorious smell of baked donuts wafts over you as you stand outside the small food cart parked near the end of Ponyville Main Street. It’s a run-down, whitewashed caravan that’s identified only by small red lettering painted on the side by some pony with 3rd grade artistry skills. DONUT PALACE III. It was the equivalent of one of those Mexican border pickup truck burrito vendors. It didn’t look very legit but you knew that meant it was good, that or they somehow made donuts with kangaroo meat. Your nose told you your gut was right.

“Dang Dash, you smell that?” You glance up to her hovering next to you and see her salivating with her eyes locked on the cart.

”Dude don’t remind me!”

Oh yeah you forgot she hated lines. From your position you count the ponies ahead of you. They aren’t exactly in line, more of a gaggle, about ten or so…might as well be a hundred. As far as Dash is concerned, the world would come to an end before you get to order. You chuckle to yourself, not exactly going well for a first date but at least she’d stopped messing with you now. If you had to pretend to be her colt friend any longer you weren’t sure you’d be able to keep it together.

She punches you on the shoulder before dropping to her hooves to rest her wings, “You really suck at dates dude.”

Dammit you jinxed yourself, ”Well I wasn’t aiming to impress if that’s what you’re wondering.”

”Heh, don’t worry, you’re not.” You reach over and ruffle her mane a bit. She ducks out from under your hand but the damage was already done—metaphorically speaking. She never paid enough attention to her mane for your hand to ruin anything.

”I told you not to do that dude!” She’s so cute when she gets angry and it makes you want to do it again. But if you did, you might not get your hand back. She did threaten you with death the last time you did it, but then again a bit of friction was necessary to keep you both on your toes and hoof tips.

“Hey, look on the bright side. At least that green guy stopped bothering you.”

She softens up and drops her defensive stance, “Yeah. Ever since Zephyr graduated that hair school he’s been like super confident in everything.”

“So he doesn’t know when to take no for an answer?”

”No, it’s like he all the sudden has a massive ego boost or something!”

“Then you two should get along great.” She gives you a shocked look and you bring your hands up in mock defense.

“You can't be serious.”

“Oh I am, you have the biggest ego I know. You would make two of a kind.” Another, unidentified emotion flashes behind her eyes for a split second, just long enough for you to catch it.

”Do you really think that?” Her somber overtone makes you immediately regret your words.

“Aw Dash, you know I’m just teasing right? I mean, sure you have a big ego and all but that doesn’t make you any less likable.” You really hoped she didn’t take that jibe too seriously, the last thing you wanted to do was hurt her. The more you had gotten to know each other the more often you liked to push each other's buttons. Even if she is the Rainbow Dash she's still a pony with feelings, and your best friend.

You accidentally zone out staring at the details of her magenta irises. It's really amazing how much you could read into other ponies’ body language; you never expected it to translate to human body language but it did. And her eyes read like an open book. She blinks and it snaps you out of your trance.

She looks to the grass and shuffles her hooves a bit, ”Heh, because you know he’s not my type at all…”

You’re beginning to wonder what exactly her type looked like. As far as you knew, you’ve never come across a pony that fell into that category, “You know, somehow he just didn’t seem cool enough.” You give her shoulder a pat and check your pocket for your wallet. Hopefully the donut would add to the momentum of your words and cheer her up.

The unassuming stand cranks out donuts faster than you anticipated and before long you’re standing in front of an overweight mare with thick, greasy glasses.

“Whachu waunt hon?” The boisterous cashier exhales.

Your eyes gloss over the menu for the first time, “I’ll take a…deep fried, cream filled, glazed, and she’ll…”

”…And I’ll have the same, but with chocolate.”

“You want chocolate icing on top of a glazed donut?” You ask.

“No, I want it instead of glazed.” She responds defensively.

“Then why didn’t you just say deep fried, cream filled, chocolate?”

“Because it's longer to say it that way.”

“Wait, I’m pretty sure it’s—“

“—That comes ta fower an-a half son.” You hand the vendor her bits while you count words in your head, "Ey! Two numba threes one wit the brown holda mayonnaise!" She yells her jargon at some unseen workers.

Dang these come standard with mayonnaise? You shake your head to get back on track and recount with the help of your fingers, “Yeah it's longer to say it your way.”

“Nuh uh!”

An assistant hands you two paper bags filled with diabetes and you head off to take a seat on the bench by the concession stand.

You sit down and hand Dash her chocolate confection, “Look, the way you said it was, ‘and, I’ll, have, the, same, but, with, chocolate.’” You count off on your fingers for proof. Her bag remains sealed; she’s more concerned with her credibility at the moment.

“And I said all you have to say is, ‘deep, fried, cream, filled, chocolate.’ See, five words to your eight.” You smile triumphantly at her.

Her brow is furrowed, but her short smirk shows that she’s got a comeback on the tip of her tongue, “No because I would’ve had to say, ‘I’ll, have, a,’ that brings it to eight. So my way wasn’t longer.”

“But it wasn’t shorter either. And technically you wouldn’t have had to say that because she would’ve known—“

“—You can’t just assume that ponies are going to know everything!” Her smile was gone now, she needs to win this argument.

“Well I think it’s pretty reasonable considering I just ordered a donut and you were standing right next to me.”

“Not every pony’s reasonable!—”

“You’re telling me.” You open up your bag of goodness and savor the smell.

“—And if you go by…wait are you saying I’m being unreasonable!”

You remove the warm pastry from the bag, “Just eat your donut, Dash.”

“Not until you admit that I’m right!” Now she’s just being difficult.

“Fine, go hungry then.” You take a big bite out of yours and exaggerate the incredible flavor with some unnecessarily loud moans. To her credit, she was being pretty resistant to peer pressure.

“I really shouldn’t be eating this anyways if I want to perform well this weekend.” She opens the bag and licks her lips; her eyes betray her appetite.

You lean over and peer into her bag, “I don’t think you have the heart to leave such a beautiful creation uneaten.”

She was stuck between choosing to satiate her appetite or give in, “…I’ll eat it if you just admit you’re wrong.” She’s almost begging now, but you can’t give in just yet.

“I wouldn’t be admitting anything, I’d be lying, because I’m right.” You take another bite of heaven.

"...Well...at least admit that you might be wrong..." Her donut makes its way to her hooves and she slurps back a bit of drool that was getting away from her.

You pause, "Dash, what would a man be without conviction?"

You wait for a rebuttal to the stoic prose, but it never comes. Looking over at Dash you see she’s got her eyes locked on something across the street. You follow them to the teal object of her attention; it's Zephyr, and he's clearly looking for something, or someone.

From the way Dash talked about it you thought his overconfidence was a bit over-hyped, but you're beginning to see exactly what she meant. You're not even sure you could call it confidence at this point, from what little you’d seen thus far his obsession with her was reaching stalker-esque proportions, and truth be told, he was beginning to upset you. Why can't he catch on and just respect her decision?

Dash still hasn’t said anything. He must really be getting to her for her to change her mood in a snap. It's a bit concerning. You throw an arm around her shoulders, “I see him, don’t worry, he should leave you alone after this morning.”

”I hope. He’s starting to weird me out.” She’s still got her eyes locked on him, but glances down as he looks your direction.

The last time you saw her this uncomfortable was when you were in the hospital waiting to hear whether her wing sustained permanent damage or not. She got lucky with that particular accident, however, that was the only other time you'd seen her like this: so...vulnerable. You're suddenly overcome with a powerful conviction to protect your friend, and for a second you ponder the legal ramifications of cold-clocking a stallion in broad daylight.

No. Just think... “Look Dash, the only way this will stop is if you…we confront him about it. If we sneak away he’s just going to come back again and again. Just remember I’ve got your back, heck, maybe he’s looking for something else and we’re overthinking it.”

”Yeah, maybe.” It doesn’t sound like she believes it, but mentioning that you were there to back her up seemed to give her confidence.

“Or maybe not.” Dash follows with a sigh. You glance up to see him trotting over with a very punchable, smug grin on his face, ”Listen, if he thinks I’m single I’m never going to lose him. Our only chance is to keep up appearances and…uhh…you know…”

“Act like we’re together again?”

”…Y-yeah.”

It worked last time, you just had to keep it up long enough to thoroughly convince him. It honestly felt a bit weird acting like that around Dash, but you weren’t going to let her down right after you promised you had her back.

“Ok, but if I murder him it’s your job to bury the body.”

She peeks an eye up at you, surprised by your sudden display of altruism, ”Heheh…dontcha think that’s a bit cruel dude?”

You raise your eyebrows and kick back on the bench to look as macho as possible, “That depends on his attitude.”

She tries suppressing her smile and shuffles over closer to you on the bench; you calm your self-consciousness, you're doing a favor for a friend and nothing more. The time you had planned for mental preparation was smothered by her unusually close presence. You take another bite out of your donut as hoof steps approach.

”Hey Rainbow! Fancy seeing you here!”

She looks up from her pastry and acts surprised to see him, ”Oh, hi.”

”Doesn’t look like you’re enjoying your lunch.” Zephyr motions to the donut Dash was holding but still hadn’t touched.

”Oh…no just uhh, haha, hadn’t gotten around to eating it yet.” She takes a painfully large bite out of the donut and starts chewing it while talking, ”Iss…reaw good!”

”Oh Rainbow, you don’t have to eat that just to please your acquaintance. Why don’t you let me take you to get some real food, I know a place that you’ll absolutely love!” That ruffled her feathers. Literally. But her mouth was too full to let out more than an angry grumble. And he's still ignoring you. Not murdering him might be harder than you thought.

“For the record she actually wanted to eat here too, so if she says the donut’s good, the donut’s good.” You were going for that intimidating Clint Eastwood voice from that one western movie you saw. Understandably it failed. You were missing the half inch beard and the poncho…and the six shooters. Zephyr still had the smug look on his face and you would do anything to get it to go away; and as luck would have it, an opportunity conveniently presents itself in the form of your friend’s messy eating, “Dash you have some chocolate on your face.”

She breaks her awkward stare, ”Where?”

You motion to the large chocolate streak that ran across most of her top lip. Her tongue shoots out to lick it up but she only succeeds in smearing the chocolate across her blue fur. “It’s really thick icing you’re only going to stain your coat, let me get it,” She leans forward to meet your hand as you gently wipe the chocolate icing off her wet upper lip with your thumb.

Without missing a beat you pop your thumb in your mouth to clean the icing off. You have to admit, even with Dash’s clear coat it tasted pretty good. Or was it good because she licked it first? Your face is now unavoidably betraying your emotions. Dash was surprised as well and you see a hint of red touching her cheeks. Luckily, the stunt earned you a crack in Zephyr’s facade.

Just a crack, but it was enough to grab onto. Little did you know Dash planned on turning it into a canyon, ”Now it’s on your face silly!” Your eyes dart to Dash’s, she still has a slight blush, but she manages to wink at you. She starts leaning forward and you unconsciously start leaning back. She’s close enough now that you can smell her breath, and it doesn’t smell bad either; you couldn’t tell what it is but it’s kinda nice. Her eyes briefly flash annoyance—you’re still leaning back. She falls off balance and puts a hoof on your leg to regain it. She grumbles, and before you can fumble an apology she immediately readjusts.

Her tongue lashes out but slows when it hits your mouth. Either that or time slowed, you weren’t sure which.

It was far from what you expected from a first kiss. It wasn’t a neat confession of affection under the moonlight, but rather a wet display that filled your senses of taste, smell, and touch simultaneously. You remember reading in a magazine somewhere that the lips had more nerve endings than the rest of the face combined. It seemed unrealistic at the time, but now you had no doubt it was true. You can distinctly comprehend the feeling of her taste buds on her surprisingly long tongue form fitting to your lips and leaving a sticky snail-trail as it traced the length of your mouth. It was numbing, but not desensitizing. It was a pleasant numbness. You hated to admit it, but under normal circumstances it would be hard to complain. Luckily you were under no obligation to do so.

The latent shock of what she was doing finally hits you like a freight train and your entire body felt like you were standing naked in front of an open oven. But just as soon as it started, it's over. Her tongue retreats back to its home and as you come back to reality you suddenly realize you need to grab the side of the bench to keep from falling over.

You weren’t sure if she got what she was aiming for, but it would’ve been hard to miss with that approach.

Her face is now beet red and she’s looking at you like you’ve grown a third eye. Due to the affects of shock or something else you manage to find your feet faster than her, “Thanks…I know I can always count on you.” You try to smile but just end up staring awkwardly into her dazed eyes; fortunately you catch this and immediately rectify it by throwing an arm around her shoulder and ruffling her hair.

She doesn’t resist, nor does she give you a sour look for the ruffle. Instead you’re met with a kind of thousand yard stare…and more blushing; Dash had effectively put herself out of commission with her last stunt so you were going to be on your own for a while. Luckily that wouldn’t be much of an issue.

Zephyr is gone.

You didn’t realize how lost you’d been in your own little world until you were forced back into reality. At some point during your display he apparently decided that Dash wasn’t going to lunch with him. You’d also acquired a small audience.

“Come on Dash.” You nudge her with your elbow and she mindlessly follows you out of the town square—your feet follow their own memory and your companion acts as your shadow. The two of you make the short walk back to your low-budget apartment in total silence. Dash made no mention of where you were headed, nor did she protest in any way. Only the sound of her hooves plodding next to you intruded on your thoughts.

And boy did you have some thoughts. To start things off, your best friend just legitimately kissed you...sort of.

You'd learned that licks and kisses had the same universal meaning to earth ponies and unicorns, but no well-raised pegasus would conflate the two. According to the princess of friendship herself, for pegasi, a lick was more of a symbolic extension of preening and grooming—something that could have life-threatening implications if done improperly. Understandably, it came to signify deep trust and obligation regardless of its placement. This being discrete from a kiss, which is simply a mark of affection. Even in the fairly homogeneous contemporary culture the practice remained mostly isolated to pegasi, the employment of a lick was typically deliberate, and without exception…in private. In short, the only thing you could apply from the Princess’s hour long sociology lecture was that Rainbow Dash really wanted to convince Zephyr of her relationship status.

That, or she thought it was the best way to get the chocolate. Either way, you’ve got a lot to sort out.

You turn the corner on a pair of legs that aren’t your own. You don’t know why this was affecting you so much, but it just felt surreal, even in afterthought. As much as you reminded yourself it was out of necessity, you wouldn’t label the experience as un-enjoyable. And as much as you try to push it out of your mind, you can’t. Her thin layer of saliva drying on your yet untouched mouth wouldn't let you as quickly cooled in the afternoon air.

You wipe your mouth.

You were beyond the point of being squeamish of her. As nearly all good friends, you’d shared water bottles and ice cream cones and used the same towel to wipe sweat after workouts, all for sake of convenience. But this was different, for the first time it was…intimate. You shouldn’t have enjoyed it, it should’ve grossed you out not brightened your mood. You really need to sort things out.

A minute later you were sitting across from Dash in your living room, awkwardly hopping your knee, “So…uhh…I think he got the message.” Her head snaps up and her eyes briefly meet yours before dropping to the floor again.

”Y-yeah…that’s exactly what I thought would happen…”

You thought she’d at least be happy Zephyr left. “Listen, Dash, I uhh…I want you to know that what happened wasn’t, it was…” Why is this so hard? “...what I’m trying to say is, it wasn’t bad.”

She finally manages to make eye contact and stops twiddling her hooves, ”Heh, I-I’m just glad you’re not afraid of my cooties or something.”

She’s blushing like mad and you can’t blame her, the mutually shared awkwardness warranted nothing less. Well at least you know she wasn’t grossed out by the whole experience. That's a good thing right? If neither of you are weirded out then it's okay right?

“Geez Dash I’m just glad you didn’t freak out about it or something. You know, it would’ve ruined the whole show,”

She perks up defensively, ”Me? Freak out? Dude, you’re talking to the most level headed pegasus in all of Ponyville!” You doubt that. But there must be some merit to her statement, there was no other explanation for how she performed flawlessly at such high speeds, ”And besides, it’s not like it was weird or anything. I mean, you brush your teeth don’t you?”

The question caught you off guard, and made it feel like you were in an interview, “Yeah, twice a day.” That sounded too enthusiastic, “You do too right?

Her fading blush returns with a vengeance, ”Well duh…didn't you taste the mint?”

Memories flood back to you, but not one of them carried the essence of mint, “No...” Her whole demeanor had been steadily improving in accordance with the easing of the conversation until now. Her shoulders slouch and her eyes drop to the scruffy carpet again.

“Oh…”

“Wait, I didn’t mean…it tasted like, it was good okay?”

”G-good?”

“Y-yeah like…I don’t know, it would’ve been a weird taste maybe if it was a stranger or something.” Don’t weird her out, “But…I guess what I’m trying to say is that, because we’re already good friends, I didn’t mind. I guess I’m just comfortable around you.” That was a pretty accurate mirror of what you felt without going as far as to say you liked it.

Her blush remains but you can see she’s feeling more at ease, ”Heh…yeah. No harm done right?” It seemed like she was talking to herself more than she was talking to you. Her ears pin to the back of her head and she bites her bottom lip, ”Look, uhh…if he comes back…”

“I still plan on keeping my promise to help you out.” For the first time this afternoon you see relief wash over her.

”But even if we have to, you know…do embarrassing things again?”

You audibly gulp. Surprisingly, the hesitation you expected from yourself was replaced with a strange giddiness, “Rainbow Dash, friends don’t leave friends hanging and you’re the best friend I’ve got. I’m not going to chicken out because I’m afraid of some mare-cooties.” Your sarcasm was rewarded with a soft smile, “Do you think he’s really going to annoy you again after that though?”

Her hoof traces circles on the couch cushion, ”I hope not. I mean the message was pretty clear and all, but I’ve been surprised by his stubbornness before.”

Heck yeah it was clear. “Well then let's just hope for the best.”

”Yeah…but, if he does…you don’t mind?” She trails off and makes eye contact before she can get out what she wants to say.

“Dash I already told you I’ve got your back, ok?”

“O-ok.” You have a few seconds to read her emotions before she rockets across the room and throws her forelegs around you in a sudden hug. You smile. Well isn’t she full of surprises today.

Her voice comes from behind your ear, ”Thanks dude. You’re the only friend I have that would do this for me. It means a lot.”

You reciprocate by wrapping your arms around her, “I’m really the only guy friend you’ve got, so unless you want to come across as—”

”—Just shutup.”

“Yep.”

She continues to bear hug your torso for longer than usual. The fur of her cheek is incredibly soft against your neck and her whole body feels like a heating blanket against you. Maybe ponies have higher core temperatures? Makes sense with her insane metabolism at least. She finally relents and leans back to sit on your lap, her fore hooves rest on your hips and her butt balances just above your knees. Her close proximity and height advantage made it a bit awkward the first time she did it, but since then, you’d come to accept that ponies had much looser definition of personal space than humans.

Princess Twilight had told you…no, quoted from a book, that ponies’ proximity during conversation generally reflected their level of familiarity. You came to appreciate the gesture when Dash did it. Despite how you’ve adjusted, not many ponies were at ease around you; Dash was one of a handful of exceptions that made you feel normal. It was comforting to know she accepted you as she would any of her own kind.

”I don’t think I need to tell you to keep your mouth sealed about all this.” Her breath was still warm when it hit your face.

“So I should have Mayor Mare cancel the engagement announcement in the evening paper?” You’re met with a judgmental stare that would give your dad’s a run for its money, “Yeah, uh, that was a joke—”

”—I’m serious dude!” Her fore hoof stomps your thigh.

“Okay! Okay! I won’t tell anyone, but it may be hard to keep the word from spreading if we keep pulling stunts like that in public.”

”Oh, I didn’t think about that.” She looks down disappointingly.

“Hey cheer up. We’ll just take it one step at a time okay? We can’t solve every problem at once.”

”Y-yeah I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am.” You give her shoulder a reassuring pat. The action seems to bolster her courage to ask another question.

“Hey Anon?” Her eyes timidly lock on yours.

“What’s up?”

She gulps, “If Zephyr’s as stubborn as I think he is…we need to be on guard twenty-four seven.”

”What do you mean by that?”

Her gaze falters and her scratchy voice comes back less confident than it was before, “If he stops by unannounced at some point and sees that we’re just making this all up, all this work we’ve done would’ve been for nothing and we’d be back at square one.”

”Ohh…” Your brow furrows as you troubleshoot the problem, ”...so we’d have to keep up appearances…” Her muzzle flushes red again, and her eyes dart up to confirm the words leaving your mouth, ”…all the time?”

Dash nods in silent confirmation. Her logic did make sense, even if it took her last reserves of confidence to get it out. You had no idea he was in the town square until Dash’s keen eyes picked him up, and his pale green color blended surprisingly well into the scenery…unlike your friend’s.

She seems to think you need some more convincing, “It would be good for the sake of continuity, and we won’t ever get mixed up. It will also help uhh…desensitize us to the…mushiness. I think. That way you won’t freak out when we have to do stuff again.”

”Yeah, couples aren’t supposed to freak out about that.” You don’t remember being the one to freak out, but that didn’t make her statement any less valid. ”Okay.”

“Okay?”

”Okay yeah it’s a good idea.” You reassure.

“...Okay.” You stare into her eyes from less than a foot away. The fact she wasn’t even hesitant to put her trust in you stood as testament to the strength of your friendship. How did you ever get so lucky to befriend a pony like her? You reach out and hold her narrow shoulders.

“But if you ever get too uncomfortable, at any time, just tell me and I’ll stop.” She nods rapidly before you see an ear-to-ear grin appear on her face. She pokes your chest with a hoof.

”Bet you’re gonna quit before I am.” Of course she would find a way to to make it into a competition.

“Is that a challenge?”

”Nope. There’s nothing challenging about it.”

“We’ll see about that.” You reply with mock skepticism. With how she reacted today, you weren’t too confident she could live up to her claims. She did take the initiative though, that counts for something. You drop your hands from her shoulders and lean back in the couch. She just sits there, comfortable with her perch on your lap. She wasn’t heavy, sixty, maybe seventy pounds at most. Pegasi had hollow bones and leaner builds which minimized the weight their wings had to bear. But because they were pretty much the same size as every other pony, they, and especially Rainbow, had an insane strength-to-weight ratio. It made them seem almost unnaturally strong, and it always caught you off guard when you interacted with her. You bring your mind back to the present and struggle to think of something else to occupy your time.

Dash came over quite often even though it was a small apartment. Normally you two would go to the gym, have a wrestling match, or read. Sometimes you would just sit and talk. But none of those options jumped out at you as a good idea. Even though you’d come to an agreement with Dash about your current situation your brain was still racing a mile a minute. You really needed some time to digest it all. After all, it was only a few hours ago that you’d obliviously gone to the park to help her with a trick. You should really ask her to let you get some rest. An afternoon nap would do you good.

”If you’re just going to sit there and be boring then I’m going to get something to eat.” You barely snap out of your trance and register her extremely sincere tone before she hops off your lap and trots over into your kitchen, ”Do you mind if I crash here for a bit? I’m too tired to do stuff or practice my…where the hay did you put the granola bars?” She flies around, opening every cabinet looking for your hard-earned food.

That was another thing that just seemed unnatural—pegasi flying in confined spaces. It must take quite a bit of skill to hover around like that in a kitchen. Luckily you’d gotten in the habit of not leaving around any loose papers for her wind currents to scatter across the floor, “On top of the fridge Dash.” You lazily point in the general direction.

”Got em!…So is that cool?” What? Oh her question. You’d really prefer to be alone, it's not like you have a separate bedroom you can go into and close the door. You just need some peace and quiet.

“Well…I kinda wanted to take a nap.” She makes her way back to the couch and hops on next to you.

”So take a nap then, I’m not stopping you.” She noisily tears open the plastic wrapper.

“It’s just hard for me to fall asleep when…”

*crunch

“…when it’s not completely quiet.”

She stares at you blankly and finishes audibly chewing before responding, ”So just stop being so sensitive."

“…I…uh.”

“Hahahaha! Dude I’m messing with you! I’ll probably take a nap too so don’t worry about me.” That might work. Dash studies your face for a moment and realizes you need some more convincing, ”I just…uhh…last night I heard something and I think Zephyr was at my house.” This is concerning, why didn’t she tell you earlier?

“Did you see him?”

”Well…not exactly. But I’m sure it was him because no pony else would be weird enough to hang out around there at night!”

“Isn’t it like public airspace or something though? I mean, you do live in the sky.”

”Yeah but he was like…um…flying real close…and stuff.” Her inability to meet your eye for more than a second at a time told you she was probably fibbing, but considering what she’s been through you’ll cut her some slack.

“Okay fine, but don’t take too long to eat that granola bar.”

Her features immediately brighten, ”Hah! You’re talking to the fastest pegasus ever!”

“I wouldn’t have known…” She digs into the granola bar, throwing crumbs all over your couch. She notices you looking at her.

”Oh sorry! Want some of my bar?” She holds out the half-eaten bar towards you with a grin. A mischievous grin.

“You mean my bar?” Her ears splay back and she looks at you like you have a ‘kick me’ sticker on your forehead.

”Heh, yeah that one.” Well you never did finish your donut.

You go to reach for it, “Yeah I guess I’ll…”

She yanks it away right before you reach it and licks the whole thing, “Oh come on!”

”Hahahahaha! Still want it now?” She dangles it in front of you. Taunting you. Damn she's having too much fun with this. You, on the other hand, just want to take a nap.

“What do you think!” You cross your arms and lean back against the couch.

”I think I remember you saying you wouldn’t chicken out before I did.” So she’s playing that way is she? You can’t bitch out now, she has too much dirt on you already.

“Fine just give me the th-thing!” She holds her sly smirk as you take it from her. You examine your poison. Luckily she didn’t slobber on it. You know you don’t have a choice. Your heart rate speeds up as the inevitable approaches.

*crunch

You take a bite out and hand her back the rest of the bar. She takes it laughing not too quietly to herself. Luckily the honey flavor trumped everything else. You finish chewing it with no notable incident.

“What is it with you and licking things?” All of her playfulness earlier was replaced with concern.

”Oh…um, if you're talking about earlier I-I was j-just—”

“—No, I'm sorry. I’m just getting used to it is all.” She still looks a bit upset, “I’m not upset with you at all, I shouldn’t have snapped like that...do you forgive me?”

”No, it’s my fault dude, I shouldn’t have been so pushy.”

You reach out and pat her shoulder, “I think we're both a bit cranky because we missed our usual naptime, what do you think?”

”Yeah just...let me finish this.” You lean back and close your eyes, trying to get comfortable on your couch. In the background you can hear her finish chewing and toss the wrapper on your coffee table. You hear some more shuffling and feel the couch move before she finally plops down right next to you and leans against your shoulder for support. You were used to her doing this, buddy naps were a common occurrence as of late. You peek down to see her splayed out on her back, hind legs spread much the same way you were. You do your best to ignore her carelessly exposed teats and close your eyes again.

It was a horrible position for your posture, you can only imagine how uncomfortable it is for her. As if to prove your point she goes no more than five seconds before twisting around. Hooves smack your thigh and rib cage and a wing slaps you across the face before she settles again. This time curled up in a ball against your leg. Whatever.

The front and back windows to your apartment were open, and it allowed for a cool summer breeze carrying the background noise of the street vendors to waft through the room. Nothing put you to sleep faster than a cool breeze.

She starts shuffling again, “Dash!”

”What!”

“Stop moving!”

”I can’t get comfortable because you’re a weird shape!”

“I’m the same shape I was the last time we took a nap!”

“I know but we’re not in the grass we’re on a couch!” You found it humorous and a bit cute that she never considered the option of sleeping next to you, you always ended up in some kind of dog pile that left you sweaty and your limbs numb. Even so you weren’t going to complain, it was nice in a way. Your eyes regrettably open again and gaze over to the other three quarters of unused couch space. A nudge to her shoulder makes her rise to her hooves.

She looks annoyed, ”What’re you doing!”

“If you’re not going to use the whole couch, I’m going to.” Your hand scoops her damp foreleg pit and you pull her against you while spinning around and falling on your back.

”Ooph!…Wow dude dontcha wanna take me out first?” You're not in the mood for this.

“Dash just go to sleep.” You find a comfortable spot on your back with your legs draped over the arm rest. Dash rolls off your chest into the gap made between your torso and the couch. She tucks her forelegs to her chest and sticks her hind legs out next to yours. She rolls towards you just enough to tuck her muzzle underneath your chin and get her right wing free to stretch. It was an incredibly ergonomic position, almost like you were made to be cuddle buddies. After she gets comfortable she pops her head up.

”I know I said this before, but thanks for helping me out dude. I...feel a lot better knowing I have some pony, uhh…some human like you that’s got my six.” You peek an eye open and look up at her. You reach up with your free arm and give her a scratch behind her ear, earning a pleasureful grimace and a smile from her. She loves that spot.

“No problem Dash, now go to—“

*smooch

Two fuzzy lips grace the tip of your nose. You'd shared platonic kisses before...usually in private and usually without the lingering stare she was currently giving you. Maybe your mind was playing games with you, but it somehow seemed more real than anything before…more genuine.

You're not sure you’ll be able to say the right thing, so you don’t. She doesn’t pull away from you much, leaving your options very open. She’s looking at you with drowsy eyes, her ears pinned back, a gentle smile and blush adorning her face. Your breaths mix and you feel a hint of perspiration break on your brow from the shared heat. You have to admit she looks really cute. Like, really really cute. Cute enough that you just want to snuggle her up and kiss her!...Wow...Where did that come from? You’re not sure. But you weren’t going to leave her hanging. You crane your neck up and kiss the tip of her furry nose.

A brief giggle escapes her before she clears her throat. No more words were said. She goes back to tucking her muzzle into your neck—warm breath now rolling across your collarbone.

That thing you thought about the cool breeze being the best thing to help you sleep wasn’t exactly true. Dash’s warmth and rhythmic breathing was by far the most relaxing; and her smell...it was unique. A sort of spicy-sweet tang that got spicier the longer she went without a shower. It was far from what you expected of body odor, and not at all like equines back home. It was actually pleasant; strangely enough she’d said the same about you before. You were beginning to wonder if it was some weird trend. Maybe she farts butterflies or something…

As you begin to drift off into the depths of slumber you feel her large wing extend across your chest and cover your bare arms—a makeshift blanket. How…thoughtful of her…Your mind quiets and the sound of her comfortable exhales fills your ears. Today was full of a lot of surprises, and you weren’t sure what to expect when you woke up. But you were sure of one thing. You were going to be there for Dash and she was going to be there for you. And nothing was going to come between that.

Author's Notes:

The story's already written but it's in a different format. It takes me quite a while to reformat everything and separate out chapters, and in addition to the reformatting I'm rewriting some small portions as I skim through it. I'll try to release at least 1-2 new chapters per week.