Rainbow Dash and her group were headed back through the woods to reconvene with Spitfire and company, but they were taking a moment to rest after a long day’s walk, and Rainbow felt she was in need of a bath so she plopped her naked ass into a river a little way’s off from where the others had set up camp.

Honestly while her body needed cleaned, it was more like she wanted to wash her brain out. Head full, too many thoughts.

Her head was especially full of thoughts of Gilda. She’d barely talked to Rainbow since the battle with Tempest, barely responded to Rainbow’s teasing that should’ve made Gilda wanna grab Rainbow by her hair and show her who was boss. But instead, she would just give a grumbling response or ignore Rainbow outright.

Rainbow hated to say it but… she was wondering if Gilda was jealous of Rainbow claiming the soul.

Ha, ‘wondering’. If Rainbow knew Gilda at all, and she did, then she knew that Gilda was fuming that she didn’t get the soul and Rainbow did. Rainbow beating Tempest where Gilda had failed couldn’t’ve made her feel good either.

And that sucked, but Rainbow didn’t want to give up the soul.

Rainbow took a deep breath as she laid in the river, her own magic heating up the water to help her relax. She slunk her shoulders in and sighed, trying to forget all of the—

“HEY DASH!” Pinkie’s piercing voice shattered Rainbow’s relaxation as the harpy jumped up and perched on a nearby rock, feathers puffed up in shock and eyes darting around until they landed on the cute poppet girl smiling and waving at her. “You got room for one more in there?”

“Uhhhguahuhbuh,” Rainbow stammered, and Pinkie just laughed and dropped her dress to the ground, making Rainbow approximately a million percent more flustered.

“Great! I’ll take that as a yes!” Pinkie cheered and jumped into the river, splashing Rainbow with ice cold water. “You were pretty cool in that battle, y’know.”

“Was I?” Rainbow scoffed and climbed down off the rock, dipping a single talon into the river beside Pinkie. “I have no idea, I was like totally just going by instinct. I practically blinked and it was over already.”

“Still cool, if you ask me,” Pinkie said with a grin.

“I guess,” Rainbow grumbled and shrugged, Pinkie laughing and giving Rainbow a playful shove.

“Will you just let me compliment you already, you silly?”

“I think you were the cool one though,” Rainbow said, allowing her to slide into the river and warm it up with her magic, Pinkie letting out an admittedly kinda sexy coo as she felt the warm water against her body. “You really stood your ground, even though it looked like you had no chance. That’s like? Badass.”

“I did that cuz I wanted to protect you,” Pinkie said softly, giving a bright smile. “Your bravery really inspires me, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow blushed and turned away, scratching her cheek with a claw.

“I just think you’re neat,” Pinkie said, putting her arms around Rainbow and looking her in the eye. Rainbow’s magic then went kinda out of control and heated the river up to lowkey boiling levels, the two girls letting out pained yelps as Rainbow jumped out of the water, Pinkie Pie holding onto her for dear life as Rainbow hovered above the river.

“S-sorry,” Rainbow used the magic of the soul to create wings of wind on Rainbow’s back that let her stay in the air, so she could use her arms to hold up Pinkie Pie, only to realize she now had her hands all over Pinkie’s body, Rainbow’s cock stiffening as much as it was able inside her silver cage.

“You’re cute,” Pinkie giggled.

“I’m…” Rainbow croaked, “gay.”

“Wow, me too!” Pinkie gasped. “We have so much in common! We should date.”

Rainbow blinked and then felt her magic short-circuit as she lost her concentration, her wind wings vanishing into thin air, bringing her and Pinkie crashing to the ground. When the dust settled, Rainbow was lying on top of Pinkie, pinning her to the ground as the poppet made alluring bedroom eyes at her, the harpy’s whole face turning bright red.

“Haha, so anyway,” Rainbow stood up and cleared her throat, “that was a good joke, Pinkie Pi—”

“I wasn’t joking,” Pinkie said, sitting up cross legged and looking up at Rainbow with those adorable button eyes. “I think you’re cute, and I’d love to date it up with you if you’re interested.”

“Lightning Dust would literally kill me,” Rainbow said flatly.

“Not if you kill her first,” Pinkie said with a catlike grin, and Rainbow felt a shiver roll up her spine. “You were already planning on knocking her off the top of the food chain with that soul, weren’t you?”

“I…” Rainbow hadn't quite gotten as far as ‘figuring out what she was doing with the soul’ yet.

“Lightning Dust treats you pretty bad, doesn’t she?” Pinkie asked, and Rainbow kept her mouth shut. If word got out that Rainbow had a beef with Lightning Dust, well… it wouldn’t end well for Rainbow. “C’mon, you gotta admit there’s something kinda exciting about taking her girl and knocking her down a peg or two, right?”

“Y-yeah, maybe” Rainbow scratched her cheek and thought about it a sec, her cock twitching in its cage. And honestly the truth of the matter was that Pinkie was freaking cute and Rainbow just really wanted to date her. “O-okay, if you’re serious, Pinkie, then… then yeah, I’d like to date you too.”

“Wow just like that huh?” Pinkie hummed. “You sure are eager.”

“WAIT WHA—”

“I’m just teasin’ ya,” Pinkie giggled and hopped to her feet, putting her arms around Rainbow and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Cuz I like you.”

“I think I like you too,” Rainbow said bashfully, totally unsure of what to do with her hands.

“Oh, you just think so?” Pinkie hummed and jumped back, turning around and wiggling her tail and her butt at Rainbow. “I guess I’ll have to try a little harder.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Rainbow chuckled and grabbed Pinkie by her ear, tugging it and making Pinkie face her, chest to chest, “and a few more smooches would be a good place to start.”

“Well,” Pinkie sighed dreamily and put her arms around Rainbow, “if you insist.”

now for a wee homoerotic breather before the plot tips back into full forward momentum for both circles...