Something in your mind was telling you stay in Canterlot. You had no idea why, or what it was that was telling you to do so, but it felt incredibly compelling.
So compelling that you actually decided to go along with it.

After all, it was only a voice in your head, so in the end it was merely your own thoughts. You could call it an instinct, if you will.

In response to Rainbow's question, you reply asking her whether she wants to stay in Canterlot for a little longer.

"Sure! I haven't got much else to be doing." she replied, enthusiastically.

Now having a little longer to spend to together, you began to leave the large area where the Derby took place. The majority of ponies that had been spectating had already left, leaving the main exits relatively clear.

"So do you know anywhere to go?" you asked, still not knowing your way around Canterlot.

"I think I've got somewhere in mind." Rainbow answered, thinking of every possible location in Canterlot. Now that you thought about it, couldn't this be classed as... a date?

Probably not. I mean, if it was, she probably wouldn't have even agreed to it.

Following Rainbow through the crowded streets of the capital, you were beginning to wonder where she was taking you. But before long, the destination came into view.
It was none other than Pony Joe's Donut Shop.

"Well, here it is!" Rainbow exclaimed, instinctively flying forwards towards the entrance.

"I've heard of this place!" you said happily, as you neared the entrance. You could recall its few appearances in the show, and it looked almost exactly like it.
More so, you could remember the fantastic dessert that Pony Joe had created for the National Dessert Competition. If things like that were being made on the daily, then you were in for a treat.

"Then you already know why it's the best donut shop in all of Equestria!" she added, before entering the shop. Hurriedly, you followed her and was immediately greeted by the best scent you had ever smelt.

It was the scent of freshly baked donuts, and you had ever smelt anything like it before.
Unfortunately, the place was quite busy, but you couldn't really be surprised. While it did mean you would have to wait longer for your food, at least it meant that business was booming.

"You go sit down and I'll go get something!" Rainbow said, about to begin walking over to the counter. You were quick to stop her.

"Shouldn't I be paying since it was my idea?" you asked, feeling a little guilty.

"Nah. It was my idea to come here," she replied, which made you feel a little better, "Besides, I'm faster than you anyway!"

Rainbow stuck her tongue out at you in a teasing fashion before quickly disappearing towards the counter.

"I wouldn't be so sure." you added, but she didn't seem to hear you. If the queue was as long as you envisioned, she wasn't going to survive very long.

Nevertheless, you began exploring the building for a place to sit down, and sure enough you eventually found one. The place was a lot bigger than it looked in the show.
You had managed to find a booth near the window that was somehow vacant and hadn't been taken yet. This was surprising, as there were already many ponies sat at the counter and waiting at ordinary tables.

You took a seat, beginning to reflect on the past day as you stared out the window. Somehow, the sun was already beginning to set, coating Canterlot in a beautiful orange haze.

How is this possible? you asked yourself, I'm in this incredible world, surrounded by the most amazing ponies. Just how is this possible?

"I believe I could help you with that question." a voice said from behind you. You didn't dare turn around. That voice sent a shiver straight down your spine. Not only could this pony read your thoughts, it was also the voice of Princess Celestia herself.
Was Celestia even able to read thoughts? Whether she could or not, she clearly could now.

You slowly turned around, unsure of how to greet one of the twin princesses.

"You must be Storm, right?" she asked. You found yourself wondering how she knew who you were, but then again you were living with Twilight.

"Um... Yeah... I'm..." you replied, still unsure of what to say.

"Don't worry about formalities. We'll meet properly soon enough." Celestia explained, which relieved you slightly, "Twilight has told me all about you."

"She has?" you said, sounding surprised. In reality, you weren't all that shocked by this. She did tend to report most things that happened to her to the princess anyway.

"Indeed she has. And I would say there's a lot more to you that meets the eye." she said, crypticly. That worried you a little.

Had Twilight been telling ponies about your past?

"Don't worry. Nopony else knows." Celestia reassured you.

"I'm guessing you want me to explain." you said, despite not remembering all that much of your past life. It seemed like every day your memories of your past became foggier and foggier.

"Not here. There will be time for that, don't worry." she explained. Oh, you weren't worrying. In fact, you were glad you didn't have to explain. You had already done it twice now, "In fact, I was only coming by to introduce myself. I can see you're well acquainted with Rainbow Dash."

Both you and Celestia looked over in her direction, to see that she was impatiently hovering above the ground with her hoofs crossed.

"Y-yeah..." you stuttered, still nervous in the princess's presence.

"Well..." Celestia began, "I can tell she makes you happy. And I can tell you do the same to her."

Your ears suddenly perked up, and your nervousness vanished in an instant.

"How so?" you asked, eager to learn more but also not wanting to sound desperate. Especially in the presence of Princess Celestia.

"From the things Twilight has told me in her letters, you seem to mean something to Rainbow Dash. That's not a privilege many ponyies get. Don't waste it." Celestia explained with a sincere smile on her face.

You didn't respond, and instead stared over at Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be getting more and more irritated by the long wait.

"Anyway, I should probably be getting back to my royal duties," Celestia said, preparing to leave, "It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Storm!"

"It was an honour to meet you, princess." you replied, attempting to sound as respectful as possible.

Celestia gave you a farewell nod, before leaving through the front doors. You were surprised she didn't just teleport, but as the princess she likely had to get around in a 'royal' fashion.

"Ugh!" you heard coming from the direction of the queue. Much like you suspected, Rainbow was reaching the point of frustration.

To save herself from public embarrassment, she left the queue, frustrated.

"Getting bored?" you asked in a teasing manner.

"Yeah! This stupid queue won't move!" Rainbow exclaimed, taking a seat opposite from you. Instinctively, she glanced out of the window, enamoured by the beautiful sunset.

"I can go if you want." you suggested, not minding about having to pay.

"Nah," she replied, still staring out of the window. She had a sparkle in her eye, like something was on her mind, "Wanna go somewhere else?"

That kinda surprised you. She seemed pretty enthusiastic about visiting this place in particular, and you were really looking forward to getting a taste of Pony Joe's renowned donuts.
But to be honest, you didn't mind going somewhere else.

"Are... you ok?" you asked, curiously. She was still staring out of the window, seeming like she was somewhat lost in her thoughts. She almost looked worried about something.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! I'm fine!" she replied, finally breaking her gaze with the orange sunset, "So are we gonna go somewhere else or what?"

"Sure, let's go." you answered, seeming to cheer her up slightly. She was acting positive once again, but something still told you that something was weighing on her.
And that something must've been pretty big if it was managing to have an effect on Rainbow Dash.

The two of you left the shop, and immediately took flight. You were beginning to think that this place wasn't in Canterlot.

Despite wanting to stay in the Capital, Rainbow clearly had a place in mind that she wanted to visit. And I feel she wanted to go there, then you would too.

After flying for about 10 minutes, Canterlot was beginning to look like a spec in the distance.

"Hey, Rainbow?" you began, attempting to make your voice audible over the wind, "Where exactly are we going?"

"You'll see!" she replied, happily. She all of a sudden seemed a lot more cheerful than she had been a few moments prior. Who knows, maybe the sunset was simply having an effect on her?

Another 5 minutes passed, and you could see Ponyville not far off in the horizon. This wasn't really what you had in mind, but you were willing to see where it went.

Too your surprise, both you and Rainbow flew straight past Ponyville and continued in the direction of a large field. Perhaps you were going somewhere you hadn't seen before.

But then you saw Rainbow's Cloudomonium hovering above the field. The sun had set now, so it was slightly hard to see it with none of the lights on, but it was definitely her house.

What was near her house that she could posssible want to visit?

"Down there!" she exclaimed, swooping down at a high speed. She landed surprisingly softly on a large hill, not that far from her floating cloud house.

You had been here before, and you could recall exactly what for. This was the same hill where you had told Rainbow the truth about your past.

"This is..." you began, but Rainbow was quick to interrupt.

"You remember this place too, huh?" she said, her voice seeming a little sadder than it had done previously.

"Yeah. It's the place where I told you the truth about me," you replied, "How come we've came here?"

Rainbow sat down on the grass, staring off into the distance at nothing in particular. You were surprised she wasn't staring at her own house, taking in all of its awesomeness.

"Because..." she began, letting out a deep sigh, "This place is special to me. This one measly hill."

You weren't quite sure how to respond.

"This hill is special to you?" you repeated, just to make sure you were hearing her correctly. She didn't seem like the type of pony to have a place that meant something to her.

"Yeah, I know. Cheesy, right?" she replied, pretending to sound insulted. Throughout this entire conversation, you hadn't made eye contact once. She still simply stared off into the horizon.

"No, it's not, but... why?" you asked, trying to be careful with what you said. She was clearly upset because of something.

"Because it was where you opened up to me. You told me something that nopony else could ever find out," she explained, "Nopony has ever trusted me with a secret like that before."

You wanted to talk, but you also wanted to see where this was going.

"Sure, I've been trusted with big responsibilities. I mean, I'm awesome! Why wouldn't I? But somepony trusting me with a secret like that, especially somepony as special as you... that really meant a lot." Rainbow explained, briefly making eye contact out of the corner of her eyes.

"There's something bothering you, isn't there?" you asked, as softly as you could. It sounded like she was attempting to explain a happy memory, but another memory was preventing that happiness from showing.

All you got in response was a simple nod of her head as she continued staring off into the distance. You could feel that something was off with her. You could sense it, almost like instinct.
All the courage she usually had was gone.

"Anything that is ever on your mind, you can talk to me about. If it's something that you think might hurt your reputation," as soon as that left your mouth, her ears drooped a little lower. That was one mess up down, who knows how many more to go.
"I will always be here, ok?" you said, placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Thankfully, she didn't seem to mind.

After another brief moment of silence, Rainbow made a move that surprised you. She shuffled closer to you, and lay her head down on your side. Her multicoloured mane felt warm compared to the cold night.

Instinctivel, you felt yourself turn to stone. You liked being this close to her, but at the same time it naturally terrified you.

"Storm... I think I'm jealous." she admitted, staring into the sky despite her head leaning against you. Jealous? What did Rainbow Dash have to be jealous of?

"Of what?" you asked with a soft voice. At this moment, you wanted to be as comforting as possible.

"Of you and... Twilight." she muttered, barely whispering the final word. It was almost inaudible, to the point where you weren't even sure what she said.

"Um... Of what?" you asked again.

Suddenly, Rainbow shot up and stared you straight in the eye, her own eyes filled with worry and... fear.

"I'm jealous of you and Twilight, ok!" she exclaimed. You wanted to ask why, but she was already one step ahead, "I mean, you literally live with her! She knew about your secret before me! No matter how awesome I am, I can't compete against that!"

Once again you were at a loss for words.

"But... What is there to be jealous of?" you asked, still not sure what she was getting at.

"Don't tell me there's nothing going on between you two! Again, you live with her! Why wouldn't there be!" she exclaimed. It also seemed like she was beginning to get frustrated, but the prevailing emotion was fear.
Rainbow Dash was scared.

"Rainbow, you know I've spent more time with you than anypony else since I got here, right?" you reminded her. You could almost see her heart racing, even though it was impossible, "If I liked Twilight like that, wouldn't I have chosen to spend that time with her?"

There was another moment of silence, followed by Rainbow forcefully nuzzling against your side. Despite this, there wasn't a word said by either of you.

The two of you simply sat and watched the stars, with Rainbow leaning against you.

"I guess there's never gonna be a better time for it, huh?" Rainbow said interrupting the silence. You weren't sure what she meant, but a break in the silence was welcome.

"What do you-" you began to ask, but Rainbow cut you off with her own question.

A question that you had always wanted to hear, but never thought possible.

"Storm... Will you be my coltfriend?" she asked, still gazing at the stars. You couldn't respond, as you were a little in shock, "Nevermind, it was a stupid question."

She began shifting, as if about to get up to fly away.

"Yes." you said. Rainbow stopped and turned to look you straight in the eye.

"What?" she asked, as if surprised. You weren't really sure why she was, though.

"Yes. I will be your coltfriend." you repeated with a warm smile.

In an instant, Rainbow wrapped her forelegs around you and pulled you into the tightest hug you had ever experienced. It was nice.

"Thank you." she said, softly. I feel it wasn't for the fact that her head was right next to yours, you wouldn't have even heard her.
You had to admit, for someone as confident as Rainbow Dash, she had an incredibly sensitive side. And that wasn't a bad thing.

After what felt like hours, the two of you finally let go.

"So... What now?" you asked, suddenly taking note of the time.

"Well... You could come stay up at my place for the night?" she suggested. It seemed like she hadn't regained her full confidence just yet, even after that. Hopefully, she would be back to her normal self.

"You mean it?" you asked, unsure of whether she was being serious.

"Yeah, duh! Come on!" she demanded. Despite not having all of her confidence, she was at least making an effort. In the end, that was what was most important.

Either way, you weren't complaining. You couldn't remember a time where you had been happier. And now, you were about to experience what could potentially be...

The best night ever.

Author's Notes:

This is what it's all been building up to...

Well, it's not, but you get what I mean.

The next chapter will be a sex chapter, just as a forewarning. Don't worry though, it won't be too intense, and yes, it will be skippable. If you aren't all that bothered about the sex, or simply don't want it, you can feel free to skip it without any penalty to your understanding of the story

Bonus points to anyone who got the reference in the final line.