"The Homecoming"

Note: This is set in the same continuity as "The Letter" and "The Sign."

Pinkie Pie’s ears perked up as she heard the tell-tale jingle of Sugarcube Corner’s front door bell. It was five minutes until closing time, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake had already gone home for the day, so the young baker was in the back of the kitchen alone, washing pans and bowls, spoons and spatulas. With a grin, she tossed aside her dishrag and trotted out of the kitchen, ready and eager to greet her last-minute customer.

She froze as soon as she stepped through the kitchen doors.

There, not ten feet away, quite impossibly, stood Rainbow Dash. The newly-minted Wonderbolt was resplendent in her blue and gold uniform, with her flight goggles perched atop her head. She was panting a little--from the exertions of flying, Pinkie guessed--but a huge grin remained firmly on her face.

It took Pinkie a few seconds to be able to squeak out, in a soft, surprised voice, “D-Dashie?”

“Heya, Pinks.” The pegasus’ smile wavered, just a bit. She shifted her weight, and her uniform pulled tight across her chest in a way that sent Pinkie’s heart racing even faster than it already was. “Um. Yeah. Hope it’s okay that I came to visit without lettin’ ya know I was gonna be--”

Pinkie let out a whoop and leapt forward, tackling Rainbow to the floor of the bakery. She buried her face into Dash’s mane and breathed in the achingly familiar scent of rain and sky. Dash let out a laugh, and a moment later, Pinkie felt a foreleg wrap around her shoulders.

When the earth pony pulled back, she wore a smile that stretched from ear to ear. “Rainbow Dash! You’re you! You’re real! I mean, you’re really here!”

“Heh, yeah, ‘course I’m real. Who else would have this awesome, flowing mane?”

“But …” Suddenly Pinkie frowned. “But I thought you were supposed to be in Fillydelphia, doing a show with the Wonderbolts?”

Rainbow Dash hesitated before replying, “Uh, yeah, I was. And I did do the show.” She reached up and ran a hoof through her multi-colored mane, brushing the hair from her eyes. “But then after the show, I was thinkin’ about you--I mean, about all of you, about Ponyville, y’know?--and I saw this rainbow …”

“A rainbow?” Pinkie leaned back and sat on her haunches. “You saw a rainbow and … and you thought about me?”

Dash’s eyes darted to the side. “Kinda. Yeah. Truth is, I’ve been thinking about you a lot, Pinkie, since I left. Since … since we broke up.”

Pinkie sat quietly as Rainbow picked herself off the ground and brushed off her uniform. Still the earth pony’s heart hammered in her chest, a wild polka beat that made her want to sing and dance, and it was too much. Too intense. It had been three months since she’d set eyes upon that wonderful, mischievous grin that promised adventure or upon those beautiful magenta eyes that sparkled with zest and joy, and it was entirely too much.

Pinkie Pie grabbed Rainbow Dash’s face between her forehooves and kissed her. She kissed Rainbow Dash as hard and as long as she could, desperately drinking in the taste and smell and feel of the pegasus, savoring each bit of Dash as she might savor her very last meal on Earth. Finally, reluctantly, Pinkie broke the kiss--and only then did so in order to gulp down a few lungfuls of badly-needed air.

Once she’d caught her breath a bit, she blurted out, “I don’t wanna be just-friends, Dashie.”

Rainbow nodded. “I … I don’t wanna be just-friends either.” She leaned forward and rested her head against Pinkie’s own. “But what about all that stuff you said? About how we’d both forget how to smile and everything if one of us moved or if we tried to do the whole long-distance thing?”

Pinkie thought that over. It was a valid question, she had to admit. But what she finally said in reply was, “I don’t care.” She gave the other pony’s cheek a nuzzle. “I need you, Rainbow Dash. I love you, and I need you, and I wanna be with you.”

“Oh, Pinkie Pie …” Rainbow kissed her, quickly and fiercely, and the kiss was only slightly less desperate than their first. “So, what now? What do we do?”

Pinkie grinned. “That depends. How fast can you fly us to Las Pegasus?”

“To Las Pegasus? Why would we go to--” Dash’s jaw dropped open, and her eyes went wide. After a second or two of speechlessness, she managed to sputter, “Are you … are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

Pinkie Pie nodded.

The last three months had been harder than she’d ever imagined they would, or could, be … and she’d imagined they’d be pretty hard. The girls had done what they could to cheer her up, and she was even happy, actually and honestly happy, a lot of the time. But every night that empty ache would take over her chest, and every night she’d dream about a beautiful rainbow mane that framed lovely, flashing eyes. And now that those eyes were back, right in front of her--now that she could see and hear and hold her beloved pegasus--Pinkie knew that she never wanted to let go again.

And she wouldn’t. Not until and not unless Rainbow Dash made her.

Slowly, almost as slowly as the sun rising in the morning, the pegasus smiled back at her. “Well, if that’s what you’re asking …” She paused and gave a wink. “I bet I can get us there in about ten seconds flat.”

It turned out to take them a bit longer than ten seconds to fly all the way out to Las Pegasus, but Pinkie couldn’t deny that Rainbow flew faster than seemed within the boundaries of either physics or physiology. But then, again, her Dashie always did perform best when she had the proper motivation.

THE END

Author's Notes: This was adapted from a piece I wrote for a TMP writing prompt, "Pinkie Pie’s peculiar proposal."