Be As One
Their wings sliced through the wind, and the force of their flight pulled on all of their feathers. Exhilaration pumped through the blood of the two ponies, brains high from the flood of hormones. Everything raced past them in a blur, lines of colours melting into each other. One of the ponies brought their companion into focus through squinted eyes. She saw lavender wings pumping as hard as they could – Twilight Sparkle was at the edge of her limit. That was a contrast to her; she had only just started to break a sweat and her cyan wings were beating in fast, broad strokes. But Rainbow Dash knew she could push herself so much further than she was at that moment.
She gazed at Twilight, pondering how wonderful it was to fly with her. The thrill that shot through the daredevil while she flew next to her was different than her usual flight. It was the delightful feeling of sharing your passion with somepony you love. The ecstasy of flight melted in with joy of being with the pony of your dreams. This was topped off with pleasurable pangs that slid down her wings as the tips of blue and purple feathers brushed against each other. Rainbow smiled – she was the happiest pony in the world.
Twilight slowed her flight, panting with laboured breaths. The tired flutters of her wings barely kept her in the sky. Rainbow matched her companion’s pace, stopping when she did. She gazed at Twilight as the princess turned around. Magenta and purple eyes met each other for a brief moment before the purple eyes darted away. A soft, pink blush welled up on Twilight’s cheeks. Warmth spread from Rainbow’s heart, engulfing her whole body. She smiled and brushed her hoof on the alicorn’s face, turning her. Their eyes met and the gaze was held this time.
“Twilight?”
“Yes, Dashie?”
“You’re awesome, don’t ever stop being so cool,” Dash replied. The alicorn smiled at her, bringing both of her forehoofs onto Rainbow’s cheeks. Twilight dragged the daredevil forwards, connecting the two ponies’ lips together. They looked into each other’s eyes as Twilight deepened the kiss. Rainbow’s wings fluttered erratically, waves of excitement rolling off their beats. After a few seconds, the kiss was broken and the princess smirked at her marefriend.
“You liked that, didn’t you?” she asked.
“Y-Yeah…” Rainbow answered, looking down and scratching the back of her head with a hoof.
“Dashie, you want more of that, don’t you?”
Rainbow responded to Twilight by kissing her deeply and embracing her in a mid-flight hug. Her hooves dug into Rainbow’s chest, running through her fur. They adjusted their positions until Twilight was cradled within Rainbow’s forelegs.
“Going to fly me home, dear? You’re so adorable sometimes.” Twilight reached out with a hoof and started playing with Rainbow’s mane. She smiled as she separated the green hairs from the blue ones. The green flowed down her hoof like a waterfall. The mane’s owner scoffed at her.
“I’m too cool to be adorable. You know that… I’m cool, okay?” An uneasy smile crept across Rainbow’s face as Twilight gazed at her and the seconds lengthened. Eventually, Twilight responded.
“Dashie,” she began with a smirk on her face, “You’re adoracool.” Peals of laughter rolled out of Rainbow; she nearly dropped her marefriend in her jubilation.
“It took you that long just to make that joke? You amuse me too much sometimes, Twi.”
“My wit was never good, was it?”
“It’s too adorable!”
“You should probably fly me to your home before you start telling me you love me,” Twilight replied, unable to keep in her mirth any longer. The laughter from the couple rang out loudly in the sky – but it was only heard by the two of them.
“Only if you tell me flying you home is cool,” Rainbow said, ignoring the hot red blush on her face. The alicorn in her forelegs sighed at her.
“You flying me home, holding onto your marefriend, having her snuggle into your chest and her telling you she loves you is cool,” Twilight replied as flatly as she could.
“Say it like you mean it first, my dear Twilight Sparkle.” She leaned her head forward, plucking a loose feather out of the princess’ wings.
“Flying me home is really cool.”
“Say it like you mean it!” Rainbow said again, using the feather to tickle Twilight’s chest.
“Flying marefriends home is super awesomely cool,” she replied through her laughter. Rainbow let the feather go, and it floated through the air towards the ground.
She flew Twilight through the air slowly towards her house. Cradling a princess in her forearms didn’t allow for efficient flight. Regardless, Rainbow did it anyway – it even allowed them to appreciate the view. Twilight gazed at Canterlot as the afternoon sun began to slide down the horizon. She thought it was beautiful. However, Rainbow Dash only looked at the mare she was carrying. The sun created a reddish tint on the edges of her mane and fur. She thought it was beautiful.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Twilight asked.
“Y-Yeah… I guess it is.”
“Dashie?”
“Yes, Twi?”
“I know you didn’t even look at it. You’ve spent your life with your head in the clouds, but you’ve never even looked at this view, have you?” A few seconds passed before Rainbow replied.
“No… no, I haven’t.”
“Take a look, Dashie.”
She reluctantly stopped looking at Twilight and gazed out into the distance. The setting sun burned against the horizon as it prepared to let the night in. Reds, oranges and blues painted the sky, with the distant clouds coloured pastel pink. It was a simple sunset, something that happened every day.
“It’s just a sunset.”
“And you’re just a pegasus. But simple things can be magnificent.”
“I’m not just a pegasus, I’m Rainbow Dash, the coolest flyer in all of Equestria!” Rainbow looked down at Twilight to see her stern look. “But, uh, yeah…” she continued, “Just a…? Um, look Twi, you can fly the rest of the way to my house, so please…”
“What’s wrong, Dashie?” Twilight asked.
“I’m cool, okay? I’d just prefer it if– okay, my forelegs are kinda getting a little bit… tired, so can you just fly the rest of the way like I’d have to?”
“I’m a bookworm, but I know an obvious lie when I see one. Your forelegs aren’t tired. Dashie, will you please tell me what’s wrong?”
“Well I don’t want to carry you anymore, okay, so just leave it at that, princess.”
“You didn’t tell me why, Dash.”
“Buck the why!” Rainbow shouted. She slipped her forelegs away from Twilight. The alicorn plummeted towards the ground. She flapped her wings frantically, attempting to align her body into the correct position for flight. As Twilight rolled herself over, she watched Rainbow Dash fly off leisurely into the distance.
“That silly mare!” Twilight said as she balanced the force of gravity with her flight a few metres above the ground. She flew off towards Rainbow, furiously pumping her wings. “Why can’t she just tell me what’s wrong? And more importantly, why would you drop me like that!?” Twilight yelled. Since the pegasus wasn’t flying with any gusto, Twilight quickly caught up to her.
“I dropped you because you were too heavy.”
“Tell me the truth.”
“I dropped you because– don’t you believe me?”
“I spotted no signs that you were physically fatigued, Dashie.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“I do trust you, Rainbow Dash… but you’ve often bended the truth to avoid–”
“You don’t trust me.”
“Rainbow Dash! You’re being silly – you can tell me anything, I won’t hate you, or judge you about anything.”
“Yet I’m ‘just a pegasus’ to you! You even told me just before.”
“Dashie… that’s not what I meant, I–” Twilight said. Rainbow Dash scoffed at her.
“I’m not just a pegasus. I thought you, of all ponies, Twi, would know that.”
“I-I’m sorry, Dashie. I meant that beauty can be found in simple things–”
“I am not simple!” Rainbow cried. She took off with a flick of her wings, the rainbow streak of her trail stood out in the twilight. Watching the rainbow fade from the sky at the time of day she was named after made something crack.
“What… did I do wrong?” Twilight asked the nothingness in front of her. She turned around and flew down towards the library. Her heart sunk with her as she approached the ground. “How can I fix this?” The sky didn’t answer the emotional pony. She noticed the tears that streaked down her face as she flew, but did nothing about them. Sadness welled up from her heart, wracking her whole body. She did nothing about this, too. Twilight absentmindedly flew through the window of the library to her room when she arrived. She landed on her bed and the memories of Rainbow using the window as her way of arriving broke her.
*
Rainbow Dash tore through the sky. She felt several of her feathers ripping painfully out of her body, and the hair of her tail and mane were being pulled forcefully. The pain was a blissful distraction to her emotional troubles. She moved one of her forelegs so it was horizontal to her flight path. The sudden movement jerked at Rainbow’s foreleg, agony lancing through it and in the socket connecting it to her shoulder. She screamed and accepted the pain, bringing her other foreleg out in the same way. In this way, she flew towards her house. When the pegasus arrived, she allowed her broken body to crash-land into the soft clouds.
“Why do I do this to myself?” Rainbow asked the clouds rhetorically. She closed her eyes and allowed the black void to comfort her. “I’m such a blockhead sometimes… I know she didn’t mean the things she said like that. I lashed out at her anyway… Twi, I’m such an idiot.” The dull aches from the pain and cold lulled Rainbow Dash into a fitful slumber.
“Twilight, I’m sorry!”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it sometimes, Rainbow Dash. Sorry doesn’t erase the things you have done. It’s over.”
“Twilight, no! It can’t be, I-I-I love you.”
“It can be, and it is.”
“No!”
Rainbow awoke with her heart thumping against her sides, and the cold seeping into her fur. She groaned as she began shivering. Her legs wobbled as she lifted herself up. The moonlight highlighted the edges of Rainbow’s fur and the clouds. The hour was fairly late, indicated by the full moon hanging in the last half of the sky. A cool gust bit through her fur, numbing Rainbow’s extremities. She gazed in the direction of Twilight’s house, reminiscing.
Earlier in the day, the couple were having fun. Rainbow Dash held her beautiful marefriend in her forearms, and she gazed at her lovingly. They were bantering back and forth, until Twilight decided to get romantic and mention the sunset. That’s when she said those four words. She didn’t realise how much those four words hurt Rainbow.
“…you’re just a pegasus…” Rainbow Dash’s mind didn’t process anything else that Twilight had said. You’re just a pegasus. The words that were said to her by her parents, they didn’t believe she could become a Wonderbolt.
“You’re just a pegasus, Rainbow Dash. You’re normal like the rest of us, just an average flier. You should train for a weather job, it’s stable and ponies will always need the weather.” She remembered her mother’s words – she had meant well for Dash, but the way she said it cut through her daughter like a lance.
“You’re an ordinary pegasus,” Rainbow’s father said, “I know you like the Wonderbolts, but they only recruit top fliers. Just make sure you have a backup plan in case you don’t make the grade, alright?” Her father was encouraging her to plan ahead. The young filly didn’t see it at the time and it had hurt her more than she let on. The absence of parental support became a thorn in her side – it was inhibiting her dreams. Rainbow Dash never wanted to be seen as an ordinary pegasus ever again.
Her instinctive bravado kicked in instantly as she responded to Twilight. “I’m not just a pegasus, I’m Rainbow Dash, the coolest flyer in all of Equestria!” She looked down to Twilight to see her response. Rainbow knew that she saw through the façade that she showed the public. “But, uh, yeah…” she continued, “Just a…?” Rainbow caught her words as she realised what she was about to say. “Um, look Twi, you can fly the rest of the way to my house, so please…”
Rainbow’s mind wandered through the rest of their argument. She replayed the way that attempting to cover up the real reason for her dismay became this dirty mess. Two tears pushed their way out of her eyes. Twilight didn’t deserve to be treated like that; she deserved an apology, and that was what she was going to get. The pegasus took off, heading towards the library. She didn’t care about the late hour, or the way her body ached.
After a few minutes of flying, Rainbow Dash was at the library. She peeked through the wide open window. The mare of her dreams was splayed out on the bed. Her fur was a mess, her mane was wildly flayed out in all directions and her primaries were crumpled and broken. Rainbow heard a light sob escape Twilight. With a burst of cyan wings, Rainbow rocketed herself towards her marefriend. She crashed onto the bed heavily, causing Twilight to leap out of bed. The alicorn was barely standing on the floor of her room. She panted heavily, her eyes bloodshot and exhausted.
“Twilight, I… I’m not good at this kind of thing, okay?”
Twilight stared at her warily for a few seconds.
“I,” Rainbow Dash began, “I-I’m sorry, Twi. I blew up at you because of something silly, and-”
Twilight smiled for the first time that night. “Dash, it’s ok. You didn’t do anything wrong, it’s my fault for-”
“No, Twilight. It’s not your fault. You were just wondering what was wrong. I let my ego get in the way of our relationship. I’m sorry.”
The alicorn trotted up to the bed and got into its warm blankets. “Apology accepted. You don’t need to tell me anything else. I was so worried that I had said or done something wrong – look at how messy my mane is.” Twilight laughed. “Let’s just cuddle, alright?”
“That’s so uncool. Only for you, Twi.”
The two mares cuddled up to each other in the bed. They wrapped their wings and forelegs onto each other, sharing their warmth. In their comfortable position, they stared into each other’s greyscale eyes, the true colours hidden by the faintness of the moonlight. Regardless, the couple admired each other’s beauty. Like this, they lay for many minutes, until Twilight spoke.
“Dashie?”
“Yes, Twi?”
“Can you tell me why you got angry at me before?”
“I, uh…”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Twilight said, kissing Rainbow’s lips for a brief moment.
“I’ll tell you. We only got into tonight’s mess because I didn’t. You said I was ‘just a pegasus.’ Those words hurt me, Twi.”
Twilight buried her head into Rainbow’s neck. “I’m so sorry, Rainbow. If I knew that would hurt you I would have never said it.” The pegasus felt her neck dampen; she squeezed Twilight as she realised why.
“It’s ok,” Rainbow said before kissing Twilight’s mane. “It’s just what the ponies who didn’t believe in me said to me.”
“I believe in you, Rainbow Dash. Never forget that there will always be a pony who does.”
“Thanks Twi, I won’t.”
The couple dozed off in each other’s arms, slipping into a peaceful sleep together.
Author's Note
Hey guys, I finally got a whole story done, after abandoning quite a few stories in the half-completed stage. Tell me what you think of it below, and point out any mistakes, please!
Accept the Twidash, and the ridiculous amount of dialogue. You know you like it.
