Closer

The lack of sleep made her eyes itch. She stood in front of the bright pink door, rocking on her hooves and trying to concentrate.

What do I say? Dash asked herself quietly. I don't even know what I think yet. But... I can't sleep. Not right now.

She inhaled quickly and counted to three, reaching a hoof out and knocking sharply on the door. There was almost a sense of embarrassment as she heard a sudden thump and clatter upstairs, as though she woke someone. Violently.

"Did you think you were at my level? Ha! Wait till I tell all my friends -"

She screwed her eyes shut. Just don't think. This isn't hard. Just don't think.

"Rainbow Dash...?"

She shook herself alert, and snapped her eyes open. "Oh, uh, Mrs. Cake," she replied, losing her train of thought. "I, uh, I... well, I need to talk to Pinkie about something."

"What?" Mrs. Cake asked, rubbing an eye in disbelief. Or tiredness. "Pinkie's asleep. She came back not feeling very well, and I'd rather not disturb her -"

"I-I'm sorry, Mrs. Cake, but this is urgent. Really urgent."

Mrs. Cake looked at her closely for a moment. "... It can't wait until tomorrow -?"

"It has to be right now."

She sighed. "I'll go get her."

The door shut quietly, leaving Dash again alone with her thoughts in darkness. She looked up to the sky, taking another slow breath to calm herself down. It'd been so long - what, four years now? Maybe three? She was trying to forget, but it was just too difficult. Especially now. Pinkie couldn't be the same...

Her eyes darted back to the door when she saw it open, then darted back to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pinkie rub at her eye (probably because she just woke up. Hopefully because she just woke up.)

"Uh..." she began, before her mouth went dry. She'd lost track of the words she'd planned out in her head. Again. "Uh... h-hi, Pinkie." Fantastic.

"Hi." Pinkie was far too quiet. It didn't even sound like her voice anymore.

Dash kicked at the ground lamely, looking over her shoulder and blindly around at the darkened town. "Um, I - I can't sleep," she forced herself to say. "I c-can't stop thinking about... y-you know."

"Yeah."

"I was just... um, you - I don't want to - I -" she stuttered, her personal frustration growing. "I just don't know what to do. I don't want to make the - the wrong decision or anything," she added, still looking away.

"You know... we don't have to do anything."

She looked up slightly, to her forelegs, then, realizing fully what she said, lifted her head. "What?"

"We can just, you know, forget about it. It doesn't need to be anything important. It was just... just an accident."

"But - but, no, no, it wasn't," Dash replied, her voice dropping to a whisper. "It - I don't know, it just wasn't an accident. I can't forget about it." She felt herself hissing and dug a hoof into the dirt in frustration. "I don't want to talk about feelings or whatever, but..." She sighed. "You know, I haven't been in a good relationship."

There was only a shuffling of hooves for a response. "I was always drawn to the wrong ponies, and - it just never worked out." She forced the memories back, and whatever accidental feelings might have come alongside them. "A few years ago," she paused, rubbing at her mane, "I just kind of gave up. I just couldn't take it."

"I - I'm sorry -"

"B-but I... well... do you think we should- could; uh, g-go out sometime?" she asked quickly, looking awkwardly at the ground.

"Dash."

She looked over for a moment, and put her hoof back on the ground, flapping her wings nervously.

"You don't have to," Pinkie replied, with a bit of a smile at the corners of her mouth. "If you don't want to, I mean, you don't have to. Don't feel obligated to do something if, well, you don't feel comfortable with it. It would probably just be easier if you - if you just forgot about everything, and we could both..."

Pinkie's voice drowned out as Dash came to a conclusion that genuinely took her aback. She's doing it for me.

It was true: even in the dim moonlight, she could see Pinkie's eyes sparkling. She was even smiling now, but it was so obviously false. She couldn't fake a smile. Even Pinkie, the most lighthearted pony she knew, was making a tough decision so Dash could be... happy.

That's why they were so close. That's why Dash didn't even think twice earlier in the lake. That's why she was here, now, and that's why she'd been so conflicted.

She tried to hold back a smile of her own. A heat ran through her as she finally felt that unknown terror go away.

"... because we should stay friends, and I don't want something silly to ruin that kind of thing, especially wh -"

"Pinkie."

Pinkie snapped back to attention. "Y-yeah?"

"Shut your mouth for a second."

"Wha -"

Suddenly, Dash couldn't hear anything. Maybe the blood pumping through her head blocked out the sound, or maybe the world was just on pause for a moment. Either way, she was glad. She only wanted to focus one sense on everything.

Dash remembered just how soft she was. How warm. This was a real kiss. Definitely. She raised a hoof to her cheek, almost subconsciously, and ran it down her neck, brushing her mane out of the way. A quiet moan, whether from Pinkie or herself, broke the pseudosilence, and a wave of sounds rushed back to her.

She realized she was almost stepping into the building, and pulled Pinkie outside, shutting the door behind her and leaning her up against it. It was almost a déjà vu when she felt firm hooves on her back, pulling her closer. She hadn't been this close to anypony in too long. Not since...

She pulled away, her eyes snapping open but refusing to focus. A black wave formed in her vision as blood rushed to her head once more. "I'm - I'm - I'm really, really sorry, Pinkie, I shouldn't have done anything - so quickly, and -"

Her thought was interrupted by hooves pulling her back again. "Dashie." She turned back upwards, Pinkie's muzzle suddenly pressed against hers. "It - it's okay."

Dash reached a hoof up, wiping at Pinkie's cheek, where a tear or two was running its way slowly downwards. "You've... got a..."

Pinkie rubbed at her eyes. "S-sorry."

Her eyes closed slowly once more and she felt another kiss, much more gentle, and much more...

Another one, as she felt a hoof land softly on her cheek, drawing her in further. "We - we can 'go out' tomorrow if you want to," Pinkie said in-between kisses.

"Y-yeah," Dash replied quietly, a smile finally finding its way onto her face.