Watching the sunset as the last bits of Celestia’s day give way to the twinkling stars has always been a favorite experience of mine. Something about that gradual transition has always soothed me. Today was different, but not really in a bad way. The experience was better than usual, if anything. The sun painted the clouds with beautiful shades of orange, pink, and purple as I watched. The amazing range of color that stretched out across the sky was as if I was looking deep into an impressionistic painting that deserved to be hung in a fine Canterlot museum. The colors were so broad and yet so limited at the same time that I could easily believe I had somehow fallen inside the painting. However, the wonderful display of color was not the reason the experience was better than usual today.
What made today so wonderful was the fact that she was right next to me. I smiled as a soft sigh escaped my lips without my immediate realization. I let myself lean against her as I nuzzled closer to her while we lied in the grass. She immediately leaned back against my side and let her tail flick comfortably over my backside. Words weren’t necessary; in fact, attempting to say anything in such a moment would probably spoil the serenity.
The sight of the sunset alone was enough to put me at ease whenever I came out to watch the beautiful display, but having her here with me made the moment indescribable. The trip out to watch the shift into night hadn’t been planned, either. We’d made the detour out of town to watch the sunset on a complete whim. Somehow, the unplanned nature enhanced the experience. We weren’t restricted to any schedule, nopony was expecting us anywhere, so we were free to lie here as long as we might like. There was absolutely nothing in the world stopping us from staying here until the stars slowly started to wink into existence, only to let ourselves fall asleep against each other under Luna’s night. The whole experience was easily the perfect way to end a day.
I smiled again as I let my head rest against her so that the side of my muzzle gently met with hers. The only way we could possibly be closer in that moment was if one of us turned and took the other in their hooves. The best part about that wonderful sight, though, was in sharing it. So, I had no desire to do such a thing. The dampness to the ground and the one rock niggling at my rear legs wasn't enough of an annoyance to make me shift positions as long as she stayed right there with me.
I would be hard pressed to say how long we lied there before it happened. Something was different. When I turned my head to look at her, I saw her watching me with a coy smile. I couldn’t help but return the smile as she endeavored to keep it from turning to a grin. I knew that look rather well; it was one of those expressions that didn’t need any words attached. It took some self control to prevent myself from grinning at her as I leaned my face towards hers. I closed my eyes right as I saw hers starting to flutter and then we pressed our faces together affectionately. The kiss started tentative, but after a quick parting moment to breathe, it deepened. Everything else around us seemed to cease to exist in the moment that we kissed. The sounds around me faded away until I could only hear the breath from her nose brushing across my face, the breeze brushing my mane seemed to vanish in the same instant.
The wonderful moment seemed to break as suddenly as it had started. The intimacy was snapped as we both pulled away with curious expressions on our faces. The world came rushing back to me in a swirl of color and noise, but I couldn’t figure out what had caused the interruption. The wind was strangely still and my curiosity was answered when the light sound of drizzle became audible. We turned our heads upwards to glance at the clouds in surprise only to find a line of storm clouds rapidly drifting in from our side.
We both jumped to our hooves without hesitation. I couldn’t help but smile when I glanced at her. She met my gaze and slowly began to mirror my expression. Yet again, there were no words. We turned and dashed towards town in the same moment. It was easy for us to fall into stride next to each other as we went, our bodies never straying much more than half-a-pony's width apart. The sounds of our hooves impacting the soft dirt road steadily turned into a light, splashing sound as the dust and dirt slowly turned to mud. The rain puddled underhoof as we went and, I wasn’t entirely sure why, but my smile turned to a quiet laugh as I reveled in the mad dash through the rain.
I caught her glancing over towards me as we rounded a corner, her look as clear as day. It was that look that she always gave me when she thought I was being a goofball, but was being too nice to vocalize anything. I could tell by the way her left eyebrow arched slightly and the cute way that she nibbled on her lower lip with the slightest shake of her head followed shortly by the smallest hints of a smile. Despite the look, it wasn’t long before I heard her giggling next to me as we ran into town. I laughed a little harder, encouraged by the sounds of her mirth, and turned to grin at her as we continued onward. Before long, we were both dashing through the rain laughing like idiots as the sudden downpour soaked us to the bone. The first few buildings on the edge of town were coming nearer, offering some respite from the unexpected rain.
We found our spot on the outskirts of town under the awning of a corner bookstore. We instinctively huddled together in the small shelter, even as we continued to laugh at each other. I turned my still grinning face towards her as I finally started to calm down, but I couldn’t help myself when I burst into a new fit of laughter at the sight in front of me. Her normally well-groomed, two-toned, orange mane was hanging limply around her shoulders and dripping down her forelegs on the way to the ground. I knew I shouldn’t be laughing, but the pout that she gave me in response made it impossible for me to stop once I had started. She tried to emphasize her expression by quivering her lower lip and attempting to make me feel guilty about it, but I knew her far too well to take it seriously.
She narrowed her eyes dangerously before bursting into a fit of quiet laughter herself. She reached out a hoof to run it through my mane which was in a similar, if not worse, state and tried to suppress her laughter into quiet giggles. Both of us laughing was enough to set the other off even further and soon we shared a long fit of chest shaking laughter. We leaned against each other for support as we laughed loudly and freely. The closeness that resulted seamlessly transitioned into us leaning our faces together to resume the previously interrupted kiss. Even with the feeling of water still dripping down my face, as well as the occasional drop from her mane onto my muzzle, the embrace was wonderful. It seemed to me that it was a lifetime before we pulled away from the deep kiss.
I let out a happy sigh as I gazed at her, but my smile soon turned into yet another laugh at the sight of her completely soaked coat and tail. She wrinkled her snout at me in disapproval before she planted a hoof at my side and playfully shoved me towards the rain. I laughed even louder as I stumbled sideways, attempting to catch my balance before I tumbled into the rain. I barely succeeded in staying upright and stopped right at the edge of the awning to glance up towards the skies. The rain was, if anything, falling even harder now and it didn’t seem likely to stop anytime soon. She stepped up beside me and apologetically nuzzled her face into my neck as she leaned her body up against mine. I only became aware of my own shivering when the heat from her standing so close caused it to stop.
She lowered her head and turned it sideways to rest her muzzle against my forelegs. I smiled and lifted my head to rest my chin across the back of her neck as we huddled close, sharing our warmth with each other. The moment was almost as wonderful as when we had been lying in the grass. With the sounds and smell of the storm all around us, having her so close only added to the amazing sensations.
After what seemed like another lifetime, we both stepped apart and glanced out towards the storm once more. We both turned towards the edge of the awning and, at an unspoken cue, dashed back out into the driving rain. Our pace quickened to a gallop as we rushed through the rain and she drew close to my side. Any parts of us that had managed to escape the prior soaking were immediately drenched when the heavier rain pounded across our backs and flanks as we ran. The familiar streets rushed by in a blur as we rushed onward while fighting the rain that splashed heavily in our faces, making me have to occasionally blink my eyes and shake my head to clear my vision as we ran.
The only sound beside the falling rain, and the echoes of our splashing hooves coming from the buildings around us, was the occasional world-shaking clap of thunder. Our hooffalls were in near unison, hers only landing a breath after mine so that even our hooves echoed each other as we ran through the narrowing streets. The blood that pumped through my temples was an exultation as the storm raged around us and yet another deep crash of thunder shook me to the core. An experience that might have normally been frustrating, getting caught in the sudden storm, was wonderful just because of the simple fact that she was right here beside me. The knowledge that when I finally got home, she would be right there with me, was enough for me to ignore the mud splashing along my legs as we ran.
The puddles grew into what seemed to be ponds as we galloped through the streets and our destination came ever closer. Each turn down the streets brought us both nearer to the warmth and safety of our home and, at the same time, nearer to the end of our shared adventure. It was a bittersweet feeling as we turned in unison down the final street. We were still galloping side-by-side as my flagging muscles were renewed by the sight of the friendly light outside of our doorway. I turned my face to her and smiled at those deep green eyes before I focused my gaze back towards the doorway. We both kicked up our speed and made the final dash together.
We rushed to the safety that only our home could offer, stopping outside the door to huddle close together under the small overhang that our door offered. She drew right up against me and nuzzled her face into my neck once again. Even though we were mere steps from being inside, I could not stop myself from reciprocating the motion and running my face affectionately across the side of her soaked neck. I savored the smell of the storm as I nuzzled her wet coat and a small giggle escaped her lips when she pulled away to see how utterly soaked I was. We broke into yet another fit of laughter as we stared at the sight of each other soaked and covered in mud from our mad dash. We drew close and she rubbed the side of her muzzle against mine as our laughs subsided.
The feeling of her shivering next to me was enough to break me out of the reverie and remind me that we had one final step to go. I chuckled as I fumbled with the doorway and, after a moment of clumsiness, I managed to push it open for her. I stepped aside to let her into the warmth of our home ahead of me. She smiled appreciatively but stopped only a few steps inside to wait with a smile that spread quickly across her face. I grinned back as I made my way inside and pushed the door shut behind me. She immediately reached out with a hoof and pulled me in close. She wrapped her muddy foreleg around my neck and locked lips with me for the third time that night.
The warmth of the embrace and the deep kiss were enough to immediately overtake the annoyance of her rubbing the mud through my mane. The affectionate kiss was enough to drive the chill from my bones, as well. I laughed quietly when the kiss was interrupted by the chattering of my teeth and we had to huddle closer together for warmth. Once the sudden break had passed, I renewed the kiss and pressed even further into it and she welcomed me without hesitation. We were in our house, but I would always be home as long as she was there with me, and with that thought I simply melted into her embrace.
I stirred in bed as I slowly returned to the realm of consciousness. My eyes were stubbornly refusing to open and it took a long struggle to finally force them open. I fought to bring the rest of my body to the waking realm and slowly became aware of the sound of falling rain from all around me. The soft sound of the rain splashing against the nearby window was distinct from the louder pounding on the roof overhead. As I glanced around the room curiously, a growing sense of loneliness welled up inside of me.
I resisted turning over in bed for a long time, afraid to confirm my fears. When I finally rolled over with a grimace, I found that it was, as I thought, sadly empty. The dream that had passed still hung close in my mind and lodged itself deep within my heart. I struggled to cling to it, but the efforts were in vain. I was like a filly desperately trying to trap a pile of sand against her chest with her hooves, but the escaping sand didn’t leave a hole in the filly’s heart like the dream did in mine. I let out a quiet whimper as I tried to hold the images in my mind, but it was all in vain.
It had all seemed so vivid and real which only seemed to make the pain even worse. Even now, as I tried to call the mental imagery back, it was like staring at a faded photograph. I could only see fleeting moments of clarity from within the dream, and the rest was slowly losing its color as it faded from my mind. Even though the details were slowly slipping away, the memory of it affected me so much that I couldn’t possibly let myself forget what had happened.
I ran through the events of the dream in my head as I struggled to put a lid on the escaping memories. The emotions were still clearly there, hanging in the air longer than everything else. I could still feel that wonderful sense of bliss deep within my heart, even as the sadness and sudden loneliness fought to push it away. The details continued to drip away like the rivulets of water that were running down my window, and now all I could recall were the events that I had mentally recited to myself. The dream was the merest shadow of a memory, something I would be able to retell only in the most basic sense. I tried desperately to remember the face that I quite clearly had found so beautiful, but it was in vain.
I clenched my eyes shut for a moment and rolled over in bed in a last bid to try and force myself to remember her face. Neither the dream, nor the moment that it had contained were perfect, but it had been close enough for me. It would be hard to imagine anything better, and with that realization the painful loneliness stole over me once again. The terrible feeling of something irrevocably lost seemed to drain all the warmth from my body and caused me to draw the blankets tighter around me with my hooves.
I was painfully alone. She wasn’t here in bed with me, and she never would be. I wouldn’t be able to just reach out with my hooves and draw her into my grasp in order to ease my aching heart, despite how much I needed it. The only thing I could do was reach out for one of my pillows and grasp it close to my chest. I wrapped my legs tightly around the soft fabric and gently nuzzled the surface with my face. I tried to force myself to focus on the soft pitter-pattering sound of the rain as it fell across the window and the deeper drumming noise as it washed across my roof in waves.
The sound of the rain, and the reminder of the dream that it represented, was more comforting than I would have ever imagined. It created a dull percussion that easily faded into the background, stirring up the emotions from my dream once more. With the rain lulling me back to sleep, it wasn’t that difficult to allow the rest of the world to melt away.
I clutched the pillow closer and forgot about everything beside the object in my hooves and the sound of the rain. I slowly started to drift away, my eyes fluttering a few times as I hovered on the edge of sleep. In that last waking moment, I opened my mouth and whispered out my deepest hope. I let out a murmuring breath to ask Luna that I might be allowed to return to that wonderful, near perfect moment once more.
