"Morning, sleepyhead."
Rainbow smiled and stared in rapt attention as two bright blue eyes slowly fluttered open. They were always the first thing she noticed whenever Pinkie woke up, heck, whenever she saw her at all. No matter how hard the pink pony tried to hide something, those blue eyes gave her away every time.
Spending the night with Pinkie was always cool, but the best part came in the morning. She enjoyed watching her sleep peacefully with only the occasional snort or mewling to throw off her angelic demeanor. Seeing her in the low morning light of her brightly colored room always brought a smile to Rainbow's face.
Pinkie stretched her hooves out as far as they would go as she let out an extremely long yawn. No sooner had the pink pony finished, did she turn and throw her arms around Rainbow’s neck for a quick hug.
“Good morning, Dashie,” Pinkie said, blowing away a lock of her frizzy bedhair.
“Every day is a good morning when I wake up next to you,” Rainbow said, touching her nose to Pinkie’s. She was rewarded with a saccharine laugh as sweet as the cupcakes Pinkie made.
"You've got work today?"
Rainbow nodded. "Mmhm. The sky doesn't take care of itself, ya know?"
Pinkie ran her hoof through Rainbow's long and colorful mane. "I know. On your next day off, we're totally sleeping in."
"Sounds good to me," Rainbow cooed, lost in the soothing feeling of Pinkie playing with her hair.
Rainbow had been trying to find a good way to mention something, but no matter what, it always felt like a bad time. On a morning so beautiful, she didn’t particularly want to mention it, yet time was running out.
"You know… three days from now, it'll be our six month anniversary as marefriends," Rainbow stated.
"Yeah..." Pinkie replied, her face changing to a frown.
"You, uhh... ya got anything planned for it?"
Pinkie looked up at her with blue eyes. This time they spoke a story of sadness, of doubt. "Do we have to talk about this?"
Rainbow sighed. "I guess not. It's just weird that you don't want to talk about it. I kinda thought you would be the first pony to throw a party every week, much less six months."
Pinkie didn't say anything. She buried her head into Rainbow's chest and gripped the pegasus tightly. "I... I do want to... but I can't. We can have a nice quiet anniversary, just the two of us... right?"
"Sure, we can."
Rainbow knew better than to try and resist Pinkie's pleas. She pushed the pink pony off of her gently and tapped her chin. "Hey, I gotta get goin. Smile for me."
Though it was a bit forced at first, Pinkie's frown soon turned into a face-splitting, genuine grin, her bright blue eyes shining happily once again.
"I love you, Dashie. Have fun at work."
Rainbow dropped a peck on Pinkie's forehead and hopped off the bed. "You know me, I work hard, I play hard."
Pinkie giggled and sat up. "Now you're just being silly. I'm gonna start calling you Rainbow Silly Dash."
"You can call me anything you want, as long as marefriend is in there somewhere. See ya later, Pinkie Pie."
"Bye, Dashie!"
The pegasus took off, flying out the open bedroom window and into the Ponyville morning. A slight blush remained on her cheeks as it always did, given the way she and Pinkie talked to each other.
Being sappy is totally worth it for her.
The bright summer sun beamed down on Ponyville. Any cloud that had dared to cast a shadow over the quiet village had fallen to Rainbow's powerful kicks.
Man, I’m beat.
Clearing clouds always gave Rainbow a vicious thirst. It wasn't unusual for her to pound three or more lemonades during her lunch break. As usual, she found herself sitting in her favorite tree within eyeshot of Sugarcube Corner, downing her lemonade. Unfortunately, something else had become routine for her.
Looking around, she saw couples everywhere. She didn't notice them before, or they just didn't stand out. Lately, given her current circumstances, they stuck out like sore thumbs.
She felt so conflicted. On one side, she told herself that she didn't need to be open and sappy with her and Pinkie's relationship. The other side, the one that had been bugging her with nagging doubt, warned that something wasn't right.
I bet I know somepony who could help me with this.
She quickly drained the rest of her lemonade, tossed the cup into a trash can beneath her tree, and took off into the sky.
"Hey, Twilight. I need to talk to you," Rainbow said, barging into the library.
The alicorn seemed more or less engrossed in sorting some books lying in a pile on the ground.
"Hey, Rainbow. What's up?" The alicorn said without looking up.
Rainbow nearly launched into a speech she had been rehearsing for a few weeks now, until she realised that doing so would be going against what she had agreed to with Pinkie. Clearly it would take some clever thinking to get the answers she wanted while still keeping her promise.
"There's, uhhh something I need help with."
Twilight's ears perked up, finally looking away from the books. "Oh? What is it? I hope it's nothing too serious."
"No, no, no. There's a, uhhh, pony on the weather team that needs some advice. See, she's dating somepony, but the pony she's dating doesn't want anypony else to know, and she wants to know why her partner wouldn't want other ponies to know."
Twilight sat up and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. There are lot's of reasons why they might not want to make it public. It could be something as simple as them not wanting to draw attention to themselves, or maybe they're dating somepony else."
"Trust me, they're not worried about attention." Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"Then I would suggest that they follow them and make sure they're being faithfu—"
"Hey!" Rainbow yelled, causing Twilight to jump. "Pinkie isn't a dirty cheater!" Realizing what she had just done, she slapped her hooves over her mouth.
Twilight narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "This isn't about anypony on the weather team at all... well, nopony but you!"
"Please don't tell Pinkie I said anything! She'd lose it for sure!" the pegasus pleaded.
Twilight sat down as her eyes went upwards. "I don't get it. Why would Pinkie Pie be afraid of telling other ponies?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. We can agree that she isn't a cheater though, right?" Rainbow pleaded.
Twilight giggled. "Of course. Besides, I know a pony as observant as you would pick up on something like that. The only thing I can suggest it might be is fear. You should get a straight answer from her."
Rainbow nodded. "I know it’s stupid to let something so small matter so much, but I just can't help it. Please don't tell anypony Pinkie and I are dating! I don't know what she'd do!"
Twilight scoffed. "I won't tell anyone, but really, almost everypony knows. You two are about as subtle as a brick being thrown through a window. You think nopony would notice you leaving Sugarcube Corner early in the morning, or that your house is empty at night?"
Rainbow blushed. "Maybe I haven't been as sneaky as I thought."
"No, you haven't. Now I'd suggest asking her point-blank as to why she doesn't want anypony to know," Twilight said.
"But, you don't understand! She looks at you with these super incredibly sad eyes! How am I supposed to fight that?"
Twilight giggled and lifted several books with her magic. "Wear a blindfold. Now shoo! I've got books to sort."
The pegasus sighed and headed for the door.
"Rainbow?"
"Hmmm?"
Twilight gave her a sympathetic smile. "Good luck. I hope everything ends up okay with you two."
Rainbow returned a half-hearted smile. "Thanks, Twilight."
Rainbow stared at the wall as Pinkie sat on her bed, brushing the long and unruly hair that made up her mane.
"So I said, why don't you just drink the cider instead of pounding it. Applejack started laughing, but never told me what was so funny."
Pinkie had been going on for quite awhile now about her day, but Rainbow was more or less absorbed in her own world. She simply nodded and gave the occasional yeah in reply. She nearly jumped when a hoof touched her.
"Are you okay, Dashie? You seem like you’re lost in your own world," Pinkie pointed out.
Rainbow tried telling herself it wasn't important. She didn't need to go around showing Pinkie off like a gaudy necklace in public.
But the doubt was still there.
"Are you ashamed of me, Pinkie?"
"Huh?" Pinkie's brush fell out of her hooves and clattered on the floor.
"I... I know I'm not the smartest pony around, and I sometimes do stupid things-"
Pinkie jammed a hoof into her mouth. "No, Rainbow, you don't! Why are you saying this silly stuff?"
"I'm just trying to figure out why you don't want anypony to know about us. As dumb as it sounds, I just... I just wanna scream out loud that we're together. I want to trot alongside you, and drop a kiss on you without worrying if somepony is watching. I want everypony from here to Canterlot to know I've got the best marefriend ever. I know you're not sneaking around on me or anything, so it has to be my fault."
Pinkie sighed, her mane falling slightly. "No. It’s mine."
"What do you mean?"
Pinkie laid down and let her legs dangle off the bed. "I'm... afraid."
Rainbow walked over and sat next to her marefriend, taking her hoof. "You were the one who taught us about being brave. What in the world could you be scared of?"
Pinkie reached out to her nightstand and picked up a custom snowglobe she had gotten as a gift from Rainbow. Inside were small figures painted like her and her friends in a snowy backdrop. She gave it a quick shake and held it up to her eyes as the ‘snow’ fluttered about before lowering it and taking a long breath.
“It’s like Twilight says, the party can’t last forever. It just feels like if we tell everyone there’ll be a ticking clock on the wall counting down to when it’ll all be over and you leave me.”
Pinkie raised the snowglobe once more just in time to see the last snowflake drop. Two blue hooves gently took it from her and placed it back on her nightstand.
“Pinkie Pie… there’s no ticking clock. I’m not going anywhere, “ she said, wrapping her wing around the pink mare’s waist.
“But you can’t promise that,” Pinkie protested. She grabbed Rainbow’s feathery appendage and squeezed it like a treasure she never wanted to lose. Tears played at the corner of her eyes.
Rainbow sighed. “You’re right. I can’t promise that. Maybe one day one of us will wake up and suddenly be over the other. Maybe one of us will move or… get hurt. But that isn’t the point.”
Pinkie frowned, her lips and eyes trembling. “What do you mean it isn’t the point? I don’t ever want to lose you!”
Seeing Pinkie so heartbroken nearly cracked Rainbow’s own tough exterior. Whatever she had left with Pinkie that is.
“When you’re throwing a party, do you sit there and stare at the clock?”
Pinkie shook her head. “If I did that, nopony would fill up the punchbowl, or change the music. When you throw a party, you have to have as much fun as the guests.”
“Exactly. If you’re too busy thinking about when it's over, you’ll be too busy to have any fun. Maybe it won’t last forever, but we have to enjoy what we can while we can.”
Pinkie wiped the tears from her eyes and giggled. “Listen to you, Miss Smartypants. I think you’ve been hanging out with Twilight too much.”
“Hmmmm, I think I’ve been hanging out with you too much.”
Pinkie gasped and threw her hooves around Rainbow’s neck and leaned on her shoulders. “Nuh uh! We still have forever to go!”
The pegasus mussed Pinkie’s hair playfully and leaned back letting Pinkie’s head lie on her chest. “Yeah we do, goofball.”
"You mean you all knew?" Pinkie asked incredulously.
Sugarcube Corner had been completely transformed, yet again. This time though, it was for the public announcement, and celebration of Pinkie and Rainbow Dash's six month anniversary.
"Pshh, t'weren't hard to guess what was goin on. Ah'd see Rainbow flying out your window every morning. Didn't take long to guess what was going down," Applejack explained.
"Well, I've certainly seen you two spending much more time together lately, but I never would have guessed you two were dating, much less that it had been going on for six months," Rarity said.
Twilight emptied her punch and placed her cup to the side. "So, why didn't you want to tell anypony you two were dating, Pinkie Pie?"
Pinkie smiled a knowing and wise smile. "Don't worry about it. It's a looong story."
"She thought by announcing it to everypony, we would be jinxing our relationship," Rainbow explained.
"Or maybe it's a short story," Pinkie said in puzzlement.
Everypony laughed, filling the sweet shop in good cheer. Rainbow faux-tackled Pinkie, sending both of them crashing to the ground. "I don't think I'll ever know what makes you tick."
“I’m not a clock, Rainbow." Pinkie looked to the side as her face turned red.
Rainbow smirked at the pony beneath her. "No, but you are the best special somepony anyone could ask for." The pegasus locked her lips with Pinkie's, drinking in the moment, finally free to love each other no matter who might be watching.
"Do y'all two wanna get a room or somethin?" Applejack asked.
Well, almost anyone.
Author's Note
I kinda wanted to do the whole thing where one of them is afraid to tell other ponies that they're dating, but that's been done to death with Rainbow Dash, so I wanted to do it with Pinkie Pie instead.
Also fluff. Lots of fluff.
