If Wishes Were Pegasi

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12

Chapter 1

Gazing up into the late afternoon sky as you saunter through the town square, your eyes search in vain for something you know you're not likely to see today. Another beautiful day in Ponyville, you think to yourself with a sigh. Not a cloud in the sky, and it's supposed to be clear and sunny all week. How terribly disappointing. It means that your chances of seeing her are slim to none, at least for the next few days. You quickly lose yourself in daydreaming, you can't help but to think back to the very first time you saw her.

* * *

You remember your first day in Ponyville, watching a rainbow colored beam of light split the sky, zigzagging in so many directions you're lucky your neck didn't snap trying to keep up with it, clouds bursting into nothingness every time the prismatic streak made a sudden break for another direction at a seemingly impossible angle. To your amazement, the entire dreary sky was cleared in ten seconds flat.

When the dizzying array of colorful contrails finally came to an end, you caught your first glimpse of its creator; a beautiful light blue pegasus pony who stopped to hover for a moment, shaking a few stray locks of chromatic mane from her face to admire her handiwork. Even though there was a great distance between the two of you, her face wasn't obscured in the slightest; dazzling amethyst eyes set beneath furrowed brows, a satisfied smirk across her muzzle, her entire countenance oozing with confidence and attitude.

Your jaw dropped and your heart leaped, never before had you gazed upon such exquisiteness. You were so entranced you didn't notice the apple cart you were walking toward, crashing into it and falling over the orange pony that was peddling her wares there in an undignified heap.

"Tarnation!" the annoyed pony yelled out. "Why don'cha watch where yer goin? Some ponies are tryin' ta make a livin' here!"

Horribly embarrassed, you hastily apologized.

"I'm terribly sorry, I guess I was distracted," you said as you helped her pick up the various apple-based goods you had so carelessly knocked all over the place.

"What were ya so distracted by anyway?" the blond maned mare asked with a raised eyebrow before noticing your attention was already once again locked on the sky, and that you were completely spellbound. "Ah see."

"Who... who is that magnificent pony?" you asked as you watched her fly out of sight.

The curious look on Applejack's face became even more distorted.

"Rainbow Dash? Magnificent?" she began, pausing to emphasize each word. "Well, I suppose if ya asked her she'd agree with ya. Pony's got an ego the size a..." she stopped herself seeing that you were clearly paying no attention to a single word she was saying. Applejack closed her eyes and sighed while shaking her head.

"Rainbow... Dash..." you repeated slowly like an awestruck colt who'd just seen Celestia raise the sun for the very first time, your jaw still hanging open.

"If ya don't shut that trap uh yers, yer gonna start catchin' flies..." Applejack muttered.

You shook your head and pulled your heart back down from orbit before turning back to the orange pony.

"Sorry again for running into your cart like that. Here, let me buy something for causing you so much trouble." You tossed some coins from your saddlebag onto the cart and grabbed an apple before taking off.

* * *

After that day you were determined to get to know as much as you could about that heart-stopping pegasus. In the weeks that followed, you managed to scavenge a little bit of information here and there from the ponies around Ponyville about her, but nothing terribly substantial or interesting. That is, until today.

After spending the bulk of the day thinking so much about the target of your obsessions, you begin to crave something sweet. While casually perusing the local confectionery you run into a peculiar crazy-maned pink pony who could fill an encyclopedia with everything she tells you about Rainbow Dash. You find yourself completely immersed in the tales she spins, soaking it all in like a sponge, until suddenly the pink pony gets a huge grin on her face and gasps.

"Hey! Would you like to meet Rainbow Dash? Because me and Rainbow Dash are totally really good super duper awesome friends and I think it would be totally neat for her to make a new friend like you who is so interested in hearing about her, she sure does like to talk about herself and with someone like you to sit and listen I bet she'd go on and on and on and on and on and on without ever stopping like this one time whenmeandRainbowDashwere..."

You can't concentrate on the pink pony's rambling anymore. It all turns to background noise as you mull over the possibility of actually meeting the glorious pegasus pony that invaded not only every waking moment of your thoughts, but also every dream you’ve had since first laying eyes upon her.

“...and that was when I said ‘silly Dashie, I warned you about that oatmeal!’ So how about it, do ya wanna meet her? Well doya doya doya doya doya?” The irrepressible pony now bouncing in circles around you spouts.

“Well… yes… I think I would like that very much,” you say with a nervous chuckle and grin.

"Great!" Pinkie Pie practically explodes. "Oh Dashieeeee!"

You are almost knocked off your hooves by those words. Surely she didn't mean right n...

"Sup Pinks?" you hear as you see a light blue blur from the corner of your eye followed immediately by a rainbow mane and tail. The mare hovers over the side of the stairs behind you rather than walking down them and plops down next to the pink pony, looking at you with a grin.

"Ooooooh, who's your new colt friend here? Don't think I've seen him around here before," she says with a wink. "Pinkie Pie, you fox! Is there somethin’ goin on here between you and this guy you wanna tell me about?" she says with an impish grin.

The pink pony, apparently completely used to this kind of banter, replies with a response that sends you skyrocketing out of your comfort zone.

"Pffftt..." Pinkie Pie sticks out her tongue and gives a raspberry, rolling her eyes, "nothing like that at all Dash, but he sure does seem interested in you!" she says teasingly. "I've been telling him just every single eensy weensy teeny tiny little detail about you and he just sat here with a big dopey smile on his face nodding the whole time, and he just beeegggged me to introduce you to him!"

You become as pale as a sheet.

"Uh... that's... that's not exactly how it happened..." you stutter as though the emotion of embarrassment coalesced into a physical entity that has its clutches wrapped around your throat, preventing words from forming properly.

"Don't worry about it," Dash laughs, "if I were you I'd be just as nervous about meeting someone as awesome as me, too," she says, breathing on a front hoof she has dangling in the air and rubbing it on her chest as though polishing it. She has that same smirk on her face that you’ve seen before, not even bothering to look in your direction.

"Hey, I got a great idea," the dreamy pegasus pony's eyes light up as she looks right at you, "I was just about to go practice flying, you can watch if you want. But I gotta warn ya, not everypony can handle so much coolness in one dose, so it's at your own risk," she says, giving you a quick wink before turning to Pinkie Pie. "Wanna come with, Pinkie?"

"Aww I wish I could Dashie but I gotta watch the store. Maybe I can meet up with you and your new booooooyfrieeend later! Teehehehee!" She replies, giggling uncontrollably with her eyes closed and a hoof over her mouth.

Dash just rolls her eyes and nervously chuckles, and you think you see a hint of a blush on her face. "Okay Pinks, see ya later."

As you and Dash make your way out of Sugarcube Corner, you could swear the pink pony winks at you as you look back over your shoulder. You wonder idly to yourself if she had somehow sensed your massive crush on Rainbow Dash the whole time.

"Sorry about Pinkie," Dash apologizes as you two walk down a path leading out of town. "she can be so... random sometimes."

"Oh it's okay,” you reply, forcing a nervous smile. “I've met ponies like her before. They're wildly unpredictable, but they sure can be a lot of fun!"

Rainbow Dash stopped for just a moment, seeming completely perplexed that anypony could even come close to Pinkie Pie's level of spontaneity and energy. She shook the thought off and kept walking. After travelling for several more minutes, Rainbow Dash stops and turns to you.

"Here we are!" She announces when you arrive at a clearing just on the edge of town. "So, what do you wanna see first? The filly flash? The super-speed strut?" She asks, that confident, furrow-browed, smirking look on her face quickly replacing the one of slight embarrassment that had been there minutes earlier. You sit on your haunches.

"I wanna see everything. Give me all you got, don't hold anything back!" you say with giddy anticipation.

The ever-eager-to-show-off pegasus pony smiles and says "You got it, pal. Brace yourself because you're about to be blooown awayyyy!"

Rainbow Dash immediately takes flight and dazzles you with an aerial display that, quite frankly, you think would put the Wonderbolts to shame. Your eyes are locked on her the entire time, your jaw hanging open in awe. After nearly an hour of showing off all her best moves, the rainbow maned pegasus begins to tire.

"And now," she yells down to you, breathing heavily, "now you get to witness the most spectacular thing ever beheld by pony eyes, the sonic rainboom!"

You feel your heart pound with excitement, you've heard of the sonic rainboom before, but you always thought it was just an old mare's tale. Rainbow Dash shoots up into the sky, flying so high you lose sight of her amidst the clouds. Moments later, all you can see is a colorful blur travelling at incredible speed toward the ground. As she nears the velocity required to pull off her stunt, you hear a somewhat muffled boom! But this was definitely no sonic rainboom.

You immediately see that Rainbow Dash has lost control of her vector of descent and is spinning wildly toward the ground at a wide angle from the path she was previously on, as though striking some unseen force-field.

"Dash!" you yell out in fear. Without hesitation you jump to your hooves and gallop as hard and fast as you can to the spot she's falling toward. She'll be hitting the ground any moment now, and you can tell that she’s unable to regain control and pull herself out of the dive she’s in, though she’s trying hard. Determined to break her fall even if it kills you, you gallop even harder. Pushing your body to its limits as you run, a fine mist of blood forms at your nostrils as some of the alveoli in your lungs rupture under the strain of trying to supply the maxed-out muscles in your body with oxygen.

All at once, you feel the full weight of Rainbow Dash come crashing down onto you like an Ursa Major, you hear her let out a loud yelp of pain and both of you tumble head over hoof for several yards before finally skidding to a stop. You're dazed for several moments. When you finally come to your senses, you immediately scramble to your hooves and run over to Rainbow Dash, who is still lying motionless on the ground. You lift up a front hoof and gingerly shake her.

"Dash... Dash?" you whisper. No answer. "Dash... come on Dash, get up... please get up..." your voice gets louder but wavers a bit, tears forming at the corners of your eyes. You know she's in a bad way. "Dash!" you finally scream at the top of your lungs, shaking her as hard as you can.

She moans a bit and tries to roll over, but instantly grits her teeth and grumbles in pain when her left wing touches the ground.

"Ow! Uh... I mean..." she coughs, and forces herself up off the ground. An intensely relieved sigh escapes your lips as you choke back happy tears. She’s alive and in one piece, and that’s all that matters to you. As she stands up though, you see her left wing is noticeably sagging. She tries to move it and immediately falls back to the ground, her face contorted in pain. You immediately rush over to her side to try to help her up. She quickly and violently unfurls her good wing, knocking you flat on your back.

"Back off!" she yells, "I’m fine, no thanks to you!" She grunts, grits her teeth and stands back up, limping away from you. "Stupid earth pony, what were you thinking!? I would have stuck that landing if it weren't for you!" Her words sting you worse than a swarm of angry hornets. "Ow!" she squeaks before falling down. You rush over to catch her but again she pushes you away. "I said back off!" She knocks you onto your back for a second time.

You feel helpless and guilty. You never meant for any of this to happen, you were just so excited that Rainbow Dash was paying attention to you and showing off for you. You couldn't have predicted anything like this. As much physical pain as you are in from the impact, and as much emotional pain as you are suffering from her completely blaming you, you still insist on helping her. Seeing her start to stumble again as she walks away from you, you run up to her again, this time from behind, prepared to catch her.

"Back..." she yells through gritted teeth as she puts all her weight onto her front hooves, "off!" and in one fluid motion, kicks you with her back hooves as hard as she can, sending you flying. It's a brutal kick, and it connects squarely with your chest, immediately causing searing pain to shoot through your body as you tumble backward away from her, almost as hard as you had when she landed on you.

You lay on the ground, utterly defeated. Any chance you had at being with Dash is surely gone at this point. Your ears fold flat against your head at the thought. You make no attempt to stand back up. Closing your eyes, you stifle soft sobs as tears stream freely down your face. You can't even bring yourself to look at her. After laying there for what seems like an eternity, you feel a gentle nudge on your shoulder.

"Hey... hey..." a familiar voice says softly with each nudge. You roll over and to your surprise, Rainbow Dash is standing over you. "I'm... I'm sorry for snapping at you like that..." she says. She helps you to stand back up, and you see an unmistakable expression of regret on her face as she looks away from you, her left wing still drooping slightly.

"I... I can't fly anywhere like this... and... I guess... well, I guess I'd appreciate a little help right now," she forces a smile.

You look her in the eyes, sniffling a bit as you wipe the tears from your cheeks.

"My place isn't too far from here, that would probably be the easiest place to make it to with us both being hurt," you reply.

Rainbow Dash's front legs suddenly give out on her again. She's weak and exhausted. This time you catch her though, and there is no resistance. She smiles warmly at you as you place one of her front hooves over your neck and shoulder, lean down, and in one quick motion throwing all of your strength into it, pull her up onto your back. She's heavier than she looks, and you feel your legs shake as you make a few uneasy, wobbly steps toward your home.

"Are... are you sure you want to do this? Really... I think I can walk if you just..." Rainbow Dash says weakly.

"I insist," you snort, digging down deep and forcing your battered body to find the strength to continue. With a bit of renewed determination you trudge forward, step by step toward your home.

Almost an hour later you arrive at your home. Dash is fast asleep lying on your back, which is perfectly fine with you. You push the front door open, and gingerly lay her on your sofa. She stirs ever so slightly, but remains asleep. You softly nuzzle her left wing, and feel intense heat coming off of it just above where it meets her back. She moans a bit and winces in her sleep, obviously the wing still being a bit painful to the touch.

Rummaging through your kitchen, you find a jar of salve that you use when you get muscle aches. You scoop some out onto your hoof and gently massage it into her left wing where it hurts. Dash moans a little bit again, but this time it’s more of a contented moan as the cooling action of the salve takes effect. She shivers a little bit and you notice your door is still standing wide open. The sun is beginning to set and a cool breeze is making its way into your home, chilling the indescribably beautiful creature that was now curled up asleep on your couch. You walk over and shut the door, but notice she is still shivering.

You're exhausted as well, and you climb up onto the couch next to her, providing warmth with your body. She stops shivering a few minutes later and you drift off to sleep once you’re satisfied that she’s comfortable.

You are awakened from your blissful slumber by an angry voice in the middle of the night.

"WHAT THE HAY!?" Rainbow Dash yells as she jumps up from the couch, the sudden absence of a body to lean against causing you to roll onto the floor to a rude awakening with an “Oomph!”

"Just what EXACTLY do you think you're doing there, bub?" her eyes are daggers as she stares at you.

"Uh... well... I..." you stutter.

Her wings unfurl and she stomps a front hoof, glaring at you angrily.

"If you think you can just..." she stops mid-sentence, and the intensity of her scowl decreases, if only a bit. "...hey, my wing, it feels a LOT better..."

"Yeah... when we got here, you were already asleep... and... well... you see I have this salve that I use when I get sore muscles... and I put some on your wing to see if it would help... and then... you started shivering from the cold... and... I was too tired to go upstairs for a blanket... so I tried to keep you warm..." you try to explain.

Dash's expression lightens, and she looks away from you.

"Oh... well... uh... thanks I guess..." she mumbles. She sits on her haunches, still looking away from you, and nervously rubs the back of her neck with a forehoof. "Hey... about earlier, I really am sorry for blaming you... it wasn't your fault" she says. She has a certain air of vulnerability about her, far from the confident pony with attitude you've become accustomed to. "I... I don't admit this to many ponies... but... well, the Sonic Rain Boom isn't something I've gotten down to an exact science yet. I've only managed to actually do it twice, and both times were because I was feeling some pretty extreme emotions gave me the edge I needed to push myself over the threshold"

There is a brief period of awkward silence.

"I guess... I guess I'm not really as awesome as I make myself out to be sometimes... I... hope you're not disappointed" she continues. You see a tiny droplet of moisture run down her cheek even as she turns away from you to hide her tears. After all, nopony had ever seen the awesome Rainbow Dash cry before. You swallow a lump in your throat and cautiously approach her. You gently nuzzle her cheek from behind. Her whole body jumps, and you fear she may become defensive again, but to your surprise you feel a tiny bit of her tension release.

"I know we only just met... but... I still think you're awesome," you whisper into her ear.

She turns to look at you, her face completely unreadable, you have no idea what emotions she's going to express. You look deep into those irresistible amethyst eyes, which are shimmering from Luna's pale moonlight making its way through a nearby window, and from the tears which coat their surface, accentuating that moonlight.

It's now or never.

You take a forehoof and carefully, gently brush away a few stray hairs of that beautiful multi-colored mane hanging down over her face. You close your eyes and lean in closer, your lips almost touching, feeling her soft breath against the tip of your muzzle. You stop about 90% of the way there, and pause for a moment. You almost back away thinking she's not going to reciprocate, when suddenly Rainbow Dash wraps a hoof behind your head, pulling you close to her, your lips meeting, her sweet breath cascading over your muzzle between each kiss. You rub your cheeks together in the brief moments your lips aren't locked and can feel the wetness from tears rolling down her cheeks, but that doesn't matter now.

Her kisses become increasingly intense, until finally she pulls away from you, looking into your eyes longingly, slowly backing toward the big comfortable couch you had both been sharing only minutes earlier. She reaches for you and pulls you down and backward with her onto the couch.

You're on top of her now, and you continue the kissing, eliciting pleasured moans from this light blue goddess, and almost can't believe what's happening. You're completely overcome with passion, and let your tongue meander into her mouth, rubbing every part of her body you could reach as you kissed. Her tongue meets yours in kind, and you take turns exploring each others mouths, savoring the sweet taste as they felt as though they’d become tied up in knots. You notice her wings, both of them, are slightly unfurled.

You pull away and kiss her neck, occasionally nipping playfully at it. She leans her head back and moans softly, her eyes closed, her breaths coming slightly more rapidly. In one fluid motion you let your tongue poke out and lick from her neck all the way up the side of her face, to her ear which you intently blow a soft, warm breath onto, causing it to twitch and eliciting a full-body quiver from the beautiful-beyond-words Rainbow Dash, whose wings have become even more spread.

You kiss your way back down her neck, still playfully nipping, causing a couple of uncharacteristic giggles from Rainbow Dash in a few spots where she must be ticklish, committing those locations to memory for next time.

You rub her chest and kiss it, feeling it heave with every breath she takes. You make your way to where her right front leg meets her body, wrap your hooves around it and deeply massage it, your lover cooing in delight as you work out the tension in the muscles all the way down to her hoof. You gingerly rub her hoof, drawing little hearts on it with the tip of your own, surprisingly eliciting another giggle from Rainbow Dash, somewhat surprised that her hooves are so sensitive. She shifts positions and stretches a little, moaning and humming with delight as you repeat the same process with her other front hoof, her wings fully extended and flaring at this point. You wonder just how sensitive they are.

You reach forward with both your forehooves and gently rub both of Dash’s wings while kissing her belly and blowing hot breaths onto it, prompting squeals of surprise from her at first which quickly turn into loud, passionate moans as you continue rubbing even harder, and start to gently lap at her belly with your tongue, wandering lower... and lower...

You wonder if you are coming too close to her nether regions, but she offers no resistance at all and seems to be enjoying herself immensely. You rub the inside and outside of her left thigh, massaging it with the same intricate skill you had employed for her forelegs, all the way up to the tip of each back hoof, feeling your beautiful lover shudder with desire the entire time.

You gently slide yourself back up next to her and whisper into her ear, "turn over onto your belly..." your words carried on a slow, hot breath.

She does as you ask, her wings still splayed far apart. You bury your face into the spot on her back where they meet and breath deeply into it, letting your warm breath become absorbed into her fur. She gasps slightly, and you bring your front hooves forward to gently press down into the same spot, working it firmly but gently.

The pegasus' moans are almost deafening at this point and her entire body is shaking with intense pleasure. You massage, lick, kiss, and caress her back all the way down to her croup, but that's as far as you go. There will be plenty of time for that area a bit further down on her body later on if everything works out, you remind yourself. You don't want her to think you're taking advantage of her, after all.

You work your way back up her back to her wings, remembering how intensely she had responded to you touching them before. You begin stroking them rhythmically. Slowly and gently at first, but gradually putting on more and more pressure. The pegasus' body bucks violently underneath you as she spasms with intense pleasure. Her wings must be way more sensitive than you’d realized at first.

You start to wonder if you can bring her all the way over the edge just from the attention you're giving her wings. You do your best to do so, touching them in ways that she'd never had them touched before, rubbing... caressing... kissing... deriving almost as much pleasure as she is from making her feel so good. After many minutes of careful manipulation, of trial and error, the success of each new sensation you stimulate her with being marked by even more intense moaning, you bite down on her neck with just enough pressure so as to not hurt her, forcing your hot breath into her neck, and simultaneously pressing down in the areas of both wings you've found to be most sensitive through your experimenting as hard as you could. The sensations become too much for Rainbow Dash to handle she screams out in ecstasy as every muscle in her body tightens and she explodes, seeing stars, the moment lasting all too briefly as she quickly comes back down to earth and her muscles relax again.

You roll off of her back and lay facing her, your hooves around her and hers around you, locking each other in a warm embrace, softly nuzzling and kissing at the mare of your dreams as she wraps her wings around you.

A thought comes to your mind that brings a smile to your lips as this lovely goddess falls asleep. You'd probably seen sides of Rainbow Dash tonight, and touched parts of her, that nopony else had ever ventured near before. You hope with all your might that this lasts, and that the bond you've formed with her is never broken by anything. Tonight has been your best night ever, but you're already planning for the next with high hopes that it will be even better.

Chapter 2

You awaken the next morning to the delightful trilling of songbirds in a nearby tree, which curiously sound louder than usual. Your eyes still closed, you savor these fleeting moments in the transition state between consciousness and unconsciousness. A warm, brisk, late-morning breeze rustles through the treetops and makes its way through an open window, along with the radiant sunlight which casts itself onto your closed eyelids, warming them and causing you to visualize bright swirling shapes even whilst your vision is obscured. You instantly remember the wondrous night before and a smile crosses your lips.

“Mmm… Good morning, my sweet,” you contently mutter, but there is no response.

“Dash?” you call out breathily as you slowly open your eyes. There is no rainbow-maned goddess lying next to you. You open your eyes widely, stretch and yawn, calling out again.

“Dash? Where are you?”

There is still no answer. You jump up off the couch and stretch again with a much louder yawn than before, placing your front legs far in front of you and slowly bending down, feeling each vertebra in your back pop in succession. You straighten back up, shake out your disheveled mane and swish your tail a couple times before setting off to find Rainbow Dash. You’re curious as to where the pegasus pony that you had shared the most passionate night of your life with might be; the avian equine that had lit fire to your dreams for days and days, then piled a thousand pounds of dynamite on that fire by giving you a night you never thought you could have hoped for in a thousand years.

You’re a little worried when Dash doesn’t respond. After checking every room in the house, she’s nowhere to be found. You find it hard to believe that chance would bring you that close to the mare of your dreams only to rip her away from you like this. Cursing fate, you speak out loud as if someone or something might actually be listening.

“So… that’s it, huh? Just one hot and heavy dalliance and you expect me to believe I’m never to see her again?” You frown and stomp a hoof. “Well I’m not gonna let that happen without a fight.”

You’re just about to take off out your front door when you remember one room you forgot to check.

“Oh wait, the kitchen!” You think out loud, your face lighting up, grinning as you trot toward the one place in the house you had somehow neglected to check in your frenzy to find Rainbow Dash. Your grin quickly turns back to a frown when you see the state of the kitchen. It’s an absolute mess, there are a few half-eaten food items scattered about, dirty pots and pans, open cabinets everywhere, and it looked like about half your stock of groceries for the week had been eaten. On the table, you see a hastily scrawled note sitting under a half-empty cup of apple juice.

Hey, I was STARVING when I woke up this morning, hope you don’t mind I helped myself to some breakfast. I would have stuck around, but I’ve got a lot of thinking to do. Last night was AWESOME, but I’m wondering if we might be moving too fast. As hard as it might be for you to believe, I’ve never actually been with anypony before. Also, we just met, maybe we shouldn’t be so hasty. Normally I’d go for a flight to clear my mind, but my wing still hurts too much to fly, so I’m gonna go for a walk around Ponyville and think this over. I’ll be back to talk to you by sundown. I don’t expect you to wait up for me if you have stuff to do today, it’s cool. But I do hope you’ll be around when I get back. If not, I guess I’ll catch ya later.

XOXOXO

~Dash

You unceremoniously slump over, your rump making a dull “thud” when it hits the floor. Sitting there on your haunches, staring at the note, you’re not quite sure what to make of it. You had really hoped that Rainbow Dash would still be here this morning, her beautiful face being the first thing you would see upon waking up, and that you would maybe even get to sneak in some morning kissing and cuddling with the object of your worship.

The notion of Dash having second thoughts about last night really bothers you. To you, there is absolutely no trace of doubt in your mind whatsoever about you and her. You are madly in love with this spunky young mare even though, admittedly, you haven’t had much time to really get to know her.

You let out a sigh. You DID have things that needed to be done today… but you don’t want to take a chance on not being here when Rainbow Dash returns. You’ll put your whole life on hold if you have to, even if only to speak with her one more time.

You set yourself to the task of cleaning up the kitchen. You tuck the note safely away before beginning your work, making sure not to lose it. After all, it was written by her and as silly as it seems you want to keep it forever, just in case things don’t work out between the two of you. At least you’d have something to remember her by.

You had just finished scrubbing the last of the dirty pots and pans and had put them away when you hear a knock at the front door. You nearly stumble in your haste to rush over to it, a smile on your face and a song in your heart, hoping when you open the door to see a light blue rainbow-maned pegasus pony staring back at you with that arrogant smirk that you love so much plastered on her face.

You fling the door wide open to see a pegasus pony standing there, but not the one you were desperately longing to see. Your grin fades as a dopey gray pegasus stands before you, smiling. She shoves a hoof full of mail in your face, mumbles something about muffins, and waves at you before flying away. Ponyville’s mail pony is such an oddball, but she has a way about her that always makes you smile when she makes her daily delivery to your house. Not today though. Today there is only one pony you wish to show up at your door, and you know you won’t REALLY smile until she does.

You try hard to distract yourself. Shortly after the mail pony leaves, you search a bookshelf in the corner of your modest living room for something to read, hoping it will help pass the time. You’re a bit disgruntled when you realize you’ve read every single one of these books before - some of them two or three times. You decide perhaps a quick trip to the town library might be in order. It’s still early in the day, and something tells you Rainbow Dash’s walk is gonna last for quite a while. You quickly scribble a note and tack it to your front door:

Dash – went to the library to find something to read while waiting for you to come back. I won’t be gone long, feel free to go on inside and wait for me.

You throw your saddlebags on and head for the library, leaving the door unlocked. You feel completely comfortable in doing so, after all you highly doubt that in a town like Ponyville you had much to fear. In fact, you’d be surprised if ANYPONY in this quaint little town actually bothered to lock their doors. Everypony around here is just so friendly and neighborly, you know there can’t be any thieves amongst them. When you arrive at the library, you walk in to see a purple unicorn with light lavender and pinkish highlights streaking through her dark violet mane, her muzzle buried in a book. She doesn’t even seem to notice you walk in.

“Ahem…” you clear your throat, but she doesn’t flinch.

“AHEM…” you clear your throat a little louder, but she’s still too engrossed in her book to notice.

“Excuse me!” you finally blurt out, startling the bookworm, who leaps to her hooves, her horn involuntarily shooting out a spark of magic which knocks over several books from a nearby shelf.

“NEVER sneak up on me like that!” she yells out. “Oh… I mean… hi. Is there something I can help you with?” she chuckles, slightly folding her ears back with a tinge of embarassment.

“Sorry to startle you… um… I’m just looking for a book.” You reply.

She just gives you a blank stare for a moment, not quite sure what to make of you. “No, really? I’d never have guessed” the annoyed purple pony says, rolling her eyes. She stares at you for a moment, waiting for you to say something. “Well? What kind of book?” she urges.

“Oh, just something to pass the time. I need a good distraction, can you recommend anything?” you ask.

She thinks for a moment, and then her eyes pop open, a smile instantly appearing on her face. “I have just the thing!” she says, walking over to a book shelf, her horn coming to life with an ethereal glow and snagging a book from near the top. She drops the book at your hooves and you look down, reading the title.

Different as Night and Day: A Detailed History of the Royal Pony Sisters

You frown.

“Uh… actually, I was thinking more along the lines of some light fiction” you say, forcing a nervous smile, hoping you hadn’t insulted her.

“Oh” the unicorn replies, seeming a bit disappointed. “Hmm, I might have something here.”

She spends several minutes looking through the library before finally finding a moderately lengthy fiction book she thinks you’ll like. The title sounds intriguing, so you decide to check it out. You thank the purple pony as you turn to walk out the door. Noticing your cutie mark, she suddenly calls out to you.

“Hey wait!” she yells, trotting over to you. “I knew there was something about you that was bugging me in the back of my mind.” The look on her face is a bit disconcerting and makes you uneasy.

Puzzled and curious, you reply “Oh? What, um… what exactly do you mean?”

“Just tell me this…” she says with a raised brow, “do you know a pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash?”

Your eyes become wide and you grin happily, nodding your head and saying “Oh yes, I definitely know Rainbow Dash!”

The purple unicorn now has a scowl on her face. Her horn glows once again, and the door slams before you can even think about running out it. It appears as though you’re not going anywhere quite yet.

“I… don’t understand…” you squeak after gulping hard.

“Dash and I are close friends. She came by this morning and she seemed quite distraught. The things she was saying were sort of cryptic, and I didn’t really understand what she was getting at. I DO remember that she described a pony JUST. LIKE. YOU. That is, before she rushed out the door, seeming on the verge of tears, which is REALLY unusual for Rainbow Dash. I noticed she couldn’t fly either” the unicorn is inches from you now, her horn at your throat.

“What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Friend?” she demands, drawing her horn ever nearer as she harshly emphasizes each word.

“What? Nothing! Oh… well, at least… ALMOST nothing… I mean… we… she and I… that is to say, me and Rainbow Dash…” you stutter, gulping hard, terrified that this unicorn is about to end you.

You don’t hear the door slowly creaking open behind you. Nor do you or the purple pony see the light-blue form as it slowly enters the room, just out of both of your peripheral vision.

“You WHAT?” the purple pony demands again.

You want to just tell her the truth, but you hesitate. You don’t have a clue how Dash would react to you making your rendezvous with her known to one of her friends, especially after the note she left you this morning showing she was clearly unsure about taking this any further. You want to scream your undying love for Rainbow Dash from every rooftop in Ponyville, but you don’t want to drive her away, which you fear might happen if you tell the purple unicorn what happened before talking to Dash. You try to talk yourself out of it the only way you can without exposing the passion-filled night you shared.

“NOTHING, okay! It was NOTHING! NOTHING at all! NOTHING happened between me and Rainbow Dash! So PLEASE stop this now. NOTHING! HAPPENED! BETWEEN! ME! AND! RAINBOW! DASH!” you insist, stomping a front hoof to emphasize each word as you are now glaring at the unicorn, hoping she doesn’t call your bluff.

You hear a voice that instantly shreds your heart into a thousand pieces.

“Wha… what?” the voice says.

You turn to see Rainbow Dash sitting on her haunches, looking at you, her mouth agape, ears flat, wings drooping to the floor. She has an unmistakably pained demeanor – the first time you’ve ever seen Dash truly in pain, and it’s enough to make you want to fall over dead for being the one that inflicted it.

“It… was NOTHING to you? What we shared last night… meant NOTHING?” the rainbow-maned mare chokes back tears.

Oh Celestia, what have I just done?

You go to her and try to nuzzle her, but she pulls away. Tears begin welling up in your eyes. You start to hate yourself, regret crashing over you like a tidal wave for not thinking about what you said more carefully. If only you could turn back time five minutes and make your past self realize Dash was standing there…

“Dash… I…” you start.

The mare’s emotions explosively transition from pain to anger in the blink of an eye.

“Well if that ain’t just like a good-for-nothing low life colt!” She says, practically spitting venom as she stands up and her wings flare in rage, a single tear streaming down her left cheek. “Use ‘em and lose ‘em, is that your game?” She raises a hoof and pokes your chest to emphasize her next statement. “Well guess what pal, THIS GIRL AIN’T PLAYIN!” she yells as she turns and bolts out the door.

Oh no… no no no NO NO NO!!!! How could this happen? It wasn’t fair. You had the mare of your dreams within your grasp, you could have been together, but in an instant it all went up in smoke because of a misunderstanding.

You rush out the door after her as fast as you can, leaving behind one very confused-looking unicorn in the library. When you get outside, you’re surprised that she’s already out of sight. Panic grips you. You run around frantically trying to find her.

“DASH??? DAAAAAAAASH???” you yell out to no avail, tears freely running down your face now.

You had just crushed your own dream. Just like that, she was gone. You spend the rest of the day running around Ponyville, searching high and low for the fiery pegasus you worship so you can set things right. You call out her name what seems like thousands and thousands of times. Your voice eventually becomes hoarse, your legs wobble beneath you from all the running you do in your desperate searching. Several ponies gather on the streets of Ponyville, staring at you, whispering amongst themselves. Finally realizing the futility of your efforts you give up, and start down a path out of town with your head hung low.

The sun begins to set on Ponyville as you sit in a meadow just on the edge of town. The clearing where, less than 24 hours ago, Rainbow Dash had personally shown you all her best moves. Where you had somehow broken the mare’s stubbornness and gotten her to accept your help after she became injured. Where you had scooped her up lovingly onto your back, determined to do everything in your power to make her better.

You look out over the clearing, up into the sky. You see a rainbow-maned apparition in the air doing all kinds of insane acrobatic stunts. Zig-zags, loop-de-loops, barrel rolls. The apparition fades as memory gives way to reality. You blink away tears from your eyes as you look toward the ground, and back up at the sky, now as empty as your soul. You collapse in the clearing, utterly exhausted from the events of the day, and fall asleep.

An hour or two later, you’re awakened by the distant sounds of soft sobbing. Daylight is all but gone. You stand up and look around, your ears tweaking in different directions trying to locate the source of the sound. At the far end of the clearing, beneath an immature apple tree that was only perhaps seven or eight feet tall, you can’t believe what you see. Rainbow Dash is sitting on her haunches staring at the ground. Her ears folded back, her wings drooping. She tries to stifle the sobs but they gradually overtake her. You’ve gotta make things right, RIGHT NOW. You might not ever get another chance.

You start toward her cautiously, worried that if she notices your approach she’ll bolt away from you again. You’re only about twenty feet away when you make the mistake of stepping on a twig and snapping it, drawing her attention almost immediately. She scowls angrily at you and turns to bolt.

“DASH!!!” you cry out in agony at the top of your lungs, making the pegasus pony stop dead in her tracks, the pain in your voice seeming to have paralyzed her preventing her from taking another step. Slowly, she turns to face you, still scowling.

“What… do YOU want?” she says angrily, sniffling a bit.

You take another step toward her but freeze in place when it appears as though this action is making her consider taking off again.

“Please… please Dash… please give me a chance to explain…” you plead sincerely, trying to force the tears back. She’s not buying it though.

“Explain what? That you don’t REALLY care about me? That you just pretended to so you could take advantage of me? I bared my heart, no, my SOUL to you, I shared things with you that I don’t share with ANYPONY, and you USED me! How COULD you?” she asks angrily, pain reflected in those piercing amethyst eyes as you stare deeply into them.

“Dash…” you whisper as you cautiously approach her, your ears flat against your head and your tail tucked flat against your rump, choosing your words carefully. “Dash, that’s not it at all… I swear to you… please… I don’t want to lose you…”

She looks around, and kicks at the ground with a front hoof in frustration.

“I’m about to take off down that road,” she nods toward a path in the distance, “and you’ll never see me again. You’ve got one minute to convince me not to.”

Even though panic and dread grip your entire being after she utters those words, you steel your nerves and force yourself to remain calm.

“Dash… I had gone to the library to get something to read… to help pass the time until you came back… When I got there, there was this purple unicorn…”

“Her name is TWILIGHT!” Dash states impatiently.

“Erm… yes… Twilight. Well, Twilight said that you had talked to her earlier this morning. I think she was under the impression that I had hurt you… or was going to hurt you…” you try to explain.

“Looks like her instincts were DEAD ON” Dash interrupts. “You have thirty seconds left.”

You are unfazed. Everything is on the line right now. No matter what Dash says you simply CANNOT falter if you’re to have any hope of salvaging the situation. You let out a deep sigh before continuing.

“She asked me what happened between us. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what to say. I was terrified you’d never speak to me again if I told Twilight what was going on between you and I. After reading the note you left me, it seemed like you were unsure about us, and I didn’t think you’d want anypony to know. I panicked, and did the only thing I could think of. I denied it. Dash, the ONLY reason I said those things was because I didn’t want to jeopardize any future we might have together. I was thinking of you Dash. Of us. The timing at which you came into that library was the worst possible timing imaginable. Oh Rainbow Dash, I…” you throw yourself at her hooves, sobbing loudly and closing your eyes. “I care about you so deeply, you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. PLEASE don’t go. Don’t let it end this way, I beg of you. I don’t know what I can do to convince you,” you gingerly kiss one of her hooves as a teardrop falls from your face onto it and you close your eyes even tighter. “If I lose you, I lose every reason I have to go on living. I know you have no reason to believe me. I know you don’t know me well enough to really be able to trust me. But Dash, from the moment I first saw you I knew, I KNEW that I would never again be complete without you in my life.”

You lie there for what seems like an eternity, expecting her to run away at any moment.

After thinking over everything you’d just said, Rainbow Dash finally speaks. She sits on her haunches and looks down at you, though your eyes don’t meet. Yours are still tightly shut, streaming tears, you expecting the worst.

“I saw the note you’d left on your door. My walk didn’t last for very long. I eager to find you and talk to you. When I saw your note, I just had to go to the library to meet up with you. When I walked into the library and saw you and Twilight like that, I assumed the worst. Especially with you being so adamant that what happened between us was… ‘nothing…’ I guess I thought that maybe you had been hitting on Twilight or something, trying to get with her, and were denying any involvement with me because of that,” she explains to you as you finally open your eyes and look up at her.

There is a moment of silence as your eyes meet, an understanding finally forming between you two, needing no words to convey the emotions you were feeling to each other. Unfathomable compassion, regret, love, pain, forgiveness.

“So… last night…” she starts again, breaking the silence.

“Was the best night of my life. A pony could live for a billion years and never even hope to come close to the level of happiness I felt when we were together last night,” you pour out your heart sincerely, your eyes locked on hers. The look of anger and pain on her face is long gone and she’s smiling at you. She leans down and tenderly nuzzles you.

“I’m sorry I doubted you,” she whispers. “I guess I have some trust issues.”

You can’t help but be touched that this epitome of confidence and coolness is, yet again, exposing her vulnerable side to you. You rise to your hooves and tackle her backward playfully. You lick the tip of her muzzle, causing Rainbow Dash to let out another one of her adorable, uncharacteristic giggles as she blushes lightly. You stare at the gorgeous goddess beneath you, and can’t help but smile as she returns your stare, smiling back at you with her eyes half-lidded. You lean in close to her and bring your muzzle next to her ear.

“You’ll never doubt me again after what I’m about to do to you…” you whisper seductively. You’re already straddling her with your hind legs, and you wrap your front legs around her, pulling her upper body closer to you in a loving embrace which she reciprocates as you close your eyes and kiss her neck. You feel her shudder with desire and feel her tail lightly flick against your hindquarters. You slowly release a hot, steamy breath onto her neck and grin when you hear her gasp ever so slightly as you give it a playful nip.

You pull away from her and look into her eyes again, this time seeing nothing but passion and love reflected in them. You close your eyes and bring your lips to meet hers softly. Those angel-soft, velvety lips that drive you wild with their tender caress. You kiss her over and over again, slowly, savoring the taste of the lips and the warm breath of your indescribably desirable companion.

You wrap a hoof around the back of her head and delicately stroke her mane as you pull away yet again too look her deep in the eyes, which you can’t get enough of. You plant a tiny kiss on the tip of her muzzle. You gently nuzzle the side of her face and are surprised to feel a tear wet the tip of your muzzle. You lick her cheek tenderly, lapping her tears away, kissing her several times, taking your time to make sure the passion and love that is boiling over inside you is clearly transcribed on her cheek through every single kiss and subtle touch. Her wings flare out slightly, and you can feel her breathing heavily underneath you, your body rising and falling with every heated breath she takes.

“I’ll never hurt you,” You whisper into her ear.

You let your hot breath cascade onto the top of her head as you gently nibble her ear, feeling her shudder again and moan softly. You kiss the top of her head after nuzzling your way through the brightly colored tufts of mane on top of it. You continue this way for several minutes. The tender nuzzling, kissing, touching. This is what Rainbow Dash needs. She needs to see that you are after more than just sex. That you are here for her, and always will be. That Celestia herself couldn’t keep you away from her.

This is your second time being intimate with Rainbow Dash. Once again, YOUR pleasure is the furthest thing from your mind. Though it is difficult to ignore the pressure building up in a certain part of your body, you force yourself to not be completely overcome by lust. You give every square inch of Rainbow Dash’s body tender loving care. You gently kiss along her neck, down onto her chest, suckling and nipping occasionally, hitting all the spots you remember from the night before to get those adorable giggles out of her, and even finding a couple new ones as you go. By the time you reach her belly, the smell of her lust on the air is unmistakable. You inhale deeply through your nostrils and shudder with delight, the psychological high of knowing that you were getting Dash all worked up yet again just from rubbing and touching her body being all the satisfaction you need.

You venture even lower than before, letting your muzzle work its way dangerously close to her privates as you trace the inside of her back left thigh, licking, tickling, kissing, teasing... eliciting gasps, moans, and more labored breathing from the mare of your dreams. You work your way slowly all the way to the tip of her tender hoof, kissing it lightly before moving back to her belly. Rainbow Dash’s wings flare all the way out underneath her as you yet again come dangerously close to that region just beneath that prismatic tail, which at this point has become limp and slightly damp with her desire. You want nothing more than to take that train all the way south, so to speak, but yet again you resist your lustful urges. You remind yourself that there will be time for that later. Right now, you will pleasure her in every other way you can.

You gently motion for Rainbow Dash to roll over onto her belly, which she does without saying a word, her eyes closed and a look of sheer pleasure and satisfaction on her face. You straddle her back and drape yourself over her, leaning forward and once again kissing the top of her head, nipping at her ears, softly whispering sweet nothings into them. You slowly work your way down the back of her neck, warming her mane with your steamy breath as you kiss and nip all the way down to the point where her wings meet her body.

Her wings are completely flared out. You feel yourself rise and fall rapidly with every breath Rainbow Dash takes. You kiss and nuzzle the area on her back where each wing meets it. You take extra care with her still-injured left wing as you take it between your hooves and gently knead the rigid, muscly structure as Dash bites her lip and lets out a long drawn-out moan in satisfaction, her whole body shuddering again. You repeat the process with her right wing, stroking, caressing, kneading, kissing… your own moans at this point nearly synchronous with hers.

You continue adeptly massaging and caressing her wings, her lust and passion building exponentially. For the second time in less than 48 hours, every muscle in Rainbow Dash’s body tenses up, she clamps her tail down, and shudders violently as she is powerfully overcome by exquisite pleasure, her shrill whinny piercing the night disturbing many nearby slumbering creatures.

You lie next to Rainbow Dash in the middle of the clearing where she had first dazzled you with her skills such a short time ago. She is fast asleep. You gently nuzzle and kiss her, eliciting a couple soft moans from her while she sleeps peacefully curled up next to you. You had only been together for a couple of days, but already your nascent relationship had withstood its first major test, and the bond between you had grown stronger because of it.

You shift your body around, cuddling up next to Rainbow Dash closely, you nuzzle her flank and give her cutie mark a little kiss before resting your chin on top of her hindquarters just above the location of her cutie mark. You feel her do the same, resting her head on top of your hindquarters while simultaneously stretching out a wing over top of your back to shield you from the night air. You smile in unparallelled bliss as softly you whisper…

“I love you, Rainbow Dash.”

Chapter 3

Today is the day. After months of planning and scheming and going behind her back, she’ll never suspect a thing. At least, you hope not. You’ll find a way to lure her out to that little meadow on the outskirts of town where she had shown off for you for the first time two years ago today, and that’s when you’d get her. The place where she had fallen from the sky and you had, in a less-than-spectacular display of chivalry, tried to break her fall. The spot where you were intimate with her for the second time - and the spot where you had been intimate with her many more times since. It had quickly become a special, romantic place to the two of you.

A nervous lump wells up in your throat as the weight of what is going to happen today starts to sink in. Are you really going to do this to Rainbow Dash?

Yes. You’ve thought it through a hundred thousand times over the last few months. Today is the day it all has to come together. It’s taken too much planning and preparation not to go through with it now.

You’re going to ask for the magnificent Rainbow Dash’s hoof in marriage.

You begin to question the wisdom of having eaten that second slice of apple pie for your lunchtime dessert as your stomach churns violently in nervous anticipation. It had taken quite a bit of finagling this morning to convince Dash to talk to the rest of the weather team to keep the sky clear today when Ponyville was scheduled for a light drizzle all day. You want everything to be perfect for when the big moment comes.

“Pleeeease Dash...” you had cooed while gently caressing a secret spot only you knew about slightly below the front of her wing, just above and behind her left shoulder, causing her wings to flap once as her eyes rolled back into her head for a moment and she hummed softly. “You know I don’t ask you for favors often,” you smiled as the tip of your hoof danced around the sensitive spot, as if playing Rainbow Dash like a finely tuned instrument.

“I w... wi... wish I could, but if m-m-m-Mayor Mare finds out I’ll g-g-get my behind chewed for.... mmmm.... abusing my position...” she stammered, futilely trying to shake off your ministrations.

“Well well well, we can’t have that now can we? We all know that chewing your behind,” you reached your other hoof around and playfully slapped her on the rump, making her jump slightly and clench her tail for a moment, “is my job. Though I suppose I can’t blame her, you do have such a... delicious one...” you whispered hungrily like a crazed deviant as your hoof slowly traced its way back toward her tail.

She shook her head and flapped her wings again, swishing her tail with a grunt as she swatted your hoof and pulled away from you.

“Come on now, cut it out!” she giggled in her intoxicating way as she playfully pushed you aside, a giggle that only ever escaped her lips when she was with you.

Not about to be deterred, you curtailed her evasion, stepping in front of her and started tenderly working the spot again, eliciting another flap of her wings as her cheeks started to flush slightly. You leaned in close to her and whispered sultrily, “I proooomise I’ll make it worth your while, Daaaaashie...” you begged as you felt her melt like butter under your hoof.

Her hind left hoof started rapping on the floor as her whole leg quivered in response to your touch, her eyes rolling back again as her wings spread to their apex.

“Okay okay OKAY!” She said, shaking her head and fluttering her wings once more, “just don’t get me all fired up like this when I’m about to go out in public, geez!”

Having been victorious in your battle, you kissed Rainbow on the tip of her snout, saying “Thank you, my love!” with a smile as she blushed and took off into the sky without a word, her ears angled just a tad bit toward her rear, swishing her tail the whole time. She’s always so cute when she gets flustered, and over time you’ve learned just the right buttons to push, albeit you’d pushed some wrong ones a few times as well, resulting in Dash not speaking to you for a few days on more than one occasion. Be that as it may, you two had always worked it out in the end. Getting her to display sides of her personality that she NEVER displayed for anypony else was something you’d come to absolutely relish.

It’s almost sunset, almost time for your plan to be put into action. The weather situation for the day having been taken care of that morning, you begin some last-minute checks to make sure everything is in order. It had cost you quite a few bits to prepare everything for the big moment, but no expense was too great. A mare as awesome as Rainbow Dash deserved nothing less than a grand display like what you have planned.

Trotting out to a treeline just on the far end of the meadow you look around, somewhat dismayed.

“I paid that pony good money... he better be here...” you mumble to yourself. Camouflaged behind some saplings and underbrush, you can faintly make out the shape of several canisters, along with some movement and giddy laughter on the other side. You’ve heard this pony could get a bit carried away sometimes in his enthusiasm for his work, but there was nopony around who could pull off a better fireworks display than him.

Stepping around to the other side of the tree you clear your throat. The pony perks his head up and grins at you with an almost-mischievous glint in his eye.

“Is everything ready to go with the fireworks?” you ask the pony, who simply nods at you and turns his attention back to his work. Your mouth opens to continue your conversation, but you stop for a moment. Perhaps it’s best to leave him to his work and trust his expertise... you think to yourself. The last thing you’d want to do is break his concentration and have half the meadow blown up when the big moment came as a result of some error your intrusion had caused. “Just remember to wait for the signal, okay?” you say uneasily as you turn to walk away.

Making your way out into the meadow, you look up into the sky to see if the other half of your plan has been put into action yet. You see a few white puffy clouds haphazardly dotting the sky. Counting them out, you smile as you count just the number needed to spell out your message. You’ve hired a couple pegasus ponies to rush out when you give the signal, and spell out “Will you marry me?” using those clouds, back-lit by the most spectacular fireworks display money could buy. If they have their timing down perfectly you’ll only need to distract Dash for five or six seconds to prevent her from seeing them.

If you achieve the desired effect, she’ll have seen the sunset sky dotted by a few clouds one moment, she’ll become distracted by something you do or say for a minute or so, and the next time she turns her attention to the sky she’ll be looking at your grand romantic gesture. The timing would be tricky, but that was why you had put up so much money for this whole thing, to get the best of the best. You just hope everypony you’ve hired can pull it off and give you your money’s worth.

From what you can tell, things seem to be shaping up quite nicely. Dash should be arriving any moment now. You’d asked her the night before to meet you here around sunset.

You lie in the grass for a few minutes and sigh, somewhat surprised to find that the nervousness you’d been plagued by seemed to be slowly melting away. You smile as you begin to eagerly anticipate that moment.

This is right. There is no doubt in your mind that you’re doing the right thing; that you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with the fiery pegasus who is your sole reason for living.

Moments later an unmistakable prismatic streak breaks the horizon, seeming to exponentially grow larger as it approaches you. You hop to your hooves and feel your legs begin to tremble again as the nervousness you thought had disappeared comes back with a vengeance.

The wind whipped up by Dash’s wings as she slows herself and lands in front of you sends your mane and tail flying in all directions for a moment, giving you a disheveled look. Rainbow Dash chuckles softly at you.

“You look like you just rolled out of bed,” she smiles. “I have some AWESOME news, but it’s something I really REALLY need to talk to you about before I make a decision,” the blue filly was practically exploding with excitement as she said this. “But first, why did you want to meet me out here again?”

You swallow the lump in your throat and try to steady your wobbly legs. You glance out of the corner of your eye and see that everypony is in position, just awaiting your signal. Dash is apparently oblivious to them, just as planned.

You hesitate though. You clear your throat and quickly try to change the subject until you can get up the nerve to give the signal and set everything in motion. Your curiosity is also getting the best of you, you can’t help but wonder what has Dash so excited.

“Uhmm.. ermm.. well it’s okay, that can wait,” you bumble with a sheepish grin, hoping she wouldn’t pick up on your odd behavior and figure out that something was up. “You go first, tell me this awesome news of yours.”

Dash creased her eyebrows and puffed her chest out with pride.

“Weeeelll, you know all the stuff that’s happened between me and the Wonderbolts?” She asked with a huge grin on her face.

You’d heard about her saving the Wonderbolts’ lives at the Best Young Flier competition, and she had told you how she’d gotten to speak with them a bit at the Grand Galloping Gala. You nod your head, prompting her to continue.

“It took them long enough,” she said as she puffed herself up even more and spread her wings, lifting a hoof to her chest and closing her eyes, “but they finally decided to let the BEST flier in all of Equestria join them! I got a letter today from Spitfire offering me a spot with them.”

Your heart simultaneously bursts with pride and deflates. This could definitely throw a wrench in your plans. You smile and run over to her, throwing a hoof around her neck and squeezing her tight in the biggest hug you’ve ever given her.

“That’s GREAT news!” you gush, “Did you send them a letter of acceptance yet?” you ask excitedly.

Dash’s wings fold back to her sides and her ears flatten as she looks away toward the ground. She plops down on her rear end, saying “That’s what I needed to talk to you about,” the tone of her voice causing your soul to cringe and a sick feeling to form in the pit of your stomach. You take a few steps back and sit on your haunches, facing her with an expectant look, waiting for her to continue.

“Well? Go on...” you urge softly.

“Well... you know... it’s always been my lifelong DREAM to join the Wonderbolts...” she begins.

You nod silently.

“The thing is though.... if I say ‘yes,’ that means I have to leave Ponyville. I’ve already talked to Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and all my other really good friends. They all urged me to pursue my dream, saying I can’t let an opportunity like this pass me by...” her piercing amethyst eyes start to gloss over with a thin layer of moisture, and her voice cracks very slightly.

She clears her throat and wipes at her eyes, blinking the moisture away before continuing.

“I... I saved you for last though. These... these last two years together with you... to say the least, have been a blast. If I accept Spitfire’s invitation, I’ll have to move back to Cloudsdale. We won’t get to see each other often.”

Your heart breaks at the prospect of being separated from the love of your life for long periods of time. But you love Rainbow Dash. More than you’ve ever loved anypony your whole life. You love her fiery, cocky attitude. You love her confidence. You love all of the things that make her Rainbow Dash, and you know that her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt was a major driving force behind everything she did in her life and the way she acted. There’s no doubt that if she doesn’t take this once-in-a-lifetime offer, she’ll never be the same pony again.

The fireworks pony peeks out from his hiding spot when Dash isn’t looking, giving you a questioning look. You quickly give him the “abort” signal and he disappears back behind the brush.

You won’t be the one to destroy her, to crush her dreams. You won’t be so selfish as to ask her to marry you now when such an incredible opportunity for her has presented itself.

Dash stands up and looks up into the sky with emotion in her eyes that appears to be something like longing. As if the lifestyle she’s dreamed of since she was a little filly was now audibly calling out to her from the horizon from the direction of the setting sun, tugging at her heart. You approach her from behind and slide a hoof over her shoulder, turning to face her and planting a kiss on her cheek. This won’t be an easy decision for her. For either of you.

After what feels like eons of silence, you finally speak.

“Dash... I want you to do it” you say solemnly. She attempts to interject but you gingerly place a hoof over her mouth and shush her quietly. “Ssshhh... no need to say anything,” you whisper. “I love you Rainbow Dash. I love you more than I could ever put into words. I could stand here for a thousand years describing my love for you and it wouldn’t even begin to scratch the surface. I can’t, and I WON’T ask you to deny a part of who you are for my sake. Your happiness is the most important thing in the WORLD to me. I want this for you, Dash. I want it for you as much as I know you want it for yourself.”

You turn to her smiling even as a tear escapes and rolls down your cheek. She closes her eyes and nuzzles you with a pained smile.

“Besides. I’m sure you’ll have breaks from your training and performances every now and then,” you continue, trying to brighten your tone even as you sniffle as a few more tears patter on the ground.

You share another long silence, Dash leaning her head into your neck, periodically trembling ever so slightly as she closes her eyes.

“How much time do we have?” you whisper to her.

“Two days. They asked that I come directly to Cloudsdale within that time frame to accept in person... I’ve already said my goodbyes to all my friends.”

You wince and a barely audible yelp escapes your lips, prompting Dash to press against you tighter. As you close your eyes to blink away a few more tears you feel her lips softly meet yours. Nothing needs to be said between the two of you. She knows you’re hurting, and this is anything but painless for her as well.

Your mind starts to race, thinking of any possible way to make this work out happily for the both of you. Dash had mentioned a spell that her friend Twilight had cast on their other friends that allowed them to walk on clouds, perhaps if you talked to her she could... but no, wait... that was just a temporary spell that only lasted for 3 days. Maybe... maybe... you could beseech princess Celestia for an audience, surely with her powerful magic she could do something for you... perhaps grant you a permanent gift of flight? You frown when you realize how unlikely such a scenario would be.

You sigh once again and pull away from Dash, kicking at the ground as you look out across the meadow... toward the treeline... up at the sky. So much planning went into this. So much planning, work, and love went into this... but she’ll never know about any of it now.

Silently you turn and begin walking toward your home. Dash begins to follow, but stops herself. She knows you need some time alone to think.

Chapter 4

Later that night you hear a gentle knocking at the door. You already know who it is, though it’s quite unusual for Rainbow Dash to knock. She knows she’s always welcome in your home, this is the first time she’s ever bothered with such a formality. The thought weighs upon your already troubled mind.

“Hey, I know you’re in there,” you hear her muffled voice call out over the sound of her hoof making contact with the heavy wooden door, “I can see the light on. C’mon, open up!”

You crack the door open and peek out to see Dash’s warm, smiling face staring back at you. You’ve done a lot of thinking, a lot of agonizing over the last few hours. You’re not quite sure if you’re ready to talk to her again just yet. You’re hesitant to let her in, you don’t want to break down and cry like a little foal in front of her. That face though, that irresistible face... how can you turn her away? You sigh and let the door slowly creep the rest of the way open.

Dash raises a hoof cautiously and peeks her head through the door as you turn away. Head hung low, you walk toward a window on the opposite side of the room. You sigh as you reach your destination, gazing out at what few stars you can see, most are shrouded in a blanket of dark clouds as a gentle drizzle casts a mist upon the glass barrier between you and the night. You can’t help but think how the scene before you is a fitting reflection of the state of your emotions.

You feel a warm breath and soft touch on your neck and turn to see Dash nuzzling you. You want Dash to be happy, you really do. What do you say to her? You shouldn’t be brooding like this, it’s not fair of you. You turn to her and return the gesture lovingly. Your eyes meet and you can’t help but to smile at her. You’re not going to ruin the time you have left by being depressed.

“I...” Dash begins, but is abruptly silenced by you placing your lips over hers, pulling her close.

A faint smacking sound signals the end of a kiss that you wish would never end as you gently pull away from her.

“Just promise me one thing...” you whisper to her.

“Name it,” she says.

“When you get out there and make a name for yourself, and eventually make it all the way to the top as the team captain of the Wonderbolts, don’t forget all the little ponies you climbed over along the way to make it happen,” you tease.

She chuckles and playfully pushes you. You push her back and before you know it she’s tackling you onto your back, pinning you to the ground, a triumphant smirk on her face. You struggle futilely to wiggle out from under her. She has you right where she wants you, not that you ever mind being in this position. Both of your front legs are trapped beneath Dash’s front hooves as she sits on your belly, trapping your entire lower half, her soft tail running between your legs and flowing into a pile on the floor with yours, occasionally brushing against the insides of your back legs as she flicks it from side to side while you struggle beneath her. You grunt and giggle as you try to break free but it’s no use. You let your body go limp as you concede victory to your, admittedly, more powerful lover.

You and Dash both laugh until your sides hurt, her front legs give way and she collapses onto you, her chest falling onto yours, your muzzles touching. You savor that laughter, wondering how long it would be before it would grace your ears again. She buries her face into your neck and laughs as hard as she can...

...She is still laughing right?

You hear a soft sniffle that confirms your suspicions, wrapping your hooves around Dash and pulling her into the tightest hug you can as you realize this is one of those very rare moments that she has broken down into tears. You haven’t seen Dash cry since you first met.

You fight back your own tears. Strong, you tell yourself. I have to be strong.

Dash has, without a doubt, always been the strong one in this relationship though. You feel the foundations of your strength quickly crumbling with every stifled sob of the mare above you, with every slight tremble of Dash’s body.

She pulls away and looks into your eyes, hers damp with tears, ears flat against her head.

“I’m.... I’m... I’m gonna m... mi,” she forces the words out as she tries to hide the pain in her voice.

“I’m gonna miss you...” she finally says as a tear trickles down her cheek and splashes onto your muzzle.

You kiss Dash lightly as her tears continue to fall silently, a small gesture to say ‘me, too.’

“You’ll come to some of my performances... right?” she asks, wiping away her tears.

“There’s no way I’d miss ‘em!” You smile. You think for a fleeting moment how, as a Wonderbolt’s lover you’ll be the envy of thousands of ponies.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Dash says, jumping up and trotting over to her saddlebags, which she had left by the door on her way in. You sit up on your haunches and crane your neck trying to get a look at what she’s doing. She rummages through it for a moment and trots back over to you, not letting you see what she has. “Close your eyes,” she says.

You feel something slip around your neck and Dash’s warm breath caresses you for a moment as she leans in close. You open your eyes and lift a hoof to examine the gift that Rainbow Dash has placed around your neck.

“I had Rarity make this for you,” she says, “I would have made it myself but... ya know how I am when it comes to crafts,” she laughs weakly through a forced smile.

It’s a beautiful necklace, not too gaudy, but very pleasing to look at. A few alternating gemstones, turquoise and amethyst, set with Rarity’s unmistakably professional skill. At the bottom, a golden locket with a light blue feather protruding from its top. Upon closer examination you see that the necklace has been strung together from a lock of Rainbow Dash’s mane. Amethyst gemstones... the color of those eyes you can never get enough of. Turquoise, reminiscent of the lithe body you’ve held close to you so many times over the last two years. A single feather from Dash’s wing. You open the locket to see a picture of Dash all dressed up from when she attended the Grand Galloping Gala, one of your favorite pictures of her.

“This way... you’ll always have a little piece of me no matter where you go...” she says. You’re at a loss for words over having received such a thoughtful gift. After two years together, Dash is still able to surprise you from time to time. There is an awkward silence for a moment as you consider how to respond.

“Geez, I guess that was kinda corny,” she says, feeling a little embarrassed as she looks away from you.

“No...” you finally manage, “no... it’s nice. I just wish I had something so meaningful to give you...” you say, ashamed at how selfish you’ve been in all your brooding. “I’ll never take it off,” you say with a smile.

After a long silence Dash finally speaks up.

“You know, you never did tell me why you wanted to meet me earlier today... and why you were so persistent about having the weather team hold off on the drizzle...” she mentions.

Your heart sinks.

“I... just wanted to enjoy a beautiful sunset with the mare of my dreams on our two year anniversary,” you reply smoothly with a peck on her cheek.

“Are you sure that’s all it was? You’ve been actin’ kinda... off... the last few days...” she asks, gears turning in her mind.

You close your eyes, clenching your teeth as you look away from her.

“Yes,” you say, somehow forcing the word to sound normal even though it’s wracked with torment. “I... didn’t want anything to spoil it for us.”

You feel her nuzzle you again.

“Aw, you didn’t have to go through so much trouble for me, I’d have enjoyed spending the day with you even if it was pouring. That was awful sweet of you, though!” she kisses you on the cheek and you bite your tongue so hard it nearly bleeds to keep the tears from coming once again.

“You’re worth it...” you say, leaning into her nuzzling.

Chapter 5

“Stay here with me tonight, won’t you?” you ask. Dash is usually much more comfortable sleeping in her own home, but it definitely wouldn’t be the first time she’s spent a whole night in yours.

“Sure,” she replies with a smile.

“I’m sorry for leaving like that earlier,” you offer while sheepishly looking at the floor. “I’m just really gonna miss you.”

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay with this?” Dash asks, the concern in her voice readily apparent. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Your lips begin to form a response but you hesitate, making sure to choose your words carefully.

“I’d be lying if I said it won’t be painful for me,” you begin. “I’m willing to endure it though, for you. Besides, it’s not as if we’re splitting up... just transitioning to a long-distance relationship... right?” you ask.

Dash places her hooves around you, hugging you tight, comforting you with her heavenly touch.

“We’ll find a way to make it work,” she says.

As she releases you from the hug you make a request.

“Say it...”

Dash seems miffed at these words. “Come on, you know how I feel about you... do I really have to-”

“-Please?” you plead. “I need to hear it. Just once.”

“Come ON,” she protests, “you KNOW how I fe-”

“-Is it that hard for you to say?” you ask, abruptly cutting her off. No matter how many times you make this request of her, it always stings a little that it takes so much goading to get her to comply.

Dash swishes her tail and grumbles a bit with a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Iluyu,” she mutters under her breath.

“What?” you ask, leaning in closer to her.

“I said... Iluvyu,” she mumbles again.

“One more time?”

“I LOVE YOU! Okay?” She blurts out loudly in frustration. “There, are you happy now?”

Those three little words mean more to you than all the gold or jewels in Equestria. No other treasure could ever hope to match the value you place on hearing Dash utter them. No matter how many times you’ve heard them in the past, they never fail to make you giddy, like you’re falling for her all over again.

“Oh Dash...” you swoon, immediately prompting the mare to roll her eyes at you.

“Do you always have to get so mushy?” she asks in annoyance. You simply nuzzle her on the cheek in response.

Dash stretches her hooves out in front of her and bends down, cracking her back as she spreads her wings and yawns loudly. She starts toward your bedroom and looks back over her shoulder at you. She flicks her tail seductively, a devious smirk on her face as she flutters her eyes at you. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what she wants.

“I’m gonna hit the hay. You coming?” she asks casually.

“What if I don’t want to?” you respond, looking slightly away in mock disinterest.

Dash bursts out in raucous laughter.

“As IF!” she guffaws, “Get your tail in here before I drag it in here!”

You turn away from her, sticking your nose in the air in feigned indignation.

“You just think you’re oh-so irresistible don’t you?” you tease.

You feel something warm and moist clamp down on the end of your tail and tug hard, pulling you off your hooves. Your belly drags along the cold hardwood floor as you’re pulled toward your “terrible fate.” Dash always gets what Dash wants, one way or another. You weakly grab at the floor as Dash backs into the bedroom with you in tow.

“Oh! Oh help! That vile heathen Rainbow Dash is going to have her way with me! Won’t anypony saaaave me?” you cry out playfully, trying not to laugh.

The frame of your bedroom door passes around you, Dash shutting it slowly once you’re inside. You wonder what kind of night she has planned for you, unable to help becoming excited by the possibilities. Many a wild night you’ve spent subjected to the whims of your lover, her voracious appetite overwhelming you on more than one occasion, though in your opinion this was never a bad thing. You’ve spent even more nights just holding her close, talking into the wee hours of the morning, kissing, touching, cuddling each other. So many nights together, each one a priceless memory...

You try not to let the thought that these nights are soon to become painfully infrequent ruin the mood.

Dash jumps up onto your bed, circling around a few moments before plopping down, the mattress making a loud foomf! sound, squeaking several times as it rises and falls under her weight as she curls up and makes herself comfortable.

You rise to your hooves and make your way over to the bed, climbing up onto it and curling up beside her. You kiss her tenderly a couple times, lingering each time to savor her lips as long as possible. Each second that ticks by, you know you’re inching closer and closer to the moment you’re dreading. You wish you could freeze time and live in this moment with her - that she would never have to leave your side. That the two of you would never have to move from this bed for all eternity. Sadly, reality does not lend itself to such flights of fancy.

“I love you,” you whisper between each kiss, lightly brushing your cheek against hers.

“Right back at ya,” Dash says when you finally cease. “I’ll tell you what, since I’m leaving tomorrow, why don’t we spend the whole day together before I go, just me and you?”

“I’d really like that,” you reply, extremely pleased at the offer.

Dash pulls you close and whispers something into your ear, nodding at you with an impish grin as she pulls away.

“Ooh...” you coo softly as you lick your lips in anticipation of the mare’s suggestion.

She’s going to make this a night you won’t soon forget.

The next morning you squint your eyes as you blink the sleep away from them. Dash is draped over your back, still lost in dream land. You’re completely drained, the blue mare lying on top of you having sapped every ounce of your energy the night before. You’re sore in places you never knew could get sore, but oh what a night! You bask in the sensation of Dash’s weight and warmth upon your back, her breath tickling your neck as she inhales and exhales deeply in her restful slumber, slightly snoring now and then, a small patch of fur on your shoulder damp from drool running out of her open mouth. You close your eyes and wish with all your might for this moment to never end.

To your dismay, your wish goes ungranted. Dash begins to stir. You feel her chest expand as she yawns and stretches, still lying on you. She turns her head to the left and right, popping her neck.

“You know, you really don’t make a very comfortable bed,” she says as she gently nibbles on your ear, giving you a ‘good morning’ kiss on the top of your head.

You turn your head slightly to look back at her. “You make an excellent blanket though,” you answer with the most affectionate smile you can muster.

“Did you enjoy yourself last night?” she asks, resting her chin on the top of your head and sighing.

Your body trembles as you let out a soft “mmmm...” closing your eyes.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she says with a massive sense of accomplishment.

“I don’t deserve you,” you murmur blissfully.

“THAT’S the truth,” she chuckles, “but you’ve got me anyway.”

She flaps her wings and shakes out her mane as she rises up off of your back. You rest your head for a few fleeting seconds before you feel the pillow suddenly yanked out from under you.

“Hey!” You protest, pulling the blanket up over your head.

“I think as a reward for last night, you’ve earned the privilege of making me breakfast,” she says, yanking the blankets completely off your bed.

You groan, not wanting to get out of bed, prompting Dash to jab you in the side with her hoof.

“Come on, up and at ‘em!” she says.

“Alright already, sheesh!” you complain as you roll out of bed, stretching your sore body as your hooves make contact with the floor. You follow Dash to your bedroom door, and decide to ask her something that’s been weighing on your mind.You clear your throat, trying to not sound awkward as you present your question. “Dash... let’s just say... hypothetically, of course... that you weren’t leaving today. If... again, hypothetically... if I were to ask you... to marry me... to spend the rest of your life with me... what would you say?”

Dash, puzzled by the seemingly random question, thinks for a moment as she considers her response. She turns the doorknob slowly as she begins to reply.

“Well, I-”

“SURPRISE!!!” Pinkie Pie yells out, confetti bursting out of seemingly nowhere, streamers and balloons falling from the ceiling. You just can’t catch a break, can you?

Dash jumps back, startled at the unexpected sight, her rump bumping into your chest, eliciting a soft “oomph!” from you.

The hyperactive pink pony immediately grabs Dash and pulls her into the next room, leaving you standing there for a moment with your mouth slightly agape.

You’ve become fairly good acquaintances with most of Dash’s friends over the last couple of years, so the fact that Pinkie Pie had broken into your house sometime in the middle of the night to set up this surprise party doesn’t bother you as much as it might have otherwise. You know her intentions in doing things like this are always pure, even if she occasionally lacks a bit of decorum in her implementation.

You step out into the room and see that, as you suspected, all of Dash’s closest friends have gathered to throw her a farewell party, knowing she’d be leaving later in the day.

So much for spending Dash’s last day in Ponyville alone with her.

Chapter 6

Dash has only been gone for a week, but the wound on your heart left by her absence is still just as fresh as it was the day of her departure. You had put on a brave face as one by one she said goodbye to all her friends, and her farewell party began winding down. Everypony else had managed to have a good time as they shared their favorite memories with Dash, but you just couldn’t get into the celebration. You had kept mostly to yourself for the duration of the party. Until it was time for Dash to leave.

The room became completely silent as Dash approached each of her dear friends, sharing some meaningful, heartfelt words. Even Pinkie Pie remained silent as Dash spoke, a rare moment indeed. There were a few tears, a tiny bit of laughter as she reminisced on some of the good times she’d shared with each of them, but Dash herself made a concerted effort to not let herself fall victim to emotion.

At last, she had approached you. As you looked deeply into each other’s eyes, all that needed to be said between the two of you was communicated without speaking a word. You placed your hooves around one another, hugging so tightly it felt as though you’d fused into one being, drawing “Awws” and sniffles from those in attendance.

“I’ll see you all soon, I promise,” Dash said just before throwing on her saddlebags and making her way out the door. Just as she was about to take off, you ran up to her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” you whispered softly into her ear.

* * *

You sigh as you pass through your front door and toss your saddlebags aside, having been sent home from your job early. You can’t focus on your work, even though you’ve buried yourself in it lately. Anything to keep your mind off her. Your boss even had to force you to take the rest of today off because of how hard you’ve been pushing yourself. You start to feel like your life has lost all meaning.

Until you notice a letter on the floor, the address on the envelope scrawled in Dash’s unmistakable writing. You eagerly tear the envelope open and pull out its contents.

Sorry it’s taken me this long to write to you, the Wonderbolts have been keeping me REALLY busy. I’ve been pretty worn out from training so hard with them, but it’s been AWESOME. We’ve already talked about incorporating some of my moves into the act, I’m so pumped! I can’t wait til our first performance together. I think it’s gonna be in Fillydelphia, but I’m not entirely sure. I’ll be sure to let you know, and send you some VIP tickets.

A grin creeps across your face as you read her words. She’s having the time of her life. You can’t help but to be happy for her, and feel yourself welling up with pride as you continue to read.

I know it’s only been a week, but...

I really miss you. I wish there was some way you could be here with me. I still have three more weeks of training before I get a weekend off - you know I’ll be heading straight for Ponyville. In the mean time, write to me, okay? Let me know how you’re doing. I’ve been a little worried about how you’re coping with our time apart.

Love,

Dash

It’s a short letter, but it’s enough. This is just the boost you needed to keep yourself going. A gentle reminder that the world hasn’t ended, and you’ll see the love of your life again. The waiting, however, is going to be the hard part. You take the letter and carefully place it back into the envelope, carrying it over to your desk and safely stashing it away in a secret compartment, along with the note she had left you the morning after your first night together - which you still had after all this time.

You let out a long sigh as you retrieve a pencil and paper and draft your response to her. For several minutes you sit in silent contemplation, tapping a hoof on your desk as you try to think of where to begin. It takes copious restraint to keep from pouring out your soul onto the page, you know you need to keep it brief.

Dash

My beautiful goddess, love of my life, I was so ecstatic to get your letter! Words cannot convey how deeply I have missed your touch. Every evening I dream of you, wishing once more to hold you close. You have always been the heart in my day and the soul in my night. Without you I have been but an empty shell, a ghost of my former self wandering the dim caverns of despair that

Reading back over what you’ve written, you snort in annoyance at yourself as you crumple the paper up and toss it behind you. You pull out a fresh sheet of paper and start again.

Hey baby

Glad to hear you’re having a good time. Things around here have been fine. Just a bit boring though.

Again you frown, grumbling as you wad up another piece of paper and discard it. This isn’t me. I need to just write her something from the heart, you chastise yourself for making the task more difficult than it needs to be. You drop your pencil on the desk and make your way to the kitchen, putting on some water to boil. A relaxing cup of hot tea, that should help you focus.

You return to your desk with the steamy beverage, setting it down and taking a sip as you take up your pencil and begin yet again.

Dash

I understand why it took you so long to write me. I’ve missed you too. I’m so happy for you, and I wish I had the right words to tell you how proud I am of you. I’m sure the Wonderbolts are having a hard time keeping up with you! There’s no doubt in my mind you’re gonna go far with them. I can’t wait to see your first performance.

Yes, it’s only been a week, though it already feels like it’s been an eternity. I’ll be counting down the seconds until we see each other again, praying to Celestia that they past swiftly. I hope to hear from you again soon.

I love you, Dashie.

Reading back over the letter, you silently nod in satisfaction as you prepare it to be sent out first thing the next day. Just as you seal the envelope you hear a gentle knocking at your door.

“Um... excuse me...” you hear a soft, barely audible voice say, “is... is anypony home?”

You smile as you make your way over to the door and open it, revealing a timid yellow pegasus who shrinks away slightly as you open the door.

“Oh... um... sorry to bother you,” Fluttershy squeaks, looking away from you. You find it hard to believe that she’s become more assertive over the last couple of years, even though Dash has commented on it many times. Every time she’s around you she seems just as shy as when you first met her.

You greet her with a warm smile. Any friend of Dash’s is always welcome in your home.

“It’s okay, it’s no bother, really. Would you like to come in? I’ve just made some tea if you’d care for a cup.”

Fluttershy perks up ever so slightly at the invitation.

“Oh... that sounds... um.. delightful, thank you,” she replies gratefully.

You motion for Fluttershy to have a seat on your couch as you proceed to the kitchen and pour her a cup of tea, refreshing your own cup as well. She sheepishly thanks you as you set the cup on a small coffee table in front of her. You climb up into a big comfortable chair positioned at a right angle to the sofa, placing your own cup on a small end table sitting next to it.

There’s a bit of an awkward silence for a moment before you finally speak up.

“Sooo... Fluttershy. What brings you around?” you ask politely, taking a sip of your tea.

“Oh... um... well, you see... I just wanted to... um... see how you were... since... eep!” she replies, turning her head further and further away from you as she speaks.

You grin nervously, the mare’s shyness making you slightly uncomfortable.

“It’s okay... you just wanted to...” you gently urge her to continue.

“Um.. well, I just wanted to... see how you were doing... since Rainbow Dash left,” she replies meekly, looking away and blushing when her gaze meets yours. You can’t help but think to yourself what a kind gesture she’s making, attempting to put her shyness aside to make sure you’re okay in a time she knows must be difficult for you, even though she doesn’t know you all that well.

“That’s very sweet of you, Fluttershy. I really appreciate the gesture,” you say to her in as friendly a manner as you can. You could swear her blushing deepens as she turns her face toward you slowly. “I’m hanging in there. In fact, I just got a letter from her today and-”

“YOU GOT A LETTER FROM RAINBOW DASH? ...eep!” her sudden burst of enthusiasm startles you, causing you to nearly spill your tea all over the place. “Oh... oh I’m so sorry... it’s just that none of us have heard from her yet. How... how is she doing? We all miss her a lot. Did she mention any of us in her letter?”

You shoot the filly an odd look for a moment, still unsure what exactly to make of her outburst.

She squeaks and scoots away from you, hiding behind her bubblegum colored mane.

“I’m terribly sorry... I don’t mean to be so nosey... you... you don’t have to answer that, it’s okay.”

She seems to be nearly in tears, and you feel guilty about your behavior. In an attempt to make her more comfortable, you climb up on the couch next to her and place a hoof around her shoulder.

“It’s okay...” you begin.

She instantly looks mortified and leaps up from the couch at this sudden unexpected gesture from you.

“Oh... I.. I’m sorry... I have to go now... sorry...” she says as she runs past you and hastily makes her way out the front door.

“Fluttershy, wait!” you call after her.

You slowly shut the door as Fluttershy disappears from view, wondering what you did wrong. You’d never purposely hurt any of Dash’s friends. I’ll have to find a way to make it up to her, you think to yourself as you return to your seat to finish your tea.

Chapter 7

As Rainbow Dash left her lover’s home, having said goodbye to all of her closest friends, she finally allowed herself to cry as she took flight and was sure nopony would see her. All at once, the reality hit her that she was leaving behind all those she cared for the most.

“Come on Dash,” she grumbled, flapping her wings ferociously as her sadness and anger at herself boiled over, “you’re joining the WONDERBOLTS! You’re going to live the dream! How can you possibly be sad!? Do you know how many pegasus ponies would give their left wing to be in your place?”

Dash became so lost in her own thoughts and trying to cheer herself up that she wasn’t really paying attention to anything else. A sudden updraft caught her wings, causing her to flip upside down and fall several feet before righting herself.

“What the hay!?” Dash exclaimed in annoyance as she shook her head. “That was a rookie mistake! Get a freakin’ grip, Dash!”

Hovering in mid-air, she quickly checked her saddlebags to make sure nothing had fallen out. She let out a small sigh of relief when everything was accounted for. Before closing them back up, she pulled out a picture and looked at it - a group shot of her and all her best friends, taken just shortly after they had defeated Nightmare Moon. She smiled, fondly remembering the day it was taken as clearly as if it were yesterday.

“I love you guys,” she said as she carefully put the picture back into her saddlebag, retrieving another as she tucked it away.

On this one was the image of a rather annoyed looking colt, sopping wet from mane to tail. Dash chuckled as she remembered the prank she had set up that day, leaving a full bucket of ice cold water perched precariously above his half-open front door. He had come home from work, only to find his front door partially open, somewhat afraid to step inside for fear of barging in on some intruder. That is, until he peered through the cracked door to see Dash lying on his couch in a seductive pose, winking at him when she noticed he was hesitantly peeking inside.

She burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter as she remembered how quickly he had flung open the door upon seeing her, the loud gasp and shocked yelp that emanated from him as he was drenched, simultaneously dazed by the flash of a camera she had set up to take his picture the moment the bucket fell onto him.

“He’s such a good sport,” she said to herself. Many times the unfortunate fellow had fallen victim to some clever prank she had set up, but not once did he ever show the slightest hint of anger at her, taking it in stride with a laugh. It had been the same for this prank. Though annoyance and surprise had initially flashed across his face, it was rapidly replaced by a loving smile as he laughed with her.

“Good one, Dash,” he had said as he trotted over to her and shook himself off like a wet dog, getting as much of the water on her as he could in the process.

Dash sighed as she felt an all-too familiar feeling take hold of her, remembering how shortly thereafter he had locked her in a passionate kiss. She gently pressed her lips to the picture as a tear rolled off the end of her muzzle and splashed lightly on one of its edges. She never did understand how he was able to make her feel this way, nor why he had been so devoted to her from the very beginning.

From the very first time she met him, it was painfully obvious the poor guy had a huge crush on her. Though when she had seen him for the first time she had thought he was kinda cute, she hadn’t really felt fireworks go off inside her or whatever it is you’re supposed to feel when you fall in love at first sight. She remembered how she had taken pity on him - perhaps if she just gave him an awesome private aerial show that would be enough. She had never expected things to go as far as they did.

She had been so annoyed and frustrated when she failed her Sonic Rainboom. Even more annoyed when the presumptuous colt had attempted to help her up after trying to break her fall. Like she was some kind of damsel in distress that needed a big strong heroic colt to rescue her. Being the brash, independent filly she is, it had enraged her. She hadn’t even considered the notion that he might have genuinely cared about her until she had made the impulsive, stupid decision to kick him.

She winced, remembering how she had put all of her frustration and anger behind that kick, and how painful it must have been for him. Rainbow Dash is by no means a violent pony, but something inside her snapped after the embarrassment of having failed her signature move in front of some silly awestruck fancolt.

That was the first time she had ever made a colt cry, and it had made her feel absolutely wretched. She felt the least she could for him was let him fulfil this fantasy he seemed to have of being her knight in shining armor. Let him have his moment, what harm could it do? She didn’t expect to be so comfortable with him “taking care of her” that she’d fall asleep lying on his back the way she did. She had felt a bit of a warm, fuzzy feeling as she drifted off to sleep from the gentle motion of his stride - had that been the first time she’d felt a little spark for him? She let the past continue to play in her mind as her wings began to slowly carry her forward once more, still looking down at the picture she held.

She remembered waking up in the middle of that night, smiling as she felt the warmth of another body pressed against hers. It had taken her a moment to realize where she was. She felt a warm breath on her neck and heard very light snoring behind her. Normally she felt uneasy about such close contact with anypony, she had never really been the touchy-feely type, but for some reason she hadn’t minded this... at least not at first. When the realisation hit her that she was in an unfamiliar colt’s home, and she had been fast asleep there for Celestia knows how long, she sprung off the couch in fear and confusion, causing him to fall onto the floor as she yelled at him, assuming the worst of his intentions.

She felt so strange when he had gently brushed away a bit of mane from her face, but a good kind of strange. Looking deeply into his eyes she could somehow feel his sincerity and how genuine his intentions were. When he had leaned in to plant his lips on hers, her heart had started pounding fiercely, her whole body trembling in excitement for her first kiss. That must have been it. That must have been the moment she fell in love with him.

What an intense night that had been! Even though she had felt conflicted the next day, deep down she knew she’d never be quite the same without him in her life. She was so terrified when she had stumbled upon him and Twilight arguing, terrified by the thought that their night together had meant nothing to him. That she had been used, and that all of those confusing yet wonderful emotions she had felt for him were meaningless. She shuddered at the thought that her own mistrust and misunderstanding had almost ended something wonderful before it had a chance to truly take off.

For the first time in her life, Dash began to have the slightest stirring of doubt about her desire to join the Wonderbolts. She had to ask herself, is this honestly still what is going to make me happy? If it’s going to take me away from the colt I love, is it worth it? Ugh. Why couldn't I have fallen in love with another pegasus pony?

She shook her head and grumbled, placing the picture back into her saddlebag.

“This is no time to be doubting yourself, Dash,” she said. “You gotta focus.”

By the time she finally reached Cloudsdale the sun had already set. The sight of the Pegasus capital always impressed Dash, despite having grown up there. She’d always marveled at the idea that an entire city filled with ponies could just float around in the sky. She smiled as she gently touched down on one of the sparse cloud roads that connected the nebular archipelago of the metropolis.

“Now, what did I do with those directions?” she asked herself under her breath. Reaching into her saddlebags she pulled out a piece of paper with the emblem of the Wonderbolts across the top. “Ah, here we go.”

Being as familiar with Cloudsdale as she is, Dash was able to find her way to the Wonderbolts’ training facility / living quarters in no time flat. She was somewhat taken aback at how grandiose the facility is, even compared to the rest of the architecture in Cloudsdale. She stood in awe for a minute or so, her mouth slightly agape before being interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Rainbow Dash, so glad you could make it!”

Dash turned to see a familiar yellow pony with a fiery orange mane standing nearby, somewhat surprised that she was lacking her uniform.

“Oh hey Spitfire!” Dash said, trying not to squeal like a little filly even though the dopey smile on her face instantly gave her away as she placed a hoof over her mouth. She could barely contain her inner fanmare even though she’d talked to Spitfire twice before. Spitfire walked over to Dash and extended a hoof, placing it on her shoulder as she smiled at her.

“It’s great to see you again, it’s been far too long. So,” she said as she led Dash inside, “why don’t you come on in and I’ll show you around.”

“AWESOME!” Dash squealed with glee, much to her embarrassment. “Uh, I mean, that’s cool I guess.”

Spitfire chuckled at the young blue mare as she walked alongside her, reminiscing about when she herself had first joined the Wonderbolts, and how her behavior had been quite similar to Dash’s. She showed her around the facility - the training areas, kitchen, dining area, personal quarters, recreational areas and the like. Dash was spellbound the entire time. Even with the Wonderbolts being the celebrities they are, she never dreamed that their accommodations would be so luxurious. After showing her around, Spitfire invited Dash to her personal quarters so they could talk in private, out of earshot of the other Wonderbolts. She motioned for Dash to take a seat as she closed the door behind them. Dash climbed up onto the luxurious chair as Spitfire took a seat in an identical one directly across from her.

“So tell me, Rainbow Dash. Have you had a chance to think about our offer?” She asked, foregoing any further small talk to get down to brass tacks.

“Well Spitfire, this is an absolutely incredible opportunity you guys are presenting me with. I’d be crazy to say no. But,” Dash said with slight hesitation, “I’m just really gonna miss my friends and my old life in Ponyville. I love them all so much... this will be the longest I’ve ever been away from all of them.”

“You’ve earned this Rainbow Dash. After seeing your spectacular performance at the Best Young Flier competition, and especially after heroically saving our lives, we’re very excited by the possibility of having someone with your raw talent join us,” Spitfire said as Dash blushed fiercely at having received such a compliment from one of her lifelong heroes. “However,” Spitfire continued, “We would understand if, for any reason, you decide to decline our offer. We know we’re asking for a huge commitment from you.”

Dash looked around uneasily, unsure of what to say. Spitfire stood up and approached Dash, motioning for her to scoot over, the huge chair having more than enough room for two ponies. She climbed up next to Dash and placed a hoof around her shoulder.

“I know your friends mean a lot to you, that much was obvious both at the Best Young Flier competition and at the Gala. We would never ask you to abandon them. In fact, we’d be thrilled to see more of them and you’re welcome to invite any and all of them to our performances. We’ll even let you have some VIP tickets to send them,” she said. Dash turned to look at her with an expression that, had it been anypony else, would have been accompanied by tears.

“But I also have to be honest with you, Dash - may I call you Dash?” the rainbow maned pegasus nodded silently at the captain of the Wonderbolts, pleased that her hero was already speaking on familiar terms with her.. “I have to be honest with you Dash, your schedule with us will leave little time for anything else. We train hard. We show hard. That’s why we’re the best. You’ll have time off to visit your loved ones, but it will be sporadic for the most part. As you begin training with us the most I can guarantee is one weekend per month. Even less when we have a lot of shows booked.”

Dash’s thoughts again turned to her lover. The pony that, at some point, she had expected to get married to. What would their future together be like if they barely got to see each other? She knew that he loved her, and she would always love him. But how unfair would it be to ask him to wait on her all the time? Come to think of it, if they were so in love, why hadn’t he asked her to marry him yet? Was he simply afraid of commitment? No, that definitely couldn’t be the case. He’d been undauntedly devoted to her throughout their relationship, even when it hit some rough patches. The heartfelt words he had spoken to her only days ago echoed in her mind.

I love you Rainbow Dash. I love you more than I could ever put into words. I could stand here for a thousand years describing my love for you and it wouldn’t even begin to scratch the surface. I can’t, and I WON’T ask you to deny a part of who you are for my sake. Your happiness is the most important thing in the WORLD to me. I want this for you, Dash. I want it for you as much as I know you want it for yourself.

It was becoming more and more difficult for Dash to hold back her tears, but she remained strong. She knew how true those words were. She couldn’t deny how much a part of herself her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt was, but could she remain loyal to herself and loyal to her lover with such a huge obstacle to face? Rainbow Dash was determined to shake her doubts off once and for all. After all, if HE had faith that they could overcome it, then so should she, right?

She smiled at Spitfire.

“Looking forward to it. So, where’s my room?” the cocky pegasus asked, trying to add a flare of attitude to her acceptance.

* * *

“Again.”

“Aw, c’mon Soarin’” Dash said as she lay sprawled out on a cloud, trying to catch her breath as sweat poured down her face, “I’ve practiced this move like a thousand times already, can’t we take a break?” she complained.

“What was that, recruit?” Soarin’ asked in a stern tone as he landed beside her.

“Ah, um, I mean YES SIR!” she said. Though she’d been training with the Wonderbolts for five days already, she still wasn’t quite used to the militaristic discipline in their approach. They had definitely been putting her through her paces, and she had to admit to herself that it was difficult to keep up with their training regimen sometimes, even for a pony of her skill and ability. She shot into the sky, zigzagging around, performing the same move that she’d just performed several times for her mentor though her lungs and muscles were beginning to burn from exhaustion. Upon completing the move, she once again collapsed onto a nearby cloud, panting heavily under the hot summer sun.

“Okay Dash,” Soarin’ said as he landed beside her again, “I wouldn’t want you to faint from heat exhaustion, I think you can call it a day. DISMISSED!”

Oh thank Celestia! Dash thought to herself. After catching her breath she made her way back to her living quarters, taking a few minutes to stretch and wind down from her workout before heading straight to the bathroom. She turned the shower head on full blast with cold water and stood beneath it, her overheated body initially cringing sharply as the icy cool sensation took her breath away, but slowly adapting as she inched more and more of her body underneath it. She moaned softly as she closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling, opening her mouth and taking a few huge gulps of water to quench her parched throat. She unfurled her sore wings and slowly rotated her body around to each side, making sure to allow the water to coat them generously.

She tilted her head slightly forward to allow the wonderfully soothing liquid to splash onto the top of her head and run down the back of her neck. After her mane was soaked and clinging to her neck, she turned around to do the same to her rear end. She let out a gasp as the cool water ran down her rump, over, around and underneath her tail, clenching her tail for a moment as its icy touch made contact with a very sensitive area, her whole body shivering in response.

Turning back around after allowing her tail to become thoroughly soaked, Dash looked up and noticed some writing on the shower head that she hadn’t noticed before. She’d always been in too much of a hurry to ever pay attention, but it looked like this one was adjustable. She read the various settings: Normal, which it was on now. Gentle Mist. Soak.

“Ooh, ‘Massage.’ That one sounds nice. I bet that’ll feel good after a hard day’s work,” Dash said to herself. With a few clicks the water went from a gentle soaking spray to a more concentrated, forceful, pulsating stream.

She closed her eyes and slowly rotated her body, allowing the sensation to pass over her tense muscles, moaning in contentment as the stress of the day slowly melted away. Between her wings, down her back, over her croup. Her eyes opened and she smirked impishly as she got an idea. She hadn’t been able to see her lover in days, and parts of her were going neglected that were used to being taken care of almost nightly. She lifted her tail, and positioned herself so that the powerful jets would strike her in the-

Dash bit her lip and squealed as the full weight of her upper body collapsed onto her knees and she stood on the tips of her hind hooves, her head swimming in this curious new sensation. She’d have to remember this next time she took a shower; it’d probably feel even better with hot water.

Dash stepped out of the shower, flapping her wings a few times to shake off the excess water as some of it streamed down her body and pattered onto the floor. She could dry most of her body fairly quickly just by flapping her wings, for the most part negating the need for a towel, though her mane often remained quite damp. She wrapped a towel around her mane and flopped down onto her bed, exhausted. She felt herself beginning to nod off as the luxuriously soft bed beneath her slowly molded around her, cradling her body perfectly. Her eyes snapped open suddenly as she remembered something she’d been meaning to do. She reached over the edge of the bed to a drawer in the night stand, pausing several moments to stare at a picture on the top of it - a picture of a colt she loved more and more every day - and pulled out a pencil and a piece of paper.

Sorry it’s taken me this long to write to you...

Chapter 8

Hey!

I just got your letter. That was fast! I mean, I knew you’d be writing me back as soon as you got mine, but I didn’t think the Equestria Postal Service could move mail so quickly!

Training has let up a little bit, so I should be able to make the time to write to you every other day or something like that. Do me a favor, would ya? Tell Pinkie Pie and all my other friends I said “Hi” and that I miss them. I’d write to them all but... it’s hard enough just finding the time to write to you. I mean, not that I mind writing to you or anything.

Soarin’ has been pretty hard on me, he’s been supervising most of my training. At first I wasn’t sure about how things were going to work out for me here, I was getting so worn out! But as the days have progressed it’s almost like I can feel my strength and stamina increasing. You’ll never guess what I did for him this morning!

Go on, guess!

Yep, that’s right, I did a Sonic Rainboom! I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pull it off, but I really wanted to knock Soarin’s socks off and do something he wasn’t expecting. I nailed it! HAH! You should have seen the look on his face! They’re probably gonna make it the finale at my first show with them! I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. Try not to get too mushy about this, but...

I was thinking of you when it happened.

Just don’t get a big head about it or anything. I mean, I still totally would have pulled it off anyway, but... uh, well you know what I mean!

By the way, you still haven’t let me know how you’re doing. Make sure you do that when you write back. Don’t make me come down there and spank you like a naughty little colt for disobeying me.

Uh, right. Anyway, gotta go!

Love you lots!

Dash

* * *

Hi Dashie

That is SO cool that you did a sonic rainboom! I bet Soarin’ was impressed, to say the least. And the fact that you were thinking of me at the time, I really don’t know what to say to that. Did I ever mention how proud I am of you? By the way, those totally aren’t tear stains at the top of the paper, just ignore those little splotches.

Anyway I’ve been okay I guess. Just really missing you. I’ve been keeping myself really busy at work though, it seems to help the time pass a little faster. Oh, your friend Fluttershy stopped by to see me a couple days ago, but she left in a hurry. Don’t know what THAT was all about. She seemed awful excited that I got a letter from you. Maybe you should at least write to her if nopony else? I mean, if you ever have the extra time that is. I can only imagine how busy you are. I’ll make a point of it to let Pinkie Pie know you said hi, and your other friends too the next time I see them.

On an unrelated note, do you have any idea how good it feels to be able to brag that I’m in a serious romantic relationship with a Wonderbolt? I think my friends and coworkers are getting sick of hearing it at this point. I swear one of them is going to go off the deep end about it one of these days.

I had a dream about you last night. It was INTENSE, but dreams can’t even begin to compare to holding you. When I finally get to see you again, the things I’m gonna do to you... oh you just wait. As far as spanking me goes, is that a promise? I might just have to disobey you more often if so. Though a spanking is tame compared to what you’ve got coming you dirty little filly.

Twenty days, just twenty more days and you’re all mine for a whole weekend...

I love you, Dashie

* * *

Hey hot stuff,

Impressed? Soarin’ was WAY more than impressed! That was the first time I’ve ever seen him completely speechless at the end of a training session.

Fluttershy stopped by to see you? That seems a little strange, I would have thought Pinkie or one of the others would have visited you first, to try to cheer you up or something. I think Fluttershy is intimidated by you for some reason, so I’m a little surprised she actually came to visit you when I wasn’t there.

So, you brag about me to your friends and coworkers now? What, I wasn’t good enough to brag about to them before I became a Wonderbolt? I suppose you’re just in it for the novelty of romantic involvement with a soon-to-be celebrity, huh? Well, if that’s the case maybe we should just go our separate ways...

Don’t freak out, I’m kidding!!! Guess that doesn’t come across very well in writing, does it?

I love you.

There, I hope that makes up for it. If not, I’ll be sure to “make up for it” when we see each other again, if you know what I mean.

Did you really have a dream about me? It must have been a pretty good one considering how long it’s been since we, uh, you know. I wish I could remember my dreams. I think I’ve been too exhausted to dream since I’ve been here, but if I have I’m sure you’ve been in them somewhere.

I’ve been missing our nights together more and more. I’m looking forward to feeling your body pressed closed to mine again. It’s a good thing training is keeping me so busy and worn out, otherwise I might have to be on the prowl for some studly young pegasus colt to take care of my needs.

Kidding, again. You know you’re the only colt for me, don’t go feeling all insecure.

I have so much more that I want to say, but I really need to hit the hay, it’s getting late. I’ll be seeing you soon, real soon.

Love,

Dash

* * *

Dash

I got a surprise visit from your friends Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Fluttershy today. They’re all curious about how things are going for you in Cloudsdale. They asked if they can expect any letters from you. They understand if not, but to be honest I think they’re a tad bit jealous that we’ve been writing to each other so much.

I also bumped into Applejack today in town. I bought a couple of her pies and we talked about you for quite a while. She asked me to send you a pie too, which I’ve sent along with this letter. She’s very happy for you, all your friends are, but it’s pretty obvious to me that they miss you just as much as I do. Well, ALMOST as much as I do anyway.

I’ve been dreaming of you almost every night, desperately clinging to sleep in the mornings as I’ve awakened, not wanting to leave you even in my dreams. I hope your training isn’t wearing you out TOO much, you’re gonna need every bit of energy you can muster in two more weeks. I can’t wait to taste your sweet lips again; to let all of my senses be overwhelmed by you.

I know you were only kidding about finding another colt and whatnot. You should know by now that I’m used to your teasing and sense of humor, it’s one of the things about you that I love the most, so don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I really hope the Wonderbolts know how lucky they are to have you. I haven’t taken off the necklace you gave me since the day you left, except for when I go to bed and when I take a shower. When I look at your picture, I can’t help but smile knowing you’re living your dream, and also knowing that I’ll see you again. I’d wait for you a thousand years if I had to.

Anyway, I’ll keep this brief. I know I’ve said it a million times, and I know you kinda hate the mushy stuff, but I love you Rainbow Dash. I’ll love you forever, and I’ll always be yours.

See you soon, my love.

* * *

Sorry it’s taken me so long to write back to you, it took me a while to recover from the sappiness of your last letter. Teasing aside, Soarin’ has really ramped up the intensity of my training lately, it’s taking a lot out of me. Even though he’s being really tough on me his attitude seems to be changing, he doesn’t seem to be taking it quite as seriously as he did during my first few days here, and some of our most recent sessions have even been really fun.

Spitfire has been practicing with us too, and this morning we even went through an entire routine together, the routine we’ll be performing at my first public appearance with them. I’m so stoked! They’ve confirmed that it’s gonna be in Fillydelphia, and I’m bringing you and all my friends tickets when I come to see you this weekend. I did finally make the time to write to each of them, too. I felt really bad about not keeping in touch with them, so that’s also part of why you haven’t heard from me in a little while, I hope you don’t mind.

By the way, I hope you’re ready for my visit. I’ve barely been able to think about anything else for the last couple of days. You better not have anything else planned, because you are MINE this weekend, got it?

Dash

* * *

Reading over Dash’s most recent letter, you feel yourself begin to tremble in anticipation. It’s been so long since you’ve felt her touch, your body is screaming out for release. Perhaps you hadn’t realized in the beginning just how much you’d grown to NEED that touch over the last couple of years. It’s become almost painful, but you’re willing to endure it. You can only imagine the wild weekend you’ll soon be sharing if the tone of the letters she’s been sending you is any indication. You pick up a pencil and begin to draft a response to your lover, but you can’t focus. You wonder if there would even be any point in writing another letter back to her, she’d most likely be here before it reached her anyway, the weekend only being two days away. You drop the pencil with a sigh and decide to head for bed. Though it’s early in the evening, anything you can do to make the time pass more quickly is a blessing at this point.

As you carefully remove your necklace, opening the locket hanging from it to get a glimpse at your soul mate, you sigh longingly. This has become sort of a nightly ritual for you ever since Dash’s departure. You plant a kiss on the image as you set the necklace down on your night stand and slip under the covers, falling fast asleep much sooner than usual.

Chapter 9

A loud banging at your door awakens you late that night. You stumble out of bed in a semi-conscious haze, cursing under your breath as you bump a hoof on your night stand, nearly knocking over the lamp on top of it.

Who could that be this late at night? You wonder to yourself, slightly annoyed as the frantic, jarring banging continues. As your fuzzy consciousness slowly clears, a sudden thought worries you. What if there’s something wrong, some kind of emergency somepony’s trying to tell me about? You anxiously hurry to the front door after flipping on a light.

All you see is a blue blur as you’re knocked onto your back and slammed on the floor hard, feeling something hot and wet pressed into your lips. You struggle for a moment in sheer confusion, until your sudden shock turns to immense joy as a familiar taste fills your mouth.

Dash has you pinned against the wall when she finally breaks the kiss, her front hooves wrapped around you holding you in place. Your hind hooves dangle a few inches off the ground, her wings flap ferociously as she hovers in mid-air.

“I’ve missed you, t-”

You can’t even finish your sentence before her tongue is in your mouth again. Dash moans loudly in satisfaction, like a pony who’d been wandering a parched desert for a month that’s just been offered a trough full of ice cold sparkling clear water to quench her thirst.

With a jolt, you feel yourself pulled away from the wall suddenly, and out the front door. You wrap yourself around her tightly as you feel your body rapidly spiralling upward into the cool, crisp night sky. You’re barely able to breathe in the ocean of passionate kisses she’s drowning you in all the while, the wind from her heavily beating wings lashing fiercely around you as you soar higher and higher with her.

You finally come to a stop just after bursting through a cloud, its nebulous remnants cascading off your bodies as it disintegrates around you. Your heart pounds fiercely from the thrill of the flight, but moreso from the overwhelming joy of holding your lover close to you again after so long. Dash’s lips part from yours as she pulls away from you just enough to look into your eyes. You feel tears of joy begin to well up as you speak to her.

“I’ve missed you so much,” you whisper softly.

Dash says nothing, instead silencing you with yet another kiss as she gently rolls her body over, somehow managing to remain in flight even nearly completely upside down with you lying on her belly and clutching her tightly. Your heads are angled slightly toward the ground and it feels as though you could fall at any time, though such fears are quickly dashed by the security of your lover’s firm embrace. You feel completely safe with her, knowing you can trust her with your very life. She leans toward you to whisper something into your ear, and you’re somewhat taken aback by her suggestion.

“Up HERE!?” you ask as though you hadn’t plainly understood what she wanted. She simply nods at you coyly.

You’ve been waiting for this for a long time, every fiber of your being is screaming out for it, and your body has already begun to comply with Dash’s request without your mind’s permission. You find yourself exhilarated by the thought of coupling with her thousands of feet in the air like this. Not daring to let go of Dash for fear of falling, you wiggle around to attempt to obtain the proper position to...

You gasp loudly and toss your head back as you find your mark, Dash mirroring you and falling several feet rapidly, nearly toppling you off of her as she compensates for her momentary lapse in concentration. You kiss her neck and moan softly as you fall into a slow, steady rhythm, extracting every ounce of pleasure that you can from this moment as you close your eyes.

As your pace gradually starts to increase you both begin to become lost in the moment as each of you satiates the other’s incredible hunger. Your breathing intensifies and you feel the tiniest drop of sweat start to form on your body from the heat of your passion, even in the almost icy blanket of the night sky.

“Whatever happens,” Dash moans, “keep going.”

You aren’t given time to wonder what she means by that as she grips you tightly and folds her wings to her sides, sending you both into a head-first free-fall. The sudden rush of adrenaline through your veins greatly enhances the wonderfully overwhelming sensations your body is being subjected to. Remembering what Dash said, you keep going, though movement is rather difficult with how tightly you’re wrapped around one another. What little motion you’re able to accomplish is more than enough for you both, the psychological ecstasy of this new experience being more than enough to compensate for your severely restricted range of motion.

Several seconds after Dash initiates the free-fall, she unfurls her wings. You expect her to level off, but she doesn’t. Instead she begins flapping her wings, rapidly accelerating your descent. Panic begins to overtake you, but you have complete faith in Dash’s flying skill. She grips you so tightly that you can no longer move at all as you spiral toward what every logical sense in your body is telling you is your inevitable death.

Though you’re gripped with fear, your entire being is enveloped in a pleasure unlike anything you’ve ever felt before. You press your face into her neck and close your eyes as the strain of the incredible forces your unaccustomed body is being subjected to begins to take its toll. You’ve never felt such a titillating combination of fear, excitement, and pleasure. You can’t even begin to imagine how fast the two of you must be going, the air feeling as though it’s about to rip the very skin from your body as all you can hear is a high-pitched whistling that seems to surround you.

All at once the tension that’s been building up between the two of you over the past month concentrates at a single point, your grip on Dash tightens so much as to be painful for you as both of you enjoy the most powerful climax of your relationship, neither one of you realizing how close you are to the ground until it’s almost too late. Dash spreads her wings and arches her back in an attempt to level your descent but you’re coming in too fast. The motion of her wings harshly alters your trajectory at a sharp angle nearly parallel to the ground, straight toward your home. It’s too late to go over or around it, so she makes a split-second decision and aims for the open door, prompting you to close your eyes hard and brace for what’s about to happen.

The impact forces the two of you apart violently as you come crashing into your living room, leaving a trail of destruction in your wake before a wall on the far side of the room brings your motion to an abrupt stop. All you can manage is a loud “oomph!” as the wind is knocked out of you, a similar noise emanating from Dash as she, too comes to a halt right next to you upon meeting the painfully immobile barrier.

You lay there for a moment attempting to catch your breath before slowly pulling yourself to your hooves, coughing a bit as you shake yourself off and look around, surveying the damage. Not a picture remains on any of the room’s walls, their shattered remnants strewn about like fragments of tiny little paper, glass, and wooden bombs. Your couch and chair are both overturned and torn, your coffee table splintered. Several large cracks run through the plaster in the wall at your point of impact, almost up to the ceiling. Still breathing heavily, you look over at Dash who is finally pulling herself to her hooves as well. She looks around the room for a moment before her gaze meets yours. She blushes and her ears fold back slightly as she looks away from you.

“Sorry, guess I got a little carried away,” she says with a nervous chuckle.

Though your body is still wracked with pain from the impact, you quickly close the short distance between you to plant a kiss on the end of her muzzle.

“It was totally worth it,” you say with a smile as both of you burst out in laughter.

As the laughter dies down, you and Dash set yourselves to the task of straightening the destroyed room, for what little good it does.

“I thought you wouldn’t be here until this weekend,” you mention as you and Dash turn your couch back upright.

“Oh, well I talked them into letting me leave a little bit early,” she says nonchalantly, “I thought you might enjoy the surprise. Besides, a four day weekend is just what I need after all I’ve been through. Apparently they agreed that I’ve earned the rest, so here I am.”

‘Enjoy’ is definitely an understatement you think to yourself. Nothing in your dreams could have prepared you for what just transpired. Your eyes become fixed on Dash as she futilely attempts to piece together your hopelessly shattered coffee table, and you cant help but smile. She notices you staring before long.

“What are you lookin’ at?” she asks with a quizzical expression on her face. You sigh and tilt your head toward the floor in response.

“It’s just so good to see you again,” you finally say. A long silence passes as you lose yourself in her eyes, feeling almost hypnotized by their beauty. “You know what,” you finally say, shaking your head. “Cleaning up can wait til the morning.” You make your way toward your bedroom and motion for Dash to follow.

“You’ll get no argument here,” she says in reply as she walks behind you.

Dash jumps up onto your bed and makes herself comfortable as you close the door behind you. When you turn around you see her sprawled out on the bed in a seductive pose with a devilish grin on her face.

“So,” she murmurs enticingly, “ready for round two?”

The night has only begun for the two of you.

Chapter 10

You awaken late the next morning to the sound of Dash snoring heavily. You roll over to face her, smiling as you run a hoof through her mane delicately so as not to wake her. Though every muscle and bone in your body is stiff and throbbing with soreness from the night before, it’s been a long time since you’ve felt so content. You lean in close and kiss her on the muzzle, causing her to scrunch up her nose and murmur a bit in her sleep.

Lifting your head and looking past her at a clock on the wall, you wince realizing you were supposed to be at work hours ago. Maybe I’ll take a four day weekend myself you think as you look back down at Dash. Sure there’ll be consequences to pay for taking time off without notice, but nothing you can’t handle. Besides, Celestia only knows when you’d get another chance to be with the love of your life like this again, you’re not about to let anything else get in the way no matter how “important” it might be.

You roll out of bed with a grunt as you stretch out your stiff body and yawn. You entertain the thought of bringing Dash breakfast in bed before laughing to yourself under your breath, realizing it’s already almost lunchtime.

“Well good morning,” a sultry voice that sends shivers down your spine causes you to turn, meeting Dash’s half-lidded gaze.

“What’s left of it,” you chuckle. She seems puzzled by your response before rolling over and looking at the clock on the wall.

“Whoa,” she says in surprise, “we’ve slept half the day away already! Well, I guess that’s to be expected after the kinda night we had,” she laughs. “To be honest I’m still a little tired. Why don’t you come back to bed?” she says, patting the empty space on the mattress next to her, knowing the offer is too enticing for you to pass up.

“I’d love nothing more, but I should really...” your voice trails off.

Who are you trying to kid? You peel back the covers and slide back into bed with a sigh, pulling yourself as close to Dash as physically possible. She’s never been much of a cuddler, but greatly to your satisfaction she’s been willing to indulge you on occasion. You place a hoof around her back and nuzzle her neck in a ticklish spot causing her to giggle as you kiss and nip at it playfully. Dash returns the gesture, nuzzling into your neck with a contented sigh as she wraps her hooves around you, holding you tight.

“Don’t you ever leave me,” she whispers under her breath right before she drifts back off to sleep.

Your eyes go wide, her words taking you by surprise. You’re not at all accustomed to hearing her say things like that. You close your eyes and plant a lingering kiss on the top of her head. It’s moments like this that you live for, and already four days seems like far too short a time. You lie awake basking in the warmth of her body, the sensation of her breath tickling your neck as she sleeps. Your mind can’t help but wander as you lie there, thinking back on your failed marriage proposal, wondering how different things might be right now if you had popped the question before she had a chance to tell you the news that she’d been invited to join the Wonderbolts. You quickly convince yourself that there’s no sense in dwelling on the past. Your Dashie is here with you right now, and that’s all that matters for the moment.

Some time later, you carefully slip out of bed, a tricky endeavour considering the napping pegasus is still clutching you tight, but you manage to pull it off without waking her up. Knowing how eager her friends have been to see her, you decide to invite them all out to dinner with the two of you that night. You go to the kitchen and whip up a light snack, setting it on the night stand next to your bed for Dash along with a note letting her know where you’re going, kissing her on the cheek before making your way out the door.

Conveniently, three of the five ponies you need to see are just a short trip into town away. Your first stop is the Ponyville library. The bookish purple unicorn you find there eagerly accepts your invitation clapping her hooves excitedly, seemingly unaware that Dash was even in town. When asked where you’d be having dinner, you think for a moment before deciding on someplace casual, knowing how uncomfortable Dash gets in the more stuffy fine-dining establishments. You’re lucky enough to catch Rarity on your way out the door as well, who also delightedly accepts your invitation.

You’re somewhat disappointed when you arrive at Sugarcube Corner and aren’t greeted by Pinkie Pie, but instead by the shop’s proprietors. They aren’t sure when the hyperactive pink pony will be back or even where she went, but they happily offer to relay the invitation for you. You make your way to Sweet Apple Acres where a big quiet red colt points you in the direction of one of the farm’s many orchards. You thank him and trot out into the orchard where you find Applejack hard at work bucking away at some apple trees. She seems hesitant to accept at first, claiming she has a lot of work to do around the farm, but you finally convince her to join the rest of you later that evening. That just leaves Fluttershy.

As you approach Fluttershy’s cottage you wonder how she’ll take the invitation. The last time you spoke to her things had gotten a bit awkward, but you had simply attributed it to the mare’s introverted nature. You take a deep breath and knock on the door. For quite a while there is no answer, but just as you raise your hoof to knock again the door cracks open. The timid yellow pegasus peers through the opening just enough to see you.

“Oh, um, it’s you... hello,” you hear her soft voice from the other side of the door.

“Hi Fluttershy,” you reply hesitantly as you try to get a good look through the cracked door, but are still unable to see her face. “Can I uh, can I come in for a moment?”

“Oh... um well, I... I guess that would be okay,” she says, allowing the door to slowly creak the rest of the way open. “Come on in.”

“So, um... what brings you around? If... you don’t mind me asking,” She asks sheepishly as she leads you inside.

“Well, actually I was wondering if you’d be interested in going out to dinner tonight,” you begin.

Her ears perk up and she blushes as she rubs her left foreleg with her right hoof nervously. “Oh... oh really? I... um...”

Quickly realizing how your offer must have sounded, you backpedal and elaborate so she doesn’t get the wrong idea.

“What I meant to say, uh, is that Dash is in town and I’m inviting all of her friends out to dinner with us tonight. Would you care to join us? I know how much you’ve all missed her.”

“Oh... OH...” Fluttershy says, seeming somewhat relieved that your request wasn’t what she had initially thought it was. You also think you hear a hint of disappointment in her voice as well, but shrug it off. “Well, yes, that sounds um... lovely, thank you for the invitation.”

There is an uncomfortably long silence before you finally speak up again.

“Sooo... this is... uh... quite a nice place you have here, Fluttershy,” you say in an attempt to engage her in small talk. The compliment is genuine, this is the first time you’ve seen the inside of her home.

“Oh, why... thank you. It... it’s not much, really...” she replies.

There is another long period of silence between the two of you. Eager to put the awkwardness of the encounter behind you as soon as possible, you decide to beat a hasty retreat.

“Well would you look at the time, I should really get going,” you say as you start toward the door. You turn to her with a smile just before exiting. “I’ll uh... I’ll see you tonight then!” With your back to her, you don’t see the warm smile that grows across Fluttershy’s muzzle or hear her sigh lightly as she turns her head in your direction and watches you leave.

As you walk home you wonder to yourself if Dash is awake yet. It’s been a couple hours since you left, but you wouldn’t be surprised to arrive home and find her still peacefully resting. She is quite fond of her naps, after all. You feel yourself flush a bit as you think back on last night, unable to help becoming excited by the intense memory. The sooner you get home, the better. When you finally do arrive home, you place a hoof on the door and begin to push it open. We still have a few hours before dinner, I wonder if Dash would be up for a quick...

Your train of thought is harshly derailed when you walk through the front door to find Dash all dressed up in her very own form-fitting Wonderbolt uniform, the skin-tight fabric accentuating the mare’s every voluptuous curve as she strikes a confident pose, her chest puffed out and a smirk on her lips. Your heart skips a beat and you let out a tiny gasp as your breath is taken away by the sight, your left eye involuntarily twitching as you bite your lip.

“WOW, that is so AWESOME!” a vaguely-familiar voice brings you back to your senses as you glance over to see an adolescent orange pegasus filly with a purple mane and tail sitting on her haunches, seemingly awestruck by Dash’s appearance.

“Yeah Rainbow Dash, you look GREAT! You’re totally a natural in that uniform! I can’t WAIT to see your first performance!!!” Pinkie Pie gushes excitedly.

Dash quickly notices you standing in the doorway, and walks over to you.

“It’s about time you got home!” she says nuzzling you, drawing an “Awww” from Pinkie and prompting Scootaloo to roll her eyes. She turns her back to you and flicks your nose with her tail as she walks away, knowing fully well the effect it’ll have on you. “I hope you don’t mind I have guests over, I ran into these guys in town, and well, how could I deny my adoring fans a little time with me? Heh...”

“It’s fine Dash, my home is your home. Though I was kinda hoping we could get... ahem...” you clear your throat, hoping Dash picks up on the hint, “some time alone before dinner.”

Much to your chagrin, Dash continues to torture you.

“Oh reaalllllyy?” she teases, “and why is that?” she says with a sly grin.

You blush as Pinkie Pie giggles and the little orange filly shoots you an odd look.

“Oh... I... erm... nevermind,” you grumble in frustration. “I’m just gonna go... um... take a shower, yeah,” you say as you walk toward the bathroom mumbling to yourself, hearing Dash snicker at you as you walk away, leaving her to continue showing off for her “adoring fans.”

Chapter 11

Upon arriving at the restaurant, you hold the door open for Dash and her friends, allowing the mares to enter before you. Of the ponies you've invited, Rarity and Fluttershy are the only two that have shown up overdressed. You expected nothing less from Rarity, but the fact that Fluttershy had gone out of her way to make herself look nice makes you uneasy. It also draws quite a few curious looks from the others, who haven't thrown on anything at all - not thinking it necessary given the casual nature of the establishment. You specifically asked Dash to leave her uniform at home, not wanting the night out to be ruined by a throng of rabid Wonderbolts fans clamoring around her for autographs and pictures.

“Are you all together?” you’re greeted by a dark blue unicorn waitress as she glances around at the various faces in your group.

“Huh?” you ask with a raised eyebrow as you misinterpret the question for a fraction of a second, “OH. Yeah. All seven of us will be dining together,” you stammer.

“Would you like a booth?” she asks almost before you finish your response.

“Sure!” Dash interjects.

Effortlessly the unicorn waitress levitates seven menus from a nearby stack and makes her way through the somewhat crowded dining room motioning for you to follow. You trail along behind her as she skillfully dodges around other servers tending to their tables amidst the moderate din of diners’ conversation. The place is busier than you expected it to be, so you’re pleasantly surprised to be seated so quickly. She takes you to a very large and somewhat out of the way booth in the corner of the restaurant and places the menus on the table spaced apart perfectly - she’s obviously had a lot of practice at this.

You take a seat in the booth, and the mares all file in around you, quietly chatting amongst themselves. Dash is sitting on your left in the huge semicircular seat that surrounds the table. Next to her is Pinkie followed by Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity sitting on the end opposite from you.

“And what will we be drinking tonight?” the waitress asks, making notes on her pad as she takes the group’s drink orders one by one, starting with Rarity. Only now do you notice that Fluttershy still has not taken a seat at the table, standing beside and slightly behind the waitress. She runs a hoof over the back of her neck nervously, biting her lip as she tries to avoid making eye contact with you. Without hesitation you offer her a warm smile and motion for her to take a seat next to you, scooting toward Dash to make room for her on the end. The tension in Fluttershy’s body language eases up as she takes a seat next to you, though she still seems nervous and uncomfortable.

“And what can I get you to drink, sweetie?” the waitress asks you with a smile.

You shake your head, snapping back to your senses as you turn your attention to her.

“Oh, just some apple cider I guess,” you reply.

“Alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes with your drinks if you all want to take a few minutes to look over your menus,” the perky waitress says before trotting away.

“Fluttershy, dear, I just adore that ensemble. You simply must tell me where you acquired it darling,” Rarity says as she smiles across the table at the yellow pegasus.

“Oh, um, it’s nothing really,” Fluttershy replies modestly.

Dash leans over you with a raised eyebrow as she looks at Fluttershy.

“Yeah,” Dash says, “I was meaning to ask you about that. Why’d you get so dressed up? It’s not like it’s a special occasion or anything.”

“Oh. W...well, you see... I...” Fluttershy averts her eyes from Dash and fumbles over her words. You become uneasy being trapped between them for that exchange. To everyone’s relief, the awkward moment is broken by the waitress returning to begin taking orders.

“Will this be on separate checks?” The waitress pony asks as she glances around the table. Before anyone can speak, Dash puts a hoof around you and smiles.

“Nope! Put it all on the same one, he’s paying!” Dash chuckles as she playfully hoofs your shoulder. The waitress shoots you a questioning glance, and you simply sigh and nod.

“I was just kidding, you don’t really have to do that you know,” Dash whispers to you as the others begin ordering.

“It’s fine Dash, I’ll take care of it,” you reply hesitantly.

“Well, okay. If you insist,” Dash says before lowering her voice even more to make absolutely certain she’s only heard by you. “I’ll make it up to you later,” she nuzzles your cheek and winks at you, the tone of her voice sending a shudder of titillation through your body. Having taken every order but yours, the waitress turns her attention to you.

“And what will the gentlecolt be having tonight?”

You wince at the sudden thought of how much the entire meal’s going to cost and decline to get anything yourself, having quickly lost your appetite.

“Ya know, it’s mighty kind of ya ta offer, but ah’m sure the rest of us can pay for our own,” Applejack says when you don’t order.

You shake your head in response.

“No, it’s fine, really. It’s the least I can do considering how much of Dash’s time I take up when she could be spending that time with the rest of you,” you chuckle softly. “Besides, I was the one who invited the rest of you out, so I-”

“That’s very generous of you,” Twilight interrupts with a reassuring smile, “but we couldn’t let you do that.” The rest of the ponies nod in agreement. “It won’t be too much trouble for you to split this into separate checks, will it?” Twilight asks the waitress.

“Not at all! I’ll take care of that for you as soon as I put the order in. Are you still sure you won’t be having anything?” she asks as she turns to you again. Your stomach rumbles almost as if on cue.

“If it makes you feel better, you can still have the privilege of paying for mine! Hah!” Dash teases as she pulls you close to her. You smile and shake your head, chuckling under your breath as you look over your menu. A quick glance up at the waitress tells you that her patience might be starting to wear a little thin, so you close up the menu and just tell her to give you the same thing Dash is having.

You remain unusually silent as the others return to quietly chatting amongst themselves whilst waiting for their food. Much of the conversation centers around Dash’s training with the Wonderbolts, how she’s been adjusting to being away from everyone, when she’d be able to visit again, things of that nature. Though your previous statement had been somewhat in jest, the truth is you really do feel bad about the amount of time Dash spends with you. You wouldn’t blame her friends for any negative feelings they might harbor because of it, though if they do they’ve certainly never shown them.

The rest of dinner is rather uneventful - well, except for the few awkward times you seem to catch Fluttershy staring at you out of the corner of your eye. As you pay your bill and leave, you invite the mares back to your place to spend some more time with Dash and do some more catching up with her. It seems like the courteous thing to do, but they decline, each finding an excuse as to why they should get going, perhaps not wanting to intrude too much on your limited time with Dash. As they depart one by one, they thank you for an enjoyable evening, each of them giving Dash a friendly hug just in case they don’t get to see her again before she returns to Cloudsdale.

On the walk back to your house, you remain painfully silent, simply enjoying the walk with Dash at your side. As you reach your front door, she steps in front of you, preventing you from entering. She raises an eyebrow as she looks at you.

“Why have you been so quiet tonight?” Dash’s tone is almost scolding in nature as she speaks. “And what was the deal with you and Fluttershy at dinner? You were both squirming practically the whole time,” she asks in an accusatory tone. Your eyes go wide and your mouth opens in a dumbfounded expression.

“Say what now?” you ask in genuine confusion.

“You been puttin’ moves on her or something?” Dash’s eyes narrow and her nose crinkles up in annoyance. “She was awfully dressed up for a casual night out with her friends. If you got something to tell me you better do it and clear the air right now. I know I’ve been gone for a long time, but if you start chasing another piece of tail - especially one of my friends - and especially especially Fluttershy, you’re gonna regret it, I’ll make sure of th-”

Dash is abruptly interrupted when you lunge forward and press your lips against hers, placing a hoof around the back of her head and pulling her into the kiss forcefully, moaning softly with desire for her. As you break the kiss, your eyes lock on hers and you smile sincerely.

“Have I ever told you you’re adorable when you’re jealous?” you tease lovingly. “You know I only have eyes for one pegasus, and I’m staring at her right now.”

Dash blushes and looks away from you, her expression softening as she rubs her mane nervously.

“Sorry about that,” she mumbles. “It’s just that, well, the thought of losing you really puts me on edge I guess. Not that, y’know, you’re irreplaceable or anything. Heh,” Dash teases as she playfully pushes you away. Though you know she doesn’t really mean it, it stings a little bit to hear her say that. You get a mile-wide grin on your face as you gently press your hoof into a sensitive spot just below her left wing.

“Of course I’m irreplaceable. Nopony knows your body like I do, Dashie,” you whisper to her as you softly blow on her ear. She shivers and flaps her wings once.

“Oh really?” Dash says, attempting to feign disinterest and failing horribly to do so, “you certainly seem sure of yourself, colt.”

Her entire body shudders as you slowly run your hoof over the edge of her wing. Dash flaps her wings again and gasps, her eyes rolling back in her head for a fleeting moment.

“Oh screw it, I’m no good at this playing hard to get crap with you,” Dash says as she kicks your front door wide open with a huge smile, her eyebrows creased deviously as she stares you down and licks her lips. You turn and pretend you’re about to run away, but with cat-like reflexes Dash snaps your tail up in her mouth and drags you inside, slamming the door loudly after she pulls you in.

You bask in the delightful afterglow of another passionate romp with Dash as you lie in bed next to her, one of her wings stretched over top of you beneath the covers. Smiling and sighing contentedly as you run your hoof through her mane, you kiss the snoring pegasus on the tip of her muzzle. As you often do, you begin to wonder to yourself how in Celestia’s name you ever got to be this lucky. You’ve never felt as though you deserve Dash. There are plenty of stallions out there who are much smarter, stronger, braver, more handsome, and infinitely more deserving of the fiery mare’s affections, yet here she is - the mare of your dreams - blissfully sleeping as she embraces you. Whatever it is, you hope that it’s enough to always keep her coming back for more, no matter how long she stays gone.

Chapter 12

As the months slowly passed, you’d hoped in vain that the separation would become easier. When Dash had departed after your first long weekend together it had, in a way, been more painful than the first time she’d said goodbye. You didn’t so much as flinch during the thorough reprimanding you received at work for taking time off unannounced to be with her. All you could think about the entire time was Dash, and how she was gone again. You gave little more than an occasional weak grunt of acknowledgement during your tongue-lashing, your stomach all tied up in knots - regret overflowing in your heart that you hadn’t really taken the time to sit Dash down and talk with her about just how difficult things had been; to tell her how badly you wished there were some way, any way, you could be together in the way you used to be.

As before, you eventually managed to convince yourself that life does indeed go on, falling back into your same old grind, going through the motions of life devoid of vim or vigor, doing only what was required of you and nothing more. Occasionally one of Dash’s friends - whom by now you’d come to think of as your friends as well - would drop by for a visit to break up the monotony of your daily rut. In particular, Fluttershy’s visits were becoming more and more frequent, and she seemed to be warming up to you quite a bit. It’s sure nice to see that mare finally starting to come out of her shell a bit, you’d occasionally mused, remaining painfully oblivious to her glaring enamorment.

The occasional good company had definitely helped the time to pass less agonizingly. Before you knew it, you were in the stands at Dash’s very first performance in Fillydelphia. You had a front-row seat along with the rest of her friends just as she’d promised. When she appeared overhead in formation with a grin plastered on her muzzle that just screamed “I’m awesome and I know it!” you couldn’t help but stare in awe. There she was, finally living her dream. All the pain of your separation evaporated. Dash was happy - truly happy. Between your enthusiastic cheers and failed attempts at whistling, you’d nudged some random colt next to you with a hoof, saying “That’s my mare up there! That’s my Dashie!” swelling with pride as you pointed to the sky, tracing Dash’s flight path in mid-air.

“Sure buddy, and I’m having an affair with Spitfire. Ha!” he’d scoffed, though his sardonic quip had fallen on deaf ears as your attention was fully locked on your lover.

Immediately after the performance, before the crowd had even begun to disperse, Dash landed directly in front of you in a way that drew everyone’s attention. She lifted her goggles, gazing lovingly into your eyes as she wordlessly strode toward you and kissed you in a way that made your heart leap into your throat. Dash was publicly claiming you, making it crystal clear to everyone around that you were hers and that she was unavailable. You barely cracked an eyelid and glanced past Dash at the colt who had been mocking you only minutes earlier, his jaw hanging agape and face frozen in disbelief, half tempted to shoot him an “I told you so!” wink.

As the kiss was broken, Dash leaned forward and whispered into your ear, giving you the address of the hotel she’d be staying at that night.

“Go there and wait for me,” she whispered as she stealthily slipped you a room key. “As soon as I take a few minutes to go say hi to Twi and the others, you... are... mine!” she growled hungrily as she bit down on your ear, causing your entire body to shudder and your knees to nearly buckle beneath you. She winked at you over her shoulder as she walked away, flicking her tail sharply, snapping it like a whip against your rump, eliciting a sharp yelp from you as you scrambled away, nearly tripping as you hit a full gallop making a bee-line for the hotel.

Dashie always knew just the right buttons to push.

* * *

Tick. Tick. Tick.

You roll over in bed and look at the clock with a groan. Every tick seems to mock you in your insomnia. It’s been almost three months since Dash’s first performance. Admittedly, things have gotten somewhat easier, though it’s sometimes still a struggle just to get to sleep at night without her warmth to comfort you. With a sigh you roll out of bed, your hooves hitting the floor with a loud “clop” that startles you momentarily.

“Gotta be at work in two hours anyway, might as well just get up,” you grumble.

You stretch and yawn loudly as you walk through the living room, which is dimly lit with the first rays of the morning sun peeking over the horizon and through the windows. You laugh and shake your head as you catch a glimpse of your reflection in one of them - your dishevelled mane and tail giving you the appearance of having just been struck by lightning. You fully intended to put on some coffee, but a sudden noise makes you stop. Your ears perk up and point toward the front door as the handle slowly turns with a soft click.

“I really need to get a lock for that door,” you mutter as your eyes search the room for something to defend yourself with. In your sleep-deprived and somewhat delirious state, you grab an umbrella from the corner thinking it as good a weapon as any. You press your rump and back against the wall as much as you can as you hide behind the slowly opening door. A shadowy hoof steps inside, and you jump out from your hiding place, swinging the umbrella wildly while yelling at the top of your lungs. You feel the umbrella promptly yanked from your grasp as a familiar voice chastises you harshly.

“Hey, knock it off, it’s just me!” the annoyed pegasus mare shouts as she tosses the umbrella aside.

You turn on the lights and rub your eyes, smiling as you sleepily mutter.

“Dash! I didn’t know you were coming home today! If I’d have known I--”

You abruptly cut yourself off as you take in Dash’s appearance. Her ears are pinned flat against her head, she’s breathing heavily, and snorting occasionally as she glares at you. You force your eyes open wide, shaking your head to clear away the sleepy haze filling your mind.

“Dash? What’s going on? What’s wrong?” you quickly ask with concern as you take notice of her puffy eyes and damp cheeks.

“This... this is your fault...” she forces out through gritted teeth as she approaches you. You immediately back away, for the first time in your life you’re absolutely terrified of Dash. Your jaw drops in utter dumbfounded confusion as you skitter backwards clumsily in fear. She closes the distance between you rapidly.

“What!? Dash, I don’t underst-oomf!” you whimper as your rump makes contact with the wall. Dash presses her forehead against yours, still scowling as you shrink away, attempting to make yourself as tiny as possible.

“My time with the Wonderbolts is over, and it’s all your fault!” she shouts.

You become overwhelmed with panic and confusion, desperately looking for any avenue of escape, the angry mare leaving you with none as she unfurls her wings and stomps at the ground in front of you. You wince and look away, fully expecting her to unleash on you in a furious storm of violence. To your surprise and relief, it never comes.

You finally open an eye, and see that Dash has backed away, sitting on her haunches and looking at the floor silently sniffling, her back to you and wings resting limply at her side. You approach her - very carefully - and place a hoof on her shoulder.

“Dash, what do you mean?” you squeak. Surely the Wonderbolts hadn’t kicked her out, she was their best performer. Well, perhaps that opinion is a little biased. Nevertheless, even if they had kicked her out, what could she possibly have meant by saying it was your fault? Your mind spins trying to make sense of it all. You’re shocked when she whips around and throws her hooves around you, sobbing loudly into your neck as she squeezes you with all her might. She quickly calms herself down and releases you with a sigh, wiping her nose and cheeks.

“It’s been getting more and more difficult for me to perform my routine,” Dash begins. “I’ve been feeling... I dunno, just off lately. At first I thought I was just getting out of shape, I had no idea that...” she hesitates for a moment. “I started working out even harder, even put myself on a diet, but no matter how hard I tried... I couldn’t improve my performance. I’ve been having the weirdest cravings for all kinds of crazy food, and noticed I was starting to get a belly...”

You look down and notice she does indeed appear to be getting noticeably more round in her midsection.

“During my last training session I started feeling really lightheaded... nearly fell out of the sky. I’m lucky Soarin’ caught me or I might have...” Dash shakes her head, a chill running down her spine as she finishes the sentence mentally. “When the doctor checked me out... he... he said...”

Her eyes begin to water again as she sits up on her haunches. Her eyes dart around as though she’s searching for the right words to say, before she finally takes one of your hooves and places it on her belly, speaking her next words to you in a squeaky whisper.

“We’re gonna have a foal.”