Rainbow lay on the platform outside her cloud home, her tears long run out. She slowly raised her head to look at the note she had ripped from her door, the word 'Condemned' still running through her mind.

Get up.

Rainbow didn't want to get up, all energy had been sapped from her body. She just wanted to rest, just lay there and not have to think.

Get up and deal with this you sook. Times a wasting!

With great effort Rainbow slowly raised herself to standing position, her knees creaked after staying in the same position for what must have been twenty minutes. Her eyes moved to her cloud home once more.

My beautiful home.

Smack!

Rainbow slapped herself, trying to forcefully snap herself out of the sulky mood.

"Alright Dash, focus. What do we do." Rainbow thought out loud, trying to psych herself up. The pegasus knew that action needed to be taken, and lying on the platform outside her condemned cloud home was not action.

The rivers of dark fur that streaked down her muzzle were drying now, exposed to the whipping wind of the high altitude. Rainbow could hear the wind bellowing around her cloud home, at this altitude it sounded like the ocean. Rainbow focused on it, using it as an anchor to help her think straight.

Rainbow knew what she needed to do. The pegasus' wings lifted her off the cloud floor, she angled herself toward Cloudsdale and took off.

* * * * * *

Rarity hopped to the tune flowing from the gramophone in the corner of the room. The song playing was one of her favourites; Briannon by Fleetfoot Mac. She idly grooved and hummed the rhythm as she cut vegetables for a soup she was preparing. Rarity had prepared too many ingredients, she wasn't used to cooking for one.

Oh well, I guess I'll have soup tomorrow night as well.

Rarity sighed.

Rarity used her magic to open the refrigerator and retrieved a bottle of White wine. It wasn't anything fancy, it was only worth sixteen bits according to the bright orange price tag that was still attached to the label. Uncorking the bottle, the alabaster mare poured herself a glass.

The mare's hair had lost its usual shape due to lack of attention, the thick indigo curls now hung lazily around her shoulders. She knew her hair wasn't perfect but she didn't care, she was alone and she didn't have to try to impress anyone. Tonight was about comfort.

Sweetie Belle had returned to stay at her parents' house after a week and a half long stay with her older sister. So tonight the white mare planned on doing the things she couldn't when her little sister was around. That of course being listen to her music, relax and indulge in a glass of wine or two, among other things.

Rarity raised the glass of cheap wine to her lips and took a petite sip. It was foul, like wet cardboard and battery acid.

I Should've bought the thirty bit bottle. Rarity sighed again.

The song on the record ended and gave way to the next track, a song called 'Avalanche'.
Rarity melted into the melancholy of the song and sang along, periodically taking a sip of her wine and stirring the pot of soup on the stove.

"And I see my reflection in the, snow covered hills. 'Till the avalanche brought me down~."

* * * * * *

Rainbow had convinced the helpful ponies of 'Move it!' moving company to help move her things before the day was over, normally they would have required at least a days notice but seeing as this was an emergency they were more than willing to help.

That was a bonus of living in the close knit area, If you had a problem that you couldn't fix on your own, somepony was always willing to help. It was the kind of neighborly friendliness that you wouldn't get in Canterlot or Manehatten.

Whilst a gruff brown stallion and a small grey mare were loading cardboard boxes into the enchanted wagon outside, Rainbow was busy filling said boxes upstairs. She wasn't going to bother with the larger furniture she decided, her fridge wasn't going anywhere.

She decided that she would pack a personal box of necessities, her toothbrush, comb, small bottles of shampoo and conditioner, a book or two. The thought of packing necessities provoked an idea Rainbow hadn't even considered yet.

Where was she going to stay.
She could stay at Twilights, the crystal castle had many a spare room that Rainbow Dash knew about.

Twilight isn't home.

Rainbow sighed as she remembered that her friends had all gone to Vanhoover, all bar one.

Rarity.

Rarity might let me stay at hers...maybe.

Rainbow thought for a moment about the various hotels in the area, doubtful that she could afford one.

"Hey Craft Crate." Rainbow called Down the stairs, putting her thoughts on hold for a moment. "How much is this going to cost me?"

Downstairs the large brown stallion put down the box he was carrying and wiped his forehead before calling back up the stairs. "Well, normally this would cost you around a hundred and fifty bits or so, but seeing as you need the money and were not moving big stuff I guess I could do..." The stallion looked to the grey mare accompanying him, giving her a questioning look, the mare simply smiled and nodded at the stallion. "Ninety?"

Rainbow sighed, if Craft Crate had made her pay the full amount she would have virtually no money whatsoever until next week, and with the generous discount she didn't really have any right to haggle further.

"Sweet, thanks Craft Crate; you're a life saver." Rainbow's tone was thankful but her expression was worried. She needed as much money as she could get her hooves on if she was going to make it until payday.

"No problem." He finished, getting back to work.

Rainbow walked over to her bedside table and picked up a small sack of bits, the bag contained every bit Rainbow had to her name. The mare dumped the money on the table and put aside a fifty bit coin and two twenties, that would pay Craft Crate. She counted the rest of her money.

Seventy five bits. If she was careful that could buy her food until her presumed pay day.
Not enough for a hotel though.

I guess I'll have to ask Rarity if I can crash on her couch.

A Thought popped into the pegasus' head. Rainbow trotted over to her closet and threw it open.
There were only four things inside. A clear dress bag containing her first gala dress, a box of four thick plastic horseshoes used for manipulating high voltage clouds, a black duffel bag and a white collar with a red tie built in.

She grabbed the tie in her teeth and threw it in her box of necessities, figuring she would need it for her job. She then carefully folded her gala dress and placed it in another cardboard box along with the box of shoes and the bag.

Rainbow stared at her cardboard box of essentials, there was brown packing tape around the bottom and a dark stain across one of the faces.

Do you really think Rarity is gonna let you bring that into her home?

A second voice piped up to respond.

What makes you think Rarity is gonna let stay at her house in the first place.

She turned back to the box behind her, pulled out the duffel bag and transferred her necessities from the dingy box to the bag.
Rainbow trotted down the stairs of her cloud home, the duffel bag slung over her chest and resting on her back.

"Anymore upstairs?" Asked the grey mare with the bubble cutie mark as she stuffed another box into the back of the wagon.

"Only two, hey thanks for doing this for me guys. I'm sorry for the short notice." Rainbow Spoke, an obvious sadness in her voice.

"It's really not a problem miss Dash, I'm sorry about your house." Craft Crate paused. "I'm sure it'll work out, it's not fair to you to have you house taken away." The stallion spoke with true sincerity. A sad expression on his face. "Now, you sure you don't want us to take any of your furniture?" He asked, trying to get off the sad subject.

"Nah, it's not going anywhere, besides mom's storage shed isn't really big enough for all that."

"Yeah where are we taking this stuff anyway?" Asked Ditzy Doo.

"Oh, uh you know the storage sheds near the weather factory?" The grey mare nodded in response. "It's number 32, owned by a mare named Firefly. The code to get in is zero one-one eight." Rainbow Dash amazed herself that she could remember that, it had been over a year since she last used the shed.

Craft Crate and Ditzy finished putting the last few boxes into the wagon and sealed it. Rainbow paid the bits she owned to Craft Crate and the stallion once again apologized for the situation Rainbow Dash had found herself in, as if he were somehow responsible. The two ponies harnessed themselves into the wagon and took off in the direction of the weather factory, leaving Rainbow Dash alone once more.

Rainbow walked through her house. It felt rather bleak without her possessions, the familiar feeling of sorrow returning to her.

Don't you dare.

Rainbow checked each room to make sure she had locked all the windows , finally coming back to her bedroom. She looked at the queen sized platform that took up the majority of the room.

"I'm gonna miss you, bud." Rainbow thought out loud as she sat on her bed for what would be the last time in potentially a month. She shifted to a lying positing, the silk sheets were cold from the late autumn air but slowly warmed as Dash's coat slid across them. The bed had been a gift from her mother when she first moved out of home.

The mare rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, her eyes shifted to the wonder bolts poster on the wall behind her.
The feeling welling up in her chest once more as that word returned to her, that single word that had ruined her day.

Condemned.

Don't even think about it.

The voice in her head warned her, but the second voice spoke up as well.

Works over, it's okay to now.

A tear rolled down Rainbows cheek as she gave in to the feeling. Rainbow sniffed and decided it was time to leave, she needed to get away from this place. Being there just made her want to stay longer.

Rainbow walked downstairs and grabbed the duffel bag filled with her essentials. Locked the door and sat on the edge of the cloud platform that served as the foundation of her house. At this altitude the late autumn wind went straight through the pegasus.

I should've grabbed some winter clothes.. I s'pose I can always get them out of storage if I really need to.

Rainbow let one more tear slide down her face as she looked back to her beautiful, 'condemned' cloud home. Before Twilight's castle appeared, Rainbow had the second biggest house out of all of her friends, just behind Applejack. She also had what was probably the most expensive house out of all her friends, not that she could ever afford it on her own.

Rainbow Dash thought back to the day her mother had surprised her with the best gift she had ever received.

~0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0~

A young Rainbow Dash trotted down the stairs of her cloud home, she spied out of the corner of her eye her mother reading the morning paper at the table.
Technically it was her mother's cloud home, but Rainbow was looking to move out sometime soon. She was almost eighteen years old now and finished with flight school.

"Morning mom." Rainbow yawned, sluggishly moving over to the kitchen cupboard and pulling out a box of 'Wheaty Bitz' cereal and a bowl.

"Morning honey." Came the sweet reply of Firefly, Rainbows mother was a soft pink color with an electric blue mane that matched the color of her double lightning bolt cutie mark and eyes like lavender. She had very much the same build has her daughter, maybe a little bigger as Dash was only seventeen.

Dash sat down on the table and started eating her breakfast when her mother spoke up.

"I've got a bit of a surprise for you today." Firefly's tone was the epitome of motherly, she didn't have the same rasp to her voice as her daughter did, leaving her with a velvety voice that flowed from her voice box like silk.

Rainbow perked up at that, she loved surprises. Just as she was about to ask about it the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it, hold that thought."

Rainbow trotted up to the front door and threw it open with a hoof revealing the smiling face of the bluest mare Rainbow Dash had ever laid eyes on. Everything about the mare was blue, her coat was the same shade as Rainbows, her mane and tail were darker and her eyes were the deepest ocean blue Rainbow had ever seen. The kind of eyes you could get lost in. The Strange mare was only a fraction taller than Rainbow, giving the impression that she might be slightly older than Rainbow. Rainbow smiled warmly at the mare.

"Hi." Said the Blue pegasus mare. "My name is Blue October, but most ponies just call me Toby, I'm your new mail mare!" Blue October grinned after introducing herself, her voice was raspy like Dash's but of a lower pitch. "I thought I should say hi to the neighborhood, get to know everybody."

She's cute. Rainbow thought to herself, momentarily lost in the blue pony's eyes.

Wait. What!? Since when did you think about fillies like that?! Rainbow gave her head a hard shake.

"Oh hi, I'm Rainbow Dash." Rainbow stumbled over her words, trying to play it cool despite the internal conflict that just occurred. "Uh, welcome to the neighborhood, Toby."
|
"Thanks." The mare kicked one of her front hooves bashfully. What is she..

"Oh, uh here's your mail." Toby reached into her saddlebags with her mouth and pulled out a letter. She handed it to Rainbow. Rainbow took the letter in her mouth, attempting to take it from the blue mare.

For a brief moment Rainbow looked into the blue mares eyes, precisely at the moment that both of their mouths were attached to the envelope.

Is she..

Rainbow could swear she saw a hint of rose coloring the cheeks of the blue mare. Their mouths were separated by only three inches of paper.

She Totally is..

"Dash, who's at the door?" Rainbows mother chose that exact moment to ask the question, breaking the seemingly prolonged eye contact of the two fillies. Rainbow Dash tucked the letters under a wing before calling back.

"It's the new mail mare."

"Ooh tell her I say hello." Firefly called back.

Rainbow tried her hardest not to roll her eyes as she looked to blue mare. They both heard her clearly. "My mom says hello." Rainbow deadpanned. Blue October thought that was funny.

"Well I gotta go, see ya 'round Rainbow Dash." The blue mare smiled at Rainbow and took off, faster than she needed to. Rainbow stood in the doorway of her home, slightly confused at the entire exchange that just took place.

She looked out over the large houses that made up the streets of upper Cloudsdale as her internal conflict returned.

'She's cute' why would you think something like that, she's a mare. Last time it was that girl at the store, you stared at her flank for like, a whole minute, are you gay now? What's up with you Dash?

...She was cute. Replied a weaker voice within Dash's mind. Mare's can be cute.

"Rainbow honey, is everything alright?" Called her mother, snapping Dash from her near trance-like state.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine, mom." Rainbow said as she turned and closed the large door with a hind leg. Trotting back into the kitchen Rainbow dropped the letters on the table and went back to her cereal.

"So," Said Rainbow with a mouthful of food. "This surprise."

Firefly sighed, "Rainbow, when your grandfather died, he gave me a very large chunk of his wealth." Firefly's tone was sad, the memory of her father wasn't a fresh one, but it still stung to talk about. "I was gonna wait until you turned eighteen but with your new job on the Ponyville weather team I think your responsible enough to handle it now." Firefly paused a moment. "Your grandfather wanted me to buy you a house with the money."

"Ack!" Rainbow momentarily choked on a bite of cereal before gulping it down loudly. "Really!?"

Firefly tucked her head under her wing and withdrew something, sliding it across the table Rainbow recognised a key ring with two identical keys and a generic name tag. The name tag read '#1 Ponyville heights', Rainbows eyes widened and her jaw hung open.

"Are you serious!? MOM!" Rainbow leapt from her seat at the table and crash hugged her mother's mid section. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh." Firefly tightly hugged her daughter back, Rainbows reaction bringing a huge smile to her face. "Mom, you didn't have to do that. You could've used the money on other stuff." Rainbow Dash said, tears in her eyes as she still tightly embraced her mother.

"Like what honey?" Came the silky smooth reply from Firefly despite having the air forced out of her from the hug. "I have everything I need, besides, you're a grown mare now, It's time for you to do your own thing." Firefly's voice wavered. Her little Dashie was all grown up, it was time for her to leave the nest.

Be strong Firefly, don't cry. Firefly Resisted the urge but eventually gave in, letting a single tar slide down her face.

Rainbow nuzzled into her mother's chest, tears now flowing freely. "I love you, mom." The sentence was muffled by Fireflys chest fuzz.

Firefly readjusted her grip around her daughter, the occasional tear of happiness falling now. "I love you too, Dashie."

Rainbow Dash finally let go of her mother, noticing the tears in her eyes. "Mom, you," Rainbow paused as she sniffed an wiped her eyes. "You really didn't have to do this."

"It was one of your grandfather's final wishes, besides, I would have done it anyway. You're the best daughter I could have ever hoped for." Firefly looked Rainbow in the eye as she said it.

Rainbow pulled her mother into a hug once more, this one softer and more tender than the excited rib crushing hug Firefly had endured prior. The two held each other on the kitchen floor for a moment before Firefly spoke up.

"Hey, Let's go look at it."

* * * * * *

Rainbow Dash and Firefly stood on the platform outside Rainbows new home. Rainbows eyes were wide at the view of her huge cloud home.

"You okay, honey?" Asked Firefly as she nudged her daughter in the side. Rainbow was somewhere else entirely. "Dash!"

That caused Rainbow to just and snap out of her daze. "Now when you said house, I assumed you actually meant house." Rainbow paused noticing the questioning look on her mother's face. "I didn't think you meant mansion."

"I don't mean to rain on your parade, Rainbow but it looks bigger than it is, it's a single tower three stories tall. Still impressive by any standards but it's no mansion. Not quite as big as my house." Firefly poked out her tongue.

It'll always be a mansion to me. Thought Rainbow.

"Did you bring those keys? I got one more thing to show you."

Rainbow lifted her wing and pulled out the key ring with her teeth. Unlocking the door, Rainbow and Firefly walked up to the third floor. The master bedroom took up the majority of the floor with the remainder of the space used for an ensuite that flowed from the room. The master bedroom itself held another surprise, an obvious one but a surprise nonetheless.

A queen sized bed took up a large portion of the rooms floor space. "Hot Damn!" Rainbow dive bombed the bed as soon as she laid eyes on it.

"I knew you'd like it, so what do you think, honey?" Firefly gestured to the room in general, but Dash knew she meant the house.

"Mom," Rainbow was getting emotional again, overwhelmed by happiness. "It's the best thing that could have happened. I don't know how to thank you." Rainbow couldn't have been more sincere. She hadn't even in her wildest dreams thought that this could ever happen.

"Oh honey, you already have." Firefly walked over to the bed that her daughter sat on and nuzzled her. The two held the tender moment for a while until Dash spoke up once more.

"Thanks, mom."

~0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0~

Rainbow sat on the edge of her cloud, she was crying again now, not from happiness at the memory but sadness that everything in that memory had been taken away. At least her brain had given up on trying to make her stop.

Works over, it's okay to now.

She looked back to her house one last time.

I'll get you back, bud. Rainbow didn't realize it until the words flew through her mind, but her house was like a friend to her. It was her first house and possibly the last one she would ever need own. It had been in every memory of hers for the last three years, the good ones and the bad. It was a very important part of her life. She was going to get it back

I just need to work a few weeks, save everything I earn and before I know it, everything will be back to normal. Understatement of the century.

Rainbow looked down on the town a hundred meters below her home. The sun was setting now and almost the entirety of Ponyville had been caught in the shadows of the surrounding mountains. The cold breeze stung Rainbow, she needed to move.

Rainbow jumped from her cloud and extending her wings, glid down to Ponyville.

* * * * * *

Rarity had tried reading again, but after finding out that she was far too tipsy to take in any of the words on the page, she decided she would just put her music back on a have a bath. The soup she had been preparing was a memory now, it was pretty good. Not her best work but good enough, there were left over's in the fridge.

Rarity sung along with the music that was currently drifting up the stairs from her living room.
"Once I had a love, it was divine. Soon found out, I'd lost my mind~ Seemed like the real thing but I was so bli-"

Thump-Thump

Rarity was cut off by the knock on the door of carousel boutique.

Oh come on, who could that be? Of all the times.. Rarity internally cursed whoever was knocking at her door and lifted herself from the tub. Telekinetically wrapping a bath robe around her, she used a towel to give her mane and tail a superficial dry, just enough as to not get the floor wet. Her purple curls were no longer curls, instead her mane hung wavily down to her knees.

"Coming~." Rarity sang cheerily despite having to get out of her bath, she didn't really mind, she could always have another bath.

Meanwhile Rainbow Dash stood outside the door, waiting for the white unicorn the answer. The chromatic pegasus could hear the music being muffled through the door.

Huh, I didn't know Rarity listened to Palomino. That's pretty cool.

Rarity walked into her living/show room and switched off the gramophone, trotting over to the door she magically unlocked it and threw it open.

"Hello?" It took the unicorn a moment to recognize who it was that was standing at her door through the darkness, but the mane gave it away. "Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?" Rarity blinked, momentarily forgetting her manners. "Come in, darling. Goodness you must be freezing."

"Thanks Rarity," Rainbow said as she trotted through the portal of warmth, in that instant Rainbow mentally noted that she would have to figure out how a fireplace would work in a cloud home. The room was substantially warmer. Rainbow looked the unicorn up and down, the way her purple hair hung down lazily, the fluffy white and gold bath robe and the fact that the unicorn wasn't wearing makeup made Rainbow look at Rarity in a way that she hadn't before.

Wow.

"So what do I owe the pleasure, Rainbow?" Rarity said as she trotted back to the kitchen, looking around she realised she had left her glass of wine next to the bath tub.

Rainbow sighed at the question, she had no idea how to answer it. 'Hey rarity I got kicked out of my house, im just gonna live here for a while, thanks!'

"Rarity can I ask a favor, like, a Huge favor?" Rarity sensed the seriousness of her tone and moved out of the kitchen back into the main room, concern plastered on her face. Then she saw it, Rarity hadn't noticed when she invited the pegasus in, but it was clear now that Rainbow had been crying. She could see the streaks of matted fur on her friends face.

"Rainbow Dash, have you been crying?" Rainbow looked down.

Very tactful, Rarity. I don't know how you could have possibly handled that better. Rarity physically winced as she mentally scolded herself.

"I'm sorry darling, here," Rarity trotted over to her couch and patted a spot next to her, motioning for the pegasus to sit down. Rainbow did so, settling down onto the plush couch.

"Now tell me what's the problem, hmm?" Rainbow sighed and readjusted on the couch.

"I got kicked out of my house, Rarity." Rarity's mouth opened in surprise. "They gave me today's notice to move out my stuff and get out." Rainbow was looking at the floor as she said it.

"Oh darling!" Rarity was completely thrown off by Rainbow's statement. "How can they do that? And who is 'they'?"

"It's been condemned by the Cloudsdale housing association, which is stupid because my house isn't even in Cloudsdale. I technically live in Ponyville." A hint of anger touched Rainbow's voice as she said it, she hadn't even taken into account the fact that if anyone was to condemn her home it should be the Ponyville housing association.

"Oh Rainbow." The words left Rarity's mouth softly and full of sorrow. She couldn't Imagine what she would do if she were in Rainbows situation, she would most likely have to move back in with her parents across town.

Ugh.

Rarity telekinetically lifted another log onto the fire before getting up. "Now you stay put darling, I'll be right back and when I am I want to hear all about it." Rarity disappeared up the stairs for a moment before trotting back down and messing around in the kitchen. Before long the unicorn returned with not one but two glasses of white wine in her magical grasp.

"Now, I want to hear the whole story, you've got me worried sick." Rarity spoke as she set one of the glasses down in front of Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that. Rarity noticed her friends confusion.
"You've had a rough day, darling." A sad smile graced her lips. "I've already had one or two." Or four. Rarity's tone was a whisper, as if it were some kind of secret. Rainbow was still a little confused, but who was she to turn down her friends generous offer of free booze.

Rainbow sighed and started to tell Rarity about her day, the occasional sip of wine made it easier to talk about. She spoke about her new job that was in her words, 'going to be total crap'. And of course she went into more detail about her housing situation, telling rarity about her needing to save bits to get her house dragged back to its proper place and have the anchor clouds replaced.

Rarity, as perceptive as ever, beat Rainbow to the question plaguing her friends mind. "So I take it this favor, involves you needing a place to stay?"

Rainbow cleared her throat nervously at the question. "Uh..yeah," Rainbow began. "But it doesn't have to be for long, like, just till the girls get back, then I can stay at Twilights. She has tonnes of free space." Rainbow was nervous to ask the question, but before the unicorn could answer however, Rainbow Dash spoke up once more. "I-it's okay if you say no, Rarity, I guess mom would let me stay at her place for a while."

Rainbow was a little confused as to why she didn't think of that before, of course her mother would take her in.

"Oh Rainbow really now, what kind of element of generosity would I be if I didn't let a friend stay at my house for one measly week hm?" Rarity smiled and put down her glass of wine.

Well, that was a whole lot easier than I thought it'd be.

Rainbow felt the sudden need to pop herself in the forehead with a hoof. Why were you worried? She is the element of generosity, of course she's gonna say yes.

"Thanks Rarity, it really means a lot." Rainbow smiled sadly at her alabaster friend, she hated asking for help, she should be able to deal with her own problems. Rarity however didn't seem content with just a smile and leaned over to her chromatic friend and wrapped her forelegs around her. Rainbow was a little caught off guard by the gesture, and if Rarity was honest, so was she. The unicorn reasoned that the wine must be affecting her behavior.

Sweet Celestia she is soft. When did Rainbow start using good conditioner? Rarity mused as she embraced the pegasus.

After a slightly stunned moment, Rainbow returned the embrace. "Thanks again, Rares."

Has Rarity always been this soft? And since when did she hug ponies? She's never hugged me before. Has she?

After a moment the two ponies let go of one another. The hug made Rainbow feel..better, almost like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Don't mention it, darling." Rarity stood and magically grasped her glass as she walked back to the kitchen. "Now, you're in luck, Sweetie Belle is staying with our parents for the next couple weeks, so you can use her room, she has a very nice bed. I picked it myself." The unicorn seemed a little smug at the proclamation.

"Whoa, Rares I was just gonna sleep on you couch."

"Nonsense." Came the sharp reply from the kitchen. "I'd sooner have you sleep on my own bed. Now have you eaten anything? I have some left over soup if you'd like." Rarity was borderline motherly when it came to hospitality, like a slightly drunk grandma.

Rainbow hadn't eaten anything aside from an (admittedly large) slice of quiche at lunch time, her stomach grumbled at the thought of food. "Yeah, that sounds great." Rarity smiled to herself, she hadn't made too much apparently.

Rainbow sat on Rarity's velour couch, relishing in the warmth of the fire. Eventually Rarity returned from the kitchen. Rainbow ate and the two spoke for a while longer. It was the first time Rainbow had felt truly comfortable around the unicorn. That may have come from the fact that Rarity was dressed in a bath robe with no makeup and un-styled hair, or perhaps it was that fact that the alabaster mare was a teensy bit drunk. Maybe it was because they were alone. Regardless, Rarity was giving off an aura that made her seem less prissy and more...pony.

Drunk Rarity is cool.

It was still early, only eight, but Rainbow had had a long day and decided she needed to sleep. The combination of wine and lack of napping had made the pegasus very tired. Rarity showed her where she could find towels if she felt the need to shower and showed her to Sweetie Belles room.

The room was large for a filly's room, semi circular in shape with a single bed near the far wall. It was nice. "Well I'll see you in the morning Rainbow, Good night." Rarity said as she turned away to leave the room.

"Hey Rares," Rainbow spoke before Rarity could leave. "Thanks again for.. you know." Rainbow felt the need the thank the unicorn again even though she had done so twice already. Rarity turned back to the pegasus.

"It's what friends are for, Rainbow." The alabaster mare smiled. "Good night Rainbow Dash." Rarity leaned over to Rainbow and gave her cheek a nuzzle, the friendly gesture froze Rainbow to the spot. It was completely unexpected.

So soft. Rainbow thought back to when the mare had embraced her on the couch

Rainbow returned the nuzzle. "Good night, Rarity." The unicorn broke the contact and turned down the hall. Rainbow softly closed the door, walked to the bed and climbed in. The pegasus lay there, completely still with her face to the ceiling and her eyes wide open, thoughts running through her head.

Since when was Rarity so touchy-feely, she's never done that before. It must be because of the wine, yeah that's it.

...

She's so soft..has she always smelled so nice? As soon as the words floated through Rainbow's mind, the second voice snaked its way into her head.

You better not act on those thoughts, Rainbow Dash. In fact It's probably better if you don't think them altogether. She can't know. None of your friends can know. Rainbow slammed her eyes shut and rolled onto her side. She needed to sleep.

Meanwhile Rarity trotted into her bathroom to brush her teeth, the wine had indeed made her sleepy. She decided she may as well call it a night also. The unicorn brushed her teeth and locked up the boutique. As the mare climbed into bed, out of habit she wrapped her forlegs around a pillow, hugging it closely to her body. The silk cover on the pillow was cold against her coat.

A real pony wouldn't be cold. The snarky voice that hung in Rarity's mind affronted her.

Rarity hugged the pillow tighter, she imagined the breathing pattern of the pony in her embrace.

Pillows don't breathe. And again.

Rarity sighed.

The alabaster unicorn closed her eyes and eventually, after some tossing and turning, she fell asleep.

Author's Note

Authors note.
I use the metric system. #SozNotSoz
I also made a blog post saying that this chapter wasn't going to be as long as chapter 1, so naturally its longer... whatever.

On another note, this story has only been what, not even 11,000 words so far? That's the first 11,000 words I have written since high school, and even in this second chapter you can already see my writing is improving. Well it seems that way to me anyway. Let me know what you think.

All the lyrics from the completely fictional bands have been altered so as to not break site rules.

This story only heats up from here on out. :D

Minor edits: 30-11-15