A Pegasus Too Far

Seasonal shifts were always the busiest time for the weather team, but on many scales the jump between autumn and winter hit the peak and went right through to the other side of the rush o'meter. The reason for the extra hustle was nothing short of technical: it was in general a lot easier to add warmth than to take it away. To bring down the temperature in a controlled and correct manner demanded precision and a lot of effort, from organizing cloud patterns to adjusting the wind and so on.

Dash was always fond of calling her profession an art. Helia wouldn’t have disagreed, not as such. All things considered, the line between science and art hadn’t ever been that well-founded for her anyway. What bothered her was that Dash seemed rather less keen on seeing the issue from that perspective.

“You’re saying you still haven’t got them?” Dash was asking her.

Helia interrupted her calculations to raise an eyebrow. “If you want the math done quicker, you’re welcome to help anytime you want.”

Dash’s expression hinted that something big and hairy was on its way climbing up her throat. The word “math” often had that effect on her, as Helia well knew.

“You sure we can’t use the schemas from last year?” said Dash. Sitting on the desk coated with papers, she pulled one from under her for closer inspection. “I mean, it’s the same sky and all…”

Helia sighed lightly. “No, Dash, it’s not. Not on paper. There’s a thousand and one variables we can’t control out there, a million which we’re not even aware of, all changing every year, every second. The weather is a fine instrument: tune it wrong and instead of lovely music you get horrible garble.” She yanked a half-finished equation from under Dash’s bottom, only to notice that the ink had ran all over the paper. It was at times like these that she felt there was nowhere near enough coffee in the universe to keep her working.

“So what if we get a few digits off the optimum?” said Dash, landing on the floor. “You said it yourself: we can’t control everything. So why not go with the good old gut feeling, yeah? Like the real masters used to do it, back in the day…”

Helia scrunched the ruined calculation and tossed it into the bin. “You know, why not? Why not, indeed. Just go ahead, splatter some clouds around and call it a day, hmm? Never mind the wasted cumulus material, the bucked up air pressure ratios, the uncontrolled temperature shifts – the whole shebang! Buck it all!”

It was Dash’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Hey, easy there. No offense meant.”

“Right,” said Helia, correcting her reading glasses. For a moment she simply stared at the opposite wall. “Could you go now, please? I’m kind of busy at the moment.”

Dash, with no care in the world, pulled a chair under her and sat on it wrong way round, right opposite to her. “Tell me about it.”

Helia grunted in frustration. “Didn’t I just? You can’t expect me to get anything done if you come here every other hour telling me to hurry up!”

Dash tipped the chair so it leaned against the desk edge. “Of course I can: this is just the first time it’s not working. Something’s up, isn’t it? And don’t tell me the schedule’s too tight, because it always is. So why don’t you try and tell me about it? No harm in trying.”

“It’s bit of a private matter,” said Helia after a while. “And I’m not sure if I’m comfortable sharing it with my boss.”

“How about with a friend?”

Helia studied her through a thick lense of dubiousness. There was no question whether Dash truly was a friend – there was probably nopony in town who could claim the contrary. And that was exactly the issue. Dash was a friend of everypony – not of Helia specifically. The real question then was, how much of “everypony” there was in her?

“I had a rough evening,” she said. “Nothing special there. Happens to everypony sometimes. I’ll be fine right as I get the work rolling.”

“Rough how?” pressed Dash.

Helia sprang up. “I told you, it’s private! Boss or no, you got no right asking me everything you please! What, you think it’s your duty, patronizing me all the time? That I need you solving my problems?”

“Patronizing?” managed Dash, who had almost fallen backwards on her chair. “What have you been drinking?”

“I got no time for this,” said Helia. She grabbed a wingful of paper from the desk and marched to the door without another glance at Dash. “I’ll be working from home this week. Goodbye.”

“Hey, wait!” said Dash, flying after her before she could bang the door shut. The corridor was narrow, but not enough so to stop her from intercepting Helia’s way. The fact hindered her progress not in the slightest. “Look, I’m sorry,” continued Dash while rapidly flying backwards down the corridor.” For whatever patro-thing you think I did. I’m sorry. Could you please stop now?”

To Dash’s great amazement, she did. She froze on the spot, staring right at her. “Thanks,” sighed Dash. “Now, how about we start fresh, yeah? In the fresh air, maybe? It’s almost lunchtime already: I can buy you a – “

“Helia?” said someone behind her. Dash turned, and saw Thunderlane carrying a box of flying goggles and staring at her just like Helia did from the opposite end of the isle. With the exception that, on second thought, they were actually both staring at each other, and she had been merely caught in the line of fire.

Thunderlane made a move forward. “Helia. Please, can we talk?”

“Guys?” said Dash, looking at him and her in turns. “What’s going on?”

Helia dropped the papers and vanished back into her office before they had hit the floor. By the time Dash and Thunderlane got there, the opened window and flapping curtains were the only sign of her.

“What was that all about?” asked Dash as she pulled back from the window.

Thunderlane made a face like a deer caught in the headlights. “Uh, why you’re asking me?”

Dash served him a hefty dose of the “You’re kidding me” look. He countered with his best blankness, which wasn’t much. Thus he was forced to add, “Anyway, about last night –”

“Don’t you dare change the subject,” she cut in. “We’re talking about Helia now. What’s wrong with her? Did you do something stupid?”

Thunderlane frowned. “You assume I’m at fault again?”

“I’m asking. And what do you mean, again?”

“You know all too well,” said Thunderlane, with a sudden chill in his voice that had nothing to do with the opened window. He shook his head low. “You never change, do you? I guess you don’t need to, when everypony else does that for you. Because you assume they do.”

“What are you on about?”

“Nothing,” said Thunderlane, turning around. “I’m going home for today. Bye.”

“Not you, too!” wailed Dash. “What, you all think this is some hobby or something? Winter’s coming, and we don’t got half the things done we need to! You can’t just –”

The bang of the door ended her sentence. Only later that day she realized it had been the first time Thunderlane had slammed the door on her.

Somehow, she suspected it would not be the last.

***

It had never been common for her and Dash to meet at the latter’s home, thought Fluttershy as she caught the first sight of the cloud house. However, such an arrangement had never been consciously established as far as she knew. There more she pondered about it, the more curious the matter seemed.

Curious was also the way how Dash’s home always looked better towards the end of the day than it did in plain sunshine. The sparser the light grew, the deeper the cloud appeared; as if only dusk could reveal its true colors. And colors there indeed were. All sorts you never thought of seeing in a rainbow.

At the door Fluttershy hesitated a moment. Dash never knocked on her door, but the fact made the reverse seem a tad more unnatural. On the other hoof, Dash always insisted she could march in whenever she wanted to. She herself did it all the time, after all.

I’ll just push the door open a bit and then –

Dash pulled the door open. “Oh, Hi Shy. What’s up?”

“Nothing special,” managed Fluttershy. “Uhm. Well, that’s not the whole truth. I thought we could maybe speak a little. Or were you going somewhere?”

“Nowhere that important,” said Dash. She stepped backwards, gesturing her to follow. “So, do you finally wanna join the team?”

“Oh no, I’m not here for that.” Fluttershy looked around the large hall that joined seamlessly with the even larger living room. The sight of the couch at the back made a memory arise in her, along with a tinge of blush. Had it really been only a year since she, Dash and Thunderlane had… played around here? Such a short time, such a long while…

“What then?” asked Dash, hanging the scarf she had been wearing back on the rack.

Fluttershy tore her eyes from the couch. “It’s about Tree Hugger.”

The corners of Dash’s lips plummeted. “What about her?”

“Actually, it’s not about her, but about you too. About how you act around her. It’s not very polite. I’m sure you’ve noticed yourself,” she added when Dash’s expression didn’t change.

“So what?” said Dash. She broke the eye contact while rising on her wings. “Yeah, we don’t get along so well. Big deal. Not everypony needs to come along.”

Fluttershy followed her fly over her and towards the kitchen. She walked after her while talking. “I would like you two to get along. You’re both my friends. Wouldn't it be nice, hanging together sometimes? Like friends do?”

“She’s not my friend,” said Dash as she crossed the threshold to the kitchen. The ciders on the fridge door clanged as she yanked it open. “And I’m pretty sure she doesn’t need to be. If you don’t like that, shucks. We don’t always get everything we want.” More clinging ensued the when she shut the fridge. “Take me: I want you to join the weather team. We’re in desperate need of wing power right now. Honestly, I can’t promise we can make the first snow come on schedule this year.”

Fluttershy watched her uncork the bottle and empty half of the contents in one go. She couldn’t recall a time before when Dash had been drinking while upset.

“You know I want to help you all I can,” said Fluttershy, following Dash back to the living room. “But you know weather management is not my strong point… I don’t do that well at team sports…”

“And I don’t do that well in tree hugging,” said Dash. She dropped from the air right on the couch and spilled some cider on the floor. “Oh for buck’s sake…”

Fluttershy studied her in concern. “Uhm… Okay then. I’ll do it.”

“Do what?” said Dash from the middle of wiping the stain with the edge of a rug.

“Help with the team,” said Fluttershy. “I’ll do it. Or I’ll try, at least. Could you then at least try coming along with Tree Hugger? For one day?”

Dash threw her an odd glance. “Haggling isn’t your style, Shy. Why’s this so important to you? Really?” Suddenly, her eyes grew wide. “Wait a minute: are you trying to hook us up for a threesome?”

Fluttershy made a face as if she had been stung. “No, Dash, I’m not. It’s not always about sex. Can’t you believe me when I say I would feel a lot better if you wouldn’t have to stop coming to my home every time Tree Hugger comes for a visit.”

Dash kept on eyeing her like a player judging the worth of a bluff, then withdrew into a deep frown. “Well, I’ve never said ‘no’ to you thrice. If this is so important to you, sure, I’ll do it. One day? I dunno if I can squeeze in that much free time though… Hmm, maybe I can. Cloudchaser’s been stalking an opportunity to show-off her deputy Captain’s badge since she got it. Maybe it’s time to let her have a real good taste at it.”

Fluttershy smiled. “I’m glad for you. For us.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Dash turned a sideways glance at her. “You know I was just kidding about helping the team, right?”

“Yes,” lied Fluttershy. “But I can try helping anyway. I don’t know if I’ll do more harm than good, though…”

Dash put down the bottle, crawled on the other side of the couch and waved her to come closer. When she did, Dash snatched her quickly by the neck and drew her over her. They piled atop each other like pillows.

“You’ll do great,” said Dash, still holding Fluttershy’s by the neck. “You know how I know that?”

“How?” giggled Fluttershy. She could feel how Dash’s other front hoof move to her thigh.

“‘Cause I taught you, dummy,” cooed Dash. And then she kissed her.

It had been a while since she had, and Fluttershy wasn’t completely ready, but her initial awkwardness melted away quickly. Soon, not a glacier would’ve lasted long between their starving lips. Fluttershy let Dash take the lead even as she lay under her, and the azure pegasus clasped onto her cue. Still holding her by the neck, Dash withdrew her tongue and started licking Fluttershy’s lips, cheeks – even dabbing her nose a bit. Her giggle stoked Dash’s hunger.

“Glad to see Tree hasn’t worn you out too much,” she said as she felt the wetness between her thighs. To Dash’s surprise, she saw her blush faintly.

“Yeah,” she muttered. Suddenly time returned, slow and ponderous. Dash made it fade by reaching a bit farther down with her hoof.

Skin passed over Fluttershy’s eyes. A shy moan cracked open her salivated lips, her chest trembling slightly against hers, her throat resting on her shoulder. Dash rubbed a cheek against the side of her neck, trapping the lucious mane in between. Despite the rough angle she worked a fine circle around her ever-wettening folds, tracing a pattern from memory and planting more kisses around her temple.

“You in a hurry?” Dash whispered to her ear while continuing to massage her pussy.

“No,” came the answer muffled against her shoulder. “Tree promised to take care of the animals tonight.”

“About time she made herself useful,” said Dash. “Just kidding,” she added when she noticed the sideways glance Fluttershy gave her.

“That wasn’t funny.”

“Yeah yeah, I’m sorry,” continued Dash with a hint of annoyance. “Relax a bit, will you? I’m kinda trying to have sex with you here.”

Fluttershy nuzzled against her, burying her face between the couch and the back of Dash’s neck. “I am relaxed. I just didn’t think your remark was funny. It’s you who got offended.”

For a flash Dash looked like she wanted to make another not that funny a remark, but her lips remained sealed. At least until they made it, via the arch of her back and rump, to her thighs. There she resumed adoring her fur with kisses, this time moving at an even slower pace. Gently she lifted Fluttershy’s leg, covering it with fondling touches. Fluttershy followed her through the cracks of her eyelids, occasionally blowing her mane out of the way.

Little by little, Dash’s timid kisses turned into slobbering sweeps travelling the course of Fluttershy raised leg. Dash always was big on legs, Fluttershy recalled as the cool, wet feeling spread along her thigh. For my legs, at least. The thought made her a little proud.

Continuing her slobs, Dash aligned their hips closer by intertwining their hind legs on the couch. With a wet, shy smack, the outer lips of their marehoods brushed against each other. A moan escaped them both. Dash pressed a bit forward, just enough to allow their folds to keep on touching a bit deeper. Fluttershy gave a low whine, eager to speed things up. Spread on her back, she had little choice but to let Dash dictate the rhythm, which took a turn towards leisure.

“You like that?” she asked while grinding her hips against her.

“Ah-ha…”

Dash smiled like a tiger. In one slow and smooth motion she pushed more. The pussy lips smashed together, exchanging fluids and pleasure both. Dash raised Fluttershy’s leg more while pushing with her hips, partly climbing over her. Fluttershy’s clit got caught between her labia, where it sank nicely. Fluttershy bit onto her mane, panting.

Wings on Dash’s back unfolded as she stretched over Fluttershy, studying her shifting expressions of passion like an eagle stalking prey and adjusting the minutiae of her movements accordingly. Lust glowed warm on her cheeks. The sweat that gathered on her brow glistened in the disappearing light. The air grew humid with both of their moaning.

“Faster,” gasped Fluttershy. “Faster.”

Dash obeyed after a blink. Usually it was she who had to beg to up the pace. Regardless, she doubled her efforts.

The couch shook. Air vibrated. Time unravelled.

And Fluttershy moaned. It was a short, high-pitched cry which soon subsided into low, intense purring. For a time the noise seemed to pass, but Dash’s humping fuelled it to new heights, where it remained until she reached her own peak. After that, they fell on one another’s laps, their cuddle a picture of serenity. From there, sleep led the way.

***

Roughly at the same time, Thunderlane was staring at the windows of a certain apartment, a stone throw’s away from the town centre. He’d stood there for the better part of an hour now. Countless decisions had been made, and equally many revoked, during that time. Light still burned behind the curtains of the large window; a few times he had spotted a silhouette walking behind it. Is this what I’ve become now – a stalker? Sooner or later, I have to knock on her door. There’s no way I can justify all this to myself otherwise.

In ten minutes, he found himself walking down the road away from town. That may not have been the path leading to justification, but it sure was safer in regards to salvation. Of what exactly, he had no idea.

Less than fully consciously, a tendency to drift towards Fluttershy’s cottage declared its existence. He could see the house already. It had been a while – closer to a year – that he had more than glanced at its inhabitant, or exchanged an everyday greeting. There had been no need for anything else. Right now there was.

The front door was open like always, but he did not step inside. The noises from the backyard advised him to try there instead. Walking around the corner, several opening lines made it past his mind. Each one started with something like, “Good evening, can we talk?”, or “Hey Fluttershy, you have a moment? I got a heartful of sorrow to spill.”

“Hey, Flutters’,” he started as he spotted the familiar straw hat among the bushes. “I was just in the neighborhood, and… oh.”

“Hi,” said Tree Hugger, raising her head. “How’s the vibes?”

“Uhh… the what?”

Tree Hugger blinked. It seemed to Thunderlane she hadn’t expected to be asked to specify the question.

“You know… the vibes.”

“Right,” he said. “Uhm. You must be Tree Hugger. I’ve heard about you – from Rainbow Dash. I’m Thunderlane, friend of a friend of your friend Fluttershy. Guess that makes us friends too?” he added when she remained quiet.

The dreamy smile deepend slightly. “You’re funny. I see you got good vibes going for you.”

“Thanks,” said Thunderlane uncertainly. “Is Fluttershy around? I kind of came to meet her.”

“She’s off seeing Dash,” said Tree.

“Oh.”

“You had something important?”

“No, not really,” he said after a pause. “Just wanted to… talk.”

Tree looked at him up and down. “You can talk to me if you want. ”

The first inclination of Thunderlane was to say yes. Then he realized how strange that was. He knew nothing of this pony, except that she had probably recently enjoyed something you needed a prescription in the apothecary. A strange air hung around her, and Thunderlane could swear he heard faint music playing every time she spoke. There was something in her to invite openness in others. And yet, she was a stranger to him.

“I can make tea,” she said.

“Tea would be nice,” Thunderlane conceded. Who knew, maybe Fluttershy would come home in the meanwhile?

They made it inside and into the living room, where Tree left him while she went to brew “tea that will make your vibes sing,” like she put it. Thunderlane was of a mind to believe her. If the odours trailing into his nostrils had anything to do with the aforementioned tea, he’d most likely be yodeling before the end of the night. The scent was sweet like sap, yet not at all sticky, if such a word applied to smells. Breathing it in made him lightheaded already with the first waft. It was the third that made him not care that much.

“You longtime friends with Fluttershy?” he asked when she got back, carrying a teapot and two porcelain cups on a tray.

“Dunno,” she replied. Purplish liquid, hinted with gold, streamed into the cups, the other of which she offered to him.

Thunderlane accepted it with a wingtip. “You don’t know? It has been that long?”

She blew the steam off her drink. “I dunno because I don’t keep track of such things. There’s no need, nor chance. Presence is all there is.”

Thunderlane watched her take the tiniest sip. He couldn’t decide whether the pony was genuinely eccentric or just messing with him. In any case, the tea smelled divine, so he took a generous gulp. It tasted of whispers.

“So… what did you want to talk about?”

Somewhere within him, another Thunderlane was bothered by the fact that her voice was now out of sync with her lips. The background music had also grown louder at some point, penetrating his ears even when she was not speaking. Or maybe she was, it was becoming hard to tell. In any case, he needed to have more tea.

“Things…” he started, the empty cup falling along with his eyelids. “Things… of love. Of glove, shove. Enough.” He chuckled gently. “Words are so funny today.”

She moved on the pillows like a cat, picking up the cup. Her thigh brushed Thunderlane’s as she reached over him. His skin felt unusually sensitive; it felt he could feel every caress of hair separately. The same went for his thoughts, which zipped past him, beyond him, forking and multiplying on their own. He followed the show with casual interest, an amused, random laugh escaping him as he spotted an especially clever crossroads.

“Love…“ said the music. “Love is alright. It’s alright.”

“Not always. Not ever always. Love is wicked grim. A Sin, tin, king. Especially her love. Huh.”

“Fluttershy’s?”

Thunderlane waved a hoof irritably. He could not see the room that well anymore, with all the colors and forms blocking his view. “No, no, no… not hers. Hers.”

“Ah, she. I get it.”

“She gets it every time,” he continued. “But she never gets me, right? I never get her. Gets. She’s getting away. Forever. Got to get her. Back.”

Somepony slipped next to his flank, pulled his hoof over themselves. Thunderlane didn’t mind. It felt so good to touch, to become touched, to become a touch. It felt so good, to have that again. Even if it was only a dream, like he knew it was.

“Getting gets you nowhere, Lane,” sang the music. “It got nopony nowhere never. Presence doesn’t get anywhere. That’s where you need to get. Get me?”

“I get you,” muttered Thunderlane. As on its own, his wings folded over the pleasant form by his side. Everything was so much closer now than it had ever been. There was no outside to him, to the room, to time. There was only the hoof on his chest, travelling down; the lips inches from his mouth, breathing him, letting him breathe.

“You like that?”

“Like… yeah…”

“Good… Don’t hold back, Lane… You are right where you want to be.”

There was kissing, he vaguely knew. It didn’t matter who was doing it: it felt amazing regardless. His arousal, usually centered around the nether parts, spread all over him, beyond him. The lips caressing him departed, but their taste lingered, shifted along his muscles, his wings, his everything. He was everything.

And he liked it.