Lately

Warning: The following chapter contains harsh language and heavy shipping and may offend some viewers if those viewers attend bible school or wear dresses. viewer discretion is advised! I don't really know what that means..

Awakening.

Rarity slowly opened her eyes to the morning sun, but for what she saw, she was not prepared. Fluttershy lied atop of her, her flank resting in between Rarity's legs. Her head rested upon the unicorn's chest. She watched her love's head slowly rise and fall as she breathed. The morning sun's beams shone through the cracks in the wood.

Fluttershy's roughed up mane rolled over the blanket, intertwining with Rarity's. “She looks so innocent when she's asleep..” Rarity admitted to herself smilingly. Rarity allowed the sound of Fluttershy's soft snoozing to fill her mind as she put her arms around her love's body, resting her hooves underneath the Pegasus' wings. She closed her eyes to get a few more minutes of sleep.

This however, became a lost cause as she felt Fluttershy stir in her arms. “What is that lovely smell.. Vanilla?” Fluttershy thought as she buried her face into whatever she was holding, allowing the aroma to prickle her senses. She slowly opened her eyes. A small smile appeared on her face as she realized what she was holding.

“Good morning, beautiful..” Rarity whispered into Fluttershy's ear.

“Good morning, Rarity..” she said as she hugged the unicorn tightly. “Did you sleep well?”

“How could I? You kept me up all night.” she giggled playfully, receiving a blush from Fluttershy.

“I.. I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to.” she said softly.

“no, dear.” She giggled. “You're just very.. enthusiastic. That's a good thing, believe me.” she smiled as she grabbed the pegasus tightly and rolled over causing her to lie atop of a heavily blushing Fluttershy. “Perhaps I should return the favour?” she smiled seductively.

Suddenly someone could be heard, knocking on the walls of their shelter. “Will you guys get up already!? Geez!” Rainbow Dash yelled angrily.

“In a minute!” Rarity yelled back, slightly frustrated at the fact that she had to release Fluttershy from her hold. She grabbed the bowl of water laying next to them and started to clean her face and fix her mane. After she was finished she handed the bowl to Fluttershy who did the same.

Twilight yawned deeply. "So that should be about two days of walking.." she said tiredly as she stood on the hill, looking over the map with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. The pegasus looked at her friends with a look of worry. They all had bags under their eyes and were yawning constantly.

"Uuhm guys? You don't look so well.." she said awkwardly.

"I didn't get much sleep last night.." Twilight said softly. "Nightmares bugging me.."

"Same here.." Applejack said as she stumbled around on her hooves causing Rainbow Dash to laugh loudly. "It ain't funny!" she snapped at the pegasus. "Let's just get going. We have a long road ahead of us."

"I'm just teasing you AJ." The pegasus smiled at her friend. "And we still have to wait for Equestria's subtlest couple." she said laughingly.

"Rainbow!" Applejack grunted, amazed at her friends rudeness.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight said in a confused tone causing Applejack to put her hoof to her face.

"They weren't exactly what you would call.. silent last night." Rainbow said as she and Pinkie tried to contain their laughter. Suddenly they noticed the subjects of their laughter walk towards them, followed by Luna.

"Good morning girls." Rarity said with a smile on her face.

"Took y'all long enough." Applejack said, obviously irritated.

The seven ponies ran across the flowing golden meadows located north to the Everfree Forest. It was a nice change of scenery after spending so much time in that wretched place. The great city of Canterlot could be seen standing in the mountains to the east, shooting its protective gaze over the land of Equestria.

Luna stared at her home town for a moment as she ran along. She wondered what her sister was doing right now. As much as she disliked the social side to being a princess there were certain benefits that she started to miss. Like waking up in her huge bed, being greeted by the smell of delicious food every morning.

She averted her gaze from the shining city, frowning slightly as she followed the group of ponies through the fields of green. She was running close to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was the only pony she had felt comfortable around the past couple of days.

Rainbow Dash noticed how down Luna had become as they drifted farther and farther away from the city of Canterlot. Somehow she knew what was bothering her. "Feeling homesick?" she asked the alicorn, smiling softly. Luna nodded at her friend.

"I know what that's like. But then again, I live in the best place in Equestria!" she exclaimed.

"Where would that be?" The princess asked, genuinely interested in learning anything about her friend.

"Cloudsdale of course!"

"The pegasus city? Celestia has told me about it. It wasn't around before.. well, before my banishment. I've heard it's quite the sight. The riches of Canterlot seem to have a less charitable opinion on it though." she said laughingly.

"What! Why?" The pegasus asked Luna, obviously unable to comprehend why anyone would dislike her home town.

"You're obviously aware of the differences between unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. The pegasi tend to have a more open view about certain things. They prefer to life their lives without the interference of authority or the government. The majority of unicorns however, seems to desire that the government has as much power over the people as possible, to keep them in check. Sometimes I think that the two would have been at war by now if it wasn't for Celestia."

"What's your opinion on it Princess?" Twilight asked.

"I personally admire the pegasi culture a lot. The people need to be free to live their lives how they see fit. But that is why the two groups don't share a government. That way, everypony gets what they desire. Celestia keeps a close eye on Cloudsdale though, at the request of the Unicorn Magistirium."

"Sounds like a bunch of stuck up desk-sitters." Rainbow said.

"That they are." Luna said laughingly. "They belief in the authority to teach religious doctrine and are highly regarded amongst the majority of unicorns. But please, enough about this. One of the reasons that I went along on this journey was to get away from it all." she giggled.

The group ran for hours. The golden meadows eventually turned into rocky landscapes. The road began to rise as they entered the snowy mountainsides that were located in the northern regions of Equestria. A thin layer of snow laid atop the rocky roads. Covering the mountains with a white blanket.

The sound of hooves hitting the snow filled the air. Pinkie Pie was happily skipping through the winter wonderland, catching snowflakes with her tongue, giggling loudly all the while. Fluttershy walked even closer to Rarity and put a protective wing over her back to shield her from the cold. Applejack was shivering slightly as she walked at the front of the group, the snowflakes hitting her face.

Twilight noticed her friend's shivers. she walked up to Applejack and smiled softly at her. "Applejack, you're freezing. Here, we can share my cloak." she said as she drew closer to put her father's cloak over the earth pony's shoulder. Suddenly Applejack stopped her. "Ah'm fine. It's just a little bit of snow."

Twilight sighed. "Do I have to remind you of the apple bucking incident?" she said. Applejack bowed her head in defeat. "Fine, gimme that." she said as she grabbed the piece of cloth out of Twilight's hoof and threw it over her back. The two continued to walk side by side, hidden underneath Twilight's cloak.

The creeping cold inside of Applejack was replaced by a comfortable warmth. She smiled softly at Twilight. "Thanks." Twilight returned the smile.

After several more hours of stomping through the snow Luna suddenly stopped in her tracks. "It is almost time to raise the moon. It would be beneficial to set up our camp here." she announced. The group nodded in response. They all searched for acceptable spots to build their shelters.

As soon as Rainbow Dash noticed Luna building her sleeping place she trotted over to her and started to build hers right beside it causing Luna to send her a happy smile. Luna and Rainbow Dash had been talking about pretty much everything over the last few days. The night that Luna stayed in Rainbow's shelter was almost entirely spent whispering sentences to each other, sharing their thoughts.

The princess had found a friend in the overconfident pegasus. Somepony who was actually interested in who she was on the inside rather than what she had to be in order to maintain her crown. The sky turned to a dim orange as the sun settled behind the horizon.

"One moment Rainbow Dash, I must raise the moon." she said, sad at the fact that she had to cut their conversation short. Suddenly an idea appeared in her head causing her to smile brightly. "Would you like to come with me and watch me raise the moon?" she said happily.

"Of course!" Rainbow exclaimed. She was never able to understand how somepony could actually be powerful enough to preform such an achievement. She happily trotted to Luna's side as the two left for the closest mountain.

Luna sat herself down on the ground, closing her eyes in concentration. Rainbow took her place a few feet away from the Luna. Rainbow Dash looked at the sky, It was void. No sun nor moon shone in the sky. Suddenly Luna's horn started to glow with a large, dark aura. Rainbow's eyes lit up in amazement as the princess flew to the sky causing the moon to slowly rise as she did.

Suddenly millions of stars appeared in the heavens, dazzling in the dark sky like little diamonds. Suddenly Luna's horn lost its glow causing her to land softly on the ground next to Rainbow Dash. The princess looked up at her beautiful moon hanging in the sky surrounded by her beloved stars.

"Luna.. It's beautiful!" Dash exclaimed as she looked up at the night sky.

"You haven't seen anything yet." she said as she smiled at her friend. She focused all of her power into her horn and closed her eyes. "Embrace.." Her eyes snapped open. "Eternity!" she yelled as she lifted her horn to the sky. Suddenly thousands of stars, that were once invisible to Rainbow, appeared in the sky causing it to be filled with millions of gleaming lights.

Her mouth dropped open in amazement at the sight laid out before her. Luna giggled softly at the pegasus' facial expression. "I'm glad you like it." she smiled.

Rainbow Dash looked at the princess sitting in the snow. smiling softly at her as her mane flowed over her shoulders, her body glistening in the moonlight. She felt her wings force themselves up once again. And then it happened. She just had to do it. She could not help herself. One can only fight the urge for so long.

She moved closer to Luna and wrapped her arms around her as tightly as possible before forcing her lips on to Luna's. The princess' eyes shot open in surprise as she sat, shaking heavily in Rainbow's arms. She felt a sensation that she had never experienced before, or at least forgotten.

Rainbow slowly opened Luna's mouth with her own. Letting her tongue enter and play with Luna's. Rainbow was in a state of complete bliss as she explored her "friend's" mouth. She was acting completely on impulse. Luna's mind was practically exploding. It was as if a wave of emotions crashed into her.

The alicorn instinctively closed her eyes. A spark of lust jumped through her spine as Rainbow's tongue started to circle around her own. She started moaning softly as feelings that were once unknown to her danced around in her mind. Suddenly her eyes shot open again. She quickly pushed Rainbow away causing the pegasus to fall to the floor.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Luna yelled at her.

"No! Luna! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" she said as tears started to appear in her eyes. "How could you be so bucking stupid!?" she thought to herself. She quickly got off of the ground and walked over to Luna, putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

Luna pushed Rainbow away once again. "Stop touching me! I don't want it!" she yelled, furious at the fact that her body dared to tell her otherwise. She started to run away into the snowy hills as fast as her legs could take her.

"No, wait!" Rainbow yelled as she flew into the air, chasing the crying princess. She landed in front of Luna, blocking her path. "Let me explain!" Rainbow pleaded.

"Leave me alone! I'm not like you!" she screamed as her horn started to glow with a dark aura. Suddenly she flashed away. She was gone.

Rainbow Dash stood there.. Alone.. In the cold snow.. The wind raging in her ear.. "Luna.." she whispered as her legs gave in to her emotions. She dropped to the floor. Her face turned pale as she breathed into the snowflakes.

"Luna.."