"Pinkie Pie, stop!" Rainbow Dash finally managed to blurt, breathless from exertion and laughter. "Stop it, I can't dance anymore, stop."
Pinkie was laughing as well. "So what if you can't dance! That doesn't mean you can't prance! Or jig! Or jive! Or foxtrot!" She pulled Dash into yet another dizzying spin around the upper storey of Sugarcube Corner. "Why do they call it a foxtrot anyway? Foxes can't trot like us. At least the bunny hop makes sense." Pinkie jabbed one hoof in Angel Bunny's direction, calling, "Angel! You wanna do the bunny-hop?"
Rainbow Dash snorted with laughter. She paused for a moment, catching her breath—just one breath, full of the smell of sugar and punch, before Pinkie dragged her into another dance.
"A hop, skip and a jump," Pinkie sang, "just move your little rump—" she leaped over the rug in the middle of the room— "A hop, a skip and a jump, just move your little rump!" And she leaped back, yanking Dash with her. Rainbow's heart raced away from her, matching the rhythm.
"—a hop, skip—Pinkie I can't—move your little rump—whoa!"
The world flipped as Rainbow toppled. As she landed she heard an 'oof!' sound, which she knew she must've made but she couldn't remember it. Around her the world was upside-down and above her, her legs were in the air like Tank's when he ended up on his back.
She snorted again. The rug was very soft. Her hooves were very bue. Sky-blue, wiggly like the sky on a hot day.
Pinkie Pie's face appeared above her. Her bright pink hoof, brighter than a flamingo, brighter than roses, held up a square of fabric. "Oh Dashie, you can really cut a rug!" she said.
Rainbow Dash began to laugh again.
"Pinkie, do you have that rug strip just so you can make that joke?" Twilight Sparkle asked, distantly.
"Of course!"
"You are unparalleled," Rarity declared, somewhere else.
Dash flipped over, hauled herself upright. "Yeah she is," she agreed.
"No, silly, you are." Pinkie slung a soft foreleg around her shoulders. "You're the Wonderbolt!"
"Yeah I am!" Dash said, grinning ear to ear. She was a member of the Wonderbolts Reserves and boy that felt good. Celebrating it all evening with a cider-drenched, cake-covered, punch and punchline laden party with her friends felt even better. It was an awesome party. Pinkie was awesome for throwing it. The Wonderbolts were awesome. Her friends were awesome. Everything was awesome. So awesome it ached in her cheeks, smarted in her hooves, throbbed in her flank where she'd fallen over. It'd be awesome to always feel like this.
Somewhere off to her right, Twilight was laughing. "Okay, Pinkie," she was saying, "you're right. Nopony who's ever existed or ever will is quite like us."
"We're all unparalleled," said Rarity's voice. Rarity was smiling. Rainbow knew it.
"Right!" Pinkie said.
"Yeah we are!" Rainbow Dash agreed again. Her face felt hot. The balcony door was open, a fresh breeze sometimes blowing in. Rainbow headed over to it to get a faceful of that breeze and instantly felt more awake. She took in a big breath, looking out over Main Street, which was empty.
The wind in her mane would feel great right now.
"Pinkie, let's go out!" she blurted, swinging around to face the room.
"Okay!"
Applejack cleared her throat, cheeks red like the apples on her flanks. "It's gettin' late," she said. "Reckon it's about time to wrap things up, myself. Otherwise I won't be able to find my legs tomorra mornin'."
"No…" Rainbow whined.
"Aww, don't worry, Dashie." Pinkie giggled. "You and me can keep partying outside."
"Yes!" Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof, and before anypony could realise her plan to try to stop her she jumped through the doorway and over the balcony fencing with a whoop, tucking in her wings briefly.
Her stomach hopped and her heart lurched as gravity took hold. Such a good feeling.
"Rainbow Dash!" she heard her friends shout.
Pfft. Even if her legs had let her down in there a couple of times her wings were still perfectly fine. Always would be! Dash flared and flapped them with plenty of time to spare, bringing her to an easy hover above the ground.
Four faces goggled at her from the balcony. The fifth grinned back. Rainbow laughed, striking a pose. "Oh, c'mon. Who do you guys think I am?" she teased. "An amateur?"
"Wow, you're gonna be beyond awesome in the Wonderbolts!" Pinkie Pie praised.
Rainbow's skin prickled all over. The words felt so good. As good as that lurch in her stomach when dropping into the air, as good as the airstream in a race.
Her friends spilled out of Sugarcube Corner. Maybe she was still standing there basking in it as they did. Maybe she was just waiting politely. Not unruly at all.
But Fluttershy said, "Good night, Mrs. Cake," and Dash remembered that, right, they were all leaving. Heading home. Sensible. Boring. Understandable. Even though she wasn't exactly ever going to become a Wonderbolt Reserve again.
Pinkie bounced over to her. "Whaddya wanna do first?" she asked, lifting Dash's heart. Pinkie wouldn't let her down. "We could go swimming? Ooh, we could walk everypony home."
Rainbow Dash nodded eagerly.
"There's no need, honest," Applejack said. "You just carry on an' enjoy yourselves. G'night everypony." She trotted away.
"Hey, but—Applejack, wait!"
Applejack did. She turned around, looking confused. "What?" she asked.
What?
"Er, I…" Dash rubbed her hoof in the dirt, eyes on the circles.
"You're gonna come see Rainbow Dash off to Basic Training in the morning, right?" Pinkie Pie interjected, sensibly.
Rainbow heard Applejack chuckle. When she looked up, she saw a big smile splashed across Applejack's face.
"Well, sure I am, sugarcube," she said. "Thought that was obvious. I'll be there bright an' early." She chuckled and shot a smirk at Rainbow. "Probably too early far as y'all'll'be concerned!"
Rainbow shook her buzzing head, making it buzz harder. "Nah. Not tonight."
"We'll all be there to see you off, Rainbow Dash," Rarity said. As she trotted past, she stopped to give Dash a short nuzzle, then offered one to Pinkie Pie as well. "Have fun, you two," she said. "Do try to be reasonable with the noise though. Some of us need our beauty sleep."
Pinkie blew a raspberry. "You're already beautiful, Rarity."
Although Rarity's warm muzzle and Applejack's smile were fresh in her mind, Rainbow was still disappointed by how quickly the gang broke up. As Twilight was walking away, though, Dash had an idea. "Wait a min, Twi," she called.
"Rainbow, I'm sorry, but I definitely have to get some sleep, at least a couple of hours. Really, though, it was—"
"Some party. I know. It's okay, Twilight. Not everypony's got as much stamina as me and Pinks here."
Even though Twilight rolled her eyes fondly, Dash could tell she probably needed to get to the point. "Was just gonna ask if you can do us a favour?"
"What is it?"
"Can you cast that cloud spell on Pinkie? Then the sky's the limit."
Pinkie bounced over enthusiastically. "Ooh! That's a great idea! Can you, Twilight? Please?"
After a very long moment—either Rainbow was smarter than she thought or it was, like, scientifically too late for clever thinking—Twilight understood. "Oh, the cloud walking spell?" she said. "Yes, of course."
Purple magic swirled around Pinkie's hooves, making her prance from one to the other and shaking them lightly.
"It really was a great party, Pinkie," Twilight said as her horn dimmed. "I had a really good time. Congratulations, Rainbow," she continued, hugging Dash. "I can't wait to see you in one of the Wonderbolt air shows."
"Yeah, it's gonna be epic. Don't know when it's gonna happen, but that doesn't matter." And it didn't. She had several hooves in the door now. "Night, Twi."
"Good night Twilight!" Pinkie waved Twilight off and then spun to face Rainbow Dash. "What do you want to do now?"
"I dunno," Rainbow said. She didn't, but it felt like it didn't matter that she didn't know. Pinkie would think of something. "Something," she prompted.
"Something like a race?" Pinkie asked, grinning.
All of her muscles tensed up in readiness. "Hah, obviously!" she answered, grinning. She could be out of here in ten seconds, out of Ponyville entirely inside a minute. She could already see the whole sky stretched out around her and the whole world underneath, just begging for a show. Her wings trembled with anticipation.
Pinkie was laughing, apparently loving that Rainbow Dash loved her suggestion. Pinkie would watch her shoot into the sky like she'd never seen anything so cool. She'd probably gallop along underneath Dash cheering shamelessly and waking up everypony within ten miles.
She couldn't fly with her, though. Never mind winning, Rainbow couldn't really race with Pinkie full stop.
She stilled. "Do you really wanna race?" she asked Pinkie.
"I know you love to race."
"That isn't what I—" Rainbow started, but Pinkie spoke over her.
"And look, it's the perfect night for it." She pointed up at the moon. "There's a spotlight and everything."
Sure thing, a bright circle of moonlight ringed the specific spot where Rainbow Dash was standing.
"You can't argue with that, Dashie," Pinkie Pie said, shaking her head. Be it gentle or wide, her smile hadn't left her face all evening. "It's meant to be."
Dash laughed. "Okay, okay," she said, pretending to relent even though Pinkie probably both knew she never wanted to give up in the first place. To make sure not to leave Pinkie in the dust, though, she reared up and showed off her running start before leaping up and away. "Bet you can't catch me!" she called over her shoulder, turning towards the swimming hole they frequented once she'd passed the last house.
"Wait up!"
"Pah, I'm not gonna win if I wait for you."
Suddenly Pinkie was right beside Dash. "Who says you're going to win even if you don't?" she replied.
"Hah!" Rainbow exclaimed when Pinkie inched ahead by a nose. Just a nose. It didn't matter… except it still totally did. Even Pinkie couldn't keep Dash from wanting to be in the lead during a race.
But how great was it that she was wrong, and that they could race together?
She worked harder until she matched pace with Pinkie. Pinkie was probably running at her full speed, but just in case Rainbow pushed again, stretched ahead, regained her lead. "Nice try!" she chuckled.
Pinkie giggled back. It didn't matter to her in the first place that Dash always wanted to be in the lead. Add that to the list of reasons why Pinkie was probably her best friend.
She slowed her pace, just a little. Enough so they could race next to each other, Dash in the air and Pinkie on the ground, close enough for Dash to reach out and nudge Pinkie's shoulder. If she wanted to.
Side by side they left Ponyville behind them, heading out into the placid fields surrounding their town. Familiar ground rolled away under their pounding legs. Pinkie laughed, and Rainbow laughed too, and for a glorious minute all that mattered was the thrill of movement, going forwards together.
She still made sure to beat Pinkie to the lake, of course. "Surprise!" she shouted, sprinting for the water. When she reached it she performed a barrel roll to reach the centrepoint above the lake. "Aw, yeah!" she crowed, posing like a champion. She soared up in a triumphant arc, then dived down and skimmed across the water's shining surface, just getting the tips of her hooves wet. The world sparkled around her, Pinkie brightest of all as she burst through the waterdrops along the shore to join her.
"Wow, that was a good race, Dashie. Every time I got close you got away! You're going to be the best Wonderbolt ever."
The sand felt crisp and good under Rainbow's hooves as she touched the ground again. "You've told me that a billion times tonight," she pointed out.
Pinkie pulled her into a hug. Rainbow's legs wobbled anyway, and on top of that the smell of sugar in Pinkie's mane was pretty overpowering by itself—
"I wanted to say it again 'cause it's true," Pinkie said.
—but Rainbow Dash didn't mind it half as much as she minded the idea of letting go.
"Look!" Pinkie reared up, keeping one front leg on Dash's shoulder and resting her weight there as she turned her body away and lifted her other front leg to point upwards. "A moonbow."
She was going to say awesome because even a faint moonbow that would only last for half a minute was awesome. She'd time it perfectly, right in the speechless moment after it ended, when it'd mean the most. But before she'd finished taking it all in, it was over, and Pinkie was already sighing and smiling and moving her head to look at the rest of the stars.
If they both turned their heads at the same time they'd bump noses.
"Uh, are you tired?" Rainbow asked.
"Nope."
"You sure?"
"Sure I'm sure! Sure as this shore is a shore for sure. The party's not over 'til you say so, Dashie. Not tonight."
Rainbow could understand that. She wanted to say it would never be over. That would be dumb, though, because even now she sorta fancied the idea of lying down, so instead she said, "All right, okay. Hey, do you wanna race again?" She looked east, at her house floating above the hillside a few fields away. "Give me another run for my money?"
"You want to race for money?" Pinkie whacked the side of her own head and a couple of gleaming bits fell out of her mane.
Rainbow Dash laughed rather than question Pinkie's purse practices. "That's your money."
"You better give me a run for it then! See ya!" Pinkie cantered away.
In hot pursuit of Pinkie's bouncing tail, Rainbow once again focused on the stroke of her wings. She smirked as she passed Pinkie. Air flowed effortlessly over her feathers, whooshing past her flattened ears.
The crowd inside her head roared as she crossed the winning line. Her friends applauded wildly. Even Spitfire cheered despite being beaten. "Yeah-heh-heh!" She smashed her hoof against her mailbox and a loud clang rang through the night sky. "That's the sound of the winner's bell! Woo-hoo!"
"Woo-hoo!" Pinkie emulated breathlessly as she arrived. "You win again." She stamped her front hooves in quick applause and then concentrated on her breathing.
"Heh. You're pretty fast when you wanna be." Rainbow Dash spun around lazily in the air until she felt dizzy. "Whoa."
"Whoa whoa what?" Pinkie asked.
"I think you've even managed to wear me out," Rainbow said. The softness of the clouds above beckoned. "Feel like lying down would be pretty good right now."
"Then my job's done!"
"Nuh-ah." Dash landed half on top of Pinkie to make sure she didn't go anywhere. "Not so fast."
"Guh! I'm not the fast one."
"Fast enough. C'mon, tell me the truth. You weren't even trying, were ya?" Rainbow grinned, sliding off Pinkie's back down to the grass, tugging her fluffy pink tail as she went. "Still, you're not getting rid of me that easy."
"Pfft," laughed Pinkie, sitting beside her, "if I was really trying to get rid of you…"
She trailed off. A brilliant light shone in her big blue eyes, probably a reflection of the full moon. Rainbow wondered what the moon would look like if you could see it during the day. Probably pretty cool, if it was anything like Pinkie's eyes right now.
"What?" she said. The heavy feeling had taken up a spot deep down inside her stomach again.
"Nothing." Pinkie smiled. "It was kinda a silly thing to start saying since I already said I'm not going anywhere until you say so."
"Yeah." Dash cleared her throat. "I, uh, I… You know I wouldn't."
"I know," Pinkie said, and wiggled her eyebrows. "Because you didn't say so. So there."
"Right." Rainbow stood up and spread her wings, shaking them out. "And I'm still not saying it, even though I am going up there. Let's go."
She hooked her forelegs under Pinkie's. The other pony squirmed briefly, giggling. Dash grinned to herself, thinking of launching a surprise tickle assault, but Pinkie hopped off the ground to give Rainbow some assistance in lifting her up to the house. Her mane brushed against Rainbow's face. She was lighter than Rainbow Dash had expected. Holding her felt like holding a cloud.
As soon as they were level with the porch Pinkie wriggled free. "Wow-ee, I always forget how nice your house is," she said.
Rainbow followed Pinkie's gaze as she looked around. The columns on the porch were grand. She'd always imagined the house of a pro-flyer should have grand columns. The cloud walls glowed silver in the moonlight, and in the morning or the evening sun they glowed golden or bronze, which always made her think about medals. Yeah, it was a nice house. "Me too," she agreed.
"You shouldn't forget your own house, Dashie," Pinkie laughed.
"I don't! I remember I live here. What else do I gotta remember?"
"Well, nothing, I guess, but it's home, isn't it?" Pinkie said, tilting her head.
She wasn't wrong. Except Rainbow couldn't remember the last time she'd done anything more in her house than tuck Tank into bed and then jump into bed herself, either to sleep or to read. She was always somewhere else: training, Sugarcube Corner, saving Equestria. Pick one.
Kinda funny, now that she thought about it. Kinda weird, though.
"I guess so," she said.
Fine mist wafted through the air. Everything had a slightly hazy look, including Pinkie's face as the other pony turned slightly to look up at her.
"Are you okay, Dashie?" Pinkie asked.
Even Dash knew the haze wasn't in the atmosphere but in her eyes, and somewhere deeper too, somewhere she didn't quite dare to admit to.
"Sure as sure is sure," she answered.
Pinkie blinked, smiling—when wasn't she smiling?—and said, "I always liked the Wonderbolts but I think they're one bazillion times better now you're a Reserve. I can see you already: whoosh! And then: kazoom! And then…" She vaulted to her hooves and spun around, waving her hooves in imitation of races and stunts to come. "And all the crowd will be like: ooh! And aaaaahhhh! And everypony will be calling your name: Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! They'll love you more than they already do."
Even though Pinkie stopped moving Rainbow could practically see her excitement shimmering. Just another part of the weird hazy feeling inside her.
"I hope so," she sighed, and gave a half-laugh before Pinkie could stop smiling. She added, "No, just... don't mind me. I'm just tired." Too tired to pretend she wasn't, that was for sure.
"Well, don't worry about that, that's okay. It's my fault, anyway." Pinkie patted the cloud next to her. "Wanna sit here with me?"
"It's nopony's fault," Dash said as she went to the porch. Pinkie wrapped a warm foreleg around her shoulder again, sweet-smelling mane pressing against the side of her head. Rainbow leaned into that sweetness.
"We'll miss you too, silly," Pinkie said.
Rainbow Dash couldn't not squirm at that even though it was exactly what she wanted to hear. She couldn't not smile either. "I'm just tired," she repeated. "It's not… I am happy, you know?" she insisted. "I am."
"I know." Pinkie turned a radiant smile on Rainbow Dash. "And I'm super happy too, Dashie," she replied. "You know?"
"Uh. Yeah?" How did Pinkie make talking like this sound so easy? "I-I know. Thanks." It suddenly occurred to her that she'd barely stopped smiling all evening herself, thanks to Pinkie. She covered her mouth with her hoof.
She wanted to always feel like this. She had for so long.
"What?" Pinkie asked.
"How many times are you gonna make me say thanks tonight?"
"You don't have to thank me at all, so I hope I never make you say it, " Pinkie answered, tipping her head forward to look down at Dash's mailbox. Her mane tumbled forwards, over her face.
Dash felt like she'd said the wrong thing. She wanted to push Pinkie's mane away so she could see her friend's face properly. But she stopped herself, waiting for Pinkie to look up again before the moment passed.
She didn't.
Maybe this moment was too important to let pass. Breathing out, she reached over and touched Pinkie's shoulder, so the other pony looked up. Their eyes met.
"Thanks," she said again, deliberately, even though she thought it sounded like her tongue tripped over the word again. Pinkie would never hold it against Dash. Pinkie was her friend.
"I'm super gonna miss you," Pinkie said. Her lips weren't quite smiling. But she didn't look unhappy either. She looked beautiful.
Rainbow leaned across and kissed her.
The touch of their mouths pulsed through her body, just like taking the plunge off the edge of a cloud or off the Sugarcube Corner balcony. Thrilling. And over in a flash.
"Sorry!" she yelped, shutting her eyes, pulling back and lifting her hoof to her mouth. "Uh—I'm just tired. Got carried away—look, it's okay if you wanna pretend that never happened. I wasn't thinking. The cider's gone to my head."
Pinkie touched her face, tilting her head back up. Dash didn't know what to do, opened her mouth to say sorry again. Pinkie closed it with a second kiss. Rainbow's heart jumped into overdrive like she'd been deafened by a starting whistle, sending adrenaline surging through her body.
To be honest, she thought the adrenaline would keep surging. But as their kiss went on and on, she realised it wasn't a race. Although she was breathless like it was. Her heartbeat slowed down, but every beat was hard, her whole chest reverberating with it. The whole world was quiet apart from her heart—a bit like waking up on her day off to perfect skies, surrounded by the warm clouds in her bed.
No, scratch that, it was better than that. It was like waking up on her day off to perfect skies instead of scheduled rain.
Slowly, she wrapped her wing around Pinkie's shoulder. It didn't feel like perfect skies; it was still exciting, a bit like seeing a blue sky full of clouds to clear. No, like… like…
When Pinkie leaned into her, her brain short-circuited. Who cared what it felt like when it felt this good? It was just different, a good kind of different. Really good.
Rainbow turned her body into Pinkie's even more. Even though technically the sun hadn't come up yet, it felt like it had: everything was warm and light and clear. The haze was gone.
This was something she could definitely get used to. Something she wanted to get used to. And with every second that passed she felt better about getting the chance to do so, because the only thing better than seeing Pinkie smile, she realised, was feeling it.
Suddenly, Pinkie began to laugh, pulling away. Dash followed for a moment, before pulling back too, feeling like she had before the gang had arrived to wait with her for the letter from the Wonderbolts. "What?"
"Remember when you bet I couldn't catch you?" Pinkie said, smirking.
"Uh, not really," Dash admitted.
Pinkie giggled, clearly pleased with herself. "You were wrong. 'Cause from where I'm sitting, it looks like I did."
"Awgh, Pinkie!" Rainbow protested, blushing, but grinning.
Pinkie Pie laughed aloud. "Bet you can't catch me!" She'd never been one to wind up slowly, except for dramatic effect, and now she leaped up and off the edge of Dash's porch.
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash yelled. She jumped off the edge too, heart momentarily in her mouth.
Pinkie Pie looked up at her, eyes shining. "C'mon, Dashie, catch me if you can!" she taunted, spinning away into a gallop.
And Rainbow Dash loved to win, even though she already had, so she gave chase.
