A Colorful Getaway

The spring sunlight broke through the lavender curtains and landed on my eyes, creating little dancing spots in my vision. I tried to keep myself asleep, but the irritating light was unbearable, and I opened my eyes anyway. Though my vision was out of focus, I could see that something was missing in the bed. A certain blue and rainbow fluff-ball wasn't where it usually rested next to me. I sat up and started to panic. A deep fear began to brew within my gut as I looked at the clock resting on the nightstand: 8:34. It was way too early for this pony to be up and about. Suddenly, the fear was subsided by the smell of toast and eggs coming from the kitchen.

I got up from the bed, my eyes now regaining their focus, and moved to the living room where I could spot Rainbow Dash in the kitchen making a fresh breakfast. She was humming a little tune as she cooked. I was unfamiliar with the tune, but it sounded nice anyway. She picked up a butter knife and proceeded to spread some butter on two pieces of toast. Being as quiet as possible, I sneaked over to Rainbow Dash while she spread some flakes of pepper and salt on the eggs--bullseye, sunny side up.

I was right behind her and she still didn't notice me. I placed my hands on her withers and proceeded to roll my thumbs around in circles, running them around her shoulder blades. She stopped what she was doing and froze in place. She probably thought I was some random assailant that happened to break in. I could feel sweat forming on her shoulders and she suddenly got tense. I could feel her heartbeat speeding up while my hands were still on her back. I think she needed some reassurance.

"Dash, it's me," I said in a calm, quiet voice so as to not startle her. She slowly turned her head until I could see her scared face. Her eyes were wide with fear and her mouth was trembling. I knelt down and hugged the scared little pegasus and she instinctively hugged me back. "Sorry if I scared you," I whispered.

Rainbow pulled herself away from me and looked at me as if I just said something strange. "Wadda ya mean, scared me?" she asked. Her frightened expression was replaced by one of confusion and a little bit of anger. Now it was my turn to look at her with confusion.

"I thought you were scared, that's why I decided to hug you just now. You were sweating and your eyes were huge and you tensed up when I touched you--"

"Sh-shut up!" Rainbow Dash yelled, cutting off my explanation. "I wasn't scared. I'm never scared. This is me we're talking about." Of course, she was trying to act tough. I just smiled and gave her a little peck on the cheek which she gladly responded to with a little lick on my nose. "Anyway," her voice returned to its calm tone, "aren't you going to eat your breakfast?"

I looked up at the plate on the counter. I could smell the eggs and buttered toast and my mouth immediately began to water. "Y-yeah," I responded. A sudden thought came to me. "Wait, aren't you going to eat?"

Rainbow just avoided my gaze and looked up at her creation. I could tell she wanted a bite as she started to bite her lower lip. "I just...made it for you so far. I didn't consider myself." Her face fell, most likely because she'd have to make a whole new batch, and seeing how hard she was working on mine only made me feel guilty.

I clasped my hands on Rainbow's fluffy cheeks and lifted her head up to align with mine. Her eyes gazed into mine with a saddened look, but I smiled. "How about we share?" I asked. As I thought, her face lit back up and she gave me a tight bear -- well, pony hug. "Geez," I said, trying to catch a breath, "it's just breakfast, calm down!" She didn't calm down, neither did she loosen her hold on me. We just sat there, holding each other in a passionate hug. I wanted this feeling to continue, but my stomach began to rumble, startling both me and Rainbow Dash from our hug. "Breakfast?"

Rainbow nodded. "Breakfast."

We sat next to each other at the dining table and proceeded to eat our morning meal in peace, though occasionally, Rainbow would try and steal pieces of my toast since she managed to finish hers in under five seconds...somehow. She just stuffed the crispy morsel in her mouth and chewed away, leaving nothing behind but minuscule crumbs on her chest fluff and lips.

"Hey, Luke?" Rainbow asked between mouthfuls.

I stopped stuffing eggs into my mouth and looked at the blue pegasus expectantly. "Mm?" was all I could respond with at the moment.

She swallowed whatever was in her mouth and began to speak clearly. "I've been thinking. We barely get to spend any quality time together and we never get any time alone." She looked over at me while I was still chewing away at my meal. I swallowed so I could finally speak.

"Okay?" I wasn't sure where she was going with this.

"Well, I talked to the Wonderbolts yesterday and they let me take a one week vacation to spend time with you."

My eyes widened and a huge grin stretched across my face. I hugged my mare-friend tightly while I thanked her and congratulated her for getting us this opportunity. I'm pretty sure I could see her face turning a darker shade of blue while her eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets. I let her go so she could live.

"S-sorry," I said with a nervous smile. "Sometimes I forget my own strength." Luckily, Rainbow didn't seem annoyed or irritated that I nearly killed her.

"Don't worry, I'd do the same thing, just not hard enough that I'd kill ya." She leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips. The taste of buttered toast and eggs still lingered in our mouths and we exchanged the tastes as our tongues swirled around in our connected caves. We separated our lips but we still gazed into each other's eyes.

"So, a whole week huh?" I asked, still surprised that she was able to get such an opportunity as this.

"Mhm."

My eyes lit up as an idea popped into my head. "Do you know what that means?" Before I could give Rainbow a chance to respond, I went ahead and answered for her. "A GETAWAY!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, startling the little pegasus and nearly making her fall out of her seat. Luckily I caught her in time and pulled her into me. "Sorry."

She looked up at me with those cute magenta eyes which were filled with a shining thought. "Hey, I've got the perfect place for a getaway."

I was interested. I didn't know Rainbow was keen on things like this. I let go of her and she dashed over to a room where she brought out a map with all of Equestria on it. She scoured the map until she placed a hoof down on Manehattan, one of the fanciest and high society cities in the land. I'd know because Rarity would always talk about building a fashion empire there one day. I looked at her happy face with doubt. "Are you sure about this?" I asked. Rainbow Dash just looked at me like I was crazy for having this doubt.

"Why, what's wrong with it?" she asked.

"It's just that...well, it's a little classy for your tastes, right?" Of course, with Rainbow Dash being one the least classy of ponies and going somewhere where classiness was almost a necessity, it would have been one of the last places she would've picked. But I was curious. Why did she choose Manehattan of all places? I looked at her with suspicion. She looked back at me, her face looked like she was trying to hide something.

"What?"

"Why would you want to go to Manehattan?"

Her eyes darted around, trying to meet my gaze. She couldn't keep up the act for long, because she heaved a sigh and relented. "I know a resort there that the Wonderbolts use whenever they go on tours and stuff, so I thought it'd be the perfect place for us to spend some time together...alone." She shot me a seductive smile. I put two and two together and grew a wide smile.

"Well, what are we waiting around for? Let's get going!"

“Shit, shit, shit! Dammit! We’re so fucking late!” I yelled out in frustration as we rushed to our designated train to get to Manehattan. We spent most of our time packing up and arguing about what was essential and what was not. She wanted to bring some weights but that shit is too heavy. Then she wanted to bring some balls to shoot hoops with, which I thought was fine until I saw a massive sack full of basketballs and soccer balls being pulled out of a closet, so that was crossed off the list. Finally, she brought her collection of Daring-Do books, but we only had space for a few so I had to treat her like a kid and tell her she could only bring three she liked or none of them would be coming with us. Then she proceeded to pout and threatened to cancel the trip. I knew she was bluffing but I wanted to play along with her and trick her into only getting the three books. Finally, when all was said and done, we rushed to the train station at 11:00...while the train leaves at around 11:10.

We threw our luggage into the closest open car and hopped in. We both found a seat and plopped down, gasping for air and panting as the train blared its horn for departure and we started moving along the tracks.

“Geez, Dash. See what happens when you don’t listen?” I said with frustration. Rainbow punched me in the arm with her hoof, which surprisingly, didn’t hurt that much despite me being a scrawny wimp.

“Well, we could’ve gotten here faster if you’d just let me get my books,” she retorted. We just grumbled and looked away from each other in annoyance.

Though that period didn’t last long as we soon wrapped each other in a loving embrace, apologizing for being so brash and harsh.

We caught the eyes of the other passengers, but when I looked over at them they immediately averted their gazes, pretending nothing “out of the ordinary” was going on.

“You know I still can’t get over the stares,” I commented, grimacing at the other ponies in our car.

“Hey, who cares what others think?” Rainbow asked with a smile. She pecked my cheek, and although I didn’t want to, I blushed in front of the other passengers. I rested a hand over Rainbow’s shoulder and pulled her into me, letting her head rest on my arm. “Besides, the only pony you should be worried about is me, right?” She gave me a little jab to the arm upon which she rested on.

“Worried about what?” I asked.

“Worried about this!” Out of nowhere, this crazy mare proceeded to poke me with her hooves, plunging the tips into my soft, fleshy arm. It didn’t hurt much, but it was still pretty annoying. I tried grabbing her appendages, but she was too fast. I decided to block every spot she would try and jab, but I was too slow for that too. Finally, I had a sure-fire way to make her stop. I closed my fingertips together to make my hand look like a swan, then I lightly jabbed it into her exposed fore-leg. She gave a small yelp, and when I thought I went too far, she just put on one of her competitive smiles and continued to jab me and I continued to jab her. Soon the pain started to grow in my arm from her poking until I couldn’t take it anymore and just decided to forfeit. Rainbow crossed her hooves and gave me that cocky Rainbow Dash smile whenever she wins.

Again, the other ponies stared at us. Rainbow must have felt their eyes boring into her because she turned around and glowered at them and they all looked away again.

“I can’t wait till we’re off this damn train,” Rainbow whispered as she laid her head on my arm, snuggling into it. I wrapped the arm around her body and held her tightly, making sure not to let her go. She felt so warm, not just because of the fluff, but her body released a nice warmth that calmed me. “So many nosy ponies.” She glanced back at the passengers to make sure none of them were gawking at us. No one was this time. She opened her mouth wide to let out a loud yawn. It sounded like a filly trying to go to sleep.

Before I could add on to that thought, the ringing of a bell caught my attention. I didn’t have to raise my head much to see what was coming: the good old snack cart. It was a brown, box-shaped cart with two wheels and a stand in the back. Inside were snacks and treats that made your mouth water just by their scent alone.

“Hey, Rainbow,” I nudged the tired pony, but she just responded with a hard grunt. She burrowed herself deeper into my side. Welp, more for me. I used my free hand to signal to the pony pushing the cart. I handed him a few bits and bought myself a bag of assorted chocolates.

I popped caramel chocolate into my mouth and let it melt. The taste was amazing, it could probably rival some of Pinkie Pie’s chocolates. The chocolate itself was sweet and smooth, but when it melted and broke open to let the golden caramel spill out, a mixture of sweet, and sea-salty tastes mixed together on my tongue.

I thought I was in Heaven, until I looked down at Rainbow Dash, still sleeping on me. What good is Heaven if you can’t share it with the ones you love? I retied the bag of chocolates and set them aside. Hopefully, they won’t melt until we get to the resort.

It was a few more hours until we would reach Manehattan and I wasn’t feeling the least bit tired. There was nothing to pass the time with and Rainbow Dash was still asleep. Her heaving body laid right under my arm and I was afraid to move it due to her waking up.

I looked down at the sleeping pegasus and took in her cute figure. Whenever she exhaled, she let out a little peep like a filly. Her cyan coat seemed to glisten whenever the sun managed to land on it. Her multicolored mane just draped over her face and eyes, blocking her beautiful looks. Sitting on her chest fluff was the necklace I bought her last Hearth's Warming: a golden necklace with a red lightning bolt with a gold border around it. Two wings that protruded from the sides that made it look like the Wonderbolts' logo.

I looked down to see Rainbow’s travel bag. In it were her “essentials”: three books from the Daring-Do series that we were arguing about before we got on. I decided to try and read one of them since there was nothing else to do. I picked up one that Rainbow Dash has always tried to recommend to me: Daring-Do and the Temple of Zakonoweh.

When I opened it, a folded slip of paper fell out from somewhere in the middle of the book and landed in my lap. I picked it up, and upon further inspection, I could see writing on the inside. I looked over at Rainbow Dash and thought about what would happen if she found me looking at something my eyes probably should have seen. Okay, now my curiosity got the best of me. I unfolded the paper and read the secret writing:

Rainbow Dash is authorized to take leave from Wonderbolts training from the week of 6/19 for heat. She is to return to training at the start of the week of 6/26. Signed, Commander Spitfire.

So that’s why she was given a week off from training. I looked down at her sleeping figure. Even though she hid this from me, I’m not mad. My guess is, if she told me we were going to visit a resort just so she can recover from her heat, she’d think I wouldn’t want to go because she’d be using me for a personal need. But honestly, I'm just glad to be spending some time with her, and help her with her little problem. Now my biggest question was, why didn’t she throw out the permission slip?

I folded the paper back up and stuck it in the very back of the book. I proceeded to read the book to take my mind off of the letter, and I gotta say, it worked. I was captivated by the first few pages. The symbolism and imagery were amazing. The way it was able to put me into Daring-Do’s sho–er–hooves was extraordinary. I kept reading, not realizing the shifting movement under my arm.

“Hey, Luke.”

I was startled from my reading and looked down at the tired little pony resting under my arm. Rainbow’s eyes fluttered open and she looked up at me with a warm smile. I smiled back.

“Mornin’ sleepyhead,” I said, running my fingers through her ruffled mane. Even though it was unkempt, it kept its smooth texture. I looked around to see the other passengers sleeping silently. Meaning we won’t have to deal with strange looks and gossiping for the rest of the ride.

Rainbow laid down on my lap and looked at the book I was reading. Her tired face suddenly lit up with fear as she realized which book was in my hands.

“Uh, can I read that?” she asked. She tried to grab the book from my hands, but I lifted it above my head and out of her reach.

“What? The book or the permission slip?” I asked inquisitively.

Rainbow Dash’s face hardened and blushed as she looked away from me. She must be feeling a great sense of guilt right now. “I-I-I was going to—“

I petted her head gently, silencing her, and gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s fine. I understand what you're going through and I want to help,” I gently said to her.

She kept quiet. She knew there’s no point in arguing with me or pointing out any flaws. She just laid quietly on my lap and looked around, probably thinking of a good topic to change to.

“Do humans have that?” she suddenly asked. I looked down at her, not having the faintest idea as to what she was talking about. “Heat, I mean. Do humans have heat cycles?”

Not really a change in topic... but I could enlighten her. I stopped petting her mane and thought about that question for a moment before coming up with a proper answer. “Not exactly,” I replied. “Humans are unlike most animals, we don’t have a heat cycle but we do get horny sometimes. It’s just a want to have sex, not a need.”

Rainbow Dash just gave a soft “hm” like she understood and continued to look at the ceiling of the car out of boredom. The train continued its journey to Manehattan for what seemed like five whole hours. We both wondered how much longer it was going to take until we reached our destination.

"Want some chocolate?" I held up the bag of chocolates I bought earlier from the snack cart, which was surprisingly still cold.

"What? You didn't buy me one?" She asked like I deliberately bought this one bag for myself.

I rolled my eyes at her. "I tried to get you something, but you were already asleep, so I couldn't get what you wanted."

"Whatever, just give anything." I handed her a toffee filled chocolate and let her chew away at the treat.

Suddenly the speakers crackled and a voice could be heard throughout the entire train. "Ladies and gentlecolts, this is your conductor speaking," a deep male voice resonated within our car, waking up the sleeping ponies with a start. "We are nearing Manehattan station. Please gather your belongings and we hope you've enjoyed riding the Ponyville Express."

Rainbow Dash sat up straight and stretched all four of her hooves in every direction. I grabbed our luggage and steadied myself as I stood above the ponies while the train was coming to a halt. As soon as the doors opened, a flood of ponies entered and exited the train car. Rainbow Dash and I struggled to fight against the wave of ponies trying to get inside, but we managed to squeeze through and land on the station platform.

As I looked around, the scenery was almost unbelievable; it was like I was back on Earth, walking into New York City. I just gawked at the massive skyscrapers and the assortment of buildings that lined the busy streets. Ponies got into pony-drawn carriages, which seemed to be the taxi service. There were food vendors along the sidewalks and street performers making a living performing various acts such as tricks, playing an instrument, or singing. Or all three.

"Hello, Equestria to Luke!" My mind snapped back to the platform and I looked down at Rainbow Dash who was tugging on my shirt. "There you are, ya big dummy," she teased. "Come on, I'll take ya to the resort. It's not that far from here." Before we could take a step Rainbow's stomach began to growl loud enough for me to hear over the chatter of ponies around us.

"Or maybe grab a bite to eat?" I offered. Rainbow blushed and we headed off to the nearest restaurant to fill our starved stomachs. The one we entered was pretty pricey, but we were so starved, we just decided to enter this one instead of walking around the massive city aimlessly for another place to eat. Luckily I was able to pay for everything so we could enjoy a fulfilling meal. After this, we called over a cab and made our way to the resort, the place where I will finally get to spend some quality time with the best mare-friend anyone could ask for.