Just a teeny-weeny little late
Rainbow arrived at Wonderbolt hq feeling refreshed from having a large breakfast and morning cold shower beforehand. She brushed a wing over her mane, and practically danced her way up the main entrance, and waved a hoof as she walked past Spitfire.
"Mornin', Crash. Big day today?" She asked as she cracked her neck a couple of times.
"Oh, no. I just woke up feeling awesome, just like I do every day!"
"Pfft, yeah, right. Have you got anything planned for Hearts and Hooves?"
"If I have! Just you wait, when the time comes it'll be front page news for the rest of the month. Pinkie's going to be so happy."
"Is that right. S'tell me what your big plan is, then!"
"Well," Dash took a few steps back, and took a look out the nearest window. "I'm still working on it. But I've got a few very solid starting points... like rocks. They're solid like rocks. And they're also rocks. She loves rocks."
"...Uh, that sounds like it'll take some work. I could get you the rest of the day off so you can, ahem, expand on that idea."
"Are you for real?! I don't need any extra time. I can just work on it a little bit after I get home every day."
"...Dash, are you sure about that? You DO remember what day Hearts and Hooves is on, right?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhh. It's this month, yeah? The fourteenth, if I'm not mistaken."
"Rainbow Dash." Spitfire trotted up to her, and took her face in her hooves. "Hearts and Hooves day is today."
Instantly, Dash's eyeballs began shrinking. "You don't- you can't be serious. Stop screwing with me!"
Spitfire took a deep breath, then released it. "I can show you the calendar in my locker if you think I'd screw with you with something like this."
Dash pulled away, shaking. "No, no no no nonono-" She dropped to the floor, burying herself beneath all six limbs. "What am I gonna DO?!"
Spitfire straightened up, and assumed her best calming persona. Which meant "slightly less shout-y drill sargeant."
"GET OUT OF HERE AND DRAG YOUR FLANK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, SOLDIER!" She yelled loud enough for the whole building to hear. "AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU'VE MADE PINKIE THE HAPPIEST PONY IN PONYVILLE. ARE WE CLEAR?"
Dash got up from the ball she'd coiled into before she got shoved across the floor. "Y-yes sir! I mean ma'am! I won't let you down!" She took off out of the front door, and bolted towards her cloud home.
Spitfire flashed a tired smile. "I'm not the one you out to worry about letting down, Crash..."
She then felt a jab at her shoulder, and turned around to see every pegasus in the vicinity behind her in single file, with Soarin' on the front. "What the- WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE?!"
"Ahem. We heard your orders, and we're all gonna follow them as soon as you tell us where the drawing boards are..."
Spitfire took a deep breath, then released it.
She did that multiple times, in fact.
Rainbow turned her house upside down looking for anything she could whip up in time to give it to Pinkie. She considered the sapphire geode she kept on her nightstand, until she remembered that was what Pinkie gave to her on last year's Hearts and Hooves day. In fact, she remembered it like it was yesterday.
The sun's last rays painted the sky in pink, red and orange as they gave way to the black night sky. A hot air balloon was silhouetted against the star, its sole occupant diligently steering it towards Dash's home. As it approached, the blue-rimmed multicolored pattern that made up the envelope became visible. A pink banner was hung from the basked, and it read "THANK YOU FOR BEING THE BEST SPECIAL SOMEPONY I COULD EVER ASK FOR" in large, blue letters. As Dash finished reading, Pinkie suddently leapt from the balloon and caught her in a hug, sending them both tumbling across the cloud front yard. Clutched in Pinkie's hooves was a gold-coloured giftbox, and inside it was the blue geode that sat on Dash's nightstand, along with a poem which she had framed on her living room.
Oh Celestia, what could she possibly do?
Rainbow was eventually shaken out of her stupor by gentle nibbling on the tip of one of her wings. She looked down, and made eye contact with Tank.
She yanked her wing back, then batted the top of his shell with it. "Hey, quit it! Here, I'll bring something that's actually food for you to eat."
She flew to the kitchen, grabbed a head of lettuce and chopped it up as Tank marched to his tortoise-bowl. She filled it up and went to wash the knife she used before noticing that the clock on the wall had its shortest hand just below "1" and its longest at "6".
With wide eyes, she threw the knife in the sink and dove out of a window towards Sweet Apple Acres. She narrowly avoided crashing headfirst into an apple tree wrapped in ribbons, and tore Applejack's hat away from her head in the process.
"What in- Rainbow Dash?" She snagged her hat off the ground and plopped it over her head. "What was so important you needed to nearly snap Willow here in half?!"
Rainbow flew up from the grooves she created on landing and went to lay her hooves on Applejack's shoulders. "Applejack! Listen up- wait, who's Willow?" She looked around the orchard, and saw they were inside a circle of trees decorated with red ribbon, in the middle of which sat a table with two seats. "And what's the deal with this whole place?"
Applejack titled her hear towards the tree she was decorating moments prior. "That's Willow, and I believe she'd like an apology for nearly getting half of her branches knocked off. As for the table, I'm treating Rarity to a candlelit dinner after sundown!"
"...Whatever. Listen up, I need your help! I forgot Hearts and Hooves day was today, and I don't have anything prepared for Pinkie! You gotta help me!"
"You forgot? Really?"
"Look, being a Wonderbolt is a full-time job! I'm a really busy pony."
The farmer raised a single eyebrow at her. "Can't imagine what that's like."
"Uhm. Well. Anyway! Are you gonna you help me or not?"
"Well, I've just about finished setting up my surprise for my special somepony, which I planned from the start of this month, so I'm available for about five hours. What are you plannin'?"
"Hmph. Okay, so Pinkie loves pies, right? And you're just about the second best baker in ponyville, so..."
"...So you're hopin' to give her an apple pie I baked and pass it off as your own?"
"I was actually just going to ask for a few pointers so it'd go better than last time I tried to bake a pie, but your plan sounds way better! Let's go!"
She made to fly towards the Sweet Apple Acres' kitchen, but was stopped by a tug at her tail. "AAH! What now?!"
Applejack spat Dash's tail out of her mouth, then looked her in the eye. "We'll bake a pie together shortly, but first: don'tcha think you're forgetting somethin'?"
"Oh, uh, good luck on your date...?"
"Thank you kindly, but that's not what I was referring to." She wordlessly jabbed her upper body towards "Willow", then looked at Rainbow with a furrowed brow.
"Oh." Rainbow floated over to "Willow" and landed by a particularly twisty root. "I'm sorry you're too frail to properly admire my coolness, Ms. Tree."
With another tug on her tail, Applejack had her apologize again.
She had to do that multiple times, in fact.
"Are you absolutely sure about this, Applejack?" Rainbow stood outside of Sugarcube Corner dressed in an attempt at formal wear consisting of a worn tuxedo and a bowtie with the ends taped together, holding a pie tray with her wings. "I mean, what if she thinks I'm being cheap?"
"Then you turn down her offer to lend you some bits. Now if you'll 'scuse myself, I can't keep Rarity waitin' even a second longer!" She turned around and trotted towards Carousel Boutique, in a dress Rarity herself had made her.
Rainbow watched her blend in with the first few orange tones in the horizon, then turned to face Pinkie. She hesitantly rapped a hoof against the door, and held her breath until the door opened.
"DASHIE!"
She was immediately swallowed up in a hug, and nearly would have dropped her pie if Pinkie hadn't noticed it. "Is that for me?!"
Rainbow Dash struggled to find her footing after being released. "Y-yeah! Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Pinks!"
Pinkie grabbed her by one hoof and brought her to a candlelit table in a darker corner of the bakery, before setting down the pie in the middle and plopping Dash in one seat and taking the one opposite to it. "Thank you so much, Dashie! Did you make this pie all by yourself? It looks delicious!"
"Well, Applejack helped. A lot. But I did most of it!"
"Oh, really? You've come a long way. Let's dig in!"
Dash promptly took one eighth on the pie and put it on her plate, and left the rest for Pinkie, who devoured it in a single bite. "MMMMM! This is the best pie I've ever had in my entire life!"
Rainbow quickly swallowed the small bite she was fighting beforehand, and sat up. "Wait, is it really that good!"
Pinkie gave a sheepish grin. "Not really, no. But getting to eat it with you makes it the best, Dashie!" Pinkie took her marefriend's hooves in hers, before reaching into her mane and pulling out a scrapbook. "Which is why I made this!"
Pinkie handed the book to Dash, who flipped through it. It told the story of the day they first met on the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration, and all that happened since they began dating not long after. Each of her birth-aversaries was a double page painting, and eight consecutive pages were dedicated to celebrating her promotion to Wonderbolt.
Rainbow started to feel her eyes water. "I-, Pinks..."
"So? Tell me! What'd you think of it?"
"It's... incredible. It knocked my stupid pie out of the park..."
Pinkie frowned. "Hey, don't say that! I loved your pie! And even if you hadn't brought anything, just being your marefriend is already enough of a gift!"
"You really mean that?"
"Yes! I Pinkie Promise that I do!"
Raindow smiled. "You know, whenever this time of year rolls around I get anxious because I think I can't possibly give you anything better than what you give me. Thank you for letting me know it's alright. I love you, Pinks."
Pinkie pratically jumped out of her seat. "I love you too, Dashie!" She leaned foward, and laid a kiss on her nose.
Rainbow kissed her back, then sat back down. "Hey Pinks, quick question. Is there any reason why there's so many blank pages in this book shortly after the part I become a Wonderbolt?"
"Ooh!" Pinkie got up and trotted to be at her side. "That's so we can finish it ourselves. Together."
Rainbow Dash looked back at the book, and giggled. "Sounds like a plan. And maybe along the way you can give me pointers on being better at giving gifts..."
Pinkie squeezed her in a hug. "Alrighty!"
Dash pulled her close and kissed her on the cheek as thanks, and Pinkie kissed back.
Pinkie did that multiple times, in fact.
Author's Note
I'm really pushing "Write what you know" here with the date this went up, aren't I... at least I have both a trans story and a lesbian one up now!
Ponk x Whinnyton Senna ftw
