Freefallby ComeonideodicChaptersWith the Promise of a Date...I'll Take you High in the Sky..And I'll Catch you if you Fall.With the Promise of a Date...Author's Note In the words of BEETLEJUICE: "It's showtime!" For those who read my last story, Absent-minded Serendipity, I mentioned at the end of it that I had other stories on my mind. Well, this was one of them! Took a while, but not as long as before... This story is a 3-parter, the next 2 chapters having almost already been written. I just need to go though and revise/edit chapter 3 quite a bit more, but expect to see chapter 2 within the next couple days or so. Maybe earlier, but no promises.... With the Promise of a Date... "Twilight!" "..." "Twilight?" The silence was deafening. Rainbow grumbled in monotone defeat, her eyes running interrogating circles around the mare who was knowingly ignoring her only a stone's throw away. She let herself fall backward onto neatly set, star embroidered bed sheets with a soft thump, her alert gaze tracking the interior of a room she had come to know like the back of her hoof. She knew why Twilight was giving her the infamous silent treatment, punctuality was a trait she never ended up mastering. And she knew from personal experience that no matter what explanation she gave to the purposely muted mare, it would change little for the situation that she put herself in. She was trapped in a figurative corner, one wrong move sending her to the dog house for the foreseeable future, and Twilight knew it. "Twi..?" Rainbow cautiously voiced, both hesitance and resilience clearly battling each other for dominance. It was a delicate dance; for these might be the words ending up on her tombstone. "I swear to Celestia I tried to be here on ti—" "—You're late. Again." Rainbow circumspectly eyed the intricate details in the ceiling, finding its rather annoying, bland architectural design more interesting than ever before. She strained her head slightly, her eyes searching for a better look at the mare lying comfortably in front of her ajar balcony doors, an open book between curled purple forelegs managing to capture the egghead's attention better than she ever could. Who knew it was possible to get jealous over a book. "Look.. I-I know this seems bad..! But you gotta belie—" "—You know what? This might honestly be a new record for you." Twilight peered up from her book, her reading glasses acting like magnifying glasses for the deadpanned, sharpened daggers behind them. "I can't remember the last time you were this late for something this important. Can you, Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow felt her entire body shiver, physically cringing at the blatant use of her full name. Not to mention the clear passive aggressive sarcasm resonating from the mare who was clearly not having any of it. You could practically slice the air with a spoon. Things just went from bad, to scary. "I—!" Rainbow shot her head up, straining her neck even further in order to stare directly into purple. "Yes.." Rainbow grudgingly acknowledged, letting her head fall back toward the stars in secondary defeat. Of course, in the back of her mind she wanted nothing more than to fire back with the stored ammunition she knew she had hiding, her excuse for being so late for a date night of her own making. But as she stared into the fire and flames.. Let's just say that fighting a fire with oil was the opposite of what she was taught to do in school. Twilight, momentarily allowing her eyes to stay glued to the basically lifeless mare sprawling belly up on her bed, took in a needed deep breath. She let her suddenly heavy eyes return to the book in-between her forelegs, dragging them across ink stained pages she could no longer focus on. Her body felt oddly tired all of a sudden, as if the last however long spent waiting, spent silently brooding, suddenly shot off of her and landed directly onto the other pony in the room. And it was now that she found herself at a crossroads, every direction leading down a different rabbit hole into a different wonderland. She could go the route of forgiveness. A path surrounded by figurative nature, a hole she knew would have Rainbow waiting at the bottom of it—the path Rainbow no doubt wanted her to take. There was also the route of punishment. A bumpy road, but short and to the point. Though it had the potential to have the opposite effect for what she was aiming for. Especially depending on the type of punishment given to the arguably beautiful mare taking over current sleeping arrangements. But there was a 3rd route, a dirt path hidden in between two clear directions. It was a path less travelled, and for good reason, but it had the potential to be the best option for dealing with a mare as 'set-in-her-ways' and stubborn as Rainbow Dash was.. It was devious, the pathway into the unknown. A test, a redo, of sorts. Neither punishment nor forgiveness, but instead a freefall that had the potential to pave a clear path forward for both of them. To grow closer, and in turn improve the punctually inept. Twilight voluntarily let a sultry groan fill the heavy silence that had befallen her bedroom, almost every bone in her body cracking from the well needed stretch as she slowly sat up onto her haunches. "Dash." Twilight spoke firmly, but softly. As if the last minutes, hours, had never happened. Rainbow felt her entire body twitch, cyan ears perking themselves against the no longer neatly made bed sheets as Twilight's sudden, eerily inviting voice overpowered deafening silence. With a strong push off—lazily outstretched wings disheveling the sheets below them even further as they helped their owner flip perfectly onto awaiting flanks—anticipating magenta tracking the intimidating purple mass like a hawk. Though Rainbow quickly found her vision narrowing, her head shaking involuntarily in a failed attempt to correct the sudden mistake curving itself onto the face of a mare that shouldn't be wearing it. Twilight was.. Smiling? "Twilight? What are you—" "—Would you mind.. Brushing my mane for me, Dashie?" Twilight calmly requested, cutting off the poor Pegasus one last time while trying her best to sound as alluring as possible. She found her eyes locking onto the perfect angle for reflected purple to meet magenta—to the mare who was no doubt drowning in a messy sea of confusion. "Rainbow?" "Uh—!" Rainbow cleared her throat violently. "Y-yeah, sure thing..!" She quickly found herself on all four, her hooves making contact with a floor of imaginary lava. She could practically feel the rogue thoughts that were now burrowing themselves deep into her mind, thoughts that were on the complete opposite spectrum to what she was expecting tonight. Though whatever Twilight was doing, she wasn't about to start complaining now. If anything, she was managing to gain the high ground over this rising lava field of internal terrors, eventually coming to a halt behind the mare in constant question. She stared over the resting purple shoulder into a mirror for two, Twilight's tool of choice being hovered directly into her view for the miracle she agreed to perform. "Y'know— you should really consider going for a hair.. nng— haircut, Twi." Rainbow struggled, trying her best to keep the slipping brush gripped tightly in her wing. Almost instantly she found a family of knots living rent free on a deceivingly tattered mane that Twilight hadn't bothered to brush. Of course, the mare in question couldn't really be blamed for that one.. "And you should consider stopping while you're ahead, Rainbow.." Twilight shot back, an amused, but serious eyebrow-raised stare sending a loud and clear message to the mare behind her. "Heh, right..." Rainbow bit her lip, swearing she could see the lava below her rise ever so slightly. "What, uh.. What about hearing what I had planned for us tonight?" Rainbow gingerly edged on, her brushing becoming smoother with each continued stroke. "Y'know.. Key word being had..?" Twilight let out a genuine chuckle at Rainbow's choice of words. She didn't exactly like the idea of knowing what she missed out on, blissful ignorance letting her sleep peacefully at night, but the curiosity of a supposed sweet night turned sour was getting the better of a once refined judgement. "Mmm.. Alright, Rainbow, let's hear it." Rainbow smirked slyly at that. "Well, first I was gonna ask if you wanted to go on a date with me..!" Rainbow teasingly brought her unoccupied forehooves up to gently caress Twilight's sides earning a visible, full body shiver in response to the sudden stimulation. "Of course, you would say yes to my irresistible charm, and would proceed to be gently swept up for one of those romantic night time flights that I know you love.." Rainbow went higher with her hooves, gently pulling out one of Twilight's beautiful wing's to stroke each and every feather. "All while the temperature is juuust cold enough so you have no choice but to cuddle into me for warmth.." Rainbow set down the brush in her wing, struggling, but managing to keep her own stiffening wings in check as she once again went lower with her tender hoof strokes. "Then, I was gonna take you to a nice and secluded hill with a picnic basket full—uh, full of.. Your favorite—oh horsefeathers..!" Rainbow suddenly blurted out, cutting off her hedonistic exposition. A vivid recollection of the completely full picnic basket that was still sitting on that lone hill flooded into fresh memory, an innocent smile directing itself toward the slightly concerned mare in the mirror. "Rainbow..?" "Uh-heh! A-anyway..." Rainbow quickly recovered, swiftly replacing her off-track hooves at the base of Twilight's shoulders. "A-after that, I was gonna fly you back here.." Rainbow dug her hooves in deeper, massaging a smidge lower with each word spoken. "I'd carry you all the way up.." Lower. "Light that big fireplace in your study.." Lower. "Lay you down onto a pile of warm blankets, all so I can read you a book of your choosing for as long as you wanted.." Lower. Rainbow carefully leant in closer into awaiting purple ear, a smirk adorning knowing lips before continuing in a careless whisper. "All while we snuggled under the blankets, just how I know you love it.." Twilight shivered once again, her ear flicking against the ticklish breath, tapping the cyan mare lightly on the nose. "Mmnn.. A-and then..?" "And then..?" Rainbow continued downward the rest of the way, her tender hooves coming into contact with curved flanks adorning her favorite stars. She moved her breaths to Twilight's other ear, finding it only fair that both got a chance to flick her on the nose. "I'd take you up to this very bedroom, throw you onto that always neatly made bed.." Rainbow brought her hooves inward, trailing the base of Twilight's inner things with the lightest of touches. "And then..." Suddenly, Rainbow pulled back everything, her hooves coming to a complete stop in their current position, being swiftly brought back into the lava field that was now definitely going to overflow. It was as if the sensual trip she just took the poor mare on never even occurred. "Nnng..! R-Rainbow Dash!!" Rainbow felt her grin widening, and before Twilight had a chance to retaliate she swiftly wrapped her now currently free forelegs around Twilight's barrel, essentially locking her in place without the unlawful use of cheating magic. "What? Were you expecting something more?" Rainbow nuzzled the back of Twilight's neck with her chin. "And here I thought you were mad at me.." Rainbow slyly teased. She delicately twisted the waist currently in her grasp, spinning the no doubt beet red mare to be face to face with flushed red cheeks. She locked eyes with Twilight's 'I'm really mad and I hate you' face. A face that she knew meant the complete opposite. Not to mention, it really was a beautiful sight. "I—! I-I am mad!!" Twilight practically pleaded, squirming against her captor. But to no avail. The singular juror was having a hard time believing her story. "Oh? I'm sure, Twi.." Rainbow increased her grip on Twilight's barrel, also feeling the wings on said mare's back that were refusing to sit still. If she didn't act fast, this whole thing would inevitably blow up in her face. She quickly brought a free wing inward to gently dip Twilight's chin, their eyes level with one another as they equally got lost in each others pools. "Do you wanna know what helps me when I'm mad?" Twilight nervously bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes searching through magenta as if the answer was lost somewhere within. It was a yes or no question, why couldn't she speak? Without having enough time to think, Twilight suddenly found herself locked with lips not her own, her reading glasses she practically forgot she had on getting knocked off of her face without a care in the world. She felt her entire body go limp, melting into the kiss that, deep down, she knew she wanted. Yes, she was mad at Rainbow, even more-so than before—her incredible description for a date being only something her dreams could conjure—and she missed that. All because Rainbow couldn't bother to show up.. "Da..! Mmash..!" Twilight spoke quickly between stolen breaths, earning a smidgen of attention from the currently occupied mare attached to her. "Mmm..?" Rainbow regretfully pulled back, a sultry look finding its way into Twilight's clearly conflicted eyes. "T-tell me.. I want to know why you were late." Rainbow looked away for a moment, finding it to be her turn to bite the inside of her cheek. "Oh, uh.. That." Rainbow suddenly puffed out her chest, her superhero pose protruding into Twilight's already popped personal bubble. "So, I maaay or may not have flown directly into a giant basilisk that was threatening to destroy all of Ponyville while on my way to come get you, but don't worry though! It didn't stand a chance against me-ow!" Twilight playfully batted Rainbow in the back of the head with an extended wing, earning a semi-annoyed look from the mare no longer proud of her superhero story. "You want to try that again?" "Alright-alright..!" Rainbow surrendered, scowling at the purple wing being stiffly brought back its owner. "I.. I got stopped by Rarity! Her cat.. Uh, Opalescence was missing.." Twilight felt her eye twitch, soon having that feeling of uncontrollable laughter shoot up and down her entire body. "W-wait— so you missed your own date night b-because of Rarity's cat!?" Rainbow couldn't help but smile through her unamused stare as Twilight physically broke in front of her, having to steady the both of them as Twilight fell into her from a clear loss of balance. "Believe me, I know how crazy it sounds, but yeah..?" Rainbow regretfully admitted. Twilight wanted the truth, and their it was in all it's glory. "Rarity stopped me mid flight, basically ripping her mane out, screaming about Opal being lost for more than 4 hours." Twilight went limp, leaning heavily into Rainbow's chest while failing to stop the seemingly endless onslaught of giggles. "I-I had a lot of theories in my mind, a-as to why you were late, but I never would have guessed that!" Rainbow rolled her eyes, sweeping the clearly drunk Alicorn up into her forelegs with one fell swoop. "Well, Princess of Laughter, I'm glad your jester was able to help you live up to your name." With a powerful flap of extended wings, Rainbow briefly took flight, gently gliding over her stagnant lava in order to set Twilight down onto her arguably messed up bed sheets—a light blush staining cyan cheeks as she peered at her earlier hoof-work. Though her ears filled with soothing laughter suddenly perked, an eerily familiar silence once again flooding the room as the laughter completely stopped. "Rainbow?" "Twilight?" "I.. I'm sorry I didn't let you explain yourself earlier." Twilight moved the already somewhat jumbled covers from under her with a flick of her horn. She pulled them up to her chest, curling her forehooves around them like a foal begging for a glass of water before bed. "But.. I-I want you to promise me something?" "A promise? And what might that be?" Rainbow pressed, sitting down onto her flanks next to the bed. Twilight lightly pushed Rainbow with her already lit horn. "I'm being serious, Dash.." Rainbow smiled coyly, shifting her sitting position so her forelegs were flat onto the side of the bed. "And so am I.. Really, what's on your mind?" Twilight once again found herself searching deep into Rainbow's eyes, the rabbit hole to wonderland becoming brighter and brighter with each word unspoken. "Tomorrow. Midday. I want you to be at Sugarcube Corner. And you can't be late this time." Twilight brought a hoof to gingerly cover Rainbow's, an action that was immediately reversed so cyan was the dominant color. "Rainbow? Can you promise me that?" Rainbow felt her eyebrows raise slightly at Twilight's unusual request. It wasn't unusual in the usual sense, but more so just an out of the blue kind of unusual. There was just something about this that didn't add up, almost like staring at yourself in a mirror for too long. "Dashie.. Promise me you'll be there." Rainbow grew a genuine smile, guiding Twilight's searching eyes within her own. "Twilight, by the time you arrive, I'll already be there.." Twilight let her giggles return. "It's not a competition, you know.. But I swear to Celestia I'm holding you to your word—" Rainbow swiftly cut off Twilight's terrifying threats with her own lips, her forehooves digging into the bed for stability as she leaned, practically hovered, into the kiss meant to silence the mare before her. She had given Twilight her word, a promise, and she was going to keep it this time. "—I'll be there, Twilight Sparkle. I promise..." I'll Take you High in the Sky..The rhythmic sound of glass being tapped on cursed perpetual silence, a seldom backtrack that filled the few perked ears of a sparsely occupied Sugarcube Corner. "Rainbow Dash, would you please stop doing that?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow, her hoof rising in tandem as it once again clinked with its empty, make-shift instrument. Her cyan chin still lazily pressed against round tabletop, not moving an inch. "Must you annoy others as a way to cure your own boredom?" Rarity questioned, already knowing the answer. She lit her horn, grabbing the empty glass in her magic only to slide it just out of reach from the overgrown foal sitting across from her. Rainbow let out a groan, it's translation being a half-baked attempt at an apology. She begrudgingly lifted her head up, wiping her mouth with the back of her foreleg while stealing yet another glance at the clock that's been silently taunting her for the past 2 hours. Of course, she didn't have to stare at it anymore, all it did was jam that metaphorical spoon of her own medicine further down her throat via purple magic, but every audible tick that emanated from the damn thing made her want to throw her instrument at it. She had made a promise. A promise that she intended to keep. "Any pony order a cupcake pick-me-up!?" Blared Pinkie, emerging from the kitchen door with a tray full of cupcakes; balancing without the help of physics or thermodynamics on her back. Rarity secretly eyed the tray of cupcakes in her peripheral. "Do remind me again dear, why is it you've been here since quarter past 10 in the morning?" Rainbow felt her chin fall yet again toward the most uncomfortable napping spot she's had all week, connecting to the tabletop with a solid thump. "I.. I promised Twilight I'd be here.." "Um— w-why..? I-If you don't mind me asking.." Fluttershy quietly piped up, her wings wrapping around a sleeved, hot cup of freshly made tea. "Yeah, Dashie! I never get to feed you cupcakes this early!" Pinkie half complained, half rejoiced, sliding the tray of cupcakes onto the only occupied table. "Pinkie, darling.. Wouldn't you agree that it's a bit early for cupcakes?" Rarity once again lit her horn, completely ignoring her own vague advice grabbing a lightly sprinkled, heavily frosted cupcake off the tray. "Of course not, silly! These are breakfast cupcakes!" Rarity opened her mouth to counter what she just heard, but her mind was officially drawing blanks. Rainbow, completely ignoring the conversation flowing into one ear and out the other, eyed the door that had yet to reveal the purple Alicorn behind it. It was funny, how afraid you could get over an inanimate object, said door scaring her just as much as the mare who had yet to walk though was and it was driving her mad. If it was torture Twilight was after, she was managing to pull it off without even trying. Rarity took a careful bite of her 'breakfast' cupcake, her eyes darting between both the door Rainbow was staring at and an equally confused Fluttershy sitting beside her. "Rainbow, would you being here happen to have anything to do with my little Opal last night?" Rainbow ripped her eyes from the unmoving door, tentatively moving her chin to rest straight ahead at an eerily smiling Rarity. "What gave you that idea..?" "Perhaps it's the fact that you're here, regardless if Twilight asked you to come or not, both you and Applejack almost always refuse to show up to our morning get togethers." Rarity took a proud, audible sip of her own tea. "Though I will say I've managed to sway Applejack into showing up every now and then, but you..?" Rarity eyed over the cyan mare now sitting rather uncomfortably before her. "One can easily see why I would connect such a parallel.." Rainbow grumbled, sitting up straight, her back cracking from the sudden posture change. She eyed the 3 mares across from her, the sudden logic bomb shooting shrapnel at her from across the table becoming annoyingly accurate. "Look, I appreciate you girls trying to help, but believe me.. Nothing is ever that simple when it comes to Twilight.." She let her head fall backward this time, her patented ceiling stare becoming a staple move as she grabbed a cupcake within her wing. She lazily took a bite, her cupcake pick-me-up not exactly helping her current situation. "Quite the hoof-full to handle, is she?" Rarity murmured across the table. "Who's quite the hoof-full?" Rainbow immediately began choking on her cupcake, flinging her head forward like a faulty pendulum, her hoof instinctively reaching out to catch the half chewed ball of sugary goodness flying out of her mouth like a rocket. She felt her ears swiveling toward the voice that resonated beside Rarity, her eyes staring at the ghost that had suddenly appeared past its due-date. "Aha! Twilight, darling, so wonderful of you to finally join us!" Twilight flashed an apologetic smile around the table, bemusingly locking her eyes onto the prismatic mare currently coughing up a hairball. "What's wrong with her?" Rarity gave a sly smirk at that. "If only we knew.." Twilight shook her head, walking around the table to sit next to the still spluttering prismatic Pegasus. "Well.. I'm sorry I'm late, I got a bit distracted before leaving this morning, I definitely lost track of time.." "Oh, n-no need to apologize, Twilight." Fluttershy reassured. "Yes, darling, it's quite alright. Our dear Rainbow here has been perfectly behaved the whole time." Twilight felt her eyes narrowing, darting between all parties around the table. "The whole time?" She heard Rainbow violently clear her throat, her vision locking on a cyan face of what could only be described as both fear and relief. "Rainbow? How long have you been he—" "Twilight! Is it true that you missed out on a date with Dashie last night?!" Pinkie all but stated as factual for all to hear, popping up behind Twilight while grabbing a cupcake in her hoof, eating it with one big bite. Twilight manually blinked, Pinkie's words reverberating around her head like a broken record. "I-I.. What..?" Rarity smirked, eyeing Rainbow though her peripheral who was staring directly at Twilight's side profile, clearly deep in thought. She leaned in towards Fluttershy, a devious smile adorning white. "I think I know what's going on here.." Fluttershy leaned in to meet Rarity, earning a confused stare from the Alicorn now sat at the table with them. "Are you s-sure you want to get in the middle of this..?" Rarity winked at the nervous Pegasus, leaning back and adjusting her posture to be proper. "I think what Pinkie is trying to say is; Rainbow was just telling us about how badly she messed up last night.. Isn't that right, Rainbow, dear?" Twilight waved a hoof in front of the cyan face still staring directly at her. "Dash..? What's gotten into you this morning?" Rainbow didn't budge at being addressed. She was too busy remembering, thinking about the promise she made to be here, and how Twilight was late even though she made her promise to be on time.. It was all too perfect, and she knew Twilight asking her to be here last night was fishy, almost as if this was one of Twilight's tests. Of course, by now she was intimately familiar with said tests, this test being a runoff from what she flew into last night. All she had to do was once again beat Twilight to the inevitable punchline. "Rainbow. Are you alri—" "Twilight, I know I messed up last night!" Rainbow suddenly blurted out, earning a surprised look from not only the mare next to her, but from all the mares around the nearly empty room. "I should have— I could have easily told you what I got roped into, that flight would have taken me less than 10 seconds flat, but I didn't and I ruined a perfect night..!" Rainbow launched herself from her chair, the sound of wood skidding against wood echoing into many perked ears. "Twilight, I promise I'm going to make it up to you. Starting right now!" Within seconds Twilight watched Rainbow take off toward the front door, leaving her dumbfounded and frozen utter confusion. She sat back in her chair, eyeing the oddly specific faces her friends were making. "Rarity...?" Rarity raised her forelegs above her head in defense for as long as Twilight stared at her. "Oh shush now, I did nothing!" She chirped, taking a sip of her now luke-warm tea. Twilight shook her head, a small grin replacing the confused stare that felt so normal this morning. She hovered a cupcake off the tray before her, taking a bite into it with a soft moan of approval. "I do apologize, Twilight, for last night..?" Rarity quickly chimed in. "My little Opal doesn't usually go missing for that long, but if I had have known stopping Rainbow would have ruined such a night between you two.." Twilight dismissed Rarity's apology. "You didn't know, there's no need to apologize, Rarity." Twilight flashed a genuine smile. "Besides, I was planning on giving Rainbow another chance today, though it seems that Rainbow has taken it upon herself without me saying anything.." Rarity gave a knowing smile toward both Fluttershy and Twilight. "The poor mare had her eyes locked onto that front door almost all morning, I was certain she was going to hoof the clock off the wall at one point.." Twilight chuckled slightly at that. "Um.. W-where do you think she went in such a hurry?" Fluttershy curiously questioned. Twilight shrugged, genuine curiosity lighting a small fire in her eyes as she eyed the front door, much like Rainbow apparently did for her. "I'm.. Honestly not sure. Rainbow can be very unpredictable at times." Twilight grabbed another cupcake in her magic, the sudden need to stress eat overtaking refined judgement. "Nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to that mare.." Rarity audibly chuckled at that, they really were rubbing off on each other more than they cared to admit. "Any particular reason as to why you were so late today..?" Rarity edged on. Twilight flashed an innocent smile. "I was.. Studying..?" "I-I'm sorry— could you repeat that darling?" She kept her innocence going. "It was for a good reason! There was something that I wanted to try with Rainbow today, but now I'm not sure if that's even possible.." Twilight admitted, a hint of worry echoing within her voice. Rarity raised a slightly concerned, curious eyebrow at the mares before her. "Twilight, darling, what exactly were you planning on doing today?" Twilight went to open her mouth, her answer to the loaded question Rarity just asked being ready to fire. But before a word could escape her throat her attention was ripped towards the front door of Sugarcube Corner having been slammed open, revealing a cyan Pegasus breathing slightly heavy with a rushed look on her face. "Twilight! I need you to come with me!" Rainbow shouted, immediately taking notice to the 4 sets of eyes staring directly at her. "Eheh! Quickly..!" Twilight felt her cheeks turning red as her friend's suddenly landed their curious vision on her. She felt herself slowly sinking down into her chair in growing embarrassment, her own lip biting stare directed apologetically at her friend's. Her 3 friend's who were seemingly loving every second of this. "Twilight! I'm not kidding, we kinda need to get going..!" Rainbow stated, rushing in to get Twilight on her hooves. "A-alright!" Twilight let out a surprise yelp, looking back at her friends as she was practically stolen out of the bakery, an apparent kidnapping happening before every pony's very eyes. "Iguessilltellyouafte—!" Rainbow swiftly landed onto uncut grass, being careful of the mare currently clutching her chest, flapping her wings a couple more times for good measure. The flight into open field was fast, familiar barns and orchards whizzing past eagled vision as the mare she stole clung to her for dear life. Of course, there was no way in Equestria she was ever going to drop Twilight. Rainbow peered down, feeling Twilight gingerly let go of her to flush purple into green. Her eyes eagerly connect with widened, dilated pupils—a blush of equal pigment staining both their cheeks. "You alright down there, Twi?" "R-Rainbow! That was—" "—totally embarrassing?" Rainbow quickly finished. Twilight suddenly burst out laughing, her eyes shutting as she rested her forelegs onto her stomach. She felt a wingtip not her own wipe the rogue tear falling out of her eye, reopening them to watch her kidnapper gingerly step over her. "C'mon, Twi! We better go or we're gunna be late.." Twilight upside-down eyed the familiar architecture of Ponyville's train station, her eyes narrowing as she gingerly flipped herself onto her stomach. "So that's where you flew off too in such a hurry?" Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with a wing. "Heh, Yeah. It's, uh, kinda why I had to kidnap you back there.. Our train leaves in probably less than 10 minutes now." Twilight felt her exposed belly rub against the grass, raising herself up with a questioning glance directed at Rainbow. "But why land us all the way out here?" Rainbow took flight, hovering circles above Twilight with a questioning eyebrow raised. "Did you really want me to drop you belly up in front of every pony in Ponyville?" Rainbow genuinely, curiously, asked. "Now get those beautiful wings up here!" Rainbow swiftly flew directly into Twilight's face, flashing her a grin that she knew Twilight saw all too often. "Unless you want me to carry you again..?" Twilight bit her cheek, the temptation to take Rainbow up on that offer being higher than the prismatic mare probably thought. She spread her 'beautiful' wings, giving them a quick stretch before taking flight herself, matching Rainbow's hovering state. "Where exactly are you planning on taking me at almost 1 in the afternoon?" Twilight asked, picking up speed as Rainbow shot ahead. Rainbow flipped herself over, moving to fly upside down directly over Twilight, their eyes connecting. "I'm gonna let you figure that one out yourself, Twi." She teased, shooting Twilight a raspberry before propelling forward once more, all but disappearing behind an elongated rainbow trail. Twilight shook her head, not even sure why she bothered asking the mare in the first place. She quickly sped up, not quite matching Rainbow's increased speed, but still managing to just about keep up, uneven cobblestone quickly becoming clear for searching eyes. Upon landing next to her kidnapper, Twilight felt a confident wing drape itself around her back, a shiver shooting up her spine as sensitive cyan feathers intertwined with hers. "Well, Twi. You ready for the date you never got?" Twilight stared at the mare currently trapping her in a wing hug. She still had no idea as to where Rainbow could possibly be taking her, and honestly she didn't exactly mind that fact. Said little factor making this whole thing all the better, a surprise to back a clearly heartfelt promise. "Yes, Rainbow. I am ready." Twilight stated truthfully, leaning into the Pegasus without a care for who watched. Rainbow blushed as Twilight pressed into her side, the familiar screech of the last call whistle echoing around the platform. She generously bowed, gesturing with her other wing for Twilight to step first onto their awaiting train, causing a familiar blush to stain what was once purple. "After you, m'lady.." Twilight jolted suddenly, her eyes snapping awake as the train briefly hammered on its brakes. Her glazed over eyes peered out the window, the sun's rays still beaming throughout the train car as arguably similar rolling hills and sprawling fields flew past recurring vision. They were slowing down, but seemingly in the middle of nowhere. With a drawn-out yawn, Twilight tried her best to shift her currently awkward half sitting half lying position, having a certain some pony basically use her as a make-shift mattress for nearly the entire ride. Though that didn't really surprise her, seeing as how Rainbow did wake up way earlier than usual.. "Dash..?" Twilight tried to nudge Rainbow awake, receiving nothing but a snort emanating from open maw. "Rainbow." She tried again, putting a little more force in her nudge this time. But still, the mare causing blood circulation issues in her foreleg stayed as motionless as ever. It seemed Sleeping Beauty wasn't waking up without true love's kiss. Twilight smirked, extending a wingtip to lightly tickle the lifeless mare on her nose. She flashed an evil smirk, said mare suddenly sneezing herself awake while her eyes went cutely cross-eyed for but a moment. Rainbow lightly groaned, groggily sitting up in the other direction while holding a foreleg over her eyes, peering over towards the moving head of her mattress. "Have a good nap?" Twilight mused, taking in the messy mane that looked arguably no different from her normal style. She tried moving her lifeless limb, letting it dangle for magenta eyes to stare at, glaring at the Pegasus as if to silently say; 'look what you did to me'. "Eh-heh.. Sorry, Twi.." Rainbow sheepishly rubbed the back of her head with a wing. "I.. You're pretty comfortable.." Twilight giggled. "I am, am I? Well next time I get to see how comfy you are, deal?" Rainbow accidently snorted, her still waking body already working against her, earning another giggle from the mare before her. "Yeah-yeah.." Twilight visibly peered out the window, causing Rainbow to curiously do the same. "I was watching for about an hour before I started to doze off.. But I think I finally have an idea as to where we might be going." Rainbow manually blinked. "An hour? How long was I asleep for?" "Almost 2 and a half hours.." Twilight non-creepily confirmed. Rainbow felt her eyes grow wide at that. She knew it was going to take time to bring Twilight anywhere other than Ponyville, train being the faster option when traveling this far, but she honestly forgot how long it took to go anywhere.. "So where do you think we are, Twi?" Rainbow asked, curious if Twilight actually had it right or not. Twilight bit her lip, turning herself so she was facing Rainbow. "Well, based on the somewhat linear direction we've been traveling and for how long, combined with the recent controlled timing of the brakes, I'd make an educated guess that you're taking me to Cloudsdale?" Rainbow groaned, the secret she was trying to keep being outed just like that. Though in the back of her mind she knew Twilight would figure it out somehow, if not just seeing it outright, dating the smartest egghead around and all.. "I knew I should have blindfolded you.." Rainbow admitted. Twilight blushed at that, finding herself jolting forward once more as the brakes below locked, their grinding sound echoing throughout as the train slowly came to a complete stop. "Let me ask you this then.." Rainbow started, finally leaping onto all four with an elongated stretch. "When was the last time you set hoof in Cloudsdale?" Rainbow curiously questioned. Twilight had to stop and think about that. She had thought about it briefly while Rainbow was asleep—conversating with herself being her only real way to pass the time—seeing as how she didn't have any light reading with her.. She knew it had to have been a while, a memory of how Cloudsdale looked from an outside perspective being the only thing that stood out in a jumpstarting mind, but exactly how long was still something she couldn't quite recall. Rainbow raised an eyebrow, Twilight's cute thinking face she always pulled gracing the purple face before her. "That long, huh?" Twilight shook her head. "I.. I really can't remember much, Rainbow." "Y'know what? Good." Rainbow promisingly grinned, extending a wing out to graciously help Twilight to her hooves. "Since the cat's out of the bag on where we are, the least you can do is not remember the place!" Twilight let out yet another giggle, feeling her blush deepen as purple began to once again mix with cyan. She felt her feathers grip onto Rainbow's, a familiar feeling that never got old, being gently tugged forward onto all four. "I think I can manage that.." Author's Note Boom. Chapter 2 done. Done-zo... I— I got nothin this time. Actually, wait.. Remember Rainbow's picnic basket she forgot about on that lone hill back in Ponyville? Well, it's still there. Juuuust sittin' there... I'm ~~NOT~~ sorry for reminding you. Chapter 3 is actively being worked on and is on the way, should be out sometime in the near future. ~~(How vague is that?)~~ And I'll Catch you if you Fall."Keep your eyes closed for me.." Twilight shot the mare next to her a stare through semi-translucent eyelids, but complied, keeping her eyes closed. She heard Rainbow's hoof steps disappear in an instant, the sudden feeling of being very alone in a spot she could very easily fall corrupting curious mind. "R-Rainbow..? Where—" Twilight yelped in surprise as she was suddenly lifted from behind, much like her last kidnapping experience, her wings flapping erratically as searching hooves touched down onto neatly set cobblestone seconds later. She kept her eyes closed throughout her brief wingless flight, awaiting Rainbow's approval to open them as she felt a wingtip gingerly tilt her head upward almost exactly 45°. "You ready, Twi? Twilight swallowed, nodding her head against the wingtip still held against her chin. "Take a look.." Twilight followed her instructions, opening her eyes, immediately falling to her flanks in utter awe. Like most cities, Cloudsdale was large. Arguably larger than those 'most cities' in question, but there was one distinct difference with the city made of white, fluffy clouds. You had to look up in order to see it. "Dashie, I-I.." Twilight began, but quickly found herself at a loss for words. Her eyes locked onto the superstructure that was Cloudsdale, a singular cloud that seemingly broke into many, but stayed connected throughout it's entire structure. It was a massive maze of white surrounded by blue, only to be accented by green a short dive away. All you had to do was fall. "Pretty awesome, huh?" Twilight felt herself manually blinking, each time she opened her eyes finding something new to look at. She cautiously stepped forward, her jaw still slack and unmoving, deciding to take a look at her immediate surroundings—the station they had stopped at not being at all what she vaguely remembered. "Rainbow, this isn't Cloudsdale station..?" Rainbow nodded in agreement, also taking a look around the nowhere station she had booked back in Ponyville, rubbing the back of her head with a wing. "I got us tickets for the station furthest away, I figured you'd wanna see the view from out here.." Twilight smiled warmly, taken aback by the sweet gesture, shaking her head as she peered back up at the city of the evening. She felt Rainbow nudge up against her, feeling her wing lightly rub against Rainbow's for what felt like the 100th time today, sending yet another shiver up her spine. Her one wing twitched against the constant touch, though the itch she felt within both of them was only growing stronger the more she stared upward and onward. It was an almost primordial feeling.. The want, the need, to fly sending shots of dopamine into a view struck brain. Twilight peered over at the mare who kidnapped her to this awesome place, as she so aptly called it, a devious smile overtaking slack-jawed maw. In a split second her impromptu plan was set into motion, straining her neck to kiss the cyan Pegasus directly on the lips. She felt Rainbow tilt her head toward her on instinct, greeting the openly public kiss with surprising acceptance. Though almost immediately after planting the bomb, she shot off into the sky leaving a stun-locked, star truck Rainbow Dash in her dust on the platform below. "See you up there!" Twilight yelled back, copious amounts of laughter emanating from within her almost unintelligible words. Rainbow found her eyes staring straight ahead in disbelief, the phantom feeling of Twilight's lips pressing quite aggressively against hers replaying like a broken record in her mind. She did not just get tricked like that. Rainbow shook her head violently, shaking away the rogue thoughts that were steadily creeping inward. She got low, her usual racing launch stance activating on muscle memory as her eyes narrowed on the disappearing purple blob in the distance. "I apologize in advance, Twi.." Rainbow grinned, though as she went to push off, she felt her wings attempting to disobey her every order. Her speed still doubled in the blink of an eye, but it was nowhere near the speed she wanted.. Right? Rainbow found her eyes widening on the gaining starred flanks in front of her, the rogue feeling of something she didn't usually feel crawling in front of her need to win. Of course, she always loved it when Twilight challenged her to a race, even if the secretly competitive mare always cheated in the beginning, but this time was different. This time she didn't feel the need to snag that victory. She wanted Twilight to have it. Rainbow felt a small smile curving once determined facial features soft, her speed slowing into the same speed Twilight was going, basically right behind the visibly tired mare. For once she wasn't concerned with the thought of losing, at least this time, to the mare who kissed her back on the platform; for today wasn't about her. It was about said mare who stole that kiss from her, a kiss she was definitely going to steal back. It was about a promise. Twilight sucked in a deep breath, releasing it slowly as her hooves finally touched down onto solid, soft cloud. She let her wings droop lazily against her sides, letting her belly fall towards white fluff with a low groan. She had no idea where Rainbow was, or where she landed for that matter, but if seemed as if she was the first one up here.. "What was it you said? That you'd meet me up here?" Rainbow knowingly questioned a few seconds later. She swiftly landed behind the currently prone mare, nowhere near as out of breath as Twilight was, sitting next to her while gently picking up an overworked purple wing within forehooves. "Seems as if you were right, Twi." Twilight gingerly lifted her head up, her breathing still heavy from the over-exertion she just put herself through. She peered at the mare now currently massaging one of her lifeless wings, letting out a groan of approval as she flexed her hooves at the pleasurable sensation. "Nnng... You— l-let meeeee.." Twilight stuttered out, eventually letting her suddenly heavy head fall from the glorious pressure being forced into her tired wing. "Let you what?" Rainbow teased, pressing hard into the base of Twilight wing joint earning her an adorable, muffled scream. She didn't mind having Twilight scream at her touch like this. For one, Twilight's flight path up here wasn't the straightest, so she ended up landing in a remote sub district of Cloudsdale's lower cloud layer. And for two, the tiny noises Twilight made were little bouts of serotonin to perked cyan ears. "C'mon.. Say what you wanna say.." Twilight huffed, finding it impossible to concentrate on anything. "I-I..." Rainbow grinned at her hoof-work, slowly easing off of Twilight's wing to let the mare breathe, letting the appendage she was just actively fondling fall lightly toward soft cloud. She walked over the limp wing, snaking her head low to steal her kiss back from unsuspecting lips. "Heh.. You alright, Twi?" Twilight sluggishly nodded her head, cracking an eye to lovingly stare into Rainbow's, her somewhat curious glance silently asking her where exactly they were. Rainbow leant back up. "I.. I think I know where we are.." She ruffled her feathers, taking a proper look at their surroundings, taking a glance in the direction they needed to go. "I'm pretty sure I know where to go from here, so long as you're able to walk, Twi?" Rainbow finished with a slight snicker. "Go.. Where?" Twilight asked, somewhat struggling to sit up onto her flanks, resting both her wings back at her sides—her one wing feeling slightly left out that it never got it's turn. She could have easily passed out right then and there, and it wouldn't have been the first time falling asleep at the hooves of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow turned, flashing Twilight an eager smile while patting her stomach with a wing. "I don't know about you, but a single cupcake that tried to murder me isn't exactly my idea of a good meal." Twilight stifled a laugh at Rainbow's clear over exaggeration, trudging up next to Rainbow with an inquisitive look. "It's a little far, but there's a spot that my parents used to take all the time as a filly.." Rainbow admitted, gingerly wrapping her wing back in it's rightful place around Twilight's back. "We can grab something to eat, and I'll show you one of the best views in Cloudsdale." "Even better views than Canterlot?" Twilight teased, earning herself a look of almost disbelief on cyan facial features. "Oh.. You wanna bet, Twi?" Rainbow strained her neck, trying her best to reach for the corndog being teasingly held just out of reach by purple magic. She shot the mare next to her an annoyed glare, her stomach rumbling impatiently. "C'mon, Twi! Give me some.." Rainbow pouted, sounding almost exactly like a hangry filly. "What do we say first?" Twilight teased, eyeing over the look Rainbow was shooting her, slyly poking her tongue out of her mouth. Rainbow groaned in defeat, her voice taking on a completely different, embarrassed tone. "Pleeease..?" She lowly pleaded, opening her mouth to take a bite of the food that she just bought herself, a light hint of red appearing on cyan cheeks. First a kidnapping, and now her own food was being held hostage by the kidnapped? Twilight smiled, watching Rainbow take an unusually large bite. Their leisurely stroll through the back streets of Cloudsdale had eventually led them here, a small vendor stand that Rainbow, for some reason, swore by. Saying it sold the best corndogs in Cloudsdale. Of course, she had to admit to Rainbow that she was right, her own corndog having already been devoured. "C'mon, I wanna show you something!" Rainbow requested, taking another big bite of her floating food before Twilight got smart again. There was more than the reason of food for bringing Twilight all the way up here, their walk taking them up and around to almost the very top layer of Cloudsdale. Rainbow peered to the mare at her side, extending her wing upward for Twilight to invitingly walk under it. Twilight smiled, doing just that, leaning into Rainbow's side only to find her mind wandering, wondering about something Rainbow had said earlier. She let her eyes trail around the other ponies they were walking past, eventually landing on a few ponies that were seemingly floating in mid air without using their wings. "Rainbow?" Twilight inquisitively piped up, the wing draped over her back tightening on instinct. Rainbow grinned "This is why I wanted to bring you up here, Twi." Twilight stopped on the edge of the cloud, Rainbow taking the opportunity to finish her almost gone corndog. She took a tentative step forward out from under cyan wing, the white cloud she was now so used to walking on suddenly disappearing into seemingly nothing. It was a platform, but there was nothing there. It was almost as if she was walking on air. Twilight hesitantly peered down, the ground being so far away giving her mild vertigo as she wobbled on all four hooves. "R-Rainbow.." Rainbow smirked, quickly shooting back to Twilight's side, catching the wobbly mare before she fell over. "Hey.. You alright?" "Y-yes.. It's just— it's a weird feeling.." Twilight stated, peering over at her multicolored anchor. Rainbow flashed a reassuring smile. "Heh, I remember that feeling, but you'll get used to it." Rainbow bit her lip, eyeing the rest of the 'walkway' further out. "Did you wanna try and go all the way?" Twilight nodded her head, taking another step as said steps became less and less dependent on a second body. "Rainbow, this is.." Twilight felt her smile curving from ear to ear as they eventually reached the end railing, once again leaning into the mare next to her, but not for support this time. "It's beautiful.." "I'm glad you think so.." Rainbow matched Twilight's smile, staring directly at the mare pressed against her. She rested her head lightly on Twilight's, dodging the eye stabbing horn. "Rainbow?" "Twilight?" Twilight hesitated, the words she wanted to say all but forcing themselves out anyway. "Earlier, you mentioned coming here with your parents.. Are they here? I-In Cloudsdale?" Twilight nervously finished. She looked over, minding her horn, to stare at the mare who she thought would be mad at such a question, but she was graced with an out of place smile. "Y-yeah..! They live here.. Not here here, but on the other side of the city. We were actually closer to them when we arrived a couple hours ago.." Twilight bit her lip, finding her eyes trailing back to the sunsetting view. She felt herself leaning more and more into Rainbow's side. "Is— was there ever a chance at seeing them today?" Rainbow felt her smile dissipating, being replaced by a blank expression of deep thought. Was there ever a possibility of taking Twilight to meet her parents today? Her parents that would have no doubt embarrassed her, and have potentially ruined an entire night mean for just her and Twilight? No, not this time. "Twi.." Rainbow spoke lowly, separating from Twilight's side slightly to be able to stare directly into purple eyes. "I-I.. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents..! And it's not that I don't want to see them, or for them to see you, its just—" "—tonight is about us.." Twilight finished, leaning over to give Rainbow a tender peck on the cheek. Rainbow took in a deep breath, the current moment getting way too cheesy for her liking. "Tonight is about you, Twilight. I made you a promise, a promise that goes deeper than just arriving on time to a bakery.." Rainbow went silent for a second, searching the purple face before her. "I just don't want anything to get in the way of this, y'know?" Twilight felt her face getting awfully warm, her heart fluttering from Rainbow's heartfelt reasoning. "I know, Dashie." Rainbow let her smile that had dissapeared return, turning into somewhat of a grin. "And besides.. If you think I'm over the top, then my parents have been boiling over for 30 years.." Twilight giggled at that. She let her eyes rest on the distant waterfall below her, standing in silence for what seemed like hours, the muffled sounds of fillies and colts playing on the illusionary surface behind them filling the air like a backtrack to beauty. She found her mind wandering once again. She knew Rainbow had plans on where to take her tonight, but what about her own plan—the idea that got interrupted by Rainbow's own impromptu date—the reason as to why she was the one who was late today, not Rainbow. "Dash?" "Hmm?" Twilight took one last glance outward toward the sun, it's rays getting dimmer and dimmer as it slowly set over the horizon. "What else were you planning on showing me tonight?" Rainbow playfully nudged into Twilight's side. "What? Standing on air thousands of hooves above ground layer isn't exciting enough for you, Twi?" Twilight hesitantly turned, the cyan wing keeping her safe following her every move. "N-no! It's not that..!" She nudged back into Rainbow, receiving a knowing chuckle. "Y'know.. There is actually a place that's been on my mind since arriving here.." Rainbow tightened her wing around purple. "I was planning on taking you there last, but now I—" "Why last?" Twilight cut in, feeling her curiosity growing with each word spoken by the prismatic mare next to her. "Well.." Rainbow stopped, bringing a hoof up to poke Twilight right in the forehead. "I wasn't sure if you and that egghead brain of yours would wanna leave after you laid eyes on the place.." Twilight went cross-eyed for a moment, following the cyan hoof to her forehead before swatting it away with her own. "What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight counter-poked Rainbow with her hoof directly in the mare's ribcage. Rainbow let out an uncharacteristic giggle, not saying anything to the now clearly intrigued Alicorn. Twilight peered ahead, white cloud being lit by illuminating streetlamps as the moon slowly rose to dominate the sky. She had gotten used to walking over flying, as weird as it felt being so high above the ground, Rainbow had insisted that they walk to this so called 'place' rather than fly. Of course, whenever she asked Rainbow where she was taking her, all she got were half-baked replies. Rainbow was keeping her in the dark for a reason, and it was silently driving her crazy. "Oh, over there is where I broke my wing for the first time.." Rainbow grimaced at the memory. "I.. Why does that not surprise me?" Twilight giggled. "How old were you?" Twilight immediately re-questioned, eyeing the relatively small mound of white of the Cloudsdale equivalent of a park. Rainbow looked away at nothing in particular. "I was still a filly when it happened.." "Aww..!" Twilight leaned in to peck Rainbow's cheek, staining cyan quickly red. "Does little Dashie need a feel better kiss?" Rainbow blew a raspberry at the mare under her wing, Twilight's words causing said wing to twitch in both embarrassment and sudden excitement. She let her eyes trail over the rather large dome-like structure that had come into view, its high walls spanning long and wide in the distance. "You can kiss me all you want later.." Rainbow teased, motioning with her head for Twilight to peer forward. Twilight felt her eyes open lively in curious excitement, eyeing the wall coming closer that Rainbow was motioning towards. The rather large dome looked relatively out of place as it towered over everything else in the vicinity, one could easily tell it was a new addition to the giant floating city. "It may not look like much from out here, but just wait till you see inside.." Rainbow unwrapped her wing from around Twilight's barrel, the archway entrance they were stood under being their gateway to an oasis in the clouds. She could see how impatient Twilight had become during their walk, her wings twitching erratically, waiting to see what lay beyond gated white. Rainbow smirked, motioning with her head for Twilight to go first. She couldn't wait to see the look on Twilight's face at the overwhelming color change she was about to witness. Twilight stared at her cyan Pegasus for a moment before turning, walking through ethereal gates to take an eager step forward into the unknown. Almost immediately she found herself unable to think, unable to comprehend the colors, the sights she was witnessing so high in the sky. It was green, lush, beautiful. It was as if she walked through a portal, a gateway into an almost separate atmosphere part of the same Cloudsdale. It was as if they were back on the ground. Twilight fell back to her haunches, struggling to adjust to the beautiful oasis before her. She felt her wings getting that familiar itch to fly, twitching at her sides once again in protest. Rainbow could only feel her grin widen, watching Twilight fall back onto her flanks in awe for what had to be a new record in a single day. She did say the bookworm would be consumed by this place, and for good reason. It was egghead paradise, an entire forest in the sky that shouldn't exist this far up. But yet here it was. "So? Was it a good or a bad idea to bring you here?" Rainbow lowly questioned, somewhat already knowing the answer, walking up next to the paralyzed Alicorn. Twilight said nothing, instead nodding her head sluggishly in awed approval. She sat up from her flanks, the grass below her hooves causing a shiver to shoot up each of her legs. After walking on clouds for so long, grass was a feeling she'd almost forgotten. She allowed her eyes to wander around the giant open field before her; noticing the soft mounds and hills, the river that cut through the entirety of dirt bedding, the trees that housed chirping birds just like a regular forest. If any pony told her this was just any old wilderness in Equestria, she would have no choice but to agree with them. It was almost a reminder of Ponyville's surrounding forests. "Rainbow..? H-how!" Twilight breathlessly questioned, performing a circle in place to take in all her surroundings. Rainbow shrugged her shoulders, watching Twilight twirl like an unstable ballerina. "Beats me.. This whole thing is relatively new, even I haven't seen this place in it's entirety yet." Twilight swung around to be face to face with Rainbow. "W-wait, this is your first time seeing this?" Rainbow smiled, walking forward into the moon-rayed, firefly lit field. "Pretty much.. I saw it when it was less.. Green, a while ago, but this is my first time seeing it so— "—Beautiful.." Twilight finished. "Heh.. You said it." Rainbow agreed, eyeing the purple mare over slowly. Rainbow watched Twilight turn to look her in the eyes as if silently asking for permission to go and explore, to which she gestured with her head in approval. It was dark, but even in the dark Twilight stuck out against the greenery like a sore hoof. She wouldn't be hard to spot in the full glow of Luna's moon. She watched Twilight stretch he wings, flexing them before taking flight towards the center of the luminous dome. She knew Twilight was going to love this place, she'd been saying it from the start, but the oasis wasn't the only thing this giant dome was hiding beneath its altered atmosphere. However, Twilight was seemingly overstimulated, preoccupied well-over enough for yet another distraction to be introduced, for now.. Rainbow shook her head slightly, quickly shooting into the air after the faster than usual Alicorn. She weaved passed the many trees standing tall throughout the sky-high field, quickly coming to a halt next to purple on a slight hilltop overlooking the whole place, the river running freely beside them causing ambient white noise to echo throughout both their ears. Twilight flopped to her belly, enjoying the feeling of fresh grass rubbing against her body, inquisitively extending out her one wing. The wing that didn't receive any stimulation all those hours ago. She peered back at her cyan companion, eyeing her narrowly while flapping her extended wing a few times. It was a clear voice that needn't speak. Rainbow flashed a grin, moving forward to take up the same position she had before only on the opposite side, beautiful purple wing resting in her touch ever so gently. Her hooves rubbed and stroked equally across joint and feathers, earning music to her ears that slightly echoed throughout the dome. "Y'know, I should really consider setting up a wing massage business.. What do you think, Twi?" Rainbow mused, pressing rather hard into the base of Twilight's joint earning her a deep moan of approval. She loved the fact that she could make Twilight putty in her hooves with just a touch, a fact that she secretly loved more than almost any other. Rainbow leant in closer to Twilight's folded ear, her grin never leaving. "Indoor voice, Twilight.. Don't want others to hear you, do you..?" Twilight slowly shook her head, reveling in the fluctuating pressure being forced into her limp appendage. She eyed a couple leisurely walking past at the base of their hill, blissfully unaware of the activity going on above them. Rainbow gingerly let go of the wing in her grasp, letting it rest upon cool grass while moving her hooves inward. She shifted her position to sit upon Twilight's lower back, her hooves making contact with Twilight's shoulders. She sultrily eyed the curiously peering mare below her for a moment, slowly beginning to rub gently into purple shoulder blades. Twilight rested her chin onto the grass below, breathing in the familiar scent before letting out a sigh of relief, her forelegs getting stretched and manipulated freely by the mare currently pinning her down. It was often that she found herself being handled by Rainbow, not that she minded much. Such handling often lead to other.. Activities, but that would have to wait until they weren't in such a public place, even if the ever familiar itch was growing to slightly annoying levels. Suddenly, Twilight felt her eyes grow wide, letting out a yelp of surprise as she was forcefully flipped onto her back. The mare atop her never leaving her position, said cyan Pegasus now sitting directly on her lower chest. "R-Rainbow!" Twilight screamed louder than she intended, instantly cowering under Rainbow's weight as her voice expanded around the vast space. "What?" Rainbow lowly spoke, leaning down to lay upon purple, really pinning Twilight to the ground now. She eyed the dotted ponies below, seeing them looking around curiously for something or other. "That was pretty loud, Twi.." Rainbow snickered. Twilight wriggled under Rainbow's surprisingly heavy body, moving her own forelegs so they were wrapped around Rainbow's barrel, her hooves coming into contact with cyan feathers. She flashed a devious smile, extending one of Rainbow's wings with her magic before pressing into the base of her wing joint with just a little too much pressure. Rainbow felt her legs keeping her upright buckle below her, falling toward the bed of soft purple currently attacking her. The pressure was a little harsh, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing, it wasn't often that Twilight got a chance to return the favor before things got out of control. "Nnng..! T-Twilight.." Rainbow lowly groaned, shooting a narrowed, slightly grinning stare directly into Twilight's smug face. Twilight lifted Rainbow's other wing with her magic, rubbing her magic along each awaiting feather. "Indoor voice, Dashie.." Twilight teased. She watched as Rainbow's tongue lolled out of her mouth, her head falling to rest next to her own. She sucked in a quick breath as Rainbow's pleasured, limp body compressed hers, being slightly heavier than she anticipated. "R-Rainbow?" Rainbow tried her best to sit back up, instead flopping to her side into the soft grass next to Twilight, finding it the least effort way to get off of her. Her mind was foggy. She couldn't remember the last time Twilight did that to her, her wings usually being something that didn't get touched all outside of the bedroom. But here she was, body limp at Twilight's magical touch. She would no doubt be returning the favor later. "Nmmn..! Y-you did that on purpose.." Twilight rolled onto her side, flowing her hooves through the grass as she eyed the mare laying next to her. "And? You cant say you didn't enjoy that." Rainbow rolled her half-lidded eyes, taking in a deep breath before reminding herself where she was. She immediately sat up, eyeing the direction they needed to go while taking in a deep breath. She knew the night was nearly over, Twilight lying beside her with her eyes nearly closed being a tell tale sign that things were going in a different direction, but there was still one thing that she wanted to show the purple mare before the night's end. "Twilight? you awake, egghead?" Twilight nodded, opening her eyes to stare up at Rainbow. "I've got one more thing to show you, if you still want to see it?" Rainbow questioned. Twilight sat up, stretching her recently handled limbs. "Sure, how far do we have to go?" "C'mon." Rainbow lifted a wing, gesturing for Twilight to return to her rightful spot under it. "It's not far, I'll show you." Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine yet again, her whole body twitching as she followed Rainbow's command. She didn't exactly want to leave this area, it seemed so large compared to the rest of Cloudsdale, but that just put into perspective how massive Cloudsdale was in comparison. "Rainbow, where could you possibly take me that can top this?" Rainbow flashed a genuine smile, tightening her wing around the mare who would no doubt escape to explore some more if given the chance. "Trust me, Twi. If you like this, you'll definitely want to see what I'm about to show you." Twilight internally screamed. She wanted to tackle Rainbow over and kiss her all over for hours, this trip being the best date she's ever been taken on. She wanted to show Rainbow how much she appreciated this, how much she cared, but she held off.. For now... Twilight eventually found herself being lead down an almost unnatural, natural path. A path no doubt un walked on by many. Almost immediately she started to notice the trees growing bigger, denser, the grass growing longer to cover the disappearing walkway as a slope of increasing steepness became their new path not traveled on. In the center of it all, Twilight laid her eyes upon a massive slope. Which in turn swallowed anything that didn't have wings. It was a stable sinkhole within the clouds massive structure, something she didn't know was possible. It was seemingly built around by the massive city of Cloudsdale, a city that's been hiding this scientific treasure since the beginning. There was no doubt some correlation between this and the forest's increased growth around this area, it was almost as if the draft was pulling air from the surface up to this height through the massive cylinder of clouded walls. Twilight couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief. Rainbow stayed silent, nodding her head herself as she suddenly took flight, the path becoming too dense and steep to traverse by hoof. She hovered herself out into the center of the sinkhole, feeling the draft of warm air flowing past her and into the dome above. She peered down into basically darkness, a small light at the end signifying the underbelly of Cloudsdale. "C'mon!" Rainbow spoke, stretching out a hoof in Twilight's general direction. Twilight noticed Rainbow's offering, quickly taking flight herself in order to grab onto it in a slight panic. "R-Rainbow..? Can we.." Twilight glanced downward, her eyes tunnel visioning down the hole they were currently hovering over. "Hey.. You alright?" Rainbow genuinely questioned, pulling Twilight closer just in case. "I-I've been reading.." Rainbow rolled her eyes at that. "There's this old tradition that Pegasi used to perform when vowing their love for one another.. I was studying it this morning, it's why I was late! A-anyway, I wanted us to do it together, but you took me on this amazing adventure I wasn't sure if you'd—" "—yes." Twilight felt her heart jump as her hoof was pulled in to cyan chest, now face to face with the hovering Rainbow. "Yes? B-but you don't even kno—" Rainbow let go of Twilight's hoof, wrapping her forelegs around her instead. She kissed her above the pit into seemingly oblivion, silencing her mare's mindless rambling. She pulled back as quickly as she went in. She knew what Twilight was trying to talk about, the tradition Twilight wanted to perform with her, she was a Pegasus after all. Though it was those beautiful eyes telling her all she needed to know as a single word echoed around them. A word that shot directly into awaiting purple ears. "Fall." Going against every instinct she had, Twilight stopped flapping her wings, the feeling of cyan forelegs unwrapping themselves around her causing her heart to drop. Almost immediately her speed increased like a falling brick. She instinctively reached a hoof up to graze Rainbow's hind leg, that too becoming a memory just out of reach, becoming a distant colour she could only stare at. She fell. A freefall into a dimly lit abyss that lead to certain demise, her limp wings raging against windspeeds that were only increasing around her. She closed her eyes, letting whatever happened happen as an invisible ground no doubt approached—reaching up like a lost soul being tethered out of the sky—an angel patiently waiting to plunge into her and save her. And an angel did just that. Twilight yelped, her silent screams quickly turning into cries of laughter and love as she got slammed into by her cyan angel. She tried her best to open tear-crested eyes, struggling to see a once vibrant, now disappearing prismatic disc far in the distance as purple limbs desperately wrapped themselves around their savior. An Alicorn clinging onto her Pegasus, the one who caught her from a pit of darkness shining bright once more, a clouded sky filled with stars as green fields once again sprawled for as far as the eye could see. A newly founded oasis, brought to life by a mare that no doubt stole a heart in utter ~freefall. Author's Note Finished! Last chapter took a while, got distracted by something that stole almost all of my attention, but I never forgot to write whenever I could! This was a story concept on my mind for a while, I'm glad I was able to finish it and potentially pave the way to start on another of the many story ideas I have, who knows! I do hope you found some enjoyment reading this short story!
With the Promise of a Date...Author's Note In the words of BEETLEJUICE: "It's showtime!" For those who read my last story, Absent-minded Serendipity, I mentioned at the end of it that I had other stories on my mind. Well, this was one of them! Took a while, but not as long as before... This story is a 3-parter, the next 2 chapters having almost already been written. I just need to go though and revise/edit chapter 3 quite a bit more, but expect to see chapter 2 within the next couple days or so. Maybe earlier, but no promises.... With the Promise of a Date... "Twilight!" "..." "Twilight?" The silence was deafening. Rainbow grumbled in monotone defeat, her eyes running interrogating circles around the mare who was knowingly ignoring her only a stone's throw away. She let herself fall backward onto neatly set, star embroidered bed sheets with a soft thump, her alert gaze tracking the interior of a room she had come to know like the back of her hoof. She knew why Twilight was giving her the infamous silent treatment, punctuality was a trait she never ended up mastering. And she knew from personal experience that no matter what explanation she gave to the purposely muted mare, it would change little for the situation that she put herself in. She was trapped in a figurative corner, one wrong move sending her to the dog house for the foreseeable future, and Twilight knew it. "Twi..?" Rainbow cautiously voiced, both hesitance and resilience clearly battling each other for dominance. It was a delicate dance; for these might be the words ending up on her tombstone. "I swear to Celestia I tried to be here on ti—" "—You're late. Again." Rainbow circumspectly eyed the intricate details in the ceiling, finding its rather annoying, bland architectural design more interesting than ever before. She strained her head slightly, her eyes searching for a better look at the mare lying comfortably in front of her ajar balcony doors, an open book between curled purple forelegs managing to capture the egghead's attention better than she ever could. Who knew it was possible to get jealous over a book. "Look.. I-I know this seems bad..! But you gotta belie—" "—You know what? This might honestly be a new record for you." Twilight peered up from her book, her reading glasses acting like magnifying glasses for the deadpanned, sharpened daggers behind them. "I can't remember the last time you were this late for something this important. Can you, Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow felt her entire body shiver, physically cringing at the blatant use of her full name. Not to mention the clear passive aggressive sarcasm resonating from the mare who was clearly not having any of it. You could practically slice the air with a spoon. Things just went from bad, to scary. "I—!" Rainbow shot her head up, straining her neck even further in order to stare directly into purple. "Yes.." Rainbow grudgingly acknowledged, letting her head fall back toward the stars in secondary defeat. Of course, in the back of her mind she wanted nothing more than to fire back with the stored ammunition she knew she had hiding, her excuse for being so late for a date night of her own making. But as she stared into the fire and flames.. Let's just say that fighting a fire with oil was the opposite of what she was taught to do in school. Twilight, momentarily allowing her eyes to stay glued to the basically lifeless mare sprawling belly up on her bed, took in a needed deep breath. She let her suddenly heavy eyes return to the book in-between her forelegs, dragging them across ink stained pages she could no longer focus on. Her body felt oddly tired all of a sudden, as if the last however long spent waiting, spent silently brooding, suddenly shot off of her and landed directly onto the other pony in the room. And it was now that she found herself at a crossroads, every direction leading down a different rabbit hole into a different wonderland. She could go the route of forgiveness. A path surrounded by figurative nature, a hole she knew would have Rainbow waiting at the bottom of it—the path Rainbow no doubt wanted her to take. There was also the route of punishment. A bumpy road, but short and to the point. Though it had the potential to have the opposite effect for what she was aiming for. Especially depending on the type of punishment given to the arguably beautiful mare taking over current sleeping arrangements. But there was a 3rd route, a dirt path hidden in between two clear directions. It was a path less travelled, and for good reason, but it had the potential to be the best option for dealing with a mare as 'set-in-her-ways' and stubborn as Rainbow Dash was.. It was devious, the pathway into the unknown. A test, a redo, of sorts. Neither punishment nor forgiveness, but instead a freefall that had the potential to pave a clear path forward for both of them. To grow closer, and in turn improve the punctually inept. Twilight voluntarily let a sultry groan fill the heavy silence that had befallen her bedroom, almost every bone in her body cracking from the well needed stretch as she slowly sat up onto her haunches. "Dash." Twilight spoke firmly, but softly. As if the last minutes, hours, had never happened. Rainbow felt her entire body twitch, cyan ears perking themselves against the no longer neatly made bed sheets as Twilight's sudden, eerily inviting voice overpowered deafening silence. With a strong push off—lazily outstretched wings disheveling the sheets below them even further as they helped their owner flip perfectly onto awaiting flanks—anticipating magenta tracking the intimidating purple mass like a hawk. Though Rainbow quickly found her vision narrowing, her head shaking involuntarily in a failed attempt to correct the sudden mistake curving itself onto the face of a mare that shouldn't be wearing it. Twilight was.. Smiling? "Twilight? What are you—" "—Would you mind.. Brushing my mane for me, Dashie?" Twilight calmly requested, cutting off the poor Pegasus one last time while trying her best to sound as alluring as possible. She found her eyes locking onto the perfect angle for reflected purple to meet magenta—to the mare who was no doubt drowning in a messy sea of confusion. "Rainbow?" "Uh—!" Rainbow cleared her throat violently. "Y-yeah, sure thing..!" She quickly found herself on all four, her hooves making contact with a floor of imaginary lava. She could practically feel the rogue thoughts that were now burrowing themselves deep into her mind, thoughts that were on the complete opposite spectrum to what she was expecting tonight. Though whatever Twilight was doing, she wasn't about to start complaining now. If anything, she was managing to gain the high ground over this rising lava field of internal terrors, eventually coming to a halt behind the mare in constant question. She stared over the resting purple shoulder into a mirror for two, Twilight's tool of choice being hovered directly into her view for the miracle she agreed to perform. "Y'know— you should really consider going for a hair.. nng— haircut, Twi." Rainbow struggled, trying her best to keep the slipping brush gripped tightly in her wing. Almost instantly she found a family of knots living rent free on a deceivingly tattered mane that Twilight hadn't bothered to brush. Of course, the mare in question couldn't really be blamed for that one.. "And you should consider stopping while you're ahead, Rainbow.." Twilight shot back, an amused, but serious eyebrow-raised stare sending a loud and clear message to the mare behind her. "Heh, right..." Rainbow bit her lip, swearing she could see the lava below her rise ever so slightly. "What, uh.. What about hearing what I had planned for us tonight?" Rainbow gingerly edged on, her brushing becoming smoother with each continued stroke. "Y'know.. Key word being had..?" Twilight let out a genuine chuckle at Rainbow's choice of words. She didn't exactly like the idea of knowing what she missed out on, blissful ignorance letting her sleep peacefully at night, but the curiosity of a supposed sweet night turned sour was getting the better of a once refined judgement. "Mmm.. Alright, Rainbow, let's hear it." Rainbow smirked slyly at that. "Well, first I was gonna ask if you wanted to go on a date with me..!" Rainbow teasingly brought her unoccupied forehooves up to gently caress Twilight's sides earning a visible, full body shiver in response to the sudden stimulation. "Of course, you would say yes to my irresistible charm, and would proceed to be gently swept up for one of those romantic night time flights that I know you love.." Rainbow went higher with her hooves, gently pulling out one of Twilight's beautiful wing's to stroke each and every feather. "All while the temperature is juuust cold enough so you have no choice but to cuddle into me for warmth.." Rainbow set down the brush in her wing, struggling, but managing to keep her own stiffening wings in check as she once again went lower with her tender hoof strokes. "Then, I was gonna take you to a nice and secluded hill with a picnic basket full—uh, full of.. Your favorite—oh horsefeathers..!" Rainbow suddenly blurted out, cutting off her hedonistic exposition. A vivid recollection of the completely full picnic basket that was still sitting on that lone hill flooded into fresh memory, an innocent smile directing itself toward the slightly concerned mare in the mirror. "Rainbow..?" "Uh-heh! A-anyway..." Rainbow quickly recovered, swiftly replacing her off-track hooves at the base of Twilight's shoulders. "A-after that, I was gonna fly you back here.." Rainbow dug her hooves in deeper, massaging a smidge lower with each word spoken. "I'd carry you all the way up.." Lower. "Light that big fireplace in your study.." Lower. "Lay you down onto a pile of warm blankets, all so I can read you a book of your choosing for as long as you wanted.." Lower. Rainbow carefully leant in closer into awaiting purple ear, a smirk adorning knowing lips before continuing in a careless whisper. "All while we snuggled under the blankets, just how I know you love it.." Twilight shivered once again, her ear flicking against the ticklish breath, tapping the cyan mare lightly on the nose. "Mmnn.. A-and then..?" "And then..?" Rainbow continued downward the rest of the way, her tender hooves coming into contact with curved flanks adorning her favorite stars. She moved her breaths to Twilight's other ear, finding it only fair that both got a chance to flick her on the nose. "I'd take you up to this very bedroom, throw you onto that always neatly made bed.." Rainbow brought her hooves inward, trailing the base of Twilight's inner things with the lightest of touches. "And then..." Suddenly, Rainbow pulled back everything, her hooves coming to a complete stop in their current position, being swiftly brought back into the lava field that was now definitely going to overflow. It was as if the sensual trip she just took the poor mare on never even occurred. "Nnng..! R-Rainbow Dash!!" Rainbow felt her grin widening, and before Twilight had a chance to retaliate she swiftly wrapped her now currently free forelegs around Twilight's barrel, essentially locking her in place without the unlawful use of cheating magic. "What? Were you expecting something more?" Rainbow nuzzled the back of Twilight's neck with her chin. "And here I thought you were mad at me.." Rainbow slyly teased. She delicately twisted the waist currently in her grasp, spinning the no doubt beet red mare to be face to face with flushed red cheeks. She locked eyes with Twilight's 'I'm really mad and I hate you' face. A face that she knew meant the complete opposite. Not to mention, it really was a beautiful sight. "I—! I-I am mad!!" Twilight practically pleaded, squirming against her captor. But to no avail. The singular juror was having a hard time believing her story. "Oh? I'm sure, Twi.." Rainbow increased her grip on Twilight's barrel, also feeling the wings on said mare's back that were refusing to sit still. If she didn't act fast, this whole thing would inevitably blow up in her face. She quickly brought a free wing inward to gently dip Twilight's chin, their eyes level with one another as they equally got lost in each others pools. "Do you wanna know what helps me when I'm mad?" Twilight nervously bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes searching through magenta as if the answer was lost somewhere within. It was a yes or no question, why couldn't she speak? Without having enough time to think, Twilight suddenly found herself locked with lips not her own, her reading glasses she practically forgot she had on getting knocked off of her face without a care in the world. She felt her entire body go limp, melting into the kiss that, deep down, she knew she wanted. Yes, she was mad at Rainbow, even more-so than before—her incredible description for a date being only something her dreams could conjure—and she missed that. All because Rainbow couldn't bother to show up.. "Da..! Mmash..!" Twilight spoke quickly between stolen breaths, earning a smidgen of attention from the currently occupied mare attached to her. "Mmm..?" Rainbow regretfully pulled back, a sultry look finding its way into Twilight's clearly conflicted eyes. "T-tell me.. I want to know why you were late." Rainbow looked away for a moment, finding it to be her turn to bite the inside of her cheek. "Oh, uh.. That." Rainbow suddenly puffed out her chest, her superhero pose protruding into Twilight's already popped personal bubble. "So, I maaay or may not have flown directly into a giant basilisk that was threatening to destroy all of Ponyville while on my way to come get you, but don't worry though! It didn't stand a chance against me-ow!" Twilight playfully batted Rainbow in the back of the head with an extended wing, earning a semi-annoyed look from the mare no longer proud of her superhero story. "You want to try that again?" "Alright-alright..!" Rainbow surrendered, scowling at the purple wing being stiffly brought back its owner. "I.. I got stopped by Rarity! Her cat.. Uh, Opalescence was missing.." Twilight felt her eye twitch, soon having that feeling of uncontrollable laughter shoot up and down her entire body. "W-wait— so you missed your own date night b-because of Rarity's cat!?" Rainbow couldn't help but smile through her unamused stare as Twilight physically broke in front of her, having to steady the both of them as Twilight fell into her from a clear loss of balance. "Believe me, I know how crazy it sounds, but yeah..?" Rainbow regretfully admitted. Twilight wanted the truth, and their it was in all it's glory. "Rarity stopped me mid flight, basically ripping her mane out, screaming about Opal being lost for more than 4 hours." Twilight went limp, leaning heavily into Rainbow's chest while failing to stop the seemingly endless onslaught of giggles. "I-I had a lot of theories in my mind, a-as to why you were late, but I never would have guessed that!" Rainbow rolled her eyes, sweeping the clearly drunk Alicorn up into her forelegs with one fell swoop. "Well, Princess of Laughter, I'm glad your jester was able to help you live up to your name." With a powerful flap of extended wings, Rainbow briefly took flight, gently gliding over her stagnant lava in order to set Twilight down onto her arguably messed up bed sheets—a light blush staining cyan cheeks as she peered at her earlier hoof-work. Though her ears filled with soothing laughter suddenly perked, an eerily familiar silence once again flooding the room as the laughter completely stopped. "Rainbow?" "Twilight?" "I.. I'm sorry I didn't let you explain yourself earlier." Twilight moved the already somewhat jumbled covers from under her with a flick of her horn. She pulled them up to her chest, curling her forehooves around them like a foal begging for a glass of water before bed. "But.. I-I want you to promise me something?" "A promise? And what might that be?" Rainbow pressed, sitting down onto her flanks next to the bed. Twilight lightly pushed Rainbow with her already lit horn. "I'm being serious, Dash.." Rainbow smiled coyly, shifting her sitting position so her forelegs were flat onto the side of the bed. "And so am I.. Really, what's on your mind?" Twilight once again found herself searching deep into Rainbow's eyes, the rabbit hole to wonderland becoming brighter and brighter with each word unspoken. "Tomorrow. Midday. I want you to be at Sugarcube Corner. And you can't be late this time." Twilight brought a hoof to gingerly cover Rainbow's, an action that was immediately reversed so cyan was the dominant color. "Rainbow? Can you promise me that?" Rainbow felt her eyebrows raise slightly at Twilight's unusual request. It wasn't unusual in the usual sense, but more so just an out of the blue kind of unusual. There was just something about this that didn't add up, almost like staring at yourself in a mirror for too long. "Dashie.. Promise me you'll be there." Rainbow grew a genuine smile, guiding Twilight's searching eyes within her own. "Twilight, by the time you arrive, I'll already be there.." Twilight let her giggles return. "It's not a competition, you know.. But I swear to Celestia I'm holding you to your word—" Rainbow swiftly cut off Twilight's terrifying threats with her own lips, her forehooves digging into the bed for stability as she leaned, practically hovered, into the kiss meant to silence the mare before her. She had given Twilight her word, a promise, and she was going to keep it this time. "—I'll be there, Twilight Sparkle. I promise..."
I'll Take you High in the Sky..The rhythmic sound of glass being tapped on cursed perpetual silence, a seldom backtrack that filled the few perked ears of a sparsely occupied Sugarcube Corner. "Rainbow Dash, would you please stop doing that?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow, her hoof rising in tandem as it once again clinked with its empty, make-shift instrument. Her cyan chin still lazily pressed against round tabletop, not moving an inch. "Must you annoy others as a way to cure your own boredom?" Rarity questioned, already knowing the answer. She lit her horn, grabbing the empty glass in her magic only to slide it just out of reach from the overgrown foal sitting across from her. Rainbow let out a groan, it's translation being a half-baked attempt at an apology. She begrudgingly lifted her head up, wiping her mouth with the back of her foreleg while stealing yet another glance at the clock that's been silently taunting her for the past 2 hours. Of course, she didn't have to stare at it anymore, all it did was jam that metaphorical spoon of her own medicine further down her throat via purple magic, but every audible tick that emanated from the damn thing made her want to throw her instrument at it. She had made a promise. A promise that she intended to keep. "Any pony order a cupcake pick-me-up!?" Blared Pinkie, emerging from the kitchen door with a tray full of cupcakes; balancing without the help of physics or thermodynamics on her back. Rarity secretly eyed the tray of cupcakes in her peripheral. "Do remind me again dear, why is it you've been here since quarter past 10 in the morning?" Rainbow felt her chin fall yet again toward the most uncomfortable napping spot she's had all week, connecting to the tabletop with a solid thump. "I.. I promised Twilight I'd be here.." "Um— w-why..? I-If you don't mind me asking.." Fluttershy quietly piped up, her wings wrapping around a sleeved, hot cup of freshly made tea. "Yeah, Dashie! I never get to feed you cupcakes this early!" Pinkie half complained, half rejoiced, sliding the tray of cupcakes onto the only occupied table. "Pinkie, darling.. Wouldn't you agree that it's a bit early for cupcakes?" Rarity once again lit her horn, completely ignoring her own vague advice grabbing a lightly sprinkled, heavily frosted cupcake off the tray. "Of course not, silly! These are breakfast cupcakes!" Rarity opened her mouth to counter what she just heard, but her mind was officially drawing blanks. Rainbow, completely ignoring the conversation flowing into one ear and out the other, eyed the door that had yet to reveal the purple Alicorn behind it. It was funny, how afraid you could get over an inanimate object, said door scaring her just as much as the mare who had yet to walk though was and it was driving her mad. If it was torture Twilight was after, she was managing to pull it off without even trying. Rarity took a careful bite of her 'breakfast' cupcake, her eyes darting between both the door Rainbow was staring at and an equally confused Fluttershy sitting beside her. "Rainbow, would you being here happen to have anything to do with my little Opal last night?" Rainbow ripped her eyes from the unmoving door, tentatively moving her chin to rest straight ahead at an eerily smiling Rarity. "What gave you that idea..?" "Perhaps it's the fact that you're here, regardless if Twilight asked you to come or not, both you and Applejack almost always refuse to show up to our morning get togethers." Rarity took a proud, audible sip of her own tea. "Though I will say I've managed to sway Applejack into showing up every now and then, but you..?" Rarity eyed over the cyan mare now sitting rather uncomfortably before her. "One can easily see why I would connect such a parallel.." Rainbow grumbled, sitting up straight, her back cracking from the sudden posture change. She eyed the 3 mares across from her, the sudden logic bomb shooting shrapnel at her from across the table becoming annoyingly accurate. "Look, I appreciate you girls trying to help, but believe me.. Nothing is ever that simple when it comes to Twilight.." She let her head fall backward this time, her patented ceiling stare becoming a staple move as she grabbed a cupcake within her wing. She lazily took a bite, her cupcake pick-me-up not exactly helping her current situation. "Quite the hoof-full to handle, is she?" Rarity murmured across the table. "Who's quite the hoof-full?" Rainbow immediately began choking on her cupcake, flinging her head forward like a faulty pendulum, her hoof instinctively reaching out to catch the half chewed ball of sugary goodness flying out of her mouth like a rocket. She felt her ears swiveling toward the voice that resonated beside Rarity, her eyes staring at the ghost that had suddenly appeared past its due-date. "Aha! Twilight, darling, so wonderful of you to finally join us!" Twilight flashed an apologetic smile around the table, bemusingly locking her eyes onto the prismatic mare currently coughing up a hairball. "What's wrong with her?" Rarity gave a sly smirk at that. "If only we knew.." Twilight shook her head, walking around the table to sit next to the still spluttering prismatic Pegasus. "Well.. I'm sorry I'm late, I got a bit distracted before leaving this morning, I definitely lost track of time.." "Oh, n-no need to apologize, Twilight." Fluttershy reassured. "Yes, darling, it's quite alright. Our dear Rainbow here has been perfectly behaved the whole time." Twilight felt her eyes narrowing, darting between all parties around the table. "The whole time?" She heard Rainbow violently clear her throat, her vision locking on a cyan face of what could only be described as both fear and relief. "Rainbow? How long have you been he—" "Twilight! Is it true that you missed out on a date with Dashie last night?!" Pinkie all but stated as factual for all to hear, popping up behind Twilight while grabbing a cupcake in her hoof, eating it with one big bite. Twilight manually blinked, Pinkie's words reverberating around her head like a broken record. "I-I.. What..?" Rarity smirked, eyeing Rainbow though her peripheral who was staring directly at Twilight's side profile, clearly deep in thought. She leaned in towards Fluttershy, a devious smile adorning white. "I think I know what's going on here.." Fluttershy leaned in to meet Rarity, earning a confused stare from the Alicorn now sat at the table with them. "Are you s-sure you want to get in the middle of this..?" Rarity winked at the nervous Pegasus, leaning back and adjusting her posture to be proper. "I think what Pinkie is trying to say is; Rainbow was just telling us about how badly she messed up last night.. Isn't that right, Rainbow, dear?" Twilight waved a hoof in front of the cyan face still staring directly at her. "Dash..? What's gotten into you this morning?" Rainbow didn't budge at being addressed. She was too busy remembering, thinking about the promise she made to be here, and how Twilight was late even though she made her promise to be on time.. It was all too perfect, and she knew Twilight asking her to be here last night was fishy, almost as if this was one of Twilight's tests. Of course, by now she was intimately familiar with said tests, this test being a runoff from what she flew into last night. All she had to do was once again beat Twilight to the inevitable punchline. "Rainbow. Are you alri—" "Twilight, I know I messed up last night!" Rainbow suddenly blurted out, earning a surprised look from not only the mare next to her, but from all the mares around the nearly empty room. "I should have— I could have easily told you what I got roped into, that flight would have taken me less than 10 seconds flat, but I didn't and I ruined a perfect night..!" Rainbow launched herself from her chair, the sound of wood skidding against wood echoing into many perked ears. "Twilight, I promise I'm going to make it up to you. Starting right now!" Within seconds Twilight watched Rainbow take off toward the front door, leaving her dumbfounded and frozen utter confusion. She sat back in her chair, eyeing the oddly specific faces her friends were making. "Rarity...?" Rarity raised her forelegs above her head in defense for as long as Twilight stared at her. "Oh shush now, I did nothing!" She chirped, taking a sip of her now luke-warm tea. Twilight shook her head, a small grin replacing the confused stare that felt so normal this morning. She hovered a cupcake off the tray before her, taking a bite into it with a soft moan of approval. "I do apologize, Twilight, for last night..?" Rarity quickly chimed in. "My little Opal doesn't usually go missing for that long, but if I had have known stopping Rainbow would have ruined such a night between you two.." Twilight dismissed Rarity's apology. "You didn't know, there's no need to apologize, Rarity." Twilight flashed a genuine smile. "Besides, I was planning on giving Rainbow another chance today, though it seems that Rainbow has taken it upon herself without me saying anything.." Rarity gave a knowing smile toward both Fluttershy and Twilight. "The poor mare had her eyes locked onto that front door almost all morning, I was certain she was going to hoof the clock off the wall at one point.." Twilight chuckled slightly at that. "Um.. W-where do you think she went in such a hurry?" Fluttershy curiously questioned. Twilight shrugged, genuine curiosity lighting a small fire in her eyes as she eyed the front door, much like Rainbow apparently did for her. "I'm.. Honestly not sure. Rainbow can be very unpredictable at times." Twilight grabbed another cupcake in her magic, the sudden need to stress eat overtaking refined judgement. "Nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to that mare.." Rarity audibly chuckled at that, they really were rubbing off on each other more than they cared to admit. "Any particular reason as to why you were so late today..?" Rarity edged on. Twilight flashed an innocent smile. "I was.. Studying..?" "I-I'm sorry— could you repeat that darling?" She kept her innocence going. "It was for a good reason! There was something that I wanted to try with Rainbow today, but now I'm not sure if that's even possible.." Twilight admitted, a hint of worry echoing within her voice. Rarity raised a slightly concerned, curious eyebrow at the mares before her. "Twilight, darling, what exactly were you planning on doing today?" Twilight went to open her mouth, her answer to the loaded question Rarity just asked being ready to fire. But before a word could escape her throat her attention was ripped towards the front door of Sugarcube Corner having been slammed open, revealing a cyan Pegasus breathing slightly heavy with a rushed look on her face. "Twilight! I need you to come with me!" Rainbow shouted, immediately taking notice to the 4 sets of eyes staring directly at her. "Eheh! Quickly..!" Twilight felt her cheeks turning red as her friend's suddenly landed their curious vision on her. She felt herself slowly sinking down into her chair in growing embarrassment, her own lip biting stare directed apologetically at her friend's. Her 3 friend's who were seemingly loving every second of this. "Twilight! I'm not kidding, we kinda need to get going..!" Rainbow stated, rushing in to get Twilight on her hooves. "A-alright!" Twilight let out a surprise yelp, looking back at her friends as she was practically stolen out of the bakery, an apparent kidnapping happening before every pony's very eyes. "Iguessilltellyouafte—!" Rainbow swiftly landed onto uncut grass, being careful of the mare currently clutching her chest, flapping her wings a couple more times for good measure. The flight into open field was fast, familiar barns and orchards whizzing past eagled vision as the mare she stole clung to her for dear life. Of course, there was no way in Equestria she was ever going to drop Twilight. Rainbow peered down, feeling Twilight gingerly let go of her to flush purple into green. Her eyes eagerly connect with widened, dilated pupils—a blush of equal pigment staining both their cheeks. "You alright down there, Twi?" "R-Rainbow! That was—" "—totally embarrassing?" Rainbow quickly finished. Twilight suddenly burst out laughing, her eyes shutting as she rested her forelegs onto her stomach. She felt a wingtip not her own wipe the rogue tear falling out of her eye, reopening them to watch her kidnapper gingerly step over her. "C'mon, Twi! We better go or we're gunna be late.." Twilight upside-down eyed the familiar architecture of Ponyville's train station, her eyes narrowing as she gingerly flipped herself onto her stomach. "So that's where you flew off too in such a hurry?" Rainbow rubbed the back of her head with a wing. "Heh, Yeah. It's, uh, kinda why I had to kidnap you back there.. Our train leaves in probably less than 10 minutes now." Twilight felt her exposed belly rub against the grass, raising herself up with a questioning glance directed at Rainbow. "But why land us all the way out here?" Rainbow took flight, hovering circles above Twilight with a questioning eyebrow raised. "Did you really want me to drop you belly up in front of every pony in Ponyville?" Rainbow genuinely, curiously, asked. "Now get those beautiful wings up here!" Rainbow swiftly flew directly into Twilight's face, flashing her a grin that she knew Twilight saw all too often. "Unless you want me to carry you again..?" Twilight bit her cheek, the temptation to take Rainbow up on that offer being higher than the prismatic mare probably thought. She spread her 'beautiful' wings, giving them a quick stretch before taking flight herself, matching Rainbow's hovering state. "Where exactly are you planning on taking me at almost 1 in the afternoon?" Twilight asked, picking up speed as Rainbow shot ahead. Rainbow flipped herself over, moving to fly upside down directly over Twilight, their eyes connecting. "I'm gonna let you figure that one out yourself, Twi." She teased, shooting Twilight a raspberry before propelling forward once more, all but disappearing behind an elongated rainbow trail. Twilight shook her head, not even sure why she bothered asking the mare in the first place. She quickly sped up, not quite matching Rainbow's increased speed, but still managing to just about keep up, uneven cobblestone quickly becoming clear for searching eyes. Upon landing next to her kidnapper, Twilight felt a confident wing drape itself around her back, a shiver shooting up her spine as sensitive cyan feathers intertwined with hers. "Well, Twi. You ready for the date you never got?" Twilight stared at the mare currently trapping her in a wing hug. She still had no idea as to where Rainbow could possibly be taking her, and honestly she didn't exactly mind that fact. Said little factor making this whole thing all the better, a surprise to back a clearly heartfelt promise. "Yes, Rainbow. I am ready." Twilight stated truthfully, leaning into the Pegasus without a care for who watched. Rainbow blushed as Twilight pressed into her side, the familiar screech of the last call whistle echoing around the platform. She generously bowed, gesturing with her other wing for Twilight to step first onto their awaiting train, causing a familiar blush to stain what was once purple. "After you, m'lady.." Twilight jolted suddenly, her eyes snapping awake as the train briefly hammered on its brakes. Her glazed over eyes peered out the window, the sun's rays still beaming throughout the train car as arguably similar rolling hills and sprawling fields flew past recurring vision. They were slowing down, but seemingly in the middle of nowhere. With a drawn-out yawn, Twilight tried her best to shift her currently awkward half sitting half lying position, having a certain some pony basically use her as a make-shift mattress for nearly the entire ride. Though that didn't really surprise her, seeing as how Rainbow did wake up way earlier than usual.. "Dash..?" Twilight tried to nudge Rainbow awake, receiving nothing but a snort emanating from open maw. "Rainbow." She tried again, putting a little more force in her nudge this time. But still, the mare causing blood circulation issues in her foreleg stayed as motionless as ever. It seemed Sleeping Beauty wasn't waking up without true love's kiss. Twilight smirked, extending a wingtip to lightly tickle the lifeless mare on her nose. She flashed an evil smirk, said mare suddenly sneezing herself awake while her eyes went cutely cross-eyed for but a moment. Rainbow lightly groaned, groggily sitting up in the other direction while holding a foreleg over her eyes, peering over towards the moving head of her mattress. "Have a good nap?" Twilight mused, taking in the messy mane that looked arguably no different from her normal style. She tried moving her lifeless limb, letting it dangle for magenta eyes to stare at, glaring at the Pegasus as if to silently say; 'look what you did to me'. "Eh-heh.. Sorry, Twi.." Rainbow sheepishly rubbed the back of her head with a wing. "I.. You're pretty comfortable.." Twilight giggled. "I am, am I? Well next time I get to see how comfy you are, deal?" Rainbow accidently snorted, her still waking body already working against her, earning another giggle from the mare before her. "Yeah-yeah.." Twilight visibly peered out the window, causing Rainbow to curiously do the same. "I was watching for about an hour before I started to doze off.. But I think I finally have an idea as to where we might be going." Rainbow manually blinked. "An hour? How long was I asleep for?" "Almost 2 and a half hours.." Twilight non-creepily confirmed. Rainbow felt her eyes grow wide at that. She knew it was going to take time to bring Twilight anywhere other than Ponyville, train being the faster option when traveling this far, but she honestly forgot how long it took to go anywhere.. "So where do you think we are, Twi?" Rainbow asked, curious if Twilight actually had it right or not. Twilight bit her lip, turning herself so she was facing Rainbow. "Well, based on the somewhat linear direction we've been traveling and for how long, combined with the recent controlled timing of the brakes, I'd make an educated guess that you're taking me to Cloudsdale?" Rainbow groaned, the secret she was trying to keep being outed just like that. Though in the back of her mind she knew Twilight would figure it out somehow, if not just seeing it outright, dating the smartest egghead around and all.. "I knew I should have blindfolded you.." Rainbow admitted. Twilight blushed at that, finding herself jolting forward once more as the brakes below locked, their grinding sound echoing throughout as the train slowly came to a complete stop. "Let me ask you this then.." Rainbow started, finally leaping onto all four with an elongated stretch. "When was the last time you set hoof in Cloudsdale?" Rainbow curiously questioned. Twilight had to stop and think about that. She had thought about it briefly while Rainbow was asleep—conversating with herself being her only real way to pass the time—seeing as how she didn't have any light reading with her.. She knew it had to have been a while, a memory of how Cloudsdale looked from an outside perspective being the only thing that stood out in a jumpstarting mind, but exactly how long was still something she couldn't quite recall. Rainbow raised an eyebrow, Twilight's cute thinking face she always pulled gracing the purple face before her. "That long, huh?" Twilight shook her head. "I.. I really can't remember much, Rainbow." "Y'know what? Good." Rainbow promisingly grinned, extending a wing out to graciously help Twilight to her hooves. "Since the cat's out of the bag on where we are, the least you can do is not remember the place!" Twilight let out yet another giggle, feeling her blush deepen as purple began to once again mix with cyan. She felt her feathers grip onto Rainbow's, a familiar feeling that never got old, being gently tugged forward onto all four. "I think I can manage that.." Author's Note Boom. Chapter 2 done. Done-zo... I— I got nothin this time. Actually, wait.. Remember Rainbow's picnic basket she forgot about on that lone hill back in Ponyville? Well, it's still there. Juuuust sittin' there... I'm ~~NOT~~ sorry for reminding you. Chapter 3 is actively being worked on and is on the way, should be out sometime in the near future. ~~(How vague is that?)~~
And I'll Catch you if you Fall."Keep your eyes closed for me.." Twilight shot the mare next to her a stare through semi-translucent eyelids, but complied, keeping her eyes closed. She heard Rainbow's hoof steps disappear in an instant, the sudden feeling of being very alone in a spot she could very easily fall corrupting curious mind. "R-Rainbow..? Where—" Twilight yelped in surprise as she was suddenly lifted from behind, much like her last kidnapping experience, her wings flapping erratically as searching hooves touched down onto neatly set cobblestone seconds later. She kept her eyes closed throughout her brief wingless flight, awaiting Rainbow's approval to open them as she felt a wingtip gingerly tilt her head upward almost exactly 45°. "You ready, Twi? Twilight swallowed, nodding her head against the wingtip still held against her chin. "Take a look.." Twilight followed her instructions, opening her eyes, immediately falling to her flanks in utter awe. Like most cities, Cloudsdale was large. Arguably larger than those 'most cities' in question, but there was one distinct difference with the city made of white, fluffy clouds. You had to look up in order to see it. "Dashie, I-I.." Twilight began, but quickly found herself at a loss for words. Her eyes locked onto the superstructure that was Cloudsdale, a singular cloud that seemingly broke into many, but stayed connected throughout it's entire structure. It was a massive maze of white surrounded by blue, only to be accented by green a short dive away. All you had to do was fall. "Pretty awesome, huh?" Twilight felt herself manually blinking, each time she opened her eyes finding something new to look at. She cautiously stepped forward, her jaw still slack and unmoving, deciding to take a look at her immediate surroundings—the station they had stopped at not being at all what she vaguely remembered. "Rainbow, this isn't Cloudsdale station..?" Rainbow nodded in agreement, also taking a look around the nowhere station she had booked back in Ponyville, rubbing the back of her head with a wing. "I got us tickets for the station furthest away, I figured you'd wanna see the view from out here.." Twilight smiled warmly, taken aback by the sweet gesture, shaking her head as she peered back up at the city of the evening. She felt Rainbow nudge up against her, feeling her wing lightly rub against Rainbow's for what felt like the 100th time today, sending yet another shiver up her spine. Her one wing twitched against the constant touch, though the itch she felt within both of them was only growing stronger the more she stared upward and onward. It was an almost primordial feeling.. The want, the need, to fly sending shots of dopamine into a view struck brain. Twilight peered over at the mare who kidnapped her to this awesome place, as she so aptly called it, a devious smile overtaking slack-jawed maw. In a split second her impromptu plan was set into motion, straining her neck to kiss the cyan Pegasus directly on the lips. She felt Rainbow tilt her head toward her on instinct, greeting the openly public kiss with surprising acceptance. Though almost immediately after planting the bomb, she shot off into the sky leaving a stun-locked, star truck Rainbow Dash in her dust on the platform below. "See you up there!" Twilight yelled back, copious amounts of laughter emanating from within her almost unintelligible words. Rainbow found her eyes staring straight ahead in disbelief, the phantom feeling of Twilight's lips pressing quite aggressively against hers replaying like a broken record in her mind. She did not just get tricked like that. Rainbow shook her head violently, shaking away the rogue thoughts that were steadily creeping inward. She got low, her usual racing launch stance activating on muscle memory as her eyes narrowed on the disappearing purple blob in the distance. "I apologize in advance, Twi.." Rainbow grinned, though as she went to push off, she felt her wings attempting to disobey her every order. Her speed still doubled in the blink of an eye, but it was nowhere near the speed she wanted.. Right? Rainbow found her eyes widening on the gaining starred flanks in front of her, the rogue feeling of something she didn't usually feel crawling in front of her need to win. Of course, she always loved it when Twilight challenged her to a race, even if the secretly competitive mare always cheated in the beginning, but this time was different. This time she didn't feel the need to snag that victory. She wanted Twilight to have it. Rainbow felt a small smile curving once determined facial features soft, her speed slowing into the same speed Twilight was going, basically right behind the visibly tired mare. For once she wasn't concerned with the thought of losing, at least this time, to the mare who kissed her back on the platform; for today wasn't about her. It was about said mare who stole that kiss from her, a kiss she was definitely going to steal back. It was about a promise. Twilight sucked in a deep breath, releasing it slowly as her hooves finally touched down onto solid, soft cloud. She let her wings droop lazily against her sides, letting her belly fall towards white fluff with a low groan. She had no idea where Rainbow was, or where she landed for that matter, but if seemed as if she was the first one up here.. "What was it you said? That you'd meet me up here?" Rainbow knowingly questioned a few seconds later. She swiftly landed behind the currently prone mare, nowhere near as out of breath as Twilight was, sitting next to her while gently picking up an overworked purple wing within forehooves. "Seems as if you were right, Twi." Twilight gingerly lifted her head up, her breathing still heavy from the over-exertion she just put herself through. She peered at the mare now currently massaging one of her lifeless wings, letting out a groan of approval as she flexed her hooves at the pleasurable sensation. "Nnng... You— l-let meeeee.." Twilight stuttered out, eventually letting her suddenly heavy head fall from the glorious pressure being forced into her tired wing. "Let you what?" Rainbow teased, pressing hard into the base of Twilight wing joint earning her an adorable, muffled scream. She didn't mind having Twilight scream at her touch like this. For one, Twilight's flight path up here wasn't the straightest, so she ended up landing in a remote sub district of Cloudsdale's lower cloud layer. And for two, the tiny noises Twilight made were little bouts of serotonin to perked cyan ears. "C'mon.. Say what you wanna say.." Twilight huffed, finding it impossible to concentrate on anything. "I-I..." Rainbow grinned at her hoof-work, slowly easing off of Twilight's wing to let the mare breathe, letting the appendage she was just actively fondling fall lightly toward soft cloud. She walked over the limp wing, snaking her head low to steal her kiss back from unsuspecting lips. "Heh.. You alright, Twi?" Twilight sluggishly nodded her head, cracking an eye to lovingly stare into Rainbow's, her somewhat curious glance silently asking her where exactly they were. Rainbow leant back up. "I.. I think I know where we are.." She ruffled her feathers, taking a proper look at their surroundings, taking a glance in the direction they needed to go. "I'm pretty sure I know where to go from here, so long as you're able to walk, Twi?" Rainbow finished with a slight snicker. "Go.. Where?" Twilight asked, somewhat struggling to sit up onto her flanks, resting both her wings back at her sides—her one wing feeling slightly left out that it never got it's turn. She could have easily passed out right then and there, and it wouldn't have been the first time falling asleep at the hooves of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow turned, flashing Twilight an eager smile while patting her stomach with a wing. "I don't know about you, but a single cupcake that tried to murder me isn't exactly my idea of a good meal." Twilight stifled a laugh at Rainbow's clear over exaggeration, trudging up next to Rainbow with an inquisitive look. "It's a little far, but there's a spot that my parents used to take all the time as a filly.." Rainbow admitted, gingerly wrapping her wing back in it's rightful place around Twilight's back. "We can grab something to eat, and I'll show you one of the best views in Cloudsdale." "Even better views than Canterlot?" Twilight teased, earning herself a look of almost disbelief on cyan facial features. "Oh.. You wanna bet, Twi?" Rainbow strained her neck, trying her best to reach for the corndog being teasingly held just out of reach by purple magic. She shot the mare next to her an annoyed glare, her stomach rumbling impatiently. "C'mon, Twi! Give me some.." Rainbow pouted, sounding almost exactly like a hangry filly. "What do we say first?" Twilight teased, eyeing over the look Rainbow was shooting her, slyly poking her tongue out of her mouth. Rainbow groaned in defeat, her voice taking on a completely different, embarrassed tone. "Pleeease..?" She lowly pleaded, opening her mouth to take a bite of the food that she just bought herself, a light hint of red appearing on cyan cheeks. First a kidnapping, and now her own food was being held hostage by the kidnapped? Twilight smiled, watching Rainbow take an unusually large bite. Their leisurely stroll through the back streets of Cloudsdale had eventually led them here, a small vendor stand that Rainbow, for some reason, swore by. Saying it sold the best corndogs in Cloudsdale. Of course, she had to admit to Rainbow that she was right, her own corndog having already been devoured. "C'mon, I wanna show you something!" Rainbow requested, taking another big bite of her floating food before Twilight got smart again. There was more than the reason of food for bringing Twilight all the way up here, their walk taking them up and around to almost the very top layer of Cloudsdale. Rainbow peered to the mare at her side, extending her wing upward for Twilight to invitingly walk under it. Twilight smiled, doing just that, leaning into Rainbow's side only to find her mind wandering, wondering about something Rainbow had said earlier. She let her eyes trail around the other ponies they were walking past, eventually landing on a few ponies that were seemingly floating in mid air without using their wings. "Rainbow?" Twilight inquisitively piped up, the wing draped over her back tightening on instinct. Rainbow grinned "This is why I wanted to bring you up here, Twi." Twilight stopped on the edge of the cloud, Rainbow taking the opportunity to finish her almost gone corndog. She took a tentative step forward out from under cyan wing, the white cloud she was now so used to walking on suddenly disappearing into seemingly nothing. It was a platform, but there was nothing there. It was almost as if she was walking on air. Twilight hesitantly peered down, the ground being so far away giving her mild vertigo as she wobbled on all four hooves. "R-Rainbow.." Rainbow smirked, quickly shooting back to Twilight's side, catching the wobbly mare before she fell over. "Hey.. You alright?" "Y-yes.. It's just— it's a weird feeling.." Twilight stated, peering over at her multicolored anchor. Rainbow flashed a reassuring smile. "Heh, I remember that feeling, but you'll get used to it." Rainbow bit her lip, eyeing the rest of the 'walkway' further out. "Did you wanna try and go all the way?" Twilight nodded her head, taking another step as said steps became less and less dependent on a second body. "Rainbow, this is.." Twilight felt her smile curving from ear to ear as they eventually reached the end railing, once again leaning into the mare next to her, but not for support this time. "It's beautiful.." "I'm glad you think so.." Rainbow matched Twilight's smile, staring directly at the mare pressed against her. She rested her head lightly on Twilight's, dodging the eye stabbing horn. "Rainbow?" "Twilight?" Twilight hesitated, the words she wanted to say all but forcing themselves out anyway. "Earlier, you mentioned coming here with your parents.. Are they here? I-In Cloudsdale?" Twilight nervously finished. She looked over, minding her horn, to stare at the mare who she thought would be mad at such a question, but she was graced with an out of place smile. "Y-yeah..! They live here.. Not here here, but on the other side of the city. We were actually closer to them when we arrived a couple hours ago.." Twilight bit her lip, finding her eyes trailing back to the sunsetting view. She felt herself leaning more and more into Rainbow's side. "Is— was there ever a chance at seeing them today?" Rainbow felt her smile dissipating, being replaced by a blank expression of deep thought. Was there ever a possibility of taking Twilight to meet her parents today? Her parents that would have no doubt embarrassed her, and have potentially ruined an entire night mean for just her and Twilight? No, not this time. "Twi.." Rainbow spoke lowly, separating from Twilight's side slightly to be able to stare directly into purple eyes. "I-I.. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents..! And it's not that I don't want to see them, or for them to see you, its just—" "—tonight is about us.." Twilight finished, leaning over to give Rainbow a tender peck on the cheek. Rainbow took in a deep breath, the current moment getting way too cheesy for her liking. "Tonight is about you, Twilight. I made you a promise, a promise that goes deeper than just arriving on time to a bakery.." Rainbow went silent for a second, searching the purple face before her. "I just don't want anything to get in the way of this, y'know?" Twilight felt her face getting awfully warm, her heart fluttering from Rainbow's heartfelt reasoning. "I know, Dashie." Rainbow let her smile that had dissapeared return, turning into somewhat of a grin. "And besides.. If you think I'm over the top, then my parents have been boiling over for 30 years.." Twilight giggled at that. She let her eyes rest on the distant waterfall below her, standing in silence for what seemed like hours, the muffled sounds of fillies and colts playing on the illusionary surface behind them filling the air like a backtrack to beauty. She found her mind wandering once again. She knew Rainbow had plans on where to take her tonight, but what about her own plan—the idea that got interrupted by Rainbow's own impromptu date—the reason as to why she was the one who was late today, not Rainbow. "Dash?" "Hmm?" Twilight took one last glance outward toward the sun, it's rays getting dimmer and dimmer as it slowly set over the horizon. "What else were you planning on showing me tonight?" Rainbow playfully nudged into Twilight's side. "What? Standing on air thousands of hooves above ground layer isn't exciting enough for you, Twi?" Twilight hesitantly turned, the cyan wing keeping her safe following her every move. "N-no! It's not that..!" She nudged back into Rainbow, receiving a knowing chuckle. "Y'know.. There is actually a place that's been on my mind since arriving here.." Rainbow tightened her wing around purple. "I was planning on taking you there last, but now I—" "Why last?" Twilight cut in, feeling her curiosity growing with each word spoken by the prismatic mare next to her. "Well.." Rainbow stopped, bringing a hoof up to poke Twilight right in the forehead. "I wasn't sure if you and that egghead brain of yours would wanna leave after you laid eyes on the place.." Twilight went cross-eyed for a moment, following the cyan hoof to her forehead before swatting it away with her own. "What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight counter-poked Rainbow with her hoof directly in the mare's ribcage. Rainbow let out an uncharacteristic giggle, not saying anything to the now clearly intrigued Alicorn. Twilight peered ahead, white cloud being lit by illuminating streetlamps as the moon slowly rose to dominate the sky. She had gotten used to walking over flying, as weird as it felt being so high above the ground, Rainbow had insisted that they walk to this so called 'place' rather than fly. Of course, whenever she asked Rainbow where she was taking her, all she got were half-baked replies. Rainbow was keeping her in the dark for a reason, and it was silently driving her crazy. "Oh, over there is where I broke my wing for the first time.." Rainbow grimaced at the memory. "I.. Why does that not surprise me?" Twilight giggled. "How old were you?" Twilight immediately re-questioned, eyeing the relatively small mound of white of the Cloudsdale equivalent of a park. Rainbow looked away at nothing in particular. "I was still a filly when it happened.." "Aww..!" Twilight leaned in to peck Rainbow's cheek, staining cyan quickly red. "Does little Dashie need a feel better kiss?" Rainbow blew a raspberry at the mare under her wing, Twilight's words causing said wing to twitch in both embarrassment and sudden excitement. She let her eyes trail over the rather large dome-like structure that had come into view, its high walls spanning long and wide in the distance. "You can kiss me all you want later.." Rainbow teased, motioning with her head for Twilight to peer forward. Twilight felt her eyes open lively in curious excitement, eyeing the wall coming closer that Rainbow was motioning towards. The rather large dome looked relatively out of place as it towered over everything else in the vicinity, one could easily tell it was a new addition to the giant floating city. "It may not look like much from out here, but just wait till you see inside.." Rainbow unwrapped her wing from around Twilight's barrel, the archway entrance they were stood under being their gateway to an oasis in the clouds. She could see how impatient Twilight had become during their walk, her wings twitching erratically, waiting to see what lay beyond gated white. Rainbow smirked, motioning with her head for Twilight to go first. She couldn't wait to see the look on Twilight's face at the overwhelming color change she was about to witness. Twilight stared at her cyan Pegasus for a moment before turning, walking through ethereal gates to take an eager step forward into the unknown. Almost immediately she found herself unable to think, unable to comprehend the colors, the sights she was witnessing so high in the sky. It was green, lush, beautiful. It was as if she walked through a portal, a gateway into an almost separate atmosphere part of the same Cloudsdale. It was as if they were back on the ground. Twilight fell back to her haunches, struggling to adjust to the beautiful oasis before her. She felt her wings getting that familiar itch to fly, twitching at her sides once again in protest. Rainbow could only feel her grin widen, watching Twilight fall back onto her flanks in awe for what had to be a new record in a single day. She did say the bookworm would be consumed by this place, and for good reason. It was egghead paradise, an entire forest in the sky that shouldn't exist this far up. But yet here it was. "So? Was it a good or a bad idea to bring you here?" Rainbow lowly questioned, somewhat already knowing the answer, walking up next to the paralyzed Alicorn. Twilight said nothing, instead nodding her head sluggishly in awed approval. She sat up from her flanks, the grass below her hooves causing a shiver to shoot up each of her legs. After walking on clouds for so long, grass was a feeling she'd almost forgotten. She allowed her eyes to wander around the giant open field before her; noticing the soft mounds and hills, the river that cut through the entirety of dirt bedding, the trees that housed chirping birds just like a regular forest. If any pony told her this was just any old wilderness in Equestria, she would have no choice but to agree with them. It was almost a reminder of Ponyville's surrounding forests. "Rainbow..? H-how!" Twilight breathlessly questioned, performing a circle in place to take in all her surroundings. Rainbow shrugged her shoulders, watching Twilight twirl like an unstable ballerina. "Beats me.. This whole thing is relatively new, even I haven't seen this place in it's entirety yet." Twilight swung around to be face to face with Rainbow. "W-wait, this is your first time seeing this?" Rainbow smiled, walking forward into the moon-rayed, firefly lit field. "Pretty much.. I saw it when it was less.. Green, a while ago, but this is my first time seeing it so— "—Beautiful.." Twilight finished. "Heh.. You said it." Rainbow agreed, eyeing the purple mare over slowly. Rainbow watched Twilight turn to look her in the eyes as if silently asking for permission to go and explore, to which she gestured with her head in approval. It was dark, but even in the dark Twilight stuck out against the greenery like a sore hoof. She wouldn't be hard to spot in the full glow of Luna's moon. She watched Twilight stretch he wings, flexing them before taking flight towards the center of the luminous dome. She knew Twilight was going to love this place, she'd been saying it from the start, but the oasis wasn't the only thing this giant dome was hiding beneath its altered atmosphere. However, Twilight was seemingly overstimulated, preoccupied well-over enough for yet another distraction to be introduced, for now.. Rainbow shook her head slightly, quickly shooting into the air after the faster than usual Alicorn. She weaved passed the many trees standing tall throughout the sky-high field, quickly coming to a halt next to purple on a slight hilltop overlooking the whole place, the river running freely beside them causing ambient white noise to echo throughout both their ears. Twilight flopped to her belly, enjoying the feeling of fresh grass rubbing against her body, inquisitively extending out her one wing. The wing that didn't receive any stimulation all those hours ago. She peered back at her cyan companion, eyeing her narrowly while flapping her extended wing a few times. It was a clear voice that needn't speak. Rainbow flashed a grin, moving forward to take up the same position she had before only on the opposite side, beautiful purple wing resting in her touch ever so gently. Her hooves rubbed and stroked equally across joint and feathers, earning music to her ears that slightly echoed throughout the dome. "Y'know, I should really consider setting up a wing massage business.. What do you think, Twi?" Rainbow mused, pressing rather hard into the base of Twilight's joint earning her a deep moan of approval. She loved the fact that she could make Twilight putty in her hooves with just a touch, a fact that she secretly loved more than almost any other. Rainbow leant in closer to Twilight's folded ear, her grin never leaving. "Indoor voice, Twilight.. Don't want others to hear you, do you..?" Twilight slowly shook her head, reveling in the fluctuating pressure being forced into her limp appendage. She eyed a couple leisurely walking past at the base of their hill, blissfully unaware of the activity going on above them. Rainbow gingerly let go of the wing in her grasp, letting it rest upon cool grass while moving her hooves inward. She shifted her position to sit upon Twilight's lower back, her hooves making contact with Twilight's shoulders. She sultrily eyed the curiously peering mare below her for a moment, slowly beginning to rub gently into purple shoulder blades. Twilight rested her chin onto the grass below, breathing in the familiar scent before letting out a sigh of relief, her forelegs getting stretched and manipulated freely by the mare currently pinning her down. It was often that she found herself being handled by Rainbow, not that she minded much. Such handling often lead to other.. Activities, but that would have to wait until they weren't in such a public place, even if the ever familiar itch was growing to slightly annoying levels. Suddenly, Twilight felt her eyes grow wide, letting out a yelp of surprise as she was forcefully flipped onto her back. The mare atop her never leaving her position, said cyan Pegasus now sitting directly on her lower chest. "R-Rainbow!" Twilight screamed louder than she intended, instantly cowering under Rainbow's weight as her voice expanded around the vast space. "What?" Rainbow lowly spoke, leaning down to lay upon purple, really pinning Twilight to the ground now. She eyed the dotted ponies below, seeing them looking around curiously for something or other. "That was pretty loud, Twi.." Rainbow snickered. Twilight wriggled under Rainbow's surprisingly heavy body, moving her own forelegs so they were wrapped around Rainbow's barrel, her hooves coming into contact with cyan feathers. She flashed a devious smile, extending one of Rainbow's wings with her magic before pressing into the base of her wing joint with just a little too much pressure. Rainbow felt her legs keeping her upright buckle below her, falling toward the bed of soft purple currently attacking her. The pressure was a little harsh, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing, it wasn't often that Twilight got a chance to return the favor before things got out of control. "Nnng..! T-Twilight.." Rainbow lowly groaned, shooting a narrowed, slightly grinning stare directly into Twilight's smug face. Twilight lifted Rainbow's other wing with her magic, rubbing her magic along each awaiting feather. "Indoor voice, Dashie.." Twilight teased. She watched as Rainbow's tongue lolled out of her mouth, her head falling to rest next to her own. She sucked in a quick breath as Rainbow's pleasured, limp body compressed hers, being slightly heavier than she anticipated. "R-Rainbow?" Rainbow tried her best to sit back up, instead flopping to her side into the soft grass next to Twilight, finding it the least effort way to get off of her. Her mind was foggy. She couldn't remember the last time Twilight did that to her, her wings usually being something that didn't get touched all outside of the bedroom. But here she was, body limp at Twilight's magical touch. She would no doubt be returning the favor later. "Nmmn..! Y-you did that on purpose.." Twilight rolled onto her side, flowing her hooves through the grass as she eyed the mare laying next to her. "And? You cant say you didn't enjoy that." Rainbow rolled her half-lidded eyes, taking in a deep breath before reminding herself where she was. She immediately sat up, eyeing the direction they needed to go while taking in a deep breath. She knew the night was nearly over, Twilight lying beside her with her eyes nearly closed being a tell tale sign that things were going in a different direction, but there was still one thing that she wanted to show the purple mare before the night's end. "Twilight? you awake, egghead?" Twilight nodded, opening her eyes to stare up at Rainbow. "I've got one more thing to show you, if you still want to see it?" Rainbow questioned. Twilight sat up, stretching her recently handled limbs. "Sure, how far do we have to go?" "C'mon." Rainbow lifted a wing, gesturing for Twilight to return to her rightful spot under it. "It's not far, I'll show you." Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine yet again, her whole body twitching as she followed Rainbow's command. She didn't exactly want to leave this area, it seemed so large compared to the rest of Cloudsdale, but that just put into perspective how massive Cloudsdale was in comparison. "Rainbow, where could you possibly take me that can top this?" Rainbow flashed a genuine smile, tightening her wing around the mare who would no doubt escape to explore some more if given the chance. "Trust me, Twi. If you like this, you'll definitely want to see what I'm about to show you." Twilight internally screamed. She wanted to tackle Rainbow over and kiss her all over for hours, this trip being the best date she's ever been taken on. She wanted to show Rainbow how much she appreciated this, how much she cared, but she held off.. For now... Twilight eventually found herself being lead down an almost unnatural, natural path. A path no doubt un walked on by many. Almost immediately she started to notice the trees growing bigger, denser, the grass growing longer to cover the disappearing walkway as a slope of increasing steepness became their new path not traveled on. In the center of it all, Twilight laid her eyes upon a massive slope. Which in turn swallowed anything that didn't have wings. It was a stable sinkhole within the clouds massive structure, something she didn't know was possible. It was seemingly built around by the massive city of Cloudsdale, a city that's been hiding this scientific treasure since the beginning. There was no doubt some correlation between this and the forest's increased growth around this area, it was almost as if the draft was pulling air from the surface up to this height through the massive cylinder of clouded walls. Twilight couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief. Rainbow stayed silent, nodding her head herself as she suddenly took flight, the path becoming too dense and steep to traverse by hoof. She hovered herself out into the center of the sinkhole, feeling the draft of warm air flowing past her and into the dome above. She peered down into basically darkness, a small light at the end signifying the underbelly of Cloudsdale. "C'mon!" Rainbow spoke, stretching out a hoof in Twilight's general direction. Twilight noticed Rainbow's offering, quickly taking flight herself in order to grab onto it in a slight panic. "R-Rainbow..? Can we.." Twilight glanced downward, her eyes tunnel visioning down the hole they were currently hovering over. "Hey.. You alright?" Rainbow genuinely questioned, pulling Twilight closer just in case. "I-I've been reading.." Rainbow rolled her eyes at that. "There's this old tradition that Pegasi used to perform when vowing their love for one another.. I was studying it this morning, it's why I was late! A-anyway, I wanted us to do it together, but you took me on this amazing adventure I wasn't sure if you'd—" "—yes." Twilight felt her heart jump as her hoof was pulled in to cyan chest, now face to face with the hovering Rainbow. "Yes? B-but you don't even kno—" Rainbow let go of Twilight's hoof, wrapping her forelegs around her instead. She kissed her above the pit into seemingly oblivion, silencing her mare's mindless rambling. She pulled back as quickly as she went in. She knew what Twilight was trying to talk about, the tradition Twilight wanted to perform with her, she was a Pegasus after all. Though it was those beautiful eyes telling her all she needed to know as a single word echoed around them. A word that shot directly into awaiting purple ears. "Fall." Going against every instinct she had, Twilight stopped flapping her wings, the feeling of cyan forelegs unwrapping themselves around her causing her heart to drop. Almost immediately her speed increased like a falling brick. She instinctively reached a hoof up to graze Rainbow's hind leg, that too becoming a memory just out of reach, becoming a distant colour she could only stare at. She fell. A freefall into a dimly lit abyss that lead to certain demise, her limp wings raging against windspeeds that were only increasing around her. She closed her eyes, letting whatever happened happen as an invisible ground no doubt approached—reaching up like a lost soul being tethered out of the sky—an angel patiently waiting to plunge into her and save her. And an angel did just that. Twilight yelped, her silent screams quickly turning into cries of laughter and love as she got slammed into by her cyan angel. She tried her best to open tear-crested eyes, struggling to see a once vibrant, now disappearing prismatic disc far in the distance as purple limbs desperately wrapped themselves around their savior. An Alicorn clinging onto her Pegasus, the one who caught her from a pit of darkness shining bright once more, a clouded sky filled with stars as green fields once again sprawled for as far as the eye could see. A newly founded oasis, brought to life by a mare that no doubt stole a heart in utter ~freefall. Author's Note Finished! Last chapter took a while, got distracted by something that stole almost all of my attention, but I never forgot to write whenever I could! This was a story concept on my mind for a while, I'm glad I was able to finish it and potentially pave the way to start on another of the many story ideas I have, who knows! I do hope you found some enjoyment reading this short story!
