Discovering the Sky

Stiff white feathers sliding against a fine pony coat the color of a clear afternoon. Scythed claws and hooked beak gingerly exploring tender, pristine flesh. A shuddering whimper, muffled but loud enough to be heard amidst the high-altitude winds, and then a pair of toned forelegs resting against coarse, tawny hair. They both drew deep, quivering breaths full of hungry, tentative, fearful desire.

Gilda exhaled a low growl as she pressed her little pegasus deeper into the cotton-like cloud, squeezing Dashie’s head between her haunches with just a little more force than necessary. She mewled in wide-eyed ecstasy as soft, warm lips and tongue played at her in response, a sensation that she never would have dared to imagine before today.

Gilda stroked six talons along a pair of freshly earned cutie marks, then realized that she was trembling--and that her vision was starting to blur with tears. Dashie yelped when Gilda unintentionally dug her claws into her flanks, but if anything that just made the squealing little pegasus lick more feverishly. Drunk on the smell of pony arousal, Gilda dared to dip a claw-point into those strange yet inviting folds, carefully, delicately. She was rewarded by a gasp that vibrated against her hind legs, so she smirked and eased slowly deeper. The smell of sweat and sex became overpowering as she lowered her head until the smooth curve of her beak brushed against...

“OW!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Stop stopstopstop rrrgh!”

Gilda flinched at the outburst, quickly pulling her claw out--not too quickly--and flopping onto her side to let Dashie out from under her.

As soon as she had enough room to move, Rainbow Dash dropped one hoof straight to her groin and rubbed tenderly, sucking in a breath.

“Oh man, I’m sorry,” Gilda groaned guiltily. “Like... it seemed like a good idea...”

Rainbow Dash suddenly burst out laughing, even though she still had her legs crossed from the pain. It wasn’t the raspy, mischievous laugh that Gilda was used to hearing, either. It was sweet, innocent, and truly happy.

“What?” Gilda had to suppress a glare.

“Never... never thought that the first... pfffff!” Dashie could barely even get the words out through her laughter. “Never thought the first thing into my vag would be a griffon claw!” She grit her teeth, struggling to get her laughter under control as she hissed out a breath. “Haha! …D-dammit. Ouch.”

Gilda didn’t reply right away. After a moment, she just sighed and flopped onto her back, staring up at the clear, high-altitude sky. Her heart was still pounding, and she silently thanked the heavens that Rainbow Dash hadn’t seen the wetness collecting in her eyes. Gilda shut her eyes tight, and when she opened them, her marefriend was giving her a concerned look with one of those wide, side-mounted eyes.

Her marefriend. Marefriend! Her awesome, beautiful... mare-friend.

“Hey, what’s wrong? That was amaz--”

“If you told me a year ago that I’d be sticking anything into somebirdy’s vag, I woulda taken you on,” Gilda muttered, just loud enough to be heard. “And if you said it would be a pony vag? I probably woulda torn your throat out.”

Rainbow Dash bit her lower lip and seemed to shrink into the cloud.

“Oh come on. I didn’t mean you,” Gilda huffed. “I meant whatever punk would have the nerve to...”

Rainbow Dash didn’t look very relieved. Gilda propped herself up on her side so as to face Dash properly. “Seriously, do you actually think I would hurt you? That’s just--”

“I thought you said you weren’t ashamed of being with me.” She turned her head away. “Gilda, have you seen what I’ve done for you? I stick up for you so much...”

“What, you think I’m stupid? Of course I-” Gilda realized that her claws were clenched painfully shut. She took a deep breath. Relaxing her forelimbs took more than a little effort. “No,” she said flatly. “I’m not ashamed.” It wasn’t a lie.

If anything, Gilda was amazed, not ashamed. Rainbow Dash was impossibly beautiful, a dream made flesh. Lately the two of them had started to slip away from their dorms for more and more secret encounters like this one. It was always a place like this--nested in an isolated cloud two altitude layers above any prying eyes.

Remembering how it all began gave Gilda a fluttering thrill in her chest, the same one as the first time she’d taken to the sky with Dashie. The intent that first time had been to watch the sunset, but Gilda remembered being unable to see anything but Rainbow Dash’s mane, a spray of colors outshining the gold of the sky.

A cold shadow fell across Gilda as the sun was suddenly blocked out by a pony head and neck. Rainbow Dash planted her hooves into the cloudstuff on either side of Gilda’s head. “Hey, c’mon. It’s getting kinda late. Shouldn’t we be, you know...” With a short flap and a hop, Rainbow straddled Gilda with her hind legs as well. “... making the most of our time?”

Those words sent a tremor through Gilda that ran deeper than just a shiver in her spine. Having a pegasus lying on top of her, pinning her back to the cloud, was a dark and secret fantasy in a way that not even Dashie understood. Almost without realizing she was doing it, Gilda trailed the points of her talons from Rainbow Dash’s ankles up towards the shoulders. That sent a perfect shiver up Dash’s legs, through her neck, and all the way down her back. When Gilda clenched one claw into a tight ball right in the thick of that multicolored mane, Rainbow Dash could only whimper as she was pulled closer.

Gilda couldn’t know what it was like to feel a solid beak against soft fur, but she knew what it was like to feel furred pony skin nuzzling at her, and warm breath washing over face and neck, and the small weight against her chest after she’d forcibly dragged Rainbow Dash down on top of her. A clunky hoof fumbled uncomfortably at Gilda’s belly, creeping towards its target...

And Rainbow Dash suddenly gasped and tried to rise to her hooves despite her head still being clutched against Gilda’s. “The time!” she said breathlessly. “They’re going to do roll call soon! Go, go, go, if we’re both late then they’ll figure-”

“Yeah, I got it.” Gilda rolled over, spread her wings, and bent her knees for blast-off. Annoying though it was, Dash was right--they were going to be late for evening roll.

“Hey, Gilda?” a scratchy pony voice said, an instant before Gilda would have launched into the sky.

“What?” Gilda demanded. “Spit it out!”

“I love you, Gilda. This was... really special.”

Gilda glanced over her shoulder and locked eyes with Rainbow Dash’s for just the briefest of moments. Then she leapt skyward and arced down for speed. Her powerful wings took command of the air even as something in her chest churned out of control.