"Rainbow! Rainbow Da-aaah!" Pinkie yelped as she attempted to bounce after her friend, toppling into an applecart. It was hard to keep up with Rainbow when she was like this, zipping all over the sky! "Daaaash!"
"Can't talk now Pinkie, I gotta clear the sky!" Rainbow Dash called over her shoulder, zipping up into the heavens for another few moments, disappearing from sight as Pinkie Pie began to dust herself off. By the time Pinkie had slid off of the applecart, Rainbow Dash had returned, her wings beating a little slower as she lowered herself to the ground beside her friend. The sky was clear yet again, thanks to Rainbow Dash - the glorious! "You okay, Pinks?" She chirped, trying to mask her soft panting with concern. She wasn't tired; Dash never got tired! Rainbow Dash was the fastest flier in all of Ponyville! But even the fastest flier found it a little difficult to contend with so many clouds all at once...
"Eeyup." Came a deep, rumbling voice, and both girls turned to blink up at Big Mac, whose cart Pinkie had run into.
"Sorry for running into your cart, Big Mac." Pinkie Pie warbled, hurriedly reaching down to pick up the fallen apples, dropping them back into the cart. "You're okay, right?"
"Eeyup." He repeated, watching the girls with a mellow sort of calm, waiting for them to finish before he trotted off once more.
"Bye bye Big Mac! Sorry about your cart!" Pinkie Pie waved enthusiastically, earning a faint "eeyup" from the pony as he disappeared down the thoroughfare. Once he was out of earshot, Pinkie's attention returned to Rainbow Dash, her usually playful gaze now playfully fierce with intention. "Rainbow Dash, you need to come inside. It's going to -" but right as she was about to say 'rain,' a sudden roar of thunder broke over their heads, making the ponies flinch.
"Dangit, I just cleared those clouds!" Rainbow Dash growled, gathering her legs under her before she suddenly leapt into the air, zooming into the dark clouds above them.
"But Rainbow!" Pinkie Pie called, stomping one small pink hoof with annoyance as Rainbow Dash disappeared into the moisture-heavy clouds. "Get back down here!"
"I'll be right back!" Rainbow yelled, and she was gone, the only sign of her presence a faint rainbow trail, which soon disappeared into shimmering nothingness.
Pinkie Pie loosed a sharp, soft sigh of displeasure, pouting mightily, and turned as the first sprinkles began to fall. If Rainbow Dash wouldn't listen to her, she'd just have to come up with another plan. Luckily, Pinkie Pie was a master planner!
Rainbow Dash fought the rainclouds for what felt like hours. But no matter how skillfully she zoomed from cloud to cloud, no matter how speedily she zipped through them, they always seemed to reappear the instant she turned her back. At first, she'd fought all the harder, using all of her best moves - the Cloudbuster, the Whirling Dervish, even the Tornado! - but even those seemed to have no effect on the massive cloud bank that seemed to have settled over Ponyville. Even her own cloud-home, when she'd caught sight of it in the distance, had darkened from the moisture hanging in the air.
Finally, her wings limp with exhaustion, Rainbow Dash coasted to earth, soaked to the bone. The rain in Ponyville was never excessively harsh, but right now, Rainbow Dash could have been caught in a hurricane for all she cared. What did it matter if it was a light winter storm or a monsoon? Either way, she'd failed to keep her town safe. It was her job to keep the sky clear, she thought miserably, and she'd failed. Failed like a failing failure, she sniffled to herself, staring down at her reflection in the puddle she now stood in. Faily fail fail, that should be her new name. Failbow Dash. Rainbow Fail. Now look at Ponyville; covered in rainclouds, all of the ponies run inside for cover, and umbrellas springing up everywhere like daisies.
Wait. Umbrellas?
Rainbow Dash lifted her sodden head, blinking curiously through the downpour. Umbrellas didn't just - spring to life like that. And yet there they were, all neatly lined up in a line, like Fluttershy's ducklings. There must be at least twenty of them, winding out of sight onto another street. As she watched, her self-pity temporarily forgotten, another umbrella began to come into sight. But not erupting from the ground; this one came bobbing through the storm, marching along its brethren, slowly making its way over to where Rainbow Dash stood in her pity-puddle. And was it ... singing?
"Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Me and Dash were gonna hang today
But now it's raining so now what are we supposed to do? I mean she went to go bust up the rainclouds so she doesn't have any time to hang out -
So please come back another day~"
"Pinkie?" Rainbow murmured, tilting her head slightly as the pink umbrella finally came within range, revealing the pink pony beneath it.
"Hiya Dash!" Pinkie chirped to her friend, her smile a little less blindingly giddy this time. Perhaps she sensed the dark mood that rolled off of Rainbow Dash in waves, much like the peals of rain that rolled overhead.
"I'm not in the mood to play today." Rainbow Dash said dourly, her head dipping as she looked back down at her puddle, trying to hide her sadness with a grumpy tone. "So you can go home now."
"I'm not gonna leave my best buddy here to get all wet, silly."
Rainbow Dash gave a small 'hmph' of displeasure, and only glanced up when she realized the rain had stopped. There stood Pinkie, holding an umbrella in her teeth, shielding her from the rain.
"Mffrphfrehnnmmm, mnbrrrrbbgg!"
"What?" Rainbow Dash murmured, tilting her head slightly, amused despite herself. "Can't hear you with stuff in your mouth, Pinks."
Pinkie gave a significant head-waggle, clearly indicating the line of umbrellas, and waited for Rainbow Dash to move. Once her friend was under the shaded walkway of her umbrella-trail, Pinkie Pie folded her own up, tucking it into the loop on her saddlebag.
"There we go! I was saying," she chirped brightly, beginning to bounce down the line of umbrellas, weaving in between each stem in turn, "c'mon this way, I have something to show you!"
Rainbow Dash debated inwardly for just a moment, then took off at a trot after Pinkie Pie, her sodden wings folded tightly against her back.
"Pinks, I'm not really in the mood to hang out today. I'm kinda-"
"Oh, nonono, we're not going to hang out!" Pinkie Pie chirped, her voice just as warm and bubbly as ever as she guided Rainbow Dash into her house. The umbrella trail had made its winding way down several streets before ending up at her front door.
"Uh, Pink? This is your house." Rainbow Dash said a little flatly, glancing around the familiar pink decor before bringing a hoof up to wring out her mane.
"Noooooooo," sang her pink friend, spreading her arms wide, "this is the Make Me Better Boutique!"
"Make me - what?" Rainbow Dash frowned, pausing mid-wring. Now that she looked at it, things did look a little ... different. "Pinkie, it's just another party!" She cried, a little surprised to realize that she was disappointed.
"Noooo! Boutiques can have streamers and balloons TOO." Pinkie said firmly, trotting forward to get behind Rainbow Dash, urging her forward. "C'mon, over by the fireplace!"
"Fire ...?" Woah, there it was. She hadn't even noticed that Pinkie Pie's house even had one of those; she never had fires when Dash was around. And when did she get all those pillows? Man, Pinkie was one speedy party-planner. How the heck had she gotten all those pillows and towels and streamers in such a short amount of time?
"So?"
"So - what?" Rainbow Dash, half-turning to glance back at her friend, who stared at her with such hope in her eyes it made Dash's insides curl up a little bit, guilty that she'd brushed her off before.
"So ... will you stay? And get dry?" Pinkie Pie asked softly, sliding her saddle off of her back, pushing it aside with her back hoof. "We don't hafta hang out if you don't wanna, we can just sit and watch the fire."
Rainbow Dash looked away guiltily, her damp wings settling against her back uncomfortably. "Sorry I blew you off before, Pinkie." She said bluntly, in her usual Rainbow Dash way. "I was just upset about the clouds. It's like - my job, and I couldn't even get rid of one little cloudburst." Her voice got softer and softer as she spoke, her head gradually lowering so that her nose almost touched the ground by the time she finished. "Everyone must think I'm such a big failure."
"That's not true, Rainbow Dash." Pinkie Pie murmured gently, her usually giggly tone lessening for a moment. "We can't have you get rid of all of the storms, right? We have to have some, or the plants wouldn't grow. How would Applejack's orchard get watered without the rain?" She watched her blue friend for a moment before stepping closer, nudging her nose against one damp shoulder. "Don't be sad, Dash. You'll never be a failure to me."
Rainbow Dash glanced back up at her, a little sadly, before she spoke again in a softer voice. "You're not ... mad at me?" She almost whispered it, her insecurities laid bare by the rain.
"'Course not, Rainbow." Pinkie Pie smiled, giving her shoulder one last little nuzzle before she pulled away, throwing a towel over her friend's back as she pushed at her hip, guiding her over to the pillow-pile. "C'mon, let's go get warmed up!"
Within a matter of moments, the pair were wrapped up in towels and blankets, nestled among the mounds of pillows in front of the roaring fire. While Rainbow Dash toasted pink marshmallows, Pinkie Pie aimed a hairdryer at her, running the warm breeze up and down her body in repeating circles, gradually banishing the cold and wet.
"This is a pretty nice Boutique, Pinks." Rainbow Dash murmured, smiling brightly as she pulled back her marshmallow prong, examining them before returning them to the fire.
"You're gonna burn them, Dash!" Pinkie giggled, reaching down to pull one wing out, holding it out straight so she could run the hairdryer under it.
"That's how I - l-like 'em." Rainbow Dash almost choked on the last word, startled by the sudden blast of warm air. She turned to blink at Pinkie, her eyes a little wide, and Pinkie giggled.
"Sorry. That tickle?" Pinkie Pie beamed up at her, pointing the hairdryer at her again.
"N-Nah, it's ... it's okay." Rainbow Dash muttered, her cheeks flushing as she spread her wings, holding as still as she could while Pinkie Pie worked.
"Dash."
Rainbow Dash nodded faintly, knowing she should probably pay more attention to what her pink friend was saying. But right now, she just - couldn't. All of her attentions were focused on the hairdryer as it moved under her wings, stimulating her flight senses even though she wasn't in flight right now. Each delicate pinfeather picked up the hot current, ready to lift into flight, despite the weakness of the updraft. Idly, she tilted her primaries, cutting into the blade of air, enjoying the strength of it as it made her feathers flutter.
"Dash?"
Her eyes were mostly closed, focused somewhere just above the crackling fire, dimly aware of the marshmallow-roasting-prong-thing resting idly under her hoof. She just felt so - warm, warm all over. Warmer than she'd felt in the rainstorm, warmer than she felt at home in her cloud fortress, warmer than ... ever, maybe. She was failing to think of any time she had been as warm as she was right -
"DASH!"
Rainbow Dash flinched sharply at the explosion of sound next to her ear, and her eyes widened to saucers. "What? What!"
"The marshmallows!" Pinkie Pie cried out in mild dismay, reaching down to grab the marshmallow-roaster from her. She pulled the iron out of the fire carefully, frowning as she looked down at the blackened marshmallows. Lost in her pleasurable reverie, Rainbow Dash had left them for far too long, leaving them more black than pink.
"Oh." She murmured, her temporary 'high' now forgotten. "Sorry, Pinkie. I guess I got distracted."
Pinkie's eyes rested on the once-pink marshmallows thoughtfully for a moment, then her usual exuberant smile caught hold as she popped one of the blackened squares into her mouth. "Tha's okay!" She chirped thickly, the blackened crust of the marshmallow crunching between words. "Ih's all crunchy on th'ou'side, an' - sugary on th'inside!" She chewed thickly for a moment longer, then swallowed, licking the last bits of sugar off of her lips as she smiled. "You were right, these ARE the best kind of marshmallows!"
When Rainbow Dash didn't immediately reply, Pinkie Pie held up the three-pronged implement to her, bobbing it gently when Dash's eyes didn't shift. "You should have one while they're still hot!" She prompted gently, a little worried that Dash was feeling bad again. She didn't need to feel bad, she hadn't done anything wrong! But then, Pinkie Pie didn't think Dash did anything bad, in general. Dash was just a nice person, and a super-great friend too!
Rainbow Dash held still for a moment, her eyes lost somewhere above Pinkie's eyebrows, before her eyes slowly drifted down to the marshmallow roaster.
"We should eat 'em quick, so we can make - mmph!"
For in that exact moment, while Pinkie was busy chatting about her next plan, Rainbow Dash had darted forward suddenly, pushing the marshmallows out of the way as she tackled her friend to the pillows, her lips sealed against hers. Her rainbow-colored tail lashed as she held the pose, her heart rising to a fever-pitch in her ears as she pressed her mouth all the more earnestly against Pinkie Pie's. The faint flavor of burnt sugar still lingered there, whispering promises of what lied within, but Rainbow Dash didn't dare venture further.
Silently, her heart pounding so loudly she was certain it would fill the room, Rainbow Dash pulled away, just as suddenly as she had leapt upon her.
"I - I'm sorry." She whispered, her voice heavy and low.
Pinkie Pie could only blink up at Rainbow Dash for a few moments in confusion, her eyes rather wide.
Guiltily, Rainbow Dash looked away, her hind legs crossing uncomfortably as she sat back in the pillows. "I - sorry, I - I didn't -"
"If you wanted to share a marshmallow, all you had to do was ask."
Rainbow Dash glanced up sharply, her eyes wide in turn. Sharing - marshmallows? Is that what Pinkie Pie thought this was about? She knew Pinkie was silly, sure, giggly and funny, but - dense?
Pinkie Pie blinked at Rainbow Dash's wide-eyed gaze for a moment, then giggled, lifting the marshmallow-roaster back up where it had dipped in her grip. Thankfully, it hadn't fallen entirely, so she was able to bring it back up to her mouth. "This time, don't squish my legs, okay? It's a little uncomfy." Pinkie murmured, letting out a little giggle as she slid further back against the pillows, inclining gently as she bit a marshmallow from the roaster. With the crisp marshmallow between her lips, she glanced back at Rainbow Dash, staring for a moment before giving the slightest of head-tilts.
A little unbelieving, Rainbow Dash inched back towards her friend, her face flooding with warmth when Pinkie Pie spread her legs a little wider, making room for Dash to lay flush against her. Struggling against the impulse to run away from something she didn't quite understand yet, Rainbow Dash resumed her position from before, freezing in place before abruptly pressing against her, their bodies and mouths flush in one sudden movement.
Pinkie Pie giggled into the kiss as she was abruptly tackled, her hind legs wiggling playfully as Rainbow Dash pressed sharply against her. Her giggles softened as she let her mouth open a little wider, giving Rainbow Dash room to maneuver her own mouth around the blackened treat. Her eyes fluttered gently shut as she felt Rainbow Dash's lips brush against hers, so warm and soft, the marshmallow sweetening the kiss. But they couldn't hold the marshmallow forever, and so Pinkie Pie angled her teeth as close to halfway as she could - she didn't want to hog the marshmallows! - and bit through it, pushing the other half towards Rainbow Dash's lips before she began to chew her own.
Rainbow Dash accepted the marshmallow a little numbly, chewing it more slowly than Pinkie, her eyes fairly locked on her wingless partner.
"See? It's all burnt-sugary. It's a really nice flavor, I think we could use it at the cake shop, you know?" Pinkie Pie chirped, then blinked up at her friend, settling a little more comfortably onto her back as Rainbow Dash stared down at her silently. Almost ... predatorily. "What?"
"I think it's a really nice flavor." Rainbow Dash said softly, her voice dusky now, her eyes locked onto Pinkie's, unblinking. "I'd like some more." And before Pinkie Pie could offer her the last marshmallow (being the proper hostess, of course!), Rainbow Dash had tackled her anew, pushing her down into the pillows almost roughly as her mouth claimed hers once more.
Her tongue darted between her lips this time, earning a little gasp from the pink pony below her as she explored her. When her tongue moved too roughly against Pinkie's mouth, the earth pony squirmed underneath her, prompting a sharp, sudden gasp from the peg, breaking the kiss. She panted down at Pinkie, breathless, then returned to her mouth, moving more carefully this time. Gradually, Pinkie's tongue rose to meet hers, the marshmallow flavor passed between two sugar-sweet mouths hungrily.
Finally, more than a little regretfully, Rainbow Dash pulled away, her chest heaving gently as she struggled for breath. Below her, Pinkie Pie panted softly as well, although she didn't seem quite so winded by it as Rainbow Dash. Why would that be? Wait, why were her wings out? They were kind of - shading Pinkie, actually, how strange that she hadn't felt them spread.
Pinkie Pie giggled, and arched up, pressing an impetuous little kiss to Rainbow Dash's confused mouth before rolling back, landing on her back with a gentle 'whumph.' "When you get excited, you beat your wings." Pinkie Pie whispered, her eyes alight with pleasure, as if sharing a secret.
Rainbow Dash's face flooded with heat, and she looked away, more embarrassed than she could quite explain. "Yeah, well, I -"
"I think it's cute." Pinkie added in a whisper, reaching up to tug Rainbow Dash down on top of her once more. With a soft sigh of pleasure, she wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash's neck, snuggling her close. "I think YOU'RE cute."
"Well, I - I think you're cute too, Pinks." Rainbow Dash murmured, finally relaxing into her, snuggling her face against her neck comfortably. This was nice; this was just like that warm feeling from the hairdryer, but so much better when it came from Pinkie Pie herself.
Pinkie Pie giggled, the sound familiar to her usual overjoyed squeals, and yet somehow different. "Thanks, Rainbow." She hummed, and gave her a little squeeze, smoothing her hoof over Dash's rainbow mane. "D'you wanna share the last marshmallow?" She whispered, a hint of the old prank-loving Pinkie in her voice once more.
"Of course." Rainbow whispered back to her, and the two dissolved into giggles as they reached for the marshmallow roaster. The rest of the night was spent in giddy enjoyment of one another, sharing sugar-flavored kisses and soft whispers under the protective cover of the rainfall.
