Ivan and Rainbow are Still at the Beach! Part Two

Close Bonds: Chapter Nine

This day at the beach, you've arrived a little earlier than you should have. The water's still a bit cold this early, but at least the sand isn't burning your feet.

As you set up the umbrella, you look out over the beach. Sweetie Belle's building a sand castle, Applebloom and Scootaloo are doing... something. Hopping over each other? You can't tell from here. And Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are talking.

While you secretly tune out Rarity, who's helping you set up your spot on the beach, you notice more than a few mares with topless bikinis, Fluttershy included.

The purpose of having the bikini in the first place eludes you, but you suppose you're not one to question Equestrian society.

"...and with that, I managed to fill out five orders in the same night, while simultaneously keeping Sweetie Belle and all her little friends locked in her room!"

"Uh-huh," you absentmindedly nod. It's hard to believe how much this mare can talk.

"There, I think we're all finished." Rarity opens a folding chair, placing it on one of the assorted beach towels, and sits down. "Ivan, would you be a dear and fetch me a lemonade?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." You walk the few steps to the ice chest, and grab a can of lemonade. You bring it back to Rarity, who takes a sip. "Ahh," she sighs, "quite refreshing. Thank you, Ivan."

"No problem, Rares." You lie on the beach towel beside her, and assume the common relaxing position.

"I really don't see how you stand being so near to the sand like that." You open your eyes to see Rarity leaning over you from her chair. "I mean, for myself, I just absolutely hate getting sand in my mane."

It's perfect. Just too perfect. Right as she says this, a perfect ball of sand hits and disintegrates against the side of her face, causing her sunglasses to fly off and tiny dirt particles to get in her precious mane.

She recoils from the hit, but quickly whips back around in rage. "Who threw that!?"

Rainbow Dash is on her back, kicking her legs into the air and laughing. Fluttershy, obviously not wanting to be associated with this, takes a step back.

"Oh, Rarity!" Rainbow practically exhales between fits of laughter, "You really need to look out for those things! Never know when someone's gonna-" A sand ball hits her in the face.

"Hey!" she stands up, looking for the source of the projectile. Her eyes come to you, and you smile.

Something hard bounces off the side of your head. You quickly turn, and see Scootaloo with a stash of kelp bulbs.

"Hey, this is a sand war, you cheater!" You throw a sandy projectile her way, which she quickly dodges.

She gets a look in her eye. A kind of smirk, as if challenging you. You look to Rarity and Dash, and they both have the same look.

"I call Applebloom and Scootaloo!" Rainbow calls. The two fillies immediately jump to her side.

A little white-coated unicorn with her tongue sticking out in deep concentration is in the process of making a sand castle. To her surprise, Rarity's magic aura surrounds her and floats her beside the two of you.

"You're on my team, Sweetie," Rarity states. Sweetie Belle looks a bit confused.

The two teams face off. You stare each other down, trying your best to intimidate the opponents. Fluttershy cowers in the middle.

"Charge!" Rainbow cries. You immediately pull the umbrella out of the ground and lay it on its side for cover, just in time for a barrage of mud balls to hit.

You look to your comrades. You smile upon seeing the pile of dirt balls Rarity has already started on. You grab some of the packed piles of dirt and begin chucking them at the charging group. They quickly halt their advances and jump behind a sand dune.

For a period of time, the two teams relentlessly barrage the other side's base from behind cover. Sweetie Belle has taken over the duty of crafting ammo, while Rarity uses her magic to redirect sand balls mid-air. You know you've hit Rainbow and Applebloom a few times, as well as taking a few hits yourself. Rarity, for the most part, has managed to keep her coat clean.

Soon, there's a pause. A gut-wrenching, nerve-wracking pause, as the enemy has seemed to cease fire.

Suddenly, Scootaloo and RD take to the skies, mud balls in each hoof. You all watch as they both fly high into the blue beyond, then dive downwards, coming at you with grinning, evil faces.

They release their cargo onto you like Douglas dive bombers. In response, Rarity quickly levitates her folding chair, using it as a maneuverable shield. What with there only being four projectiles, she manages to skillfully block them all.

They swoop low, landing behind the dune to collect more ammunition, you assume. You wait a few moments, and they both take off vertically into the sky, climbing higher and higher, until taking the dip downwards to barrage you with hell-fire.

This time, however, it won't be so easy for them. Even as they ascend, you ready yourself with a shot in each hand, and begin throwing.

Rainbow nimbly dodges your anti-air assault. Scootaloo, however, being far less experienced in flight, takes a hit directly to the face. Like a plane damaged in flight, she precariously begins to waver, then spirals downwards to an inevitable meeting with the ground.

In concern, both you and Rarity look her way. Dirt gets kicked up all around her, blocking your vision of the downed pilot. Fortunately, through the wreckage you see a small pegasus sitting on her haunches, albeit rather wobbly.

Sweetie Belle, who's been packing dirt all this time, curiously peeks over the umbrella to see Scootaloo. However, by doing this she leaves herself wide open. The shot from the deceptively strong earth filly hits her square in the jaw, followed up by an aerial shot from Rainbow to the chest. She's knocked to the ground hard by the merciless attacks.

The little white filly looks up at you and Rarity with tear-brimmed eyes. For a second, you think she's about to cry.

Then, her tears turn to pure rage.

Your whole ammo supply floats up into the air at once. Everyone looks in awe at the sight of 20, maybe 30 dirt balls simply floating there.

Then, they're all simultaneously flung at Applebloom.

The poor mini apple farmer covers her face as she's pelted by wave after wave of mud and dirt flying towards her at high speeds. Eventually, after a few long seconds, all the near-dangerous ammunition has been used.

You think it's over, but the worst is yet to come. All of the dirt balls that missed and previously crumbled reform themselves and float above the ground. Rainbow Dash, who has been hovering in one spot and watching the spectacle in horror, gasps when the reformed projectiles suddenly speed toward her in a straight line.

She moves to the side, narrowly escaping the deathly barrage. Unfortunately, they aren't done with her yet; they loop around back and come for another round.

The pegasus speeds off in a rainbow streak, the stream of death fire following in hot pursuit. When she looks back and sees them still behind her, she flies even faster.

For a second, it looks like she might outfly the dirt balls. But then, half of the group breaks off.

You begin to wonder what they might be doing, until you notice the pursuing stream herding her in an arc. An arc that leads to six awaiting mud balls.

The unfortunate pegasus flies straight into each one of them, then is mercilessly pelted by the remaining five pursuers.

At this point, she's completely lost control. Mud covers her face, rendering her unable to see. She tries flapping at first, but soon resigns to tucking in her wings and letting the remaining momentum take her.

Much to your relief, she splashes into the water about fifty feet out. You wait a moment for her head to clear the surface of the water.

A moment passes.

A few moments pass.

"Dash?" you call. Predictably, there's no answer.

"Rainbow Dash?" you call again, this time with more urgency. You get up and begin walking towards the water, but that walk quickly turns into an all-out sprint.

The girls join you at the coastline. You're ready to dive in after her, but her head soon pops up out of the water.

You let loose a relieved sigh. Rainbow coughs up some water, then calls out to Sweetie Belle. "Truce?"

A pink aura surrounds Rainbow, and she's floated out of the water and plopped in front of the little unicorn. Sweetie tosses her head and holds out her hoof. "I accept your terms of surrender."

You and the girls dry yourselves off while Rainbow and Fluttershy help Rarity clean the mud off her umbrella. As you dry off, you can't help but notice Rainbow's mussed-up 'fireworks mane'.

As the group of you idly chat, what appears to be the Earth equivalent of a rent-a-cop followed closely behind by 'Sunglasses' and his toadies approaches Fluttershy.

"Hello there, M'am." The guy's tone is one of someone who takes his job too seriously. "This man tells me that you robbed him of one of his possessions."

Fluttershy cowers back. "W-what?"

Sunglasses jumps forward and points an accusing hoof at her. "Those sunglasses you're wearing! You took them from me!"

The cop pushes the stallion back, while keeping his eyes on Fluttershy.

"H-here," she stutters, shakily taking off his glasses and holding them out, "T-these are mine, b-but I don't want to cause any t-trouble."

You can literally see the cop's hard gaze soften behind his own sunglasses. He frowns, then whirls on the trio. "Really? Do you take me for a fool?!"

"W-wha?" Sunglasses takes a step back, visibly shocked.

The overzealous officer steps closer to him. "Do you expect me to believe this mare took on all three of you at once?"

"B-but-"

"No! Get out of here, scram! Before I arrest you!"

As the three outwitted jerks gallop off, the police turns back to Fluttershy. "My apologies, M'am. Continue with your business, and have a nice day."

"Th-thank you," Fluttershy barely whispers through chattering teeth. The officer stomps off, shaking his head and muttering to himself.

As soon as 'Rent-a-Cop' is gone, Fluttershy immediately stands and assumes her earlier composure. The whole group is stunned, except you, shaking your head and grinning.

"You little sneak, Fluttershy."

After everything's packed up and the umbrella's cleaned off, you all stand around, deciding what to do next.

"Well, I wanted to go into the designers' stores to look at clothing styles. Perhaps even buy a hat, or something that looks nice."

Sweetie Belle makes a gagging motion, and the girls giggle. Then, Scootaloo pipes up.

"I want to go to the arcade! I heard they have video games, and action games, and-"

Upon seeing the looks she's getting, she blushes and backsteps out of the spotlight.

Rainbow's turn. "Well, I'm freakin' hungry! We should go get some food; I saw some nice hot dog stands on the way here."

"Well, I'm not very hungry..." Fluttershy's soft voice somehow penetrates the circle. She draws circles in the sand with her hoof before looking back up. "M-maybe I can take the girls to the arcade. After they're done, we can grab dinner on the way back to the hotel."

"That sounds like a splendid idea! That way, I can shop without having to drag Sweetie Belle around wherever I go!"

You give Rarity a funny look, but she doesn't notice as Rainbow makes her input known. "Yeah! Then, me an' Ivan can go get somethin' to eat! Right, Ivan!"

"Well, I suppose that means I'm going whether I like it or not," you joke. All the mares nod, and each group goes their separate ways.

As the two of you walk down the beach towards the food stands, Rainbow brings up an important question. "So, you're buyin', right?"

You raise an eyebrow at her. "Well, it's not like you have any money. So yeah."

She smiles impishly. "Good."

"Can we stop now, Ivan? I'm getting tired."

The pegasus on your back yawns softly into your ear. You smile when you feel her hooves tighten around your shoulders and her head rest on your neck.

You feel like mentioning that you're doing all the walking, but decide against vexing her. "Alright. I guess we've gone far enough." You kneel down and let go of Rainbow's legs. Her hooves drop to the sand, and she slides off your back.

"Why did we have to walk this far anyways..." she half-yawns.

You look down the shoreline, and back to her. "You don't want anyone we know to see us, right?"

She raises an eyebrow at you. "I don't think anyone can see us at all. You took us pretty far down the beach."

"It was either this or the hotel... And you didn't want to walk all the way to the hotel."

"Well, what did you expect? You said you wouldn't carry me, and I'm carrying a baby, you know."

Your turn to raise an eyebrow.

"...a food baby. Made out of burritos and soy dogs."

"Right." You lay back, viewing the moon-lit water. Rainbow joins you, laying on her side and cuddling up to you.

Through the moonlight, you view her perfect pegasus form. Her wings are tucked in neatly at her side, her belly... The amount she had eaten is noticeable, but not by a lot. Her hair falls gracefully around her slender neck in that random array of colors that you seem to find so attractive...

It gives you a thought. "You know what this reminds me of?"

She raises her head to look at you. "What's that?"

"A week and one day ago." You bring your hand around her ribcage and begin to kiss her up and down her neck and shoulders.

"We're not having sex tonight."

You continue to kiss her on the neck, only briefly stopping to ask, "Why?"

"Well, unless you want me to give mouth-birth to my food baby tonight..."

You take her open mouth as an opportunity to place your lips on hers. As you begin to get into it, slowly sliding on top of her, the most unsettling thing happens.

"BrAAp!"

"Oh, fuck," you gag, reeling back and hunching over the sand.

Rainbow only laughs. "I warned you, Ivan. You didn't listen."

"Ugh, I can taste cheese." You spit into the dirt.

She rubs her belly and licks her chops. "Mm. Burritos."

"Alright, we're going back to the hotel." You stand up to leave, but two hooves hold onto your hand, trying to bring you back down.

"No, don't go!" She looks into your eyes pleadingly.

"I'm not going by myself, you're coming with me."

"No! I mean, aside from the burping, I thought this night was kind of... nice."

You look at her for a moment, silently willing her to continue.

"Well, we're all by ourselves here, on the shore at night... I mean, we're constantly being interrupted at the hotel room, and I just felt like tonight was a nice night for us to be alone. Y'know, just the two of us."

You stand there for a moment, a bit surprised at her emotional monologue. With a slightly giddy feeling in your chest, you sit down next to her and drape an arm over her shoulders.

"I never took you for the romantic type, Dash..."

Without a word, she simply leans into you. You smile at the warm feeling of the sides of your faces pressed together.

Soon, she yawns, and lies down across your lap. She shifts a bit, not seeming to like this position, and rolls onto her back.

The way she is, arched on her back across your legs, you can't resist the urge to rub her slightly distended belly. As you do so, she cross her legs and purrs, nuzzling into your stomach.

Eventually, you hear and feel a soft snoring emanating from her form. You brush aside the hair that's fallen into her eyes, and see that she's sound asleep.

Gently, as if she were an infant, you cradle her by the head and carry her back down the shore, and eventually to the hotel.

As you walk, a soft voice whispers to you. "Hey, Ivan."

You look down, and see that Rainbow's eyelids are partially open. Mentally, you berate yourself for waking her.

"Yeah, Dash?"

"Lean closer. I want to tell you something." She beckons you with her hooves.

You do as she asks, lending her an ear. She cups her hooves around your ear, as if to whisper something secret. Then, she licks it.

Shivers run through your body as her warm appendage runs through the cracks and folds of your ear. She sinks her tongue behind your earlobe, then pulls it out and smiles at you.

You mirror her expression. "Hey, Dash. I have something to tell you, too."

You lean forward again, this time giving her a kiss on the cheek. The sensations that come with kissing a mare are quite different from those that arise from kissing a woman. Her soft fur lingers on your lips for a bit, until the warmth from her cheek comes through and graces you with its presence. You can almost feel her skin through her fur.

You pull back, and watch her giggle at your somewhat prolonged smooch. She closes her eyes and snuggles into the crook of your arm, wrapping her tail around your other bicep.

Moments like these make you feel lucky that you ever ended up here. That things turned out the way they are now. That, somehow, through all the turmoil, you've managed to come out with your head held high and a smile on your face.

Author's Note

Guh, finals, finals. Finals are this week. Luckily, there are only three days of school this week, and it's all early outs. So, this could either mean that the production of the next chapter will be slowed, or it will come out extra early.

This doesn't, however, imply that the next chapter will come out late. I almost never write my chapters in order, so half of it is already finished.

Something else I forgot to mention. Excuse any strange wording, as I have a bad headache. I'm probably going to be taking a small break after this arc, or the next arc. Specifics will be given next chapter.

And of course, thanks to hwrogers, my proofreader.