In The Rainby Ebon ManeChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Alternate Ending: StormAlternate Ending: SilenceChapter 1Warnings and Disclaimers: Characters in this work are property of their respective owners, I do not own any of them, and do not intend to make any sort of profit off of this work. This My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction involves shipping. If you don't know what that means, please go read up on it at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Shipping before reading. If you are made uncomfortable by ANY form of romance between ANY two intelligent beings, this fanfiction may not be to your liking. Continue only with caution. And now, on with the show: From the relative calm above the clouds, Rainbow Dash looked down with satisfaction at the storm she'd helped create. As far as the eye could see, a field of black roiled beneath her as unseen currents of wind howled through the tempest. The effort that she and her weather ponies had put into creating this had been prodigious, but Dash felt joy in knowing that Princess Celestia had wanted the strongest storm in years, and by the sun she'd gotten it. The rest of Dash's team had long since gone to ground; it had become impossible to work from within the storm, but she had stayed, ready to handle any last-minute adjustments that could be made from above cloud level. Now, as the sun began to set, Rainbow Dash steeled herself for the journey back to Ponyville. She'd be flying blind for thousands of feet, and she expected that visibility would be poor even below the level of the clouds; it was, after all, the heaviest rain she'd created in her whole career as a weather pony. With a whispered "Bring it on," she dove into the storm. Wind buffeted Rainbow Dash and her coat was drenched almost instantly as she struggled to control her descent; she knew she couldn't extend her wings to flap, lest a stray gust sprain a tendon or worse. Keeping her wings just a few inches from her body, Dash tried to stay in a roughly horizontal glide, turning in a wide loop to keep herself near her point of origin directly over Ponyville. She squinted through the pounding rain, straining her eyes and hoping every second would be the one she'd break through the clouds. After what seemed like an eternity, Dash was through the clouds, but she soon found that she was falling far too rapidly; her wings flared slightly, and she tried to level off as she turned her nose into the blasting wind, hoping it would bleed off some of her momentum. Lightning flashed, and Dash could smell the metallic sharpness of ozone in the air. Thousands of feet of altitude turned all too quickly into hundreds, and in a panic Rainbow Dash flapped against the vicious wind just hoping to come in slowly enough for a landing she could walk away from; the storm she'd created had far exceeded her expectations, and she felt a sliver of pride alongside the adrenaline rush and terror of her fight for survival. As she neared the ground, Dash's heart skipped a beat as she realized that she was coming in too quickly, far too quickly for any shred of safety. She spread her wings and groaned as as she felt her muscles strain to keep them from folding back; the desperate move began to slow her, but it was too little, too late. Rainbow Dash struggled to keep herself a few feet above the ground; the pegasus knew that if she so much as skimmed the dirt at this speed, she'd lose all control. For a moment, Dash had hope that she'd have room to make a perfect landing, but then a shape appeared out of the pounding rain, directly in her path; she hadn't been able to see far enough ahead to be able to avoid it. Rainbow Dash had just enough time to make out the shape of a huge tree as she shifted in flight, hoping to strike the trunk and absorb the impact with all four hooves to protect her wings and head. A final thought flashed in her mind before she struck: "Is that a door knob?" A shock rocked her body as she impacted the door; it absorbed a sizable portion of her momentum before buckling. Rainbow Dash tumbled into the tree, rolling end over end until she impacted a large cushion set against a wall opposite the entrance to the familiar library. For a moment, Dash was silent and still, hardly daring to hope that she'd escaped without any broken bones. Adrenaline coursed through her as the remnants of mortal panic faded; she gave herself a mental once-over, making sure that she could feel all her limbs, and that they were unharmed beyond bruising. Then, she jumped up, wings flapping as she hovered in the air and threw mock punches in jubilation, "Oh yeah! I need to do that again! Let a storm kill me? That's not how this pegasus rolls! Certain death is my bitch!" She laughed madly, filled with the joy of a habitual thrill-seeker that had once again cheated her way out of serious injury. Twilight's voice called from across the library, where she was attempting to use magic to repair the door's hinges and keep the rain out, "Dash, are you alright? What were you doing out there in the storm? You could have been hurt!" Rainbow Dash floated, grinning, arms crossed behind her head, "That's my storm. I was just showing it who's boss. It might as well be a spring sprinkle for all the trouble it could cause me. I'm pretty much awesome. I might have to stop to kick some lightning on my way home tonight." Twilight smiled, seemingly amused by her friend's bravado. "Seriously, Dash, you need to stop making these crash entrances," she lectured as she set the door back into place, securing it against the wind and rain, "and you can't go back out there. It's dangerous. You should spend the night here in the library with me." She put on a hopeful smile, "Please?" Putting a hoof to her chin as she turned lazily in the air, Dash considered Twilight's offer. Her adrenaline was fading, and the realist in her knew that traveling through the storm would be nothing short of miserable. Besides, her cloud home tended to get a bit... damp... in weather like this. Nodding at her friend, Dash accepted, "Well, I guess I can stay. I wouldn't want you to have to spend the night alone with this incredible storm raging outside, after all." Twilight turned from the newly repaired door, a grin on her face, "That's great, Rainbow Dash! This is going to be way better than my last slumber party. Let me just clean up this mess..." Her horn glowed as she levitated a few books that had been knocked down by Dash's passage, putting them back into place on a bookshelf. "It's a shame none of our other friends are around," Twilight said, not sounding even the least bit sincere, "Oh well, I guess it's just you and me tonight, Dash." Rainbow Dash was only half listening, distracted by the slow drip of water running off her thoroughly drenched coat. "Say, Twilight, do you have a towel or something around?" Twilight glanced at Dash, and put on an apologetic smile before replying, "Heh, sorry Dash. Let me take care of that for you. Close your eyes." The unicorn's horn began to glow. Dash didn't know where Twilight was going with this, but decided to trust her. Once the rainbow haired pegasus' eyes were firmly shut, she felt Twilight's magic settle around her her, a ring of force pushing from her nose back across her body to the tip of her tail, squeezing the excess water out of her coat. Dash opened her eyes and watched as Twilight floated an orb of water to the door and squeezed it out through the gap between the door and the frame. The size of the ball surprised Dash; she hadn't realized that she'd been so drenched. Belatedly, she noticed a trail of water she'd dripped over the library floor. She hoped Twilight wouldn't be angry about it; she knew the librarian was overprotective of her books, though Dash couldn't understand why. "Sorry about the mess Twilight. I'll make it up to you somehow." Surprisingly, Twilight didn't seem to want to take vengeance on Dash in the form of a lecture; she just waved a dismissive hoof as she replied, "Don't worry about it, Dash. You're safe, that's the important thing. Now what do you say we have some fun to forget about the weather? Last time I had a sleepover, Rarity showed me the proper way to do a really great beauty treatment." Rainbow Dash did her best to force as much disgust and disbelief as she could possibly muster into her next two words, "Beauty treatment?" Twilight Sparkle giggled, "I know, I know, I was skeptical the first time I read about it in 'Sleepover 101', but once I tried it, I found that it was super relaxing. I know you'll like it once you give it a try. Plus it involves mud." Dash perked up at that last bit, "I do like mud..." "So you'll try it?" The unicorn asked, voice hopeful. "Well...," Rainbow Dash considered it for a moment. She did like to relax after a nice brush with death. And there was mud. Twilight would probably want to do something involving books if Dash turned her down on this; that certainly would be worse than anything involving mud could be. She replied hesitantly, "Alright. But it better not turn out to be, like, the lamest thing anypony's ever done with mud or something." "Great!" Twilight clapped her hooves, "Wait right here, I'll get everything ready." *** "This is, like, the lamest thing anypony's ever done with mud." At first Dash had been cautiously optimistic; green mud was cool, and how bad could something called a mud mask be? But now, as she sat there, face covered in a thick layer of green mud that Twilight had insisted on applying for her (like she didn't know how to cover herself in mud right!), vision blocked by slices of some vegetable Twilight had put over her eyes, she could only think of how ridiculous she must look. Rainbow Dash could stand looking dirty or unkempt, but she wouldn't stand for looking silly. "This stuff sucks, Twilight." The purple unicorn sighed in annoyance, "If you'd stop talking and start relaxing, you might enjoy it. Just quiet down, and breathe deeply and slowly. Consider it your apology for breaking my door, if that helps." "Oh... heh. Yeah. Alright, I'll breathe." Dash had forgotten about that whole door thing. Cursing her vulnerability to guilt trips about things that were pointed out to her explicitly, she began to breathe deeply. Soon enough, Rainbow Dash began to feel the relaxation that Twilight had been talking about. The last bits of twitchiness from the adrenaline that had fueled her arrival at the library began to fade. Her battered muscles began to unknot, and even the pain of her bruises began to dull toward a warm tingle. She sighed happily. With her eyes shut behind the cucumber slices, Dash was pleased to find that her other senses seemed more acute; they seemed to be getting sharper every moment. Above the dull roar of the storm outside, she could still manage to pick out the soft sound of Twilight's breathing, which didn't seem too far away at all. The subtle smell of Twilight's shampoo grew in her nostrils, its fruity scent becoming sweeter, stronger, and more pleasant by the second. It was almost as if as her senses heightened, the other mare was getting closer and closer. Through some trick Dash's mind must have been playing on her, she thought she could sense her friend's presence just a few inches away, getting slowly closer. It seemed to Dash as if just a few seconds more would sharpen her perception enough that she'd be able to open her mouth and taste Twilight. She parted her lips... "Hey Twilight, this relaxation stuff is pretty awesome after all!" Immediately following her shout, Dash felt a gust of air, as if something were moving away from her extremely quickly, and then a loud squawk of protest from Twilight, followed very closely by a loud thump. She shook the cucumber slices off of her eyes as she asked with concerned urgency, "What happened Twilight? Are you alright?" The unicorn in question was on her back, mud-covered face scrunched in pain; she managed a tight smile while replying, "Nothing! Well... I fell. I mean, I must have relaxed too much and fell asleep or something," the mare replied, scrambling to her hooves, "And then fell. On my back." Rainbow Dash drew out her reply, "Riiiight... And where are your veggie eye things?" "Oh. Those. They fell. They must have fallen out. When I fell. Heh." Dash only saw her own cucumbers on the floor, but didn't press the issue. She just shook her head, an amused grin on her face, "Sometimes, Twilight, you can be as random as Pinkie Pie." Chapter 2Rainbow Dash stared out the window, entranced by the spectacle of the tempest raging outside. Once the two ponies had washed the last bits of the beauty mask off of their faces, Twilight Sparkle had set up a spare bed across from her own. Now they each laid on a bed, legs folded beneath them, facing tempest's fury with naught but a thin piece of glass to protect them. The only illumination came from the lightning; Twilight had insisted that a lantern would ruin the experience of watching the storm. Watching the storm. Dash had flown through storms, created storms, even studied storms in flight school, but she'd never just watched a storm. The darkness made the sounds seem louder, more distinct. Raindrops made a constant backdrop of noise, pinging on the window, dripping from the leaves of the library, battering the wood unrelentingly. Intermittently, wind howled, causing the boughs to creak as they bent while leaves whispered deafeningly, brushing against each other and the branches. Every few seconds, thunder boomed, rattling the windows, but it was frequent enough that it was impossible to tell which noise matched any particular bolt of lightning. Lightning. The flashes lit the scene more clearly than a noonday sun, blinding snapshots that lingered in Dash's vision. Her eyes moved each time, hoping to discern a new detail when the next strike came. Flash. A tree bent nearly double, shaking from a gust, with many leaves stripped away. Flash. A closed shop with a sign above its door hanging from two chains, the painted board suspended in the apex of its swing to Dash's momentary perception. Flash. A large puddle, its surface rippling and chaotic, cratered by the splashes of raindrops and the waves of blowing wind, frozen like ice in the pegasus' vision. Rainbow Dash had never watched a storm before. The sight took her breath away. For long minutes, the two ponies were silent, consumed by the wind and the rain, the lightning and the thunder. At long last, Twilight spoke, "This is your storm, Dash." "Yeah...," Dash responded, too amazed to put forth her normal bravado. After a few seconds, Twilight began to murmur quietly, far quieter than the din of rain and wind. Dash heard every word. "I've always loved storms. Ever since I was a little filly in Canterlot, I'd look forward to them when the clouds rolled in, hoping for a downpour. A storm is a dangerous, prideful, uncaring thing, but I knew that it was no danger to me. It raged, but it raged around me, not at me. Under open skies, I felt vulnerable; anypony could come and harm me when the weather was good. The storm kept everypony away, and with its violence wrapped around me, I felt safe. Even though the storm didn't know how I felt about it, even though the storm didn't care, I could still watch in awe as it protected me. Swift, brash, violent, beautiful." Twilight sighed. Rainbow Dash just watched the storm. The lightning had become more regular; there was enough time now in the seconds between strikes that the clap of thunder hit her just before the next bolt lit the sky. Dash didn't usually like talking about deep stuff; those sorts of conversations usually just made her feel uncomfortable and awkward. Still, in the dark room, adrift in the sea of noise pouring in from outside, Dash found that she didn't mind listening to Twilight, even if she didn't understand what compelled the unicorn to speak. After a few moments, Twilight continued, "Dash, what would you do if you fell in love with somepony that was... forbidden to you? Forbidden so that if anypony knew how you felt, even your closest friends, they might hate you or be disgusted by you or... just... shut you out. Would you tell them, knowing that they might laugh in your face or insult you, that all your friends might shun you?" The pegasus had a suspicion that it was more than a hypothetical question, but she answered honestly, "If they were friends worth having, they wouldn't abandon me. Gilda was my best friend until she wanted to change who I hung out with, and who I was, and now she's history. I don't hide what I think or what I feel, I'd tell everypony and not give a hoof if they didn't approve." Thunder was coming more quickly on the heels of lightning now; it seemed almost as if they were alternating, the booms rolling over the ponies halfway between each of the periodic flashes. The unicorn was silent, for a time. When Twilight spoke, it was barely above a whisper, "I wish I were as brave as you, Dash." Rainbow Dash smiled, filled with pride, but as she stared out the window, the smile started to slip. "To be honest, Twilight, I've never been in love." Dash heard Twilight's bed shift slightly, springs squeaking, as the unicorn asked, "Not even a schoolfilly crush?" "Nope. Never. Stallions don't interest me nearly as much as flying," Dash replied, looking over at her friend; the unicorn was now facing her, rather than the window. Twilight leaned forward, "What about...," she hesitated, "...what about mares?" The pegasus tilted her head, "Mares?" Her friend broke eye contact, her gaze fixed firmly out the window. Claps of thunder followed swiftly on the heels of lightning strikes; there was barely time to blink between a flash and a deafening rumble. A dozen bolts had struck before Twilight was ready to answer, "Well... in Canterlot, it's not all that uncommon for mares to be... together. Romantically." Rainbow Dash blinked, "But then, what about...?" Dash had never heard of such a thing; she tried to wrap her head around the concept, "How would they...? I don't get it, Twilight. Canterlot is weird." Twilight Sparkle stood up and gave a weak laugh, "Ha. Yeah. Weird." She hopped off the bed and started descending the ladder to the library floor below. Dash watched her progress, confused. "Where are you going, Twilight?" "I'm going outside," the unicorn growled, voice hostile, "For a walk" It took a few beats for Twilight's words to register. Dash was certain that she must have misheard, but Twilight was headed right for the door of the library, appearing closer to the portal with every lightning strike. As soon as Dash realized that the unicorn wasn't joking, she hopped to her hooves, yelling, "Outside? are you crazy!?" Twilight shouted back, "I must be," her horn glowed, and the door flew open, "I must be crazy, Dash!" Twilight Sparkle disappeared into the storm, and Rainbow Dash rushed to follow. Alternate Ending: StormAs soon as Rainbow Dash was out of the library, the weather assaulted her. Heavy drops of freezing rain pounded the pegasus pony in a torrent that drenched her nearly instantly. The wind whipped at her, and she dug her hooves into the mud to keep herself from being blown backward. The world was consumed by a flash and a deafening boom of thunder as a brilliant jagged lance struck the lightning rod on a home a few dozen yards away from her. The light revealed Twilight Sparkle not too far ahead of her, struggling slowly away. Dash shouted at the unicorn, but if Twilight heard, she gave no sign. Her horn glowed dimly, and Dash suspected that the unathletic unicorn was using magic to make progress against the fury of the storm. Unable to risk taking to the air, the pegasus fought forward on hoof, not knowing what she'd do when she caught up with her friend. Dash's progress was slow, but the intermittent flashes revealed that her friend's lead was shrinking. The strikes were becoming more infrequent, and the time between lightning and thunder was growing. As the world was lit less and less often, it seemed to grow darker; Rainbow Dash relied increasingly on the light from her friend's horn, bobbing in the distance, to show the way. The pegasus, unable to see far in the downpour, hoped that Twilight knew where she was going. Eventually, the lightning stopped altogether. The rain continued, seeming to drive ever more mercilessly from the uninterrupted inky blackness of the sky. The muscles in Rainbow Dash's legs burned from fighting through the thick mud, but she redoubled her efforts as Twilight's horn grew closer. With a final burst of speed, she caught her friend, grabbing the unicorn's tail with her teeth. She pulled, expecting resistance from the unicorn, but Twilight just stopped. As Dash released Twilight's tail, intending to give her friend a piece of her mind for instigating the ridiculous chase, the unicorn whirled, quickly turning to face her. The purple hornlight gave just enough illumination to create an island of visibility in the surrounding dark; Twilight seemed to float in a void, the light not quite reaching the muddy ground. Before Dash could say anything, Twilight leapt at her; the unicorn threw her hooves around Dash's shoulders, and as the light from the unicorn's horn winked out, their lips met. Rainbow Dash's reaction was instant and decisive; she reared away, breaking Twilight's grip on her. The lightning began again, and the first flash illuminated perfectly the look of momentary disgust that had passed across Dash's face. Dash knew that her friend had seen the expression when the next flash showed that Twilight's countenance was a mask of utter despair. Understanding washed over Dash, and all the strange things Twilight had said suddenly made sense. It was so obvious in retrospect, and Dash cursed the situation; she didn't want to hurt her friend, but Dash couldn't think of Twilight that way, think of mares that way. The pegasus did what she had to do. Rainbow Dash gathered Twilight Sparkle into a hug. With Twilight's head on her shoulder, as rain drenched both their coats, Dash felt hot drops mix with cold. She felt her friend shake with sobs. Rainbow Dash knew that she couldn't be who Twilight wanted her to be, but she was loyal. Dash knew that the least she could do for her friend, for Twilight, was hold her. As she cried. In the rain. Alternate Ending: SilenceAs soon as Rainbow Dash was out of the library, the weather assaulted her. Heavy drops of freezing rain pounded the pegasus pony in a torrent that drenched her nearly instantly. The wind whipped at her, and she dug her hooves into the mud to keep herself from being blown backward. The world was consumed by a flash as a brilliant jagged lance struck the lightning rod of a home just a few dozen yards from her. The accompanying thunder was deafening, but the light revealed Twilight Sparkle not too far ahead of her, standing calmly in the rain, facing back toward the library. Dash shouted at the unicorn, but if Twilight heard, she gave no sign, not that Dash would have been able to see it in the dark or hear it over the cacophony of wind and water. Unwilling to risk taking to the air for such a short walk, the pegasus fought forward on hoof, intending to give that madmare Twilight a piece of her mind for getting them both drenched for what appeared to be no reason. Dash made slow but steady progress forward until a white flash of lightning revealed that she was just a few feet from Twilight. The unicorn's horn glowed a brilliant purple for a few seconds and then winked out; with it, the light seemed to take sound, vision, and feeling. Rainbow Dash could no longer feel the rain, hear the wind, or see anything. The impression didn't last long; a silent bolt of lightning revealed rainwater flowing feet above the ponies' heads, cascading silently over the surface of an invisible dome. Twilight was the first to break the sudden silence, her voice barely a whisper, "Why did you follow me out here, Dash?" A flash lit the world; Twilight had sounded angry in the library, but it seemed to Dash that the fire had gone out of her. She just looked sad, her gaze fixed firmly on the mud, and for an instant Dash felt sorry for her. When the darkness returned, and Dash's anger quickly followed, and the pegasus snapped at her friend, "I wasn't going to let you wander in a dangerous storm, Twilight. What were you thinking? You could have been hurt!" The unicorn's horn began to glow, its purple light providing a dim illumination, enough to show that her expression had gone blank. "I can handle it, Dash. Clearly," she said, the last word tinged with sarcasm. Rainbow Dash noticed that while she was dripping, soaked to the bone from a momentary exposure to the storm, her unicorn friend was dry as a bone. Dash silently cursed magic as an unseen force stripped the water from her coat. As soon as Dash was dry, the purple hornlight winked out. The pegasus was happier dry, but wasn't about to let her friend off the hook. "What's your deal tonight, Twilight? You've been acting strange and saying some really weird stuff. It's been getting more and more confusing, and this tops it all. I thought you were smart enough to come in out of the rain, but I guess I was wrong," Dash said, pleased at her own wit. A flash lit their little bubble; Twilight's gaze had returned to her hooves. "I needed to think," she said. Dash scoffed, "You can't think in the library?" "Not with you there!" The unicorn shouted. Rainbow Dash felt like she should have been offended by the implications of that. She may not have been the most brilliant pony around, but she certainly didn't make anypony around her dumber. Still, she gave her friend the benefit of the doubt and asked, "What do I have to do with you thinking?" Twilight was silent for a few moments. "...You distract me. I want to tell you something, but I just can't bring myself to. When I try, I just get scared. Knowing you're there, knowing I could get it over with for better or worse with just a few words, it's maddening." Dash sighed, exasperated, "So tell me." "It's not that easy, Dash. I wish it were," Twilight replied. "You have something to say, you have a mouth. I don't see what isn't easy." Some part of Dash really wanted to know what her friend was hiding; she felt like there had been so many hints, but she just couldn't put together the whole picture. Lightning struck nearby, and its light showed that Twilight Sparkle was staring at Rainbow Dash with an intensity that the pegasus had rarely seen from anypony. Silence hung heavy in the air, the raging fury of the storm inaudible though Twilight's magic barrier. A minute of impatient waiting later, Dash was ready to speak again, but Twilight broke the quiet before she knew what to say. Water sloshed as the unicorn shifted her weight and spoke, "Dash, has anypony ever had a crush on you?" "I don't know. Maybe?" Dash was caught off guard by the question. Twilight's voice was quiet, "...Well, one does now." "Who is it?" A bright flash revealed that Twilight had planted one of her hooves firmly on her own face. The unicorn murmured to herself, and Dash could barely hear the words over her own breath, "Ugh. You know what? Forget subtlety. Just like in the bog. A brave pony like her." "A brave pony like who?" Dash asked, as Twilight's horn began to glow, "What bog? What do you mean...." Dash was struck speechless as Twilight leapt forward, wrapping her hooves around the pegasus' neck. The light from the horn died, and Dash's eyes widened in the darkness as she felt Twilight's lips upon her own, moving softly. Too shocked to react, the pegasus found herself beginning to enjoy the moment as she breathed in the clean air of freshly fallen rain, the scent made all the better accompanied by the subtle aroma of Twilight. The pegasus found that her heart was beating quickly and that she was suddenly very short of breath. Dash's lips parted slightly as she gasped, and Twilight's tongue made its way between them. The pegasus found herself moaning appreciatively, and the last thought on her mind was 'Mares, huh? I could get used to this....' before even that faded. The storm was forgotten while Twilight held her. As they kissed. In the rain.
Chapter 1Warnings and Disclaimers: Characters in this work are property of their respective owners, I do not own any of them, and do not intend to make any sort of profit off of this work. This My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction involves shipping. If you don't know what that means, please go read up on it at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Shipping before reading. If you are made uncomfortable by ANY form of romance between ANY two intelligent beings, this fanfiction may not be to your liking. Continue only with caution. And now, on with the show: From the relative calm above the clouds, Rainbow Dash looked down with satisfaction at the storm she'd helped create. As far as the eye could see, a field of black roiled beneath her as unseen currents of wind howled through the tempest. The effort that she and her weather ponies had put into creating this had been prodigious, but Dash felt joy in knowing that Princess Celestia had wanted the strongest storm in years, and by the sun she'd gotten it. The rest of Dash's team had long since gone to ground; it had become impossible to work from within the storm, but she had stayed, ready to handle any last-minute adjustments that could be made from above cloud level. Now, as the sun began to set, Rainbow Dash steeled herself for the journey back to Ponyville. She'd be flying blind for thousands of feet, and she expected that visibility would be poor even below the level of the clouds; it was, after all, the heaviest rain she'd created in her whole career as a weather pony. With a whispered "Bring it on," she dove into the storm. Wind buffeted Rainbow Dash and her coat was drenched almost instantly as she struggled to control her descent; she knew she couldn't extend her wings to flap, lest a stray gust sprain a tendon or worse. Keeping her wings just a few inches from her body, Dash tried to stay in a roughly horizontal glide, turning in a wide loop to keep herself near her point of origin directly over Ponyville. She squinted through the pounding rain, straining her eyes and hoping every second would be the one she'd break through the clouds. After what seemed like an eternity, Dash was through the clouds, but she soon found that she was falling far too rapidly; her wings flared slightly, and she tried to level off as she turned her nose into the blasting wind, hoping it would bleed off some of her momentum. Lightning flashed, and Dash could smell the metallic sharpness of ozone in the air. Thousands of feet of altitude turned all too quickly into hundreds, and in a panic Rainbow Dash flapped against the vicious wind just hoping to come in slowly enough for a landing she could walk away from; the storm she'd created had far exceeded her expectations, and she felt a sliver of pride alongside the adrenaline rush and terror of her fight for survival. As she neared the ground, Dash's heart skipped a beat as she realized that she was coming in too quickly, far too quickly for any shred of safety. She spread her wings and groaned as as she felt her muscles strain to keep them from folding back; the desperate move began to slow her, but it was too little, too late. Rainbow Dash struggled to keep herself a few feet above the ground; the pegasus knew that if she so much as skimmed the dirt at this speed, she'd lose all control. For a moment, Dash had hope that she'd have room to make a perfect landing, but then a shape appeared out of the pounding rain, directly in her path; she hadn't been able to see far enough ahead to be able to avoid it. Rainbow Dash had just enough time to make out the shape of a huge tree as she shifted in flight, hoping to strike the trunk and absorb the impact with all four hooves to protect her wings and head. A final thought flashed in her mind before she struck: "Is that a door knob?" A shock rocked her body as she impacted the door; it absorbed a sizable portion of her momentum before buckling. Rainbow Dash tumbled into the tree, rolling end over end until she impacted a large cushion set against a wall opposite the entrance to the familiar library. For a moment, Dash was silent and still, hardly daring to hope that she'd escaped without any broken bones. Adrenaline coursed through her as the remnants of mortal panic faded; she gave herself a mental once-over, making sure that she could feel all her limbs, and that they were unharmed beyond bruising. Then, she jumped up, wings flapping as she hovered in the air and threw mock punches in jubilation, "Oh yeah! I need to do that again! Let a storm kill me? That's not how this pegasus rolls! Certain death is my bitch!" She laughed madly, filled with the joy of a habitual thrill-seeker that had once again cheated her way out of serious injury. Twilight's voice called from across the library, where she was attempting to use magic to repair the door's hinges and keep the rain out, "Dash, are you alright? What were you doing out there in the storm? You could have been hurt!" Rainbow Dash floated, grinning, arms crossed behind her head, "That's my storm. I was just showing it who's boss. It might as well be a spring sprinkle for all the trouble it could cause me. I'm pretty much awesome. I might have to stop to kick some lightning on my way home tonight." Twilight smiled, seemingly amused by her friend's bravado. "Seriously, Dash, you need to stop making these crash entrances," she lectured as she set the door back into place, securing it against the wind and rain, "and you can't go back out there. It's dangerous. You should spend the night here in the library with me." She put on a hopeful smile, "Please?" Putting a hoof to her chin as she turned lazily in the air, Dash considered Twilight's offer. Her adrenaline was fading, and the realist in her knew that traveling through the storm would be nothing short of miserable. Besides, her cloud home tended to get a bit... damp... in weather like this. Nodding at her friend, Dash accepted, "Well, I guess I can stay. I wouldn't want you to have to spend the night alone with this incredible storm raging outside, after all." Twilight turned from the newly repaired door, a grin on her face, "That's great, Rainbow Dash! This is going to be way better than my last slumber party. Let me just clean up this mess..." Her horn glowed as she levitated a few books that had been knocked down by Dash's passage, putting them back into place on a bookshelf. "It's a shame none of our other friends are around," Twilight said, not sounding even the least bit sincere, "Oh well, I guess it's just you and me tonight, Dash." Rainbow Dash was only half listening, distracted by the slow drip of water running off her thoroughly drenched coat. "Say, Twilight, do you have a towel or something around?" Twilight glanced at Dash, and put on an apologetic smile before replying, "Heh, sorry Dash. Let me take care of that for you. Close your eyes." The unicorn's horn began to glow. Dash didn't know where Twilight was going with this, but decided to trust her. Once the rainbow haired pegasus' eyes were firmly shut, she felt Twilight's magic settle around her her, a ring of force pushing from her nose back across her body to the tip of her tail, squeezing the excess water out of her coat. Dash opened her eyes and watched as Twilight floated an orb of water to the door and squeezed it out through the gap between the door and the frame. The size of the ball surprised Dash; she hadn't realized that she'd been so drenched. Belatedly, she noticed a trail of water she'd dripped over the library floor. She hoped Twilight wouldn't be angry about it; she knew the librarian was overprotective of her books, though Dash couldn't understand why. "Sorry about the mess Twilight. I'll make it up to you somehow." Surprisingly, Twilight didn't seem to want to take vengeance on Dash in the form of a lecture; she just waved a dismissive hoof as she replied, "Don't worry about it, Dash. You're safe, that's the important thing. Now what do you say we have some fun to forget about the weather? Last time I had a sleepover, Rarity showed me the proper way to do a really great beauty treatment." Rainbow Dash did her best to force as much disgust and disbelief as she could possibly muster into her next two words, "Beauty treatment?" Twilight Sparkle giggled, "I know, I know, I was skeptical the first time I read about it in 'Sleepover 101', but once I tried it, I found that it was super relaxing. I know you'll like it once you give it a try. Plus it involves mud." Dash perked up at that last bit, "I do like mud..." "So you'll try it?" The unicorn asked, voice hopeful. "Well...," Rainbow Dash considered it for a moment. She did like to relax after a nice brush with death. And there was mud. Twilight would probably want to do something involving books if Dash turned her down on this; that certainly would be worse than anything involving mud could be. She replied hesitantly, "Alright. But it better not turn out to be, like, the lamest thing anypony's ever done with mud or something." "Great!" Twilight clapped her hooves, "Wait right here, I'll get everything ready." *** "This is, like, the lamest thing anypony's ever done with mud." At first Dash had been cautiously optimistic; green mud was cool, and how bad could something called a mud mask be? But now, as she sat there, face covered in a thick layer of green mud that Twilight had insisted on applying for her (like she didn't know how to cover herself in mud right!), vision blocked by slices of some vegetable Twilight had put over her eyes, she could only think of how ridiculous she must look. Rainbow Dash could stand looking dirty or unkempt, but she wouldn't stand for looking silly. "This stuff sucks, Twilight." The purple unicorn sighed in annoyance, "If you'd stop talking and start relaxing, you might enjoy it. Just quiet down, and breathe deeply and slowly. Consider it your apology for breaking my door, if that helps." "Oh... heh. Yeah. Alright, I'll breathe." Dash had forgotten about that whole door thing. Cursing her vulnerability to guilt trips about things that were pointed out to her explicitly, she began to breathe deeply. Soon enough, Rainbow Dash began to feel the relaxation that Twilight had been talking about. The last bits of twitchiness from the adrenaline that had fueled her arrival at the library began to fade. Her battered muscles began to unknot, and even the pain of her bruises began to dull toward a warm tingle. She sighed happily. With her eyes shut behind the cucumber slices, Dash was pleased to find that her other senses seemed more acute; they seemed to be getting sharper every moment. Above the dull roar of the storm outside, she could still manage to pick out the soft sound of Twilight's breathing, which didn't seem too far away at all. The subtle smell of Twilight's shampoo grew in her nostrils, its fruity scent becoming sweeter, stronger, and more pleasant by the second. It was almost as if as her senses heightened, the other mare was getting closer and closer. Through some trick Dash's mind must have been playing on her, she thought she could sense her friend's presence just a few inches away, getting slowly closer. It seemed to Dash as if just a few seconds more would sharpen her perception enough that she'd be able to open her mouth and taste Twilight. She parted her lips... "Hey Twilight, this relaxation stuff is pretty awesome after all!" Immediately following her shout, Dash felt a gust of air, as if something were moving away from her extremely quickly, and then a loud squawk of protest from Twilight, followed very closely by a loud thump. She shook the cucumber slices off of her eyes as she asked with concerned urgency, "What happened Twilight? Are you alright?" The unicorn in question was on her back, mud-covered face scrunched in pain; she managed a tight smile while replying, "Nothing! Well... I fell. I mean, I must have relaxed too much and fell asleep or something," the mare replied, scrambling to her hooves, "And then fell. On my back." Rainbow Dash drew out her reply, "Riiiight... And where are your veggie eye things?" "Oh. Those. They fell. They must have fallen out. When I fell. Heh." Dash only saw her own cucumbers on the floor, but didn't press the issue. She just shook her head, an amused grin on her face, "Sometimes, Twilight, you can be as random as Pinkie Pie."
Chapter 2Rainbow Dash stared out the window, entranced by the spectacle of the tempest raging outside. Once the two ponies had washed the last bits of the beauty mask off of their faces, Twilight Sparkle had set up a spare bed across from her own. Now they each laid on a bed, legs folded beneath them, facing tempest's fury with naught but a thin piece of glass to protect them. The only illumination came from the lightning; Twilight had insisted that a lantern would ruin the experience of watching the storm. Watching the storm. Dash had flown through storms, created storms, even studied storms in flight school, but she'd never just watched a storm. The darkness made the sounds seem louder, more distinct. Raindrops made a constant backdrop of noise, pinging on the window, dripping from the leaves of the library, battering the wood unrelentingly. Intermittently, wind howled, causing the boughs to creak as they bent while leaves whispered deafeningly, brushing against each other and the branches. Every few seconds, thunder boomed, rattling the windows, but it was frequent enough that it was impossible to tell which noise matched any particular bolt of lightning. Lightning. The flashes lit the scene more clearly than a noonday sun, blinding snapshots that lingered in Dash's vision. Her eyes moved each time, hoping to discern a new detail when the next strike came. Flash. A tree bent nearly double, shaking from a gust, with many leaves stripped away. Flash. A closed shop with a sign above its door hanging from two chains, the painted board suspended in the apex of its swing to Dash's momentary perception. Flash. A large puddle, its surface rippling and chaotic, cratered by the splashes of raindrops and the waves of blowing wind, frozen like ice in the pegasus' vision. Rainbow Dash had never watched a storm before. The sight took her breath away. For long minutes, the two ponies were silent, consumed by the wind and the rain, the lightning and the thunder. At long last, Twilight spoke, "This is your storm, Dash." "Yeah...," Dash responded, too amazed to put forth her normal bravado. After a few seconds, Twilight began to murmur quietly, far quieter than the din of rain and wind. Dash heard every word. "I've always loved storms. Ever since I was a little filly in Canterlot, I'd look forward to them when the clouds rolled in, hoping for a downpour. A storm is a dangerous, prideful, uncaring thing, but I knew that it was no danger to me. It raged, but it raged around me, not at me. Under open skies, I felt vulnerable; anypony could come and harm me when the weather was good. The storm kept everypony away, and with its violence wrapped around me, I felt safe. Even though the storm didn't know how I felt about it, even though the storm didn't care, I could still watch in awe as it protected me. Swift, brash, violent, beautiful." Twilight sighed. Rainbow Dash just watched the storm. The lightning had become more regular; there was enough time now in the seconds between strikes that the clap of thunder hit her just before the next bolt lit the sky. Dash didn't usually like talking about deep stuff; those sorts of conversations usually just made her feel uncomfortable and awkward. Still, in the dark room, adrift in the sea of noise pouring in from outside, Dash found that she didn't mind listening to Twilight, even if she didn't understand what compelled the unicorn to speak. After a few moments, Twilight continued, "Dash, what would you do if you fell in love with somepony that was... forbidden to you? Forbidden so that if anypony knew how you felt, even your closest friends, they might hate you or be disgusted by you or... just... shut you out. Would you tell them, knowing that they might laugh in your face or insult you, that all your friends might shun you?" The pegasus had a suspicion that it was more than a hypothetical question, but she answered honestly, "If they were friends worth having, they wouldn't abandon me. Gilda was my best friend until she wanted to change who I hung out with, and who I was, and now she's history. I don't hide what I think or what I feel, I'd tell everypony and not give a hoof if they didn't approve." Thunder was coming more quickly on the heels of lightning now; it seemed almost as if they were alternating, the booms rolling over the ponies halfway between each of the periodic flashes. The unicorn was silent, for a time. When Twilight spoke, it was barely above a whisper, "I wish I were as brave as you, Dash." Rainbow Dash smiled, filled with pride, but as she stared out the window, the smile started to slip. "To be honest, Twilight, I've never been in love." Dash heard Twilight's bed shift slightly, springs squeaking, as the unicorn asked, "Not even a schoolfilly crush?" "Nope. Never. Stallions don't interest me nearly as much as flying," Dash replied, looking over at her friend; the unicorn was now facing her, rather than the window. Twilight leaned forward, "What about...," she hesitated, "...what about mares?" The pegasus tilted her head, "Mares?" Her friend broke eye contact, her gaze fixed firmly out the window. Claps of thunder followed swiftly on the heels of lightning strikes; there was barely time to blink between a flash and a deafening rumble. A dozen bolts had struck before Twilight was ready to answer, "Well... in Canterlot, it's not all that uncommon for mares to be... together. Romantically." Rainbow Dash blinked, "But then, what about...?" Dash had never heard of such a thing; she tried to wrap her head around the concept, "How would they...? I don't get it, Twilight. Canterlot is weird." Twilight Sparkle stood up and gave a weak laugh, "Ha. Yeah. Weird." She hopped off the bed and started descending the ladder to the library floor below. Dash watched her progress, confused. "Where are you going, Twilight?" "I'm going outside," the unicorn growled, voice hostile, "For a walk" It took a few beats for Twilight's words to register. Dash was certain that she must have misheard, but Twilight was headed right for the door of the library, appearing closer to the portal with every lightning strike. As soon as Dash realized that the unicorn wasn't joking, she hopped to her hooves, yelling, "Outside? are you crazy!?" Twilight shouted back, "I must be," her horn glowed, and the door flew open, "I must be crazy, Dash!" Twilight Sparkle disappeared into the storm, and Rainbow Dash rushed to follow.
Alternate Ending: StormAs soon as Rainbow Dash was out of the library, the weather assaulted her. Heavy drops of freezing rain pounded the pegasus pony in a torrent that drenched her nearly instantly. The wind whipped at her, and she dug her hooves into the mud to keep herself from being blown backward. The world was consumed by a flash and a deafening boom of thunder as a brilliant jagged lance struck the lightning rod on a home a few dozen yards away from her. The light revealed Twilight Sparkle not too far ahead of her, struggling slowly away. Dash shouted at the unicorn, but if Twilight heard, she gave no sign. Her horn glowed dimly, and Dash suspected that the unathletic unicorn was using magic to make progress against the fury of the storm. Unable to risk taking to the air, the pegasus fought forward on hoof, not knowing what she'd do when she caught up with her friend. Dash's progress was slow, but the intermittent flashes revealed that her friend's lead was shrinking. The strikes were becoming more infrequent, and the time between lightning and thunder was growing. As the world was lit less and less often, it seemed to grow darker; Rainbow Dash relied increasingly on the light from her friend's horn, bobbing in the distance, to show the way. The pegasus, unable to see far in the downpour, hoped that Twilight knew where she was going. Eventually, the lightning stopped altogether. The rain continued, seeming to drive ever more mercilessly from the uninterrupted inky blackness of the sky. The muscles in Rainbow Dash's legs burned from fighting through the thick mud, but she redoubled her efforts as Twilight's horn grew closer. With a final burst of speed, she caught her friend, grabbing the unicorn's tail with her teeth. She pulled, expecting resistance from the unicorn, but Twilight just stopped. As Dash released Twilight's tail, intending to give her friend a piece of her mind for instigating the ridiculous chase, the unicorn whirled, quickly turning to face her. The purple hornlight gave just enough illumination to create an island of visibility in the surrounding dark; Twilight seemed to float in a void, the light not quite reaching the muddy ground. Before Dash could say anything, Twilight leapt at her; the unicorn threw her hooves around Dash's shoulders, and as the light from the unicorn's horn winked out, their lips met. Rainbow Dash's reaction was instant and decisive; she reared away, breaking Twilight's grip on her. The lightning began again, and the first flash illuminated perfectly the look of momentary disgust that had passed across Dash's face. Dash knew that her friend had seen the expression when the next flash showed that Twilight's countenance was a mask of utter despair. Understanding washed over Dash, and all the strange things Twilight had said suddenly made sense. It was so obvious in retrospect, and Dash cursed the situation; she didn't want to hurt her friend, but Dash couldn't think of Twilight that way, think of mares that way. The pegasus did what she had to do. Rainbow Dash gathered Twilight Sparkle into a hug. With Twilight's head on her shoulder, as rain drenched both their coats, Dash felt hot drops mix with cold. She felt her friend shake with sobs. Rainbow Dash knew that she couldn't be who Twilight wanted her to be, but she was loyal. Dash knew that the least she could do for her friend, for Twilight, was hold her. As she cried. In the rain.
Alternate Ending: SilenceAs soon as Rainbow Dash was out of the library, the weather assaulted her. Heavy drops of freezing rain pounded the pegasus pony in a torrent that drenched her nearly instantly. The wind whipped at her, and she dug her hooves into the mud to keep herself from being blown backward. The world was consumed by a flash as a brilliant jagged lance struck the lightning rod of a home just a few dozen yards from her. The accompanying thunder was deafening, but the light revealed Twilight Sparkle not too far ahead of her, standing calmly in the rain, facing back toward the library. Dash shouted at the unicorn, but if Twilight heard, she gave no sign, not that Dash would have been able to see it in the dark or hear it over the cacophony of wind and water. Unwilling to risk taking to the air for such a short walk, the pegasus fought forward on hoof, intending to give that madmare Twilight a piece of her mind for getting them both drenched for what appeared to be no reason. Dash made slow but steady progress forward until a white flash of lightning revealed that she was just a few feet from Twilight. The unicorn's horn glowed a brilliant purple for a few seconds and then winked out; with it, the light seemed to take sound, vision, and feeling. Rainbow Dash could no longer feel the rain, hear the wind, or see anything. The impression didn't last long; a silent bolt of lightning revealed rainwater flowing feet above the ponies' heads, cascading silently over the surface of an invisible dome. Twilight was the first to break the sudden silence, her voice barely a whisper, "Why did you follow me out here, Dash?" A flash lit the world; Twilight had sounded angry in the library, but it seemed to Dash that the fire had gone out of her. She just looked sad, her gaze fixed firmly on the mud, and for an instant Dash felt sorry for her. When the darkness returned, and Dash's anger quickly followed, and the pegasus snapped at her friend, "I wasn't going to let you wander in a dangerous storm, Twilight. What were you thinking? You could have been hurt!" The unicorn's horn began to glow, its purple light providing a dim illumination, enough to show that her expression had gone blank. "I can handle it, Dash. Clearly," she said, the last word tinged with sarcasm. Rainbow Dash noticed that while she was dripping, soaked to the bone from a momentary exposure to the storm, her unicorn friend was dry as a bone. Dash silently cursed magic as an unseen force stripped the water from her coat. As soon as Dash was dry, the purple hornlight winked out. The pegasus was happier dry, but wasn't about to let her friend off the hook. "What's your deal tonight, Twilight? You've been acting strange and saying some really weird stuff. It's been getting more and more confusing, and this tops it all. I thought you were smart enough to come in out of the rain, but I guess I was wrong," Dash said, pleased at her own wit. A flash lit their little bubble; Twilight's gaze had returned to her hooves. "I needed to think," she said. Dash scoffed, "You can't think in the library?" "Not with you there!" The unicorn shouted. Rainbow Dash felt like she should have been offended by the implications of that. She may not have been the most brilliant pony around, but she certainly didn't make anypony around her dumber. Still, she gave her friend the benefit of the doubt and asked, "What do I have to do with you thinking?" Twilight was silent for a few moments. "...You distract me. I want to tell you something, but I just can't bring myself to. When I try, I just get scared. Knowing you're there, knowing I could get it over with for better or worse with just a few words, it's maddening." Dash sighed, exasperated, "So tell me." "It's not that easy, Dash. I wish it were," Twilight replied. "You have something to say, you have a mouth. I don't see what isn't easy." Some part of Dash really wanted to know what her friend was hiding; she felt like there had been so many hints, but she just couldn't put together the whole picture. Lightning struck nearby, and its light showed that Twilight Sparkle was staring at Rainbow Dash with an intensity that the pegasus had rarely seen from anypony. Silence hung heavy in the air, the raging fury of the storm inaudible though Twilight's magic barrier. A minute of impatient waiting later, Dash was ready to speak again, but Twilight broke the quiet before she knew what to say. Water sloshed as the unicorn shifted her weight and spoke, "Dash, has anypony ever had a crush on you?" "I don't know. Maybe?" Dash was caught off guard by the question. Twilight's voice was quiet, "...Well, one does now." "Who is it?" A bright flash revealed that Twilight had planted one of her hooves firmly on her own face. The unicorn murmured to herself, and Dash could barely hear the words over her own breath, "Ugh. You know what? Forget subtlety. Just like in the bog. A brave pony like her." "A brave pony like who?" Dash asked, as Twilight's horn began to glow, "What bog? What do you mean...." Dash was struck speechless as Twilight leapt forward, wrapping her hooves around the pegasus' neck. The light from the horn died, and Dash's eyes widened in the darkness as she felt Twilight's lips upon her own, moving softly. Too shocked to react, the pegasus found herself beginning to enjoy the moment as she breathed in the clean air of freshly fallen rain, the scent made all the better accompanied by the subtle aroma of Twilight. The pegasus found that her heart was beating quickly and that she was suddenly very short of breath. Dash's lips parted slightly as she gasped, and Twilight's tongue made its way between them. The pegasus found herself moaning appreciatively, and the last thought on her mind was 'Mares, huh? I could get used to this....' before even that faded. The storm was forgotten while Twilight held her. As they kissed. In the rain.
