Heart of the Rainbow

Skye shifted his wings and begun his descent behind the coasting Rainbow Dash. The wind was rippling over their fur as both ponies swerved closer to Rainbow's home. Skye could see a village dotted by lights in the distance. That was most likely Ponyville.

"Whew! I am beat! How the heck can you fly for so long with that bad wing?" Rainbow shouted. She skidded to a stop on the large cloud in front of her doorway and slumped over. Her head was lodged into the soft, puffy surface.

Skye landed next to her with a big grin. His head was bobbing back and forth as he struggled to acclimate himself to life on his hooves once again. "Hey, I never said I couldn't fly for a long time! I'm just not as fast as you." His wings folded against his body once more. Skye grabbed Rainbow by her tail and pulled her head free from the cloud.

Rainbow fell backwards onto Skye and almost knocked him over the edge of the cloud. Skye propped his forelegs behind him and caught himself before falling off. He glared at Rainbow who was smacking a hoof on the cloud and laughing hysterically.

"I'm sorry! It's just, your face!" she covered her mouth and snickered.

"Probably looks angry 'cuz you almost shoved me to my death!" Skye pushed himself up and stomped over to her.

"Oh yeah, like I'm scared of you." Rainbow flapped her wings and left Skye standing alone. "C'mon, flyboy, I'll give you the grand tour."

Rainbow nudged the door open. Skye was peering over her shoulder into the dimly lit living room. It was barely furnished. Chairs. Table. Sofa. Bookshelf. It was surprisingly clean though for somepony like Rainbow Dash. Skye Shot wouldn't have pegged her as the type to clean up after herself. It was a nice surprise.

"Something wrong with your face?" She rolled her eyes and trotted inside. "What's the problem?"

"No problem. I guess I was expecting something a little more… well more!" he beamed.

"I honestly never spent much time here. Back when the whole gang was around we'd be out and about doing all sorts of things. Everyone's on their own little adventure right now though, so I've been finding myself stuck here more often. It's kinda boring." She looked away and sighed. "Not to mention lonely." Rainbow yawned and covered her mouth. "Sorry, guess that cider is making me drowsy."

"You practically drank an entire tree's worth!" Skye jumped onto the couch and stretched out. "Hey, you weren't kidding! I could melt right into this thing!" He wriggled into the couch and cooed in relief. "This feels amazing on my wi-"

"Cannonball!" Dash leapt up and curled her body into a ball before jumping onto the couch and landing on Skye's stomach. She uncurled and remained seated on him. "You're not as comfy as the couch."

Skye coughed and shoved her over onto the other side of the sofa. He caught his breath and folded his forelegs across his chest. "You treat all your house guests like this?"

"Only the ones I like!" She winked and hopped off the couch.

Skye froze and his inebriated mind quickly went from cloudy to clear. She definitely just hinted at something. He watched as she flew upstairs. He could hear her fiddling with a drawer in what he imagined was her bedroom. Skye's hooves ruffled his mane in frustration as he tried to make sense of the tipsy mare. Was she being serious or just messing with him?

The noise upstairs continued as he slid off the couch and investigated a picture on the coffee table. Dash had her face squished up against the cheek of a much younger pony. The filly was orange with a purple mane and tail. Scribbled on the bottom right of the picture was "Sisters forever – Scoots and Dash."

"Hey! Snooping around without my permission?" Rainbow flew over with something held behind her back.

Skye stood up straight on his hind legs and shook his head back and forth quickly. "Just wanted to see the picture! I didn't know you had a little sister, Rainbow."

"Not exactly. We aren't related, but I love that little squirt like a sister. She's a good filly. I haven't seen her around lately though. Usually she is following me all over when I'm back in Ponyville." Her smile beamed as she approached Skye slowly. "Hold out your hooves and close your eyes, flyboy. I got somethin' for ya."

Skye's heart skipped more than just a beat. He swallowed and did as instructed. Rainbow gently placed something into his hooves. More importantly, he was counting how long she kept her hooves pressed against his. "I noticed you have a hard time keeping your eyes open when you fly really fast or if the weather gets bad. I, uh, I thought these might help you out a bit."

Skye opened his eyes and watched as her light blue forelegs slowly moved away. A pair of old goggles was bunched up between his hooves. Skye just stared at the goggles and smiled.

A gift from Rainbow Dash? She really did have too much cider…

"Well, don't make this weird! Try 'em on already!" Rainbow blushed a bit.

Skye slipped the goggles over his eyes. The brown leather straps were tight, but didn't cause any discomfort. There was plush layer of padding around the glass lenses so that he could wear the goggles without any strain on his face. They were great. No. They were perfect! Skye moved his head around and shifted his eye balls to grow accustomed to the new accessory. He felt his eyes water a bit as he took everything in.

"Are you… okay?" Rainbow asked as Skye lowered his head.

"Yeah, just got a little dust in my eye or something." He sniffled and forced a laugh. "You should've cleaned them first!" Skye bit his lip and tried to compose himself.

"So you like them?" Rainbow's smile slowly grew as she waited for Skye to answer. It felt like an eternity was passing between the two ponies.

"I love them!" Skye loosened the straps a bit and lowered the goggles to hang around his neck.

Rainbow clapped her hooves together excitedly. "Awesome! Er, well – I needed to get rid of those old things anyway. I just thought maybe they'd help you out a bit. Ya know, for the competition." She turned away and squeed.

Skye jumped back onto the couch and watched as the goggles bounced against his neck. Rainbow took a few seconds to observe the smiling stallion. With Skye admiring his new gift, Rainbow decided to press her luck on another subject other than flying.

"Say, do you… ever read? I know lame question, right?" she paused.

"I don't really get a lot of chances to read." Skye said with a frown. "But I used to read some old books my friend Role had laying around his house."

"Have you ever heard of the Daring Do series by A.K. Yearling?" Dash excitedly hovered off the ground.

"Yeah, but I never -"

Dash grabbed his hoof and pulled him off the couch. "I have the entire collection so far! Ohmigosh, you should start one tonight! In fact, I-I'd let you borrow a few if you'd like!" She calmed down. "I think you'd like them…"

Skye nodded and played along. "That's awesome! You should show me your collection!"

Skye's body was still feeling the effects of the cider, but it seemed as if he senses were firing on all cylinders whenever Rainbow spoke to him.

. . . . . .

Dash had her forelegs spread to showcase the impressive collection of hardback Daring Do books on a shelf. Skye had no real idea what was going on, but it would have been incredibly heartless for him to dismiss something she loved so much. Even more so, something she wanted to share with him.

"So, whatcha think?" Dash flew up and snatched the first book from the shelf. It was practically falling apart in her hooves.

"I think you need some tape for that thing…" Skye leaned closer and inspected the tattered edges.

"Ha, yeah, huh? For a while I always had this in my saddlepack and it took a beating. Doesn't help that I've read it a bajillion times either. That's pretty much what I do when I'm here. Not much else to-"

"What. Is. This?!" Skye shouted from the other side of her bedroom.

Rainbow sighed and landed on the ground. "I didn't think you'd notice that so fast." Her hooves clicked on the marble flooring as she approached the curious stallion. "That's a new toy of mine. It's pretty tough though. I can't get very far."

Skye was leaning over a fully functioning "Daring Do vs. Equestria" arcade console. His eyes were shining as he rubbed his hooves over the smooth plastic casing. It had to be brand new. The bit slots were polished, the colors on the screen were vibrant, and the buttons still made that satisfying "click" sound gamer ponies loved so much. Rainbow giggled as she watched Skye hug the arcade game.

"We never had this game in New Jockey! I remember Role Play kept trying to order it, but we were always short on bits! I have to tell him about this! Can I try it?" He wagged his tail excitedly.

"Jeez, and I thought I was a dork for reading…" Rainbow leaned forward and slid a bit into the machine. "You're gonna get your flank kicked so bad…"

"Oh yeah?" Skye smirked. "Let's make it interesting then!"

"Oh, a bet, eh? Okay, I'm down with that!" Rainbow spit in her hoof and held it out. "If you can't beat the first level, I'm taking those goggles back!"

Skye spit on his hoof and smacked it against Rainbow's. "If I win, I'm sleeping in the bed and you get the couch!"

"Deal!" Rainbow folded her forelegs and watched as Skye grabbed the joystick with one hoof and placed his other hoof over the four buttons.

[Press Start]

Skye clicked a button and watched the screen change to Daring galloping away from a temple. Skeleton ponies were closing in on her from all directions. Text started rolling up from the bottom of the screen.

Daring Do was almost captured by the bony minions of the Skeletal Stallion. Help her battle through the woods in order to return to her campsite!

"This is actually kinda cute…" Rainbow whispered while she watched Skye lick his lips.

[Ready? … Go!]

Daring jumped onto a tree stump and punched forward through a skeleton pony.

[10 points!]

Two more skeleton ponies trotted onto the screen and begun throwing their bones at Daring. A double jump! Daring kicked off a tree and diagonally kicked downward stomping both ponies into dust.

[Skeletal Stampede!]

"Ugh, this part stinks! They all rush you from the left side of the screen and you have to keep moving to the right while dodging pretty much everything. There's falling trees, giant zombie hooves that crush you, the poison bog, and we can't forget how if anything touches even a feather on your wings you're dead meat. Then there's the boss. If you look away from the Skeletal Stallion for a second he grabs you and eats you! I swear I must have died at this part a hundred times!" She continued droning on while Skye mindlessly played.

[200 points! Great work, Miss Do! Level Cleared]

[Accomplishment Uncovered /)(\ Do the Daring Do!]

"Whaaaat?" Rainbow facehoofed and groaned. "You beat it and got the special accomplishment? That means you cleared the entire level and boss in under three minutes without a scratch! How did you? I mean, how can anypony?" She stammered.

"We spent a lot of time at the arcade in New Jockey. It didn't have a lot of games, but we were always trying to beat each other's scores." Skye turned away from the game machine and eyed the comfy bed. "Looks like I finally found something I can beat you at. See ya in morning, Dashie Do."

Skye trotted past her and snickered. He crashed onto the bed and spread his legs and wings out. It had been a long day. A good night's rest was just what the doctor ordered. Skye rolled over and noticed Rainbow holding a pillow.

"Scooch over, flyboy."

Skye's eyes widened to the point of nearly bursting from his head.

. . . . . .

Rainbow yawned and squirmed under the blanket. Skye was still frozen in place with his eyes wide open. Spending the night on the couch was stressful enough, but now he was actually lying next to Rainbow Dash in her own bed.

"If you're not comfortable I can go downstairs." Rainbow was resting on her side and holding her head up with a foreleg. "I guess I forgot that you stallions freak out over stuff like this. Fluttershy crashes here all the time."

"S-sorry…" Skye relaxed and laid back on the pillow. "I'm weird."

"Nah, not weird." Dash laughed. "You're a lot of fun. I'm… really glad you took me to the training room. Even though it almost got your flank in hot water with Forecast." She fell onto her pillow and yawned. "I think the cider finally got me. I'm beat."

"Goodnight, Dash." Skye smiled and closed his eyes. He was lying on his back and trying not to overthink things too much.

Then he felt something curl up against his side. His eyes shot open. Rainbow had one eye opened and was smiling.

"I usually cuddle with my extra pillow, but you're on it. Guess that means I'll have to settle for you instead." She huffed at his panicked expression. "Will you just take it easy?"

Skye swallowed and reached a foreleg across the bed. Dash instinctively rested her head on his leg and pressed herself against his body.

"We can talk for a bit if that'll unstiffen those wings of yours." Her laughter cracked as Skye blushed and rolled away. He curled into a ball and tried avoid contact with Rainbow.

Several minutes passed. Dash started drifting off to sleep when Skye finally spoke up. "I'm not good at being around other ponies. I've never been good at stuff like this. That's why I only have a hoofful of friends to begin with."

"Ya know, part of me did this just to tease you. I wanted to see how you'd react. I guess I thought it would be funny." Dash hopped out of the bed with her pillow and slowly flew toward the door. "I-I really didn't mean to upset you. Sorry…" Her ears lowered.

Skye closed his eyes and felt the embrace of night washing over his aching body.

. . . . . .

Rainbow was sitting up on the couch when she heard the shuffling of hooves coming down the stairs. A sleepy-eyed Skye Shot had a serious case of bedhead. He was dragging the pillow behind him.

"Can't sleep?" Skye mumbled while rubbing his eyes.

Dash shook her head slowly.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I overdid it tonight. My stomach hurts."

Skye sat next to her on the couch and placed the pillow on her lap. "Here, you can have your cuddle buddy back. I'm okay without a pillow."

Rainbow smirked a bit.

"I just wanted to check on y-"

She threw her arms around him and nuzzled into Skye's side. "You keep the pillow instead."

Skye's mind was teetering between pure exhaustion and cider-induced double vision. Stress wasn't even registering in his brain. He wrapped a hoof around her and rested his head on her mane.

"I never got this close to another mare before." Skye spoke quietly. "I grew up alone, so this just seemed weird to me. Sorry if I hurt your feelings earlier."

She playfully punched him in the stomach. "You better be! What kind of partner are ya?"

"A scared one." Skye threw his head back against the couch. "I'm not good enough to fly with you, Dash. I'm only going to slow you down."

"We'll win. I never lose." She winked.

"You're naturally talented. You have a real gift for being up in the air. I just became a weather pony. We're leagues apart. If we lose because of me, I'll feel terrible."

"You don't give yourself enough credit." Rainbow breathed into his shoulder. "I can't fly for as long as you and I doubt I could take as much of a beating as you. Yeah, maybe I can mess around with the weather a bit more, but I've been Ponyville's weather leader for ages now."

"Thanks again… for the goggles. I think they'll help a lot."

"Thank you for helping me out at the pub." She looked up at him with sleepy eyes. Another yawn escaped her mouth. "I don't even think people remembered me being a stumbling fool. That punch of yours seemed to take all the attention away from me."

"It was my pleasure. Hopefully I can hit him again real soon." Skye narrowed his eyes.

"You've also helped me get my mind off of being away from the girls for so long. Fluttershy is the only pony I've seen lately and even she's busy getting ready for some animal talent show thing."

"Where are the others?"

"Twilight's been in Canterlot for what feels like an eternity. Princess business I guess. Pinke Pie is at the rock farm spending time with her family. Applejack's been so busy preparing for the upcoming harvest that she hardly has time to sleep. Rarity is heading to Canterlot to help with a new theater that's opening up. Then there's me. Just killing time until we go back to our old life… I hope." Rainbow sighed. "After we talked at the banquet I felt so happy. I had forgotten just how exciting it was to make a new friend. Then when I heard about you and Forecast at the weather facility I thought it might be a fun adventure to check it out. I didn't think you'd actually fly around with me!"

"I wanted to leave before anything happened, but when you mentioned the Rumble… I guess I got scared. I really didn't like the thought of you being pummeled by everypony."

Rainbow pushed away. "Scared? No no no, scary is when I thought you died on me when you smacked into the ground! You don't have any idea how much I cried! You wouldn't move. You were just limp and cold. I didn't know what to think. I had never been through something like that before. I always had somepony by my side when I was that upset. Facing it alone was a lot harder than I thought it would be."

Skye smiled and rubbed her shoulder. "It was worth it though. We got to have a nice dinner, some drinks; I even got to meet the Wonderbolts! Things like this never happened to me in New Jockey. You don't know what it's like to experience so much happiness in such a short time."

Rainbow kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around him tighter. "I think I have an idea what that much happiness feels like…"

Skye placed a hoof on his cheek and turned beet red.

"If you tell anypony about that I'm going to strangle you with those goggles, flyboy."

. . . . . .

Throughout the night, Skye checked on Dash to make sure she was sound asleep. He even slept on his injured wing in order to make sure she wasn't disturbed by his body shifting around. The moonlight shimmered in through the windows and rested upon Dash's body as the two ponies concluded their evening. Skye could only stare down at what felt like a dream. Like all dreams, he knew this moment would end in the morning. His heart was already filling with new emotions he had never felt before.

. . . . . .

Skye's face was planted into the pillow. The birds outside were chirping and the sun was shining through the cracks in Dash's cloud wall. He stretched out, feeling his entire body monopolize the couch. His eyes shot open as he realized Dash was gone.

"Dash?" he yawned.

No response.

"Rainbow Dash, you here?" Skye's voice changed from groggy to alarmed. Those happy feelings he enjoyed last night were being replaced by something much worse.

He jumped off the couch and trotted up the stairs to see if maybe she had reclaimed the bed. Nopony in the bed.

"Are you messing with me, Dash? Can't you go one day without pranking me?" His voice cracked as the alarm changed to worry. "I'm going to be really upset if you sneak attack me!"

Skye returned downstairs and scanned the entire room for any trace of Dash. Under the picture of her and the filly was a note. He carefully lifted the picture and read the note out loud.

Hey,

I had to run out for a weather emergency. Don't wait for me to come back. Might be late.

We can figure out when to train when you get back from New Jockey.

See ya around,

RD

Skye's heart sank. This was not the follow up he was expecting after last night. This even sounded colder than usual. He stared at the note before finally crumbling it up and tossing it across the room in frustration.

"She got one thing right; I am going back home." Skye shoved his way through the front door and readied to take off.

Then he heard a crash on the other side of the house.

/) To be continued (\