To There and Back Again (Attn: Steelyboo)

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

All the supplies were packed up. She'd checked off the check list more than once. An adventure awaited...

 

They had been in the Crystal Empire for almost a week now. Cadance had requested her presence and the presence of a certain cyan pegasus that Twi never seemed to be able to get off her mind. She'd been trying to keep herself together and thus far had pretty much succeeded. Sure they had made some ground in their relationship but Twi could sense that Rainbow wasn't really into talking about it right now. In fact she hadn't really wanted to talk too much to Twilight at all as of late.

 

The alicorn chewed her lip as they made their way out of a conference between RD, Cadence and herself. It was more awkward than ever between the two of them. It made Twi sad really. She wanted things to be moving differently between them. She'd hoped maybe bringing her feelings front and center would help RD to come to grips with what might have been in her own heart. But the opposite had happened. It seemed like Rainbow had built up walls around her heart, keeping Twi more at bay than she'd ever been.

 

"Oh sweet Celestia," The bookhorse muttered under her breath as she glanced back towards the doors of the conference room. "The Webwing Mountains..." She shuddered. "Wild forest..." She groaned. "And who knows what else..." Not only had Cadance asked them to make the journey on hoof but she'd mapped out a route that included a trail into reaches of the wild that not every pony could deal with. All with the pretense of spreading friendship and making sure everycreature was on the up and up along the route. There had been rumors that all was not well in the mountain passes and the forests beyond. Who better to send than the intrepid Rainbow Dash? Candance had of course decided sending Twilight too would be the best thing for kindling Friendship and showing the strength of the empire by sending one of their won on the trip.... Cadance had not mentioned her other, and main, reasoning for sending the two of them. Whatever was going on between them, it would be good to go on an adventure together.

 

"So," She tried to tried to sound perky. "First thing tomorrow morning we head out?"

[SteelEagle]

                                                                                


It had been a difficult last few weeks for Rainbow. Celestia knows she was trying to be that something more that Twilight wanted but she felt like a wingless filly in a storm. She didn't know how she felt. She thought she did. She thought she shared some of those same feelings. She would love to say that it was simple and that her beat quickly against her chest when Twilight was around, and that was true. It did. But Rainbow didn't really know if it was love or an overwhelming sense of anxiety. She couldn't pinpoint why she felt this way. She couldn't explain it. She tried her best to bury it but she wasn't all that good at hiding what she was feeling, even when she really wanted to. She tried her best to be what Twilight wanted, wanted Twilight needed, what Twilight deserved. But she was failing and Rainbow wasn't certain she would ever be able to pass that test. She didn't even know why she couldn't pencil in the answer, despite her desire to.

 

That was why she was happy to have something else on her mind. Princess Cadance had asked both Rainbow and Twilight to come to the Crystal Empire for a task that seemed like it was more in line with what the Crystal Guard should be doing, but hey, she wasn't gonna complain about having something else to worry about. The mission entailed them heading through one of the more densely forested areas of the Empire and into the Webwing Mountains, one of the truly last wild places left in pony lands. They were to do the whole Princess of Friendship thing it looked like- ensure that everything was on the up and up and that harmony was secure across the entire trail. Cadance had even been kind enough to draw a map, though Rainbow didn't really need it. She had Twilight and that mare was a walking map all on her lonesome. Everything was going to be fine.

 

Well, the mission was.

"Yeah, first thing. The crack of dawn," Rainbow replied with a laugh. Who are we, Applejack?" She opined, hoping to deflect her worries away. "We got it. There may be monsters and crazies but I got the speed and guts, you got the magic and smarts. We'll be fine. We'll be fine," she said, not realizing she had repeated it. 
 

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Twilight retired to her room for the evening not long after their meeting with Cadance. The mare found her heart longing for Rainbow to join her in her quarters but since their last close encounter the book horse had hardly found Rainbow around much at all. She knew RD was avoiding her. It was plain and clear and it made her sad. It was not at all the reaction she'd been hoping for from the pegasus. Twilight had been ready to jump in with all four hooves, but Rainbow not so much. 

 

"Of course she's fast at everything else," Twilight muttered to herself as she leafed through a book of ancient runes she'd borrowed from the palace library. "But not this..." She sighed and turned a page absently, wishing for the mare of her heart to be snuggled at her side. 

 

A few hours passed and Twilight finally found the comfort of sleep. Tomorrow would be a big day and she'd need her wits about her.

 

---

 

The next morning dawned crisp and clear. The alicorn rose from her bed and readied herself for the journey. She'd packed her saddle bags to excess as usual. It felt odd not to have Spike with her, but he'd been needed to attend to royal duties back home. She was on her own, with Rainbow Dash, for this one. 

 

Her mind worked furiously as it always did to come up with ways to get RD to open up to her. So far nothing had worked and all of it had felt unnatural. She figured it would be more of the same and she found a bit of resentment starting to creep into her heart towards the pegasus. How long was she going to drag her hooves? Did she really think Twilight, the Princess of Friendship, would just wait around forever for her? Did she really think she was that special? Twilight knew she would wait, as long as it took and then some. But really? Thoughts such as these constantly went through Twi's mind, and she feared they would continue to do so until she couldn't take it any more!

 

The Princess trotted down the steps towards the great hall. She smiled and accepted the hospitality of the the ponies who had been charged to care for her needs while at the Crystal Palace. It wasn't long before she was seated in front of a bowl of fruits with honey and a glass of orange juice. She levitated the fork with her magic and brought a strawberry to her muzzle. She chewed, glancing about for her adventure companion... 

[SteelEagle]

                                                                           


Rainbow Dash had slept restlessly if at all. It had been another one of those nights and another one where she woke up feeling like trash. She so desperately wanted her dreams to stop working against her but it was as if Luna was taking a break from doing her damn job. Her dreams only seemed to repeat to herself all the worries and fears that she lived with on a day to day basis. Inadequacy in affairs she was a rookie in. Failing a pony that meant a lot to her. And not even being able to accurately place her feelings. In her dreams one moment it was pure love, then it was confusion, then it was fear. Mostly fear. She didn't know what the fear was but she knew she was overwhelmed with it. She woke up once, twice, maybe a third time- just as the light of the sun started to peak over the distant mountains. The last time she decided to just stay awake and stare at the landscape as it woke in front of her. She could probably appreciate it more if she were Applejack. All she wished instead was that she could have slept and not have her sleep be troubled as it was by the many ways she was confused by and failing Twilight.

 

She got an early morning fly around the spire, psyching herself up for the adventure ahead. This was just like something they would have done before so she knew she could do it. She knew Twilight could do it. She knew they could do it, unless they made it harder than it needed to be. When she was done she landed in one of the open balconies and started a trot to the dining room, where she knew there would be some food. With only the barest starts of a sweat on her brow and a yawn firmly stifled under athletic activity she found herself in the dining room. She saw Twilight and smiled, even if it was a plastered on one. She knew she wasn't the prize that Twilight had desired, but that didn't mean she couldn't do her best to play at it for at least a little while. "Hey Twi. You know that strawberry has cream and its on your muzzle, right?" She asked expectantly and then laughed. "I'm pretty sure its for eating, not decoration," she added as she sat down opposite Twilight and started snogging some fruits.

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Well! That was nice and dorkalicious! Twilight reached up and dabbed the cream away with her hoof. She blew her forelocks out of her face and eyed RD cramming fruits. "Thanks for that...uh, you have strawberry," She giggled. "Pretty much everywhere!"

 

She gulped some tea to clear her mind and lay out the plan. "So, the plan is to leave here right after breakfast. I hope you're packed. I took care of mine when I woke up this morning." Un-needed info a Twilight specialty. "We'll take the northern trail toward the mountain pass. By my calculations we can cove the trail to the pass in a day if we move our tails. Well, to a certain extent. Candance suggested we take it fairly slowly in case there's anypony or anycreature around that seems like they could use a greeting." She raised a brow. "This is a diplomatic venture after all."

 

Twilight knew RD could have made it to the Changling Empire within the hour if she had her way buuuuut, she wasn't going to get her way. Plus! Twi was going to get RD warmed up to her if it killed her!

 

She ate another mouthful of strawberries and cream and dabbed her muzzle of a napkin. "Any questions oh travelling companion of mine?"

 

Even though it was gonna be a little awkward sometimes Twi was looking forward to this! It was going to be an adventure and who knew what valuable information she could gather along the way!

 

[SteelEagle]

 

It was true. She did have strawberry everywhere. She was a messy eater by trade and habit and she had never really tried to change it. Her parents had more or less supported her no matter what and so she had more than a few habits that she knew were probably not the best that she, nonetheless, was almost too hard-wired and pig-headed to change. "Yeah, that I do. Maybe I can use them for snacks while we're out?" She replied with a laugh, though she did try and make herself a wee bit more presentable. It wouldn't do for Twilight to be seen with not only somepony beneath her station, but a messy mare at that. "Not sure how well the strawberry would hold up under the pressure, but I'm always willing to find out," she said wink a bright, blue smile.

 

Twilight went over the who and what of the mission. Rainbow would rather just fly but it made sense why they were gonna be taking a slower pace. Rainbow Dash had been flying her whole life and could observe the world around her flawlessly, but Twi couldn't. It was one of the few things she couldn't do. That and this was more of a morale boosting adventure. Sure there was bound to be some flank kicking, but it was flank kicking in service of something other than the flank kicking itself. Made the flank kicking a little less cool but a lot more useful, and she was in. "Yup. All packed up and ready to go," she said confidently. "Don't worry. We've got this thing licked and we haven't even started. Between your brains and my brawn, there is nothing we can't handle out there," she said, lying through her teeth. Because she clearly couldn't really handle her feelings for Twi, but that was for another time. "Hmm," she said, tapping her chin. "The only thing I could think of is, who even lives in the Webwing Mountains?"
 

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Twilight blushed a bit at that cheeky nature and that grin. Dang it! She really wanted some Rainbow time. Walking with her, exploring with her, all the things she had planned. They would be fun but she hoped it would lead to something more at some point... The alicorn shook her head to clear it. She had to keep focused. She'd get close to RD on this venture, one way or another. 

 

"Hmmmm," She thought for a moment. "You know, I'm not sure who we'll run across out there. Could be bat ponies, maybe even diamond dogs. Whoever we run across they'll most likely be recluses. We'll have to be very diplomatic!" She grinned a little herself. If there was one thing she was good at, it was making an impression! Well, with everyone except her intents on Rainbow it seemed.

 

A few minutes later they were wearing tightly packed saddle bags and trotting out over the castle threshold. It was a rather nice day. Sunshine with a bit of breeze. Twilight trotted out, focusing as best she could on the task ahead. There was however, another 'task' she just couldn't shake the thought of. 

 

"Perfect day for it huh?" She asked in a cheery tone to the pegasus near here. 

 

[SteelEagle]

 

Yeah, diplomacy. That sounded fun. She wasn't good at the whole diplomacy thing. She wasn't some action-addicted foal who'd get them in trouble or anything but she'd rather not spend all their time on tea parties with diamond dogs or solving a knitting problem with some old maid in a mountain hold. Then again, she knew they were there mostly as ambassadors of good will. The boring part is what Twilight was good at. She was smart and could think her way out of problems. and more importantly she liked all that diplomatic stuff. Rainbow Dash was more than willing to make a friend or help a creature out but she was all about that action. Adventure, excitement, flying around, ignoring her true feelings, fighting monsters. That was her jam. Smaller jams abound though.

 

"Hah! Well, you can handle all the diplomacy. You know, all that Princess of Friendship stuff," she said as she ruffled Twilight's mane. "As for me?" She puffed her chest out, then started shadowboxing. "Just let me handle the monsters. Gonna give 'em a left, right, kick, uppercut, pow!" She ended with a roundhouse in the air, hovering away as they started their exit and the start of their journey. It wouldn't be long before it got really intense and cool, hopefully. "Yeah, it's a pretty good day. And we're due for some really perfect weather for the next few weeks. You didn't use your Princess Authority to get perfect smooching weather, did you?"

[RainbowFoxxy]

Smooching weather?! What the hay? Twi did a double take, her cheeks blushing pink. She looked away and giggled awkwardly. "Heh heh," she sighed. "Well, I did mention to Luna that I was hoping for clear skied for our journey."

 

They moved away from the castle, onto a gravely trail that lead away towards the mountains. There didn't seem to be too many creatures around. That was fine, she was sure they would run into some sooner or later. She did hope they were pleasant but knowing she had RD's brawn to protect her made her feel safe.

 

"So, this is basically the trail for a large part of the journey. It gets a little patchy later on but pretty much smooth sailing for now."

 

After a while they came upon a bridge. A rather impressive one with golden gilded support cables and oiled soild planking. It was sturdy and as Twilight set hoof to it she could tell it was finely made.

 

"Halt!" A voice called from up ahead. "Who goes there?"

 

Twilight chuckled nervously to RD. "Did we just walk into a filly's fairytale?"

[SteelEagle]

 

 

 

Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief when Twilight blushed. Truth be told she had thrown that out there to try and break the tension that had developed between them and she was happy that Twilight didn't jump on her, literally or figuratively. She rubbed the back of her neck and smiled, flying lazily ahead of the two pony touring committee. It started off well enough. Very few ponies in sight and those that were didn't much care to involve themselves in the business of a Princess and her...guard? Friend? Something of the sort? It was a nice, leisurely stroll through the cold air.

 

For a while, anyway. The trail turned to gravel, though she didn't care much about that. The winds grew heavier. Not faster, heavier- air pressure went up and the air was thick with weighted cold, like the feeling of a winter storm but with no winter to release the sky's tension. it kept her on edge. A pegasus was used to releasing that tention but it felt like the sky here hadn't been tended to. Or if it had been tended to, it had not been very gentle.

It was then that the voice shook her out of it, and Twilight's joke about it being a fairly tale? A smile to her face. "Good, I guess," she said with a laugh, then looked around for trouble, or where the voice came from. No dice. "Though if we are, I'm not gonna wear the damsel in distress dress. I'll go check it out," she said as she flew out over the bridge.

Only to slam into some sort of wall and fall back down near Twilight.
"Oww! What is that-"

"Answer my questions three, or someplace else you will be!"

[RainbowFoxxy]

 

Twilight watched as Rainbow's attempt to defy the 'orders' of whoever was apparently guarding the bridge fell flat. Well, at least her nose was flat now, from running into some sort of invisible barrier. Well this was certainly an odd turn of events. Whoever it was must have some sort of magical ability! Twilight perked up at the thought. She could engage most creatures in  some sort of discourse about magic if they as well could wield it!

 

"Hello there!" She called out while trotting to RD's side. "We just want to cross the bridge to continue our friendship mission!" 

 

Twilight glanced at Rainbow as the pegasus recovered from running into the force field. She spoke softly to the mare. "You alright Dash? That was a nasty encounter!"

 

"Friendship mission?" The voice lightened up. "Why didn't you say so!"

 

An old and wrinkled unicorn appeared on the bridge seemingly from nowhere! 

 

"Teleportation!" Twilight spoke in recognition. "He does have a good handle on magic then. That and conjuring force fields?"

 

The mare moved towards the unicorn on the bridge. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle and this is my uh," She glanced at the pegasus, wishing she could say they were more than they currently were. "This is my good friend, Rainbow Dash. Perhaps you've heard of us?"

[SteelEagle]

 

Rainbow allowed herself back up with Twilight's help begrudgingly, mostly out of incessant embarrassment more so than any actual pain. "I'm fine. Well, except for my pride, heh," Rainbow responded as she was helped up, rubbing the back of her wings where a small pain had shot through her. She didn't know who would do this or why they would, she just knew that it frustrated her to no end to feel so humiliated by some magical barrier. Sometimes, and only sometimes, she hated Equestrian magic. Unless it was Twi, Dash was usually just awed there. Plus Twilight had very good reasons for doing anything she did. Rainbow, rather cruelly, did not ascribe such qualities to this newer, friendlier victimizer of pegasi.

 

The stallion responsible for the barrier stepped forward. It was not a cool monster or villain but rather just an older stallion, a wizard, who should have known better than to put force fields where athletic pegasi were trying to impress very special ponies. "Yeah, nice force field or whatever. It stopped me so you know it's good," Rainbow laughed, though the mirth was inconstant and fake. Her eyes were still set hard. She didn't like being made to look the fool or weak and she had been made to look both. He better have damn good cause. "But why is it up in the first place? Other ponies do live close by and this could hurt them if they aren't as experienced in being awesome like we are!"
 

[RainbowFoxxy]

*skipping forward*

 

Twilight trotted along the trail, looking at the mountains looming ahead of them. 

 

"That was some incident on the bridge huh Rainbow?" She blew her forelocks out of her eyes. They had eventually persuaded the bridge keeper to let them pass. She still couldn't believe that he hadn't heard of Princess Twilight or the amazing Rainbow Dash! He must had never left his bridge to hear any news!

 

Twilight sighed inwardly. Thus far nothing she had said or done was getting her any closer to what she really wanted to Rainbow. Just looking at the mare made her blush and she had to try to keep herself calm constantly around her. Twilight rolled her eyes to herself. She was smarter than this! She had to think of something to let RD know how she felt. 

 

"So, the mountains are up ahead. We should be able to find some sort of trail for some of it and we should stick to it. That way we can meet whoever might be using it. When the trail goes away, I guess we should take to the sky."

 

[SteelEagle]

 

Rainbow could scarcely recover from what had happened at the bridge. A blow to her ego to be sure. That force field had been one thing. She had encountered a lot of things that tried and succeeded at slowing her down, but this was new. Not knowing who Rainbow Dash was? That was a shock in and of itself. How could anypony not know her? She was a Wonderbolt. Everypony knew about the Wonderbolts. Everypony loved the Wonderbolts. She should know, she checked to make sure that remained true every day of her life. But not knowing who Twilight Sparkle was? Princess Twilight Sparkle, most powerful creature in the world, leader of Equestria, Element of Magic and savior of the planet many times over? That wasn't just ignorance. That was bordering on intentional indifference.

 

Twilight said something and it broke Rainbow out of her trance. "Oh?" she asked, clearly having been lost in her own mind as she tried to reconfigure the last few minutes. "Oh. Oh yeah, yeah. That makes sense. We need to be on top of our game here and help anypony we see. even those we don't see. Which would be just about everypony, I'd guess. Who even uses these trails? I know we're in the mountains but isn't there a road nearby?" She asked as she looked around, gaining altitude as she did so. A few reasons sparked that, least of all was her own feelings of inadequacy. She came back down after a little bit. "Yeah. A road. The road more traveled..." she shanked Twi with a hoof, "hey, does that make this the road less traveled?" She asked with a wide grin, clearly pleased with herself.

[RainbowFoxxy]

"My ,my," Twi jabbed RD back. "Aren't we the learned one today!" She giggled. She liked when Rainbow showed off her intellectual side. She had one of course. It was something that made Twi all the more focused on the pegasus. She loved reading, something that was dear to Twilight herself after all!

 

"I suppose it does!" She kept her eyes focused on the road ahead, not noticing the rock right in front of her hoof. Next thing she knew she had tripped and was heading right into Rainbow Dash's side in a flurry of purple and wings...

[SteelEagle]

 

"Hehe, well. You know me. A regular Reading Rainboom," Rainbow replied as she rubbed the back of her neck with a laugh, though to be perfectly fair to her non-intellectual side she was sure the road was pretty common knowledge. Or it should have been,. right? Still, she wouldn't shy away from a compliment. She felt like she could deal with one or a hundred after that ego fiasco back at the bridge. Twilight was a real intellectual. Somepony who could actually hold a debate on topics and has hard, strong opinions based on facts. Rainbow liked it when Daring Do crossed the ravine.

 

Rainbow hovered a few inches off the ground, her gaze outward as she tried to imagine what new fresh challenge would await them. And that gaze wouldn't really help her much as she didn't even notice when Twilight tripped over a rock and went tumbling into her. The Princess smashed into the Wonderbolt and the two of them went tumbling off the trail and into the underbrush, then off a small drop next to a cave. Tangled up with their wings turned around the other's, Rainbow shook her head clear of the impact and blew some air at a growing bump. "Uggh, any bigger and I'll be an Alicorn too. You okay?"

[RainbowFoxxy]

The collision was painful and the tumble ever worse! Twi ended up with her wings tangled in Rainbow's and their bodies tangled together! She quickly tried to disentangle herself from the other mare, a blush from causing this accident and at the close proximity with RD she found herself in. 

 

"Oh my gosh!" She winced, rubbing her knee and then standing gingerly. "Are you ok Rainbow?" 

 

Twilight blew her forelocks out of her eyes and tried to regain herself. "Do you need help?" 

 

She took a step towards her friend and then glanced over. The mouth of a dark cave yawned out of the foliage next to them. Just the sight of it sent a shiver up her spine...

[SteelEagle]

 

The two mares untangled themselves, their embarrassed blushes evidence that both of them could live with. Or die with, based on how awkward everything felt. Rainbow's wings were splayed out and unmoving as she looked at and felt every inch of Twilight's body as they disentangled. She didn't know what to think except that something needed to change because of all the things that RD handled poorly, awkwardness was probably the thing she handled very worst of all. Still, she made sure that she wasn't hurt- yep. She seemed good, physically at least. Same with Twi. She was very good physically, Rainbow knew that. "Haha, yeah, I'm fine. You don't get to be a Wonderbolt without taking your hits now and then. Are you doing okay? I wouldn't want to be held responsible for a state crime just yet. Too young for exile," Rainbow joked as she made sure the pair were fine off and safe.

 

Rainbow's eyes couldn't help but look at the cave. She never really liked being in enclosed places like that. not to any sort of pathological level, but pegasi preferred the open skies. That, and darkness. Not the biggest fan. Though as the cold wind started to whip around and the sun started to dip, it did look more appealing than the alternative. "Well, I guess we can stop here for the night. Better than being out here in the elements," Rainbow laughed as she started hovering towards the dark, dreary cave. 

[RainbowFoxxy]

Disentangling was the last thing Twi wanted to do. She wanted to stay that close to RD, no matter the pain of how they had ended up that way. Soon enough though they had stepped apart and looked towards the cave entrance. The night would be coming on soon enough and shelter would be a good thing. 

 

"I think if we stay near the entrance we should be alright," She looked over the setting. It could be plesent. Plus, she and RD might have to stay close together for some warmth. 

 

Soon they had set up camp near the mouth of the cave. Twi unpacked some food and used her horn to light the fire once RD had carried over some wood. It crackled merrily and made Twi feel a bit more confident in herself. 

 

"Want some?" She asked RD while offering her a bowl of oat porridge with daisies on top. She'd warmed it up with some magic. It wasn't fancy but Twi had always liked the simplicity of oat porridge. She'd been eating it since she was young and she had Shining had pitched camp in their parent's yard.

 

Twi sat near the fire, wondering the best steps to end up under a blanket next to Rainbow...

[SteelEagle]

 

It didn't take very long for the pair to get set up in the cave. Rainbow was on firewood duty and it was easy enough. Of course, the woods in this area hard a terrible bit of bark that came off too easy when busting through the trees, so a few times instead of being able to grab the wood she would mostly just end up punching the tree down. Still, in just a few minutes she would gather more than enough firewood. No doubt enough for the fire, but she also wanted to make sure that they had ammunition to kick at giant cave bears and weird giant monsters that her mind couldn't pull together quite well at the moment. Probably a giant spider.

 

"Here ya go!" Rainbow said as she dropped the wood off for Twilight and set about making the camp secure, or as much as she could considering how close they were to the cave. It would have to do. Frankly, it wasn't a big deal to be caught up in the rain. Pegasi could handle it better, their innate magic meaning water flowed through their wing feathers rather than soaking them- well, as long as they moderated it. With that in mind, she was more than happy to take the food that was offered. Porridge was not her cup of tea, which went without saying really, but she was hungry enough.

 

"Sure. Thanks, Twilight!" Rainbow said as she started to chow down. It didn't taste good but it was hot, and that was good enough for her!

[RainbowFoxxy]

Soon the porridge was gone and the night had closed in around them. Twilight shivered a little and scooched a little closer to the fire. She glanced around and then brought out a few blankets from their packs and got them into a comfortable nest not too far back from the fire as to keep things warm but not too close either. 

 

"Want to come snuggle with me Rainbow?" Twilight asked, hoping she sounded normal. Her heat had started beating faster again at the thought of being close to RD. "I made a good place for us to sleep."

[SteelEagle]

 

Rainbow allowed herself the warmth of the fire to soothe her. So far their little trip had been a bit more complex than she had hoped it would be, and not because of anything cool or radical. Quite the opposite! Her awesomeness was not on full display and she felt as if the world was being denied a fuller, greater glimpse of all things Rainbow and Dash. Alas, the world would have to wait a little while longer. Soon the porridge was gone, and the fire started to die along with whatever small fraction of moonlight tried poking through the still-active stormfront. What better time for bed, right?

 

And who better to bed with- wait, that sounded wrong. Was it okay that it sounded wrong? Yes, since they were dating. Technically, right? Rainbow's heart took a few steps to the left, and the right, stopped, started, and went back to normal in the span of a second. Her head shook as she realized what was being asked, then she smiled. "Oh- oh! Uhh, yeah. I mean, yes!" She said as she got up, looking a bit dopey as she started a trot over. "Sure! I mean, ya know, important to conserve body heat in a storm," she said with a wink as she sidled up to the Princess of Friendship with Benefits Just Don't Tell Cadance.

[RainbowFoxxy]

Twi felt her body tense up as Rainbow came nearer to her. Was this really happening? She had really wanted to spend time close to Rainbow for so long she could hardly believe this opportunity had finally arisen! She had to control herself. She was a big girl, she could do this. Twilight forced herself to relax, a warm feeling coursing through her as she moved over and made room under the blanket for Rainbow. 

 

"I hope that's comfy enough for you," She spoke softly. 

 

Twi knew it wouldn't be too terribly comfy. They were camping after all. The ground was a bit bumpy and rough. Nothing like the clouds she knew RD was accustomed to. In a stroke of thought she unfolded her wing, drawing it around the back of RD's head as the mare laid down and pulling her in a bit more tightly than she had intended to. It brought their muzzles a mere fraction apart from each other. 

 

"I-is," Twilight stammered a little. It was now or never! "Is this ok?" Her voice was small and full of desire. After a moment she closed the distance, letting herself kiss Rainbow with all the warmth and wanting her heart held for her friend.  

[SteelEagle]

 

Any of the false bravado that she could muster up to store for moments like this evaporated instantly once she found herself tightly wound up with Twilight. Tightly might overstate the condition as Twilight was clearly as nervous as Rainbow, if not more so. And wound up was always somewhat of an overstatement, as she slid under the offered wing and into Twilight with only the barest hint of effort from the Alicorn. Once Rainbow was in there, however, it was like a puzzle piece slotted in perfectly. This was a place designed for Rainbow it felt like. Twilight never felt like it but she was bigger and stronger than Rainbow due to her Alicorn form and for the perennially athletic pegasus there was something intense and exciting about that aspect of what Twilight brought to the table.

 

"oh, y-yeah. Super comfortable," Rainbow lied nervously, though it was paired with an anxious and delighted purr that escaped from her shamefully. She was really excited. And scared. Mostly excited but her facade cracked once even the smallest amount of fear was allowed to take root in her, and it had. Fear of what, she didn't know. She just knew that she liked this fear in some strange way. And it allowed her to forget the rock in her back and the rough, rough ground. Stuff like that she could suffer for the promise of some sweet rewards, and she had a feeling that Her Royal Highness was in the mood to hand our significant amounts of...booty. She turned to face Twilight as best she could.

 

And that was when the Princess of Friendship kissed her. Rainbow's wings shot out, almost moving her out of Twilight's embrace as it happened due to shock. She shared in the kiss for a moment before she pulled back in desperate confusion, her heart pounding and cheek ablaze.
Rainbow's eyes darted around Twilight's face, seemingly looking through it, her voice and breath caught. She didn't answer for a second before she dove in for a passionate kiss in reply, taking Twilight full mouth to mouth. That answer enough for you, Sparkle?

[RainbowFoxxy]

Twilight pulled back for a moment as Rainbow's wings shot out in surprise

 She wanted to check one last time to make sure what she was doing was ok. By the look in Raonbow's eyes she knew that it was. The Princess of Friendship let herself go in the moment as she felt the warm of her want returned by the pegasus in her embrace. What did it matter that they were both trail worn and dusty. Sharing a small blanket with dirt and rocks as their bed? None of that mattered. The only thing on Twilight's mind was the intense gratification for recieved from Rainbow kissing her back. The kiss was over too quickly and she found herself being silently appraised by the cyan mare.

 

She sucked in a breath and bit her lower lip, trying to gage the emotions emanating from Rainbow's darting eyes. It was only a moment before they were united in another deeper and more passionate kiss.

 

Twilight had never shared a kiss with anypony like the one she was entwined in right now. It was deep, breathless and passionate almost to a fault. She began to lose herself again to the moment, enjoying a connection and closeness she had for so long desired to share with her pegasus friend.

 

When they finally pulled back, Twilight took a few breaths. Rainbow's cheeks were tinged deep red from their interactions and she was sure hers were an even deeper shade of crimson. She gave a lopsided smile and moved to nuzzle Rainbow while speaking in a voice that was almost a purr.

 

'I've wanted to do this for so long Rainbow. You're amazing."

 

Her words could not sum up her emotions in that moment, not by a long shot but it was all she could say. She breathed deep, taking in Rainbow's sweet scent and kissing her neck gently. She didn't want this to end, not ever.