Ugh, what did Twilight call it? Iambik something-or-other, I think. Does it even matter what it’s called?

How did it go? There were… alternating loud and quiet beats. Ten of ‘em. DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da DUM-da. Yeah, that sounds right.

Race with me, across the sand, and let the
Morning breeze

What am I doing? Awesome ponies don't write sonnets. Awesome ponies write Daring Do. Besides, it’s not like AJ would want to read a sonnet anyway. She’d want to race, or play volleyball, or something awesome like that.

What does a morning breeze even do in a race, anyway?

Race with me, across the sand, and let the
Morning breeze Sunlight lights your mane, a candle glowing,
Calling me to follow

Wait a minute. Sonnets had a rhyming thing, didn't they? Yeah. Not rhyming couples, the other one, with the every other line rhyming. Shoot, does this mean I have to rhyme something with “the”? What rhymes with “the”? And while I’m on it, should I be going for “thee” or “thuh” as

Behind her, movement. She freezes for a second, before hurriedly flipping the paper over and stuffing her quill away out of sight, behind the desk lamp. She tilts her head just slightly to the left, until the sleeping mare behind her can just be seen: right there, just in the corner of her eyes.

Okay. Good. She’s still asleep. Sheesh, that was scary.

Why was that scary? I’m not scared of AJ waking up. I’m just writing, anyway. It’s not like she’d find that weird. She knows I’m writing a novel, so I could always say it's for that.

Right. “Thee” or “thuh”?

Race with me, across the sand, and let the
Morning breeze Sunlight lights your mane, a candle glowing,
Calling me to follow you across the
Beach, and taunting me for my slow running.

… this isn't very good, is it?

AJ won't want a bad sonnet. AJ’s cool: she deserves a cool sonnet. What even is a cool sonnet, anyway? Sonnets are for eggheads, like Twilight.

Agh. This was such a stupid idea.

Race with me, across the sand, and let the
Morning breeze Sunlight lights your mane, a candle glowing,
Calling me to follow you across the
Beach, and taunting me for my slow running.

Rainbow slumps forward, her forehead pressed against the page, damp lines of ink wetting her brow. She feels like she might cry—there's a pressure just in the corners of her eyes, but no tears come. She shakes her head slowly against the page, her lips pulling back in a mockery of a smile. Before she knows it, Rainbow is lost in the gentle rise and fall of AJ's breathing: soft and intimate, listening in the dark to the beautiful mare's breaths

---

and Rainbow is awake, and the sunlight in the window isn't a candle but a floodlight. She squeezes her eyes shut, blocking it out, and rolls her face downwards to try to keep the red glow out of her eyes.

"Everything alright, sugarcube?"

"Huh?" Rainbow brings two hooves up to her face: the first props her up, pushing at the desk to stop her from falling right back down to sleep; the second rubs sleepily at her eyes, massaging the rounded bone of her sockets until her eyes can keep themselves open. "Wassup?"

"I was gonna ask why y'were sleepin' on the desk, but I think you've just answered that." Applejack's hoof swiftly reaches down and grabs a bit of paper from the desk, and for a moment Rainbow wonders why she what could have caused her to use it as a pillow. "You've been writin'?"

I was writing? What was I—

Oh.

Blood rushes to Rainbow's face and she reaches forward, grabbing at the sheet in AJ's hooves. She misses: Applejack raises an eyebrow at her, but slowly hands it over.

"Shame all the ink's been smudged. Can't read a word of it," she says, before glancing up at Rainbow Dash's face. Her lips twist in a small, mocking smile, and her eyes lit up and oh sweet Celestia she's beautiful. "You've got some on your cheek."

Rainbow rubs at the offending smudge, flushing under Applejack's gaze. "Whatever," she says indignantly, trying not to smile at the other mare, who is losing her battle with giggles.

"Anyhow," Applejack says, wiping at her eyes as her laughter subsides, "it's almost sunrise. What do ya' say to a run on the beach?"