Winding Down
Unexpected Confessions
Winding Down
After a quick stop at Sugarcube Corner for breakfast—where Pinkie Pie was mysteriously absent—Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy set off for Cloudsdale, even though the latter two were still a bit concerned about their mutual marefriend. Rainbow was content to simply watch Rarity for any signs of tiredness or discomfort, but Fluttershy was more vocal with her worries.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Rarity?” Fluttershy slowed her flight a bit to fall even with her marefriend. She looked for any hints of exhaustion or labored breathing, but the other mare simply smiled.
“For the fifth time, I’m quite alright, love.” Rarity felt comfortable enough in her leisurely flight to look over at her concerned marefriend and smile. “I’ll be sure to let the two of you know if I start to get tired, but I doubt that will be a problem, especially with the lovely pace that Rainbow has set.” She glanced at the cyan mare ahead of them, who suddenly seemed resolute about scanning the empty sky ahead of them.
“Well, um, if you say so.” Fluttershy went back to paying attention to where she was flying, not that there was much to pay attention to. She could already see Cloudsdale in the distance, but she kept an eye on Rarity anyway.
A few more minutes of peaceful flying brought the three of them to the edge of Cloudsdale. Fluttershy and Rainbow landed on the end of a street, but Rarity hovered above it, looking down suspiciously. “Come on, Rares, you’ll be fine.” Dash turned to face her still-airborne marefriend. “Twi said that spell made you one hundred percent pegasus, right? Well, that means you can walk on the clouds now.” She reared up and stamped her front hooves, sending up puffs of cloud but leaving her still standing firmly. “Even if you fall, ‘Shy and I will totally catch you.”
“I know, I know.” Rarity slowed her flapping so that she slowly drifted down toward the surface. “You’ll have to forgive my trepidation, seeing as how the last time I was here I nearly died and all.”
“Yeah, nearly.” Dash rolled her eyes. “But you didn’t, did you? And you totally won’t now, so come on.” She extended a wing up and swatted at Rarity’s flank. The action distracted the alabaster mare enough to lose the delicate grasp she had on her flight, and Rarity unceremoniously dropped the remaining few inches where she settled into the cloud. “See?”
Rarity glared at her marefriend for a moment before dropping her gaze down to the surface underneath her. She wiggled her hooves, not quite believing that she was actually standing on the cloud. She picked up a hoof and dropped it back down. Unfortunately, she let her hoof down a little too firmly, and she punched a small hole in the cloud below her. “Oh, dear.”
Rainbow burst out laughing, and even Fluttershy hid a round of giggles behind a hoof. “Sorry, Rares.” Dash managed to say once her laughter subsided. She kicked a hoof along the ground, causing a bit of cloud to roil along the surface and fill in the hole her marefriend had created.
Rarity stared at the spot that she had just kicked in the cloud surface and that Rainbow had subsequently filled in. She picked up her hoof and examined it as if it were a dangerous weapon. “Honestly, how do you pegasi live up here? I don’t think I could sleep at night knowing that I might knock holes in my floor by getting out of bed too quickly.”
“You get used to it.” Dash shrugged, then nudged her marefriend with a shoulder. “Besides, most of us have been pegasi for more than twenty-four hours.” she stuck her tongue out playfully while Rarity glared at her. “Now come on, let’s see what we can find to do around here.” She turned and headed down the street. Rarity and Fluttershy easily fell into step behind her, content to let the cyan mare lead the way.
*
“Grrr…” Dash let out a frustrated groan as she pulled on yet another locked door. While she had been correct in suggesting that the three of them fly to Cloudsdale early before things got crowded, she had neglected to consider what time the various shops opened up. After half an hour of walking around the empty streets of Cloudsdale, the only place that had been open when they checked was the Cloudsdale Public Library. “Sorry, girls. This isn’t going as well as I hoped it would.”
“That’s quite alright, dear.” Rarity leaned in for a quick nuzzle against her marefriend’s cheek, then kept walking past her. “There are still plenty of shops that we haven’t checked." She moved down to the next shop in line and gently pushed on the door with a hoof. It opened easily, thankfully because it was unlocked and not because she had punched a hole in it. “See? It was all just a matter of—” The words died in her throat when she finally looked into the shop and saw its contents. A number of elaborate saddles were mounted on equinnequins, but the walls were decorated with a large number of risque lingerie pieces. She quickly yanked the door closed, accidentally pulling off part of the handle as she did so. “Perhaps another store might be better.”
“Oh! I know!” Dash perked up, her wings rustling on her back a bit. “We could swing by and see my mom.”
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before speaking up. “Um, Dashie… that would be nice, but she lives in Canterlot, doesn’t she? I don’t know if it’s a good idea to have Rarity fly that far.”
“What?” Dash stared at her marefriend for a moment, then shook her head. “No. I was talking about my other mom. She still lives here in Cloudsdale.”
“I’m sorry, but your what?” Rarity wheeled around and stood in front of the cyan mare, blocking her path. “Did you just say… your other mother?”
“Oh yeah. I never told you about that.” Dash rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “I meant to yesterday during our date, but I got… distracted.” She smirked when Rarity faltered in her surprised indignation and color rushed to her cheeks. Rainbow walked around her marefriend, pausing for a quick peck on Rarity’s cheek as she passed. “No worries, Rares. I’ll fill you in on the way. She lives on the other side of the city, so it’ll take us a bit to get there anyway.” She waited for her marefriends to fall in step beside her before she started her tale.
“So, yeah… I’ve kind of got two moms.” Dash paused for a bit, not sure where to begin her explanation. “Moonshine’s my birth mother, and the one who raised me after Sunny and my dad left.” She chewed on her lower lip for a moment. “And Sunny… she was with my dad while they were in Flight School, but they got separated when he went to Las Pegasus for college…”
*
“And then, Fluttershy and I actually ran into her at the Wonderbolts show the other day. She works at the Coliseum in Fancy Pants’ box as a waitress.” Dash stopped on the corner of a residential street and looked both ways for a moment. She tapped her chin with a hoof, muttering to herself. “It was a left at Nimbus… or was it a right?”
Rarity nudged her marefriend playfully. “Surely you haven’t gotten lost on the way to your own home, have you darling?”
“Gimme a break.” Rainbow huffed angrily. “The last time I was there was when I told Moonshine that I was leaving to move to Ponyville with Fluttershy.” She shouldered out from under the wing that Rarity tried to lay across her back. “Excuse me for not remembering how to get to a place I’ve spent years trying to forget.”
“Now, Rainbow, I’m sure Rarity didn’t mean it like that.” Fluttershy sidled up next to Dash and nuzzled at her marefriend’s neck for a moment.
“I know, I just…” Dash blew out a frustrated breath. “Sorry, Rares. I’m just… a little worried about seeing Moonshine again. I didn’t exactly leave on the best of circumstances, and I’m not exactly sure that she’s gonna be happy to see me.” She took a deep breath, then started down the street. “Come on, it’s this way.”
A few more minutes of walking brought them to a small cloud house near the end of a street. Nothing about its design set it apart from any of the others on the street, but the mailbox confirmed that Moonshine still lived there. Regardless, Rainbow stood on the sidewalk and stared at the house like she had never seen it before.
“Is everything alright, darling?” Rarity looked between the cyan mare and the cloud house.
“Yeah, I just…” Dash paused for a bit, then took a few steps forward. “I don’t remember the last time it looked so… clean.” She tried to reconcile the run-down house that she had grown up in with the clean, well-kept one before her. Her memories of ‘home’ were filled with dripping ceilings, cracks in walls, and sagging floors. However, Moonshine’s house was in pristine condition. If she hadn’t spent years growing up there, she could have easily been convinced that the house in front of her had been built mere days or weeks ago. After staring at it for a few more seconds, she started forward toward the front door. She knocked on it, but there was no answer. One minute passed, then two, without any sign of life from inside. “Huh. Maybe she’s not—”
Before Rainbow could finish, the door finally opened, and Moonshine stuck her head out. “Dashie?” She stared at her daughter for a moment, seemingly unable to believe the sight before her. After a few tense seconds of silence, Rainbow opened her mouth to speak. However, she never got the chance as her mother chose that exact moment to lunge forward and wrap her in a bone-crushing hug.
“Dashie! Goddesses, I thought I’d never see you again!” Moonshine gave her daughter one last squeeze, then turned to Rarity. “And I assume that I’ve got you to thank for this, Miss Fluttershy. I thought it was too good to be true when I heard—”
“What’s going on?” Dash looked at her mother like she had never seen the mare before. “I… you…” She shook her head in disbelief. “Why are you happy?” Rarity looked ready to faint at her comment, and even Fluttershy seemed surprised. “I didn’t mean it like that.” Rainbow clarified. “I just… I don’t remember the last time I saw you happy.”
Moonshine smiled sheepishly. “Yes, I suppose things were a bit… rough when you left.” She let out a small huff when her daughter gave her a deadpan stare. “Okay, fine. They were horrible. I was horrible. I blamed everyone else for what happened with Sunny and Blitz, and I took it out on you, at least in part.” While she had been talking, her spirits had fallen, but she lightened back up a bit before continuing. “Eventually, I realized that things wouldn’t change unless I changed, so I cleaned myself up. It was slow going for a while, but things really picked up a few days ago thanks to Miss Fluttershy over there.”
Rarity cleared her throat to get Moonshine’s attention, smiling apologetically. “I’m afraid you’re only half right, miss. I am Rainbow’s marefriend, but my name is Rarity.” She stepped to the side, revealing where Fluttershy had hidden behind her when Moonshine burst out from behind the door. “This is Fluttershy.” She looked down and saw that the mare in question was still cowering on the ground, so she lowered a wing to gently pull her up. “Come now, love. Say hello.”
“Um… h-hi.” Fluttershy slowly got back to her hooves once she was sure that Moonshine wasn’t going to envelope her in one of the painfully-tight hugs she’d subjected her daughter to. “I-It’s very nice to meet you, but, um… What did I do?”
The door opened, and Sunny Days stepped out. “I believe that I can answer that.” She chuckled at the shocked looks on Rainbow and Fluttershy’s faces. “Well, you did tell me that Shiny still lived here, Miss Fluttershy. Did you think that I wouldn’t at least come by to check on her?”
“Oh, no. I didn’t… I mean I…” Fluttershy shrank down and let out a frightened squeak.
“I believe what she’s trying to say is that she didn’t expect you to act upon the information so soon.” Rarity supplied. “One can hardly be faulted for being a touch surprised at the fact that the two of you reconnected so quickly, based on what Rainbow told us.” She cleared her throat, a hint of worry creeping underneath her calm exterior. “I do hope that we didn’t interrupt anything.”
“Oh, of course not.” Sunny walked forward to stand next to Moonshine, casting the other mare a sidelong glance. “That was this morning.”
“Mom!” Dash slammed a hoof into her forehead. Hopefully, if she hit herself hard enough, she might be able to be able to squash that particular thought before it had a chance to ingrain itself in her memory. She dared to sneak a peek over at her marefriends, who both sported matching blushes.
“I’m just kidding.” Sunny laughed, lightly hitting her daughter on the shoulder with a hoof. Her laughter escalated when Dash brought her wings up to cover her face. “Oh, Dashie. You know that, as your mothers, it’s our solemn duty to embarrass you as much as we can in front of your marefriends.” She turned to Rarity and Fluttershy, her smile taking on a wicked edge. “Now, why don’t you girls come inside and we can tell you about all the exciting adventures we had trying to potty train Dashie.”
“That’s it. I’m outta here!” Rainbow turned and stomped back down the path in front of the house, but stopped where it joined the main street. She stood there grumbling to herself while the other four mares shared a chuckle at her expense.
Sunny glanced up at the sky for a bit, then sighed. “Well, as much fun as this is, I have to get going so that I can get back to Canterlot and get ready for work tonight.” She leaned over and gave Moonshine a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Okay.” Moonshine chewed on her lip for a second while she watched Sunny walk away. “When are… never mind.”
Sunny turned around and trotted back over to her marefriend, darting in for a quick nuzzle. “I’ll swing by after I get off of work tomorrow night, okay?”
“That sounds good.” Moonshine smiled sheepishly, equal parts relieved and embarrassed that the other mare could still read her so easily after all the years that had passed. “I—” She stopped, biting back what she wanted to say at the last second.
“I love you, too, honey.” Sunny leaned in for one chaste kiss on the lips, then started back down the path away from the house. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She stopped to give her grumbling daughter a quick hug. “Just so you know, I’ll probably be around here pretty often now. So, don’t be a stranger… but be sure to knock first.” She chuckled again at Rainbow’s continued embarrassment, then headed out onto the street, and took to the skies.
“Well, you two seem to have hit it off quite well… again, as it were.” Rarity broke the silence once Sunny banked and disappeared behind a cloud.
“I know.” Moonshine sighed, still gazing at where Sunny had disappeared from view. “Though, to be fair, I’ve never seen somepony not hit it off well with her, even ones that I would have preferred to see it.” She chuckled as a look of intense interest flashed across Rarity’s face, only to be smothered beneath her calm facade a moment later. She decided a little elaboration wouldn’t hurt, given that the alabaster mare was obviously curious but too polite to ask.
“Sunny and I occasionally went out for a few drinks by ourselves. No matter where we went, there were always a couple of stallions that didn’t quite understand that we were together, and therefore not interested. Sunny was always too nice to turn them away or refuse them out of hoof, especially if they’d bought us a round of drinks. So, she’d indulge them for a bit and talk. She always dropped a few jaws when she could start talking in-depth about hoofball with them.”
“That certainly sounds—ooh.” Rarity froze mid-sentence, and a shiver ran down her back. “That was… interesting.” She flapped her wings a bit, trying to work out a faint residual tingling in them. When it refused to dissipate, she began to worry, only for Fluttershy to gently place a hoof on her withers.
“Is everything alright?” Fluttershy’s eye moved between Rarity’s face and her wings. After a moment, she smiled to try and aleve her marefriend’s worries. “It’s probably just because of all the flying, Rarity.”
Rarity let out an impatient snort. “I told you before, love, it isn’t—”
“Come on, Rares,” Rainbow cut across the alabaster mare’s words, nudging her with a wing. “Just ‘cause Twilight magicked you up some wings doesn’t mean you suddenly have flight muscles that have spent years supporting them, right?” Dash cocked an eyebrow, essentially challenging her marefriend to contradict her.
Rarity’s mouth hung open for a moment while she tried to find a flaw in Rainbow’s argument. When she couldn’t find one, she humphed irritably, begrudgingly admitting that her marefriends had a point. “Regardless, I would appreciate it if we could head back to Ponyville… just in case.”
A faint whistling drifted out from the open front door of Moonshine’s house, and she smiled sheepishly as all three younger mares turned to her in unison. “Sorry. I put some tea on for Sunny and myself right before you dropped by. You girls are more than welcome to come in and have some.”
Rarity smiled politely. “Thank you for the offer, but I think we’ll have to—”
“Come on, Rares, it’ll be fine.” Dash rolled her eyes as she followed her mother into the house. “Besides, you should know by now that if anything does happen, ‘Shy and I will totally catch you.” Fluttershy followed Rainbow inside, pausing to smile reassuringly at her marefriend before heading inside as well. Rarity followed the other mares inside, grumbling to herself.
She followed the sound of Rainbow’s voice down a hallway, then sat down on a couch next to Fluttershy as soon as she entered the living room. “Well, just know that if something does happen to, I’m holding the two of you responsible.” She glanced back at her wings, which rustled nervously, but did her best to ignore the tingling still permeating through them. Moonshine arrived a moment later with a tray holding the promised tea balanced on her back. She quickly slid it off of her back and onto the table.
“I hope that you girls like it.” Moonshine threaded a wingtip through the handle of the teapot and lifted it to pour into the waiting cups. “It’s a… unique blend, and it’s Sunny’s favorite, but it’s not for everypony.” Once the cups were full, she gave one to each of the mares sitting around her living room.
Rarity took the proffered cup with a smile. She eyed the tea warily for a moment, but it looked like any other tea that she had brewed herself. Maybe her brews tended towards shades of green rather than red, but that shouldn’t matter now, should it? Without further ado, she lifted the cup to her lips and drained about a third of the liquid in one gulp. A cascade of spices assaulted her tongue, and she had to clamp her jaw shut to keep from coughing or spitting it back out. Next to her, Fluttershy coughed into a hoof.
“Wow…” Dash stared down at the cup in her hooves. “That’s… delicious!” She threw the cup back and downed the rest of her tea in one swift gulp, then held it out for a refill.
Moonshine chuckled while she refilled her daughter’s cup. “I had a feeling you might like it. Though, I’m not sure that your marefriends feel the same way.” She glanced over to the couch where Fluttershy and Rarity were seated, though only the former was still there. “Wait, where did Rarity go?”
Dash turned to the spot Rarity had been a moment ago and where a hole now resided in Moonshine’s couch and floor. She leapt off of the couch and over the living room table, diving after her missing marefriend. It took her only a fraction of a second to locate Rarity’s plummeting form, and only another fraction to accelerate into a full speed dive after her.
The scenery around her blurred and faded as Rainbow’s vision tunneled down to only her marefriend. She spared a quick glance at the ground as it slowly grew larger, then back to Rarity, whom she was catching up to much more rapidly. She couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at her lips when an idea struck her. She angled just the tiniest bit to the side. They were still several thousand feet above the ground when she drew even with Rarity, rolling onto her back and crossing her forelegs behind her head. She was surprised at how calm her marefriend was, given that she was plummeting towards a swift, if messy, death.
“Hey, Rares, what brings you here?” Dash shouted to be heard over the rushing wind. If looks could kill, then she would have exploded into a fine red mist from the glare that Rarity gave her. She bit back a chuckle. Sparing one more glance at the approaching ground, Rainbow rolled back over and grabbed her marefriend. She flared her wings to gently slow their descent until they alighted on the ground.
“See? What’d I tell ya?” Dash let Rarity down onto her own hooves, unable to contain the smirk on her face. “Now, is there anything you wanna say?”
Rarity glared at her marefriend for a moment, then huffed. “I told you so.”
“Not what I was going for, but it’ll do.” Rainbow sidled up next to her marefriend and draped a wing over her back. “Besides, I told you that I would catch you if you fell, and I totally did. No harm, no foul.”
Rarity pressed her mouth into a thin line to bite a most unladylike scoff. While her marefriend continued to bask in her own rescue maneuvers, she got a delightfully wicked idea. She summoned her magic, and relief filled her alongside the return of her familiar power. She formed a couple of small tendrils with her magic and slowly extended them towards her unsuspecting marefriend. The first tendril brushed the feathers of Rainbow’s wing, which only ruffled in response. Rarity adjusted her aim and moved the magical fingers in further.
Dash hardly even felt the sensation of something brushing against her side, and ignored it in favor of getting back up to her mother’s house. It’s just the wind. She was about to leap back into the air when it finally dawned on her that her marefriend no longer had wings, and wouldn’t be able to follow her. She turned to ask Rarity if it was okay that she head back to her mom’s house to say goodbye, but felt something brush against her side again, more firmly this time. She turned and looked, but there was nothing there.
“What the… ah!” Dash yelped as something dug into her other side. She whipped around to search for the culprit, but there was still nothing there. Rainbow was about to turn back to Rarity when she saw a slight shimmer in the air next to her. Squinting to try and catch it again, she finally saw the tendril of magic floating next to her. She looked warily back to Rarity, whose recently returned horn was glowing. “Come on, Rares, don’t—”
Rarity didn’t give the other mare a chance to finish whatever thought she had. The unicorn willed her magical tendrils inward, digging them into her marefriend’s sides and searching for any areas that might be ticklish. Rainbow was predictably shying away from her probing, but it seemed more in annoyance than anything else.
“Knock it off, Rares.” Dash tried to knock one of the tendrils away with her wing, but the appendage simply passed through it as if it were moving through air. However, the magic sent a tingling sensation along her feather when it passed over them. She suppressed a shiver and tried to simply walk away, but her marefriend increased the pressure of her assault. The tendrils poked and prodded at her sides. They were more annoying than anything.
That is, until one poked her flank where her hind leg joined her hip.
“Ah!” Dash jumped. She took a few steps back, swallowing when she saw a sly grin spread across her marefriend’s face. “Rares, don’t—” She dodged one of the tendrils when it zipped in her direction. Rainbow leapt into the air in an attempt to fly away, but one Rarity’s magical tendrils wrapped around her ankles. A second one grabbed her other ankle and kept her from gaining any more elevation. Before she could come up with a way out of her marefriend’s grasp, another pair of magical tendrils floated up and began poking at her flank again.
“Quit it, Rares.” Rainbow tried to contain the laughter bubbling up through her chest, but she couldn’t stop it from spilling out. “I’m—haha—serious, Rarity. Kn… knock it off!” She tried to knock the tendrils away with her forelegs, but once again her limbs passed right through them. Soon, the relentless assault became too much, and Dash fell the short distance to the ground. She landed unceremoniously in the grass, trying desperately to escape the other mare’s magical clutches, but to no avail.
Rarity decided to show mercy and released Rainbow, leaving the pegasus heaving for breath on the grass. She walked over and sat down next to her exhausted marefriend. “Now, I believe that you wanted to head back up to your mother’s house to say goodbye?”
“Yeah.” Dash took one last deep breath and rolled over to sit up. She took a moment to get her feathers back in rough alignment and snuck a look at her pleased marefriend. “Is that going to be a common thing, now?”
“No.” Rarity couldn’t hide her grin. “I just wanted to ensure that my magic was fully back under my control. I needed something that required some… fine magical manipulation to make sure.”
“Sure.” Dash droned, obviously not believing her marefriend’s explanation. “Just wait here, I’ll be back with ‘Shy in a bit.” With only a brief glance back for a quick smile, she leapt into the air. The ground raced away beneath her, and she quickly climbed back toward Cloudsdale.
*
Rarity looked up from from the small mat she had started weaving out of grass while waiting for Rainbow to return when she saw a pair of shadows sailing across the ground nearby. She saw her marefriends slowly circling down to meet her. “Welcome back, darlings.”
Dash alighted on the ground and trotted over to the unicorn’s side. “Hey, Rares.” Her eyes moved down to the discarded mat her marefriend had been weaving. “Decided to start a little craft project?”
“Well, I needed something to occupy my time since you left me stranded in the middle of a field, miles away from Ponyville.” Rarity kept her face neutral, waiting for Rainbow’s reaction. It was hard to do when she saw the other mare’s eyes widen.
“Oh.” Dash couldn’t believe herself. With perfect hindsight, it was easy to see what Rarity was talking about, but it hadn’t occurred to her when she’d left to head back to Cloudsdale. “Wow, Rares. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about what you would do while I—”
Rarity finally allowed herself to smirk. She rose up onto her hooves, leaning forward to give Rainbow a quick kiss and silence her apology. “It’s fine, love. Honestly, I would have been more surprised if you had thought about it.” She stretched and earned a few cracks and pops from her legs after sitting for so long. She glanced over at Fluttershy, who was clearly trying not to giggle. “Shall we head back?”
“Sure thing.” Dash leapt into the air, and immediately remembered that Rarity no longer had wings. Walking all the way back to Ponyville sounded bad, but having to fly slowly to keep pace with Rarity sounded even worse. “Umm… So, how are we gonna get back to town?”
In response, Rarity turned and started walking in the direction of Ponyville. “We’ll just have to walk since one of us doesn’t have wings anymore.” She kept going for a few seconds, waiting until she heard Rainbow fall back to the ground with a disappointed whine before stopping. “Then again—” She turned back to face her marefriends. “—If I wanted to walk back, I would have started when you left.” She walked back over to Rainbow’s side, then fell against it and feigned distress. “Oh, if only there was somepony who could save me from this most wretched fate. Oh woe is me!”
Dash chuckled for a bit and rolled her eyes. “So, what, you want to ride me?”
Rarity met Rainbow’s gaze, her eyes half-lidded. “Well, I was hoping to save that for back at home, but if you simply can’t wait…”
Dash could only open and close her mouth like a fish out of water for a few moments. She hadn’t remotely considered the meaning that Rarity had flipped her words to mean, but now she couldn’t stop thinking about it. A blush started in her cheeks, but quickly spread up along her snout and down to her neck. “No, I— Y-you jus—” She could only stammer incoherently for a bit until her marefriend broke out in giggles.
“I’m sorry, love.” Rarity belatedly tried to hide her giggles behind a hoof. “That wasn’t very nice of me, was it? No, I wasn’t planning anything so crude as to ride you, but rather having you carry me.”
“Oh, right. Yeah.” Dash cleared her throat, trying to will the blush out of her face. “So, you ready?” She waited for a quick nod, then scooped Rarity up and leapt into the air in one swift movement. “Ready, ‘Shy?”
“Oh, um, yes.” Fluttershy followed her marefriends into the air, coming to a hover next to Rainbow. The trio set off in the direction of Ponyville. They flew in companionable silence, but Rarity started squirming in Rainbow’s forelegs when the outskirts of town came into view.
“You okay, Rares?” Dash angled a bit to the right, lining up her flight path with Carousel Boutique. She glanced down at her marefriend and saw that she was chewing on her lip. When the unicorn didn’t answer for a few seconds, she nudged her with a shoulder.
Rarity turned to look back at Rainbow, only to immediately have her mane fly into her face. After getting her unruly hair back under control, she glanced back at the approaching sight of her home. “Well, it’s just…” She felt the wind tugging at her mane slightly, and she recalled the exhilaration of flying with Rainbow the other day. “If you didn’t want to go back to the Boutique right away… that would be fine.” She waited for some sort of teasing remark, something to get back at her for the ‘riding’ comment, but she merely felt vibrations move through Dash’s chest as the other mare chuckled. “You could also go a little faster, if you think you’re up to it.”
Dash banked to the left, turning away from Ponyville. She knew that Rarity was just trying to push her buttons, something the unicorn was proving alarmingly adept at, but she couldn’t help the spark that her marefriend’s comment lit in her chest. It only took a few seconds for the familiar competitive fire to start burning full and bright. She pulled Rarity a little tighter against her chest.
“Hold on tight.”
*
Nearly half an hour later, the trio touched down in front of Carousel Boutique. Rarity couldn’t contain the grin splitting her face, and her throat stung from the cries of exhilaration that she had loosed during their flight. Above all, her mane was a windswept disaster. She couldn’t bring herself to care, though. The exhilaration of flight was just too much to let something like a messy mane bring her down. She made a mental note to have a nice, long talk with Twilight about the spell she had used the next time they saw each other.
“Well, let’s head inside, shall we?” Rarity unlocked and pulled the door open with her magic, then stood aside for her marefriends. Once all three of them were inside, she shut the door with a soft click. “I have to say, Rainbow, I understand your mane style so much better now.” Rarity reached up and tried to flatten her mane back down, but it just sprung back up the instant she pulled her hoof away.
“Yeah. I learned early that speed and a long mane don’t mix.” Dash watched as the unicorn tried in vain to fix the mess atop her head. She couldn’t help but but chuckle to herself a bit. Her gaze shifted over to Fluttershy, whose mane was a little messy, but still looked good. Granted, Fluttershy hadn’t flown as fast as her and Rarity, and at some point she had stopped and landed on a small cloud to just watch, but mane was barely any worse for wear than when they had left Cloudsdale. “Don’t ask me how ‘Shy does it, though.”
“Oh, um, I don’t know, either.” Fluttershy stared at the floor. “It just kind of… um…” She let out a squeak and hid behind her mane.
“It’s fine, love.” Rarity leaned down and gave her marefriend a light kiss on the cheek. “I wouldn’t honestly expect you to know how your manestyle works. Though, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t just a tiny bit jealous of your gorgeous hair.” She darted in for another kiss when she saw Fluttershy’s face darken with a tinge of pink. “Now, do you girls want anything to drink? Perhaps some tea, since our session earlier got interrupted?”
“Sure.” Rainbow followed the unicorn into the kitchen, immediately plopping down in a chair while Rarity set about gathering what she needed for making tea. “You know, today started off kind of rough, but I think it went pretty well in the end.”
“Yes, well, I suppose that’s because what you’re doing doesn’t matter quite as much as with whom you’re doing it.” Rarity glanced over at Rainbow, who was staring at her in confusion. “What is it, dear?”
“Nothing.” Dash finally looked away. "It’s just… my mom—Moonshine—said that before ‘Shy and I came back down.”
Rarity smiled and hovered the teapot over to the sink to fill it with water. “So, what kind of tea do you girls want?” She waited for her marefriend’s to respond, then pulled the required bags from a drawer full of various teas. She carefully laid the kettle on the stovetop and brought the three sets of cups and plates to the table. “I have to say, as… indescribably exhilarating as flying is, I did sorely miss my magic.” She pointedly ignored Rainbow’s deadpan stare. “So, darling, what did you and your mother talk about after I… left?”
“Not a lot.” Dash shrugged. “Just letting her know that you were okay and explaining that ‘Shy and I had to go. Oh, I also had to explain the whole ‘magic wings’ thing and that you were really a unicorn.” She grabbed her tea and took a quick sip. “That was really it. We both said that the other was welcome to drop by, and mom said that she and… mom would try and swing by next week.” Rainbow stared into her cup of tea for a few seconds, her brow furrowed in concentration. “This is gonna be hard to keep straight if I’m calling Moonshine ‘mom’ now, too.”
Rarity giggled into a hoof and rolled her eyes. She glanced over at Fluttershy, who hadn’t touched her tea yet. “Fluttershy, love, is everything alright? You’ve been quiet even by your standards since we got back.”
“Oh, I’m fine it’s just…” Fluttershy chewed on her lip for a moment while she deliberated with herself. She grabbed her cup and downed the contents in a few quick gulps, then hopped down from her chair. She sauntered over to the doorway, turning back and flashing a seductive grin at her marefriends. “I was just wondering if the two of you would like to come with me and… um—” Her attempt at seduction faltered for a moment while she tried to force the words out of her mouth. “—we could go for that ride that you were talking about earlier.” She fluttered half-lidded eyes.
Rarity and Dash could only stare in silence for a few moments. In unison, they turned to face one another…
…And promptly fainted.
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FIRST!
I'm curious as to what Twilight, AJ, and Pinks are doing…
The ride.... Never ends. Good update!
Something got messed up there!
And still not enough appledash! -10/10.
And... Complete?
Well, there are worse notes to end on.
needs end " marks.
__________________________
as a waitress
_____________
needs beginning " marks.
Wait Complete? How's this complete? We just barely got started on any form of resolution. Is there going to be a sequel or did you hit Complete by accident?
6121501 It is complete. I understand that it's a bit... sudden, and that a resolution was only just barely reached (especially considering the insane length of the story overall)... but I just can't do it anymore. This last chapter took me, what, four months? Unfortunately, I've lost interest in the story. I wish it wasn't the case, but it is.
6121907
Ah ... that sucks. But well, understandable.
Although if another writer (not me atm, I have way to much on my plate building two entire worlds, graphics for populating them, and several fics of my own XD), but still another writer wanted to pick up this story and continue it. Would you be alright with that? Cause I mean, sure I get it, I do, and a cliff hanger ending is better than a cancel, but it'd be cool to see more of this little story in some variation some day.
Commence read.
Sad to see the story come to such a quick close, but understand the situation that would cause such to be.
Looks like the few errors were caught and was a cute end.
6121907 Fair enough. In a way, everything after Rainbow giving the three-way relationship a go was epilogue- I couldn't really tell where things were supposed to go from there. Thanks for at least caring enough to top this off.
BWAHAHA
I expect Rarity have a kinky side but Fluttershy?
6121907 Thanks for at least having some type of ending. Most people wouldn't do that. It was fun while it lasted.
Whoa Fluttershy! That was awesome!
6121922
I'm not sure how I would feel about someone else continuing the story. I can't give a blanket "Yes" or "No," but if someone was interested in it, I would be more than willing to discuss it with them.
6123603
Awesome ^_^. Well take care, and I wish you the best of luck in your next fic ^_^.
6123276
2x knockout combo!
Too much?
6124403
That's great way of describing it man.
6121922
6123603
I'm gonna be honest... it was so long ago I actually forget what was there to have a resolution of. I thought this was complete already. Am I missing something? Maybe my memory faults me.
6124603
Several things really.
1) AJ up til like three chapter ago was pining for Dashie, hurt Twilight in a big way. Twilight hurting gave Pinks a go very recently (which we haven't seen much of anything of after she ended up landing herself in the hospital), and AJ just now tried to go out with them. It's something that is as recent as three chapters ago. But really went no further than, "Hey this kinda, sorta started off. No real developements though,".
2) Rares as in last chapter got wings for her and Rainbow Dash's first date. Flutters is still uncertain about things, and Dash after literally just saving Rares from a permenant drug induced coma. Is giving her a try. There's no resolution, since there's no developement. We are given hundreds of words of build up, with no real pay off.
3) Dashie just met his other mother, who was a major source of conflict in the story. Sure we see that. All in good. But now what? We are given an in story promise of them meeting up later. A way for them to work out instory issues. And further developement. but as is. Falls flat.
4) Then there's that ending. That is a good ending for a normal chapter. But in a story is called a cliffhanger ending. We see the beginning of a next chapter. Left hanging, on what's to come next. But there is no pay off, or resolution to that. It just drops there.
______________________
So yeah read the fic again when you have the the time. Personally I finished reading this story for the third time a few months ago [rather recent], which is why I call this a cliff hanger ending [since written wise this story was carrying a ton of momentum these last few chapters. But if you're hearts not into writing a fic, it's not in it. So it's probably better that till someone can carry onwards [or give it a proper sequel] that it has the ending we have atm. Lots of unresolved plot, lots of opened up story plots (in this chapter alone), but at least it wasn't one of the more worse ways to end a story. And I'm thankful that no sharks were jumped at the making of this chapter.]
I certainly wouldn't mind an epilogue in Takes Three to Tango, but I won't hold ya to it. Fantastic job on the story, my only regret is that I can't give it a thumbs up again.
6121907
Awww, that was so sudden. I was denying the truth until the very end, and it still doesn't seem like an ending. Like, at all.
Maybe you could try just the liiitlest bit more? While reading and realizing that this wouldn't be a long and arduous epilogue, I was totally expecting the last few paragraphs to go in a way, when Fluttershy gets all melancholic, after seeing Rainbow's reunited mothers, and starts reminiscing on the progress of their relationship. And after the line "You’ve been quiet even by your standards since we got back" she wouldn't try to seduce them, but instead made a remark about the progress that they made since the very first day (of the story), and it would get Rarity and Rainbow Dash thinking too.
And then Flutters would seduce them and shake their growing nostalgic mood off
Ah, that would be the perfect ending in my opinion.
I'm not really a Flutterdash fan, I'm mostly a Raridash fan, but I really did like what you did with the story it sweet yet funny. LOVE IT.
Really hope you're going to write an epilogue of some sort, as this ending leaves too many loose ends just flailing about.
Alright, that ending was just amazing
Overall this chapter was nice. Reconciliation between two old lovers, spell going wrong, shenanigans and teasing. And once more, that ending.
Great job!
6189045 Well, if you put it that way...
That was a great story
Though it wasn't much of an ending as to another beginning 
I understand that your heart went away from it 
All I hope is maybe when you have gotten away from the story for a bit you might want to approach it again and add a sequel 
All in all though it was a well crafted story besides the ending 
Nicely done though overall 
This was an interesting story. About my only issue is that it doesn't really have an appropriate ending.
Might I suggest an epilogue set weeks/months later, when Twilight Sparkle is a princess, and while getting acclimated to Equestrian laws she could come across old laws pertaining to the legal binding of herds from the days of old.
Even just having the lead ponies of the triads (Twilight and Fluttershy) propose to their lovers would be a fine ending to all this.
This was a fun story, I had fun.
Characterizations were pretty on point, drama started weird but flowed wonderfully after the initial issues. I'm not concerned about the ending so much, too many force the generic 'happily ever after' and I felt where it ended was strong.
Well done, a thumb up and a star my good author!
7767177 That isn't that much of a safer alternative to take too much of.
Also my comment was over three years old lmao
It... it's really over... T.T
Reading this was a great experience, and I'm glad I found this fic. There are nitpicks and minor gripes and a wish that there was more, but there was just the right balance of meat, fluff, emotional pain, and excellent wordsmanship. I loved every moment of reading this [well except for that one part, you know the one].
Very nice and cute story. The "Fluttershy dies" chapter was pretty hard on the emotions; as soon as I started reading it I just thought "this has to be a dream, nobody would be cruel enough to kill off Fluttershy that quickly", but as that arc dragged on and on I began to lose hope that it was a dream. And then finally the dream arc ended... that was a relief.
But the story ended to soon! I wanted to see more cute pony romance once all the drama had cleared up!
Also, the loose end of Applejack's interest in Rainbow never really got resolved properly.
It was an awesome story. Glad I finally decided to read it after like 2 months in my read it later. 10/10 would recommend to anyone.
You can has review!
9265981
It's not ya'll. It's y'all. Please at least attempt to use the proper apostrophe.
And no. It's not. In literally every place all over the southern US I've ever lived in. It's always been a plural (And I've moved around constantly growing up, and lived literally all over the Southern US.).
And every dictionary agrees with how it's supposed to be used.
9266018
Eater, I love you man, but the singular y'all is a thing, even if it ain't proper. People misuse language all the time.
9443278
Yeah. But people also have weird pet peeves and triggers.
I don't know why the misuse of y'all as a non plural / implied plural is such a massive trigger for me. But everytime I see it, it causes my blood to boil and really just grinds my gears to no end. I mean I have no problem with the I vs Ah thing (as long as it's consistent) or my vs mah (again as long as it's consistent). But y'all ...
I mean think of it this way. Noone would use Youse, Youses, Yintz, or other american plural you's singularly (well at least till after this comment. I'm sure there are some people who'd do it now out of spite). And if it was done, people would call them out for it. But y'all, is the exception. Even if every dictionary (even the urban one strangely enough) denotes it as plural. And it's meant to be plural. People seem to have no problem butchering it because it sounds cool and southerny.
Thanks for the fic! It was wonderful!
11345982
Yes, she did, but that was never truly Dash, it was an idealized form of her. Certainly it resembled her, and held many of her characteristics. But it wasn't her.
11784782
I didn’t need to cringe today, but you just had to make me.
Thanks.