A bark from the bath caught Rainbow's attention, and she rolled her eyes. "Alright. Alright!" Bending down, Rainbow Dash opened the vanity and took out the bottle of dog shampoo. "Where did you get to that was so dirty?"
Thunderbolt was caught in a conundrum. His master was really awesome, but he couldn't shake the thought of how good a bitch she had been to him. It blended the lines of who was in charge, and that was confusing to him. Evolution hadn't managed to breed out the distinct need for roles to be black and white, so he decided that he would be the dog, and she the bitch. But she was a good bitch, so it was okay to listen to her most of the time. Decision made in the simplest way possible, Thunderbolt looked up at his bitch and gave a happy bark.
"Good boy." Rainbow rubbed around Thunderbolt's head, and pointed down. "Lay down." Her command got an odd look from the dog, but after a moment he lay down in the tub and ensured that the water in it was a dirty shade of gray. Using her hands, Rainbow scooped water over the shepherd's back, dousing him completely.
"Come on Thunder, you know the drill. Stand up and let me get you clean." A sudden thought hit Rainbow as she began pouring shampoo onto Thunderbolt's back: she should totally ask Fluttershy about this. Blushing like mad, Rainbow shook her head. "Heck no, that would be…" Part of Rainbow Dash's mind was already building a fantasy, while she soaped up Thunderbolt.
Rainbow went to Fluttershy, and confessed everything. She could see shock on her friend's face, then curiosity. Fluttershy wanted to know what it was like, but Rainbow was too embarrassed to say. In the end, Rainbow watched as Thunderbolt mounted her friend, and screwed the girl until she actually screamed.
Rubbing the shampoo into Thunderbolt, Rainbow's eyes were closed as she imagined her pet screwing her friend. A strange thought occurred to her, about the thick bit at the base of Thunderbolt's shaft. Her mind hit a hiccup as she couldn't work out what it was all about. "Maybe it is to stop him going too deep?"
Thunderbolt was more than happy. His bitch was close, and she was treating him to a bath. Leaning across, he slurped her from chin to forehead. She jerked back in surprise, but the deed was done.
"I need to learn a lot about you, Thunder." Rainbow rubbed the shampoo completely through his fur, and at last pointed back down to the water. "Lay down." He followed her command perfectly this time, his obedience reassuring. "I missed you."
Pulling out the plug, Rainbow Dash turned on the second set of taps and pulled the extending hose from the recess it was built into. Rinsing Thunderbolt down left him looking like a skinny whippet, but it needed to be done. Rainbow watched the muck and grime in his fur flood away and down the drain.
Thunderbolt knew the biggest rule of inside baths, and struggled not to give in to the wet feeling all over him. He knew he wasn't allowed to shake indoors, and for his bitch he was happy to concede some things. When she called him, he barked and jumped from the tub. Landing on the bathroom tiles, Thunderbolt started scrabbling and launched into a run for the back door.
Rainbow barely had any lead. She could use her power, and be in the next zip code before her pet got outside, but that would ruin an age-old game for them. She shoved the laundry door open, and then the back door. The sound of paws just behind her was a reminder of what was coming. "Ha! I beat—"
Barely having made it outside, Thunderbolt leapt onto his bitch and knocked her down to his level. Content with having won, he finally shook the water from his fur.
Staring up in awe, Rainbow shuddered as she realized how strong her pet was. Thunderbolt finished his body-swaying shake, and looked down at her. "W-W-Wow…" And, just like that, he sat on her. The wet dog's furry butt planted on Rainbow's groin, and one big paw pressed down between her breasts.
My bitch, Thunderbolt thought, as he looked down at Rainbow Dash. She couldn't move out from under him, and both of them knew it. He was content, however, just with that level of control. After waiting a while, feeling his bitch's chest heave up and down under his paw, Thunderbolt decided to just lay down completely.
Rainbow was pinned completely. She had a big shepherd laying on her, and though part of her was more content than it had ever been before in her life, most of her mind still rebelled at the treatment. Opening her mouth, Rainbow meant to tell Thunderbolt to move, but what came out instead was a weak whine.
The submissive sound from his bitch's throat was exactly what Thunderbolt wanted from her. With submission given, he rolled sideways and off her. When Rainbow didn't move right away, it reassured Thunderbolt even more, and further confirmed her role to him.
Rainbow was aware of Thunderbolt at her side unlike ever before. She lay, staring upward, and started to register some things. She was bare naked in her backyard, she had her dog laying beside her like the lover he had somehow managed to become, and she could feel something firm jabbing into her leg.
The world crashed together, and Rainbow Dash practically jumped to her feet. She raced inside and through to the bathroom. She was dirty with some of the grime she had washed from Thunderbolt, and took his place in the tub. Running cold water first, she broke the grip her libido had on her, and got to work cleaning the dirt off.
Startled from her cleaning by her phone playing a trilling set of notes from a keytar, Rainbow Dash's head shot up. "Crap, practice!" Rainbow jumped out of the tub, kicked the plug release and ran through her house. She wasn't sure when, but her ponying up had worn off while cleaning, which made dressing a lot easier.
Shorts, dress, shirt, jacket, shoes and socks, and her usual sports bra under the shirt, and Rainbow Dash was already jogging in place. She almost grabbed her bag, but could smell it before she touched it. "Gah, not taking that. Guess I will just run." She smirked and launched through the house, struggling not to ruin the carpet.
The front door was a blur, and Rainbow was soon running along the street. Her hair hadn't been dry, but the speed of her passing shed all the water from it. Pounding east into the heart of Canterlot, Rainbow Dash turned left at the last minute and reached the front door of the school. Phone in one hand, her wallet in the other, Rainbow Dash sauntered inside.
"Hi Rainbow!" Derpy smiled at her friend. "I heard you were feeling sick, and I missed catching back up with you." She winked one, wandering eye at her friend. "I hope you are feeling better!"
Rainbow Dash nodded. "We need to catch up some time, Derpy. Maybe catch some burgers and go to the drag's on the weekend?" The offer lit up her friend's face to such an extent that Rainbow immediately felt like she had made the right choice.
Nodding enthusiastically, Derpy waved to Rainbow Dash and turned. "I'll see you—Oof!" She had walked right into a white shirt and its wearer. Looking up, Derpy's happy expression nearly split her face. She wrapped her arms around Flash.
"Hey there, gorgeous." Flash put an arm around Derpy and pulled her to his side. Leaning down a little, he kissed her on the bridge of her nose. "Was that Rainbow Dash? How is she doing?" He didn't get an answer, instead Derpy was busy nibbling at his jaw in a very distracting way.
Trying not to use her speed indoors, Rainbow only took the stairs five at a time. Before she knew it her phone buzzed again, and just as she pushed open the music room door she saw Rarity putting her own phone down. "Hey everyone!"
"Rainbow!" All her friends yelled her name at once, and Rainbow Dash couldn't have been happier. Here, with her friends, was a long way away from home and an overactive libido, and confusingly pushy house pet.
"Darling, I thought you were sick? You should have texted… us…" Rarity froze, staring at Rainbow Dash. Her eyes traced down and froze again. "Ahem!" She rushed forward, and before anyone else could interrupt, Rarity ushered Rainbow Dash out of the door and closed it behind her. "This is quite the statement to make in the bedroom, Rainbow Dash, but to make it in public is something else."
Rainbow Dash froze as her friend's perfectly manicured and moisturized finger hooked to something at her throat and tugged. Her world suddenly narrowed down to a point, and Rainbow Dash dearly wanted to run away as fast as she could. The only problem with her plan, however, was Rarity had a finger hooked through the D-ring of the collar, and Rainbow didn't want to hurt her friend.
"Nothing?" Raising a perfectly neat eyebrow, Rarity cocked a little smile on her face. "It isn't a cheap piece of rubbish, at least. Good quality leather, quality manufacture, and if I am not mistaken a quality magnetic lock."
"I can explain!" Rainbow started to take a step back, but Rarity's finger stayed hooked in the collar. "A f-f-friend made a deal with me, and I couldn't turn it down, and then he played a trick, and it got all kinds of crazy, and now I—"
Rainbow Dash froze as perfect, gloss-softened lips pressed against her own. They were there just long enough to completely short out her brain—metaphorically.
"I'll explain it, don't worry, Darling." Rarity let go of Rainbow Dash's collar, turned and started to open the door. "Oh, and you will attend practice."
Rarity kissed me. Rarity kissed me. Rarity kissed me, Rainbow thought, her brain twisting and struggling to break the lock-up it was in. It wasn't like it was her first real kiss, or anything. Except it was. She didn't know how long she stood there, but her brain finally snapped from the frozen state. Gasping in a deep breath, Rainbow Dash reached a hand for the door and pulled it open.
All her friends were ignoring Rainbow, except Rarity. She watched the alabaster beauty wink at her. The conversation going on between the others was hard to follow at first, but she seemed to get the gist of it after a few more voices had spoken.
"But you have a great voice, Fluttershy." Sunset gestured vaguely behind her, not realizing Rainbow had reentered the room. "Rainbow Dash even gave you the position."
"I-I can't. Rainbow Dash is my friend. I won't let her down and do this." Her heart adamant, Fluttershy defended her best friend for all she was worth. "Rainbow put this band together, so she gets to have the final say."
"Of course I do." Rainbow cut in on the discussion. "This is my band, and I want the best voice I can get behind that mic." Fluttershy's openness had drawn Rainbow to her since they first met, and now she had seen past her own ego, and she could do the right thing.
Fluttershy stared as Rainbow grabbed the lead microphone on her way over, and set the stand right at her feet. She stared down at the stand, not quite realizing what her friend was doing.
"I found the best voice in the world, Fluttershy, but I was too caught up in how awesome I am, to see how super-awesome you are. I want to concentrate on guitar, anyway. You wrote the songs, so sing them." Rainbow tried to strike an awesome pose, but its effect was completely ruined by Fluttershy rushing up and hugging her. "Whoa!"
Memories of her naughty daydream of Fluttershy and Thunderbolt made Rainbow Dash acutely aware of her best friend's breasts pressed against her. She wanted to back away, or even teleport like some superhero. Instead, Rainbow Dash put her arms around Fluttershy and hugged her back. "But we need to turn you up a bit, I don't want you drowned out by anything."
"You really think I have a good enough voice to sing?" Fluttershy looked into her friend's eyes, and saw that Rainbow did mean it. The honesty in her oldest friend couldn't be feigned. "Then I need to practice more."
"That's why I'm here." Rainbow Dash dropped from the hug, pulling back and running to where she had stored her guitar. "I have been working on a new song, too." She pulled out her guitar, and slung the strap over one shoulder. "Well…" Dragging the word out, Rainbow smirked. "It's more like a rewrite on an old one."
Confidence in her talent, and the talent of her friends, shoved all of Rainbow's insecurity about wearing a kinky collar right out the window. She plugged her guitar into the last pickup lead and looked over to Twilight—who was manning the mix desk.
Twilight fumbled at the controls, adjusting the volume on the last pickup. She waited for Rainbow Dash to strum a chord, and tuned the mix by ear.
There was a potential in the air. The world knew that something magical was just about to happen, and it blocked out all other stimuli as the group of seven friends reached at their instruments.
The door of the music room opened and closed. Vice-Principal Luna slipped in, blushing and full of apologies. "S-Sorry for dropping in unannounced. I just wanted to hear you play to—to make sure you are ready for the game." The last few words tumbled out in a rush as her giddy mind struggled to make up a believable excuse.
Fluttershy took a breath, and tapped her tambourine. "Shine Like Rainbows."
"One. Two. Three. Four!" Pinkie came in with the drum-line, and Rainbow Dash quickly kicked her guitar into the right effect, and fell easily into the rhythm.
Sunset's hands moved on their own. She matched Rainbow Dash with a few kicks to her own peddle, and was playing perfect accompaniment.
Applejack leaned towards her mic. Her bass wasn't needed yet, but hers was the first part of the piece. "Once…"
Luna watched as the girls all grew ears, tails, and long flowing manes. Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy also grew wings; Luna grew wings too. A flood of power hit her, and within Luna something chimed desperately along. The girls' music was pure, perfect, and it rolled out magic as well as song.
Trying to keep her foot from tapping, Luna relaxed into a dreamy expression, but there was something more than just the Rainboom's magic: Luna felt a cool fire burn inside.
When it came to Rainbow's part, she opened her mouth and sang in her slightly coarse voice. "Friends, you are in my life. And you can count on me to be there by your side." Her eyes caught sight of Luna, and what she saw almost shocked her out of time.
Normally, Luna was pretty fantastic. She was the more personable of the senior faculty, but in Luna's eyes Rainbow Dash saw a young girl's excitement. Spread wide from Luna's back was a pair of dark blue wings that matched her skin tone perfectly. The two pointy ears that sat atop the vice-principal's head perked forward eagerly.
The lyrics were amazing, and Luna ate up every second. She felt like a young girl again, but more, she felt magical. The song, however, could not last, and when the last lyric trailed away, she felt both sorrow and excitement. "Woo!"
All seven students stared at their vice-principal, as Luna cheered wildly. Then they all turned to look at each other.
Sunset was the first to shrug, then Twilight. Smiles spread around the group.
Fluttershy looked between each of her friends, and she suddenly realized it was her they were waiting for. If it had been anyone else she would have frozen up, but this was her friends, and they believed in her.
"This next one as a duet. Sunset, you follow in the minor, I will take major." Butterflies were Fluttershy's thing, but asking her friend to make a solo tune into a duet, and taking the lead, made more butterflies than Fluttershy ever wanted dart around in her belly.
"Embrace the Magic?" Sunshine loved the song she had come up with only recently, and was thrilled to sing it. Mentally adjusting her voice to the minor chord, she let go of her guitar and stepped closer to Fluttershy.
Twilight had a tear in her eye as Rainbow Dash started the tune on her guitar, and then Rarity followed on keytar. But when Fluttershy put one wing around Sunset's back, it became impossible to keep her eyes dry.
Fumbling at the mix board, Twilight barely got the two girls' voices balanced. She closed her eyes and remembered when Sunset had just spontaneously sung the tune at camp. Part of her was lost in the lyrics that had helped free her from darkness, while another part—the analytical part of Twilight Sparkle that could not be silenced—focused on the magic flowing around the room.
Pinkie joined into the tune on the drums, having to match Rainbow Dash's lead for once. She kept the big drums still, softly playing the backing to a softer tune.
Fighting to keep her own part just right, Rarity quickly flicked her keytar to full midi samples when the chorus came in. The music flowed around her, and in its grip her fingers worked to bring in violins and kettle drums.
Luna couldn't hold back anymore she cried at the perfection of the lyrics. The chorus struck part of her she hadn't known existed before the start of the week—before the first time she ponied up. She wanted to get up and dance, she wanted to scream how happy she was from the roof of Canterlot High, and she wanted to be as quiet as a mouse so she missed not a single note.
When Fluttershy's voice slowly lowered from the last note, Sunset was right there beside her. She smiled to her friend. "That was perfect, but the next song will need another of us to help with." Fluttershy walked to her school bag, and plucked out her notebook. She had already torn some pages free—each ruled for music, and carefully marked. She passed the biggest sheaf to Rarity.
"Oh my—" Rarity managed to catch her words and pushed her fist into her mouth.
When Fluttershy passed Twilight the notes, her eyes widened. "How did you get this? Where did you…" Her mind raced. "Were you hiding?"
"The forest heard you, Twilight. Why do you think Timber found you so quickly? The animals couldn't bear to hear your song. I—" Fluttershy chewed her lower lip for a moment. "I rewrote some of it. Please read it over."
Twilight's own personal demon was Midnight Sparkle. She had denied her, but only after reaching some of her darkest moments. The song she had sung in the forest that night had been one of those moments, but as she read the lyrics she realized this wasn't that song. "A reprise?"
Fluttershy nodded.
"O-Okay." Twilight didn't move, however. When Fluttershy's yellow hand reached to her, she realized she was going to be joining the Rainbooms in a little more active role.
"Go on Twilight, I got this." Rainbow Dash pushed her friend out from behind the mix desk, then gasped and jumped upright. "Whoa!"
Twilight spun around and looked at Rainbow. "What happened?"
Blushing, Rainbow Dash sat back down, using her hand to push her tail to the side this time. "Uh… must have been a splinter or something."
Guided to the front of the group, where the microphones for duets were, Twilight shook like a leaf. The song might be reworded, but she still disliked remembering that dark time.
"I'll be with you, Twilight." Wrapping her wing around Twilight's shoulders, as she had for Sunset, Fluttershy nodded to Rarity.
Pure piano music floated from the keytar. It danced and wove a tune. Twilight couldn't stop what was coming if she wanted to. "It used to be so simple; it was a world I understood. I didn't know what I didn't know, and life seemed pretty good." She couldn't stop, and Twilight didn't know whether it was terrifying or exhilarating—it was a mix of both. "But then the darkness rose up, from somewhere deep inside of me. Her power overtook me; But I kept the midnight from getting free." Twilight's heart lifted. The music itself pulled her upwards.
Fluttershy came in with a minor key, and joined her voice to Twilight's. "If we can stay with the light, I know we'll be free. And we can both be whole—" Fluttershy stopped.
"I will always be me!" Twilight's voice was amazing, even to her. "I will always be struggling, with all that I see. But these friends help me see…" Twilight's voice tapered off as Rarity's keytar ramped up in intensity. "There is no midnight in me!"
A chill ran over Luna. She could feel the raw emotion boiling over her in a way nothing had before in her life. Each note, each word, was etched into the magic pouring from the heart of Twilight Sparkle.
All the Rainbooms but Rainbow (who was still at the mixing desk) filled their lungs as piano rolled like thunder. "There never was a midnight in me!"
The piano dropped, barely heard as it tinkled out its last notes. Twilight closed her eyes. "There never was a midnight in me…" She barely got the last word out before turning to Fluttershy and pulling her friend into the tightest hug she had ever given. "Thank you. Thank you, Fluttershy."
"Sunset told me how hard it was for you to let go of that. I thought I could try to put that into a song for you." Blushing at the praise from her friend, Fluttershy felt her friend's death-hug start to slacken. "But we don't have to play that one for the game. It can be our personal song."
Each song played spoke to Luna in ways she couldn't begin to understand. Part of her knew that the girls had been through a lot in the last year or so, but hearing the songs filled with raw emotion and magic stirred Luna to listen in rapt attention.
When the music stopped, and Luna heard the telltale crackle of a guitar lead being unplugged, she jerked a little as if waking from a dream. She couldn't stop her hands, they were clapping, and her heart soared. "That was amazing!"
Luna froze as all seven students were staring at her in surprise. "Well, it is." She looked around, and finally Rarity acknowledged Luna by pointing directly at her. "What?" Her hand ran up and over her head, rubbing over one pony ear—her pony ear—and the knowledge of it only boosted her mood further.
"I think you're rockin' it, Ms. L." Rainbow gave Vice-Principal Luna a thumbs up.
Rarity rolled her eyes and turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, really? Vice-Principal Luna deserves a little more respect. You shouldn't be quite so fam—" She stopped talking as Luna walked up to Sunset.
"Could I borrow that for a moment?" Luna held out a hand towards Sunset's guitar. With all the music and magic, Luna couldn't hold it in. Sunset shrugged to her friends and passed the vice-principal her guitar.
Lifting the guitar strap onto her shoulder, Luna felt the old touch like it was a lover she had forgotten for too long. Her left hand reached up the neck, fingers curling under the fretboard to squeeze the strings. She didn't strum, strumming was something you did to accompany.
All seven of the Rainbooms stood in shock as Luna's fingers moved like lightning. A figurative spell was cast over the room, and Luna's familiar riff was the source.
As the staccato plucking reached its peak, Luna brought her right hand up and down, hitting a power chord to end all power chords. Leaning forward, head tilted down, her long hair was hanging over her features. The heavy chord hung over the room, and before it faded Luna turned around to the nearest speaker and brought her guitar closer to it.
The pure notes of the guitar turned to distortion, and Luna felt the wild side of her spirit cut loose. She began playing notes that the feedback loop of amp, speaker, and guitar only exacerbated. But though the notes strayed all over the place, it came together as music.
Luna trembled, she had felt that spark of magic for herself, and it made everything brighter and more real. "Thanks." She turned around and lifted the guitar off her shoulder. "I haven't played in so long, I didn't know if I still had it."
Sunset barely caught her guitar from Luna, and couldn't help but stare at the ponied up vice-principal as she walked out of the music room. The moment the door closed behind her, she managed to talk again. "Wow…"
Her spirit floating like a bird, Luna walked down the hallway of the school, her feet tapping along to a rhythm she couldn't hear. Reaching the stairs, she turned the opposite direction, spinning, and landed her rear on the railing.
Sliding to the first floor, Luna leaned back, flapped her wings, and dismounted perfectly. She wanted to sing, and dance, and play more music as if she were a teenager again, but reality crashed in, and she gave a sigh.