//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Twilight Holmes: The Mystery of Basil Bones // by bats //------------------------------// Twilight flopped on her bed and groaned. “Why did today feel just as long as yesterday did?” Rainbow chuckled as she walked by the window. Twilight looked at her and smiled faintly, smoothing out her tone of voice. “Okay, it wasn’t that bad. It could have been a lot worse.” “Speak for yourself, it feels like the crusaders beat the crap out of me.” “Hey, relay racing them without a partner was your idea.” “Yeah, well, we needed something to distract them. I thought Apple Bloom was gonna explode.” She poked around at Twilight’s saddlebag that was propped up against the wall. “Hey, any of those caramels left?” Twilight sighed. “No, I got Big Mac to actually take them today. After I explained to Spike that just because Big Mac says it’s okay for him to go over there for the night whenever, that doesn’t mean he can go over every night for no reason.” Rainbow snorted and covered her face with a hoof. “So that’s why you disappeared for like an hour after lunch. And why he’s sleeping downstairs tonight.” She fell over backwards and spread her legs out in all directions on the bed. “Partially. I also found those comics of his. He hid them with your things.” Rainbow rolled to the side and her expression leveled out and turned sheepish. “Yeah? Hey, um. So, like, if you ended up punishing him for doing that …” Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Uh huh …” “Just, like … you should figure out how bad the punishment should be as if somepony told him that putting his comics there was okay.” Twilight took in a long breath and chuckled. “Well, if you’re that worried about it, you’re welcome to help him with his extra chores tomorrow.” “Hey, I didn’t say anything about me.” She grinned with a guilty look on her face until they both laughed. Rainbow stretched back out on the bed and stuck her hooves under her head. “At least we got everything figured out and can put these last two days way behind us.” Twilight felt her smile slip off her face and butterflies rise up in her stomach. “Hey, so … we should probably talk.” Rainbow sprung back up, her expression turning seasick. Twilight sat up and pressed forward quickly. “We’ve been putting it off and I haven’t wanted to push it while all of everything was going on, but I know that what Basil said to you yesterday morning really upset you, and I don’t want to leave it be and let it get weird and uncomfortable again, we should just deal with it now before it—” “I haven’t thought about getting married, okay!?” Rainbow blurted out. Twilight’s jaw snapped shut and she watched Rainbow fidget and look away. “Basil said I was about to propose to you, and I haven’t even thought about getting married at all, but, like, we’re adults, and we’ve been going out for a bunch of time now, and I should be thinking about it a little, right?” She looked back at Twilight, her face red with embarrassment. “You’ve probably been thinking about it, and maybe wondering when I was gonna ask, or … thinking about asking me, and I’ve just been wandering around like I’m still a foal.” She looked down at the floor with her ears pinned back. “Rainbow … I …” “I didn’t mean for all of this to get all blown up and weird. I was gonna just talk to you about it yesterday, that’s why I flew to Canterlot.” Twilight raised her brows and then winced at herself, remembering very sharply how she asked Rainbow if whatever she wanted to talk about could wait. “And then last night, but you were messed up from the day already and just wanted to sleep. Heck, I just wanted to sleep, too, so I didn’t fight it.” She rubbed her face. “And then this morning … Ugh, it all got stretched out forever, and now it’s this big thing now, and … Look, I’m sorry I’m like a dumb kid, I know you deserve more than that, and—” “Rainbow, wait a second,” she cut in. “Up until you flew off after throwing that hay bale at Basil, I hadn’t thought about getting married, either. I thought it was a joke that he’d think that. I was worried you were upset because you really were going to propose to me, and since I said he was out of his mind, that you then thought that if you proposed, I was going to say no.” Rainbow’s face slackened, tension rolled off her body, and she sunk into the bed with a slow exhale. “So … it’s all over nothing?” She sat back up with her back hooves dangling off the side of the bed and looked out the window. She sighed and ran a hoof through her mane. “I really should’ve just talked it out with you.” Smiling, Twilight shrugged and scooted over to sit on the edge of the bed next to Rainbow. “I sort of panicked, too. Honestly, if you tried to talk to me yesterday, I might have ended up running.” Rainbow snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.” “Really, it’s true. I almost had a panic attack at Fluttershy’s when I realized that maybe you were going to ask me to marry you and I had no idea how to react.” She chuckled at herself. “Rarity not being home was the real nightmare. I almost tried to track her down in Canterlot to ask her advice, before I noticed that Diamond Acorn had stolen that newspaper.” Rainbow grinned and gave her a side eye. “Lemme guess, you didn’t just go to give Big Mac some candy after lunch, huh?” “I went to Rarity’s, too, yeah,” she said with a sigh. “She just wanted to talk about wedding dresses though, and I thought I was going to die.” Laughing, Rainbow bumped Twilight’s shoulder. She grinned and let herself rest up against Rainbow, staring out the window at the darkening sky. A comfortable lull stretched out and she let the tension she’d been holding onto for hours roll off she shoulders. “Is there something wrong with us?” Rainbow asked, her voice somber. “Huh?” Rainbow shrugged and fiddled with the blanket. “My parents were two years younger than I am now when they got married. I mean, they were pretty young, I know that, but they met right out of school, and just sorta never looked back.” “Fluttershy said something similar about her parents.” “I dunno. Maybe it’s just a pegasus thing.” Twilight rubbed her cheek, pulling away from Rainbow so their shoulders stopped touching. “I don’t think so. I don’t know.” “What about your family?” “My parents dated each other while they were in school and didn’t get married until after they graduated.” She turned to Rainbow and gave her a half smile. “And before you think that’s exactly the same as your parents, Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns lasts a lot longer than most schools.” Rainbow snickered. “Yeah, aren’t you still in school, egghead?” Twilight huffed and shrugged. “I guess. I’d already written a senior thesis before coming here, it’s just never been formally submitted and I haven’t had a graduation. Honestly I have no idea what all of this stuff here even is yet.” She chuckled and shook her head. “Anyway, with my parents, it wasn’t much different from your parents, either. They were about our age when they got married. They’d just dated longer first.” Rainbow nodded and fidgeted in discomfort, shifting her gaze back to the window. Twilight shook her head. “This is silly. I don’t know why we should care what anypony else did, or how long they waited, or what’s going on with their marriages right now, but even if we really should, we’re forgetting about Shining Armor.” “Huh. Good point. He just got married.” “And he’s five years older than me. And he’s known Cadence for almost my whole life. Probably dated her for most of that, too, and I just didn’t notice.” Rainbow snickered, and Twilight stuck out her tongue. “Yeah, yeah, I admit it, I was too busy with my snout in a book to notice my brother kissing my foalsitter. Anyway, they went out for years, and didn’t get married until after Shining got promoted. And that doesn’t, and shouldn’t matter for us, anyway.” “Yeah,” she said, “you’re right. If I went around freaking out about what anypony else was doing and how to do it just like them, I wouldn’t have done half the awesome stuff I’ve done. Thinking like that is stupid.” Rainbow relaxed her shoulders, still looking out of the window. “… I guess I just never had any plans for getting married.” Twilight fidgeted. “Well, I guess if it’s not something that—” “I don’t mean I’ve never wanted to get married, like, I never had plans for getting a girlfriend, either. I just mean that ever since I was a filly, I’ve always been working to get one thing.” Twilight felt a smile cross her face and she nodded. “I understand.” “That’s always been the plan, but, like, you can’t eat hopes and dreams, so I’ve been happy going with the flow on everything else. Got a cool job, got some awesome friends, and, uh … got you.” Twilight felt Rainbow’s hoof close over her’s and hold tight. “… I really like this, Twi. I really like you. If I was making the plan now, you’d be in it, y’know?” Twilight grinned and pressed back into Rainbow’s shoulder. “I do know.” “I guess I just figured all that other junk could just wait until after I was a Wonderbolt.” Rainbow’s voice turned small, quiet. “I’m sorry.” Twilight shook her head and let out a long breath through her snout. “Believe it or not, Rainbow, I understand exactly how you’re feeling.” She straightened and looked Rainbow in the eyes. “It wasn’t the same sort of plan for me, it doesn’t have a set goal in mind. Really, I don’t know what I’ve been working towards at all, I just know that I’ve been working towards it since I was ten years old. There’s always been a path laid out in front of me to follow, and I’ve always felt compelled to follow it. I know exactly what it’s like.” She smiled softly. “I’ve just sometimes had trouble going with the flow on everything else.” Rainbow returned the smile. Twilight turned to look back out the window, still holding onto Rainbow’s hoof. “In some ways I’m also very different. I spend so much time making plans day to day, and I try to follow those plans down to the minute. That’s probably why I have trouble letting things just happen and being okay with it. And … I guess if I’m so busy making sure today goes exactly how I planned it, it’s easy for me to not think about what next year is supposed to look like.” She slipped a lock of her mane back behind her ear with a hoof. “I didn’t need to schedule in a wedding for next week, so I didn’t even think about it.” Rainbow sighed. “We’re a couple of screw-ups, huh?” Frowning in thought, Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know about that. We’re just … busy.” She chuckled and shook her head, then looked back at Rainbow. “And not just with the day to day stuff. We have hopes and dreams we’re reaching for, and I am so glad that’s true. I see that fire in your eyes. It’s a big part of what makes you who you are, and it’s one of the reasons I love you. I wouldn’t want it to go out.” “Oh, barf.” She giggled again, pulled her hoof free, and slapped Rainbow’s shoulder. Rainbow rubbed the spot and laughed with her. “Really, though, I mean it, if thinking about marriage meant you giving up on your dream, I’d never want it.” She held Rainbow’s hoof again. A long silence stretched out. “… Did you really mean it?” Twilight raised her eyebrow. “Which part?” “The L word. You said, you, uh …” She cleared her throat. Twilight felt heat rise to her face and she locked her eyes forward on the window. “Oh. Um …” She tried to take her hoof back, but Rainbow’s grip held firm. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “… I did. Mean it, I mean. I love you.” “… I love you, too, Twi.” She turned her gaze away from the window and met Rainbow’s with a soft smile. Rainbow returned it with her cheeks colored before looking away again. Twilight rested her head against Rainbow’s shoulder. Rainbow ruffled her mane and took a long breath. “I guess after Basil made me think about getting married, it would’ve been smart if I spent the last two days actually thinking about it, instead of running around like my tail’s on fire, huh?” Twilight giggled and pressed into Rainbow’s side. “I’d be more judgy if I wasn’t doing the same thing.” She straightened again and forced down the jumble of emotions in her stomach as she tried to put her head in order. “Want to just … talk about it? I know it’s all supposed to be a big secret surprise question ponies ask each other, but I still don’t really care what anypony else does.” Squirming a little Rainbow muttered something noncommittal, before wincing and raising her voice. “I guess so?” “It’ll be a no pressure conversation, okay? We’re just figuring stuff out. Whatever answers you have, or I have, I’m sure we can deal with them without anypony exploding. We did just say we love each other.” Rainbow cracked a smile. “So since Equestria isn’t going to end, we can just relax and be honest with each other. Deal?” “Deal.” Rainbow scooted away on the bed and turned to face Twilight, trying to look calm but Twilight could see the nervousness boiling under the surface. “So, uh … you first?” Twilight laughed and shook her head. “Okay, I’ll go first.” She clenched her jaw and breathed in deep, held it for a moment, and let it out slowly. “Okay … If you really had been planning to ask me to marry you, I think I would have said yes.” Rainbow’s brows shot up and her mouth fell open. She coughed and cleared her throat. “I mean, I don’t know that I’m ready to get married, but if that’s what you had wanted, I don’t think any of my issues would have been strong enough to change my answer.” She waited for Rainbow to pick her jaw up off the floor before continuing. “I can also say that I’m kind of relieved that you didn’t ask. It’s not that I would have said yes just to not lose you or something, it just feels like the wrong time to get married. I’d be happier with things if I was officially graduated and had a better idea of where my life is going. Right now, I feel like I’m still in a period of transition and I don’t really know what’s going to happen or what I’m going to be doing in the future. It feels like planning to get married before I have all of that figured out is a bad idea. Maybe that’s just the part of me that has trouble going with the flow that’s talking, though.” Rainbow nodded vaguely, looking shocked and a little dizzy. “… Wow.” She cleared her throat and gave Twilight a wry smile. “Damn, part of me feels like I should’ve asked now.” She and Twilight shared a chuckle. “No, but for real, if you asked me, we both know I’d probably have screamed and ran away.” Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. “Well, I didn’t, so you don’t have an excuse to hide under the bed. How do you feel about marriage? Do you even want to get married? I maybe made it sound like I’m expecting to, but … I don’t know. If you didn’t and just want something like we have right now until … whenever,” She waggled her hooves emphatically, “I wouldn’t be disappointed. We could always change our minds later. Or not. I like what we have now.” Rainbow took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, me too. And, like … I dunno.” She shrugged. “I don’t wanna not get married, I guess? You’re right that now feels wrong, it feels like that for me, too. But … maybe eventually? When it makes more sense?” Twilight smiled and nodded. “Okay.” “Yeah?” “Yeah.” “That’s it?” “That’s it.” She widened her smile and touched Rainbow’s cheek with her hoof. “It seems pretty cut and dry to me. Neither of us are ready right now. Maybe that’ll change, and maybe that change will be soon, or maybe not. But right now, it’s how we’re both feeling. So, let’s forget about it for now. We can worry about it again later.” Rainbow relaxed into her hoof, then scooted forward and pushed into her, hugging her around the middle. “That sounds awesome.” Twilight grinned and hugged Rainbow back. “Good. I’m glad we got everything out in the open.” She kissed the top of Rainbow’s head. “I love you, Rainbow.” “Love you, too. C’mon,” she straightened up and popped a kink in her neck. “We’ve had our asses kicked by today and yesterday. Let’s go to bed.” “That sounds awesome.” Rainbow slid up the bed and under the covers, and Twilight clicked off the light before following. She pressed into Rainbow’s embrace, feeling the same warmth and strength wrap her up and hold her close, smelling Rainbow’s mane and neck, and the lingering tension and stress drained out of her as she closed her eyes. “Mmf,” Rainbow muttered. “This is nice. Maybe I should move in with you.” Twilight’s eyes shot open. Fluttershy walked into her living room with an envelope in her mouth. The curtains were pulled against the full moon, but the room danced in oranges and yellows from the fire roaring in the fireplace. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow and walked into the stuffy heat next to the fireplace, before sitting on her couch and setting the envelope on her coffee table. She pulled the letter out and looked it over again. Dear Miss Fluttershy, I hope this missive finds you in prosperous health. I was reluctant to make a bother of myself to you, as I am aware I have not made the best impression of myself, but I was hopeful that I might ask your advice on an important matter. Upon my arrival home with our mutual acquaintance, Maury, I seem to have encountered difficulty overcoming our extant language barrier. My typewriter is still in good function, but Maury seems to be having difficulty operating it. He’s physically capable of depressing the mechanism and producing type upon the page, but the correspondence with which he provides me is not in any language or typesetting I recognize. We have tried a few times, but he appears to be getting restless, and I was hopeful if before he makes his departure that— Fluttershy slipped the letter back into the envelope, smiled, and tossed it into the fire. She watched as the paper blackened and curled, shedding scraps of ash to fly up through the chimney. As the envelope writhed in the flames, she grabbed the clipping from a newspaper and added it on top of the fire. And then another. She piled clippings on top of each other, some of them dark yellow, edging into brown with age, feeding the fire until her coffee table was left bare. When the last scrap of paper curled to black, she stood, grabbed a poker in her mouth, and stirred the logs in the fire. It crackled and guttered as she worked, and when she stepped back, every single speck of burnt paper has been broken up and mixed in with the ash under the logs, unassuming and undetectable. She slipped the poker back into its place on the wall, smiled, and walked upstairs to bed.