//------------------------------//
// Worth the Wait 
// Story: The World Beneath Her Wings 
// by Void Chicken 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash glided through the air. Below her, the shell of the Roundhill glistened in the sun. Around the creature, the dirt had been dug all the way down to the bedrock. By ponies who weren't new mothers, she noted. After other ponies had polished the rock to a sheen, some very smart unicorns had drawn up a really big magic circle around the Roundhill.

A lot of those smart unicorns were standing on the circle, with a princess in each quarter. Some of them darted to and fro relaying messages.

One much smaller unicorn also darted to and fro between the legs of the adults. In the sky, Rainbow waited silently for the filly to make the tactical error of moving into the open. She saw her chance, swooped down, and deftly scooped up Tempo Reprise, spinning and throwing her into the air.

Rainbow did a half loop and caught her giggling daughter on her chest. She looked into those pretty rose-colored eyes and couldn't help but giggle back. She ran her hoof through Tempo's dark purple mane, mussing up the orange stripe running through it.

"Rainbow, could you come down here?" Rarity called from below.

A quick flick of her wings brought Rainbow and Tempo to her wife. "What's up, babe? Besides Tempo." She tossed her foal a few inches before catching her again.

Rarity batted her eyes. "Dearie, not to be a bother, but can you keep a little more control over our unicorn foal near the magically sensitive, world-destroying alien? Just as a minor precaution?"

"She'll be fine," Rainbow said. "Besides, the two of us and the Roundhill are buddies now." She flew to the shell. "Us and it are like this." She put her hoof on her heart, then on the Roundhill, which gave the familiar glow in response. Tempo watched her mother, then put her own hoof on her guts before sticking it out. Rainbow let her touch the shell, which glowed in response to her, too.

"See? Best friends. It won't do anything to us."

The noise Rarity made did not exude confidence. "Really, I hardly see why either of you need to be here in the first place. At least we could have left Tempo with Pinkie."

Nearby, Princess Twilight spoke up. "Because we still don't know the full extent of its capabilities or sensitivities. We suspect that Rainbow's and Tempo's presence will have a calming effect on it, giving us the best possible chance of safely moving it."

Rainbow flew to her. "I just said that, Twilight."

Tempo spotted her favorite toy sticking out of Rarity's saddlebags and struggled in Rainbow's grasp towards it. Rainbow moved close enough for Tempo to grab the plush hourglass, then set her down.

"Besides," Rainbow said, watching a purple and orange tail vanish under the crowd, "we can't miss this. If we're going to zap Tempo's godmother to another planet, we have to be there to say goodbye."

"Ah, yes," Rarity replied, "of course. We absolutely must say goodbye to—" She looked away. "—Tempo's godmother."

Touching down next to Rarity, Rainbow put her wing over her. "Come on, babe. This is the last time we're going to see it." She looked up at the black shell. "And to be honest, despite what I said, I'm going to feel better once it's gone."

"Speaking of looking, maybe you should go look for your foal." Rarity smiled.

Rainbow returned the smile. "My foal now, huh? My cute, smart, precious, only foal?"

"I have told you already, I am perfectly satisfied with just one child." Rarity turned to her. "Which you should go find before she gets herself into trouble."

Taking off, Rainbow said, "I'll go make sure she's not destroying the world or anything."

It took no time at all to spot the dark blue shape moving past the other unicorns and move in. Seconds later, both foal and toy were safely in Rainbow's hooves and on their way back to Rarity.

"Rainbow," Rarity said as she approached. "Twilight said we're about ready to begin, so why don't you take her to a safe distance?"

"Sounds good to me. Come on, kid, let's find a nice place to watch." She looked at the Roundhill and quietly added, "See you later. And..." She lifted Tempo for a moment. "Good luck."

A short flight brought them to the ridge, the same ridge that they had climbed so many times before. Rainbow set Tempo down, catching her with a wing and sitting down before she could run off.

"Hey, kid. I had quite the experience with that thing, and I don't know how much of that you shared. All the bookworm ponies still don't know what was going on." She looked down to see big rose eyes looking back at her, their owner giving her rapt attention. Rainbow smiled at her foal. "Though maybe you'll be the one to figure it out, huh? That'd be pretty great."

She squeezed her daughter tight. "You got a whole life ahead of you, kid. I'm glad I got to make that happen. Oh hey, looks like the show's about to start."

Ahead, dozens of horns had lit up. The three princesses that Rainbow could see shone brightest of all. White fire traced its way around the magic circle. Rainbow couldn't help but look down to make sure that Tempo was watching. When she looked up, spirals of pure white had risen from the circle, swirling with energy. They danced around each other and into each other, soon forming into a single column surrounding the Roundhill.

Even at their distance, Rainbow could hear the power building. "Come on, buddy," she whispered, "just stay asleep for a few more seconds and it'll all be better. You're going somewhere safe, I promise."

"Oh!" She reached down and picked up Tempo, propping up one of her forehooves. "Byebye, Roundhill! Tempo, can you say byebye? Say byebye!"

Tempo looked into the light. "Byebye!"

With an immense whoosh, the column of light shot into the heavens, arcing slightly as it went into the distance above. Gaps appeared at the base of the column, spreading and climbing. Seconds later, the light was gone, revealing ponies surrounding a large empty space.

Rainbow let out a breath. "And that's that." She gave Tempo a big hug, which the filly returned. "Rarity and the others did a good job, didn't they? Big load off my mind, for sure." She bopped Tempo's nose. "Now I only have you to deal with."

Tempo blew a raspberry in response.

Rainbow set her down and turned her around. "Look, Rarity's coming!"

Tiny hooves took off down the ridge towards her. Rainbow leisurely glided behind.

With all the might of a year-old filly, Tempo lept into her mother's waiting hooves. Rainbow returned the plush hourglass to Rarity's saddlebags and gave her a kiss to go with it.

A blue glow enveloped their daughter and deposited her on Rarity's back. "I think that went quite well," Rarity said. "It was rather brighter than I expected; I'm going to be seeing spots for the rest of the day."

Rainbow chuckled. "Any excuse to make me watch the kid more. I get it."

Walking towards the ridge, Rarity replied, "With everything you've done for her and Equestria's sake, I'm willing to sacrifice a little responsibility out of the goodness of my heart."

With a roll of her eyes, Rainbow answered, "Your generosity knows no bounds, babe. But you know what? I don't even mind that much."

She looked towards the horizon.

"Because I'm feeling pretty good about the future right now."